"Tourist" redirects here; for the album by Athlete, see Tourist (album)

For the Roxette album, see Tourism (album)

see List of popular tourist regions

Tourism is the act of travel for the purpose of recreation and business, and the provision of services for this act. Tourists are people who are "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited" (official UNWTO definition). The distance between these two places is of no significance.

A more comprehensive definition would be that tourism is a service industry, comprising a number of tangible and intangible components. The tangible elements include transport systems — air, rail, road, water and now, space; hospitality services — accommodation, foods and beverages, tours, souvenirs; and related services such as banking, insurance and safety and security. The intangible elements include: rest and relaxation, culture, escape, adventure, new and different experiences.

More on [ Tourism ]

BBC News | Europe | World Edition

Ukraine 'must live without fear'
Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:37:43 -0000
The US vice-president reassures Ukraine that the US has a "deep and abiding interest" in the country's security.
Serb opposition leader resigns
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:07:32 -0000
The head of the main opposition party in Serbia resigns after colleagues refuse to back efforts to join the EU.
Row over trial's 'Ramadan' delay
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 04:20:52 -0000
French anger at court's apparent decision to postpone a trial because it was to take place during Ramadan.

NYT > Europe

As Soviet Union Dissolved, Enclave’s Fabric Unraveled
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:35:39 -0000
For the past 18 years a family in Tskhinvali has been reliving the rifts and betrayals that took place in the last months of the Soviet Union.
Despite Tobacco’s Perils, Kremlin Yields to Smokers
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:48:07 -0000
The Russian government seems reluctant to tackle the country’s high smoking rate in part because anti-vice campaigns have historically produced a sharp backlash.
Turkey’s President Visits Armenia
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 08:43:45 -0000
The trip was widely seen as a symbolic gesture to normalize relations between the countries, which have recognized each other but have not established diplomatic relations.

L.A. Times - Europe

Lourdes celebrates 150th anniversary of Bernadette's visions
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Pilgrims and secular visitors alike feel their spirits moved by the shrine's and town's beauty and spiritual history. Lourdes, France
Cultivated for AIDS victims, Laguna Beach garden is missing its keeper
Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The man who tended to a plot that became the resting place of many in the once-thriving gay community is himself fighting the disease. The small patch of flowers serves as a reminder. It commemorates lives lost and souls remembered. The ashes of 50 or so are scattered or buried there.
Tiny bug takes large toll on Europe's forests
Sat, 06 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Portuguese officials struggle to halt the spread of pine wilt disease, which is a menace from Scandinavia to Greece. Manuel Coimbra watches in silence, his hands on his hips, as a lumberjack saws down one of his pine trees to stop a killer bug that experts say could wipe out large belts of European woodland.

Europe - International Herald Tribune

A hardening of hearts in South Ossetia
By ELLEN BARRY Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:57:10 -0000
Ireya Alborova, whose family is part Georgian and part Ossetian, has encountered the worsening ethnic divide in Tskhinvali, the war-torn capital of South Ossetia.
Coming to grips with Russia's new nerve
By James Traub Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:26:25 -0000
There's all the difference in the world between an enfeebled and defensive empire, and a nation emboldened by vast wealth and brimming with resentment at past humiliations. This Russia does not look so very containable.
Cheney warns Russia to reverse course
By Steven Lee Myers Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:23:34 -0000
Vice President Dick Cheney has denounced Russia's war against Georgia as evidence of a pattern of "troublesome and unhelpful actions" that threatened peace from Central Asia to the Middle East to Europe.
Turkish president visits Armenia
By SEBNEM ARSU Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:57:10 -0000
The trip was widely seen as a symbolic gesture to normalize relations between the countries, which have recognized each other but have not established diplomatic relations.
Kremlin reluctant to tackle Russia's smoking problem
By COURTNEY WEAVER Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:57:10 -0000
The government appears to have allowed cigarette sales and smoking to flourish in part because it is wary of engaging in the kind of anti-vice campaigns that have historically produced a sharp backlash in Russia.
Now, Europeans are slower to spend, and it shows
By FLOYD NORRIS Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:57:10 -0000
For the first time in more than a decade, consumers in much of Europe are buying less than they did a year earlier, helping to slow economies that may have fallen into recession.

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