"When the traveller's risks are insurable he has become a tourist" Discuss the statement and explore the correlation between the technological innovation and growth of mass-tourism.

Essay by bayernilsUniversity, Bachelor'sA, January 2004

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The statement, that once "the traveller's risks are insurable he has become a tourist" , at first gives the impression that only by having insured his risks the traveller becomes a tourist. However this is not the case, the tourist has slowly evolved from the traveller and the fact of being insured is one part of this evolution. In fact the same author makes reference to this: "The traveller was active. Now he became passive. Instead of an athletic exercise, travel became a spectator sport."

In a few words he describes here the move from the traditional travelling being labour intensive, stressful and not always for the sake of seeking leisure to the modern type of tourism where one purchases a ready made package which includes all that is needed to travel and sightsee to desired destinations at the highest comfort standards and with minimum risk. The fact that the tourist nowadays is insured against almost everything can however also have drawbacks, especially for the countries to which he travels (destinations).

This feeling of being insured lowers the tourist's attention and awareness. This leads to tourists doing things they would normally (and at home) not be doing and can lead to environmental, social or even economical damages.

The growth of mass tourism in the last century has affected many countries by above named damages.

Another argument against Boorstin's statement was the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. People were offered insurances against all kinds of terrorism and accidents but still were not willing to travel to popular destinations, i.e. act as tourists. This effect has left its impact on the mass-tourism growth, however at current, a good year after the happening the situation seems to be stabilising.

The transport evolution

Mass tourism has been boosted by technological innovation, namely the...