Page 86 - Introduction to Tourism

- day excursions to the seaside. Patronage of the

hotels at these resorts was still limited to those

with considerable means.

Thus, tourism owes a debt to medical

practitioners who advocated the medicinal value

of mineral waters and sent their patients to
places where mineral springs were known to

exist. Later, physicians also recommended sea
bathing for its therapeutic value. While spas and

seaside resorts were first visited for reasons of
health, they soon became centers of

entertainment, recreation, and gambling,

attracting the rich and fashionable with or without

ailments. This era of tourism illustrates that

usually a combination of factors rather than one

element spells the success or failure of an

enterprise. Today, hot springs, although they are

not high on travelers ’ priority lists, are still tourist

attractions. Examples in the United States are

Hot Springs, Arkansas; French Lick, Indiana; and

Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The sea,

particularly in the Sun Belt, continues to have a

powerful attraction and is one of the leading

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