Chapter 02

Tourism & Its Components, Products

1. Components of Tourism:

Tourism is a multidimensional activity that is extremely difficult to describe. It is important to

understand the components of tourism to develop any kind of tourism model. Tourism components
include various parts that are essential to give a pleasure travel experience. The following section
describes tourism components in brief:

Tourists

Natural
Resources and Physiography Climate People
Environment

Culture

Spirit of
Hospitality
Tourism
Components Infrastructur sewage communication commercial
e Roads systems networks facilities
Tourism Conference
Superstructur Hotels Restaurant
e Centre

Technology

Operating
Sectors of the Adventure
Food
Tourism Transportation Accommodation
Service
Attraction Events and outdoor
Industry recreation

Figure: An Overview of Tourism Components

Tourists

Tourist is a person who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure, business or other purpose.
Tourist is called the heart of all the tourism activities and the tourism phenomenon model. All the
policy makers and managers need to understand tourists’ behavior and motivation for the business
success. All the tourism activities are planned to address the needs of the tourist.
Natural Resources and Environment

Natural Resources and Environment is the basic tourism component. It can be divided into three
parts:

i) Physiography: The nature and appearance of landscape;

ii) Climate: The kind of weather it has over a period of years; i.e., the conditions of heat
and cold, moisture and dryness, and wind;

iii) People: Residents of the local community and Tourism Market.

Culture

Culture of a people reflects many dimensions of its past development and its current way of life.
Culture is relatively a very permanent characteristic of a destination. The cultural history of
Bangladesh is one of the greatest and glorious heritages. The prime components of our cultural
products are Language martyrs day, Independent day, Victory day, Pahela Baishak, Tribal Festival
etc. Besides Bangladesh is essentially a land of songs, music and dance.

Spirit of Hospitality

People return to us because of the spirit of hospitality we show them. Each individual visitor must
feel that he or she is more than a source of cold cash revenue for the business or destination.
Hospitality means "cordial reception of guests,". To be hospitable means to do all one can to tend
to the needs of other people, whether we actually know them or not. People with a service spirit
are happy to do something extra to make the guest’s experience memorable

Infrastructure

Roads, sewage systems, communication networks, and commercial facilities are included at the
infrastructure of the tourism development. These components of the infrastructure can also be
important to visitors; their primary functions are related to the ongoing daily needs of residents.
Tourism has been developed in areas where transportation networks are already in place. However,
tourism demand can also be responsible for developing transport networks.
Tourism Superstructure

Tourism superstructure includes those facilities that have been developed especially to respond to
the demands of visitors. Examples: hotels, restaurants, conference centers, car rentals, and major
attractions. Most of the 5 star hotels in Bangladesh are located in Dhaka, chittagong, Cox’s Bazar
and Sylhet.

Technology

Technology is one of the most recent, and still increasingly influential, dimensions of the built
environment that is shaping the nature of both tourism products/services and travel experiences.
The advent of jet aircraft and the massive invasion of telecommunications technology, linked
closely with computer technology, has had a dramatic impact on the very essence of the tourism
phenomenon.

Operating Sectors of the Tourism Industry

Transportation; Accommodation; Food Service; Attraction; Events; Adventure and outdoor

recreation; Entertainment are some operating sectors of the tourism industry. The transportation
sector comprising of airlines, bus companies, and so on, tends to typify the movement of people
and travel. The accommodation sector includes hotels and motels for stay which includes many
well-known “brands” such as Pan Pacific, Marriott, Starwood hotel, Best Western, and so on, is
highly visible to the public. Similarly, the food services sector also contains a broad spectrum of
brands and logos that have become part of everyday life in many communities. Examples include
the world-famous fast food chains McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, KFC and local famous
food. The attractions sector also contains many well-known icons in the tourism industry. For
example, fantasy kingdom, Nandan Park, Safary Park etc are some renowned attractions in
Bangladesh.

2. Main components or Supply Components

Accommodation
The tourist accommodation service is defined as: “the provision, for a fee, of sheltered overnight
accommodation in appropriately equipped rooms, including at least a bed, offered as a main service
to tourists, travelers and lodgers. The provision of overnight sheltered accommodation may include
the provision of food services, fitness activities and/or green areas”

Accommodation is a group of rooms, or building which someone may live or stay and is important
to any tourists who want to travel to another destination or on a trip as you are always going to
need a place to stay such as hotels, caravan parks, camp sites et.

Accommodation

Adventure
Transportation
Tourism
Service and
Sectors in Recreation
Tourism
and
Hospitality
Industry

Food and
Attractions
Beverage

Figure: Supply components of Tourism

Accommodation is split into two parts, serviced and non serviced which are different from each
other. They are all in the private sector which means that they want to make a profit and grow their
businesses.

Serviced accommodation:

When a service is provided along with an overnight stay, e.g. hotels, guesthouses, youth hostels
etc. This type of serviced accommodation is where there is maid services such as room cleaners
which change your bed, towels and also serve food and drink to you when it is needed.

Non serviced accommodation:

When tourists cater for themselves. Examples of this is when you stay in cottages, a camping
holiday, caravanning etc. and you have to cook, clean and cater for yourselves.

Common Accommodation Type in Bangladesh

Hotels - A hotel is a building where people stay, for example on holiday, paying for their rooms
and meals. Can be classified into star system (1-7). A structure that provides sleeping
accommodation to travelers and that usually features dining facilities and daily housekeeping
service.

Resorts - Cater primarily to leisure travelers. Generally found in four environments: at the beach,
near ski areas, in the desert and near (or even in) theme parks and attractions. Usually have
facilities for recreational activities such as a swimming pool, tennis courts, golf course and one or
two dining facilities. When a resort is especially large, with many facilities and activities covering
acres of land, it is called a mega-resort

Difference Between Resort and Hotel

Food and Beverage Service & Production

The food and beverage industry is usually defined by its output of products, to satisfy the various

demands of food and drinks of people. But it doesn’t include the manufacturing of food and drink

and its retailing. In today’s world, the food and beverage service industry has expanded a lot and

nowadays, it is serving morem than 100 million meals per day. It has spread across all aspects of

life. Hotel, restaurants, industrial canteen, hospital canteen, railway, airways, all are now part of

food and beverage service industry.

Food & beverage service can also be viewed from the customer’s perspective. Essentially, the

customer enters a food service area, orders or selects his/ her choice and then is served (the

customer may pay either at this point or later). Food and beverages are then consumed, following

which the area is cleared. Broadly we can categories the service methods in five types:

A. Table Service

In this category, the guest enters in the area and is seated. Menu lists are given or displayed

for orders. The orders are been taken by waiter/ess. Then the service is done using a laid

cover on the table. The following are types of service come under this category: English

Service,

B. Assisted service

In this type of category, the guest enters in the dining area and helps himself to the food,

either from a buffet counter or he may get served partly at table by waiter/ess and he

collects any extras he needs from the counter. Eating may be done on either at table,

standing or in lounge area/ banquet hall. Buffet Service: A self‐service, where food is

displayed on tables. The guest takes his plate from a stack at the end of each table or

requests the waiter behind the buffet table to serve him.

 C. Self‐ service

In this type of service, the guest enters in the dinning area, selects his own tray or from the

food counter and carries food by himself to his seating place. Cafeteria Service: This

service exists normally in industrial canteens, colleges, hospitals or hotel cafeterias. To

facilitate quick service, the menu is fixed and displayed on large boards. The guest may

have to buy coupons in advance and present them to the counter waiter who then serves

the desired item.

D. Single point service

In this category, the guest orders, pays for his order and gets served all at a single point.

There may be may not be any dining area or seats. Ex. Take Away, Kiosk, Vending

E. Specialized service

In this category the guest is served at the place, which is not meant or designated for food

& beverage service (i.e. guest rooms or any special area, Home‐Delivery).

Transportation/ Accessibility

The people have been using transportation in order to travel from one place to another since ancient

times. At that time simple transportation forms existed. But in the 19th century the steam power

engines, and lately diesel powered engines were invented, as the matter of fact the inventions

changed the transportation notion or speed. The speed became one of the most important factors

in transportation. In 1841 Thomas Cook realized the first organized travel using train with steam

power engine. From that time transportation became inseparable part of tourism.
Transportation in its simple meaning is to carry passengers from one point to another. The travel

and tourism experience of tourists and the ideas about tourism products start and end with

transportation. That is why it is impossible to consider tourism without transportation. The

development of transportation, transportation vehicles, infrastructure and using new technologies

in this sector speed up the development of tourism. If we pay attention to the statistics of World

Tourism Organization, we may see that the tourism dynamics has changed and increased rapidly

between 2005 and 2008, and experiencing continuous growth in present time. This trend can be

explained with different factors. But the main important factor here is the rapid development of

transportation sector and application of technological innovations which enable the tourists to

reach many destinations of the world.

Transportation Modes

Whether transportation plays important role in enriching the travel experience of a tourist depends

on the mode of transportation tion and the frequency of use. Transportation can turn into a separate

tourist attraction element; cruising, express trains, boat trips along the river and etc. are the best

examples to tourist attractions. The effective factors in choosing the transportation mode in tourism

are given below:

• Time limit

• Distance

• Status

• Comfort

• Security

• Benefit
 • Price

• Geographical position

• Competition

Transportation sector is divided into four categories: Air, Rail, Ground and Water. The following

text offers an overview of each area.

• Air Transportation

• Automobile Transportation

• Railway Transportation

• Sea Transportation

Adventure Tourism and Recreation

Adventure Tourism has grown exceptionally in worldwide over the past few years. This allows for

new destinations to market themselves as truly unique, appealing to those travelers looking for

rare, incomparable experiences.

Adventure Tourism means guided commercial tours, where the principal attraction is an outdoor

activity that relies on features of the natural terrain, generally requires specialised equipment, and

is exciting for the tour clients. The clients may operate the equipment themselves or they may

simply be passengers. There are two main categories of adventure activities, hard adventure or

soft adventure, and vigorous debate often surrounds which activities belong in each category. The

easiest way to identify an adventure trip as hard or soft adventure is by its primary activity.
Both hard and soft adventures are highly lucrative segments of the adventure tourism sector. The

cost of just the permit to summit Mt. Everest, a hard adventure activity, is estimated to be USD

11,000 per person for 2015.

Adventure travelers are early adopters by nature, meaning they are generally more willing to try

new destinations, activities, and travel products. Popular activities change rapidly, and it seems

there is a new twist on an existing sport every year. Typical activities in adventure tours include

the following activities:

• Surfing
• Trekking
• Ballooning
• Hiking
• Skydiving
• Cycling
• Paragliding
• Marathon
• Horse riding
• Climbing
• Mountain biking
• Parasailing
• Off-road driving
• Rafting, Diving

• Snorkeling

Attractions
Attractions are one of the most important component and element that attract people to travel from
one place to another. Tourism activity starts with the attractions. At a place or destination there
has to be some attraction only then people or tourists will visit that area. Attractions are believed
to be the greatest influencers of all the components. Attractions are the preconditions of travel. It
attracts more and more people and offers pleasure.

To define a Tourist Attraction is not simple. Here are two definitions:

1. A physical or cultural feature of a particular place that individual travellers or tourists
perceive as capable of meeting one or more of their specific leisure-related needs. Such
 features may be ambient in nature (eg. climate, culture, vegetation or scenery), or they may
be specific to a location, such as a theatre performance, a museum or a waterfall.

2. Positive or favorable attributes of an area for a given activity or set of activities as desired
by a given customer or market, including climate, scenety, activities, culture.
Attractions are of two types:
Natural Attraction: Natural attractions are places made by nature itself for e.g. natural beauty,
climate, mountains, landscape, flora and fauna, water resources, beaches, wild life, caves, safari
etc.
Man-Made Attraction: Man-made attractions are those Attraction made or developed by humans
for e.g. monuments, historical buildings, festivals, music, churches, temples, Disney lands, leisure
parks, museums, casinos, discos club etc.

But other categories also available, which are below:

Type Attractions
Sea-Beach i. Cox’s Bazar
ii. Patenga
iii. Parki
iv. Teknaf
v. Kuakata
Island i. St. Martin Island
ii. Moheshkhali
iii. Sonadia Island
Hill-Tracts i. Rangamati - the lake district
ii. Kaptai - The lake town
iii. Bandarban - the roof of Bangladesh
iv. Khagrachhari - the hilltop town
v. Mymensingh
Historical Places/ Cultural
i. Central Shahid Minar
ii. Martyred Intellectual Memorial
iii. Curzon Hall
Archaeological Sites i. Wari Bateshwar
ii. Mahasthangarh
iii. Paharpur
iv. Mainamati
v. Shait Gombudge Mosque
vi. Kantaji's Temple
vii. Lalbagh Fort
viii. Sonargaon
ix. Ahsan Manzil
x. Sitakunda
Museums i. National Museum
ii. Liberation War Museum
iii. Bangabandhu Memorial Museum
iv. Zia Memorial Museum
v. Ahsan Manzil Museum
vi. Folk Art Museum
vii. Science Museum
viii. Shilaidaha Kuthibari Museum
ix. Ethnological Museum
x.
Others i. Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban
ii. Banga Bhaban
iii. Shakaribazar
iv. Sadarghat
v. Ramna Garden
vi. National Botanical Garden
vii. National Park
viii. Dhaka Zoological Garden
ix. Batani Hill
x. DC Hill
xi. Rajshahi
xii. Jamuna Bridge
xiii. Madhabkunda
xiv. Tamabil