In conceptualizing tourism, spatial displacement has been a major concern. The concept of tourism has been often defined as going from one place to another. Even though time is a main element in tourism, it has not received much attention. The issue of time in tourism can be examined from several perspectives.

Seasonal feature of tourism. The most important feature of tourism is its seasonality which has been influenced by climatic conditions. Tourist destinations in different seasons, mild spring and autumn, hot summer and cold winter, attract tourists and create busy and quiet periods. Moreover, seasonality affects tourism businesses meaning that some jobs are only performed at a certain time. Tourism infrastructures are also affected by seasonality. Infrastructures are sometimes used at periods while they provide service at other times with a capacity beyond the standard.
Limited time to provide services to tourists. Traveling time is limited. The duration of a tourist's stay and service use in a destination has been affected by time constraints. For instance, the duration of time the tourist spends in a taxi is a few minutes while this value for a restaurant is a few hours, and for a hotel extends to a few days. Hence, tourism services have limited time to interact with tourists, create a positive mentality in them, and meet their satisfaction. Interacting with them, understanding their characteristics, and analyzing their behavior, and needs are among the concepts that should be taken into account by tourism service providers.

 

The value of time in tourism. Apart from service providers, tourists are also affected by travel time constraints. That is why tourism is one of the services that on top of financial costs, time has value. When a tourist selects a destination service such as a hotel, or an attraction to visit, he/she thinks if it is worth his/her time. In fact, in specific cases, choosing a place or an event in the trip is not a matter of analysis and economy, and the tourist must conclude that, for example, visiting an attraction or participating in an event is worth his/her. This assumptive analysis, which is done individually or in a group, can affect the tourist's degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Using the time of day and night. Due to the travel time limit, tourist destinations attempt to provide services at different times of the day and night. Night tourism in tourist destinations can be promoted for this reason. Some tourism services are provided at times that are of particular value to tourists. The creation of night tourism routes has been formed to address such a need. These routes provide not only tourists but also the local community with services.

Travel time distribution. One of the reasons explaining the seasonality of tourism is the holiday time in different countries. Holidays encourage people to move from different sources to tourist destinations. On long holidays, distant destinations are visited while on short holidays, closer destinations are preferred. The weekends can help the time distribution of holidays and the development of tourism. Designers of tourism packages can help to promote tourism in some destinations during low-visit hours via short-term tours. In addition, time distribution can also affect the density of tourists during peak times.