Page 14 - Tourism The International Business

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Colorado, respectively, still attract many visitors. Additionally, many Eastern European towns proclaim the
beneficial effects of mud packs and hydrotherapy.
Growth of seaside resorts. The medical profession, the British court, and Napoleon all helped popularize the

seaside resort. The original motive for sea bathing was for reasons of health. Dr Richard Russell argued that sea
water was effective against such maladies as cirrhosis, dropsy, gout, gonorrhea, and scurvy, and he insisted that
people drink a pint of it daily. It is worth noting that the good Dr Russell was a physician in Brighton, a resort close
to London and on the water!
Brighton's fame was assured after the patronage of the Prince Regent, who later became George IV. Similarly,
Southend and Cowes are associated with Princess Charlotte and Queen Victoria, respectively.
The growth of the seaside resort was stimulated by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. It will be

recalled that both contributed to the demise of the Grand Tour. Those who would have taken the Grand Tour could
not travel to the Continent. The now fashionable seaside resorts were the alternative.
Seaside resorts were genteel to the point of being dull. Originally people bathed in the nude. This, however, led
to inquisitive onlookers. The bathers then turned to bathing machines that could be rolled out into deep waters. The
sightseers countered with telescopes! This led to the wearing of bathing dresses, which revealed nothing. Visitors
were led to complain:
The ladies dressed in flannel cases
Show nothing but their handsome faces. 5

Exhibit 4: The ultimate "seaside resort", Waikiki.
(Courtesy Hawaii Visitors Bureau; Peter French,
photographer.)

Toward the end of the nineteenth century the seaside resorts became the palaces for the working classes. This
was due to the introduction of paid holidays and better wages.
The term holiday comes from "holy days", days for religious observances. Ancient Rome featured public holidays
for great feasting. As Europe became Christian certain saints' days and religious festivals became holy days when

people fasted and prayed and refrained from work. After the Industrial Revolution, religious holidays gradually
became secularized and the week's holiday emerged. The vacation was negotiated between employer and the
workers and was again due to the economic and social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution. It made

5 H. Robinson, A Geography of Tourism (London: MacDonald and Evans Ltd., 1976), p. 11.

Tourism the International Business 14 A Global Text