ABSTRACT
International tourism is big business, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) estimating it to be a United States (US) five trillion dollar economic activity. The bulk of the tourism literature consists of demographic, economic, and geographic analyses. The effect of the travel experience on tourists has been the subject of extensive debate. The optimists have maintained that international travel promotes tolerance and understanding of other cultures. The WTO defines an international tourist as a visitor whose length of stay reaches or exceeds 24 hours, thus spending at least one night in the visited country, and whose main purpose is other than to exercise an activity for which they are remunerated. Tourism is often represented as being an enjoyable, desirable and pleasurable experience, and most people look forward to and expect their visit abroad to be interesting, relaxing and worthwhile. Tourists are also increasingly becoming direct and indirect targets of international terrorism.
