Tourism as a Socio-Cultural Phenomenon: A Critical Analysis

Global tourism is based on the movement of people from their usual environment, which makes interaction between people possible. It creates a mutual impact on tourists and the host community by bringing together people of different races, languages, and beliefs. Global tourism leads to a beneficial economic impact on the host country and it also increases the socio-cultural exchange between the host and tourist countries. In this respect, the current paper presents the analysis of tourism as a socio-cultural phenomenon. It presents a critical analysis of earlier findings on the evolution of tourism as a concept and sheds light on cultural and social factors leading to tourism in its present state as well as its social and cultural impacts, positive and negative. Furthermore identifies some sociological and cultural factors that shape the characteristics of tourists and highlights the role of socio-cultural motivations of tourists.