The purpose of the article is to study the institutionalization of tourism in the context of global socio-cultural processes. The methodology is to use historical, bibliographic, and analytical methods. The scientific novelty of the work is to substantiate the feasibility and application of new processes of institutionalization of tourism, which indicate the formation of the objective value nature of tourism, its transformation into an important axiological object. Conclusions. The question of definitions and terminology of tourism is a necessary condition for scientific reflection of the phenomena and processes characteristic of tourism. The concept of "tourism" as a system scientific category is substantiated. The authors interpret various interpretations of the essence of the category "tourism" and single out on the basis of the latter their own systematization of scientific approaches to the analysis of the studied concept. The own definition of the studied category is formed. Based on the analysis of definitions of tourism and their own conclusions, we can identify the following main elements that shape the tourism phenomenon: social space, expressed in the spatial distribution of consumers of tourism services, mobility associated with the movement of individuals in search of recreational practices; enterprises of the service industry; time aspect, which allows institutionalizing the tourist practices of individuals with the help of quantitative characteristics; getting emotions as an end in itself for many tourists