Travel & Tourism Paper 1

On-line reservation systems

allow customers to by-pass traditional intermediaries and deal directly with the primary suppliers to obtain information and make reservations.

Multiples

are agencies that have branches throughout a country and often in counties abroad as well. Ex. Thomas Cook

Car transport

can be hired independently through international chains such as Hertz and Avis or by making a reservation through travel agencies. Car travel is popular with independent travellers because vehicles can be collected at an airport and returned to another office elsewhere if needed. Ex. Fly-drive holidays & Campervans

Tour operator

combines tour and travel components to create a package holiday

Computerized Reservation Systems/ Global Distribution Systems (CRS/GDS)

cover airline offerings as well as other tourism relevant products such as packaged holidays and other means of transportation. They provide the main links to tour operator systems and to travel agents.

Meetings

events designed to bring people together for the purpose of exchanging information, either from within one company or organization or from a broader spectrum of people.

Conferences

generally accepted as being multi-day events having at least 100 delegates attending the event for the purpose of exchanging information. Such a conference is termed to be an international conference if 40% originated outside of the host country. Conferences are thus differentiated from meetings by both duration of the event and the number of people attending.

Hostel

is a simple accommodation establishment for holiday, sport or study visitors that offers dining or cooking facilities

Holiday home

is an accommodation establishment for holiday-makers, which is rented out fully and has cooking facilities

Motel

is an accommodation establishment of at least 10 rooms situated near a road that is primarily meant for car travellers and has a safe parking site.

Guesthouse

is an accommodation establishment of at least 5 rooms which offers dining services

Visitor's apartment

is an accommodation establishment with food-preparing facilities which is rented out

Hotel

is an accomodation establishment of at least 10 rooms that correspond to high standards and offers dining services (restaurant).

Holiday village or camp

is an establishment providing limited accommodation services, which has enclosed area for tents and/or caravans, parking sites for motor vehicles and/or dwelling houses (bungalows)

MICE

is the recent growth area in international tourism and relates to various forms of business tourism.

The travel and tourism industry

it is that whole mix of businesses and agencies that work together to serve the needs of people who travel.

Charter flights

mainly used by a package holiday industry and tour operators who make a contract with an airline for a specific route for a peak holiday season. They frequently operate on routes, or on airports, where there is no scheduled service. Much of the traffic through small and medium sized airports in the United Kingdom consists of charter flights, and the survival of these airports often depends on the airline landing fees they get from the charter companies.

Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR)

may be for the purposes of leisure, recreation and holidays. Other factors are to do with family occasions (births, weddings, funerals) which are not traditional vacations or holidays. In many societies, returning to the community from where one's family originated (indeed, where family members still reside) is an important part of the annual calendar, with regards to religious or cultural holidays and festivals.

Bed and Breakfast

means accommodation services at a private farm, house or apartment which includes breakfast.

Serviced accommodation

means that members of staff are available on the premises to provide services such as cleaning, meals and room service. The services are included in the price charged.

Non-serviced accommodation

means that sleeping accommodation is serviced and provided on a rental basis, normally for a unit compromising several beds such as a cottage, an apartment or caravan

Miniples

not part of a national chain, usually have one retail outlet but may have a number of shops in the specific area.

Business tourists

one of the most important elements of international tourism. They are high spending and make extensive use of premium fares on trains and airlines as well as on staying in quality hotels.

Coach Transport

operations can be categorised as follows: - express coach services, domestic and international; - private hire services; - tour and excursion operations; - transfer services. Ex. Greyhound

International tourists

people from overseas

Domestic tourists

people from your own country

Leisure tourists

people who are visiting somewhere for pleasure rather than business-related reasons, in other words they are on holiday. Divided into day trippers, overnight visitors, short break or holiday takers.

Business travel agencies

provide speed and flexibility in making travel arrangements with scheduled airlines and accommodation bookings with large international hotel chains.

Water Transport

providers include ferry operators and cruise companies.

Air transport

providers include the major national carriers (such as Air India, Cyprus Airways, British Airways, Emirates, etc.) as well as the low-cost, budget or 'no-frills' airlines (such as easyJet and Ryanair). These carriers operate scheduled flights that run to a published timetable and operate irrespective of whether there are enough passengers to make profit or not.

Exhibitions

the bringing together of people for the purposes of viewing products and services.

Occupancy rate

the proportion of the rooms or bed-places in a collective tourism establishment that is occupied over some period of time, such as night, month or year.

Incentives

the second category of this segment and include travel to a foreign country or domestically as part of a motivational incentive scheme to increase or reward the employee effort.

Principals

the suppliers of the travel and tourism industry's products.

Main role of a retail travel agent

to sell holidays, ancillary products (such as insurance, car hire, foreign currency, etc.), provide information and to advise customers.

5 star hotel

will have excellent service, be exceptionally clean and tidy with housekeeping staff on call for 24 hours, have up to date luxurious decor and have a wide range of facilities to offer

3 star hotel

will have fewer facilities, less luxurious decor and more limited services, such as limited 24 hour room service menu instead of the entire restaurant menu

Natural attractions

(example mountains, forests, coastline, lakes/waterways, landscape features)

Built attractions

(example theme parks,museums, heritage centres, sports facilities, family entertainment centres,cinemas, cultural attractions, animal parks, historic sites, shopping centres)

Tourist

Any person who travels to a country other than that in which s/he has his/her usual residence, but outside his/her usual environment for a period of at least one night but not more than one year and whose main purpose of visit is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the country visited. This term includes people travelling for leisure, recreation and holidays, visiting friends and relatives, business and professional health treatment, religion pilgrimages and other purposes.

The role of catering outlets

Catering facilities are very important for the creation of suitable conditions for tourism and for satisfying tourists' basic needs in any specific destination or resort. However, such food and beverage facilities should only be regarded as being a basic tourist need; they are also important to the development and promotion of all types of tourist facilities, and can be classified tourist attractions in themselves.

Rail transport

Is important for travelling both within and between different countries. Services are scheduled and travellers perceive trains to be safe, inexpensive and more convenient for many journeys. A train journey no long check-ins, no extra charges for baggage, an ever-changing view and no tedious transfers as the trains go straight into the city centres. It is also popular with independent travellers because trains on major on major-intercity routes have many facilities ranging from sleeping compartments to restaurant cars and even laptop plug-in sockets. Ex. The Orient Express, the Trans-Siberian Railway and The South African Blue

The role of attractions

It is important to realise that tourist attractions are a dynamic component of the travel and tourism industry and such, are continually changing and evolving. The tourist attractions draw visitors to a destination by providing opportunities for relaxation, amusement, entertainment and education.

Packaging

The processs. Of combining a number of inter-related tourism products and services that, together, offer a comprehensive experience for travellers.

Ferry companies

The services provided by the ferry companies help to link group of islands such as those found in Greece or to connect an island destination to an adjacent larger land mass, such as the UK and mainland Europe across the English Channel.

The role of transport providers

Transport developments have made tourist destinations accessible to their markets in tourist generating areas. All tourism depends on access, and lack of accessibility can make or break a destination.