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Last edited 18 Apr 2022

Visitor

[edit] Definition

A visitor is a person (or sometimes another animal) that makes a visit, arriving at a place at which they are not usually resident or associated with, eg a visit to an aunt or a cinema. Their stay (the visit) is usually temporary but depending on circumstances may become permanent at which point they are no longer regarded as visitors. Tourists are usually classed as visitors.

[edit] Visitors

Visits can be made to homes, museums, zoos, towns, cities, countries and countless other places, many of which (eg museums and zoos) are termed ‘visitor attractions’.

‘Visitor flow’ describes the volume and movement of visitors to, and within, buildings and the spaces around and between them.

Once made, a visit can be repeated at a future time or times. There is no limit to the number of times a visit can be made to a particular location, at which point the visitor is classed as a frequent visitor (the opposite is an infrequent visitor).

Visitors may be welcome or unwelcome. A child visiting its grandparents is usually a welcome visitor. A burglar is never a welcome visitor, while a bear or tiger may also be regarded as unwelcome visitors to a settlement or other place of human habitation.

In recent years, the term 'visitor' has been extended to those landing at a particular website.

NB The glossary of statistical terms, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), suggests that: ‘The persons referred to in the definition of tourism are termed “visitors”: “Any person travelling to a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than 12 months and whose main purpose of trip is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited” (Recommendations on Tourism Statistics, Part One, para. 20).’