Tourism and Hospitality Industry Overview PDF

## Overview of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry ### Definition of Tourism The **United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)** defines tourism as: the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for business, leisure, and other purposes. Tourism...

## Overview of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry ### Definition of Tourism The **United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)** defines tourism as: the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for business, leisure, and other purposes. Tourism revolves around providing enjoyable and pleasurable experiences that stimulate economic development. It is largely responsible for: * Economic growth. * Balance of payments. * Employment. * Regional balances in individual countries and across regions. Numerous tourism entities are looking forward o reinforcing their potential in tourism development on the local and regional levels. ### Tourism Core Concepts and Definition of Terms Below are the characteristics of tourism, as evident from the definition discussed above, which provide an understanding of tourism at a conceptual level (**Technofunc, 2020**). * Tourism may involve a variety of experiences. Every individual tourist may have different perceptions about the same products/services of the tourism industry. Tourism is mostly about the customer experience. * The products and services of the tourism industry are perishable. This means that they are consumed as soon as they are produced and cannot be stored for the future. * Social, economic, and institutional factors affect travelers' decisions. Travelers' decision-making process helps tourism businesses gain insights for effective marketing and advertising techniques to reach their target market. * Tourism means traveling to a different place for various purposes. It is the complete activity of traveling to a place for some activity and staying there for some time as required by the purpose of travel and the activity for which one is going. ### Commonly Used Terms in Tourism and Hospitality The hospitality and tourism industry can be hard when dealing with large vendors and distributors. Here are some of the most commonly used terms (**Jason Morehouse (2009)**): * **Business Travel** - Refers to travel for commercial, governmental, or educational purposes with leisure as a secondary motivation. * **Carrier** - Refers to any provider of mass transportation, usually used by an airline. * **Group Rate** - Refers to a negotiated hotel rate for a convention, trade show, meeting, tour, or incentive group. * **Hub** - An airport or city that serves as a central connecting point for aircraft, trains, or buses from outlying feeder airports or cities. * **Incentive Travel** - Refers to travel offered as a reward for the top-performing workers with a huge contribution to the development, marketing, and operation of a company. * **Net Rate** - Refers to the price without the travel agent's commission. * **Travel Product** - Refers to any product or service bought by or sold to consumers of trade, including accommodations, attractions, events, restaurants, and transportation. * **Travel Seasons** - The travel industry business cycles include peak season, the primary season for travel, and off-peak season when slow business occurs. There is also a shoulder season term, referring to the travel period between the peak and off-peak seasons. ### Types of Tourism According to Carlos Libosada and Carmela Bosangit (2007), different types of tourism can be recognized depending on the length of stay, mode of transport used, distance traveled, the purpose of the trip, and the price paid by tourists. Broadly speaking, there are basic types of tourism, namely: * **Domestic Tourism** - This refers to visitors' activities within their country of residence and outside of their home. For example, a Filipino visiting other parts of the Philippines. * **International Tourism** - Refers to the activities of a resident who crosses the boundaries of many countries, uses different currencies, faces different languages, and meets different types of people. For example, a Filipino visiting other European countries. * **Inbound Tourism** - Refers to the activities of a visitor from outside of the country of residence—for example, a Korean visiting the Philippines. * **Outbound Tourism** - Refers to the activities of a resident visitor outside of their country of residence. For example, a Filipino visiting Korea. Various types of tourism are developed nowadays and have become popular. Many categories of tourism can be found in any country and accepted globally. ### Other Types of Tourism Tourism can be described according to tourists activities and their several purposes for traveling. | Type of Tourism | Description | Sample Activities for Tourists | | :---------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Gay Tourism | Also known as LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) tourism, this caters to LGBT tourists looking to travel to safe and friendly destinations and are mainly concerned with cultural and safety issues. | Promoting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) awareness, attending same-sex wedding ceremonies, and recognizing LGBT communities over the world. | | Beach Tourism | This kind of tourism at coastal resorts often results from an inevitable attraction to the beach. | Beach hopping, scuba diving, snorkeling, speed boating, and other water activities. | | Virtual Tourism | This offers to take a virtual tour of an attraction from home. The combination of videos and still images with multimedia such as narration, music, and sound effects offers an immersive experience for the user. This new technology gives travelers the ability to see what they are getting into before taking a trip. | Previewing destinations/attractions. | | Space Tourism | This is another niche segment of | Visiting space museums, witnessing rocket launches, space traveling, and | | | the aviation industry seeking to give tourists the ability to become astronauts and experience space travel for recreational, leisure, business purposes. | stargazing. | | :-------------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Dark Tourism | The act of dark tourism is controversial, with some viewing it as an act of respect and others as an unethical practice. attractions might include cemeteries, zombie-themed events, or historical museums. Disaster tourism, the act of visiting locations that have been subjected to man-made natural environmental disasters, is considered sector. | Visiting sites of natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina, or man- made disasters, like Chernobyl nuclear meltdown | | Shopping Tourism | Destinations have an opportunity to leverage this new market trend by developing authentic and unique shopping experiences that add value to their tourism offer while reinforcing defining their tourism brand positioning | Visiting shopping malls, theaters, parks, museums, buildings of historical architectural values, touring cities, and dining out. | ### History and Development of Tourism In 1980, the UNWTO announced the day of September 27 as “World Tourism Day.” this celebration will bring sustainability to the tourism sector worldwide Tourism growth and developments in the industry for the past two (2) millennia. Here is how tourism evolved with time (**Soeg, 2021**). * **Early/Ancient Hospitality** - According to experts, hospitality services for social and religious gatherings were common around 40 BC. About this time, Greeks thermal baths designed for recuperation and relaxation. These thermal baths are said to be the origin of what is known as spa. Then came the Romans, who provided accommodation for travelers for government premises. * **Medieval Period** - This era started with English travel and excursions when they built inns. provide resting destinations(group of travelers on a journey) in the Middle Eastern routes along with the monasteries and abbeys. These places became the first establishments to refuge. The Persians developed inns and post houses. They were used to provide accommodations and nourishment both soldiers and couriers. * **Renaissance and French Revolution** - In the 16th century, increased inns and taverns multiple folds. In the early 1800s, “inns” were the lodging tourists. Since lodging was not about bedding and resting facility they started providing food and drinks to the travelers, element of luxury started to blend in, giving birth to hotels. **Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, Yamanashi, Japan**, is a hot spring hotel certified by Guinness World Records as the oldest hotel in the world, founded in 705 and has been owned by the same family for 52 generations. * **19th Century** The hospitality industry formed in 1950s/1960s structure Travelers always seek a hospitable place to kick back and relax, away from hustle and bustle of everyday routine. The industrial revolution, began in the 1970s, facilitated the construction of hotels and casinos in Europe, England, America. * **Modern Tourism and Hospitality Industry** Despite the changes customer has alwaysbeen the analysis to define better criteria provide modern standards to improve the quality of life The industry has developed. 21st century the hotels have reached new heights Some of the tallest hotels were built in the 21st century made advance. ### Tourism and Hospitality Careers The following are the several career opportunities in each tourism sector (**Cruz, 2019**). **Airlines** – Short-term economic stresses. Here are some jobs in the airline industry: * **Flight Attendant** - responsibility flight attendant make sure passengers/comfortable Next, to provide the service. * **Ticket Agents, Reservations Agents, or Reservations Clerks** - provide travel information airline customers, ticket agents baggage counter. * **Airline Food Services** - This- office position, essential involves planning meals passengers * **Flight Dispatcher** - responsible ensuring aircraft's flight and airlines take off * **Operations Agents** - coordinate baggage Airports responsible arrivals * **Airline Lounge Receptionist** - airline lounges serve verifies cards attend relays paging **Travel Trade** - comprised people companies resell products. Here are some jobs in the travel trade  * **Tour Guide** - visitors * **Tour operator** - markets * **Travel Agent** - organizes **Accommodation Sector** - composed provide career: * **Hotel General Manager** - personnel standards tasks * **Front Desk Receptionist/Agent** - professional assistance * **Housekeeping Attendant/Room Attendant** - cleans with stamina. * **Concierge** - customer welcomes fest **Food and Beverage Service Sector** - beverage staff impression the standard of the hotel: * **Restaurant Manager** - a key establishment personnel. * **Cashier** - orders * **Server** -orders * **Bartender** - beverages * **Coffee Maker** -coffee tea * **Create cuisine Manager** - * **Pastry Chef** - treat ### References * Cole, S. (2015). * Cruise Job Finder. (2002-2021). * Cruz, Z. (2019). * Ehinger, Benjamin. (2020, April 18). * Henderson, Isaac Levi. (2019). * Historical background of the hospitality industry. (2021, August 23). * Kachniewska, Magdalena. (2013). * Libosada, Carlos; Bosangit, Carmela. (2007). * Morehouse, J. (2009, August 14). * Picken, Felicity. (2017). * Technofunc. (2012, March 30). * Tomas Liz. (2018, December 2). * The Essential Guide to Restaurant Positions and Job Descriptions. (2003). * UNWTO (2012). * World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). (2021).