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The Travel and Tourism Industry


Tourism- is the act of travel away from home,

mostly for the purpose of recreation and leisure.

Tourism development provides the services to support this kind of travel.


Tourists, according to the World Tourism Organization (WTO):

-are people who travel to stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.


- Tourism invites visits to places other than one’s domicile for pleasure and from where one does not receive a salary.


Recreation-a therapeutic revitalisation of the body

and mind. It is more active in a refreshing and diverting manner.

Leisure-a form of passive entertainment or rest.


3 Basic prerequisites for a tourist:

1. Disposable income-money to spend on non-essential items like leisure.

2. Leisure time-time away from work for passive pursuits.

3. Tourism infrastructure-to support recreation and leisure activities, like

transport, accomodation, amusement centres, etc..


Brief history of tourism and travelDuring the 17th century, tourism was largely for the wealthy, but post industrial revolution, the emerging middle class had enough disposable income, more leisure time, better education and taste, faster transport and several lodging options, making mass travel to bring travel to doorstep of everyone.


Nowadays, tourism infrastructures have grown in numbers and have diversified so much that has the led to the popularity of the different kinds of tourism. Creating Markets like beach tourism, winter tourism, adventure tourism, spiritual tourism, etc.


The United Nations in 1994 classified tourism in three categories:

1. Domestic tourism-involving residents of the given country travelling within

that country only.2. Inbound tourism

-involving foreigners (non-residents), travelling into a given country.

3. Outbound tourism-involving residents travelling to another country.


Outbound tourism involves 2 additional conditions:

a. Health conditions as many countries are wary of importing diseases by ‘foreign carriers’.

b. Legal restrictions on travel as some countries ban their residents to visit certain countries for political or safety reasons.

The Travel and Tourism IndustryBenefits the country can get from tourism:• Promotes the country• Generates revenue• Provides mass employment• Spawns or supports several industries like transport,

hospitality, etc.• Protects flora and fauna• Protects and maintains heritage spots• Preserves the eco-system• Stimulates infrastructure building like telecommunications,

roads, rest-stops, etc.• Promotes local arts and handicrafts


DOTDepartment of Tourism

Its role in developing tourism includes:• Promote the country around the world.• Fostering improved coordination and cooperation across the

government agencies to promote tourism.• Developing targeted tourism strategies through effective

communication and consultation with the government, industry and community stakeholders.

• Continuing to influence the governments understanding as priority growth sector in the government’s business agenda.


• Representing the tourism industry in various national forums.

• Initiating tourism projects that will stimulate revenue and generate employment.

• Encourage such educational initiatives to provide the tourism sector with talent on a continuous basis.

• Creating an infrastructure to encourage and sustain tourism.

• Introducing and maintaining tourism technology in the development of tourism.


Tourism technology helps to:• Integrate the various fields of tourism• Create statistics for information and decision making• Create a base for managerial and socio-cultural know-

how• Promote skills that can be used for tourism design• Market various tourism products• Coordinate the human resources employed in tourism• Provide tourist information


An important responsibility of the Department of Tourism is to make tourism eco-friendly.

Sustainability


Why do people travel?- travel is an inner urge of human nature.

• Survival• Trade• Military campaigns• Religious reasons• Sports


Popular reasons for travel are:• Sightseeing

-from this, two popular types of tourism emerged:a. Cultural tourism

-includes the way people live, history and folklore, cuisines, arts and handicrafts, languages, etc.

b. Heritage tourism-a branch of cultural tourism that showcases the cultural heritage of the past.


Both Cultural and Heritage tourism are important for various reasons:

1. Positive economic and social impact.2. Establish and reinforce identity.3. Help preserve the cultural heritage4. Facilitate harmony and understanding among

people.5. Support culture and help renew tourism.


Popular reasons for travel are:• Leisure

-a strong motivation in a highly stressed work life. A major attraction in leisure travel is the weather. Some like cold weather while others prefer somewhere warm like the beach.


Popular reasons for travel are:• Sport

-Game championships, World Cups and Olympic games.

a. Adventure tourism-involves exploration or travel to remote, inaccessible and possibly hostile areas where the traveller can experience the unexpected.


Popular reasons for travel are:• Special interest groups

-those who travel in pursuit of their hobby.• Shopping

-a major attraction for anyone visiting a new place.

• Business-as a purpose of travel has from ancient times remains a strong motivator.


Popular reasons for travel are:• Governmental

-to maintain diplomatic relations, countries need to have constant travel to keep in touch and to help each other in the progress of mankind.

• Education-a multi-million dollar industry where universities have made it possible for anyone around the world, with certain minimum qualifications, to enter their education system.

• Reunions-takes place when people have advanced in age and reached economic self-sufficiency to finance these gathering.


Popular reasons for travel are:• Pilgrimage

-a long journey or search of great moral significance.

The Travel and Tourism IndustrySummary

Tourism is a viable revenue earner for a country. People like to travel and are constantly looking for places to experience and learn as also for recreation and leisure. Tourism is led by the government who creates such conditions to make travel easy. The move is to have tourism that does not damage nature and create such activities and programs to enhance nature.

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Documents

developing tourism

classified tourism

winter tourism

adventure tourism

spiritual tourism

tourism industrytourism

beach tourism

domestic tourism