Tourism and Sport Tourism Overview

Tourism

• Tourism is defined as activities people carry out during travels and stays in places other than their usual environment for a consecutive period of less than one year. This is often for leisure, business, or other reasons.

Sport Tourism

• Sport tourism involves actions taken by one or more people, aiming to improve communication, promote social life and culture within a tourist establishment, and create lasting environments.

Tourist Animation Aims

• Building customer loyalty
• Increasing guest permanence
• Creating an environment which is affetively engaging
• Creating consistent branding
• Ensuring seasonal activities

Characteristics of Recreational Services

• Intangibility: Services are not physical and are very sensitive to demand. They are easily copied and there are issues in fixing a price. Consumers determine quality after use/consumption.

• Heterogeneity: Variations in the nature and quality of services can occur within and between service offerings. Consistency of the service is difficult to maintain.

• Development of the service: Production and consumption occur at the same time. Customers are often involved throughout the entire process, and the process of providing the service isn't always centralized.

• Expiration: Recreational services are perishable, e.g. cannot be stored, and adjustment in supply must be done to match demand.

Possible Solutions to Service Limitations

• Intangibility: Make the service visible and tangible, associate it with physical products, differentiate products based on quality, and create personalized promotional media.
• Heterogeneity: Industrialize the service and implement quality control strategies.
• Development: Involve customers more in the production process and adapt to massive productions.
• Expiration: Adapt and direct supply to match varied demand.

Client/User Profile (Demand)

• Age-based categories: Specific programs are available for different age ranges (e.g., Jardiland for 0-3 yr olds, mini club for 3-5 yr olds).
• Origin-based categories: Customers are classified as national or international, and families, couples, and singles. Different aspects can be considered based on these categories.
• Travel reasons: Reasons for travel categorized as rest/fun, business, congress, or itinerant. Also consider different accommodations such as in-hotel, out-hotel, multiple-locations/day types.

Design Offer of Recreation/Animation

• Surroundings: Key aspects like the hotel's typology, location, and capacity need to be considered. Access to nearby environments, and seasonality factors.
• Infrastructure: Essential for recreational offerings (e.g. indoor facilities, outdoor facilities).
• Materials: The provision of specific sporting equipment, recreational activities, and rentable items.
• Human Resources: Essential elements include the availability of staff with appropriate training, skills (attitude), and language skills.

Type of Programs

• Simple: A single program to meet all customer needs with daily activities for different age groups.
• Parallel: Multiple programs running concurrently to accommodate different categories. Examples of different categories are novel/skilled users, and adults vs kids.

Classification of Activities

• Hedonists: Activities include nautical sports, racket sports, open air activities (archery, and orienteering), and adventure sports.
• Routinary: Activities that focus on the comfort zone of consumers. Include family-based activities, alternative sports, and team building activities
• Passive: Include slow, enjoyable, relaxing activities like Tai chi, dancing, yoga, physical activity for health, and other calm activities.
• Workaholics: These involve cultural and recreational activities that may include guided tours, evening shows, competitions, card games, gambling, and learning opportunities.

Characteristics of a Hotel Animation Program

• Programs should be of a recreational nature
• Proposals should be creative
• Animation roles are important
• Time and activities must be balanced and appropriate
• Varied and appropriate to specific clients
• The program needs to be active throughout the day
• The program should be engaging (fascinating)
• The program should be flexible and adaptable
• The program must be respectful and non-mandatory

Questions

• Included in the presentation, but not detailed here

Explore the fundamental concepts of tourism and sport tourism, including definitions, characteristics, and aims of tourist animation. Understand how recreational services operate and the challenges they present in the tourism industry.