For human geographers, a central theme within the discipline is interpreting and

understanding our changing world a world in which geographic patterns are constantly
being reworked by powerful forces of change. These forces include population shifts, new
patterns of economic production and consumption, evolving social and political structures,
new forms of urbanism, and globalisation and the compressions of time and space that are
the product of the ongoing revolutions in information technology and telecommunications.

What is tourism?

What is tourism and how does it relate to associated concepts of recreation and leisure?
The word tourism, although accepted and recognised in common parlance, is never- theless a term that is subject to
a diversity of definitions and interpretations (Leiper, 1993). Definitional problems arise because the word tourism
is typically used not only as a single term to designate a variety of concepts (Gilbert, 1990), but also as an area
of study in a range of disciplines that includes geography, economics, business and market- ing, sociology,
anthropology, history and psychology. The conceptual structures and epistemologies within these different
disciplines lead inevitably to contrasts in perspective and emphasis. The core elements derived from
these popular de nitions that distinguish tourism
activity include:
Tourism involves travel with the temporary relocation of people.
Motivations for tourism may come from one or more sources, including pleasure,
business, education, social relations, health and religion.
Tourism requires an accessible supporting infrastructure of transport, accommodation,
marketing systems, entertainment and attractions that together form the basis for
the tourism industries.