Are You a Tourist? Tourism Definition from the Tourist Perspective

Abstract

Using a large-scale visitors' survey data, this study empirically investigates the question of who is a tourist from the tourist's perspective, and contrasts the findings with elements of more formal definitions. the study contributes to the literature on tourism definition and measurement by demon strating how tripographic and socioeconomic factors affect visitors' propensity to self-categorize as tourists. the results point to a clear distance threshold of around 75 miles and provide support for the technical approach to the definition of tourism. First-time visitors, visitors whose main purpose was pleasure, women, and lower middle class income are more inclined to self-categorize as tourists, while those who visit friends and relatives are not. these findings could be used to further improve the definition and measurement of tourism, as well as enhance destination marketing practices.