A tourism system connects the place a trip starts, the route taken and the destination, along with the services the traveller uses.
A tourist is a visitor who stays overnight outside their usual environment on a trip lasting less than a year. The purpose may be leisure, business or visiting relatives. It does not include taking a job with an organisation based in the place visited. A same-day visitor does not stay overnight.
Domestic tourism stays within a country. International tourism crosses a national border. These definitions matter when comparing visitor statistics.
A trip connects three parts of a tourism system. The tourist generating region is where it begins. The destination region is the main place visited. Transit routes connect them by road, rail, air or sea, sometimes through intermediate stops. A city's role changes with the journey: it can send tourists, receive them or serve as a stop along the way.
The people and businesses involved depend on one another. This is interdependence. A travel agent needs reliable transport and accommodation. A hotel needs visitors and suppliers. Travellers need information and services.
Changing one link can affect the whole journey. A new direct route may make a destination easier to reach, bringing more visitors or drawing them away from somewhere else. The attraction matters, but so do the connections and services.
Step by step
Locate the trip's origin
Identify the generating region for this particular journey.
Follow the route
Identify the connection and any stopovers that affect accessibility, cost or time.
Identify the destination
Locate the main experience and the businesses and organisations supporting it.
Worked example: One city, several roles
Imagine a trip from Town A through Hub B to Island C. A is the generating region, B is a transit stop and C is the destination. If a resident of C visits B, their roles change. These labels describe a particular journey, not permanent types of place.
Watch out for this
A place can only be a destination or a generating region, never both.
Residents can leave a place while visitors arrive there. Its role depends on the trip being examined.
Check your understanding
A traveller changes trains in Town B on the way from A to a holiday in C. What is B's role in this journey?
- A transit point on the route.
- Always the generating region, because it has a station.
- The only destination any traveller could have.