The concept of tourism has French roots and is interpreted as one of the varieties of outdoor activities, travel in your free time. In this article, we consider tourism as an object of professional activity and a cultural phenomenon of society.
General Provisions
It is interesting that in tourism the interweaving of demography, economics, psychology, sociology, history, jurisprudence, healthcare and other sciences, spheres of public life is more relevant than in any other human activity. Initially, tourism was determined by local, national significance. He did not play a significant role in the life of society. Nevertheless, since the second half of the twentieth century, the development of the tourism industry has reached global proportions. Thus, the tourism business involved significant human resources (material, energy, intellectual, and so on) in its production and consumer processes. He touched on many aspects of public life and, of course, significantly influenced its social component.
The formation of tourism
It is important to note that many factors contributed to the development of tourism in a mass manner, since it has become the most developing phenomenon of our time. Among them are ethnocultural, socio-demographic factors, as well as qualitative changes in terms of leisure activities, the development of the non-productive area of the economy, and an increase in the amount of people's free time. It could be firmly said that the tourism industry is a phenomenon that has entered the everyday, everyday life of hundreds of millions of people. It is a kind of activity that is determined by the most important value for modern society. Today, tourism has become the most important form of free time use, as mentioned earlier, it has become a key tool for interpersonal relationships, as well as contacts in the field of economics, politics and culture.
The concept
The tourism industry is, firstly, one of the most ambitious, dynamically developing and highly profitable spheres of economic life in almost any country. It is considered the most active source of cash flow and, accordingly, has a positive effect on the country's balance of payments. It must be said that the inflow of revenues in the currency variant in those countries that are focused on the development of inbound tourism mainly is often several times higher than the income from production enterprises. The tourism industry is a field of activity that has a positive impact not only on the country's economy, but also on other areas of its life: culture, ecology, social component and so on. So, today tourism is one of the priorities of the rather rapid development of the states of America, Europe, Asia, Oceania and Australia. Africa is less involved in this issue. At the same time, the tourism sector, being an integral component of the social system, has a strong impact on the life of an individual, creates the life attitudes of different groups in society, and also changes society and the processes taking place in it as a whole.
The abundance of interpretations
The tourism industry is a sphere of human life and society as a whole, which today boasts various definitions. So, it is important to know that of particular importance in the description of this aspect of society, phenomena have the following criteria:
- Change of location. This criterion speaks of the walking or transporting a tourist to a place that is outside the boundaries of his usual, ordinary place of residence (environment of stay). Nevertheless, tourists can not be attributed to those who every day travel from home to work or to study, as well as those who periodically travel to the country. The fact is that trips of the presented type do not go beyond the boundaries of their usual environment.
- Stay in another locality. This criterion suggests that the tourist does not undertake to permanently or permanently reside in the place of stay, as well as to work, to carry out certain professional activities there. It is worth noting that the behavior of an individual who is involved in work is vastly different from the behavior of an individual who has come to rest. In addition, a tourist cannot be in a territory unfamiliar to him for more than six months to be considered as such.
- Activities that are paid from a particular source in the place of stay should not be the purpose of the trip.
To summarize the definition
So, the organization of the tourism industry and tourism in general is the organization of temporary trips (departures) of citizens of the Russian Federation, stateless persons and foreign citizens from a permanent place of residence for such purposes as recreational, therapeutic, professional, business, sports and educational, educational religious and others. Moreover, in this case, engaging in activities that involve the receipt of funds as income from sources of the host country are excluded. The presented definition is established by the Federal Law No. 12FZ “On Amendments to the Federal Law“ On the Basics of Tourism in the Russian Federation ””.
Tourism Industry Classification
It is important to note that today the classification of tourism is relevant in accordance with a number of criteria. Among them are types, functions, types and forms. So, the following tourist functions are currently known:
- Economic (receiving cash as income from tourism development).
- Educational and informative (obtaining new information during the trip).
- Communication (quite a wide range of tourist ties that are both formal and informal).
- Psychological (creating a certain emotional state of an individual who is a tourist).
- Ecosystem (the manifestation of this function is relevant in tourism of the ecological type; ecological travel cannot violate the integrity of complexes created by nature and referred to as ecosystems).
Classification by type and type
In accordance with the currently known types of destinations in tourism, it is customary to distinguish:
- Tourism of the internal type (within the country).
- Inbound tourism (travel within the country of those people who do not reside in it on a permanent basis).
- Outbound tourism (travel to an unusual country).
By type of tourism, it is classified into the following categories:
- Recreational (visiting and using for good purposes objects of nature).
- Consumer (removal of the natural component, for example, hunting or fishing).
- Cultural and educational (with a pronounced excursion part).
- Nostalgic and reuniting (visiting places of birth, friends and relatives).
- Professional and business (trips to forums, conferences, negotiations and so on).
- Therapeutic (the use of natural-type healing resources in order to improve health).
- Sports (it is divided into water, pedestrian, mountain, bicycle, ski, motorcycle, car, sailing, horseback and so on).
- Adventure (getting a tourist new emotions and impressions).
- Ecological (travel "within nature").
- Religious (visiting monasteries, temples, holy places and so on).
Form classification
The tourism industry in Russia and a number of other countries has the following classification depending on the forms:
- Organized tourism (in the case of the assistance of a travel company in organizing a trip).
- Unorganized tourism (in other words, amateur).
- Club and sanatorium tourism (stationary rest prevails here).
Classification of tourism industry objects
The procedure for the separation of tourism facilities is carried out by special accredited structures. It was developed by Article 5 of the Federal Law of November 24, 1996 N 132- "On the Basics of Tourism in the Russian Federation." It is important to note that the enterprises of the tourism industry at present are beaches, ski-type slopes, hotels and other accommodation facilities. This is not a complete list. The current order today determines the organizational structure, goals, rules for the implementation of accredited institutions classification of tourism facilities. The classification procedure for tourism industry facilities includes:
- Classification of slopes for ski holidays.
- The classification of beaches.
- Classification of hotels and hotels. It is also advisable to include other accommodation facilities in the tourism industry.
Aspects of classification of tourism objects
It is important to note that information regarding tourism facilities is now available in the public domain. In Russia - on the official resource of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The classification of tourism industry objects is implemented on a voluntary basis. Among the main objectives of this division should include the following:
- Providing consumers with reliable and necessary information regarding the conformity of tourism facilities with the category that is provided for by the current Classification Procedure.
- The maximum increase in the competitiveness of tourism services, as well as the attractiveness of tourism facilities. This is done to increase the overall flow and development of inbound and domestic tourism through building consumer confidence in assessing the conformity of tourist facilities.
In addition, it is important to add that the following entities are included in the organizational structure of the classification system:
- Ministry of Culture of Russia.
- Accredited structures.
- Appeals Board of the Ministry of Culture of Russia.
- Classification Council of the Ministry of Culture of Russia.
- Applicants.
Tourism Development in Russia
Today, more than 25,000 tourist structures operate more or less successfully on the territory of the Russian Federation. The general trend regarding the development of modern tourism can be characterized by a steady increase in cases of Russian citizens traveling abroad, as well as an increase in the number of tours of domestic significance acquired and used. The number of tourists from foreign countries who stay on the territory of the Russian Federation has recently been noticeably reduced. This can be explained by high tariffs in terms of transport and the underdeveloped tourism infrastructure (exceptions, of course, are St. Petersburg and Moscow).
In Russia, Federal Law No. 26 “On Natural Healing Resources, Health-Improving Areas and Resorts”, which fully regulates the use of resort areas, as well as the conditions of treatment and recreation of the population, is directly related to tourism. It is also important to consider that today certain regions of the Russian Federation are adopting regional laws and programs for the development of the tourism industry. This is done to form a competitive and highly efficient tourist complex that will satisfy the needs of both Russian and foreign citizens in terms of various tourist services.