The sociology of leisure travel can be defined as the academic study of touristic traveling for pleasure and recreational purposes. Sociological inquiries of leisure travel are primarily concerned with the behaviors and motivations of tourists. Leisure travel emerged in the United Kingdom in the wake of the Industrial Revolution; the first travel company was founded in the mid-18th century. Initially, only the nobility and the British middle classes—namely, factory owners, traders, and successful bankers—possessed the luxury of sufficient leisure time to embark upon a trip for pleasure. In the interim, leisure travel has steadily increased to become a defining feature of modernity.

Given the fact that the tourism industry has become one of the fastest-growing sectors of the global economy, the sociology of leisure travel delivers ...