UNIT# 2: TOURISM THROUGH THE AGES
Introduction; Great Empires; The Middle Ages; The Renaissance; The Industrial Revolution and Tourism Today. Objectives of this unit: Recognize the antiquity of human travel over vast distances on both sea and land; Understand how these journeys have evolved from trips that were difficult and often dangerous, to mass travel for millions today. Introduction: People have always traveled, in search of food or animal skins for clothing, or for territorial expansion. Travel in these early days was time-consuming and dangerous. Indeed, our word travel comes from the French word TRAVAIL, which means work, and that is what it was, hard work. Most early travel was on foot, but later donkeys begun to be used. Waterways and seaways also frequently become paths for trade and commerce. 1. EARLY BEGINNINGS (THE GREAT EMPIRES): Organized travel in the West probably began during the great empires of Persians, Assyrians, Greeks, Egyptians, and Romans. This period began several millennia B.C. and continued to several hundred years A.D.1 (or C.E./Common Era). During the empire period, travel developed for military, trade, and government reasons, as well as for communication from the central government to its distant territories. (i) Travel Methods: For overland travel, ordinary people used donkeys or camels, but for military and government purposes, horses were used, along with wagons and chariots. Goods also had to be transported. In Persia between 500 and 400 B.C., all the provinces were connected with the capital, Susa, by roads, and one of them was fifteen hundred miles long, The Greeks, on the other hand, constructed few roads. Sea travel also thrived (successful/strong). The first great system of sea transportation was established by the Phoenicians and connected the early inland camel caravan routes with seaports around the Mediterranean. Water travel was necessary to expand the markets for commercial goods, and the Greeks, and then the Romans, became dominant sea powers. Sea travel was also important to the Chinese and Japanese. (ii) Money: The first coins were thought to have been used in Lydia (a gold-producing country in Asia Minor) in about 700 B.C. But by the height of the Roman Empire, money had become common. A cash and credit system had been developed, and money played a role similar to that played today. One can imagine how difficult and complex travel would be today if each phase of a trip had to be arranged by barter instead of paid for in cash or by credit card.
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Anno Domini Nostri Iesu (Jesu) Christi ("In the Year of Our Lord Jesus Christ"). This calendar era is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, with AD counting years from the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of the era. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC.

(iii) The Romans: The Romans used their own coins, and Latin was the common language of an empire that, at its peak, stretched from Scotland in the north to the Euphrates River in the southeast Europe. One of their most famous, well marked, and the well-built roads was the Appian Way, which stretched for 350 miles from Rome to Brundisium (Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy) and was the main highway to Greece and the East. Romans had what today would be called a good tourist infrastructure (transportation/communication system). In the government system of inns along the roads, travelers knew by their signs what amenities each inn offered: A square within a square (symbolizing a country road) signified a first class inn; two triangles surmounting a rectangle (symbolizing a country house) was less fancy; and a triangle atop a square indicated a rudimentary hostelry with just shelter and water. Even for the Romans, leisure travel had to be confined to places closed to home. Vacation villas were first built on Bay of Naples two centuries before Christ. The first culture genuinely to produce mass tourism, in both the letter and the spirit of the term, was Imperial Rome. In the second century A.D., it was at its peak. (iv) Sea Voyages: For those who could afford the time and the money, sea trips were quite common. Greece, rich in treasure, was close to Italy and was a popular destination. Passenger ships – as we know them today with regular schedules – did not appear until after steamships were invented in the mid 1800s. These vessels had no passenger accommodations, the passengers slept on deck in small tents that they brought with them. They also had to bring along their own food, cooking utensils, and wine for drinking. At their destination the tourist camped or stayed at any available inn, or with friends of friends if they had any there. The Romans often crossed the Mediterranean from Italy and then sailed up the Nile to see Egypt’s speaking statue, a favorite sightseeing monument. (v)Early Religious and Other Travel: Early travel was not limited to government needs and to the very rich; religious festivals and the theater also attracted travelers. Drama, poetry, art architecture, and philosophy flourished and brought in their share of tourists. Indeed, the Olympic Games (first held in 776 B.C.) were founded in Greece during this time and encouraged travelers to witness them. This period also saw the growth of cities, which acted as magnets to travelers. Travel for health began also as mineral springs were sought out. During the latter part of Roman Empire the establishment of Christianity led to religious travel to the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

(vi) Early Sightseeing: Sightseeing was popular in the empire period, and many of the monuments still standing today reveal the travelers’ names or marks scratched on the stone to show that they had been there. The early sightseeing tourists also went to Egypt and Greece to baths, shrines, and seaside resorts and to see where Alexander the Great slept, Socrates lived, Ajax committed suicide, and to see the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the Valley of the Kings. (vii) The End of the Empires: The ancient empires became large and unwieldy and difficult to administer, and travel became unsafe, as there were no soldiers to provide protection. Bandits were menace. Travel diminished. The roads, communication systems, and the inns Romans had built fell apart. 2. THE MIDDLE AGES: During the Middle Ages, from about A.D. 500 to 1400, much of the middle class disappeared, and trade declined as people returned to the land. The shadow of what is sometimes referred to as the Dark Ages began to lift in about A.D. 1000 when the Church began to do a great deal of building, particularly in France where the new churches and cathedrals became, and still are today, tourist attractions. (i) Pilgrimages: The monasteries were also acquiring wealth, and the monks educated the public about miracles and other holy matters and encouraged them to go on pilgrimages, which vast numbers of people did. By the fourteenth century, pilgrimages were an organized mass phenomenon served by a growing network of charitable hospices (a hospital for people who are dying). Pilgrimages by Muslims to Mecca, and Christians to Jerusalem and Rome began. (ii) Travel Books: With the advent of the printing press in the fifteenth century, books began

to appear and, in particular, travel books that gave those who could read and desire to travel to the faraway places they described. One of the best-known early books, translated into many foreign languages, was Sir John Mandeville’s Travels, printed in 1357. (iii) Package Tours: By this time, package tours (probably first ever available) from Venice

to the Holy Land were offered. Even if people did not travel in a formal group, they tended to stick together, because solitary pilgrimage was too dangerous. By the fifteenth century, Rome boasted (to feel proud) over a thousand hostelries, varying from charitable hospices to luxurious inns. Tourists guide books were available in a dozen different languages and were often altered to highlight the foreigners’ preferences, much as today’s tourist brochures. (iv) Marco Polo: In the latter part of the thirteenth century a native of Venice, Marco Polo, explored the land routes from Europe to China and other parts of Asia. Polo’s book on his travels was the West’s main source of information about life in the East.

(v)Sea Travel: Wherever people encountered rivers and oceans, they used them as a medium for travel. The sea was particularly challenging, but nonetheless some remarkable voyages were made. The Spanish also traveled by sea, and Christopher Columbus brought trade to North America as early as 1492. The Portuguese were also great sailors and went on voyages to the Azores, Africa, and Asia, settling Macao in 1557. 3. THE RENAISSANCE The renaissance, or rebirth, introduced the view that truth lay outside the mind and spirit. It thus created a desire to explore, discover, and understand and encouraged historic and scientific investigations. The renaissance began in Italy. From Italy the Renaissance spread throughout the rest of the Europe. The Elizabethan traveler was described by Francis Bacon as the “merchant of Light.” This new type of tourist traveled to broaden his or her experience and knowledge, whereas the pilgrim had traveled to experience the mystery of the Church. Queen Elizabeth sanctioned this form of travel, and the crown often paid for part of it, especially for future diplomats. Universities also began giving travel fellowships. (i) Travel Licenses: In order to leave England in those days, travelers first had to obtain a license, which indicated how long they could stay away, where they must not go, and how much money and how many horses and servants they could take. Student tourists were also given discounts on fares, entry fees, and tolls for bridges and highways. They carried very little cash, instead using letters of credit (a letter from a banker or other person to his agent in another country authorizing the bearer to receive money from the agent) which, like today’s travelers’ checks, generally could not be used by others if lost or stolen. (ii) The First Trade Show: The main destination of this Elizabethan Renaissance tourist was the undisputed apex of culture at that time: Italy. A popular stop on the way to Rome was the Frankfurt book fair where publications were displayed. Besides the book fair there was a vast merchandise exposition where visitors could gather ideas about manufacture and commerce, the major issues of the day. The Frankfurt fair was one of the earliest trade shows that attracted tourists. Another major stop on the way to Italy was Paris, where the future diplomats could observe French court life. (iii) The Fork: One of the early Elizabethan travelers to Italy, Thomas Coryate, brought back the first table fork to England. Even the cultured French did not have forks at the turn of the seventeenth century. Elizabethan travelers were also exposed to banking systems and mercantilism at that time. These early travelers, both personally and through their writings,

brought back a new way of looking at things to a population deeply curious about what was “out there”. Soon, the loosely organized Elizabethan tour became the much more highly structured event known as the Grand Tour. (iv) The Grand Tour: The Grand Tour was developed some 150 years after the peak of the Elizabethan tour. By the mid-eighteenth century it had been pared down to a quite specific itinerary. Instead of a complete immersion in whatever one encountered, the Grand Tourist’s objective was to visit only the best of places. Italy was still the major destination, as it was where one could explore the ancient classical ruins (for example the ruins of Colosseum in Rome) and see and buy art, which became an important aspect of the Grand Tour. The Grand Tour became a necessary part of the training of future administrators and political leaders. Grand Tour was available only to the aristocracy. The Grand Tour was not easy. Passports were required to get out of the country, and there were money exchange problems. Linen and bedding frequently had to be taken along, as well as an inflatable bathtub, a medicine chest, and other accoutrements. Grand Tour travels could be dangerous, and so travelers carried guns. Rome catered mainly to English tourists and offered English types of inns and restaurants and even coffee houses where London newspapers were available. In 1778, the first travel guidebook for the Grand Tour travelers was published: Thomas Nugent’s The Grand Tour. The Grand Tourist produced a real revolution in British taste in many matters. In 1789, the Grand Tour possibilities were severely disrupted by the French Revolution, followed by the Napoleonic Wars, and so travel to the Continent from England virtually came to a halt until 1814. It was re-inspired by poets such as Byron and Shelley who romanticized countries such as Switzerland where they stayed. These poets turned the Alps into something to be appreciated rather than feared. Tourists thus began to turn their sights upward into the mountains and to become nature tourists. In addition, the male-dominated Grand Tour began to become a family affair. 4. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND TOURISM TODAY THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, which lasted from about 1750 to 1850 in Europe, created the base for mass tourism as we know it today. The Industrial Revolution introduced machinery that vastly increased productivity. New kinds of power to move vehicles (such as trains and ships) were invented. Many new occupations led to a rapid expansion in the middle class’s wealth and education, as well as an increase in leisure time and a demand for recreation travel activities; the elitist Grand Tour declined in popularity.

Initially, recreational tourist trips were generally only day trips, because most people still had only limited discretionary income, and even weekends “off”. Later, workers began to take annual vacations and to escape from the rapidly growing urban areas in which most of them had to earn their income. They turned to the spas and seaside’s for these holidays and set the tone for much of the tourist industry base today. THE BIRTH OF THE SPA AND THE SEASIDE: When their empire collapsed, the Romans stopped going to their Riviera, the Bay of Naples, and to their baths (or spas), and so this mode of recreation fell out of fashion. The aristocracy began to travel for health reasons, and hence the health spa (named after a Belgian town famous for its mineral springs) was born. These spas gradually turned into pleasure resorts. By 1900 there were some 750 spas in Europe, many in resort and entertainment areas. The aristocracy initially paved the way to the spas (for example, Charles II made Tunbridge Wells, near London, fashionable), but where the aristocracy went the masses soon followed. Surprisingly, even though seaside destinations were popular, it was not until the eighteenth century that the English turned to a saltwater bathing. As with the spas, the seaside was first visited for health reasons. Although the spas and seaside resorts were originally opened for health reasons, they soon became – because of rail access – destinations for recreation and entertainment. RAIL TRAVEL: Transportation improved the development of railways in the 1800s, making travel cheap, fast, and safe. With the advent of rail travel the middle classes in Europe flocked to the seaside resorts. Hotels, restaurants, and other tourist attractions sprang up to cope with this flood. Another agent who helped this along was the travel agent, who first appeared in the form of Thomas Cook, who organized the first train tour trip in England in 1841. Also in 1841, Henry Wells in the U.S. started in the travel business with what became Wells Fargo and later American Express. NORTH AMERICAN TRAVEL: North America was first explored in the sixteenth century by the Spanish, who settled primarily in the southwest and what is now known as Florida. The Spanish are credited with introducing horses here, which were unknown to the Native Americans. With the aid of horses the North American settlers became great travelers. As with Europe, the great rivers of North America induced travel. For example, riverboats on the Mississippi played their part in commerce and also hosted tourists by providing gambling and other entertainment on trips from St. Louis in the North to New Orleans in the South. Other great rivers such as the Ohio, the Delaware, and the Hudson also encouraged travel.

A network of roadways was established along the Eastern seaboard in the early 1800, and later in that century the railroads made mountain and lakeside resorts popular and travel through the Western mountains much easier. THE NOUVEAUX RICHES: World War I (1914 –1918) saw the disappearance of much of the European aristocracy and ruling families. These people were soon replaced by the nouveaux riches (newly rich) from North America who became the new seekers of fashionable recreation/vacation destinations in Europe. Paid holidays became the norm in Britain and France in the 1930s, and the Riviera in the summertime became more popular than ever with middle-class tourists from not only North America but also all Europe. THE AUTOMOBILE: In the last fifty years the automobile has had an immense impact on tourism. Although it was invented in the 1890s it was not until twenty or thirty years later that its mass production gave society a mobility never before possible. WORLD WAR II: Soon after the Great Depression of the 1930s World War II (1939 – 1945) began. After World War II, tourism, restrained as it had been for several years, began to burst out again as the optimism of peace, along with prosperity, blossomed. More people than ever now belonged to the middle class. The war was also the impetus for dramatic improvements in communication and air transportation that have made travel so rapid and easy today. Indeed, more people today travel between North America and Europe than between any other two distant areas in the world, and it was cheap, mass air travel that allowed that to happen. Road systems also improved and cars and buses had reached a higher level of sophistication. With stability and prosperity came an increase in leisure time as well as advances in technology, which made travel easier and cheaper. The stable and prosperous years after 1950, coupled with a wider range of employee entitlements meant higher standards of living in Europe and America. But, just as the railway enabled domestic mass tourism to come of age, when these factors were coupled with the development of jet aircraft, international mass tourism began to develop. Mass travel, travel by large numbers of individuals, not only the elite, to destinations both domestic and abroad is a major characteristic of modern travel.

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH POST WAR TOURISM GROWTH
Since the 1950s, tourism has not only grown quickly but has also changed substantially in terms of destinations visited and its impact on them. For years, tourism was characterized by the following concentrations:

● geographic – the top 15 countries, all in Western Europe and North America, attracted 97 percent of the world total tourism market ● seasonal (summer generally, little winter tourism) ● purpose of trip was restricted to leisure – summer holidays. Today, tourism is much more diverse in terms of destinations, travel tends to be spread out all year thanks to the growing fragmentation of school and work holidays, and it is much more varied in terms of purpose of trip, length of stay and accommodation. Many people are now combining shorter summer holidays with short breaks the rest of the year. This has generated a substantial increase in the cultural, sports, adventure, rural and cruise tourism segments, along with a whole variety of combinations. The business sector has also benefited from the substantial growth of congress and incentive tourism. Despite this clear tendency towards diversification of tourist flows, traditional patterns of tourist behaviour are likely to endure, which means that sun and beach tourism is still the most important segment of the world market and will doubtless maintain this status. However, you should note that the attitude and behaviour of tourists in the beach and sun segment has changed considerably since the 1970s. Now they are more interested in the pursuit of afterhour’s activities and in getting to know their surroundings. This explains the increasing number of sun and beach trips combined with other pursuits such as sports, nature and culture. In the next section we will look at the specific influences behind the massive growth in tourism following WWII. The following factors have been instrumental in this effort: ● Economic factors – the availability of discretionary household income was an important factor. People had more money to spend on non-essential items and so were able to travel where they had not previously had the opportunity. ● Social factors – an increase in time available for long periods away from home and work enabled people to travel. Holidays away from home became more accepted as a social norm. ● Demographic factors – the influences of smaller family size, population increase, urbanization and increased life expectancy increased the capacity of people to travel. ● Technological factors – improvements in transport were significant in the development of mass tourism, particularly from and to Australia. ● Political factors – international travel requires co-operation between countries for a number of issues such as access visas, airline access routes and today the incidence of terrorism has become an important factor.

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