los angeles

Los Angeles Attractions

There are few cities that offer as much entertainment, excitement and diversity as do the attractions in Los Angeles. For years movies and songs have portrayed LA as the place to make it big as a model, actor or musician. Hopefuls pack their bags and leave their homes for the promise of lure and fame.

Today LA boasts attractions like the famous Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame, which honors those who have made a difference in film, music and stage. Walking and sight seeing tours are a great way to see and experience Hollywood. Everything is located near Grauman's Chinese Theater where film and music enthusiasts can place their hands in the handprints and shoeprints of their favorite celebrities. Guided bus tours also of Hollywood offer an outside glimpse of the homes of the rich and famous.

Some of the best concerts in music history have been played at the Hollywood Bowl, another major Los Angeles attraction. This huge historical venue has been the playing stage for huge acts such as Frank Sinatra and The Beatles. Also, no Hollywood trip is complete without a stop at Amoeba Records, the world famous independent music chain right off Sunset Strip.

Los Angeles also offers attractions like the beautiful Getty Museum, which hosts amazing art exhibits and places like Universal Studios Hollywood, where people can see the wonder of movie special effects. California's most popular theme parks like Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and Magic Mountain are just a short drive away, making Los Angeles the perfect tourist getaway.

Visitors to the Los Angeles area will also get a taste of the shopping attractionsRodeo Drive and even the eclectic Melrose Avenue. Shopping enthusiasts will get a taste of designer super stores to small LA fashion inspired boutiques. like the world famous Beverly Center, the high class

Beach area attractions in LA

The beaches are also famous attractions in LA. Just a 30-minute drive from Downtown LA, the entertaining Santa Monica Pier is within walking distance of the Third Street Promenade, which is filled with restaurants, interesting stores, outdoor cafes and all sorts of live entertainment on the streets. Further south of Santa Monica is the Venice Beach Boardwalk, famous for the eclectic people, unique shops and tattoo parlors. The famous Muscle Beach gives passersby's the opportunity to watch hunky men working out. For a more relaxing beach experience locals drive down to the trendy Zuma beach in Malibu, the Pacific Palisades and even Manhattan Beach.

pyramids of egypt

Saqqara

Major pyramids here include the Step Pyramid of Djozer — Egypt's oldest stone monumental building — the Pyramid of Userkaf and the Pyramid of Teti. Also at Saqqara is the Pyramid of Unas, which retains a pyramid causeway that is amongst the best-preserved in Egypt. This pyramid was also the subject of one of antiquities' earliest restoration attempts, conducted under the auspices of one of the sons of Ramesses II. Saqqara is also the location of the incomplete step pyramid of Djozer's successor Sekhemkhet, known as the Buried Pyramid. Archaeologists believe that had this pyramid been completed it would have been larger than Djozer's.

Dahshur

Snofru's Red Pyramid

This area is arguably the most important pyramid field in Egypt outside Giza and Saqqara, although until 1996 the site was inaccessible due to its location within a military base, and hence was virtually unknown outside archaeological circles.

The southern Pyramid of Sneferu, commonly known as the Bent Pyramid is believed to be the first (or by some accounts, second) attempt at creating a pyramid with smooth sides. In this it was only a partial — but nonetheless visually arresting — success; it remains the only Egyptian pyramid to retain a significant proportion of its original limestone casing, and serves as the best example of the luminous appearance common to all pyramids in their original state.

The northern, or Red Pyramid built at the same location by Sneferu was later successfully completed as the world's first true smooth-sided pyramid. Despite its relative obscurity, the Red Pyramid is actually the third largest pyramid in Egypt — after the pyramids of Khufu and Khafre at Giza. Also at Dahshur is the pyramid known as the Black Pyramid of Amenemhet III.

Egypt-land of pyramids

Giza

Giza is the location of the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the "Great Pyramid" and the "Pyramid of Cheops"), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Kephren), and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinus), along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as light bulb pyramids, and the Great Sphinx.

Of the three, only Khafre's pyramid retains part of its original polished limestone casing, towards its apex. This pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu pyramid by virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction — it is, in fact, smaller in both height and volume.

The Giza Necropolis has been a popular tourist destination since antiquity, and was popularised in Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Today it is the only one of the ancient Wonders still in existence.

This site is the location for two unfinished Old Kingdom pyramids. The northern structure's owner is believed to be the Pharaoh Nebka, whilst the southern structure is attributed to the Third Dynasty Pharaoh Khaba, (also known as Hudjefa), successor to Sekhemkhet. Khaba's four-year tenure as pharaoh more than likely explains the similar premature truncation of his step pyramid. Today it is approximately twenty metres in height; had it been completed, it would probably have more than doubled in size.

Malaysia-a place to vicit

It would be an impossible task to describe every one of Malaysia's thousands of beautiful beaches. Ranging from the powdery stretches of sand that characterize the eastern coastline of Peninsular Malaysia to the black sand beach of Pantai Pasir Hitam and the smooth pebble beach of Pantai Batu Kerikil, Malaysia's shores offer more idyllic locales than one could explore in many lifetimes. In addition to the plenitude of beaches along the the peninsula and the coast of Eastern Malaysia, the country also possesses over a hundred tropical islands. Many of these are so beautiful as to have entered into legend centuries ago, like the islands of Langkawi remain desert isles, marked , or Pulau Tioman. Others only by the imprint of the South China Sea on their sands.

Despite such abundance and variety, Malaysia's beaches are noticeably different from those in other parts of the world. They are often less differentiated from the shoreline than those of the Caribbean, for example, tending instead to be almost nestled up against the lush forests that this nation is famous for. The color palette is different as well--golden sands and emerald waters imbue Malaysian beaches with an air of succulent sweetness that isn't found in the cool whites and blues of many western strands. The result is that these beaches impart a very different sensation, a sense of languid peace and a distinct feeling that the division between land and sea is less a sharp line than a smooth continuum.

This continuity is noticeable in Malay culture as well. Kelongs, the traditional villages of coastal Malaysia, are built out over the water on stilts, reversing the usual notion of a beach view. Exploring the waters of Malaysia can produce a similar sense that the sea rather than the land is dominant here--cruising among the islands of Langkawi or those off Johor, for example, or scuba diving and snorkeling among the country's many world-class reefs.

Mauritius-a beauty

The Beaches of Mauritius

One of the most exotic beach destinations we've reviewed is Mauritius. Sometimes, maybe what makes these places so attractive is that they are so hard to get to. It's like digging for gold. When you do find it, it is a pleasure not many have experienced. So we invite you to take a few minutes and see the pictures and videos of one of our favorite spots on earth. You will be delighted and intrigued by what may be your next vacation destination. Enjoy.


Just north of the Tropic of Capricorn lies the island country of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It's actually a few islands; a main island and three other islands, and about 22 largely uninhabited islands.

Mark Twain, who visited the island in 1896, so impressed by its beauty, said, "God first made Mauritius and from it, He created Paradise."

Mauritius is striking because it once was a volcano. Extinct for some 100,000 years, you have peaks and rock strutting right down into the sea. And, as if icing on the wondrous landscape, a coral reef surrounds the islands.

Trivia: The Dodo bird, a large, flightless critter, once lived here. When the Dutch arrived around 1600, they killed off most of them. Their pets killed the rest and they were extinct by 1681. Yes, the Dutch sailors might have eaten a few, but it was actually something else that did them in.

In the 17th century, the Dutch cut down most of the ebony trees and sold them in Europe. This was home and food source for the Dodo bird. Along with the animals brought from the ships; rats, cats, dogs, pigs... these destroyed most of the nests.


The Dutch did bring one thing you may see while you're on Mauritius: deer. The Sambhar Deer is actually a protected species. For pictures of deer and their habitat, we'll post more pictures of Mauritius Sambhar shortly.

goa-one of the best tourist place in india

GOA ANJUNA BEACH




Goa Anjuna beach is one of the most popular beaches in Goa. The beauty of the white waves rushing to embrace the pale golden sand on the beach can be witnessed in full form at the Goa Anjuna beach.
Goa Anjuna beach is a perfect haven for the hippies and you will come across some of them who have been staying on this beach for a couple of months. It is in the late 1950s to mid-1960s that Anjuna beach was "discovered" by the hippies. From then on began the trend of moonlit parties which is one occasion the hippies and now the tourists look forward to.

Why Goa Anjuna beach is special
Goa Anjuna beach comes to life with the flea market and the full-moon beach parties at Goa Anjuna beach that continue through out the night. The flea market at Goa Anjuna beach offers a tourist just about anything he desires, right from swim suits to water-sports equipments to second hand bikes to cameras to various trinkets that can taken away as souvenirs to…just about anything. The Anjuna beach flea market is held on Wednesdays and if you are good at bargaining, then you can walk away with good stuff at throw away prices. You will also be able to find a mixture of good Gujarti, Kashmiri and Tibetan handicrafts. Apart from all this, you can also treat yourself to delicious Goan cuisine…right from mouth-watering prawns to heavenly pork vindaloo.

GOA CANDOLIM BEACH




Goa Candolim beach comes as an ideal beach for those who are slowly getting tired of the crowded beaches of Calangute or Anjuna. Though tourists quite often frequent Candolim beach, you can still find some quiet places for yourself. If you want to try your hand at fishing, you are welcome to do so too. Some hotels at Candolim beaches offer yoga and meditation session which will give any tourist a sense of relief from all the stress and fatigue that he has been trying to run away from by being in Goa.

Why Goa Candolim beach is so special?
Goa Candolim beach offers a variety of sports activites, right from parasailing to water-sking. There are special guides to help you through these daring water sports activites. Besides the main attraction at the Candolim beach in this Indian state of Goa is the special boating excursion especially during the evenings which offers you beautiful views of the sunset…you can really feel the sun touching its all-glory orange and then slowly sinking into the sea. This excursion is definitely worth a try.

GOA DONA PAULA BEACH




Goa Dona Paula beach, associated with a romantic myth, is one of the hottest tourist spot in Goa. People throng the Dona Paula beach not only to enjoy the sun and the sea but also to indulge in water sports on the clear waters. The Dona Paula Beach offers an opportunity to the tourists to have a sunbath and buy cheap seaside goods from local vendors.

There are several shops along the beachside, which sell variety of goods ranging from eatables to clothes. Fishermen-turned-local vendors also sell straw hats, lace handkerchiefs, and spices in these shops. Feni and port wine-the two Goan liquor specialties-are a must buy and local liquor is easily available. Indian handicrafts and jewelery are available at the Indian Arts Emporium in Dona Paula.

Why Goa Dona paula beach is so special?
The beauty of Goa Dona Paula beach has been enhanced by a spooky past which has the tourists thronging to this place. History goes that the beach is named after Dona Paula de Menzes, daughter of a viceroy (in colonial India), who threw herself off the cliff, when refused permission to marry a local fisherman, Gaspar Dias. The myth says that Dona Paula is entombed in the Cabo Chapel of the Raj Bhawan and is supposed to be seen emerging from the moonlit waves wearing only a pearl necklace. This story attracts many tourists and they come here just to feel the sweet pain of love. This beach has also been the location for many Indian movies. Given this dual attraction, Dona Paula Beach has become a popular tourist spots.

GOA CAVELOSSIM AND VARCA BEACHES




Goa Varca beach and Goa Cavelossim beach are filled with soft white sands and doted with black lava rocks at certain places. These beaches being much cleaner and quieter than most of the famous beaches of Goa manage to attract many tourists. There are numerous beach shacks offering a variety of Goan dishes and seafood at reasonable prices. There are several food joints around Dona Sylvia where you can get entire package of good food, good drink, nice service, and a pleasant service at quite reasonable rates.

Why Goa Varca beach, Goa Cavelossim beach are so special?
The main attraction at Goa Varca beach and Goa Cavelossim beach is the facility available for dolphin watching. There are boat trips arranged for this special event. Tourists can book themselves and sail away into the sea to watch the dolphins and if you are lucky, you can even touch these dolphins from close quarters.

Tourism is travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited". Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals.
Tourism is vital for many countries, due to the income generated by the consumption of goods and services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism industry, and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. These service industries include transportation services such as cruise ships and taxis, accommodation such as hotels, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues, and other hospitality industry services such as spas and resorts.

Definition

Both Paris and France remained the most visited city and country these last years; Here, the Eiffel Tower, the World's most visited monument[citation needed]
One of the earliest definitions of tourism was provided by the Austrian economist in 1910, who defined it as, "some total of operators, mainly of an economic nature, which directly relate to the entry, stay and movement of foreigners inside and outside a certain country, city or a region."
Hunziker and Krapf, in 1941, defined tourism as "the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity."[2] In 1976 Tourism Society of England defined it as "Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes." In 1981 International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined Tourism in terms of particular activities selected by choice and undertaken outside the home environment.
The United Nations classified three forms of tourism in 1994 in its Recommendations on Tourism Statistics: Domestic tourism, which involves residents of the given country traveling only within this country; Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country; and Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country.
The UN also derived different categories of tourism by combining the 3 basic forms of tourism: Internal tourism, which comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism;National tourism, which comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism; and International tourism, which consists of inbound tourism and outbound tourism.
Intrabound tourism is a term coined by the Korea Tourism Organization and widely accepted in Korea. Intrabound tourism differs from domestic tourism in that the former encompasses policy-making and implementation of national tourism policies.
Recently, the tourism industry has shifted from the promotion of inbound tourism to the promotion of intrabound tourism because many countries are experiencing tough competition for inbound tourists. Some national policymakers have shifted their priority to the promotion of intrabound tourism to contribute to the local economy. Examples of such campaigns include "See America" in the United States, "Get Going Canada" in Canada, and "Guseok Guseok" (corner to corner) in South Korea.
Before people are able to experience tourism they usually need disposable income (i.e. money to spend on non-essentials); time off from work or other responsibilities; leisure time tourism infrastructure, such as transport and accommodation; and legal clearance to travel.
Individually, sufficient health is also a condition, and of course the inclination to travel. Furthermore, in some countries there are legal restrictions on travelling, especially abroad. Certain states with strong governmental control over the lives of citizens (notably established Communist states) may restrict foreign travel only to trustworthy citizens. The United States prohibits its citizens from traveling to some countries, for example Cuba.

History

Beaches make popular tourist resorts. 90 Mile Beach, Northland, New Zealand.
Wealthy people have always traveled to distant parts of the world to see great buildings or other works of art, to learn new languages, to experience new cultures, or to taste new cuisine. As long ago as the time of the Roman Republic places such as Baiae were popular coastal resorts for the rich.
The terms tourist and tourism were first used as official terms in 1937 by the League of Nations. Tourism was defined as people travelling abroad for periods of over 24 hours.

Pilgrimage


The history of European tourism can perhaps be said to originate with the medieval pilgrimage. Although undertaken primarily for religious reasons, the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales quite clearly saw the experience as a kind of holiday (the term itself being derived from the 'holy day' and its associated leisure activities). Pilgrimages created a variety of tourist aspects that still exist - bringing back souvenirs, obtaining credit with foreign banks (in medieval times utilising international networks established by Jews and Lombards), and making use of space available on existing forms of transport (such as the use of medieval English wine ships bound for Vigo by pilgrims to Santiago De Compostela). Pilgrimages are still important in modern tourism - such as to Lourdes or Knock in Ireland. But there are modern equivalents - Graceland and the grave of Jim Morrison in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
During the seventeenth century, it became fashionable in England to undertake a Grand Tour. The sons of the nobility and gentry were sent upon an extended tour of Europe as an educational experience. The eighteenth century was the golden age of the Grand Tour, and many of the fashionable visitors were painted at Rome by Pompeo Batoni. A modern equivalent of the Grand Tour is the phenomenon of the backpacker, although cultural holidays, such as those offered by Swann-Hellenic, are also important.

Health tourism
Health tourism has always existed, but it was not until the eighteenth century that it became important. In England, it was associated with spas, places with supposedly health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. The most popular resorts were Bath, Cheltenham, Buxton, Harrogate, and Tunbridge Wells. Visits to take 'the waters' also allowed the visitors to attend balls and other entertainments. Continental Spas such as Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) attracted many fashionable travellers by the nineteenth century.
It could be argued that Britain was the home of the seaside holiday. In travelling to the coast, the population was following in the steps of Royalty. King George III made regular visits to Weymouth when in poor health. At the time, a number of doctors argued the benefits of bathing in sea water, and sea bathing as a widespread practice was popularised by the Prince Regent (later George IV), who frequented Brighton for this purpos

Leisure travel

The Colca Canyon in Arequipa, Peru
Leisure travel was associated with the industrialisation of United Kingdom – the first European country to promote leisure time to the increasing industrial population. Initially, this applied to the owners of the machinery of production, the economic oligarchy, the factory owners, and the traders. These comprised the new middle class. Cox & Kings were the first official travel company to be formed in 1758. Later, the working class could take advantage of leisure time.
The British origin of this new industry is reflected in many place names. At Nice, one of the first and best-established holiday resorts on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the seafront is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais; in many other historic resorts in continental Europe, old well-established palace hotels have names like the Hotel Bristol, the Hotel Carlton or the Hotel Majestic - reflecting the dominance of English customers.

Winter tourism

Ski Tourists at the Pyongchang Ski Resort, Gangwon-do, Korea.
Winter sports were largely invented by the British leisured classes, initially at the Swiss village of Zermatt (Valais), and St Moritz in 1864. The first packaged winter sports holidays took place in 1902 at Adelboden, Switzerland. Winter sports were a natural answer for a leisured class looking for amusement during the coldest season.
The Fun Ski & Snow Festival, which has been organized annually by Korea tourism organization since 1998 and participated by about 10,000 tourists from Asia, is one of the most successful winter tourism products in Asia. The festival provides a variety of events such as ski and sled competitions, ski and snow board lessons, performances and recreational activities. Majority of the event participants are foreign visitors who come from countries with a warm climate that have no snow. The event offers them opportunities to enjoy winter and winter sports in Korea. In addition, southern South American countries making up the Patagonia region in Chile and Argentina attract thousands of tourists every year. Skiing is extremely popular in the mountainous areas.

Mass tourism

Tourists at the Trevi Fountain, Rome, Italy.

La Caleta beach in Cádiz, Spain.

Malá Strana (Lesser Quarter) packed with tourists on a busy summer day in Prague, Czech Republic.
Mass travel could only develop with improvements in technology allowed the transport of large numbers of people in a short space of time to places of leisure interest, and greater numbers of people began to enjoy the benefits of leisure time.
In the United States, the first great seaside resort, in the European style, was Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Long Island.
In Continental Europe, early resorts included Ostend (for the people of Brussels), and Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais) and Deauville (Calvados) (for Parisians).

In Britain
The pioneer of modern mass tourism was Thomas Cook who, on 5 July 1841, organized the first package tour in history. He arranged for the rail company to charge one shilling per person for a group of 570 temperance campaigners from Leicester to a rally in Loughborough, eleven miles away. Cook was paid a share of the fares actually charged to the passengers, as the railway tickets, being legal contracts between company and passenger, could not have been issued at his own price. There had been railway excursions before, but this one included entrance to an entertainment held in private grounds, rail tickets and food for the train journey. Cook immediately saw the potential of a convenient 'off the peg' holiday product in which everything was included in one cost. He organised packages inclusive of accommodation for the Great Exhibition, and afterwards pioneered package holidays in both Britain (particularly in Scotland) and on the European continent (where Paris and the Alps were the most popular destinations).
He was soon followed by others (the Polytechnic Touring Association, Dean and Dawson etc.), with the result that the tourist industry developed rapidly in late Victorian Britain. Initially it was supported by the growing middle classes, who had time off from their work, and who could afford the luxury of travel and possibly even staying for periods of time in boarding houses.The Bank Holidays Act 1871 introduced a statutory right for workers to take holidays, even if they were not paid at the time. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the tradition of the working class holiday had become firmly established in Britain. These were largely focused upon the seaside resorts.
The spread of the railway network in the nineteenth century resulted in the growth of Britain's seaside towns by bringing them within easy distance of Britain's urban centres. Blackpool was created by the construction of a line to Fleetwood, and some resorts were promoted by the railway companies themselves - Morecambe by the Midland Railway and Cleethorpes by the Great Central Railway. Other resorts included Scarborough in Yorkshire, servicing Leeds and Bradford; Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, catering for the inhabitants of Bristol; and Skegness, patronised by the residents of the industrial East Midlands. The cockneys of London flocked to Southend-on-Sea, mainly by Thames Steamer, and the South Coast resorts such as Broadstairs, Brighton, and Eastbourne were only a train ride away, with others further afield such as Bournemouth, Bognor Regis and Weymouth.
For a century, domestic tourism was the norm, with foreign travel being reserved for the rich or the culturally curious. A number of inland destinations, such as the English Lake District, and Snowdonia appealed to those who liked the countryside and fine scenery. The holiday camp began to appear in the 1930s, but this phenomenon really expanded in the post-war period. Butlins and Pontins set this trend, but their popularity waned with the rise of overseas package tours and the increasing comforts to which visitors became accustomed at home. Towards the end of the 20th century this market has been revived by the upmarket inland resorts of Dutch company Center Parcs.
Cox & Co, the forebear of Cox & Kings were in existence from 1758 largely entwined with the travel arrangements for the British Army serving around the Empire. While acting as 'agents' for various regiments, they organised the payment, provision, clothing and travel arrangements for members of the armed forces. In the 19th century their network of offices contained a banking and also travel department. The company became heavily involved with affairs in India and its Shipping Agency had offices in France and the Middle East.
Other phenomena that helped develop the travel industry were paid holidays:
1.5 million manual workers in Britain had paid holidays by 1925
11 million by 1939 (30% of the population in families with paid holidays)
NGOs and government agencies may sometimes promote a specific region as a tourist destination, and support the development of a tourism industry in that area. The contemporary phenomenon of mass tourism may sometimes result in overdevelopment; alternative forms of tourism such as ecotourism seek to avoid such outcomes by pursuing tourism in a sustainable way.

International
Increasing speed on railways meant that the tourist industry could develop internationally. To this may be added the development of sea travel. By 1901, the number of people crossing the English Channel from England to France or Belgium had passed 0.5 million per year. Shipping companies were anxious to fill cabin space that was under utilised.
For example, P&O found that the majority of their passengers for India and the Far East joined the ship at Marseilles. Consequently, they marketed holidays based upon sea trips from London to Lisbon and Gibraltar. Other companies diverted their older ships to operate cruises in the summer months.
However, the real age of international mass travel began with the growth of air travel after World War Two. In the immediate post-war period, there was a surplus of transport aircraft, such as the popular and reliable Douglas Dakota, and a number of ex military pilots ready to fly them. They were available for charter flights, and tour operators began to use them for European destinations, such as Paris and Ostend.
Vladimir Raitz pioneered modern package tourism when on 20 May 1950 his recently founded company, Horizon, provided arrangements for a two-week holiday in Corsica. For an all inclusive price of £32.10s.-, holiday makers could sleep under canvas, sample local wines and eat a meal containing meat twice a day - this was especially attractive due to the continuing austerity measures in post-war United Kingdom. Within ten years, his company had started mass tourism to Palma (1952), Lourdes (1953), Costa Brava (1954), Sardinia (1954), Minorca (1955), Porto (1956), Costa Blanca (1957) and Costa del Sol (1959).
These developments coincided with a significant increase in the standard of living in Britain. Further, the contribution of affordable air travel in combination with the package tour enabled international mass tourism to develop. The postwar introduction of an international system of airline regulation was another important factor. The bilateral agreements at the heart of the system fixed seat prices, and airlines could not fill blocks of empty seats on underused flights by discounting. But if they were purchased by a tour operator and hidden within the price of an inclusive holiday package, it would be difficult to prove that discounting had taken place - even though it was obvious that it had!
Another significant development also happened at the end of this decade. The devaluation of the Spanish peseta made Spain appear a particularly attractive destination. The cheapness of the cost of living attracted increasing numbers of visitors. Mass package tourism has at times been an exploitative process, in which tour operators in a country with a high standard of living make use of development opportunities and low operating costs in a country with a lower standard of living. However, as witness the development of many tourist areas in previously poor parts of the world, and the concomitant rise in standards of living, when there is equality of bargaining power, both parties can gain economic benefits from this arrangement.
Spain and the Balearic Islands became major tourist destinations, and development probably peaked in the 1980s. At the same time, British tour operators developed the Algarve in Portugal. The continuing search for new, cheaper, destinations spread mass tourism to the Greek Islands, Italy, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, and more recently Croatia.
For someone living in greater London, Venice today is almost as accessible as Brighton was 100 years ago. Consequently, the British seaside resort experienced a marked decline from the 1970s onwards. Some, such as New Brighton, Merseyside have disappeared. Others have reinvented themselves, and now cater to daytrippers, the weekend break market or business conferences.

Recent developments
There has been an upmarket trend in tourism over the last few decades, especially in Europe where international travel for short breaks is common. Tourists have higher levels of disposable income and greater leisure time and they are also better-educated and have more sophisticated tastes. There is now a demand for a better quality products, which has resulted in a fragmenting of the mass market for beach vacations; people want more specialised versions, such as 'Club 18 -30', quieter resorts, family-oriented holidays, or niche market-targeted destination hotels. As well, people are taking second short break holidays.
The developments in technology and transport infrastructure such as jumbo jets and low-budget airlines have made many types of tourism more affordable. There have also been changes in lifestyle, such as retiree-age people who living as a tourist all the year round. This is facilitated by internet purchasing of tourism products. Some sites have now started to offer dynamic packaging, in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor- made package requested by the customer upon impulse.
There have been a few setbacks in tourism, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks and terrorist threats to tourist destinations such as Bali and European cities. Some of the tourist destinations, including the beach resorts of Cancún have lost popularity due to shifting tastes. In this context, the excessive building and environmental destruction often associated with traditional "sun and beach" tourism may contribute to a destination's saturation and subsequent decline. Spain's Costa Brava, a popular 1960s and 1970s beach location is now facing a crisis in its tourist industry. On December 26, 2004 a tsunami, caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake hit Asian countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and also the Maldives. Tens of thousands of lives were lost, and many tourists died. This, together with the vast clean-up operation in place, has stopped or severely hampered tourism to the area.
The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited by tourists.
Sustainable tourism is becoming more popular as people start to realize the devastating effects poorly planned tourism can have on communities. Receptive tourism is now growing at a very rapid rate in many developing countries, where it is often the most important economic activity in local GDP.
In recent years, second holidays or vacations have become more popular as people's discretionary income increases. Typical combinations are a package to the typical mass tourist resort, with a winter skiing holiday or weekend break to a city or national park.


Niche tourism
Physical activity or sports-oriented niche tourism includes adventure tourism such as mountaineering and hiking (tramping); Backpacker Tourism; Sport travel to do skiing, golf and scuba diving or see a sports event (e.g., FIFA World Cup); and extreme tourism for people interested in risky activities.
Learning-oriented niche tourism includes audio tourism and audio walking tours; bookstore tourism, in which travellers visit independent bookstores; creative tourism workshops; educational tourism for classes; ancestry tourism, to visit birth places; Hobby tourism (such as garden tours, amateur radio DX-peditions, or square dance cruises).

The Hermitage Museum in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
The cultural sub-type of learning-oriented niche tourism focuses on cultural and arts activities, including cultural tourism, music tourism, andheritage tourism. The nature and environment-oriented sub-types include Coastal Tourism; Ecotourism (e.g. sustainable tourism in Rainforests or national parks); Garden tourism; and Rural Tourism such as Agritourism.
Lifestyle-oriented niche tourism types include Gay tourism; Gourmet tourism; Wine tourism; Health tourism; Medical tourism; Inclusive tourism (or Accessible Tourism) for people with disabilities;Mystical tourism (e.g., involving Meditation, yoga,and rituals).
Other miscellaneous types of niche tourism include:
Dark tourism includes travel to sites associated with death and suffering, such as the scene of the Hindenburg airship disaster, or to the sites of disasters (Disaster tourism).
Drug tourism, (e.g., to use drugs in Amsterdam)
Sex tourism (e.g., to have sex with prostitutes).
Free Independent Traveler: a sector of the market in which the tourists select their own accommodation and transport, rather than using the established tourism booking system.
Pop-culture tourism: tourism by those that visit a particular location after reading about it or seeing it used as a location in a film (e.g., the Lord of the Rings film sets in New Zealand).
Perpetual tourism: individuals always on vacation; some of them, for tax purposes, to avoid being resident in any country.
Pilgrimage Tourism: pilgrimages to ancient holy places (Rome and Santiago de Compostela for Catholics, temples and stupas of Nepal for the Hindus and Buddhist, Mount Athos or Painted churches of northern Moldavia for the Orthodox), religious sites such as mosques and shrines.
Sacred travel or metaphysical tourism is a form of New Age travel where believers travel to and perform rituals at religious sites
Shopping tourism promoting shopping festivals such as the Dubai Shopping Festival.
Space tourism: traveling in outer space or on spaceships.
Vacilando is a special kind of wanderer for whom the process of traveling and discovery is more important than the destination.
Visiting Family and Relatives (VFR) Tourism: traveling to visit persons related by close family ties and combining this with vacation-type activities; distinct from ancestry tourism, which involves genealogical research
Armchair tourism and virtual tourism: not traveling physically, but exploring the world through internet, books, or TV.

Trends

International tourism receipts in 2005
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) forecasts that international tourism will continue growing at the average annual rate of 4 %.[3] By 2020 Europe will remain the most popular destination, but its share will drop from 60 % in 1995 to 46 %. Long-haul will grow slightly faster than intraregional travel and by 2020 its share will increase from 18 % in 1995 to 24 %.
With the advent of e-commerce, tourism products have become one of the most traded items on the internet. Tourism products and services have been made available through intermediaries, although tourism providers (hotels, airlines, etc.) can sell their services directly. This has put pressure on intermediaries from both on-line and traditional shops.
It has been suggested there is a strong correlation between Tourism expenditure per capita and the degree to which countries play in the global context[4]. Not only as a result of the important economic contribution of the tourism industry, but also as an indicator of the degree of confidence with which global citizens leverage the resources of the globe for the benefit of their local economies. This is why any projections of growth in tourism may serve as an indication of the relative influence that each country will exercise in the future.
Space tourism is expected to "take off" in the first quarter of the 21st century, although compared with traditional destinations the number of tourists in orbit will remain low until technologies such as a space elevator make space travel cheap.
Technological improvement is likely to make possible air-ship hotels, based either on solar-powered airplanes or large dirigibles. Underwater hotels, such as Hydropolis, expected to open in Dubai in 2006, will be built. On the ocean tourists will be welcomed by ever larger cruise ships and perhaps floating cities.
Some futurists expect that movable hotel "pods" will be created that could be temporarily erected anywhere on the planet, where building a permanent resort would be unacceptable politically, economically or environmentally.