You do not need to look back twenty years to realize the tremendous developments in science and technology; and how these advances are changing the life style of millions of people all over the world. Although the television and video were there in those days, no one had heard then of those wonderful remote-control units that turn the equipment on and off helping us to choose our entertainment with the least physical effort.

There are many other effects of technology that made our life more comfortable. You no longer worry about washing the dishes; your dishwashing machine can take care of that. If you want a hot meal, you just pop your favourite food into the microwave oven and it is ready in minutes. If you want to send an urgent message, just write it down and send, it through your fax machine and it arrives on the other side of the world in seconds. Passenger planes fly non-stop to different parts of the world and their pilots can find time to relax as the computers do most of the hard work for them. This gives people more time to enjoy themselves and it explains the remarkable current progress in the leisure industry.

Leisure today is a big business. Just read the advertisement in the newspaper. You just will not believe the variety; you will find something to fit all incomes and tastes. As robots take over the work of people in industry, as communications across the world become faster, and while technology continues to create ways of persuading us to work less and enjoy ourselves more, so the leisure industry will play a far more important role in the lives of us all.