domestic tourism definition unwto

Resource Library

Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities

Published by: UNWTO, 2020

As the world’s tourism turns to domestic travel to boost the restart and recovery of the sector in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, this briefing note aims to analyse the global domestic tourism market and provide policy-makers and the tourism sector at large with examples of initiatives implemented around the world to promote domestic travel and restore confidence.

This report identifies the world’s major domestic tourism markets, analyses its main characteristics and shares the measures that are being implemented around the world to promote domestic tourism and restore confidence, as tourism restarts in the face of COVID-19.

• Tourism Watch

UNWTO Report: Understanding domestic tourism and seizing its opportunities

In the light of ongoing restrictions of international mobility due to COVID-19, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has published a report on domestic tourism and its potentials. The market for domestic tourism is six times larger than that for international tourists in terms of visitor numbers. It can now play a greater role in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is proving to be more crisis-proof, while a normalization of international tourism will still take time due to risks and restrictions. The report analyzes domestic tourism markets and provides examples how to boost domestic tourism.

Related Files

• Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities 2 MB

Infoservice

The most important backgrounds every two to three months

• The T4SDG Platform

• What are the SDGs
• Tourism and SDGs
• Companies CSR and SDGs
• Tourism in National SDG Strategies
• TIPs Toolkit
• SDGs Dashboard
• Tourism for SDGs
• CSR & Sustainable Development Goals
• Tourism in National SDG strategies
• G20 Tourism and SDGs Dashboard
• COVID-19 Initiatives

We invite you to share initiatives, projects, research or new ideas that promotes tourism’s role in mitigating the impact of COVID-19. This encompasses a wide variety of inputs. Users are encouraged to include as much information as possible about the initiatives (weblinks, pictures, video, PDF) and include information if and on how people can participate or engage as partners.

• UNWTO Briefing Note – Tourism and COVID-19, Issue 3. Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities

An estimated 9 billion domestic tourist trips (overnight visitors) were recorded around the world in 2018, of which well over 50% in Asia and the Pacific. Worldwide, domestic tourism is over six times bigger than international tourism (1.4 billion international arrivals in 2018) measured in number of tourist trips. As restrictions on travel begin to ease globally, destinations around the world are focusing on growing domestic tourism, with many offering incentives to encourage people to explore their own countries. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), with domestic tourism set to return faster than international travel, this represents an opportunity for both developed and developing countries to recover from the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing the importance of domestic tourism, UNWTO has released the third of its Tourism and COVID-19 Briefing Notes, -Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities. The publication identifies ways in which destinations around the world are taking proactive steps to grow domestic tourism, from offering bonus holidays for workers to providing vouchers and other incentives to people travelling in their own countries.

World Tourism Organization (2020), UNWTO Briefing Note – Tourism and COVID-19, Issue 3. Understanding Domestic Tourism and Seizing its Opportunities, UNWTO, Madrid, DOI: https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284422111

• https://doi.org/10.18111/9789284422111

Domestic tourism

• Living reference work entry
• Later version available View entry history
• First Online: 01 January 2015
• Cite this living reference work entry

• Hyungsuk Choo 3  

6925 Accesses

2 Citations

1 Altmetric

Domestic tourism can be described as tourism involving residents of one country traveling within their own country. It does not involve the crossing of international borders at entry points. As early recorded history provides a glimpse into ancient tourism activities, domestic tourism is in fact the first form of tourism practiced. It has been a well-established practice, happening in every country or region in the world. A strong relationship among tourism and visiting friends and relatives and religious pilgrimage has been found in countries with a long history of domestic tourism (Rogerson and Lisa 2005 ). On the contrary, mass domestic tourism has only recently emerged due to increased disposable income, introduction of labor rights associated with leisure and vacation , governmental policy about the deregulation of internal movement, and so on (Scheyvens 2007 ).

Tourism is essentially an activity engaged by human beings. The minimum necessary features that need to exist for it to be...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Pierret, F. 2011 Some Points on Domestic Tourism. Madrid: World Tourism Organization.

Google Scholar  

Rogerson, C., and Z. Lisa 2005 “Sho’t Left”: Changing Domestic Tourism in South Africa. Urban Forum 16(2-3): 88-111.

Article   Google Scholar  

Scheyvens, R. 2007 Poor Cousins No More: Valuing the Development Potential of Domestic and Diaspora Tourism. Progress in Development Studies 7:307-25.

Sindiga, I. 1996 Domestic Tourism in Kenya. Annals of Tourism Research 23:19-31.

Telfer, D., and G. Wall 2000 Strengthening Backward Economic Linkages: Local Food Purchasing by Three Indonesian Hotels. Tourism Geographies 2:421-447.

UNWTO 2012 Methodological Notes to the Tourism Statistics Database. Madrid: World Tourism Organization.

Xu, G. 1998 Domestic Tourism and its Economic Effect in Beidaihe: The Largest Seaside Resort of China. Pacific Tourism Review 2:43-52.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Tourism, Leisure, and Event Planning School of Human Movement, Sports, and Leisure Studies, 1001 E Wooster Street, 43403, Bowling Green, USA

Hyungsuk Choo

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hyungsuk Choo .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

School of Hospitality Leadership, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menomonie, Wisconsin, USA

Jafar Jafari

School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

Honggen Xiao

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry.

Choo, H. (2015). Domestic tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_255-1

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_255-1

Received : 01 May 2015

Accepted : 01 May 2015

Published : 22 September 2015

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-01669-6

eBook Packages : Springer Reference Business and Management Reference Module Humanities and Social Sciences Reference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Chapter history

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_255-2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_255-1

• Find a journal
• Track your research

#iamwithIMTM

• Open Search Window

UNWTO says domestic tourism will return faster than international travel

September 14, 2020 | News | IMTM

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) expects domestic tourism to return faster than international travel, representing an opportunity for both developed and developing countries to recover from the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNWTO says that it is important to recognize the opportunities that domestic tourism can provide to a country. Their data shows that in 2018, around 9 billion domestic tourism trips were made worldwide, six times the number of international tourist arrivals (1.4 billion in 2018). The publication identifies ways in which destinations around the world are taking proactive steps to grow domestic tourism, from offering bonus holidays for workers to providing vouchers and other incentives to people traveling in their own countries.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “UNWTO expects domestic tourism to return faster and stronger than international travel. Given the size of domestic tourism, this will help many destinations recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, while at the same time safeguarding jobs, protecting livelihoods and allowing the social benefits tourism offers to also return.”

The briefing note also shows that, in most destinations, domestic tourism generates higher revenues than international tourism. In OECD nations, domestic tourism accounts for 75% of total tourism expenditure, while in the European Union, domestic tourism expenditure is 1.8 times higher than inbound tourism expenditure. Globally, the largest domestic tourism markets in terms of expenditure are the United States with nearly US$ 1 trillion, Germany with US$ 249 billion, Japan US$ 201 billion, the United Kingdom with US$ 154 billion, and Mexico with US$ 139 billion.

Initiatives to boost domestic tourism  

Given the value of domestic tourism and current trends, increasing numbers of countries are taking steps to grow their markets, UNWTO reports. This new Briefing Note provides case studies of initiatives designed to stimulate domestic demand. These include initiatives focused on marketing and promotion as well as financial incentives . Examples of countries taking targeted steps to boost domestic tourist numbers include:

• In Italy, the Bonus Vacanze initiative offers families with incomes of up to EUR 40,000 contributions of up to EUR 500 to spend in domestic tourism accommodation.
• Malaysia allocated US$113 million worth of travel discount vouchers as well as personal tax relief of up to US$227 for expenditure related to domestic tourism.
• Costa Rica moved all holidays of 2020 and 2021 to Mondays for Costa Ricans to enjoy long weekends to travel domestically and to extend their stays.
• France launched the campaign #CetÉtéJeVisiteLaFrance (‘This Summer, I visit France’) highlighting the diversity of destinations across the country.
• Argentina announced the creation of an Observatory for Domestic Tourism to provide a better profile of Argentine tourists.
• Thailand will subsidize 5 million nights of hotel accommodation at 40% of normal room rates for up to five nights.

Comments are closed.

News Updates

• Barceló Whale Lagoon Maldives: A Luxurious Award-Winning Retreat in the South Ari Atoll
• MATATO Concludes Women’s Edition of Maldives Travel Conference, Empowering Female Voices in Tourism
• Maldivian Media and Tourism Leaders Explore the Artistic Legacy of RAAYA by Atmosphere
• Heritance Aarah Maldives Unveils Premier All-Inclusive Wellness Retreat
• Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi Welcomes Renowned Practitioners for Unique Well-Being Experiences

International Maldives Travel Market

H. Rankokaa First Floor | [email protected]

International Maldives Travel Market 2024

UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

• SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• COMPETITIVENESS
• INNOVATION AND INVESTMENT
• ETHICS, CULTURE AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
• TECHNICAL COOPERATION
• UN TOURISM ACADEMY

share this content

• Share this article on facebook
• Share this article on twitter
• Share this article on linkedin

Statistics of tourism

The United Nations recognizes the World Tourism Organization as the appropriate organization to collect, to analyse, to publish, to standardize and to improve the statistics of tourism, and to promote the integration of these statistics within the sphere of the United Nations system.

“Official statistics provide an indispensable element in the information system of a democratic society, serving the government, the economy and the public with data about the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation.”

Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics

The UN Tourism Statistics Department is committed to developing tourism measurement for furthering knowledge of the sector, monitoring progress, evaluating impact, promoting results-focused management, and highlighting strategic issues for policy objectives. 

The department works towards advancing the methodological frameworks for measuring tourism and expanding its analytical potential, designs practical guidance for their implementation in countries, supports statistical strengthening in countries through capacity building, and compiles and disseminates tourism statistics of countries all over the world.

The United Nations recognizes the World Tourism Organization as the appropriate organization to collect, to analyses, to publish, to standardize and to improve the statistics of tourism , and to promote the integration of these statistics within the sphere of the United Nations system.

Tourism Statistics Database

UN Tourism systematically gathers tourism statistics from countries and territories around the world into a vast database that constitutes the most comprehensive statistical information available on the tourism sector. 

COVID-19 AND TOURISM STATISTICS

With new situations emerging from the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, some clarifications need to be made to the UN statistical standards on tourism to maintain as far as possible data consistency and international comparability