From Travel to Tourism

Abstract

This chapter investigates the allure of the past as felt throughout history up to the onset of tourism. A distinction is made between travel and tourism. Regarding travel an explanation is given of the known information about Mesopotamia, Egypt, Minoan and Mycenaean Greece, Rome and ancient China. During the medieval period pilgrimages were the most common reason for people to move large distances for no economic reason, although there were also some travels connected to an interest in the classical past. The concern for antiquity became paramount from the fifteenth century and this led to the birth of the historical monument and the renewed importance of classical ruins. At the same time, during the modern period Europeans saw how their known world increased to encompass many new areas of the world previously unknown. In the eighteen century the Grand Tour developed as the clearest precedent of tourism. This long journey undertaken by young, wealthy men (and some women), most of them from northern Europe, came to be considered as an important part of a correct upbringing. The amount of travelers led to the emergence of a proto-touristic business dealing with accommodation, information about roads and transport and about what to expect in the classical ruins to be visited. Interestingly, the Grand Tour also led to the appreciation of the travelers’ antiquities found in their own countries.