Tourism – a Hobby, a Profession, a Business

Travelling, the wish to escape from the everyday life and environment, has always been a human interest in knowing, in answering inner needs for moving, for adventure, socialization, for commercial, cultural and educational exchange etc., since immemorial times. The author intends to present historical aspects with regard to the first steps to tourism, to the importance of the tourist phenomenon, its coming into being, by stressing the idea that this domain has initially generated a lot of passion, by practicing it, by its specific issues, by studying it as the field of a profession, and, not ultimately, by approaching it as a private business. An extraordinary rich domain, fascinating and dynamic, a call to creativity in which the need for relaxation, leisure, return to nature have been always mingled with a large economic diversity.The author is a member of the Romanian Association of Tourism Journalists, boasting many years of work in the field of tourism, both as a teacher in the high education structure and a PhD. candidate in a tourism branch.