Publisher's Synopsis
The idea of travel is an ancient phenomenon. Today, it is generally associated with the notion of tourism. From the early historical consciousness, man has had a fascination for tourism. The urge to visit new places and search for a change of environment and experiences is not a new phenomenon. Due to the tremendous development in the means of transport and communication, the whole world became practically one neighborhood and travel became an easy task. Today, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries of the world. In the whole of human ventures, tourism confirms an immense significance. It is a great source of employment. As being a highly labour-intensive industry, contributes to both the semi-skilled and the unskilled. Indeed, it confirms a major source of income and generates employment for individuals in different places.
Besides economic benefits to a country by way of earning foreign exchange and employment generation, tourism performs many other functions as well. It marks a tremendous contribution to the improvement of social and political understanding. Tourism is an important means of promoting cultural exchanges and international cooperation. As a mass phenomenon of an essentially social nature, tourism can no longer be viewed as a fringe activity. Both in the use, it makes of time and space and its relationships with the production of goods and services, tourism has become one of the pivotal concerns of nations and of the international community.
