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.
"Llangollen relies on tourism so if people see how manic it is with the traffic then they won't want to come back."
From BBC • May 29, 2026
Vice convener and SNP councillor Ken Gowans said it would be the first policy of its kind in Scotland, and "opens the door" to night-time tourism.
From BBC • May 28, 2026
Desperate for hard currency after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Castro reluctantly embraced tourism as a lifeline.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
By almost any measure, tourism to the United States has cratered.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
Determined not to let Chapter Eleven’s condemnation of tourism ruin our travel plans, Milton was making airplane reservations and haggling with car rental agencies.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
