Resorts, Country Clubs, Spa Resorts, Golf Resorts
Napa Valley, San Francisco North Bay, California
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A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. Resorts are places, towns such as Newport, Rhode Island or St. Moritz, Switzerland, or larger regions, like the Adirondack Mountains or the Italian Riviera. A resort is not merely a commercial establishment operated by a single company, although in the late twentieth century this sort of facility became more common. Such a self-contained resort attempts to provide for all or most of a vacationer's wants while remaining on the premises, such as food, drink, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping. The term "resort" sometimes is misused to identify a hotel that does not provide the other amenities required of a full resort. However, a hotel is frequently a central feature of a resort, such as the Grand Hotel at Mackinac Island, Michigan. Towns that contain resorts—or where tourism or vacationing is a major part of the local activity—are often called resort towns.

The Walt Disney World Resort is a prominent example of a modern, self-contained commercial resort. Resorts exist throughout the world, increasingly attracting visitors from around the globe. Thailand, for instance, has become a popular destination. Resorts are especially prevalent in Central America and the Caribbean.

Closely related to resorts are convention and large meeting sites. Generally these occur in cities where special meeting halls, together with ample accommodations as well as varied dining and entertainment are provided.

Resort at a destination
A commercial establishment at a resort destinaton such as a recreational area, a scenic or historic site, a theme park, a gaming facility or other tourist attraction competes with other businesses at that destination.. Examples would be hotels in and around Disney World, resorts in St. Martin in the Caribbean, and establishments at Aspen, Colorado in the USA.


Destination resort
A destination resort is a resort that contains, in and of itself, the necessary guest attraction capabilities—that is to say that a destination resort does not need to be near a destination (town, historic site, theme park, or other) to attract its public. Consequently, another characteristic of a destination resort is that is offers food, drink, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping within the facility so that guests have no need to leave the facility throughout their stay.