Chapter 35: Travel, Tourism, and the Environment

The rising incomes and increased amounts of leisure time enjoyed by many people in industrialized countries has led to an expansion in travel for recreational purposes. Each year there are mass short-term migrations to areas where the climate is more favorable, the scenery more attractive, where there are different cultures to sample, or where there are antiquities to see. Added to this, families are becoming more spatially extended, and as a result family visitations often involve longer trips. As a consequence, tourism is now a major industry that is a significant source of income and employment in many developed and developing economies.^a