The rediscovery of the beauties of untamed nature coincided with the newfound love bestowed upon ancient times and all the ruins and remnants of the distant past that were strewn about the European landscape, especially in Italy. This romantic sensibility created the appetite for viewing and sightseeing without which tourism as it exists today could never have evolved. Since the 1960s the nationals of most European countries, once again prosperous after a postwar economic struggle of 15 to 20 years, and of Japan have also shared in these travel trends. It plays an even larger economic role in many underdeveloped nations in Africa and the Caribbean. Americans spend more money in Western Europe than in any other single area.
Tourism differs from travel as leisure differs from labor.
People travel for any number of reasons, from business to war or religion. Tourism, however, is travel undertaken for pleasure. Depending on individual tastes, it may involve rest and relaxation, sports, cultural exchanges, educational and aesthetic experiences, or eating and shopping. As a modern multimillion-dollar business, it caters to the tourist's need for transportation, accommodation, food, entertainment, recreation, health, souvenirs, and social contact. Mass tourism is a relatively modern phenomenon, but travelers have reacted as tourists, regardless of the purpose of their journeys, since the beginning of recorded history.