Tourism

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The term tourism refers to travelling for pleasure outside its usual places of life, and living there temporarily, but also to an economic sector which includes in addition to the hotel industry all activities related to the satisfaction and travel of tourists.

The pleasure trip has existed since ancient times but tourism appears from England with the development of the Grand Tour, a great journey. In 1803 the term "tourist" appeared in the French language, deriving from the English word tourist that appeared in 1800, designating travellers travelling abroad with purposes other than business, scientific exploration or religious proselytism, before returning home. Stendhal published in 1838 Memoirs d'un tourististe, where he recounted his trips to Normandy, Brittany, and several French regions.

The word "tourism" came later without covering a more precise definition than that given by the Supplement Larousse of 1877: "tourism, tourist habit". Its definition has been refined since the 1960s. In 2000, four international organizations gave a common definition of the term: .

Between the art of being a tourist and an economic sector that has become major, its representations vary, both by the number of actors involved, as well as its places or forms of practice, from health tourism, seaside, mountain, recreational, sporting, cultural and (heritage) to green tourism (landscapes and ecosystems, etc.). It benefits from new modes of transport, the development of hotels and restaurants, using existing infrastructures or creating them for its needs (tourist stations...). Since the 1990s and environmental awareness, a new form of tourism has become more environmentally friendly as sustainable tourism. In France, a Tourism Alliance survey showed that "85 % of French people are interested in sustainable tourism, but only 40 % are willing to pay more."

But different voices have been voiced against this model, which is accused of combining two terms which are difficult to reconcile, if not irreconcilable: pollution due to transport (especially air pollution), overconsumption of water, alteration of natural landscapes, luring a true encounter between cultures are some of the main criticisms directed at sustainable tourism, plus the imbalance in economic exchanges between local people, tourists and investors. It should also be noted that in 2018, tourism accounts for about 8% of greenhouse gas emissions, with about annual carbon dioxide equivalent dissipated to the atmosphere (four times more than previously estimated).

The development of tourism is linked to the development of transport and the reduction of their costs (cars, trains, boats, and especially aircraft) and to the emergence of affluent classes and