The most popular urban tourism attractions
Tehran (KNA) : Tourism is an industry that does not have the effects and consequences of other industries.
Tourism is an industry that does not have the effects and consequences of other industries. According to the definition of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), tourism refers to all activities where an individual goes outside his residence for recreational purposes, use of natural surroundings, therapy, and economic activities, and lives there for one year at most. There are other sides to Tourism that can be defined in the following factors: the time of travel, distances, motivation and goals and they have their own features. Tourism is a developing industry that plays a significant role in promoting social, economic and cultural structures of societies and is considered to be a pillar of sustainable development.
Urban planner Solmaz Rezai says: Urban tourism is a term that takes into account, basic definition of multiple tourism activities in which cities are the main destination. Followings are motivations of urban tourism: attending conferences, visiting cultural heritage, religious trips, therapeutic purposes, recreation, office activities, educational points and personal reasons. Cities act as gateways to countries, place of residential centers and starting point of ecotourism plans. Due to the change in human lifestyle in the last decades, which, time is considered to be the most valuable component of life especially for urban people, the increase of short trips has made cities one of the most important tourist attractions and the decline in the average travel time for tourists is its sign.
Urban tourism development will be harmonized with indicators of sustainable development only if it is not destructive and preserves valuable resources such as water, soil, and biological resources for the future. According to WTO, in 2010 tourism industry generated more than 1,550 billion dollars globally, and the organization has made jobs 2.1 times faster than other areas of the economy. Currently, the best and most popular urban tourism attractions are Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Bangkok, Paris, Macao, Shenzhen, New York, Istanbul, Bali, Rome and Barcelona respectively.
Source: donya-e-eqtesad