Special Interest Tourism

Special Interest Tourism is a category of tourism that involves people with particular interests such as painting, cooking or bird-watching. The tourists who fall under this category are mainly people with very particular needs on visiting a place. For example, you can have a tourist in a particular national park just for bird watching.

A range of special interest tourist categories

• Regional Tourism – Growth in interest in travel to regions of the UK and the major cities within regions, supported by upgrading of transport links and attractions.

 • Cultural Tourism - Turning visits to arts, sports and other events into a weekend stay or centre-piece of a holiday.

• Heritage Tourism - Impact of Lottery funding to upgrade existing heritage sites and create visitor attractions at new locations. Growing interest in the heritage of industrial age in Britain, as we fully embrace the post-industrial era.

• Rural Tourism – See activity on Tourism in the Countryside.

• Educational Tourism – for example, learn a language in the country where it is spoken.

 • Cycle Tourism – Integrating transport links to enable people to tour further afield on their (or hired) bicycles.

• Travelling for Health – The growth and re-birth of spa and health resorts. Personal well-being becomes the focal point of the tourism experience.

• Environmental Tourism - ‘Green’ holiday locations and activities include environmentally-friendly forms of travel as well as visitor locations offering ‘green’ experiences.

• Wine and Food Tourism - Food and wine festivals, journeys through wine and food producing areas. Travel and activity form part of the entire holiday experience.

• The Cruise Experience - This sector has seen rapid growth in the past twenty years.

• Festivals and Events Tourism - Celebrating global, national and regional festivals and events. Cultural and religious festivals especially popular.

• Seniors Tourism - Boosted by increased life expectancy in the developed world and by a general rise in affluence of some senior citizens, the market for ‘grey’ tourism is expanding.