One of the fundamental questions that researchers of tourism ask is why do people go on holiday? This essay will argue that tourists go on holiday for a number of diverse reasons, not all of which are apparent to the tourist themselves or to the many theorists who seek to analyse the tapestry of tourist motives. The majority of discussions on the reasons why people go on holiday tend to be contained within the sociological work of Cohen and the social psychological work of Pearce. Their research into this area provides a framework from which it is possible to analyse the major factors relating to why people go on holiday.
             It is important to define exactly what a holiday is. A holiday may be described as comprising of several components. Which include: the act of travelling, a temporary stay, a particular destination, and activities undertaken at that destination (Haywood et al, 1990: 88). For the purposes of this essay a people embarking on a holiday shall be classified as tourists. The international Union of Travel Organisations divides tourists into two groups: visitors making at least one overnight stop in a country or region and staying at least 24 hours (Shaw and Williams: 1994). However, careful analysis of people's motives is necessary in order to determine why they go on holiday.
             These motives can be conceptualised in terms of push. Push factors are the socio-psycological components and individual elements of these motives and pull factors can be referred to as the destinations and their features (Dann, 1984). For example, Crompton (1979) classifies motives (push factors) into categories such as relaxation, prestige, regression, escape and exploration. However, according to Yiannakis (1992) "such needs are consequences of modernisation and other societal transformations rather than complete explanations in themselves" (Annals of Tourism research). Thus, suggesting that tourist's motives change over t...