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800 BCE
The ancient world
The ancient Romans were one of the firsts to travel for pleasure and fun.
They travelled during the "holy days", religious feasts, and they usually visited Naples and the Italian Riviera but also Egypt and Greece.
Obviously this was an activity for wealthy people only. -
1400
The Middle Ages
People in the Middle Ages travelled mainly for trade and religion.
There were a lot of piligrims and merchants travelled to buy and sell goods.
Hostels and inns developed thanks to the piligrimage routes. -
1500
The early modern period
In this century, with the Renaissance, people revived interest in the ancient world and sightseeing became one of the most popoular activities.
People also travelled for pleasure and health reasons. -
The 19th century
Nature became an important part of tourism, people travelled to the English Lake District or the Swiss Alps.
With the Industrial Evolution, travels became less expensive and faster, the working classes could now travel.
Luxury travel was invented and involves trains with sleeping and restaurant cars and other conforts. -
The 20th century
People started to travel to enjoy the sunny climate, since sunbathing became fashionable.
The increase of wealth after WWII made travel more easy and cheap and let people travel for pleasure reasons.
Tourism is now a very important part of economy for a lot of countries.