noun
Etymology
Origin of tourism
Explanation
Tourism is the travel business — it caters to people who are visiting a place. Tourism turns a destination into a vacation spot. Tourism is also a word for the act of traveling, especially abroad. Fanny packs are not required. If you’re visiting a new place, stop by the office of tourism and they’ll give you the lowdown on the local hotspots. If you’ve visited somewhere because it has beautiful sights, great museums, or interesting history, you were a tourist. Tourism is the business that makes money from tourists. As the word implies, tourism often involves actual tours, which could be on foot, in a bus, or even on the back of a llama.
Vocabulary lists containing tourism
The United States
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Eastern Europe - Introductory
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Pacific Islands - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Visit Devon's Sally Everton said they had not seen "a significant surge in tourism or additional hotel bookings"
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
"We're getting 50 calls a day to ask about where to stay, where to see it, where to park," Benavente tourism office worker Laura del Teso told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
There are no statistics establishing birth tourism as a wide-ranging problem.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
The phenomenon illustrates the growing influence TV can have on real estate and tourism.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
I flinched at the slumming comment, but the truth was our businesses benefited from the tourism.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
