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W
walking tour
Walking tours maximise experience of a landscape
with all senses. A major component of
ecotourism, walking amongst other things allows
the inner person to rediscover nature, such as a
jungle trail; provides access not possible by
motorised transport, like mountain treks; delivers
a sense of excitement not feasible by vehicle,
including walking through a game park; and
enables some physical exercise. Urban walking
tours facilitate detailed sightseeing.
wanderlust
TREVOR SOFIELD, AUSTRALIA
In common usage, a term used to describe a
constant urge to travel. More specifically, it
describes a type of tourism characterised by a
desire to experience new places or cultures and a
willingness to adapt to local conditions, forsaking
the familiar for the unusual. It also implies
continual, explorer-type travel as opposed to
single-resort vacation tourism.
war
RICHARD SHARPLEY, UK
Wars have a decidedly negative impact on
tourism. Media coverage and global attention to
politically motivated conflicts can have a severe
and instant effect on international and domestic
tourism. In 1994, for example, threatened and
actual attacks of terrorism against tourists had a
disastrous effect on Egypt's tourism, its leading
source of foreign exchange. Major wars, such as
the Second World War, have brought tourism to a
virtual standstill. Tourists visit `safe' areas where
they feel secure. Governments often impose travel
advisories and strong safety and security
measures, particularly at airports, which also
discourage travel.
War and its aftermath underscore the extent to
which military conflict ± and the preparations for it ±
threaten the tourism environments, both natural
and built. The 1991 Persian Gulf war brought
widespread damage to the region's environment
and people. The largest oil spill in history seeped
throughout the slow-to-replenish waters of the
Persian Gulf damaging beaches and birds.
War is the antithesis of the image required for
tourism to thrive and impedes its marketing and
development efforts. Without over 100 wars and
innumerable violent internal conflicts since 1945,
tourism's growth presumably would have been
much greater. Just in the last decade, for example,
tourism declined as a result of violent conflicts in
Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Peru, and in 1999 in
countries close to the Yugoslav war. Postwar effects
of tourism can be positive, with veterans revisiting
war areas to show their families the places or
cultures they experienced. Political and economic
constraints of war excluded Vietnam from much of
the 1960±70s tourism bonanza. Its postwar economic
policy for `openness' and establishment of
US diplomatic relations now fuel Vietnam's rapid
tourism development.