Tourism has become an important activity but it is affected by many factors. Giving its importance explain the factors.

Tourism is travel undertaken for purposes of recreation and relaxation rather than business or other professional purposes. Tourism has been the subject of India's five-year plans from the early days. The first effort to promote tourism was made in 1945 when the British Government constituted a committee under Sir John Sargent for the growth of tourism. After independence, tourism development was considered in an organised manner from the second five-year plan. National policy on tourism was formulated from 1982. After the 1980s, development of tourism is an integral part of the policies and programmes of the government.

There are many factors that both positively and adversely affect tourism. Some of the important factors are:

• Demand: The demand of the people to go for holidays is the main factor determining tourism. Improvements in the standard of living and increased leisure time will increase the number of people going on holidays.

• Transport facilities: The improvement of transport facilities has improved tourism. Travel has become easy and convenient with better transportation facilities. The expansion of the air transport network and the cheap air ticket rates have facilitated the increasing air travel throughout the world. The initiation of a tourism package has also reduced the cost.

• Climate: Climate also influences tourism. The people from colder regions prefer warm, sunny weather and beach holidays as their destinations. This explains the growing level of tourism opportunities to Southern Europe and the Mediterranean lands. On the other hand, people taking winter holidays would prefer areas with cooler climates.

• Landscape: The environment also influences tourism. People like to go for a tour to areas having an attractive and clean environment with mountains, lakes, sea coasts and landscapes not completely altered by man. The areas which are polluted and degraded will not attract tourist traffic.

• History and Art: The history and art of an area have potential attractiveness. People will visit ancient, attractive towns and archaeological sites. Exploring castles, palaces and churches will be included as part of exploring history and art.

• Culture and Economy: The ethnic traditions and local customs also attract people to certain areas. The existence of areas with a huge cultural background will attract large tourist traffic. Also, the regions giving inexpensive services and facilities to the tourists will also be a tourist hotspot.