This book is written as a simple, plain language introduction to tourism and assumes no prior knowledge of what tourism is and how it affects our everyday lives. To read it you need to ask one question: why is there so much interest in tourism? If you are inquisitive about tourism and how it has developed as a business then read on. This is a book which looks at what the tourism industry is and does, and why it is such an important global busi-ness. In simple terms it shows how tourism is organized, run and managed and how our desire to take holidays and use our leisure time creates an industry which is expanding and is sometimes seen as out of control. This book does not pull any punches: it is not full of jargon, buzzwords and academic gobbledegook - there are far too many books like that which fail to convey the excite-ment that tourism engenders. It tells a story chapter by chapter about how tourism has developed, what tourism is and how spe-cialist businesses meet the insatiable demand for holidays and travel. Where technical terminology is used, it is explained in lay terms for the general reader. The book offers many insights into a fascinating business which is changing so fast that even commen-tators find it hard to keep abreast of it.