In the late 19th century, a British entrepreneur, Thomas Cook, began offering package tours to seaside resorts for middle class and working class citizens. Improvements in the comfort and price of train travel, and the development of large luxury liners and hotels offering a wide range of prices helped fuel the demand for pleasure travel. The invention of the automobile and the airplane in the early twentieth century eventually led to still more opportunity for personal travel. After the Second World War, the demand for personal travel virtually exploded. If the number of travellers and the money they spend is any indication, we are still in it.
Tourists spending creates many jobs and generates substantial income.
In fact, tourism is often among the top two or three income-earners in North American states and provinces, and countries throughout the world. Not surprisingly, then, tourism is usually justified economically. The effects of tourism in any society are complicated. Tourist demand for souvenirs has spawned the production of shoddy and tacky goods. But that same demand supports traditional crafts and arts.