Glossary of Tour Types
This is just a sampling of the types of tours available. Many NTA tour operators customize tours to suit anyone's taste and style, while still offering the convenience and security costumers have come to expect of a packaged tour.
Adventure - A tour designed around an adventurous activity such as rafting, hiking, or mountain climbing.
Agricultural - A tour that visits a working farm or any agricultural, horticultural or agribusiness operation for the purpose of enjoyment, education, or involvement in the activities of the farm or operation.
Alumni - A tour created for customers who have previously traveled with a tour operator. Also called a reunion tour.
Culinary - This quickly growing niche combines unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences with travel.
Cultural - A tour that includes aspects of a country or region's culture, especially its arts and traditions.
Ecotours - A tour designed to focus on preserving the environment, or to environmentally sensitive areas.
Events - A tour that includes or is centered around an event such as the Rose Bowl or a Christmas Festival of Lights.
Fall Foliage - A tour in autumn when the leaves are at their peak.
Family - Families can be made up of many combinations and so can their travel. This type of travel constitutes family members traveling together.
FIT - A custom-designed, prepaid travel package with many individualized arrangements. FIT tours are unescorted and usually have no formal itinerary.
Gaming (casino, etc.) - A tour that incorporates gambling.
Garden (floral) - Tourism involving travel to gardens and places which are significant in the history of gardening.
Gay/Lesbian - Tours designed to be gay-friendly.
Historic/Heritage - Tours visiting historical sites such as battlefields.
Holidays - A tour that celebrates a specific holiday or time of year such as Christmas or Halloween.
Learning/Educational - While nearly all tours will involve some sort of learning component, this tour type is designed specifically to include an educational component such as a workshop with the musicians at a theater.
Music - Tours that include spectator or performance opportunities.
Mystery - A journey to unpublicized destinations in which tour takers aren't told where they will be going until en route or upon arrival.
National Parks - A tour that includes a visit to a National Park. (See Voluntourism for more information.)
Packaged travel - A package in combination of two or more types of tour components into a product which is produced, assembled, promoted and sold as a package by a tour operator for an all-inclusive price.
Religious - Religious travel is a booming industry with 16 million international travelers. This includes people of faith traveling individually or in groups for pilgrimage, missionary, or leisure (fellowship) purposes.
Reunion - Travel for the purpose of a reunion.
Shopping - A tour that incorporates a shopping component.
Sports (participatory) - Travel for the purpose of taking part in a sports activity.
Sports (spectator) - A tour to see a sporting event such as the Super Bowl.
Theaters - A tour with a theatrical element, such as seeing a play or touring a theater.
Voluntour(ism) - A tour that combines voluntary service with the traditional elements of travel and tourism.
Wine Tasting - A tour that includes wineries or vineyards where travelers can taste wines and see how they are made.
Women-only - A tour designed just for women.