ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 focused on a historical and geographical account of tourism, highlighting the social and economic changes in place that help explain contemporary patterns of tourism. Having established that tourism has become an integral part of global society, the focus of this chapter is upon attempting to understand the significance of tourism in contemporary society. Based upon the account of tourism in Chapter 1, it is suggested that tourism may be viewed not only as a matter of individual preference, but also as a type of behaviour that is reflective of the societies that tourists come from, and that impacts upon the societies that they visit. In attempting to understand the role of tourism in society, one social science discipline that has a special usefulness in this task is sociology.
