Chapter 1: History of Tourism

Overview

This chapter provides an historical narrative of the shift from the age of exploration to the age of tourism, ending with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which desegregated restaurants, hotels, and other tourist facilities in the United States. Before tourism could develop, lands had to be settled and infrastructure created to transport, house, and feed leisure travelers. The chapter begins with an overview of the types of travel undertaken prior to tourism, including the European Grand Tour, which bridged travel and tourism. It then focuses on the United States to explore the development of transportation systems and tour guides and introduces key people who pioneered and promoted the nation’s tourist trade. It also examines the role of select tour guides in creating a national historical narrative. It delves into the United States National Park system and the transcontinental railroad companies, which formed the foundation of the country’s travel trade and worked to cohere a patriotic national identity following the Civil War. This chapter also traces the rise of the automobile and explores how the car shifted tourism from a nation-building venture to a celebration of individual freedom. Understanding the history of tourism is essential to a holistic understanding of today’s industry, as it illuminates the national, political, ideological, cultural, social, economic, and technological forces that have shaped the contemporary travel trade.