Key Difference: A traveller is a person that prefers to travel light and without and tour packages. They prefer to move from place to place and never prefer to settle. A tourist is supposed to quite the opposite of a traveller. A tourist is usually seen in a huge group of people, family or tour guides.

The terms travel and tourism are often believed to be one and the same. In the initial days travelling was considered as a means of survival, but these days things have changed, it is now considered as an art form.

To many the terms have no significant difference and have the same definition. Even the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines them both in similar terms.

Travel:

• to go on a trip or journey : to go to a place and especially one that is far away
• to go through or over (a place) during a trip or journey
• to move from one place to another

Tourism:

• the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure
• the business of providing hotels, restaurants, entertainment, etc., for people who are traveling

The term tourism can also refer to an organization that caters or looks after the act of traveling from one place to another. Tourism organizations that are private are responsible for booking tickets, getting the visa process clear, organizing tours, taking care of accommodation and transport, etc. National and International organizations are responsible for ethical tourism, setting up opportunities for developing nations, developing and regulating tourism in their own country, etc.

However, for many people there is a stark difference in a tourist and a traveller. They also refer to an immigrant as a traveller “without a return ticket”. A tourist shares very few qualities with a traveller.

A traveller is a person that prefers to travel light and without and tour packages. They prefer to move from place to place and never prefer to settle. Travelling in when the individual likes to immerse themselves in the culture, they prefer to spend time with the locals, they eat the local food. They like to go off on their on to find the nooks and crannies of the cites. They prefer to sit in a secluded corner and just prefer to live in the moment, without worrying about visiting something or any planned tours.

 Travellers usually pack light and always go off on their own to look for the next best thing that the city has to offer. They may carry a translation book and prefer to converse in the language of the place that they are in.

A tourist is supposed to quite the opposite of a traveller. A tourist is usually seen in a huge group of people, family or tour guides. They prefer to stick of a schedule that may or may not be set by their tour guide. They prefer to visit the tourist places and snap photos of that place and themselves at that particular place. They also prefer not to mingle with the locals unless necessary, and prefer to speak in their own language rather than try the language of the locals. They do not prefer to try different foods and refer to stick to foods that they know, this includes fast food places such as McDonalds, etc. They often pack heavy and prefer to be prepared for any situation that they may come across.

While these are not the official definitions, the context that these two terms are used in have resulted in these stark differences between the two. There are also people who claim that there is no distinction, and that people can enjoy their holidays in any way that they would prefer to.

Comparison between Travel and Tourism:

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