A person travels away from home for pleasure, curiosity, or personal reasons and intends to return. That person is a tourist. The stay is temporary and the main motives are not remunerated work.

Tourists support hotels, restaurants, transport, and attractions through their spending. Behavior ranges from respectful cultural interest to superficial snapshot collecting. Crowding, cultural friction, and environmental pressure can arise when tourist numbers exceed local capacity.

The term sometimes carries mild negative connotations of superficiality; many travelers prefer other labels. Statistically, however, tourist remains the standard category for leisure visitors in industry and government data. Understanding tourist needs and impacts is the foundation of tourism planning.

Every destination must decide how many tourists it wants and what kind of experience it will offer them.