Mon Jun 20,12:02 AM ET

It's that time of year again, when suitcases are being dusted off, bikinis tried on for size and last year's half-used sun cream fished from the back of bathroom cabinets. The summer holidays are on us again.

And while the beach is still for many an irresistible draw, today's tourists are increasingly seeking out remote, undeveloped spots, searching out new adventures and contact with different cultures far from their daily lives.

From a houseboat in Kashmir, to a cooking holiday in Thailand or a detox package in the Philippines, tourists are looking for new experiences as well as a well-earned break.

After three years of stagnation caused by the September 2001 attacks on the United States, 2004 saw a rise in the global tourism industry reaching 760 million global arrivals in the year, according to the UN body, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO).

The recovery in Asia was dealt a huge blow in December 2004 with the tsunami disaster which rocked 11 countries around the Indian Ocean, and left more than 220,000 people dead or missing, some in tourist hot-spots such as Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

But WTO secretary-general Francesco Frangialli told a conference in Bangkok earlier this year that despite the upheaval he believed: "The tourism sector will surely show again its extraordinary resilience and its ability to overcome difficulties by making an important contribution to the quick recovery of the affected countries."

China and India are also showing signs or stellar growth as the economy booms in the world's two most populous nations, they are becoming among the world's largest exporters and importers of tourists.

In China, which until recently remained fairly closed to foreigners, income from the 109 million tourists overseas visitors last year reached 25.7 billion US dollars, or 5.0 percent of GDP.

While the emergence of budget airlines is fuelling a travel boom in India.

"The number of people flying overseas will double to 30-35 million by 2010, from 15 million annually," said Kapil Kaul, head of the India office of the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Indian travel agent, Mohammed Younis Khan, added that a price-war with some of the Gulf airlines had broken out "forcing the big European airlines to slash economy tickets to Europe and the United States by 10 percent below last year's rates."

Japanese tourists are spending some 147 billion dollars a year at home and abroad, according to a study by the Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) and the government, which hopes to double foreign tourists to 10 million by 2010.

Europe, whose citizens enjoy some of the longest annual holidays, remains at the top of the tourism league table, attracting some 414 million arrivals in 2004, with central and eastern Europe, as well as northern Europe registering the biggest growth, according to the WTO.

The Americas finally came back into growth after three years in the doldrums reaching 124 million arrivals, but still lagging behind the 2000 figure of 128 million.

But the most spectacular advances were seen in Asia/Pacific, where tourism advances were up some 29 percent to total of 154 million, and the Middle East, which in 2004 registered a growth of 20 percent taking its number to 35 million, and just surpassing Africa for the first time.

Tourism is an ancient idea. Even in Roman times, it was not uncommon for people tired of the cities to head to coastal resorts and spas.

But it was with the advent of industrialisation and the railways, that the monied classes began to look beyond their own borders. In the 18th century, the Grand Tour of Europe was considered a vital part of the education of young British gentlemen.

As the railways spread and leisure time increased, workers too began to be able to take trips mainly to coastal areas, which developed the first seaside resorts.

Thomas Cook was to become the father of modern mass tourism, when in 1841 he organised the first package tour, chartering a train to take a group of temperance campaigners to a rally in the British town of Loughborough.

Since then with modern transport advances and increasing leisure time, the tourism market has exploded, making significant contributions to a country's gross domestic product (GDP).

France has remained the world's most visited country for several years, attracting some 75 million tourists, with Spain and the United States vying for second place with around 50 million.

Tourism remains Spain's top industry, bringing in some 37 billion euros, and some 12 percent of GDP, while in Italy, some two million people work in tourism-related industries, which accounts for 7.0 percent of GDP.

The volume of tourists worldwide is however putting tremendous pressure on some of the world's most fragile eco-systems.

Earlier this year the WTO adopted a charter aimed at ensuring a sustainable development of tourism infrastructures that respects local cultures and economies.

"If governments abdicate their responsibility for sustainable tourism development, destinations will be nibbled away by special interests," said Frangialli.

"Unplanned development -- as we have seen too often in the past -- means chaos and depletion of the fragile resources on which our industry relies."

And as tourists boldly go where no man has gone before, the skies are no longer the limit, with space tourism expected to take off in the first quarter of this century. Although initially it will remain beyond the pockets of all but the super-rich.

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