Draft:History of tourism

• Comment: We already have an article about Spas so that section is NOT required. Theroadislong (talk) 07:06, 22 May 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: Identical references should be defined once with <ref name="something">...</ref> and hen reused as simply <ref name="something" />. —Anomalocaris (talk) 08:08, 21 May 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: This is getting massively unwieldy and tone is NOT appropriate for an encyclopaedia, with each section having an essay style. Theroadislong (talk) 15:18, 20 May 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: The section "Transport and Infrastructure" reads like a chatty essay, it will need re-writing in an encyclopaedic tone. Theroadislong (talk) 15:27, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: We already have an article on this topic here Tourism. Theroadislong (talk) 07:47, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

• Comment: You have created what appears to be a skeleton for a magazine article whereas we require encyclopaedic prose. You have also left a stray paragraph dangling at the end 🇵🇸‍🇺🇦 Fiddle^Timtrent Faddle^Talk to me 🇺🇦‍🇵🇸 18:42, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

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Modern tourism is characterized by travelling for enjoyment, leisure, and getting away from the mundane everyday life. For this it differentiates from earlier forms of travel.

The 19th century saw the growth of transportation through railways and steamships, lowering prices of travel and the movement of larger population masses, leading to the creation of the tourism industry. Specific to the modern period of tourism are new ideas of health, the role of consumerism, aesthetics and individuality, as well as the organisation of political entities.

The birth of the tourist gaze

Gazing at sights is foundational to modern tourism. The tourist gaze is a theoretical concept coined by the sociologist John Urry. It builds upon the sociological concept of gazing, and describes "socially patterned and learnt 'ways of seeing'" a tourist destination.

Urry dates the birth of the tourist gaze back to the 1840s. The decade saw the intertwining of collective travel, the desire to travel, as well as the growth of photographic techniques. These developments were accompanied by new ideas of modernity and the birth of the package tour exemplified by Thomas Cook in 1841.

The tourist gaze is not only a singular, universal gaze, but contains several variations depending on the "society, social group and historical period." Examples of different types of tourist gazes are e.g. the spectatorial, anthropological, environmental, and the family gaze.

The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour is considered by many scholars to be the prototype for modern tourism. Taking place between the late sixteenth to late eighteenth centuries, it reached its peak between 1748 and 1789. Typically, the Grand Tour consisted of a young wealthy man and their tutor, and had an educational agenda usually ending in Rome.

The classic Grand Tour was usually taken by British noblemen and was designed as an educational experience, helping to establish their social networks, refine their language skills, improve their character, and teaching them history, geography, politics, classics and conversational skills. It was also tied heavily to consumption, with many travelers buying art to bring to England back as proof of their educated taste. Their trips would usually include traveling through Italy and France, but also could expand to include Switzerland, The Netherlands, or other destinations further afield. Though many writers such as Sir Francis Bacon supported its educational goals, there was a fear among some English men, that exposure to Continental Europe might erode the Englishness of the young men taking their Tours. Others were concerned that for many the Grand Tour was an excuse to behave badly; drinking, gambling, and engaging in sexual intercourse with prostitutes and other members of the nobility on their way through various European cities.

Notable Travelers and Travel Writing

See also: Travel Literature

Due to the educational nature of the Grand Tour, many travelers such as Edward Gibbon, wrote travel memoirs. Others such as Elizabethan travelers Andrew Boorde and William Thomas, wrote books about the inhabitants of the countries they visited. Notable works in this genre include Goethe’s Italienische Reise and Laurence Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy. Recent studies on travel writing have started to include the journals of some the servants accompanying their masters on their Grand Tour, such as Anne Scafe, maid to the Dowager Countess Spencer.

Women on the Grand Tour

Part of the reason why fewer women than men undertook a Grand Tour is that travelling wasn't supposed to be part of women's education and that men were thought to be less interested in a wife more acculturated than them. Nevertheless, women such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Lady Elizabeth Holland, or Friederike Brun also went on the Grand Tour.

Louis Gauffier - Portrait d'Elizabeth Holland avec son fils. The painting shows Lady Elizabeth Holland in Tuscany, a central Grand Tour destination.

These women were motivated to pursue their travels both by a need for independence and a desire to gain knowledge, as witnessed by Wollstonecraft’s letters. Other than their dissatisfaction with their condition at home, another motive for women’s travels was curiosity.

Women’s Grand Tours often differed from men's typical Grand Tours. Women travellers like Lady Mary Coke lived in foreign countries for longer periods of time, and showed particular interest in the natural landscape of the Alps, which were considered an obstacle by many male travellers.

Women's Travel Writings

Like men, women often wrote during their travels, and many letters and travel journals have been preserved. An intimate perspective is provided by the diary of Izabela Czartoryska, a Polish princess who accompanied her son in his Grand Tour and was able to adapt the travel to her interests, learning English and music.

Women's travel writings differed from men’s, because they were generally not meant for publication and contain less artificial accounts of their travels. There are exceptions to this, like Hester Piozzi, a professional traveller and writer, who published her diary, revisited and adapted for the public, in 1789 with the title Observations and Reflections.

Some scholars have suggested that due to their subaltern state in English society women had a more sympathetic attitude towards travellees than men, others reject this assumption, saying that women's judgments of foreign customs varied greatly.

Spa and Seaside Tourism

See also: Spa

English postcard of the old town of Alsfeld in Germany, with tourists on the market square

Before 1870, holidaymaking in Britain was generally an activity undertaken for health purposes, mostly in spa towns. In ancient times, warm baths were widely believed to help the body absorb food better and were used to treat many health problems, such as chest pain, tiredness, joint pain, and headaches. Cold water was used to treat swelling, and for extra healing, people added herbs and oils to baths, while special steam baths were used for women’s health problems.

After a previous period of decline, spas re-emerged as popular travel destinations for wealthy European elites in the 16th and 17th centuries. While some spas did provide treatment to the poor, most early spa visitors were from the elite, drawn not only by the medical benefits but also by the fashion of the time. In England, the support of the royal family inspired aristocrats to seek out water cures. Only the wealthy could afford the long and costly trips to distant spas in places like France, where it could take weeks to receive treatment. This made spas a luxury mainly for those who could afford both the time and cost.

In the 18th century, countries such as Germany, Austria, Spain, France, and England saw a significant rise in this form of modern tourism, with spas growing rapidly during that time.

The Slatina Spa in Slatina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is famous for its characteristics and had attracted tourists since 1870s.

Not only in Europe, but also in other parts of the world, people have long used the medical benefits of spas to relieve pain and improve their health conditions. For example, Montagu is a small town in South Africa, formally established in 1851, that became known for its radioactive thermal springs, which were widely believed to have healing powers, especially for conditions like asthma and rheumatism, and which had been used for more than 150 years. In the early 20th century, particularly after the new central railway connected to the Montagu baths in 1907, the area was promoted as a health resort due to its radioactive mineral waters, dry climate, and fresh air, all of which were considered beneficial for overall well-being. These features made Montagu a popular destination for those seeking both rest and natural medical relief, and in 1936, the town was officially declared a health resort.

Spas like Virginia Hot Springs, White Sulphur Springs, and Saratoga Springs became popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries across the United States for their supposed ability to treat chronic illnesses and improve health.

In the late 1800s, science-based medicine grew in the U.S., and many doctors stopped trusting spas because the health claims seemed too good to be true and weren’t properly studied. Although the medical integrity of spas declined in the late 19th century with the rise of laboratory-based medicine, recent scientific research has renewed interest in their healing value. Today's spa therapies, particularly those involving mineral medicinal waters, are medically recognised for helping with chronic pain, respiratory disease, and post-COVID recovery. From historical practice to modern clinical support, water-based treatment remains a meaningful and evolving part of human health care.

Democratisation of spa and seaside tourism

With the arrival of railways and cheaper travel, spas became more accessible to the lower bourgeoisie in many areas. While still out of reach for the working class, this change boosted medical tourism and also led to the growth of seaside resorts offering both health benefits and relaxation.

Blackpool, Lancashire, England c.1900s

Between 1870 and 1918, and starting in Britain, the working classes also increasingly undertook tourist travel to waterplaces, especially to seaside resorts.

The shift was made possible by five key conditions: the rise in working class income; the emergence of highly populated industrial cities with easy railway access to the coast; the increase in working-class leisure time through the legalisation of workers’ holidays; the development of facilities to meet this growing demand; and, most importantly, the workers’ desire to spend their time and money in seaside resorts.

Postcard of New Brighton Pier, pre-1914

Mass holidays to British seaside resorts such as Blackpool or Brighton became the most distinctive form of tourism in industrial society.

As travel became accessible to broader social groups, differences in taste among destinations emerged, and certain resorts, especially those favoured by the working class, were viewed by dominant classes as emblematic of mass tourism, often dismissed as vulgar and lacking in cultural refinement.

The shift to pleasure

Around 1900, pleasure became a central purpose of seaside tourism. Part of the reason why the working class preferred to spend their time in seaside resorts were the growing perception of the emotional effects of modern urban life and working conditions as pathological, and the resulting belief that it was the emotions themselves that required treatment, highlighting the increasing importance of emotional regulation.

Evolving from the understanding of tourism as a pursuit for health, a new perspective emerged, emphasising the healing power of time spent in seaside resorts, the walks, and the enjoyment of leisure itself, not only for the body, but also for the mind. Holidays offered valuable opportunities for emotional expression and social performance by enabling travel to function as a means of both seeing and being seen, thereby allowing individuals to temporarily escape and step outside the constraints of their everyday roles and routines.

At the beginning of the 20th century in Britain, property ownership and class shaped holiday experiences: working-class resorts like Blackpool, dominated by small property owners, featured lively and energetic entertainment, while elite resorts like Southport, controlled by large property owners, offered the upper class a quieter and more luxurious form of relaxation.

Railways and the rise of tourism

The development of the railways in the nineteenth century played a decisive role in structuring modern tourism in Europe. As a result of the industrial revolution, which transformed transport infrastructures, the railways became a central logistical and cultural instrument in the development of organised tourism. By reducing journey times, lowering travel costs and making timetables more regular, the railways enabled leisure travel to be gradually extended to the bourgeoisie, and then to the working classes.

Most trains were divided into first-, second-, and third-class compartments. Some people were uncomfortable travelling in small compartments with unknown people. Being in such small places with unfamiliar people raised fears among the travellers of the time. People had fears not only of the fast motion of trains along with the fear of catastrophe, but also of crime on board.

Making travel faster, the railway also made the idea of distance shrink. This also put forward the idea that the railways would guarantee peace and democracy between nations and make people more united both socially and spatially.

France

Tourist poster for the Chemin de fer de Clermont-Ferrand au sommet du Puy-de-Dôme (circa 1910). Produced by Louis Tauzin for "the Chemins de fer de Paris à Lyon et à la Méditerranée (PLM) railway company". This poster promotes the cog railway line leading to the summit of Puy-de-Dôme, inaugurated at the beginning of the 20th century. Image in the public domain from Wikipedia Commons. [https://trainconsultant.com/2021/11/11/de-fell-a-hanscotte-ladherence-pour-les-locomotives-a-fortes-rampes/ Source

In France, the rail system was developed from the 1830s on the initiative of private companies, with a centralising approach based around Paris. The first lines, such as the one linking Andrézieux to Saint-Étienne from 1827, were primarily designed to transport coal or goods, not tourism. Tourist use of the railways began to emerge in the 1840s : in 1847, the first ‘pleasure train’ left the Gare Saint-Lazare for the Normandy coast.

The train's first attraction was the experience of the journey itself, linked to a romantic sensitivity to the landscape. Gradually, interest shifted to the destination : railway companies played an active role in the creation or development of seaside resorts (Deauville, Arcachon), spas (La Bourboule, Bagnères-de-Bigorre) and mountain resorts, by facilitating access and organising promotional campaigns. This dynamic intensified in the 1870s, with the launch of the Freycinet plan, followed by notable initiatives such as the Revard cog railway (1892) and the Puy de Dôme tramway (1907).

Tourist rail travel also included international routes : the Orient Express, inaugurated in 1883, between Paris and Constantinople is a model of prestige rail tourism. From the 1890s onwards, many local rail links were developed, enabling a more family-oriented clientele to travel to smaller resorts such as La Baule or Bénodée in Britanny.

During the interwar period, the development of the car and the closures of many secondary lines led to a decline in rail tourism. Some lines were later converted into heritage routes or tourist circuits.

Women and the Railway

In the 19th century, the railway revolution greatly increased personal mobility and gave women the possibility to travel independently. During the Victorian Age, trains were perceived as public spaces where women were expected to maintain their privacy and respectability. Travel diaries, popular writing and railroad narratives about women reveal the social tension that emerged when men and women had to travel in the same shared space. Victorian women had to constantly worry about their public perception and had to uphold their respectability at all times. The Victorian code of conduct also expected men to protect female passengers and make their train journey comfortable; women were to accept such favors, although without compromising their social standing.

Berthold Woltze - Der lästige Kavalier

While 19th-century women's magazines often featured romantic stories set in train carriages, at times, railway journeys posed significant risks to female passengers. The isolation in the carriages and the poor safety measures implemented on the first trains made women more vulnerable to sexual assaults, even when accompanied by their husband or male companion. In these cases, the Victorian etiquette expected female victims to do everything in their power to protect their respectability and report any violations immediately. However, many victims remained silent, fearing the damage to their reputations and wishing to avoid expensive court meetings. As a result, the true extent of such crimes remains uncertain.

Media coverage of railway assaults often exaggerated the dangers women faced by emphasizing female endangerment. While rape was in fact a genuine concern, the resulting moral panic can be interpreted as a socially constructed response that may reflect Victorian society's unease with women’s increasing presence in public spaces. Despite the public alarm, statistical evidence does not suggest that train travel significantly increased incidents of sexual violence; nonetheless, these narratives may have been used to limit women's freedom. Even physicians were told to dissuade women from travelling by rail, as the speed and the stress of the journey could have a negative impact upon their reproductive organs. Such stories and beliefs discouraged women from exercising agency, as they reinforced the stereotype of female vulnerability and dependence on male supervision. However, the increasing number of female passengers who decided to travel alone reveals that women were undaunted by the railway's potential dangers and, instead, embraced the new freedom given by the modern age.

The Package Tour

Thomas Cook

A pioneer of the travel agency business, Thomas Cook's idea to offer excursions came to him while waiting for the stagecoach on the London Road at Kibworth. With the opening of the extended Midland Counties Railway, he arranged to take a group of 540 temperance campaigners from Leicester Campbell Street station to a rally in Loughborough, eleven miles (18 km) away. On 5 July 1841, Thomas Cook arranged for the rail company to charge one shilling per person; this included rail tickets and food for the journey. Cook was paid a share of the fares charged to the passengers, as the railway tickets, being legal contracts between company and passenger, could not have been issued at his own price. This was the first privately chartered excursion train to be advertised to the general public; Cook himself acknowledged that there had been previous, unadvertised, private excursion trains. During the following three summers he planned and conducted outings for temperance societies and Sunday school children. In 1844, the Midland Counties Railway Company agreed to make a permanent arrangement with him, provided he found the passengers. This success led him to start his own business running rail excursions for pleasure, taking a percentage of the railway fares.

In 1855, he planned his first excursion abroad, when he took a group from Leicester to Calais to coincide with the Paris Exhibition. The following year he started his "grand circular tours" of Europe. During the 1860s he took parties to Switzerland, Italy, Egypt, and the United States. Cook established "inclusive independent travel", whereby the traveller went independently but his agency charged for travel, food, and accommodation for a fixed period over any chosen route. Such was his success that the Scottish railway companies withdrew their support between 1862 and 1863 to try the excursion business for themselves.

Tourism, Imperialism and Colonialism

Although tourism is commonly associated with cultural appreciation and leisure, it is also directly connected to power dynamics, conflicts, and cultural representation.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, tourism became an integral aspect of European imperial expansion, and it developed alongside violent colonial domination in many regions of the world. Colonial authorities often developed transportation infrastructure that facilitated the growth of tourism, while simultaneously promoting racialized and demeaning representations of native populations.

North Africa and the Middle East

Tourism in Egypt and Sudan emerged as part of Britain’s imperial project during the 1880s and 1890s. Modern infrastructure, including railways, roads, and waterways, was constructed in Egypt to support tourism.

Thomas Cook pioneered organised travel along the Nile by the late 1860s. His operations relied on support from both the British government and the indebted Egyptian administration. Cook & Son contributed to consolidating Britain’s control by deepening Egypt’s economic dependence on Britain. Thomas Cook's collaboration with the British Empire during the occupation of Egypt facilitated European access to the Middle East through the construction of transportation networks such as steamships on the River Nile. At the same time, it reinforced Eurocentric and imperial politics.

In French North Africa, tourism served colonial interests by reinforcing control over Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. Official tourism policies were implemented shortly before World War I. During the interwar period, tourism was promoted as part of the French civilizing mission and infrastructure expansion. Increased ship and railway networks connected colonial territories and justified tourism development.

In the Ottoman Empire, tourism was welcomed by some locals as an economic opportunity. From 1835 to 1870, visitors from Europe and the U.S. stimulated growth in local services. Tourists commonly arranged excursions through informal agreements with locals. Local guides provided logistics, language skills, and cultural mediation, insulating visitors from locals.

In the Balkans under the Ottoman Empire, British travelers portrayed the region as primitive and barbaric. Their writings often reflected condescending judgments and imperial attitudes.

British India

Colonial tourism in British India was the practice of leisure travel and hospitality infrastructure developed primarily for European elites during British rule from the mid-19th century to 1947. More than recreation, tourism served as a political and cultural tool that asserted imperial authority, reinforced racial hierarchies, and reshaped physical spaces to reflect colonial ideologies.

British India saw the rise of exclusive hill stations, colonial hotels, and advanced transportation networks that facilitated imperial governance and elite mobility. Hill stations such as Shimla, Darjeeling, and Ooty were developed as seasonal retreats for European officers, promoting health, leisure, and a replication of British social life. These towns were modeled on British architecture with clubs, churches, and bungalows, thereby segregating colonial elites from Indian populations.

These spaces also served medical purposes, justified by colonial discourses of tropical degeneration, which framed the Indian lowlands as dangerous to European bodies. Grand colonial hotels, such as those in Bombay and Calcutta, reinforced racial boundaries, often excluding Indian guests and employing them in subordinate roles. These hotels, while offering Western luxuries, functioned as symbols of cultural dominance and social stratification.

Colonial infrastructure such as the Indian Railways enhanced both administrative reach and the tourist experience. Railways and roads connected distant parts of the subcontinent, facilitating the movement of officials, soldiers, and tourists. This infrastructure not only enabled imperial control but also demonstrated the technological prowess of the colonial regime.

Tourism reinforced racial and class divisions. Indigenous people were often objectified as exotic spectacles or employed in servile roles, while colonial representations in photography and literature drew stark contrasts between the "civilized" West and the "Oriental" East. Despite being framed as leisure, colonial tourism was a manifestation of broader systems of cultural hegemony and imperial power.

Depiction of Local Population

In order to foster the development of tourism in the colonies, tourist enterprises used various media to present destinations as attractive for European travellers. Tourism media not only promoted the colonies as tourist destinations and helped shape popular conceptions about them, but also helped consolidate ideas of Western cultural superiority.

Colonial powers justified violence by labelling European culture as superior and 'civilised', while labelling others as 'inferior', 'uncivilised' and 'in need of domestication'. European imperial powers often depicted non-European peoples and cultures as fundamentally different and 'inferior', establishing hierarchical representations of societies in various kinds of media such as academic books, travel journals, and travel guidebooks.

By portraying colonized societies as inferior on the hierarchy of cultural value, they "othered" these populations. The concept of othering refers to the representation of individuals and cultures in a way that simultaneously romanticizes and devalues them, with the goal of establishing dominance. "Othering" also refers to representing peoples while ignoring their own self-representations.

Cook's Oriental Travellers Gazette, 1892.

These narratives, as reflected in travel guidebooks present in the Orientalist collection, often reveal more about the symbolic authority of European powers over colonised regions than they do about the actual cultures depicted. The process of othering and categorizing societies into simplistic binary oppositions—such as civilized/primitive and superior/inferior — contributes to the perpetuation of imperialist ideologies because it silences the voices of local communities and obscures their cultural complexity.

Le charmeur de serpents by Jean-Léon Gérôme (c. 1879).

La Toilette au Harem by Gaspard de Toursky, 20th century.

One notable example is Thomas Cook's travel enterprise established in the United Kingdom in 1841 and his travel newspaper called "The Excursionist". Thomas Cook enterprise promoted touristic excursions and package tours all over the world. In the case of the tour to Egypt, Thomas Cook & Son’s promotional materials aimed to portray it as an "out-of-the-ordinary", wild, yet safe and domesticated destination, appealing to European tourists’ desire for both familiarity and adventure.

Cultural Commodification of Indigenous Peoples

During colonial expeditions and their aftermath, indigenous peoples played a central role in the development of tourism industries, which were closely tied to imperial expansion. Colonizers often advertised travel to exotic lands as both adventurous and enlightening, relying heavily on local cultures as selling points. As a result, indigenous identities were not only exposed to foreign gazes but were also strategically altered. Their traditions, dress, language, and rituals were frequently commodified and selectively modified to align with the expectations and fantasies of colonial tourists.

Guidebooks were influential on the perception of indigenous communities by Western travelers. These publications framed encounters with local populations through a colonial lens, often emphasizing their perceived differences and reinforcing stereotypes. Along with them, promotional materials from travel firms and shipping lines also served to impose imperial ideologies, portraying indigenous people as non-Western and exotic. Rather than offering an objective portrayal, such media served to legitimize imperial ideologies and normalize the subjugation of local cultures within the tourism context.

Such representations were also underlined by stagings of indigenous cultures at popular tourist destinations. In colonial Egypt, for instance, travel brochures often highlighted performances or experiences such as traditional dances, musical displays, or locals engaged in traditional enterprises like trinket sales—all carefully orchestrated under colonial supervision to fit tourist expectations. The exhibitions aimed to affirm colonial dominance while providing entertainment to travelers. This materialization of indigenous identities shaped how tourists consumed their cultural aspects.

Within the indigenous responses that came from around the world, some local populations managed to adapt and actively take part in the tourism economy. A notable example is the Māori in New Zealand, who adjusted their traditional practices—such as carving, storytelling, and ceremonies—to align with tourist expectations. This allowed them to tailor their traditions to meet tourist demand while maintaining cultural integrity and asserting agency.

The effects of the colonial era still persist in modern tourism and continue to influence how indigenous cultures are displayed and interpreted. Preconceived orientalist narratives on destinations continue to shape tourist expectations, which have long been framed as unique or exotic experiences. Such colonial practices not only altered indigenous values through interventions in their lands and lives, but also shaped global perceptions of their cultures and identities.

In Java, tourism in the 1930s was used by the Netherlands to reinforce colonial hierarchies and national identity. Mountain resorts catered to Dutch and international visitors seeking relief from tropical cities. This expansion was underpinned by ideas of environmental determinism and racial superiority.

U.S. Tourism and Imperialism (1870s–1930s)

Between the 1870s and 1930s tourism and the US Empire were closely connected. The development of American tourism was tied to broader imperial and economic processes: the expansion across Native American lands in the 19th century, accompanied by significant social and territorial changes affecting Indigenous communities, the annexation of Puerto Rico, Philippines and Hawaii in 1898 and the affirmation of the USA as a productive and administrative world power.

When the Spanish American War ended in 1898, the USA started exercising their authority over various foreign lands through tourism. For example, the spread of Hawaii's descriptions and photographs in America promoted the islands as an exotic destination. Also Cuba became a attractive island for American tourists. Tourism was used in these territories as a tool by the US empire to attract white tourists and settlers: the goal was to promote consumerism and impose cultural education over hawaiian and cuban people. Like Hawaii, Puerto Rico was considered by the USA an "othered" island with its population and culture typically portrayed through the concept of 'tropicality'. In Puerto Rico, the US Empire not only spread sugar productions but also built schools and tourist infrastructure, such as first-class hotels conceived as winter refuges for the American elite. Travel from the United States to overseas countries constituted a form of international engagement.

At the same time, Americans increasingly travelled to Europe, made possible by rapid modern transport. For wealthy Americans, European trips were seen as signs of social status. Tourism was also used by the US Empire to consolidate the power of the 'new America' opposed to the 'old Europe' and to project U.S. world supremacy.

However, not everyone supported U.S. expansion and its influence abroad: anti-imperialists argued that overseas travel and empire made the modern United States resemble lagging Europe, emphasizing national identity via Republicanism. In fact, some U.S. travellers viewed Europe as being "colonized" in the name of freedom.

Tourism after the First World War

US-American Tourists in Interwar Europe

During the First World War, an increase in domestic tourism occurred in the U.S., as European tourist destinations were not reachable. National parks emerged as a tourist attraction while domestic tourism was seen as an act of patriotism during the war period.

After the First World War ended, the 1920s saw an American travellers increase to Europe, with more than 400,000 travellers crossing the Atlantic Ocean; this peak was only exceeded in the 1950s with the post-war expansion. The commercialisation of travelling as a leisure practice among the mass audience has mainly contributed to this increase in tourist numbers, especially among the middle class. Until 1934, Americans constituted around 65 per cent of the travellers to Europe. Before the launch of transatlantic flight service in 1939, they mainly travelled by ships through transatlantic voyages.

The interwar period saw an increase in the number of women travellers as well, which exceeded 40 per cent by the end of the period. One of the main reasons for this increase was the increasing efforts by shipping companies to attract women travellers, which consequently led to higher employment of stewardesses, in order to look after them.

Americans often went on group tours that included visits to England, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. Among these destinations, tourism in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany during the 1930s occupied a fair space in travel writings due to the political issues back then. American tourists in Italy described this experience in their travel writings as an exceptional one: public displays, speeches, and mass spectacles were described as unusual. The participation of Italian women and children in political aspects drew the attention of tourists, as it was not a normal practice in the U.S. Returning from Germany, some of the American travellers wrote about Germany's resignation from the League of Nations and the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments in 1933, expressing their fears that this action would lead the world into turmoil, these fears came as a reflection to the political atmosphere that the tourists had encountered during their stay in Nazi Germany.

Tourism in Fascist Italy

Italy’s inclusion in the First World War led tourism into a temporary crisis, which intensified the need to establish a national tourism policy. This found fertile ground under the Fascist regime, guided by Benito Mussolini and his far-right authoritarian political party, founded in 1922.

Tourism emerged as a key factor in the economic, political and national fields, hence becoming a fundamental tool for achieving Mussolini’s goals.

The plan of the party was to create a loyal population by promoting leisure travel, using holidays to improve citizens’s health and to create a new tool for political propaganda, - also known as "manufacturing consent". Tourism and leisure activities aimed to educate citizens about their supposed "dominant racial and political superiority".

Through a policy of discounted prices, the government sought to educate the population about the landscape and territory of their country, showcasing the alleged successes of the regime.

The targets were especially focused on the youth population, for whom the regime created the "Opera Nazionale Balilla" and the children's summer camps (colonie). Another key category was workers and their families.

Fascism implemented three different organisations to structure tourism in the country: ENIT (Ente Nazionale Italiano per il Turismo - "Italian Government Tourist Board"), Opera Nazionale del Dopolavoro ("National Afterwork Club") and Aziende Autonome di Cura e di Soggiorno ("Bureau for Health, Holidays and Tourism").

ENIT was established in 1919,, but was improved under Mussolini’s control, when a more structured tourism policy was developed. Its goal was to collect data about touristic movement, tourists’ needs and promote Italy’s treasures to foreigners and Italian citizens. ENIT relied on a broad network of offices around Europe, which also served as centre of diffusion for the fascist propaganda.

The Opera Nazionale del Dopolavoro was established in 1925 with the goal of organising workers’ free time, in order to maximise the party’s control over them. Tours, excursions and other leisure activities were arranged to benefit and take care of citizens’ health and minds, ultimately advantaging the field of tourism and the regime’s economy. Through this organization, the Fascist party aimed to diffuse the patriotic feeling and shape the new "perfect Italian citizen".

Finally, the State founded the Aziende Autonome di Cura e di Soggiorno in 1926, in those municipalities and communities that already had some level of tourist attractions or services. They had to be perceived as an industrial company, as their goals were aimed to promote, spread and increase the value of those areas.

Tourism in National Socialist Germany

Nazi Tourism helped foster patriotism and unity within an Aryan community, the Volksgemeinschaft, in Nazi Germany. Through travel literature, a new tourist gaze was shaped, the Nazi tourist culture, strictly related to the National Socialist ideology. This culture was hidden behind an apparently "normal" and apolitical one, which promoted sightseeing and a seamless continuity with the past. Beneath this surface of normality, exhibits, museums, and Nazi events, such as the annual Nuremberg rallies, helped reinforce Nazi ideals. New tourist attractions connected to the regime and its "martyrs" were created to suppress the democratic past and a form of Hitler tourism started to spread throughout the German Reich.

The organisation Kraft durch Freude organised mass tourism in Nazi Germany

The organisation Kraft durch Freude (KdF) was responsible for organizing leisure activities and travel. It promoted a model of vacation aligned with the Nazi idea of a healthier body and mind, encouraging both physical activities and loyalty toward the Nazi regime. Most German tourists preferred three-day excursions. However, longer cruises were also popular, especially those to Italy and Portugal. During these cruises, Germans living abroad could reconnect with their Heimat by working as guides at the ports. Although KdF promoted its tours as discounted, many families still could not afford them.

A key feature of Nazi tourism was antisemitism, which had also existed during the Weimar Republic. During the Nazi regime, swastikas and Nazi slogans were displayed around the cities and antisemitic materials filled with misinformation and caricatures were published.

Tourist Advertisement for German Towns in The American Illustrated News, a state-sponsored German publication, August-October, 1936 (Olympic number).

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Memorial, Judengasse 1.

A successful example of a Nazi tourism destination was Rothenburg ob der Tauber: a famous medieval town that through its buildings better represented the national past. Thanks to the cooperation of local authorities and the local population, the regime oversaw the removal of both non-German architectural features and the Jewish community, promoting an ethnic cleansing campaign in Rothenburg. The extensive circulation of anti-Jewish literature permitted the spread of stereotypes and contributed to the general indifference of German society toward what was happening to Jews during the Nazi era.

In the areas annexed by Nazi Germany after 1938, antisemitic policies were introduced and central tourism institutions were established. These were supervised by the Reichsfremdenverkehrsverband, which also coordinated with them on tourism destination management. In some cases, countries could remain independent if they were considered friendly and beneficial to the National Socialist Regime. With the outbreak of the Second World War, access to the satellite countries required a pass (Durchlaßschein) and a visa. Moreover, Ostmark (Austria) and the Sudetenland provided medical care for wounded individuals and served as holiday destinations for front-line soldiers and their families.

Tourism after the Second World War

In the period following World War II, an increasing number of individuals from diverse backgrounds were able to participate in tourism.

Rise of Mass Tourism in Europe

From the years following the Second World War until the 1970s, tourism rose greatly across Europe, especially the Western part. This was due to several factors, such as financial incentives, improvements in transport, and social and cultural attractions during this time.

Due to a new law established in 1938 called ‘Holidays with Pay Act 1938’, working class people in Great Britain were able to take paid holidays, meaning that Europe saw an increase in tourism. Trade Unions even pushed for governments to implement flexible working hours, which succeeded in favour of employees. By 1939, many European countries agreed on introducing paid holidays.

During the 1970s, mass tourism emerged even more, mainly due to the energy crisis, which led to lower costs for holidays and flights. Travelling transformed from something that was once limited to an exclusive group, to a much more leisure activity for all.

Mass tourism refers to the presence of multiple tourists together at popular holiday destinations, all with similar travel intentions.

Tourism Infrastructure in Japan and China

In the West, Thomas Cook was a pioneer in group travel. Under his influence, in 1841, large travel groups obtained discounted train tickets for the first time. Then in the late 19th century, group travel also developed in the distant East, Japanese students accompanied by teachers would organize overnight trips to places far from home, which were called “school excursions.” Due to the popularity of “school excursions,” in 1897, student groups began to enjoy discounts for the first time, and special trains for “school excursions” were also launched.

The Shinkansen was a model for rapid railroads in many European countries in the 20th century, such as Germany's construction of InterCity, which drew on the Shinkansen's experience .The impetus for the construction of Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains originated in the 1960s, when automobiles and highways were not yet widely available in Japan. As a result, railways became the primary mode of public transportation, and the development of railways was a pressing need for the Japanese people. Construction of the first Shinkansen, the Tokaido Shinkansen, began in June 1956 to meet the long-term demand for transportation, and was also motivated by the 1964 Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo. The construction of the Tokaido Shinkansen utilized a portion of the existing railroad between Tokyo and Osaka that was developed during World War II, and then it was completed on October 1, 1964, just in time for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. As a result, Japan's railway capacity increased, and the Tokaido Shinkansen transported a large number of passengers for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1970 Osaka World Expo. The Shinkansen expanded rapidly from 1964 to 1990, with the addition of the Okayama Line and the Hakata Line. Even during the decade of Japan's economic bubble, the development and operation of the Shinkansen were not affected.

Like Japan, Beijing has also seen a surge in transportation infrastructure development driven by major international events. However, the difference lies in Beijing's focus on building subway and highway networks to accommodate mass tourism during sports events. Prior to 2001, Beijing had only two subway lines, then during the period from 2001 to the 2008 Olympics, eight subway lines have been constructed, including an airport express line connecting the airport, with a total extension of approximately 143.61 kilometers. The urban transportation system developed in preparation for the Olympics has become part of Beijing's tourism heritage. The layout of the railway attracts people to transfer in the historic center, thereby revitalizing mass tourism in this city.

Racial segregation and tourism in the United States

Prior to the Civil Rights Act, Black travellers encountered specific challenges when travelling within the United States. Jim Crow legislation enforced racial segregation in numerous public spaces, including public transport, accommodation, and tourist sites in general.

The Negro Motorist Green Book was a travel guide published from 1936 to 1967 by Victor and Alma Duke Green. It was aimed at Black travellers in the United States during the era of segregation and listed places where Black travellers were welcome. Several major companies collaborated with the Green Book. For instance, the Esso Standard Oil Company placed advertisements in the Green Book and sold it at their nationwide gas stations.

The travel and leisure experiences of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States after World War II evolved in a contrasting and complex manner. Although significant advances were made over time, obstacles related to segregation, discrimination, and underrepresentation persisted for decades.

African Americans were among the least represented racial groups in the American tourism industry. Studies have shown that, unlike white Americans, African Americans even after the second war world often felt safer traveling short distances, staying in groups, avoiding unplanned stops, dining at familiar chain restaurants, and visiting destinations related to African American heritage. For many, traveling posed considerable risks, as the threat of physical abuse or humiliation remained pervasive. Due to [[segregation laws, particularly those enforced under the Jim Crow system, African Americans were barred from numerous tourist locations, some of which displayed explicit signage such as "Whites Only". As a result, access to many travel and leisure opportunities was effectively denied to this population.

The Jim Crow laws, implemented in the 1870s and not officially dismantled until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, institutionalized racial segregation and aimed to uphold white supremacy by limiting African Americans’ access to public spaces. This phenomenon contributed to what scholars Alderman and Inwood (2004) have termed "racialized tourism landscapes". The tourism industry was deeply shaped by these laws, particularly in Southern states where enforcement was more rigorous. Even in Northern states, which were considered more liberal, some tourist destinations required African Americans to leave before sunset and this, even after the Jim Crow laws were dismantled. A critical resource during this era (1936–1966) was The Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide that listed hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other establishments that welcomed African American travellers. This guide played a vital role in enabling safer and more predictable travel during segregation because Jim Crow practices were still in use.

However, during the post-war period, some white civic leaders sometimes relaxed Jim Crow practices to attract some vacationers. For example, in Miami, a popular destination for wealthy tourists from Latin America—including those of African origin—you can It is noted that the ethnic boundaries have been somewhat blurred due to the widespread use of Spanish and the city’s economic interest in tourism. The growing number of Spanish-speaking tourists had changed the racial landscape of the city. This dynamic has contributed to some extent to local efforts to combat ethnic discrimination, but in one way or another it has led to the harsher application of the Jim Crow laws on racial hierarchy in the southern US.

Global tourism

Until the middle of the 20th century, international tourism was available mostly to citizens of economically strong Western European countries and the United States of America. However, in the 1960s, people from other regions started traveling abroad.

For example, in 1963, 50,000 Soviet citizens traveled to allied countries in Eastern Europe via the travel company Intourist and various trade union organizations. Although trips beyond the socialist bloc were limited, specific groups (such as scientists, athletes, artists, and government officials) could go to Central and Western Europe. By the end of the 1960s, outbound tourism had become more popular among Japanese citizens since the country faced postwar economic growth and state policies encouraged international engagement.

The result of the 1973 oil crisis contributed to the economic development and growing geopolitical importance of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Due to increased incomes, citizens who belonged to the upper and middle classes began traveling to new destinations, especially to European countries for leisure, luxury shopping, and cultural experiences. China stayed closed for outbound tourism until the late 1970s, since the authorities considered foreign trips a potential ideological risk and traveling abroad was permitted only for businessmen, government officials, and students. However, from the end of the 20th century, there was a steady increase in the number of international tourists from China, with major growth observed throughout the 21st century

Though international tourism has become a global phenomenon, access to travel opportunities is extremely unequal: international tourists are primarily citizens of economically strong countries, so far as income differences, visa restrictions, and infrastructure constraints are key factors of the global distribution of mobility. For example, in 2022, the number of tourists coming from both South Asia and Africa was less than 4% of the total number of international tourists, although these regions are inhabited by more than 40% of the world's population

Mass Tourism and Infrastructure

In the early 20th century, new technologies and the expansion of transportation infrastructure transformed tourism from an elite phenomenon to a mainstream phenomenon. Innovations in transportation, played a central role in making travel more accessible. This is the basis of modern mass tourism.

Technological innovations and new infrastructures played a key role in the emerging of mass tourism. Innovations such as the bicycle, the car, and the airplane transformed travel from an elite activity to a social phenomenon for other social classes as well.

At first, tourist infrastructure was located along railway lines or around luxury resorts reserved for the rich. With the advent of the car, especially in the USA between the two world wars, improved roads, mass production and reduced costs allowed middle-class travellers to access the countryside. All of this led to the construction of new motels, campgrounds and roadside attractions, and the gradual increase in pressure on national parks. After 1918, the number of roads increased, allowing the flow of cars to be better distributed and encouraging the development of car tourism. After the end of World War II, the number of car ownership grew exponentially, especially in the United States, where car travel, especially for a family, became a better option for an affordable vacation because cars allowed freedom, flexibility, and access to new destinations.

Air transport emerged as a practical and valuable mode of transportation following the conclusion of World War I, it was only after World War II that it became the main component of international tourism. Air travel “compressed time and space”, allowing tourists to reach distant destinations quickly. By the mid-20th century, the reasons for the growth of international mass tourism were attributed to improved aviation technology, the period of peace in Europe and the increasing well-being of travellers. Nowadays airports have become real "non-places", shared by both tourists and travellers from all over the world. There are several factors that, indirectly, lead a traveller to choose one destination rather than another, including: the context in which they grew up, the money available, safety...

In 1980s, the negative impacts of mass tourism began to appear; the important environmental problems and the cultural perceived only as "commodity". The excessive use of fragile ecosystems and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions are largely due to air transport infrastructure

Chinese Outbound Tourism

Before 1983 where travel was only for business, education, or official purposes. In 1983-1997 the first phase of outbound tourism started with the main purposes of visiting relatives and friends (VFR) in Hong Kong and Macao. After some bilateral agreement, group tours to Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand) for leisure. The second phase started in 1997-2005 when The Approved Destination Status (ADS) program was established they started to travel at their own expenses, granting access to more countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and EU nations leading to a major increase in outbound tourism. Policies to travel for Hong Kong and Macao are also softened which contributes to the increase of tourism .The third phase 2005-Present recognized by the government support on the industry to manage the growing outbound tourism . In 2009 the government also set tourism as a "strategic pillar industry" due to the sharp rise of China's outbound tourism that touched a milestone in 2012 where the number of Chinese tourists exceeded the number of US tourists becoming the world largest outbound tourism source market based on the total departure and expenditures, nearly 155 million in 2019. Despite this great number, the ownership of passports in China is only 10% of the population, which means there’s even a greater market potential in the future of Chinese outbound tourism.

Sex Tourism

Sex tourism involves traveling to another location for the purpose of buying sex.

This practice is common in some developing countries, where it is fostered by the reenactment of heteronormative, colonial, and patriarchal mechanisms, even if it is not exclusive to female sex workers, and it is based on the capitalistic process of commoditization of sexual services. This phenomenon depends not only on economic factors but also on the intertwining of sociocultural and political elements that shape the composition of supply and demand in the field.

The case of Thailand is particularly interesting because it is estimated that 60% of the two million tourists visiting each year are supposedly attracted by bargain-priced sex. The origins of Thai sex tourism industry date to the 1970s, and result from the presence of US military bases during the Vietnam War and a crop price crisis that occurred in Thailand during the 1980s.

During the 1960s, 50,000 American soldiers were deployed near Bangkok, and this led to a transformation in commercial sex: it was common for American troops to go to brothels surrounding US bases, during the Rest and Recreation leave, buying souvenirs and prostitutes.

Because of the agricultural crisis, female field gatherers lost their jobs and tended to migrate to cities to survive, but with limited job opportunities. This union of demand and supply accounts for roughly 50% of the growth of the number of Thai sex workers in 1990:

the presence of US soldiers let Thailand gain its global reputation as a sex tourism destination.

Prostitution was legal in Thailand between 1905 and 1960, but the situation changed with the Anti-prostitution Act that criminalized the profession, punishing the procurer less than the sex worker. As the Act was contrary to the interests of American troops during the Vietnam War, the Entertainment Places Act was enacted in 1966, creating a legal climate under which it was possible to open businesses that mediated commercial sex, but sex work remained illegal for the prostitute. The Tourism Authority of Thailand administrative power encouraged sex tourism by allowing recreational tourists from high-income economies to buy sexual services without fear of criminal persecution.

The economic importance of sex tourism in Thailand has altered political forces to guarantee government officials and local entrepreneurs profits: the World Bank encouraged Thailand to develop mass tourism to aid its economy after the Vietnam War, and the industry evolved to cater to individual male tourists seeking sexual services. This policy together with other historical, religious, and cultural factors, linked Thailand's economy to a growing sex tourism infrastructure.

Digital Colonialism via Instagram

With the decline of books and physical materials related to travel narratives, Instagram has emerged as a new form of travel writing in the 21st century. Similar to early travel literature, which encouraged audiences to set out on a journeys, Instagram now plays a key role in shaping travel decisions. Like early travel writing framed the impression or perception of distant lands, Instagram users also reactivate similar visual tropes associated with imperialism.

Sean P. Smith, an Assistant Professor of Digital Discourse, Literacy, and Practice at Tilburg University, argues that visual motifs on Instagram echo a colonial iconography that portrays tourist destinations as available for possession and consumption, thereby erasing local place and identity, similar to how early travel writing functioned. Smith examines motifs on Instagram: the tropical exotic and the promontory gaze.

The tropical exotic visual mode implies ownership and control over lands by depicting destinations as empty and dehistoricised paradises, erasing the local population’s historical ties to the land. This methodology renders the land open for occupation by outsiders. Such visual trope techniques are based on the colonial-era practice. The Orientalist photograph in the 19th century often erased indigenous people from the photos, and this potentially led to a colonizing gaze that imperial expansions were legitimate.

The promontory gaze refers to the behavior of visually dominating a landscape from high spots such as mountains and hills. This visual trope implies a relationship of mastery, where viewers perceive themselves as controlling what is seen epistemologically. Sociologists John Urry and Jonas Larsen argue that "seeking distance" and "gaining a proper view" enables the seer to "take possession of objects and environments often at a distance" in the Western epistemic sense of sight. The cumulative effect of the act, desire for the "best shot", can lead to changing the destination’s economy, infrastructure, and social ways to prioritize the visual demands of tourists over respect for longstanding local patterns of life. The process of visual commodification in which landscapes are "owned", "displayed", and "distributed" has also been consumed in the form of postcards and photo albums long before the advent of Instagram. This practice has increasingly prioritized the commodity value of visual appeal over the intrinsic value of historical and cultural landscapes.

History of dark tourism

Dark tourism, or thanatourism, is a subcategory of tourism where the tourist site has a morbid history or theme, typically involving death, suffering, natural or man-made disasters, violence, or crime. Tourists partaking in dark tourism are not usually aware of it; common motives for visiting these sites include history, education, remembrance, entertainment or pilgrimage.

Early forms of dark tourism can be traced back to the Roman Empire (gladiator fights) and the Middle Ages (pilgrimages, public hangings). The earliest modern dark tourism sites became popular in early 1800s, promoted by the Romantic Movement's interest in "beautiful death" and Gothic aesthetics. The first significant examples of dark tourism include tours of the battlefield of Waterloo and the archaeological site of Pompeii. During the Victorian era, dark tourism broadened to include visiting morgues, catacombs, gravesites of authors and artists as well as locations of notorious murders. In addition, anatomy and pathology exhibitions were in fashion.

The A-Bomb dome in Japan is a part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, a popular tourist destination

Mexico’s Island of the Dolls is an example of ghost tourism

Dark tourism's popularity has soared over the last 200 years, especially post-World War II, with mass media, popular culture and increasing commercialization and marketing of dark tourism sites. In addition to death- and disaster-related tourist sites, more light-hearted dark tourism attractions emerged, such as theme parks, haunted houses and exhibitions with macabre themes. These sites are not as focused on specific locations and concentrate on the entertainment aspect of dark tourism. Other important forms of dark tourism include prison and cemetery tourism, holocaust and genocide tourism (e.g. sites of Rwandan and Cambodian genocides) and ghost tourism, which involves paranormal phenomena.

Tourism and War Memory

Tourism of memory refers to the practice of visiting sites associated with war, trauma, and collective suffering, with the aim of commemoration, education, and reflection. This form of heritage tourism has contributed significantly to shaping post-war cultural landscapes and collective identities.

In Europe, the post-World War periods witnessed a systematic integration of war memorials into national and regional tourism strategies, particularly in areas that experienced heavy conflict. Memorials functioned simultaneously as sites of mourning and as tools for promoting state narratives and shaping historical consciousness.

The Kazimierz district of Kraków, a historically Jewish neighborhood, illustrates how Holocaust tourism has evolved into a structured memoryscape influenced by selective interpretation and commercial interests. Although many tourists seek authentic connections with the past, the experiences are often mediated through the lens of contemporary politics and cultural commodification.

War-related heritage sites play a role in reinforcing shared memory and constructing group identities, yet they may also reduce complex histories to simplified, celebratory narratives. The development of the so-called "memory industry" demonstrates the tensions between educational value and the commercialisation of remembrance.

Following 1945, visits to battlefields, war cemeteries, and concentration camps became an increasingly common form of tourism, distinct from leisure travel and aligned with broader memorial cultures. The entrenchment of trauma and memory in public consciousness and the tourism sector reflects a structural shift in how societies engage with their violent pasts.