Consider Prescribing Tourism

Estimates tell us that there are more than 1 billion tourists currently roaming around the planet.1 By the year 2050, one in two people on the planet is expected to be a tourist.2 Millions of travel movements every day affect millions of individuals, numerous societies, and environments in multiple ways. In the popular media and within the broader academic community, tourism is often, and arguably unjustly, marginalized and regarded as frivolous leisure, or simply, a big business.3 Yet, tourism could be seen equally as a human activity focused on the pursuit of greater well‐being away from usual domiciles.4 Until recently, potential health and well‐being benefits of leisure tourism have not received sustained, cross‐disciplinary empirical attention.5,6 I am approaching this editorial as a social scientist specializing in well‐being and tourism research. The purpose here is to put forward a case to the medical community that it is time to more seriously consider the role of diverse tourism activities in enhancing human health and well‐being. I will not be discussing health complications related to travel experiences, as they have been well documented in this journal;7 instead I will try to outline some potential benefits of vacations.