The history of tourism

The rise of tourism can be traced back to Ancient Greece, much like many of the most important aspects of our modern society. In those days, traveling was limited to the most affluent in society, since they were the only ones with the means to take time away from their work without the risk of putting their livelihoods in danger. During this time, most trips were taken by young men, and were used as educational, and those men usually returned and were afforded higher positions in society, since they were then seen as more educated.

 

A resurgence of tourism was seen after the Middle Ages in the Renaissance era, when affluence became a more stable status after the feudal era that had existed for hundreds of years before. During this time, many Europeans travelled around to the East, to other parts of Europe and to the ‘New World’ in order to spread the teachings of the Enlightenment, rationality and skepticism, and to learn the ways of the people they were to encounter. Much of what was learnt during this time was used to integrate new technologies and ideas into European societies, and this is why there are, to this day, many different cultural influences to be found in the writings and artworks of the Enlightenment.

 

The 19th century saw the rise of the railroads, and the forward thinking Thomas Cook, one of the pioneers of what has come to be known as the modern tourism industry. Wider access to railroads and long distance travel meant that more people were able to travel, and pioneers like Cook helped to set up systems and packages that people paid for in order to experience certain parts of the world.

 

While modern tourism takes on many faces, from leisure tourism, to educational, cultural, religious and even health related tourism, much of what we have come to know as tourism remains the same as it was before. Tourists aim to broaden their horizons and to experience the world in new ways. Perhaps the reasons for traveling will change in the future, but for now, we all remain quite transfixed on the idea of learning all there is to know about the world.