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324 international tourism
always includes border crossing, whether by land,
sea or air. It also includes some form of international
arrangements in private trade �mainly in
distribution systems) and in public institutions
�mainly through tourism bodies).
The great interest in international tourism lies
mainly in its economics, as it is an export trade
from the point of view of the visited country �an
import on the side of the country of origin).
However, it also has important sociocultural
consequences on both tourist generating and
receiving countries. Normally, the trends and
patterns of international tourism follow the North±
South direction, thus meaning an important
monetary flow from rich countries towards less
developed countries.
The use of leisure time in international
tourism is influenced by several important factors,
including the proximity or distance to country
borders �the case of the Benelux countries in
Europe); development of modern transportation
systems within and to different countries �excellent
motorways in Germany, popularity of aviation in
the United Kingdom); the climate of the destination
�sunny seaside sports in Spain in summertime,
skiing in the Alps in wintertime); cultural
attractions �art heritage in Italy); entertainment
opportunities �shopping in London, dining in Paris,
gambling in Las Vegas); exoticism and mystery
appeals �Southeast Asia and Africa); the new
lifestyle of enjoying second homes in foreign
countries �owned or rented in the Mediterranean
Riviera); and more.
When the industrial revolution took place
�1750±1850), the basis for modern European
mass tourism was created. The steam machine
invention was quickly followed with manufacturing
changes and new sea and land transport improvements
�trains and ships). At the same time, these
developments led to the creation of new middle
classes with more leisure time and disposable
income, and hence provided with the means to
visit other countries or to escape from the
polluted industrial urban areas of their own. The
main destinations to be marketed were the foreign
sea and mountains resorts. This development,
which started in early 1880s with the French
Riviera �Nice and Cannes), continued southwards
into the Spanish Costa Brava �North Catalonia)
and the Balearic Islands around 1905. Actually,
both `sun and beach' destinations and `snow'
resorts gained popularity simultaneously. Thus,
for example, as early as 1892 Switzerland had
become the most popular destination among
British tourists.
In the twentieth century, modern technology
fostered the development and expansion of mass
tourism. Increased leisure time and income, the
development of economic mass transportation
systems and eagerness of resorts and destinations
all over the world to have a share of the booming
tourism market, among other things, led to an
unprecedented worldwide expansion of this industry.
The private car transport led to charter
bus services, the public air transport espoused
charter air services, and sea cruises went almost
exclusively international. These charter services
were quickly commercialised by the northern and
central European tour operators, pioneers in
discovering and marketing new international
resorts. Their intermediation task may be regarded
as one of the influential tourism developments of
the century. Many resorts of the less developed
countries could not have had much tourism
without the investments and efforts of European
tour operators. This was not the case in the
United States, where this role was played to a lesser
extent by the American air companies flying
internationally.
Tourism has now become an important form
of mass consumerism, standardised, protected by
legislation and traded by increasingly bigger
multinational firms all over the world. All
these developments helped to position tourism as
the world's largest and most diverse economic
activity. Today many countries rely on this
`dynamic' industry, as a primary source for
generating revenues, employment, private sector
growth and infrastructure development �World
Tourism Organization 1997a, 1997b). This is
more evident in countries where traditional
economic sectors like agriculture have been
shrinking.
One conclusion to be drawn from the
evolution of international tourism is that it is a
consequence of the increasing globalisation of the
economic and social activities during the twentieth
century. The early travellers abroad gen-