Term to describe firms and establishments providing facilities and services for tourists. Economic activities are normally grouped into industries according to their products. As tourists use a range of facilities and services, they are customers of a number of industries as conventionally defined. Those significantly dependent on tourists for their business such as hotels and tour operators are sometimes called tourism-related industries. To the extent to which they supply tourist rather than local and neighbourhood market, they make up a tourism industry, that part of the economy which has a common function of meeting tourists needs.