tourism activities synonym

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noun as in travel for pleasure

Strongest matches

Strong matches

• exploration
• globetrotting

Weak matches

• peregrination

Discover More

Example sentences.

Those who transmigrate into the bodies of the less fortunate are accused of tourism, voyeurism.

The pollution closes beaches that are vital to San Diego’s tourism economy.

Covid-19 has brought tourism from China to the UK to a standstill.

Even as most domestic air travel routes have opened now, aviation and tourism experts believe that the country is unlikely to resume international commercial flights before October.

Growth is now expected to collapse in many countries especially those dependent on tourism and resources, such as oil and mineral exporters.

Slowly, two were opened up, and in 2010 the regional government opened all four Brogpa villages in a push for tourism.

Religious profiteering has spread beyond the tourism industry.

Apparently tourism in the country had jumped tenfold since the film hit theaters.

In recent years news outlets have documented the rise of so-called “birth tourism” here in America.

But the site has seen little of the decimation from heavy tourism that has plagued the northern pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

For years too few doctors have seen clearly that gymnastic tourism and sport do more for health than all doctors taken together.

Increasing tourism has resulted in special problems in resort areas.

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On this page you'll find 11 synonyms, antonyms, and words related to tourism, such as: null, travel, exploration, globetrotting, journey, and passage.

From Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.

• ABBREVIATIONS
• BIOGRAPHIES
• CALCULATORS
• CONVERSIONS
• DEFINITIONS

  Vocabulary      

What is another word for tourism ?

Synonyms for tourism ˈtʊər ɪz əm tourism, this thesaurus page includes all potential synonyms, words with the same meaning and similar terms for the word tourism ., princeton's wordnet rate this synonym: 2.7 / 7 votes.

tourism, touristry noun

the business of providing services to tourists

"Tourism is a major business in Bermuda"

Synonyms: touristry

PPDB, the paraphrase database Rate these paraphrases: 1.5 / 2 votes

List of paraphrases for "tourism":

tourist , tourisme , turismo , travel , touristique , sightseeing , touristic , tour , tourism-related , passenger , tourists , scenic

How to pronounce tourism?

How to say tourism in sign language, words popularity by usage frequency, how to use tourism in a sentence.

Marco Fontanari :

Many of those who used to work in tourism have found another kind of work.

Adam Markham :

If the attributes that attract tourists there in the first place are damaged by climate change, that could be a big blow to the tourism economies.

Robert Niles :

Disney is the market leader in not just the theme park business, but in tourism worldwide, it tells the industry that tourists likely will be back traveling again soon because no one draws tourists like Disney can.

Arnold Coster :

People can just sign up like it's tourism, there are a lot of people who still have a valid permit from 2015 and didn't show up this year. I think next year is going to be extremely busy.

Huntington Beach :

The health and safety of our residents and visitors is of the utmost importance. We understand the significance our beaches have on tourism, our economy, and our overall livelihood here in Huntington Beach, it is important that our decision to reopen our shoreline and water be based on data and that we continue to monitor the water quality going forward.

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• tourer noun
• Tourette syndrome
• touring car noun
• tourism noun
• tourism-related
• tourist noun
• tourist class noun
• tourist court noun

Alternative searches for tourism :

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Tourism synonyms

What is another word for tourism .

• touristry travel for pleasure
• travel travel for pleasure
• passage travel for pleasure
• globetrotting travel for pleasure
• exploration travel for pleasure
• peregrination
• sightseeing
• service sector
• vacation industry
• leisure industry
• holiday business
• seeing the sights
• backpacking
• transference
• transmittal
• transmittance
• visiting the attractions
• going to places of interest
• service industries

Synonyms of tourist

• as in traveller
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Thesaurus Definition of tourist

Synonyms & Similar Words

• excursionist
• rubbernecker
• vacationist

Thesaurus Entries Near tourist

touring cars

tourist court

Cite this Entry

“Tourist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tourist. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on tourist

Nglish: Translation of tourist for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of tourist for Arabic Speakers

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UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

UN standards for measuring tourism

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Glossary of tourism terms

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Activity/activities : In tourism statistics, the term activities represent the actions and behaviors of people in preparation for and during a trip in their capacity as consumers ( IRTS 2008, 1.2 ).

Activity (principal): The principal activity of a producer unit is the activity whose value added exceeds that of any other activity carried out within the same unit ( SNA 2008, 5.8 ).

Activity (productive): The (productive) activity carried out by a statistical unit is the type of production in which it engages. It has to be understood as a process, i.e. the combination of actions that result in a certain set of products. The classification of productive activities is determined by their principal output.

Administrative data : Administrative data is the set of units and data derived from an administrative source. This is a data holding information collected and maintained for the purpose of implementing one or more administrative regulations.

Adventure tourism : Adventure tourism is a type of tourism which usually takes place in destinations with specific geographic features and landscape and tends to be associated with a physical activity, cultural exchange, interaction and engagement with nature. This experience may involve some kind of real or perceived risk and may require significant physical and/or mental effort. Adventure tourism generally includes outdoor activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, rock climbing, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, canyoning, mountain biking, bush walking, scuba diving. Likewise, some indoor adventure tourism activities may also be practiced.

Aggregated data : The result of transforming unit level data into quantitative measures for a set of characteristics of a population.

Aggregation : A process that transforms microdata into aggregate-level information by using an aggregation function such as count, sum average, standard deviation, etc.

Analytical unit : Entity created by statisticians, by splitting or combining observation units with the help of estimations and imputations.

Balance of payments : The balance of payments is a statistical statement that summarizes transactions between residents and non-residents during a period. It consists of the goods and services account, the primary income account, the secondary income account, the capital account, and the financial account ( BPM6, 2.12 ).

Bias : An effect which deprives a statistical result of representativeness by systematically distorting it, as distinct from a random error which may distort on any one occasion but balances out on the average.

Business and professional purpose (of a tourism trip): The business and professional purpose of a tourism trip includes the activities of the self-employed and employees, as long as they do not correspond to an implicit or explicit employer-employee relationship with a resident producer in the country or place visited, those of investors, businessmen, etc. ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Business tourism : Business tourism is a type of tourism activity in which visitors travel for a specific professional and/or business purpose to a place outside their workplace and residence with the aim of attending a meeting, an activity or an event. The key components of business tourism are meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. The term "meetings industry" within the context of business tourism recognizes the industrial nature of such activities. Business tourism can be combined with any other tourism type during the same trip.

Business visitor : A business visitor is a visitor whose main purpose for a tourism trip corresponds to the business and professional category of purpose ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Central Product Classification : The Central Product Classification (CPC) constitutes a complete product classification covering goods and services. It is intended to serve as an international standard for assembling and tabulating all kinds of data requiring product detail, including industrial production, national accounts, service industries, domestic and foreign commodity trade, international trade in services, balance of payments, consumption and price statistics. Other basic aims are to provide a framework for international comparison and promote harmonization of various types of statistics dealing with goods and services.

Census : A census is the complete enumeration of a population or groups at a point in time with respect to well defined characteristics: for example, Population, Production, Traffic on particular roads.

Coastal, maritime and inland water tourism : Coastal tourism refers to land-based tourism activities such as swimming, surfing, sunbathing and other coastal leisure, recreation and sports activities which take place on the shore of a sea, lake or river. Proximity to the coast is also a condition for services and facilities that support coastal tourism. Maritime tourism refers to sea-based activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports and includes their respective land-based services and infrastructure. Inland water tourism refers to tourism activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports which take place in aquatic- influenced environments located within land boundaries and include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, groundwater, springs, cave waters and others traditionally grouped as inland wetlands.

Coherence : Adequacy of statistics to be combined in different ways and for various uses.

Competitiveness of a tourism destination : The competitiveness of a tourism destination is the ability of the destination to use its natural, cultural, human, man-made and capital resources efficiently to develop and deliver quality, innovative, ethical and attractive tourism products and services in order to achieve a sustainable growth within its overall vision and strategic goals, increase the added value of the tourism sector, improve and diversify its market components and optimize its attractiveness and benefits both for visitors and the local community in a sustainable perspective.

Consistency : Logical and numerical coherence.

Country of reference : The country of reference refers to the country for which the measurement is done. ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Country of residence : The country of residence of a household is determined according to the centre of predominant economic interest of its members. If a person resides (or intends to reside) for more than one year in a given country and has there his/her centre of economic interest (for example, where the predominant amount of time is spent), he/she is considered as a resident of this country.

Country-specific tourism characteristic products and activities : To be determined by each country by applying the criteria of IRTS 2008, 5.10 in their own context; for these products, the activities producing them will be considered as tourism characteristic, and the industries in which the principal activity is tourism-characteristic will be called tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 5.16 ).

Cultural tourism : Cultural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions.

Data checking : Activity whereby the correctness conditions of the data are verified. It also includes the specification of the type of error or of the condition not met, and the qualification of the data and their division into "error-free data" and "erroneous data".

Data collection : Systematic process of gathering data for official statistics.

Data compilation : Operations performed on data to derive new information according to a given set of rules.

Data confrontation : The process of comparing data that has generally been derived from different surveys or other sources, especially those of different frequencies, in order to assess and possibly improve their coherency, and identify the reasons for any differences.

Data processing : Data processing is the operation performed on data by the organization, institute, agency, etc., responsible for undertaking the collection, tabulation, manipulation and preparation of data and metadata output.

Data reconciliation : The process of adjusting data derived from two different sources to remove, or at least reduce, the impact of differences identified.

Destination (main destination of a trip): The main destination of a tourism trip is defined as the place visited that is central to the decision to take the trip. See also purpose of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.31 ).

Destination management / marketing organization (DMO) : A destination management/marketing organization (DMO) is the leading organizational entity which may encompass the various authorities, stakeholders and professionals and facilitates tourism sector partnerships towards a collective destination vision. The governance structures of DMOs vary from a single public authority to a public/ private partnership model with the key role of initiating, coordinating and managing certain activities such as implementation of tourism policies, strategic planning, product development, promotion and marketing and convention bureau activities. The functions of the DMOs may vary from national to regional and local levels depending on the current and potential needs as well as on the decentralization level of public administration. Not every tourism destination has a DMO.

Documentation: Processes and procedures for imputation,  weighting,  confidentiality  and suppression rules, outlier treatment and data capture should be fully documented by the  survey provider.  Such documentation should be made available to at least  the body financing the survey.

Domestic tourism : Domestic tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor within the country of reference, either as part of a domestic tourism trip or part of an outbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Domestic tourism consumption : Domestic tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Domestic tourism expenditure : Domestic tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor within the economy of reference, (IRTS 2008, 4.15(a)).

Domestic tourism trip : A domestic tourism trip is one with a main destination within the country of residence of the visitor (IRTS 2008, 2.32).

Domestic visitor : As a visitor travels within his/her country of residence, he/she is a domestic visitor and his/her activities are part of domestic tourism.

Durable consumer goods : Durable consumer goods are goods that may be used repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more, assuming a normal or average rate of physical usage. When acquired by producers, these are considered to be capital goods used for production processes, as is the case of vehicles, computers, etc. When acquired by households, they are considered to be consumer durable goods ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.39 ). This definition is identical to the definition of SNA 2008, 9.42 : A consumer durable is a goodthat may be used for purposes of consumption repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more.

Dwellings : Each household has a principal dwelling (sometimes also designated as main or primary home), usually defined with reference to time spent there, whose location defines the country of residence and place of usual residence of this household and of all its members. All other dwellings (owned or leased by the household) are considered secondary dwellings ( IRTS 2008, 2.26 ).

Ecotourism : Ecotourism is a type of nature-based tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to observe, learn, discover, experience and appreciate biological and cultural diversity with a responsible attitude to protect the integrity of the ecosystem and enhance the well-being of the local community. Ecotourism increases awareness towards the conservation of biodiversity, natural environment and cultural assets both among locals and the visitors and requires special management processes to minimize the negative impact on the ecosystem.

Economic analysis : Tourism generates directly and indirectly an increase in economic activity in the places visited (and beyond), mainly due to demand for goods and services thatneed to be produced and provided. In the economic analysis of tourism, one may distinguish between tourism's 'economic contribution' which refers to the direct effect of tourism and is measurable by means of the TSA, and tourism's 'economic impact' which is a much broader concept encapsulating the direct, indirect and induced effects of tourism and which must be estimated by applying models. Economic impact studies aim to quantify economic benefits, that is, the net increase in the wealth of residents resulting from tourism, measured in monetary terms, over and above the levels that would prevail in its absence.

Economic territory : The term "economic territory" is a geographical reference and points to the country for which the measurement is done (country of reference) ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Economically active population : The economically active population or labour force comprises all persons of either sex who furnish the supply of labour for the production of goods and services as defined by the system of national accounts during a specified time-reference period (ILO, Thirteenth ICLS, 6.18).

Economy (of reference): "Economy" (or "economy of reference") is an economic reference defined in the same way as in the balance of payments and in the system of national accounts: it refers to the economic agents that are resident in the country of reference ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Education tourism : Education tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation the tourist's engagement and experience in learning, self-improvement, intellectual growth and skills development. Education Tourism represents a broad range of products and services related to academic studies, skill enhancement holidays, school trips, sports training, career development courses and language courses, among others.

Employees : Employees are all those workers who hold the type of job defined as "paid employment" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employer-employee relationship : An employer-employee relationship exists when there is an agreement, which may be formal or informal, between an entity and an individual, normally entered into voluntarily by both parties, whereby the individual works for the entity in return for remuneration in cash or in kind ( BPM6, 11.11 ).

Employers : Employers are those workers who, working on their own account with one or more partners, hold the type of job defined as a "self-employment job" and, in this capacity, on a continuous basis (including the reference period) have engaged one or more persons to work for them in their business as "employee(s)" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employment : Persons in employment are all persons above a specified age who, during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in paid employment or self-employment (OECD GST, p. 170).

Employment in tourism industries : Employment in tourism industries may be measured as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in any of their jobs, as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in their main job, or as a count of the jobs in tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 7.9 ).

Enterprise : An enterprise is an institutional unit engaged in production of goods and/or services. It may be a corporation, a non-profit institution, or an unincorporated enterprise. Corporate enterprises and non-profit institutions are complete institutional units. An unincorporated enterprise, however, refers to an institutional unit —a household or government unit —only in its capacity as a producer of goods and services (OECD BD4, p. 232)

Establishment : An establishment is an enterprise, or part of an enterprise, that is situated in a single location and in which only a single productive activity is carried out or in which the principal productive activity accounts for most of the value added ( SNA 2008, 5.14 ).

Estimation : Estimation is concerned with inference about the numerical value of unknown population values from incomplete data such as a sample. If a single figure is calculated for each unknown parameter the process is called "point estimation". If an interval is calculated within which the parameter is likely, in some sense, to lie, the process is called "interval estimation".

Exports of goods and services : Exports of goods and services consist of sales, barter, or gifts or grants, of goods and services from residents to non-residents (OECD GST, p. 194)

Frame : A list, map or other specification of the units which define a population to be completely enumerated or sampled.

Forms of tourism : There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism. These can be combined in various ways to derive the following additional forms of tourism: internal tourism, national tourism and international tourism.

Gastronomy tourism :  Gastronomy tourism is a type of tourism activity which is characterized by the visitor's experience linked with food and related products and activities while travelling. Along with authentic, traditional, and/or innovative culinary experiences, Gastronomy Tourism may also involve other related activities such as visiting the local producers, participating in food festivals and attending cooking classes. Eno-tourism (wine tourism), as a sub-type of gastronomy tourism, refers to tourism whose purpose is visiting vineyards, wineries, tasting, consuming and/or purchasing wine, often at or near the source.

Goods : Goods are physical, produced objects for which a demand exists, over which ownership rights can be established and whose ownership can be transferred from one institutional unit to another by engaging in transactions on markets ( SNA 2008, p. 623 ).

Gross fixed capital formation : Gross fixed capital formation is defined as the value of institutional units' acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets. Fixed assets are produced assets (such as machinery, equipment, buildings or other structures) that are used repeatedly or continuously in production over several accounting periods (more than one year) ( SNA 2008, 1.52 ).

Gross margin : The gross margin of a provider of reservation services is the difference between the value at which the intermediated service is sold and the value accrued to the provider of reservation services for this intermediated service.

Gross value added : Gross value added is the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 3.32 ).

Gross value added of tourism industries : Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI) is the total gross value added of all establishments belonging to tourism industries, regardless of whether all their output is provided to visitors and the degree of specialization of their production process ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.86 ).

Grossing up : Activity aimed at transforming, based on statistical methodology, micro-data from samples into aggregate-level information representative of the target population.

Health tourism : Health tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation, the contribution to physical, mental and/or spiritual health through medical and wellness-based activities which increase the capacity of individuals to satisfy their own needs and function better as individuals in their environment and society. Health tourism is the umbrella term for the subtypes wellness tourism and medical tourism.

Imputation : Procedure for entering a value for a specific data item where the response is missing or unusable.

Inbound tourism : Inbound tourism comprises the activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference on an inbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Inbound tourism consumption : Inbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Inbound tourism expenditure : Inbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(b) ).

Innovation in tourism : Innovation in tourism is the introduction of a new or improved component which intends to bring tangible and intangible benefits to tourism stakeholders and the local community, improve the value of the tourism experience and the core competencies of the tourism sector and hence enhance tourism competitiveness and /or sustainability. Innovation in tourism may cover potential areas, such as tourism destinations, tourism products, technology, processes, organizations and business models, skills, architecture, services, tools and/or practices for management, marketing, communication, operation, quality assurance and pricing.

Institutional sector : An aggregation of institutional units on the basis of the type of producer and depending on their principal activity and function, which are considered to be indicative of their economic behaviour.

Institutional unit : The elementary economic decision-making centre characterised by uniformity of behaviour and decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function.

Intermediate consumption : Intermediate consumption consists of the value of the goods and services consumed as inputs by a process of production, excluding fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as consumption of fixed capital ( SNA 2008, 6.213 ).

Internal tourism : Internal tourism comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident and non-resident visitors within the country of reference as part of domestic or international tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(a) ).

Internal tourism consumption : Internal tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of both resident and non-resident visitors within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and inbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Internal tourism expenditure : Internal tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of visitors, both resident and non-resident, within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and inbound tourism expenditure. It includes acquisition of goods and services imported into the country of reference and sold to visitors. This indicator provides the most comprehensive measurement of tourism expenditure in the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(a) ).

International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities : The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) consists of a coherent and consistent classification structure of economic activities based on a set of internationally agreed concepts, definitions, principles and classification rules. It provides a comprehensive framework within which economic data can be collected and reported in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking. The classification structure represents a standard format to organize detailed information about the state of an economy according to economic principles and perceptions (ISIC, Rev.4, 1).

International tourism : International tourism comprises inbound tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips and the activities of non-resident visitors within the country of reference on inbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(c) ).

International visitor : An international traveller qualifies as an international visitor with respect to the country of reference if: (a) he/she is on a tourism trip and (b) he/she is a non-resident travelling in the country of reference or a resident travelling outside of it ( IRTS 2008, 2.42 ).

Job : The agreement between an employee and the employer defines a job and each self-employed person has a job ( SNA 2008, 19.30 ).

Measurement error : Error in reading, calculating or recording numerical value.

Medical tourism : Medical tourism is a type of tourism activity which involves the use of evidence-based medical healing resources and services (both invasive and non-invasive). This may include diagnosis, treatment, cure, prevention and rehabilitation.

Meetings industry : To highlight purposes relevant to the meetings industry, if a trip's main purpose is business/professional, it can be further subdivided into "attending meetings, conferences or congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions" and "other business and professional purposes". The term meetings industry is preferred by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and Reed Travel over the acronym MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) which does not recognize the industrial nature of such activities.

Metadata : Data that defines and describes other data and processes.

MICE : See meetings industry.

Microdata : Non-aggregated observations, or measurements of characteristics of individual units.

Mirror statistics : Mirror statistics are used to conduct bilateral comparisons of two basic measures of a trade flow and are a traditional tool for detecting the causes of asymmetries in statistics (OECD GST, p. 335).

Mountain tourism : Mountain tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in a defined and limited geographical space such as hills or mountains with distinctive characteristics and attributes that are inherent to a specific landscape, topography, climate, biodiversity (flora and fauna) and local community. It encompasses a broad range of outdoor leisure and sports activities.

National tourism : National tourism comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors within and outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(b) ).

National tourism consumption : National tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of resident visitors, within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and outbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

National tourism expenditure : National tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of resident visitors within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and outbound tourism expenditure ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(b) ).

Nationality : The concept of "country of residence" of a traveller is different from that of his/her nationality or citizenship ( IRTS 2008, 2.19 ).

Non-monetary indicators : Data measured in physical or other non-monetary units should not be considered a secondary part of a satellite account. They are essential components, both for the information they provide directly and in order to analyse the monetary data adequately ( SNA 2008, 29.84 ).

Observation unit : entity on which information is received and statistics are compiled.

Outbound tourism : Outbound tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor outside the country of reference, either as part of an outbound tourism trip or as part of a domestic tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39(c) ).

Outbound tourism consumption : Outbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Outbound tourism expenditure : Outbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(c) ).

Output : Output is defined as the goods and services produced by an establishment, a) excluding the value of any goods and services used in an activity for which the establishment does not assume the risk of using the products in production, and b) excluding the value of goods and services consumed by the same establishment except for goods and services used for capital formation (fixed capital or changes in inventories) or own final consumption ( SNA 2008, 6.89 ).

Output (main): The main output of a (productive) activity should be determined by reference to the value added of the goods sold or services rendered (ISIC rev.4, 114).

Pilot survey : The aim of a pilot survey is to test the questionnaire (pertinence of the questions, understanding of questions by those being interviewed, duration of the interview) and to check various potential sources for sampling and non-sampling errors: for instance, the place in which the surveys are carried out and the method used, the identification of any omitted answers and the reason for the omission, problems of communicating in various languages, translation, the mechanics of data collection, the organization of field work, etc.

Place of usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides, and is defined by the location of his/her principal dwelling (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.20 to 2.24).

Probability sample : A sample selected by a method based on the theory of probability (random process), that is, by a method involving knowledge of the likelihood of any unit being selected.

Production account : The production account records the activity of producing goods and services as defined within the SNA. Its balancing item, gross value added, is defined as the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption and is a measure of the contribution to GDP made by an individual producer, industry or sector. Gross value added is the source from which the primary incomes of the SNA are generated and is therefore carried forward into the primary distribution of income account. Value added and GDP may also be measured net by deducting consumption of fixed capital, a figure representing the decline in value during the period of the fixed capital used in a production process ( SNA 2008, 1.17 ).

Production : Economic production may be defined as an activity carried out under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit that uses inputs of labour, capital, and goods and services to produce outputs of goods or services ( SNA 2008, 6.24. ).

Purpose of a tourism trip (main): The main purpose of a tourism trip is defined as the purpose in the absence of which the trip would not have taken place ( IRTS 2008, 3.10. ). Classification of tourism trips according to the main purpose refers to nine categories: this typology allows the identification of different subsets of visitors (business visitors, transit visitors, etc.) See also destination of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 3.14 ).

Quality of a tourism destination : Quality of a tourism destination is the result of a process which implies the satisfaction of all tourism product and service needs, requirements and expectations of the consumer at an acceptable price, in conformity with mutually accepted contractual conditions and the implicit underlying factors such as safety and security, hygiene, accessibility, communication, infrastructure and public amenities and services. It also involves aspects of ethics, transparency and respect towards the human, natural and cultural environment. Quality, as one of the key drivers of tourism competitiveness, is also a professional tool for organizational, operational and perception purposes for tourism suppliers.

Questionnaire and Questionnaire design : Questionnaire is a group or sequence of questions designed to elicit information on a subject, or sequence of subjects, from a reporting unit or from another producer of official statistics. Questionnaire design is the design (text, order, and conditions for skipping) of the questions used to obtain the data needed for the survey.

Reference period : The period of time or point in time to which the measured observation is intended to refer.

Relevance : The degree to which statistics meet current and potential users' needs.

Reliability : Closeness of the initial estimated value to the subsequent estimated value.

Reporting unit : Unit that supplies the data for a given survey instance, like a questionnaire or interview. Reporting units may, or may not, be the same as the observation unit.

Residents/non-residents : The residents of a country are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located in its economic territory. For a country, the non-residents are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located outside its economic territory.

Response and non-response : Response and non-response to various elements of a survey entail potential errors.

Response error : Response errors may be defined as those arising from the interviewing process. Such errors may be due to a number of circumstances, such as inadequate concepts or questions; inadequate training; interviewer failures; respondent failures.

Rural tourism : Rural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's experience is related to a wide range of products generally linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle / culture, angling and sightseeing. Rural tourism activities take place in non-urban (rural) areas with the following characteristics:

• Low population density;
• Landscape and land-use dominated by agriculture and forestry; and
• Traditional social structure and lifestyle

Same-day visitor (or excursionist): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Sample : A subset of a frame where elements are selected based on a process with a known probability of selection.

Sample survey : A survey which is carried out using a sampling method.

Sampling error : That part of the difference between a population value and an estimate thereof, derived from a random sample, which is due to the fact that only a subset of the population is enumerated.

Satellite accounts : There are two types of satellite accounts, serving two different functions. The first type, sometimes called an internal satellite, takes the full set of accounting rules and conventions of the SNA but focuses on a particular aspect of interest by moving away from the standard classifications and hierarchies. Examples are tourism, coffee production and environmental protection expenditure. The second type, called an external satellite, may add non-economic data or vary some of the accounting conventions or both. It is a particularly suitable way to explore new areas in a research context. An example may be the role of volunteer labour in the economy ( SNA 2008, 29.85 ).

SDMX, Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange : Set of technical standards and content-oriented guidelines, together with an IT architecture and tools, to be used for the efficient exchange and sharing of statistical data and metadata (SDMX).

Seasonal adjustment : Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique to remove the effects of seasonal calendar influences on a series. Seasonal effects usually reflect the influence of the seasons themselves, either directly or through production series related to them, or social conventions. Other types of calendar variation occur as a result of influences such as number of days in the calendar period, the accounting or recording practices adopted or the incidence of moving holidays.

Self-employment job : Self-employment jobs are those jobs where remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits (or the potential of profits) derived from the goods or services produced.

Self-employed with paid employees : Self-employed with paid employees are classified as employers.

Self-employed without employees : Self-employed without employees are classified as own-account workers.

Services : Services are the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units, or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets. They cannot be traded separately from their production. By the time their production is completed, they must have been provided to the consumers ( SNA 2008, 6.17 ).

Social transfers in kind : A special case of transfers in kind is that of social transfers in kind. These consist of goods and services provided by general government and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) that are delivered to individual households. Health and education services are the prime examples. Rather than provide a specified amount of money to be used to purchase medical and educational services, the services are often provided in kind to make sure that the need for the services is met. (Sometimes the recipient purchases the service and is reimbursed by the insurance or assistance scheme. Such a transaction is still treated as being in kind because the recipient is merely acting as the agent of the insurance scheme) (SNA 2008, 3.83).

Sports tourism : Sports tourism is a type of tourism activity which refers to the travel experience of the tourist who either observes as a spectator or actively participates in a sporting event generally involving commercial and non-commercial activities of a competitive nature.

Standard classification : Classifications that follow prescribed rules and are generally recommended and accepted.

Statistical error : The unknown difference between the retained value and the true value.

Statistical indicator : A data element that represents statistical data for a specified time, place, and other characteristics, and is corrected for at least one dimension (usually size) to allow for meaningful comparisons.

Statistical metadata : Data about statistical data.

Statistical unit : Entity about which information is sought and about which statistics are compiled. Statistical units may be identifiable legal or physical entities or statistical constructs.

Survey : An investigation about the characteristics of a given population by means of collecting data from a sample of that population and estimating their characteristics through the systematic use of statistical methodology.

System of National Accounts : The System of National Accounts (SNA) is the internationally agreed standard set of recommendations on how to compile measures of economic activity in accordance with strict accounting conventions based on economic principles. The recommendations are expressed in terms of a set of concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that comprise the internationally agreed standard for measuring indicators of economic performance. The accounting framework of the SNA allows economic data to be compiled and presented in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking ( SNA 2008, 1.1 ).

Total tourism internal demand : Total tourism internal demand, is the sum of internal tourism consumption, tourism gross fixed capital formation and tourism collective consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.114 ). It does not include outbound tourism consumption.

Tourism : Tourism refers to the activity of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ).

Tourism characteristic activities : Tourism characteristic activities are the activities that typically produce tourism characteristic products. As the industrial origin of a product (the ISIC industry that produces it) is not a criterion for the aggregation of products within a similar CPC category, there is no strict one-to-one relationship between products and the industries producing them as their principal outputs ( IRTS 2008, 5.11 ).

Tourism characteristic products : Tourism characteristic products are those that satisfy one or both of the following criteria: a) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share total tourism expenditure (share-of-expenditure/demand condition); b) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share of the supply of the product in the economy (share-of-supply condition). This criterion implies that the supply of a tourism characteristic product would cease to exist in meaningful quantity in the absence of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 5.10 ).

Tourism connected products : Their significance within tourism analysis for the economy of reference is recognized although their link to tourism is very limited worldwide. Consequently, lists of such products will be country-specific ( IRTS 2008, 5.12 ).

Tourism consumption : Tourism consumption has the same formal definition as tourism expenditure. Nevertheless, the concept of tourism consumption used in the Tourism Satellite Account goes beyond that of tourism expenditure. Besides the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips, which corresponds to monetary transactions (the focus of tourism expenditure), it also includes services associated with vacation accommodation on own account, tourism social transfers in kind and other imputed consumption. These transactions need to be estimated using sources different from information collected directly from the visitors, such as reports on home exchanges, estimations of rents associated with vacation homes, calculations of financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM), etc. ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.25 ).

Tourism destination : A tourism destination is a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries in which a visitor can spend an overnight. It is the cluster (co-location) of products and services, and of activities and experiences along the tourism value chain and a basic unit of analysis of tourism. A destination incorporates various stakeholders and can network to form larger destinations. It is also intangible with its image and identity which may influence its market competitiveness.

Tourism direct gross domestic product : Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP) is the sum of the part of gross value added (at basic prices) generated by all industries in response to internal tourism consumption plus the amount of net taxes on products and imports included within the value of this expenditure at purchasers' prices ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.96 ).

Tourism direct gross value added : Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) is the part of gross value added generated by tourism industries and other industries of the economy that directly serve visitors in response to internal tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.88 ).

Tourism expenditure : Tourism expenditure refers to the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables, for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips. It includes expenditures by visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are paid for or reimbursed by others ( IRTS 2008, 4.2 ).

Tourism industries : The tourism industries comprise all establishments for which the principal activity is a tourism characteristic activity. Tourism industries (also referred to as tourism activities) are the activities that typically producetourism characteristic products. The term tourism industries is equivalent to tourism characteristic activities and the two terms are sometimes used synonymously in the IRTS 2008, 5.10, 5.11 and figure 5.1 .

Tourism product : A tourism product is a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as natural, cultural and man-made resources, attractions, facilities, services and activities around a specific center of interest which represents the core of the destination marketing mix and creates an overall visitor experience including emotional aspects for the potential customers. A tourism product is priced and sold through distribution channels and it has a life-cycle.

Tourism ratio : For each variable of supply in the Tourism Satellite Account, the tourism ratiois the ratio between the total value of tourism share and total value of the corresponding variable in the Tourism Satellite Account expressed in percentage form ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.56 ). (See also Tourism share).

Tourism Satellite Account : The Tourism Satellite Account is the second international standard on tourism statistics (Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008 –TSA:RMF 2008) that has been developed in order to present economic data relative to tourism within a framework of internal and external consistency with the rest of the statistical system through its link to the System of National Accounts. It is the basic reconciliation framework of tourism statistics. As a statistical tool for the economic accounting of tourism, the TSA can be seen as a set of 10 summary tables, each with their underlying data and representing a different aspect of the economic data relative to tourism: inbound, domestic tourism and outbound tourism expenditure, internal tourism expenditure, production accounts of tourism industries, the Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) attributable to tourism demand, employment, investment, government consumption, and non-monetary indicators.

Tourism Satellite Account aggregates : The compilation of the following aggregates, which represent a set of relevant indicators of the size of tourism in an economy is recommended ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.81 ):

• Internal tourism expenditure;
• Internal tourism consumption;
• Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI);
• Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA);
• Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP).

Tourism sector : The tourism sector, as contemplated in the TSA, is the cluster of production units in different industries that provide consumption goods and services demanded by visitors. Such industries are called tourism industries because visitor acquisition represents such a significant share of their supply that, in the absence of visitors, their production of these would cease to exist in meaningful quantity.

Tourism share : Tourism share is the share of the corresponding fraction of internal tourism consumption in each component of supply ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.51 ). For each industry, the tourism share of output (in value), is the sum of the tourism share corresponding to each product component of its output ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.55 ). (See also Tourism ratio ).

Tourism single-purpose consumer durable goods : Tourism single-purpose consumer durables is a specific category of consumer durable goods that include durable goods that are used exclusively, or almost exclusively, by individuals while on tourism trips ( TSA:RMF 2008 , 2.41 and Annex 5 ).

Tourism trip : Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.29 ).

Tourist (or overnight visitor): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Tourism value chain : The tourism value chain is the sequence of primary and support activities which are strategically fundamental for the performance of the tourism sector. Linked processes such as policy making and integrated planning, product development and packaging, promotion and marketing, distribution and sales and destination operations and services are the key primary activities of the tourism value chain. Support activities involve transport and infrastructure, human resource development, technology and systems development and other complementary goods and services which may not be related to core tourism businesses but have a high impact on the value of tourism.

Travel / traveller : Travel refers to the activity of travellers. A traveller is someone who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration ( IRTS 2008, 2.4 ). The visitor is a particular type of traveller and consequently tourism is a subset of travel.

Travel group : A travel group is made up of individuals or travel parties travelling together: examples are people travelling on the same package tour or youngsters attending a summer camp ( IRTS 2008, 3.5 ).

Travel item (in balance of payments): Travel is an item of the goods and services account of the balance of payments: travel credits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by non-residents during visits to that economy. Travel debits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from other economies by residents during visits to other economies ( BPM6, 10.86 ).

Travel party : A travel party is defined as visitors travelling together on a trip and whose expenditures are pooled ( IRTS 2008, 3.2 ).

Trip : A trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips.

Urban/city tourism : Urban/city tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in an urban space with its inherent attributes characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as administration, manufacturing, trade and services and by being nodal points of transport. Urban/city destinations offer a broad and heterogeneous range of cultural, architectural, technological, social and natural experiences and products for leisure and business.

Usual environment: The usual environment of an individual, a key concept in tourism, is defined as the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines ( IRTS 2008, 2.21 ).

Usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.16 to 2.18).

Vacation home : A vacation home (sometimes also designated as a holiday home) is a secondary dwelling that is visited by the members of the household mostly for purposes of recreation, vacation or any other form of leisure ( IRTS 2008, 2.27 ).

Valuables : Valuables are produced goods of considerable value that are not used primarily for purposes of production or consumption but are held as stores of value over time ( SNA 2008, 10.13 ).

Visit : A trip is made up of visits to different places.The term "tourism visit" refers to a stay in a place visited during a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.7 and 2.33 ).

Visitor : A visitor is a traveller taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ). A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Wellness tourism : Wellness tourism is a type of tourism activity which aims to improve and balance all of the main domains of human life including physical, mental, emotional, occupational, intellectual and spiritual. The primary motivation for the wellness tourist is to engage in preventive, proactive, lifestyle-enhancing activities such as fitness, healthy eating, relaxation, pampering and healing treatments.

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Meaning of tourism in English

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• We must ensure that tourism develops in harmony with the environment .
• The island is being destroyed by the relentless march of tourism.
• It is unclear how to mitigate the effects of tourism on the island .
• Service industries such as tourism have become more important in the post-industrial age .
• The region's reliance on tourism is unwise .
• air corridor
• amenity kit
• caravanning
• high season
• package tour
• phrase book
• post-holiday
• put something up
• ranger station
• tourist trap
• trailer park

tourism | American Dictionary

Tourism | business english, examples of tourism, translations of tourism.

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90 English Tourism Vocabulary Words and Phrases [With Sample Dialogues]

English is the most common language used in the international tourism industry.

People who work in the tourism industry use it to communicate with tourists from all over the world.

If you work in tourism or hope to find a job in the industry, it helps to know the right words and phrases for this type of work.

Interacting with Customers

Greeting customers, asking customers questions , responding to questions, checking for understanding, common scenarios in tourism english, giving recommendations, giving directions , making friendly small talk, jobs in hospitality and tourism, jobs at hotels and resorts, bar and restaurant staff, jobs at travel and tourism companies, more tourism vocabulary in english, how to learn english tourism vocabulary, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

You always want to welcome customers or guests with a friendly, professional greeting :

• Good morning (before 12 p.m.)
• Good afternoon (between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m.)
• Good evening (after 5 p.m.)
• Welcome to… [company name] . My name is… [your name] .

Be sure to always use a respectful term to refer to your customers:

• Miss — Young women (under age 30)
• Ma’am — Mature women (over age 30)
• Sir — Men of all ages

For example, using these terms you can now greet customers in a very respectful way:

• Good morning, miss .
• Good afternoon, sir .

If you are working at a hotel, restaurant or tour agency, you can greet a customer and then ask them this question:

Do you have a reservation with us?

To answer the phone, you only need one simple phrase:

Hello, you’ve reached [company name]. This is [your name]. How may I help you?

If you are working with customers in a hotel, before they go to their rooms you can say one of these phrases:

• We hope you enjoy your stay!
• Please let us know if you have any questions or comments during your stay.

You will want to make sure your customers are safe and happy while they are with you. You can do this by asking friendly and polite questions, such as:

• How are you doing this morning? (or afternoon/evening)
• Have you been having a good time?
• Is there anything else we can do to make your experience more enjoyable?

Customers will have many questions, and sometimes you will not know the answer. You may need to ask a coworker or supervisor. When this happens, you can use the following phrases:

• I will get that information for you right away.
• That’s a great question! I will check with my supervisor and let you know.

As a guide, host or receptionist, you will need to double-check for understanding. These phrases are simple and quick ways to make sure you have understood the guest or customer:

• I heard you ask (about flights) . Is that correct?
• So, you said (you wanted to visit the ruins) , right?
• Okay, I understand that (your flight leaves at 3 PM) . Is that correct?

To ask for clarification

Your guest may use vocabulary that you are unfamiliar with. Likewise, they might have an accent that is difficult for you to understand. Here are some polite ways to ask them to repeat or clarify what they said:

• I’m sorry, I didn’t quite understand that. Can you say that again?
• Pardon my English, but I didn’t understand that. Can you say that again?
• I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that. Can you describe what you mean?

To invite your guests to ask questions

You can make all of your guests feel welcome by encouraging them to ask questions:

• Does anyone have any questions?
• Yes, sir? / Yes, ma’am? Do you have a question?
• Please feel free to raise your hand any time if you have a question.
• So, any questions?

When working in tourism, you might need to give directions to tourists, share recommendations for a good restaurant or attraction or make friendly conversation.

In these scenarios, you will play the part of the “guide,” but it could be any job where you interact with tourists. Practice these dialogues so you feel confident using these words and phrases in your interactions.

• For (authentic cuisine, family activities, etc.), I recommend…
• My favorite place is…
• Personally, I suggest…

Tourist: Excuse me, do you know a good place for ice cream?

Guide: Oh, yes. For really good ice cream, I recommend Maria’s. It’s located about six blocks from here, and it’s my favorite place. Personally, I suggest the chocolate cherry flavor. I think your family will like it.

Tourist: Great, thanks!

If you work in tourism, you will need to give directions to visitors. Here are some key phrases you might use to explain how to get somewhere: 

• Go straight
• Stop at the…
• Continue until…
• Take the subway (or bus, train, etc.)
• Follow the signs for…
• At the traffic light
• At the next street (or light, block, etc.)
• In five blocks
• Near the hotel (or beach, station, etc.)
• On the main plaza

See this post for more words and phrases for giving directions: 

Asking for and giving directions in English is a helpful skill, and this guide will show you the important vocabulary you need to know, with audio pronunciation included!…

Tourist: Can you tell me how to get to the theater?

Guide: Sure! The theater is near the train station. You need to go straight down this street for one block. At the next street, turn left. Continue until you see a sign for the theater, in about five blocks. If you’re lost, you can follow the signs for the train station. Does that make sense?

Tourist: Yes, thank you!

Here’s a helpful video to practice basic phrases for giving directions:

Here are some phrases that you can use when you want to make friendly conversation with a guest or visitor:

• So, are you enjoying your time in (Paris) so far?
• Tell me, what is your favorite part of the city so far?
• What do you think of the (architecture, food, beach, festival, etc.) ?

This vocabulary will help you a lot when you are working in the tourism industry or searching for jobs. 

• Bellhop / baggage handler — the person who will open the front door for guests and carry their bags to their rooms
• Concierge / receptionist — the person at the front desk who welcomes the guests, gives out room keys, helps guests make reservations and takes payments for reservations
• Maid / housekeeper — the person who cleans the hotel rooms ( see English vocabulary for housekeeping here ) 
• Janitor — the person responsible for cleaning everything outside of hotel rooms, such as the lobby and other common areas 
• Groundskeeper — the person who takes care of all the plants outside the hotel
• Maintenance worker — the person who fixes anything that stops working in the hotel 
• Manager / supervisor — the person who makes sure everything goes well at the hotel, hires employees, teaches new employees how to do their jobs and makes sure that guests are happy
• Event planner — the person who makes sure the hotel is ready for big events such as business conventions (meetings) or weddings 

Here are a couple of vocabulary guides for working in hotels:

Practicing English for receptionists can help you greet and assist hotel guests with ease. By studying the right phrases, you can prepare yourself to handle common…

Knowing hotel vocabulary in English is essential if you want to work in the hospitality industry. Check out our list of 100+ vocabulary words and phrases on everything…

These jobs might exist at a hotel if it has a bar and/or restaurant. 

• Bartender — the person who makes and serves drinks at the bar 
• Host / hostess — the person who stands at the entrance to the restaurant and welcomes guests, brings them to a table and takes reservations on the phone and in person
• Server / waiter / waitress — the person who serves customers who are eating at the restaurant (“waiter” refers to a male, “waitress” refers to a female and “server” can refer to any gender)
• Busboy / busser — the person who makes sure that tables are clean and ready for customers
• Chef / cook — the person who prepares food at the restaurant

If you work or want to work in a bar or restaurant, check out this vocabulary guide next:

Click here to learn English for restaurant staff! Here, we have information about six essential restaurant positions, the common phrases used by each one and study…

There are entire companies that exist just to help travelers book their trips. If you work for one of these companies, you will either work in an office or outside the office helping travelers enjoy their time in your city or country.

• Secretary / administrative assistant — someone who takes care of the whole office by organizing paperwork, making and receiving phone calls, organizing the office schedule and taking reservations for tours and trips
• Travel agent — someone who helps people find the most affordable flights, hotels, etc. and helps them buy tickets and make reservations before they travel
• Tour guide — someone who goes out with tourists and takes them on adventures to explore towns, cities, farms, mountains, jungles and more
• Taxi driver / private driver — someone who drives tourists in a taxi or private car between different places, and sometimes on a tour around the area
• Shuttle driver — someone who drives a large vehicle (usually a small bus or large van) to transport groups of people between places, such as from the hotel to some popular tourist destinations or between the hotel and the airport
• Airline agent — someone who works at the desk of an airline (a company that owns airplanes and provides transportation services with them)
• Flight attendant — someone who takes care of passengers on airplanes by serving food and drinks and giving safety instructions ( see English vocabulary for flight attendants here )
• Cruise attendant — someone who takes care of people on boats and ships by doing the same things as flight attendants, providing services like food and drinks and giving safety instructions
• Translator — someone who translates between different languages in writing, such as for tourism guides or flyers 
• Interpreter — someone who translates between two languages by listening and speaking, often to help tourists and visitors understand and speak with local people
• Recreational guide — someone who goes with tourists to do activities like yoga, surfing, cycling, running, hiking and climbing mountains

Here is a list of common tourism-related English words. You might be asked questions with these words or you might need to use them yourself. Make sure you’re familiar with them and can use them in full sentences.

• Tourist – someone who travels to different places for enjoyment or to see new things
• Attractions — places of interest that are often visited by tourists, such as museums or amusement parks
• Landmark – a special or famous place that people can easily recognize, often used for giving directions
• Destination – a place to which people travel for leisure, business or other purposes
• Guide – a person who helps tourists by showing them around and giving them information about a place
• Guidebook – a book that provides information for travelers about a particular destination, including attractions, hotels and restaurants
• Souvenir – a small item that people buy to remember a place they visited, like a keychain or a postcard
• Itinerary – a plan or schedule that shows the activities or places someone will visit during their trip
• Accommodation – a place where travelers can stay overnight, such as a hotel, hostel or campground 
• Transportation – the way people travel from one place to another, such as by car, bus, train or airplane
• Passport – a document issued by a government that proves a person’s identity and nationality, allowing them to travel internationally
• Visa – a stamp or document given by a country’s government that allows someone to enter or stay in that country for a certain period of time, usually for tourism, work, or study
• Business district — also called the financial district, this is the center of the city where many offices, banks and companies are located
• Entertainment district — a part of a city where there are lots of restaurants, bars, theaters and other fun places
• Dining district — an area within a city with a lot of restaurants 
• Custom — a traditional way of doing something that is common in a particular culture or society
• Highlight — the most interesting or exciting part of something, often the main attraction 
• Scenery — the natural features of an area, such as mountains, rivers or forests, that people find beautiful to look at
• Surroundings — the area or environment around a particular place, including nearby buildings, landscapes and neighborhoods
• Depart — to leave from a place, especially when traveling
• Arrive — to reach or get to a place or destination, especially when traveling
• Recommend — to suggest or advise someone to do something because you think they will enjoy it
• Read the “English for International Tourism” textbooks. They are available in low-intermediate ,  intermediate  and  high-intermediate levels. As long as you have a foundation in English, this series is perfect for learning how to communicate with coworkers and tourists in different tourism-related scenarios. Here are some more English for Tourism books we recommend.  
• Take an English for Tourism course. You can find some great courses on Udemy, such as this English for Business and Tourism course aimed at low-intermediate to intermediate students. Or take lessons with a tutor who specializes in tourism on Preply .
• Complete tourism English courses on Memrise. Focus on Memrise English courses for tourism. These lessons feature English vocabulary words and phrases that anyone in the tourism industry would use in their daily activities. Try spending at least 30 minutes a day using Memrise to brush up on your tourism vocabulary—you’ll notice a difference!
• Follow travel vloggers on YouTube. Look for channels or specific videos about the place where you will be working. Engage in discussions in the comments as well! Not only will that make using YouTube more fun , but it will also require you to learn and use new words during your chats back and forth with others.
• Participate in discussions on travel forums. Travel forums allow you to use your new tourism vocabulary with native speakers and practice written English . On TripAdvisor , you can talk with English speakers about traveling, hotels, restaurants, transportation and more. The /r/travel subreddit is a great place to talk about everything related to tourism. 
• Give yourself daily homework. A great place to start is  the tourism section of ESL Conversation Questions . You’ll find a variety of tourism-related topics that you can discuss with your friends and coworkers. If you’re a hospitality professional, check out Oxford University Press’ free online workbook series, English for Careers . 

Bookmark this page so you can come back and view this tourism vocabulary whenever you have some free time.

Soon you will be able to communicate with any tourist who crosses your path!

If you like learning English through movies and online media, you should also check out FluentU. FluentU lets you learn English from popular talk shows, catchy music videos and funny commercials , as you can see here:

If you want to watch it, the FluentU app has probably got it.

The FluentU app and website makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition, and useful examples.

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the activity or practice of touring , especially for pleasure.

the business or industry of providing information, accommodations, transportation, and other services to tourists .

the promotion of tourist travel, especially for commercial purposes.

Origin of tourism

Words nearby tourism.

• Tourette's syndrome
• Tourette syndrome
• touring car
• touring company
• tourist car
• tourist class
• tourist court

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tourism in a sentence

Those who transmigrate into the bodies of the less fortunate are accused of tourism , voyeurism.

The pollution closes beaches that are vital to San Diego’s tourism economy.

Covid-19 has brought tourism from China to the UK to a standstill.

Even as most domestic air travel routes have opened now, aviation and tourism experts believe that the country is unlikely to resume international commercial flights before October.

Growth is now expected to collapse in many countries especially those dependent on tourism and resources, such as oil and mineral exporters.

Slowly, two were opened up, and in 2010 the regional government opened all four Brogpa villages in a push for tourism .

Religious profiteering has spread beyond the tourism industry.

Apparently tourism in the country had jumped tenfold since the film hit theaters.

In recent years news outlets have documented the rise of so-called “birth tourism ” here in America.

But the site has seen little of the decimation from heavy tourism that has plagued the northern pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

For years too few doctors have seen clearly that gymnastic tourism and sport do more for health than all doctors taken together.

Increasing tourism has resulted in special problems in resort areas.

British Dictionary definitions for tourism

/ ( ˈtʊərɪzəm ) /

tourist travel and the services connected with it, esp when regarded as an industry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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IELTS Vocabulary – Tourism

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Considering that tourism is one of the biggest industries in the world, questions about tourism are common on the IELTS examination. You may be asked about trips you have taken or the wider impact of different types of tourism. Therefore, it is essential that you know and understands a range of words and phrases used to discuss tourism and related issues. This page contains commonly used IELTS vocabulary that will help make your answers more advanced and natural sounding. There are some exercises for you to practice using the words with some real IELTS questions.

Table of Contents

• General Tourism Vocabulary
• General Tourism Vocabulary Activity
• Tourism Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, and Collocations
• Tourism Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, and Collocations Activity

1. General Tourism Vocabulary

• Accommodation – The places where tourists/visitors stay. For example, hotels, hostels etc…
• Acculturation – The process of incorporating the values of other cultures. For example, a destination may adapt to the culture of visitors.
• Backpacking – To travel, often to more than one destination, with your belongings in a backpack
• Camping – A holiday spent in a tent or camper van
• Cruise – A sea-based trip taking a pre-planned route that involves visiting several ports
• Ecotourism – Tourism that does not cause damage to the natural environment
• Excursion – A short trip usually taken whilst on holiday
• Footfall – The number of people who enter an area/shop
• Heritage – Objects and characteristics that are valued because of their cultural or historical significance
• Homeland – The country you were born/brought up in
• Infrastructure – The basic organisational structures in a place such as roads, transport systems, power supply, water etc…
• Itinerary – A detailed plan of a route or journey. It usually includes times, dates, prices etc…
• Luggage – The collective name for the suitcases/bags that you take on a trip
• Luxurious – Of high quality
• Mass tourism – Tourism on a large scale, often with standardised packages
• Overseas – In a different country
• Picturesque – Something that has an attractive or pretty appearance
• Resorts – Places or destinations that are popular with tourists
• Safari – A type of holiday/trip to observe or hunt animals. Most common in Africa.
• Seasonal – Only occurring at certain times of the year
• Sightseeing – The act of visiting different attractions or sights
• Skiing holiday – A holiday where the primary purpose is to ski or engage in winter sports
• Souvenir – Something you keep as a reminder of a place
• To book – To reserve a flight or accommodation
• To stroll – To walk, often slowly, with no particular destination in mind
• Touristy – Places that are adapted or designed specifically for tourists, or places that have lots of tourists
• Traditional/Quaint – Old-fashioned and attractive

2. General Tourism Vocabulary Activity

Ielts vocabulary – tourism-1, 3. tourism idioms, phrasal verbs, and collocations.

Possessing the ability to use idioms, phrasal verbs and collocations correctly when discussing tourism will enable you to gain a higher score when you come to take the IELTS exam. Here are some useful words and phrases that you can use to make your answers sound more natural and advanced.

• A sense of adventure – A desire to explore and engage in adventurous activities
• A thirst for adventure – A desire to do something adventurous
• All-inclusive – A trip where all food, drink, and accommodation are provided
• Around the world – A large proportion of the world. Many destinations/continents.
• Booked-up – Fully sold out or full
• Bucket list – The places you want to visit and things you want to do in your lifetime
• Check-in – Arrive and register at an airport or hotel
• City break – A short 2- or 3-day trip to a city destination
• Day trip – A trip that only lasts for one day
• Get around – To move from place to place
• Get away – To go on holiday/vacation/ (n) The holiday/vacation itself
• Guided tour – Part of a trip where tourists are taken from place to place and given information by a guide
• Head for/towards – To go in a certain direction or the direction of a specific place
• Itchy feet – The desire to travel
• Long haul/Short-haul destination – A destination far away from your home/ close to your home
• Long haul/Short-haul flight- A flight that takes 6 + hours / A flight that takes -3 hours
• Low-cost-airline – An airline that offers cheap with a minimal level of on-board service
• On a shoestring – With a low amount of money
• Out of season – The part of the year when it is not very busy
• Package holiday – A holiday where the flight and accommodation, and often food, are included
• Peak season – The busiest time of the year. For example, school holidays and Christmas
• The road less travelled – The places where not many people have been
• Travelling light – To go on a trip with little bags or luggage

4. Idioms, Phrasal Verbs, and Collocations Activity

Ielts vocabulary – tourism-2.

For more practice, Visit COVID 19 vocabulary .

Vocab articles short lists

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One thought on “IELTS Vocabulary – Tourism”

The exercise help me a lot, I´ll try to keep in touch. Thanks Encarna

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