Anthropology is the systematic and comparative study of human beings, their biological characteristics, cultures, societies, institutions, behaviours, and ways of life across time and space. The term is derived from the Greek words *anthropos*, meaning human being, and *logos*, meaning study or discourse. Anthropology seeks to understand humanity in a holistic manner by examining both the biological and socio-cultural dimensions of human existence. It studies people not merely as individuals but as members of families, communities, ethnic groups, societies, and wider cultural systems. Its major branches include social or cultural anthropology, physical or biological anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology. In the context of tourism, anthropology provides important insights into the relationships between tourists, host communities, cultures, environments, identities, and patterns of social interaction. Tourism is not simply an economic activity involving travel, accommodation, transportation, and recreation. It is also a social and cultural phenomenon in which people temporarily move from their usual places of residence and interact with different societies and environments. Such interaction can influence cultural values, lifestyles, identities, traditions, social relations, and even perceptions of the human body and physical environment. Anthropology therefore provides a valuable framework for understanding tourism beyond its commercial dimensions. Social anthropology, which studies social relationships, institutions, customs, values, beliefs, norms, and patterns of interaction, has made a major contribution to tourism studies. One of its principal contributions is the study of the relationship between tourists and host communities. Tourism brings people from different cultural backgrounds into contact with one another. Social anthropology helps examine how hosts and tourists perceive each other, how relationships are formed, and how cultural differences affect communication and behaviour. The interaction may produce friendship, cooperation, cultural learning, misunderstanding, stereotyping, or conflict. Anthropological studies also help explain the transformation of local cultures under tourism. Traditional customs, festivals, handicrafts, food practices, dress, music, dance, and