CLASSES AND TYPES OF TOURISM
CONTENTS
3.2.1 Summer Tourism
3.2.2 Winter Tourism
3.2.3 Mass Tourism
3.2.4 Religious Tourism
3.2.5 Educational Tourism
3.2.6 Cultural Tourism
3.2.7 Wildlife Tourism
3.2.8 Medical Tourism
3.2.9 Creative tourism
3.2.10 Ecotourism
3.2.11 Black Tourism or Dark Tourism or Grief Tourism
3.2.12 Business Tourism
3.2.13 Cruise Tourism
3.2.14 Film Tourism
3.2.15 Birth Tourism
3.2.16 War Tourism
3.2.17 Wellness Tourism
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Unit 2 discusses the two major types of tourism in the country which are
domestic and international tourism. Examples are largely drawn from the
country. Having a good understanding on the components of tourism is a
good guide on how to address the challenges facing the domestic and
international tourism in order to make our resources more attractive
to international tourists.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
discuss the two major classes of tourism
outline types of tourism and give examples
give examples of types of tourism at the local and international
levels.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Classes of Tourism
i. Domestic Tourism is the type of tourism that is restricted within the
confines of a country’s geographical territory or boundary. Thus, all
natural and man-made tourist attraction within the
geographical territory is qualified and can conveniently be classified as
domestic tourism to the nationals of such country. Thus, to Nigerians, all
tourist centers in the country are domestic,
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for example, all tourist centers in Nigeria irrespective of their types are
regarded as domestic tourism.
ii. International Tourism is the type of tourism that is outside the
confines of a country’s geographical territory. Thus, all natural and man-
made tourist attraction outside the country qualifies as international
tourism. For example, tourist centers in Kenya or Canada or Germany to a
Nigerian are regarded as international tourism. There are many types of
tourism all over the world to the extent that it has become difficult for
writers to really define the concept of types of
tourism. However, the roles of wealthy people, the health of people, the
religion of the people, the culture of the people, the various constant trips
made by people and the likes have gone a long way to determine the
various types of tourism that we have today. Tourists, because of the
afore-mentioned reasons, have a wide range of budgets and tastes, and a
wide variety of resorts and hotels have developed to cater for them. For
example, some people prefer simple beach vacations, while others want
more specialised holidays, a quitter resorts, family-oriented holidays or
market targeted destinations. The tourism industry is broad and diverse.
There are many different forms of tourism, some have been around for
decades, whereas others are only just emerging. Many of these have
come into common use by the tourism industry and academics. Others
are still emerging concepts that may or may not gain popular usage.
Examples of the common tourism market are therefore the following
types which however, are not exhaustive.
3.2 Types of Tourism
3.2.1 Summer Tourism
Most people all over the world choose the summer period for journeys to
cold countries or countries in the west when climatic conditions are
favourable for people from tropical countries. As a matter of fact,
application for passport and visas are always on the increase during this
period because of favourable climatic conditions. People visit friends and
families during these periods and use the opportunity to visit places of
interest for leisure and recreations.
3.2.2 Winter Tourism
Winter tourism involves leisure activities that take place in cold climates.
Winter tourism takes place at different times of the year, depending on
where in the world it is located. Typical winter activities include skiing and
snowboarding, sledging, wildlife spotting and ice
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fishing. It was not popular before 1865 because of unfavourable climatic
restricts immigrants’ visit to the western world for visit either for purpose
of leisure or education or religion etc. Skiing activities are difficult
because most water become almost frozen. However, Graubunden
became the cradle of the development of Winter Tourism since the year
of 1865 in St Moritz when many daring hotel Managers chose to risk
opening their hotels in winter. It was, however, only in the 1970s when
winter tourism took over the lead from summer tourism in many of the
Swiss ski-resorts. Even in winter, up to one third of all guests, depending
on the location, consists of non-skiers (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
Major ski-resorts are located mostly in the various Europeans countries
such as Andora, Austria, Czec Republic, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany
and Iceland.
3.2.3 Mass Tourism
Developed with the improvements in Technology which allowed the
transport of large number of people in a short space of time to places of
leisure interest, so that greater numbers of people could begin to enjoy
the benefits of leisure time Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). A good
example is the improvement in air transportation which allowed air lift of
thousands of tourists across the world to East Africa, especially Kenya. In
the USA, the first seaside resorts in the European side were at Atlantic
City and New Jersey, others are seaside resort in the Baltic Sea, Pas-de-
Calais in Brussels.
3.2.4 Religious Tourism
Rose astronomically with the development in church growth all over the
world. Attempts were made by various churches that sprang up in the
19th century to earmark a substantial piece of land for the purpose of
conducting special and periodic prayers. Notable among these are, Mecca
for the Muslims and Jerusalem for the Christians. Christian tourism is a
sub-sector of religious tourism. It is the largest segment of the religious
tourism sector, which focusses on tourism involving religious practices or
pilgrimages. Christian tourism activities include visiting destinations with
significance according to Christian beliefs, such as Bethlehem or
Jerusalem. It can also include visits to monasteries, staying in Christian
camps, undertaking fellowship vacations, missionary travel, crusades,
rallies and retreats Hayley Stainto (2020). In Nigeria, we have
Redemption camp for the redeemer’s church
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Winners camp in Ota and Mountain of Fire camp in Lagos State. We also
have Muslim prayer ground in Ogun and Lagos State.
3.2.5 Educational Tourism
This has grown sporadically as a result of more people from developing
countries travelling abroad for further education especially post graduate
studies. The reasons include the fact that many developed worlds have
grown in popularity in their teaching and learning process as well as in
their technical competency in the use of educational technology to
impact knowledge. The student exchange program has also accelerated
the development and interest in educational tourism.in educational
tourism, the main focus of the tour or leisure activity includes visiting
another to learn about the culture, such as student exchange programme
and study tours or to work and apply skills learned inside the classroom
such as the International Practicum Training Program.
3.2.6 Cultural Tourism
This has to do with an area that attract people because of the
peculiarities of cultural activities going on in such places at any particular
period of the year. Cultural tourism is the act of travelers visiting
particular destinations in order to experience and learn about a particular
culture. This can include many activities such as; attending events and
festivals, visiting museums and tasting the local food and drinks. Cultural
tourism can also be an unintentional part of the tourism experience,
whereby cultural immersion (with the local people, their language,
customs, cuisine etc.) is an inevitable part of a person’s holiday. For
example, Brazil has been shown casing the richness of her culture
through the display of her carnivals every year. This has been attracting
millions of people to the country. In Nigeria, Eyo Festivals, in Lagos State,
Egungun Festivals in the Yoruba speaking area, Osun Festivals in Osogbo
attract tourists from both home and abroad every year to such cities for
the purpose of leisure. Other prominent cultural tourism include Igogo
festival held annually in Owo LGA of Ondo State, Ero Festivals held once
in seven years in Ondo North Central
District of Ondo State; Argungun Fishing Festival held in Kebbi State as
well as Ekpo Masquerade Festival in Cross River and Akwa-Ibom States in
Nigeria.
3.2.7 Wildlife Tourism
This is the type of center that house various species of animals, exotic
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trees and other fauna that attract tourists. It is the type of tourism that is
centered around observation and interaction with animals. This includes
watching animals in their natural habitat, such as bird watching or going
on a safari. More controversially, it includes animals which are kept in
enclosures such as zoos or petting farms. Many forms of animal tourism
such as swimming with dolphins or riding elephants have been subject of
controversies in recent years due to growing awareness around these
issues. Poaching of any form is forbidden in the areas dedicated for this
purpose. A good example is the Yankari Game reserve in Gombe Bauchi
axis. Kenya is also noted for wildlife tourism that have attracted
international tourist. Carnivorous animals and omnivorous animals in their
varieties are found in such areas.
3.2.8 Medical Tourism
This is another highly rising type of tourism that have attracted millions of
people to regions where medical facilities and infrastructures have been
well developed. Medical tourism, also known as health tourism, refers to
the act of travelling to another destination for the purpose of medical
treatment. Motivations of medical tourists may include reduced costs for
treatments or higher quality of provision. Medical tourists may seek life-
saving treatments unavailable to them at home, cosmetic surgery or
dental procedures amongst a range of other medical needs. Popular
destinations include India, Turkey and Panama. Many people on daily
basis troop to Indian, Germany, America and Canada embassy to seek for
visas to enable them access good medical facilities that are found in such
country. such mass movement for health care is known as medical
tourism. Another reason as postulated by
Wikipedia (1998), is that where there is significant price difference
between countries for a given medical procedure, particularly in S.E. Asia,
India and Eastern Europe where there are different regulatory regimes in
relation to particular medical procedures, travelling to take
advantage of the price or regulatory differences is often referred to as
“medical tourism”.
3.2.9 Creative Tourism
Is another form of cultural tourism. It has been defined as tourism related
to the active participation of travelers in the culture of the host
community, through interactive workshops and informal learning
experiences. Its origin dates back to the time of the Grand tour which
saw the sons of aristocratic families travelling for the purpose of social
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and educational interactions. The concept of creative tourism has been
picked up by UNESCO and endorsed it as an authentic experience that
promotes an active understanding of the specific cultural features of a
place (Wikipedia, 1998). Creative tourism has gained popularity as a form
of cultural tourism drawing on active participation by travelers in the
culture of the host communities they visit. Examples of where this type is
practiced include United Kingdom, Austria, France, Bahamas, Jamaica,
Spain, Italy and New Zealand.
3.2.10 Ecotourism
Is also known as ecological tourism. Ecotourism is a form of tourism
directed at preserving fragile environments and eco-systems. Ecotourism
commonly occurs in threatened natural environments, where the
intention is to provide conservation. Ecotourism efforts include building
tourist facilities that have minimal impact on the natural environment,
adopting the use of products such as compost toilets or solar-powered
electricity. Ecotourism has become somewhat of a ‘buzz word’ in recent
years and is closely related to the concept of sustainable tourism (Hayley
Stainto, 2020)
3.2.11 Black Tourism or Dark Tourism or Grief Tourism
This is the act of visiting locations that have been subjected to manmade
or natural environmental disasters. Disaster tourism destinations can be
permanently popular with tourists, such as Chernobyl, or they can be
popular only in the aftermath of the disaster, such as Kathmandu after
the 2015 earthquake or New Orleans after the 2005 hurricane. It is
tourism that is associated with death or tragedy. In some literatures, dark
tourism is associated with an environment where major death has
occurred as a result of war, accident or natural disasters. For example, a
point where plane crash occurred and hundreds of lives were lost could
be regarded as black tourism. The act of dark tourism is somewhat
controversial, with some viewing it as an act of respect and others as
unethical practice. Popular dark tourism attractions include Auschwitz,
Chernobyl and Ground Zero. Lesser-known dark tourism attractions might
include cemeteries, zombie-themed events or historical museums.
3.2.12 Business Tourism
This is essentially a form of travel which involves undertaking business
activities that are based away from home. The United Nations World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines tourists as people ‘traveling to
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and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than
one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes’, thus
making business an important and integral sector of the tourism
economy. Business tourism activities includes attending meetings,
congresses, exhibitions, incentive travel and corporate hospitality
Wikipedia (1998).
3.2.13 Cruise Tourism
Has to do with water attraction using water transportation for recreation.
It refers to holidays which are entirely or partly based on a cruise ship. It
enables tourists to experience a multi-center holiday, whereby they
spend time at various destinations throughout their trip. Cruise ships vary
from small yachts to mega ships and can take place on the ocean, river or
fjords. Cruise tourism is popular in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and
Arctic amongst other destinations (Hayley Stainto, 2020).
3.2.14 Film Tourism
Referred to as screen tourism is a sub-sector of the cultural tourism
industry. It is focused on the concept of film-making and producing,
whereby tourists seek to visit locations which are either featured in films,
or where recording of film takes place. Popular film-induced tourism
destinations include The Beach in Thailand, Dubrovnik and Northern
Island as featured in the Game of Thrones and Petra which is famously
known for its use in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Film set
examples include the Harry Potter Studios in Hertfordshire, Universal
Studios in California and Pinewood Studios in London Hayley Stainto
(2020).
3.2.15 Birth Tourism
Is the act of travelling to another country to give birth. The intended
outcome is that the child will receive citizenship of the country in which
they are born. Birth tourism is typically focused on developing countries
such as the United Kingdom or the USA, as people from less developed
3.2.16 War Tourism
Involves travel for recreational purposes to former or current areas of war.
The recent trend of visiting conflict zones has influenced the rise of
several travel companies specialising in sending tourists on packaged
trips to destinations such as Syria, Somalia, Iraq and Israel. Some
describe this type of tourism as a form of dangerous or extreme tourism.
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3.2.17 Wellness Tourism
Branch of health tourism, is the act of travelling for the purpose of
physical or psychological wellbeing. The wellness travel sector has seen
exponential growth in recent years, with a significant rise in holidays
which incorporate an element of recuperation. Popular wellness tourism
destinations include Iceland for spa breaks, India for Ayurveda treatments
and Bali for yoga retreats.
4.0 CONCLUSION
This section deals with differences between domestic and international
tourism. The unit also shows different type of tourism and discusses how
they have been attracting tourist today. The list of types of tourism is
elastic as more and more types of tourism are emerging today. The
emergence of these types of tourism is dependent on how individuals and
government conceptualise how they spent their leisure periods as long as
it adds values to their livelihood.
5.0 SUMMARY
This unit differentiates between domestic and international tourism. It
also identified various types of tourism and discussed each one of them.
The list of different types of tourism is long as revealed in this unit.
