Tourism

Travel for recreational or leisure purposes

Politics & GovernmentExploration & Discovery

Tourism — Image via Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia.

Overview

What happened

May 15, 1905, marked the official founding of Las Vegas, a city that would grow from 25 people to over 24,000 by 1940, according to the US Census Bureau.

Date

May 15, 1905

Location

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Key people

Helen J. Stewart

Why it matters

The article’s specific value lies in its focus on the Las Vegas Land and Water Company’s 1905 water rights acquisition and its long term impact on municipal infrastructure, a topic a...

What was Tourism?

Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic (within the traveller's own country) or international. International tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, tourism numbers declined due to a severe economic slowdown (see Great Recession) and the outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

Background and consequences

These numbers, however, recovered until the COVID-19 pandemic put an abrupt end to the growth. The United Nations World Tourism Organization has estimated that global international tourist arrivals might have decreased by 58% to 78% in 2020, leading to a potential loss of US$0.9–1.2 trillion in international tourism receipts.

Related on thisDay

Las Vegas Founding — May 15, 1905

25 people became 24,000 by 1940 in Las Vegas, Nevada, after its 1905 founding, transforming the US desert landscape into a city

Sources and further reading

Use the dated article for the day-specific account; use these references to check the event record and explore its wider historical context.

Date article: Las Vegas Founding — May 15, 1905 Wikipedia source

Cite this page

MLA

“Tourism.” thisDay, thisday.info/history/tourism/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

APA

Tourism. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://thisday.info/history/tourism/

Chicago

“Tourism.” thisDay. Accessed October 19, 2026. https://thisday.info/history/tourism/.

Found an error? Let us know.