ABSTRACT
A visit to the high-street travel agent to book a holiday or make arrangements for a business trip quickly reveals the sophistication and highly organised structure of modern travel. The vast array of travel packages, permutations of routes and levels of accom modation are examples of the kind of information stored on comprehensive databases, which are instantly accessible via the travel agent’s desktop computer. This impressive high-tech front to the travel industry is only a component of advanced trans portation systems and world-wide communication networks, all of which serve to add glamour and excitement to travel and tourism. However, this might well be a deceptive representation of modern travel and tourism. The reality is often a less glamorous image of travel being associated with a growing list of potential health risks. For many would-be travellers, these are often ‘hidden’ health risks obscured by the more positive images presented through colourful mass-media advertising and careful marketing of exotic holiday destinations and luxury travel facilities.
