Tourism

Tourism. Rooted in the British tradition of spas, seaside resorts, and the “grand tour,” tourism in the United States was reenforced by Americans' wanderlust and close connection to the land. As canals and waterways, steamboats, and railroads made travel easier, Niagara Falls; Newport, Rhode Island; Cape May, New Jersey; and the Catskill, Berkshire, White, and Great Smoky Mountains became popular early retreats. Later, hotels developed by major railroads sprang up at desirable tourist locations. The rise of travel agencies (Thomas Cook's, 1865), traveler's checks (American Express, 1891), national parks (starting with Yellowstone in 1872), and the lowly picture postcard all made travel easier or helped spread information about popular destinations. Paintings and photographic images of the West that circulated widely in the East increased that region's tourist appeal. Henry M. Flagler, a railroad entrepreneur and a founder of the Standard Oil Company, promoted Florida's east coast both economically and as a tourist locale in the late nineteenth century.

Originally a pastime of the well‐to‐do, tourism became democratized in the twentieth century. The automobile and the national highway system, as well as the demographic move from farm to city and the spread of paid vacations and increased leisure time for workers, stimulated tourism. After World War II, the family vacation became a summer ritual, and travel abroad grew increasingly common for the more affluent. Not only national parks, but also major cities (New York, Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, Honolulu), historic sites (Gettysburg, the Alamo, and Colonial Williamsburg, restored by John D. Rockefeller Jr.), and eventually theme parks (starting with Disneyland in 1955) attracted throngs of visitors. Washington, D.C., has been a perennially popular tourist destination, especially for high‐school seniors taking class trips. Gambling meccas such as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, competed for the tourist dollar as well.

By the late twentieth century, with continued prosperity, the promotion of popular locales by entrepreneurs and chambers of commerce, and the spread of standardized motel and fast‐food chains, tourism flourished. Involving both Americans and growing numbers of foreign travelers, tourism had become a major sector of the U.S. economy, generating more than six million jobs, over $50 billion in annual taxes, and total expenditures in excess of $400 billion a year.

Tourism has impacted on the landscape, both natural and constructed, in many ways. Deluged by visitors, some popular sites such as Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Yellowstone National Park suffered from visual pollution and environmental stress, leading to debates over how to preserve America's natural beauty and historic sites while at the same time making them accessible to ever‐growing numbers of tourists.
See also Amusement Parks and Theme Parks; Automotive Industry; Environmentalism; Gambling and Lotteries; Motor Vehicles; National Park System; Photography; Popular Culture; Urbanization.

Bibliography

John F. Sears , Sacred Places: American Tourist Attractions in the Nineteenth Century, 1989.
Robert W. McIntosh,, Charles R. Goeldner,, and and J.R. Brent Ritchie , Tourism Principles, Practices, Philosophies, 1995.

Richard V. Smith