Tourism is the travel for recreational, leisure, family or business purposes, usually of a limited

duration. Tourism is commonly associated with trans-national travel, but may also prefer to travel to
another location within the same country. The World Tourism Organizationdefines tourists as
people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one
consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".
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Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. Tourism can be domestic or international, and
international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of
payments. Today, tourism is a major source of income for many countries, and affects the economy
of both the source and host countries, in some cases it is of vital importance. The travel and tourism
industry is one of the most exciting and vibrant ones in the business world.



Although many of us have been "tourists" at some point in our lives, defining what tourism actually is
can be difficult. Tourism is the activities of people traveling to and staying in places outside their usual
environment for leisure, business or other purposes for not more than one consecutive year.
Tourism is a dynamic and competitive industry that requires the ability to adapt constantly to customers'
changing needs and desires, as the customers satisfaction, safety and enjoyment are particularly the focus of
tourism businesses.
TOURISM ENCOMPASSES:
Outbound Tourism
Outbound tourism is what you may be most familiar with. It involves the people going from British Columbia
to other provinces, territories or countries. For example, going to Hawaii for a holiday is considered outbound
tourism.
Inbound Tourism
The tourists coming to BC from other places are called inbound tourists. BC competes in a global market to
attract tourists from the United States, Japan, Germany and many other countries. The industry also
implements marketing campaigns aimed at attracting travellers from other parts of Canada, as well as from
within British Columbia.
Domestic Tourism
Approximately half of the tourists in BC each year are actually from within the province. BC Stats and
Destination BC consider those travelling beyond their usual environment (typically more than 80 km from
home) for business or for pleasure to be tourists.
Tourism Sectors
There are different ways to measure the size of the tourism industry, as tourism does not conform to the usual
ways that industries are defined, such as manufacturing, forestry and other industries. Tourism constitutes a
wide variety of sectors that provide diverse products and services to visitors. However, these businesses also
provide products and services to local residents.
The tourism and hospitality industry in British Columbia employs 274,000 people on a full year equivalent
basis, in diverse sectors such as transportation, travel services, recreation and
entertainment, accommodation and food and beverage services. The industry represents approximately 12%
of the total BC workforce. Of these 274,000 workers, approximately half (127,000) are employed directly as
the result of the $13.5 billion in tourist spending in the province each year.
When describing the tourism industry, go2hr includes all 274,000 workers, because this is the number of
people who need to be recruited and trained to support the businesses that serve both tourists and local
residents. Economic reports may focus more on the 127,000 jobs created by direct tourism spending for
different purposes. Both figure




















Definition of Recreation
There is some consensus on the definition of recreation. Recreation is an activity that people
engage in during their free time, that people enjoy, and that people recognize as having socially
redeeming values. Unlike leisure, recreation has a connotation of being morally acceptable not
just to the individual but also to society as a whole, and thus we program for those activities
within that context. While recreation activities can take many forms, they must contribute to
society in a way that society deems acceptable. This means that activities deemed socially
acceptable for recreation can change over time.
Examples of recreational activities are endless and include sports, music, games, travel, reading,
arts and crafts, and dance. The specific activity performed is less important than the reason for
performing the activity, which is the outcome. For most the overarching desired outcome is
recreation or restoration. Participants hope that their recreation pursuits can help them to balance
their lives and refresh themselves from their work as well as other mandated activities such as
housecleaning, child rearing, and so on.
People also see recreation as a social instrument because of its contribution to society. That is,
professionals have long used recreation programs and services to produce socially desirable
outcomes, such as the wise use of free time, physical fitness, and positive youth development.
The organized development of recreation programs to meet a variety of physical, psychological,
and social needs has led to recreation playing a role as a social instrument for well-being and, in
some cases, change. This role has been the impetus for the development of many recreation
providers from municipalities to nonprofits such as the YMCA, YWCA, Boy Scouts of America,
Girl Scouts of the USA, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. There are also for-profit
agencies, such as fitness centers and spas, designed to provide positive outcomes.





Definitions of Leisure
There is debate about how to define leisure. However, there is a general consensus that there are
three primary ways in which to consider leisure: leisure as time, leisure as activity, and leisure as
state of mind.