The Difference Between Traveler and Tourist
People often claim there’s a distinction between travelers and tourists, with tourists being linked with negative effects of travel such as overtourism. Yet in reality, most people who identify themselves as travelers also serve as tourists.
Engaging in local tourism by playing tourist in your own town is an excellent way to give local tourism an extra boost and discover places you may never have visited before. Here are a few tips to get you going:
1. Go on a staycation
“Staycation” is an emerging trend in tourism that has gained increased traction with covid-19 restrictions and global energy issues. It consists of taking a vacation closer to home (domestic tourism).
Staycations offers many advantages. One obvious one is cost savings as you won’t spend as much on airfare and fuel for the journey, plus other travel costs like visas, international travel insurance policies and foreign currency exchange services.
Staying at home will also make it easier to unwind. Enjoy leisure activities such as visiting museums, hiking, yoga retreats, cycling through wine regions or driving past them on wine tasting tours. Also discover local cuisine by supporting restaurants, pubs or cafes; this helps bolster local economies while making tourism more sustainable – you may discover hidden gems within your own town that you had not explored previously!
2. Pick up a guidebook
Tourists are people who travel for pleasure. Tourists typically visit beaches, amusement parks, castles and cities, historical sites and other museums – as well as historical events such as battle re-enactments – but sometimes earn themselves an unfavorable reputation due to being loud or camera-toting; some even argue they obstruct local economies by disrupting them!
Sociologists argue that tourists can be divided into various categories depending on their motivations and needs, including eudaimonic, cultural and educational tourists (Cohen 1974). While eudaimonic tourists seek new experiences while cultural tourists seek familiar things from an alternate angle. Tourists are further classified as either spontaneous travelers or planned ahead travellers.
3. Take yourself out for a meal
Tourists are travelers who travel for leisure purposes. Although some people might view them negatively, tourists are simply travelers looking to experience new parts of the world – beaches, amusement parks, castles and big cities are popular tourist spots.
Tourism, the practice of traveling for recreation, is one of the world’s leading economic activities and provides millions of jobs worldwide. Unfortunately, however, tourists are becoming increasingly stereotyped and mischaracterized as economic actors. It can also be seen within academic social studies and sociology literature; Cohen notes this trend when stating “modern man is curiously attracted to things, sights, customs and cultures that differ radically from his own” (1974). Tourists seek new experiences, which is what defines them as tourists. Unfortunately, however, certain behaviors that could define a bad tourist include loudly vocalizing opinions or disapproval for other cultures in front of those from those cultures and assuming everyone should speak their own language.
4. Book a stay at a local hotel
Tourists are defined as people who travel for leisure purposes, usually for recreational reasons such as visiting beaches, amusement parks, castles or big cities for vacation purposes. Tourists tend to explore various cultures and customs of their host nation while being interested in foods, languages or religions that differ from their own.
Tourism has rapidly increased over recent decades due to its wide array of options for those who seek a break from everyday life. Thanks to advances in air transport infrastructure, travel has become more affordable to people from all backgrounds; now there is an array of hotels and resorts catering to different kinds of holiday-goers.
People often hold the belief that travellers have more positive associations than tourists do, with claims stating they tend to be friendlier towards the environment, think more, travel slowly (i.e. backpackers), engage in cultural tourism activities and are less likely to cause environmental degradation than tourists are – in which tourists may be associated with negative connotations like enclave tourism, economic leakage in tourism and lazing around on beaches taking selfies.
