CAT 2: Exploring Tourism: The "4 S's: - Sun, Sea, Sand, and Sex
Patrick Patterson
Many of us spend a lot on travel and leisure and the pleasurable things that go with them. And quite a few of us will make a living, directly or indirectly, through tourism. But why do we do it? Why invest all that time, money, and effort?
Almost everyone recognizes that tourism is big fun, but we rarely think about how the fun we are having when we travel is also big business—and a source of big change, especially in our increasingly globalized and interconnected world. The "4 S's"–sun, sea, sand, and sex–is a familiar catch-phrase from the colorful world of tourism studies that captures one of the most common understandings of the kinds of enjoyment that we are looking for (whether we want to admit it or not) when we travel on vacation.
