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TOURISM
1 Tourism essentials
1.1 Definitions in travel and tourism
1.2 Tourism past and present
1.3 Trends in tourism

2 Tour organization
2.1 The chain of distribution in the tourism industry
2.2 Tour operators and travel agents

3 Types of tourism
3.1 Purpose of travel
3.1.1 Leisure
3.1.2 Business travel
3.1.3 Special interest tourism
3.2 Tourist attractions

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. List the revolutionary changes that enabled the masses to travel for leisure.
2. What are the most important trends in tourism today?
3. Identify the major changes in domestic/outbound tourism in Hungary.
4. What distinguishes a tourist from an excursionist?
5. Describe the chain of distribution in the tourism industry?
6. What are the main tasks of a tour operator/travel agent?
7. Who is a fam trip organized for?
8. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of the package holiday.
9. What are the most popular mass forms/special interest forms of tourism?
10. What kinds of places can become tourist attractions?
11. What are some of the attractions and kinds of entertainment that make major tourist
destinations?

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1 TOURISM ESSENTIALS
1.1 Definitions in travel and tourism

The tourist industry has become one of the most important economic influences in modern times.

According to Wikipedia tourism is travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes. The World
Tourism Organisation (WTO) defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside
their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other
purposes".
In 1976, the Tourism Society of England's definition was: "Tourism is the temporary, short-term
movement of people to a destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their
activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes."

A tourist is distinguished by the length of his trip from an excursionist, who is away from his usual
residence for less than 24 hours.

Inbound and outbound tourism are forms of international tourism. Inbound tourists are tourists
entering a country from their own country of origin, and outbound tourists are those who leave their
country of origin to travel to another country. Domestic tourism is the term used to describe tourist
trips which take place in the tourist’s own country.

Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. After slowly recovering from the contraction
resulting from the late-2000s recession, where tourism suffered a strong slowdown from the second
half of 2008 through the end of 2009, international tourist arrivals surpassed the milestone 1 billion
tourists globally for first time in history in 2012. International tourism receipts grew to US$1.03
trillion (€740 billion) in 2011, corresponding to an increase in real terms of 3.8% from 2010. In 2012,
China became the largest spender in international tourism globally, surpassing Germany and the
United States and emerging markets like e.g. Russia or Brazil significantly increase their spending
over the past decade.

Tourism is important, and in some cases, vital for many countries. It was recognized in the Manila
Declaration on World Tourism of 1980 as "an activity essential to the life of nations because of its
direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and on
their international relations.

1.2 Tourism past and present

Ancient times
Trade, business and religion were the most important reasons for travelling in ancient times.
Throughout history people have travelled all over the world to trade with other nations or tribes. As
early as 3000 BC. There were caravan routes from Eastern Europe to North Africa, India and China.
Caravansaries were built a day’s march apart, where both the people and animals could rest and
refresh themselves. Journeys often lasted for months or years. Greeks and Romans were famous
traders but there is also evidence of some travel for private purposes at this time. Holidays, of
course, have their origin in ‘holy days’, and from the earliest times people have travelled for religious
reasons, so the first inns were established around or near holy places. Later, in Europe inns and
taverns were built along the roads at the distance a horse could travel a day. It has to be mentioned
here, that not only in Ancient times but in the Middle Ages and in Modern Times too, tourism,
catering and hospitality were closely connected. As we move forward in history, they become
independent branches of industry.

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The Middle Ages
In the Middle Ages the members of the ruling classes travelled to their distant estates, knights went
to hunt or to seek new adventure, apprentices sought work, or went to learn at famous workshops,
students travelled to study with famous scientists, actors went from inn to inn reciting poetry.
Pilgrims appeared on the roads of feudal Europe as the Crusade to the Holy Land began.

The Modern Age

In the 17th century it became fashionable with the younger generation of the aristocracy to set out to
visit various countries in Europe and famous towns such as Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Munich,
and Vienna on a trip called a ‘Grand Tour’ in order to improve their knowledge.
In the 18th century, travel for health became important when the rich people of Europe began to visit
the spa towns. Fashionable spas sprang up in Switzerland, France, Germany. The spa of Bath, situated
in Southern England was famous both as a centre of social life, and also a place at which to find
treatment. The technical inventions and discoveries of the industrial revolution brought about
qualitative changes in tourism. The most important stages were the following: the steam engine
invented in 1778, the steamship in 1807 and the locomotive in 1817. Railway lines were laid all over
Europe and on other continents. The economic boom, which took place at the end of the 19 th
century, brought about considerable changes in Europe.
In 1841 Thomas Cook opened the first travel agency and organised a tour using chartered trains. He
can be considered the founder of organised travel. Thomas Cook, the father of mass tourism was a
printer in Leicester, England and the secretary of a local church organisation. In 1841 he arranged a
rail trip for members of his church to a meeting in Loughborough, a round trip of twenty-two miles,
which was the world’s first package tour. Cook immediately saw the potential for business
development in the sector, and became the world's first tour operator. After a few more similar trips,
in 1845 he advertised a trip to Liverpool for the general public, then to places all over Britain. He
soon published the first travel magazine with details of trips and advice to travellers. From 1855 he
took groups to Paris, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland. By the time he opened an office in London, he
had already had a million clients. He organised tours to New York, the Holy Land and Egypt. Cook
revolutionized travel by introducing the circular ticket instead of the numerous tickets from the
railway companies involved in a longer journey, the traveller’s cheque and a system of coupons for
hotel rooms and meals. Thomas Cook, the first tour operator was followed by many very soon,
offering services to the growing middle classes.
As the railroads carried a large number of people further and more rapidly, large hotels were
constructed near the train stations. Following the development of the short sea ferry services in the
1820s, deep-sea services were introduced on routes to North America and the Far East. Mass tourism
began to develop when the invention of the train allowed large numbers of people to get to places of
leisure interest in a short time and more people began to enjoy the benefits of leisure time.

The 20th century

In the initial years of the 20th century pleasure travel continued to expand. World War I stopped this
development briefly but during the 20s regular tourism started to pick up again. Forms of travel
however began to change radically. The railways went into a period of steady decline with the
introduction of the motor car. The most outstanding invention of the 20 th century is the airplane
which revolutionized tourism again. With the introduction of the Boeing 707 jets in 1958, the age of
air travel for the masses arrived. The appearance of low-cost/no-frills/budget airlines presents
serious competition for the different airlines.

Freddie Laker was one of the pioneers of modern passenger air travel. He was an engineer and
entrepreneur who helped the rapid expansion of air travel, using developments in aircraft technology

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after World War II. In 1955 he introduced an air service carrying passengers and cars across the
Channel between England and France. It was in the 1960s and 1970s that the real growth in charter
air travel began, as more and more people wanted to go on package holidays. Freddie Laker helped
make air travel a realistic and fairly cheap possibility for many travellers and tourists. The
developments in technology and transport infrastructure, such as jumbo jets, low-cost airlines and
more accessible airports have made many types of tourism more affordable.

After WWII paid holidays began to be the norm; people had more disposable income. In 1950
package holidays first appeared but really picked up after the introduction of the first jet airliners in
the 60s. After a couple of years of mainly short-haul travel it was a mixture of politics and technology
that brought the remotest parts of the world within reach. Revenue from tourism seemed more and
more attractive. For years the national airlines had opposed any competition from charters but they
changed their mind and charters started up in 1988.
The majority of tourists today either travel by car or plane. A smaller number travel by coach on
organised round trips, especially if the distance to be covered is not long.

There has been an up-trend in tourism over the last few decades, especially in Europe, where
international travel for short breaks is common. Tourists have a wide range of budgets and tastes,
and a wide variety of resorts and hotels have developed to cater for them. For example, some people
prefer simple beach vacations, while others want more specialized holidays, quieter resorts, family-
oriented holidays or niche market-targeted destination hotels.

There have also been changes in lifestyle, for example some retirement-age people sustain
year round tourism. Smaller nuclear families, single person and single parent households, and an
ageing population significantly changed the tourism market. People above the age of 55 have been
more active, fit and affluent than any of the previous generations used to be. As the tourism market
has expanded beyond the traditional pattern of holidays for couples and families, the tourist load
increased and had to be spread to control and reduce its scale – among others for environmental
reasons. Travel periods have been spread and tourists have begun to holiday throughout the
calendar year, also taking second holidays which is facilitated by internet sales of tourist services.
While sun, sea and sand tourism still dominates, the standard two-week beach vacation is becoming
less popular.

Online booking has been booming recently. Some sites have now started to offer dynamic packaging,
in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor-made package requested by the customer.

Numerous niche or specialty travel forms of tourism have emerged over the years. People nowadays
take shorter but more diverse trips causing the growth of adventure travel, ecotourism, cultural
tours, religious, heritage or culinary tourism, spa holidays, cruises, sport vacations, luxury cruises, etc.

Authenticity is another trend: wealthier Western travellers look for more exotic, individualized
experiences. Governments of these sometimes off-the-beaten-path countries try hard to cater to this
new demand, which offers them the opportunity to keep more tourism revenue within their borders.
Some of the examples include: Do-Good Holidays: caring for orphans in Romania, planting trees in
Uganda, rebuilding monasteries in Mongolia, Herbal Holidays: pampering the body and spirit with
grape-seed therapy, hot steam bath in a wooden room (banya) in Moscow etc., Learning About
Indigenous Cultures Holidays on the coast of eastern South Africa where you can have dinner with
folk story-telling by the fire, Themed Vacation Cruises which offer e.g. yoga-themed, classical music,
culinary festival, wine-tasting cruises and also educationals by naturalists and historians – all on
board.

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Although there have been a few setbacks in tourism at the beginning of the 21 st century, e.g. terrorist
attacks to tourist destinations or the tsunami of December 2004 caused by the Indian Ocean
earthquake which stopped or severely hampered tourism in certain areas for a time, longer term
trends – including a rise in global wealth, improving transport technology, liberalization of
international airspace, cheaper flights and the use of the Internet as a travel tool – make it possible
for more people around the world to travel than ever before.

The prestige of travel has been on the increase worldwide. Tomorrow’s tourists will come
from new places; the number of Asian, and particularly Chinese tourists is predicted to explode as
the region becomes more integrated into the global economy.

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2 TOUR ORGANIZATION

2.1 The chain of distribution in the tourism industry

Figure 6 The network of sectors in the tourism industry (Holloway, 1998, p.67.)

Figure 7 Marketing channels, or the chain of distribution (Holloway, 1998, p.68.)

Trips are organised by tour operators who buy a range of tourism products in bulk (airline seats,
hotel accommodation, modes of transport etc.) and package them for sale to travel agents or
customers. By buying in bulk, tour operators are able to negotiate much lower prices than an
individual person would have to pay. Because of this, people who could not otherwise afford it are
able to travel on tours. The second advantage of the packaged tour is that it offers convenience; and
a third advantage is accessibility, because they make it possible for people to visit many remote and
exotic areas. The technical term for package holidays is inclusive tour or IT.

Tour operators are the wholesalers of the tourism industry. They purchase services at their own risk
and they have to plan one or two years ahead to ensure that all the elements of a holiday are
packaged and the brochures are printed in time. They are traditionally not in direct contact with the

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consumers, though nowadays more and more tour operators are setting up their own retail network.
Establishing direct contact with the consumers means that they get first hand information on the
changes in demand.

2.2 Tour operators and travel agents

Tour operators can be classified according to

 area
 market segments
 types of tours
 direction of travel flow (inbound, outbound)

Thus there are local, regional, national and international tour operators whose activities span several
countries and even continents. There are inclusive tours where all the elements of the tour are
organised and there is no possibility to change. Then on the other extreme, there are tours where
only the basic services are provided and the consumer has the chance to choose from a wide range
of combinations. There are many different types of inclusive tours such as: coach tours, Fly/Cruise,
Fly/Drive, self-catering etc. Included in the package holiday will usually be some meals. There is often
a choice of bed and breakfast B&B, half board HB, full board FB, and the latest favourite is the All
Inclusive.

Types of Tours
It is possible to distinguish between two general types of tours. One is the holiday package that has a
resort hotel as its destination. The major attractions usually include sun, sea and activities such as
golf or tennis that are offered by the resort itself. Local sightseeing and entertainment may be
included in the package. The second is the guided tour that features sightseeing or some other
special attractions. These tours are accompanied by a guide who is in charge of travel arrangements
and activities.

Tour Operators
Tour operators first do background research at two levels: long-term and short-term. Long-term
planning means investigating the economic background of the general holiday market i.e. finding out
how much disposable income holidaymakers are likely to have. If a boom in consumer spending is
anticipated, programmes are increased and the opposite is true for a decline. Short-term background
research is the detailed planning of the following year’s brochures.

Programme planning includes calculating the number of holidays, the number of aircraft, the size of
aircraft (the load factor = the aircraft slots), i.e. what percentage of seats is expected to be filled and
the reduction of empty legs, the empty halves of return flights. This is followed by contracting.

Air contracting
Some tour operators either have their own airlines or they charter seats and/or whole airliners from
different airlines.

Accommodation contracting
Serviced or self-catering accommodation contracting involves the number of bed nights at hotels or
other types of accommodation, and the conditions of release-back clauses.

Contracting with coach companies for transfers and sightseeing tours

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The transfers between airports and hotels and the arrangement of sightseeing coaches has to be
agreed well in advance.

Contracting with keepers of man-made attractions

Tour operators agree on visits at stately homes or heritage sites, amusement parks and purpose-built
activity centres such as skiing resorts.

Calculating the costs of the different packages always involves the cost of the brochures and the
mark-up or profit margin of the tour operator.

In conclusion, tour operators buy a range of different tourist products, such as airline seats, hotel
rooms, or coach transfer facilities, in bulk, and ‘package’ these for subsequent sale to travel agents or
direct to the tourist.

The Retail Travel Agent

The travel agents sell the tours bought from the tour operators to the consumers directly, and they
provide a number of other services such as:
 advising travellers on resorts, carriers, travel companies and facilities
 booking accommodation
 booking tickets (for planes, trains etc.)
 taking out insurance
 arranging travel documents
 putting together and offering programmes on a wide scale
 selling travellers’ cheques
 providing tour guides
 car rental
 maintaining and displaying stocks of travel brochures

Retail travel agents live on commission. Commission may vary from country to country and from time
to time, and is between 5 to 15 per cent. As a supplementary activity, many agencies sell maps, travel
guides, timetables, programme booklets, lists of accommodation and other catalogues.

Selling Techniques

The first stage of selling a package tour is the sales conversation. There are four elements in a sales
conversation: rapport, questioning, presentation and commitment. In order to make the clients feel
at ease when they first turn to the sales assistant, they create a rapport with the client. Then the
client is questioned to find out the type of holiday they require. With open questions – beginning
with the letters ‘wh’ (e.g. Where? Why? Who? etc.), the sales assistants can learn what the material
and human needs of the clients are. This is followed by establishing the clients’ priorities which may
fall into four bands: people, place, price and period. People: their special needs. Place: the
destination. Price: the price clients can afford. Period: the time the clients want to travel.
After the sales assistants have checked the information and summarised the facts, they present the
holiday they wish to sell. Sales assistants should always bear in mind that clients do not buy hotels as
buildings but their ambience and atmosphere, the things that make them feel well. Sales assistants
should only concentrate on those features and benefits which the clients require. A feature of a hotel
is e.g. that it is only 150 metres from the beach. A benefit to the clients is that they can get to the
beach easily. By personalising the product, sales assistants can create a desire in the clients to buy
the product. It is important not to read out the brochure but just to refer to it. When the clients show
signs of commitment, the sales assistant should close the sale and start the booking procedure.

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Booking Procedure
1. Creating computer file for client (personal details etc.) - or adding to existing ‘client history’ if a
previous customer
2. Entering details of this particular booking
3. Producing printed booking form (booking authorisation form)
4. Taking initial payment/deposit
5. Offering insurance and other services
6. Confirming booking on computer system – booking links directly to tour operator system
7. (weeks later) Sending out tickets by tour operator to travel agent
8. Checking tickets against computer system
9. Notifying client that tickets are ready
10. Collecting payment of balance, i.e. full payment for the holiday
*Note: if the client cancels after the expiry date for final payment, heavy penalty charges apply.
11. Issuing the travel documents

Supplementary services – Insurance

Tourists are encouraged to take out a travel insurance policy. Travellers can expect to be covered
against the following items.

Damaged Car
Collision Damage Waiver (CDW), Loss damage Waiver (LDW) – insurance when you hire a car (so that
you do not pay if the car is damaged)
Third Party Liability – covers accident or damage to the OTHER driver or car if you are deemed
responsible

Delayed baggage
If baggage is delayed, a sum of money is paid to compensate for emergency purchases.

Loss of deposit or cancellation

Sometimes the journey may have to be cancelled for exceptional reasons. In this case a claim may be
made.

Loss of passport
Claim for expenses incurred in obtaining a replacement passport.

Medical and other expenses

This covers medical costs and certain other expenses.

Personal accident
Claim for entitlement to a payment for every complete day, where sickness or injury requires
hospitalisation or confinement to hotel bed.

Personal baggage
Cover is provided for any loss of personal property. There is a maximum payment for single articles
and a maximum limit for valuables and photographic equipment.

Personal money
Cover is provided for loss of personal money, traveller’s cheques and travel tickets.

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Travel delay
If one cannot reach the international point of departure in time, due to public transport failure, an
accident, or mechanical failure involving the car one is travelling in, a sum will be paid to help reach
one’s scheduled destination.

If any of the above mentioned happens to the insured person, they have to make a claim at the
insurance company.

3 TYPES OF TOURISM
3.1 Purpose of travel

It is important to understand that there are a very large number of reasons why tourism takes place.
We can classify tourists according to purpose of travel which entails different forms of tourism.

3.1.1 Leisure
Sun, sea and sand
This demand is common to all countries with temperate or cold-temperate climates. The tourist’s
expectation is clear warm sea easily accessible, sunshine and a range of entertainment and sports
facilities. The coast is used for a wide range of tourist activities, for example, snorkelling, diving,
yachting, cruising, beach sports, fishing, but sunbathing, swimming, beach and water activities are by
far the most popular. The popularity of this kind of holiday seems constant. Numerous beach resorts
have developed to provide accommodation and services for mass tourism.

Touring, sightseeing and culture

A second major form of tourism involves the ‘wandering’ tourist travelling around sightseeing,
possibly staying in a different place each night and visiting different cultural monuments or
attractions. They enjoy visiting historical sights for their beauty, art and architecture (e.g. Taj Mahal)
or they may be attracted to buildings and places for their historic meaning (e.g.: excavations).
Similarly, places may be of great religious significance. Taking cruises may belong to this form of
tourism because the travel element is an essential part of the holiday experience.

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR)

Immigration or jobs lead people to settle in other countries; their friends and relatives may visit them
or the immigrants themselves may periodically wish to return to their homeland.

3.1.2 Business travel

Business people may travel for a variety of purposes and in doing so will buy the same or similar
products as holidaymakers.
Their demand is linked closely to centres of trade, commerce and diplomacy. Within destinations
business tourists are likely to require different services, such as special accommodation, car hire and
communication services.

Three important types deserve special consideration:

 travel for meetings, conferences, and exhibitions
 incentive and corporate travel
 familiarisation (fam) trips. These are organised specially for travel agency or tour operator staff
by a destination or an accommodation facility to convince them that the area is suitable for
tourists.

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3.1.3 Special interest tourism

The exact size of the market is unclear, however, it is generally regarded to be a growing segment of
international and domestic travel.
We can demonstrate with the following examples:

Sports
Many tourists travel for sport. This may be participant sport or spectator sport such as
attending the Olympics or World Cup series.
Skiing is probably one of the most prominent sports associated with tourism
development.

Educational courses, study tours

Lots of universities, schools offer language courses and short courses in many subjects.
Educational travel may serve a wide variety of purposes and is a viable and growing
segment of the tourism industry.

Adventure
Adventure tourism is categorised by the deliberate seeking of risk and danger in pursuit of
outdoor activities. The trips present ‘danger in safety‘.
The range is very wide, and some may be classed as sport tourism:
hang-gliding, hunting, mountaineering, rock-climbing, whitewater-rafting, hot-air
ballooning, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, sky-diving etc.

Health, Spa and Wellness

The health tourism market has developed into two distinct yet related segments.
 the health resort in which the emphasis is on improving overall fitness and health
 the spa resort which is specifically targeted at providing medical services to clients
suffering from illness.
Arts and Heritage
Heritage tourism is based on nostalgia for the past and the desire to experience diverse
cultural landscapes and history. It includes travel to festivals or other cultural events, visits
to monuments, folklore or art.

Religion
There have been pilgrims as long as there has been religion so the tourist demand for
destinations such as Lourdes or Mecca is constant.

Nature based
It is a particular form of non-damaging tourism. It is experienced by environmentally and
culturally sensitive tourists who minimise their impact on the environment (bird-watching,
safaris and visits to National Parks). Sustainable development and sustainable tourism are
concepts that attract wide support. Terms used are vague, many different names are used
that roughly mean the same thing: Ecotourism, Ethical tourism, Green tourism,
Responsible tourism, and Sustainable tourism.

Ethnic
It involves some form of direct experience with the host culture and environment, usually
by visits to natives’ homes and villages to observe and participate in their customs,
ceremonies, rituals, dances and other traditional activities: or it can involve going back to
a tourist’s roots.

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3.2 Tourist attractions

Any site that appeals to people sufficiently to encourage them to travel and visit can be judged a
‘visitor attraction’.

It is possible to identify at least four categories of visitor attractions:

Figure 8 Typology of tourist attractions

Man -made attractions Natural attractions Event attractions Site attractions

 buildings of all types:  beaches and sea  artistic festivals  the Changing of the
castles, churches,  rivers  music festivals Guard in London
temples, cathedrals,  volcanoes  folklore festivals  the annual migration
birthplaces of writers  canyons  sports events of wilder beast
and other artists,  mountains across the Serengeti
stately homes etc.  national parks Park in Kenya
 archaeological sites  gardens etc.  people at work, e.g.
 museums visiting a porcelain
 theme and factory or a film
amusement parks studio

Attractions have the primary purpose to entertain, interest or educate. Many destinations owe their
appeal to the fact that they offer a cluster of attractions within the immediate locality. A seaside
resort may offer a number of sites, man-made attractions or event attractions which are not
weather-dependent. The beauty of tourism is that the number of products that can be devised to
entertain, interest or educate the tourist is virtually unlimited.

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