Defining the travel and tourism industry

Stating the characteristics of the travel and tourism industry

Describing the structure of the travel and tourism industry

tourism and travel industry; manufacturing industry; tour operators; travel agents;

Travel and tourism can be thought of as a manufacturing industry. Components, such as hotel rooms, meals, and coach or airline seats are bought and put together by a tour operator to produce holidays. These are sold to the public by retail travel agents, with representatives of the tour operator providing the after sales service to the consumer.

Another aspect of the travel and tourism industry is the work of the tourist authorities and boards, set up to promote the counties and regions. Although the holidays which are 'manufactured' by tour operators are usually sold by travel agents, some companies have their own retail outlets or sell direct to the public by telephone or post. Thus the work of a large operator may encompass all the stages in the production and sale of a holiday.

The larger the company, the more specialised each employee's role becomes. There are those concerned with negotiating the various components of a holiday with carriers and hotel owners, those who produce the brochure or 'label' of the product, those involved with the research and development of new ideas or marketing them, and those dealing with reservations, they also have separate finance, personnel and other administrative departments.

Test de autoevaluare 1.1.

Fill in the gaps with only one word:

The work of a large operator may encompass all the stages in the production and sale of a . .

The larger the company, the more specialised each employee's . becomes.

Another aspect of the travel and tourism industry is the work of the . authorities and boards.

Raspunsul se va da in spatiul gol de mai sus. Raspunsul la test se gaseste la pagina 9.

inflexibility; perishability; inconsistency; intangibility;

Inflexibility

The tourism industry is highly inflexible in terms of capacity. The number of beds in a hotel or seats on a flight is fixed so it is not possible to meet sudden upsurges in demand similarly restaurants tables, hotels beds and flights seats remain empty and unused in periods of low demand.

Inventory / Perishability

It is related to the fact that travel products are intended to be consumed as they are produced. For example, an airline has seats to sell on each flight; a hotel has rooms to sell for each night. If the airline is not able to sell all its seats on its flight, or a hotel is not able to sell its rooms for the night then the opportunity to sell the product is lost forever. Service sector cannot keep inventory like products. To overcome this problem, the travel industry has come up with various marketing strategies. One is to overbook. An airline overbooks its seats to a certain extent in anticipation that even though certain customers do not turn up but the flight will be fully seated. Another strategy is multiple distributions. For example a customer can buy an airline ticket from an airline, tour operator or from a travel agent. The chances of perishability are reduced. If the tourist cannot visit the place, the opportunity is lost. Hence, this becomes one of its important characteristics.

Inconsistency

A general norm is that in Travel and Tourism industry the product or the package of the tourism can be standardized i.e. for example of 2 days 3 night in so and so hotel, but the actual experience of consuming this package is highly inconsistent. We hear a lot of travel stories which becomes a portrayal of a lot of bad experiences for example the tourist guide may not be good, the hotels lodging and boarding was bad etc. Therefore there is high level of inconsistency prevailing.

Intangibility

Travel products cannot be touched as they include flight experience on an airplane, cruise on an ocean liner, a night's rest in a hotel, view of the mountains, a visit to a museum, a good time in a night club and much more. These products are experiences. Once they have taken place they can only be recalled and relished.

Test de autoevaluare 1.2.

State three characteristics of the travel and tourism industry;

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industry-private sector; industry-public sector; industry public private sector;

Industry-private sector

Business travel agents make travel and accommodation arrangements for commercial customers

Industry groups provide services to member organisations

Conference venues offer facilities and services to business organisations

Industry public sector

Regional tourism organisations provide marketing services for travel and tourism businesses

Development agencies work with travel and tourism businesses to transform the regions

Industry Public Private Sector

Often the distinction between the two sectors is blurred

Some bodies are created from public and private sector organisations to offer services to industry

Destination Management Organisations provide marketing help for their members

In loc de rezumat

Am ajuns la sfarsitul unitatii de invatare nr. 1.

Va recomand sa faceti o recapitulare a principalelor subiecte prezentate in aceasta unitate si sa revizuiti obiectivele precizate la inceput.

Este timpul pentru intocmirea Lucrarii de verificare nr. 1 pe care urmeaza sa o transmiteti tutorelui.

Lucrare de verificare unitate de invatare nr. 1

State the difference between a tour operator and a travel agent;

Make up a short text in which to use the following terms: tourist guide; hotel lodging; hotel boarding; ocean liner;

Raspunsurile testelor de autoevaluare

Raspuns 1.1

holiday; role; tourist;

Raspuns 1.2.

intangibility; inconsistency; inventory;

Raspuns 1.3.

industry private sector; industry public sector; industry public private sector;

Bibliografie unitate de invatare nr. 1

Collins, V. R. - The Tourism Society's Dictionary for the Tourism Industry, Harper Collins, 2008

O'Keefe, M. / Dubicka, I. - English for International Tourism Pre-intermediate Level Coursebook, Longman, 2002