There are mainly three types of tourism in any country: domestic tourism, international tourism, and outbound tourism. But in recent years, many other types of tourism have emerged, such as holidays, sports and cultural tourism, and visits to friends and family. Leisure tourism has become increasingly popular due to changes in lifestyle, people's consumption patterns, and the need for leisure activities to relieve stress and rejuvenate. Leisure trips can be taken for holidays, sports, educational projects, school trips, family trips, weekend getaways, and more.
National tourism consists of visiting somewhere within one's own country but outside the specific place where they live. The types of tourists identified by Cohen in his typology are based on a continuum that allows tourists to be placed somewhere between the familiar and the new. We can also distinguish many types of tourism such as heritage, cultural, urban, rural, ecological and nature tourism. A study by the Inter-American University for Development (UNID) makes an interesting distinction between “classification” and “typology”, in which it defines eight types of tourism according to their form.
These include incentive trips, exhibitions, trade fairs, conferences, meetings and corporate events. Business tourists usually eat and buy local products but may also enjoy a Big Mac from time to time. Institutionalized tourists seek profound and experiential travel experiences that cannot be obtained through institutionalized tourism. Organized mass tourism is another type of tourist identified by Cohen's typology.
Business tourism is one of the largest types of tourism in existence. Cohen's typology teaches us that there are many different types of tourists: some looking for well-known experiences while others seek completely new experiences and those who are somewhere in between. These types of tourists travel independently and often seek adventure, the new and the unknown, and authenticity. Dental tourism is another type of tourist that is becoming increasingly popular.
These types of tourists want a family meal, they want to be able to communicate in a familiar language, and they want to stay in types of accommodations that they are familiar with. An increasingly relevant approach to contemporary tourism is to classify tourists according to their level and type of interaction with the destination.
