The Evolution of Tourism since the 19th Century

Abstract

Abstract The chapter provides an overview of the evolution of tourism from the 19th-century expansion of ‘leisure’ time and the subsequent establishment of modern tourism structures and novel actors in the industrializing countries of the UK, Western Europe, and the United States, to the sector’s global expansion during the 20th and early 21st centuries. It highlights, on the one hand, the various factors driving change, notably the development of transport technologies, while stressing the persistence and adaptability of certain crucial actors, most notably the travel agent, and certain ways of travelling, such as the earlier Grand Tour, which have engendered more recent versions of similarly ‘curated’ and personalized travel. It also points to the development of a largely association-based governance system, which reached the international level after World War II. The chapter begins with an overview of debates in the relevant literature about the nature of the ‘industry’ and whether tourism warrants the use of this term, which is questioned by the more critical scholarship, although it remains common among applied researchers and promoters of tourism trying to stress its economic importance.