Aspects of Tourism Ontology
Every science has a material object and a formal object. Material object is the entire scope (macro aspect) studied in a science. Formal objects are certain parts of material objects that are of particular concern in the study of that science.
In fact, this formal object is what distinguishes one science from another. The formal object (ontology aspect) of tourism science is society.
3 Elements of Tourism
Therefore, the ontology aspect of tourism can be positioned as a branch of social science because the focus of interest is the life of human society. Thus this tourism phenomenon can be focused on three elements, namely:
- movement of tourists;
- community activities that facilitate the movement of tourists;
- implications or consequences of tourist movements and community activities that facilitate it on the life of the community at large.
Movement or travel is one of the essential components in tourism. This is the objective and object of supply and demand for tour services, including the object of study of various sciences (Freyer, 1995 in Pitana and Gayatri, 2005).