Reading Read the article about travel and tourism.
Travel and tourism
1
What’s the difference between travel and tourism? Well, being a traveler is more than just being a holidaymaker. A holiday is just a short time away, and it normally involves relaxation. Tourists stay in holiday resorts, not travelers. Travelers go for the experience and their journeys are usually much longer and more challenging. For example, travelers tend to avoid tourist traps and like to go off the beaten track to discover new places. Travel is an age-old phenomenon, but tourism is a relatively recent invention. Thomas Cook is often described as the first travel agent because he arranged the “package tour”: a 19-kilometre trip for 500 people, in 1841.
2
Going overseas in order to experience a different way of life is what many people think of as travel, but travel does not necessarily mean going abroad. How many people can say they have visited every part of their own country? Many people who live in vast countries such as Russia and the USA have only visited a small part of their own country, and so domestic travel is also very exciting. It’s a surprising fact that about 75 percent of US citizens do not own a passport, so travelling does not mean leaving the country for them.
3
Some people can’t travel or don’t like the physical reality of travelling to faraway destinations. These days it is easy to be an “armchair traveler”. People can visit distant corners of the world or even little known parts of their own country without leaving their living rooms. Television documentaries make the world a small place and some people argue that travel is no longer necessary. Perhaps soon people will use interactive computer programmes and virtual travel will become common. Enthusiasts argue that by doing this we will have all the benefits of travel without the inconvenience.
Task 1. Read the article quickly and choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph. (There are two extra headings.)
a. Virtual tourism
b. Tourist or traveler?
c. Most popular destinations
d. Holiday at home
e. Holiday problems
Task 2. Read the article again and answer the question.
How is a traveler different from a tourist? Give three examples.
