Describing Tourism

Describing Tourism:

Important topics to be known for understanding tourism more properly:

Travellers/visitors:

Any person on a trip between two or more countries or between two or more countries or between two locations within his/her countries of residence is considered to be a traveller or all types of traveller/travelling people engaged in tourism and defined as travellers/visitors.

Domestic tourism:

Tourism activities involving residence of given country travelling only within these countries is known as domestic tourism.

Inbound tourism:

Tourism involving non-residence traveling in given country is known as outbound tourism. For example, A travel agency conducting his tourism activities for foreigners only within his (travel agency) countries, his concerned as inbound tourism activities.

Outbound tourism:

Tourism involving residence travelling to another country for instance: Yeti travels sending Nepali people to Thailand.

Internal Tourism:

Internal tourism comprises of both inbound and outbound tourism.

National Tourism:

National Tourism comprises both internal and even outbound tourism.

International Tourism:

This tourism comprises both inbound and outbound tourism.

Nature of Tourism/Tourism Product:

1. Perishable Product(Non-storable):- Tourism products or services cannot be transported and stored for later use. We can also say that the production and consumption of tourism product should be done at one time. For example A fifty room hotel, that sells only thirty rooms for a particular right cannot store those twenty unused rooms for next day and cannot sell total seventy rooms by adding those twenty unused rooms of previous day revenue lost from one day because of those twenty unused rooms cannot be recovered. To maximize the revenue from tourism product, tourism product supply should be able to manage demand and supply.
2. Intangible/Tangible product:-Unlike other products, services cannot be tested, touched, heard, smell before they can purchase. Prior to boarding in an aircraft, a passenger has nothing but an aeroplane ticket. On top of that while flying in an aero plan or using the transportation services travelling passenger could only experience. The services of that particular service provider. Because of the intangible nature of tourism product, traveller or tourist cannot physically use the tourism products. They could only experience the services being delivered. Hotel guest when leaves the hotel, they have nothing to show for the purchase of hotel room except payment receives. They only have the experience to share with other about the uses of that hotel’s room.
3. Non-Portable product:-Most of the tourism product are non-portable in nature. A traveller always has to be present in the production area of tourism product from one to another place as per our requirement and interest. For example: If a tourist has a desire to visit Lumbini(birthplace of Buddha) he/she has to go himself/herself to that place.
4. Rigid product:-Another characteristic of tourism is the rigidity of supply. Most of the tourism products can not be easily and quickly adjusted depending on its demand when the demand falls bellow the capacity wastage of resources occurs and when it raise above the capacity of the tourism industry cannot maximize its revenue because it can not increase the supply within the short period of time.
5. Ownership is Non-Transferable:-Ownership of tourism product and services always used to remain with supplier or producer of the tourism product. For instance, when a consumer/tourist pays for the room in s hotel for the particular night, he would stay or used the services of that particular room for that pay night when the ownership of that room remain with the hotel owner.
6. Interdependent Or Related :-As we know that tourism product is a composite product with combination of different individual services such as transportation, accommodation, supplementary services etc. because of composite nature one supplier of tourism product always used to dependent with another individual service provider for example: when a tourist travels from one to another place and found that the service being delivered by the hotel is excellent but the language proficiency of the hotel is excellent but the language proficiency of the guide is very poor, now that travellers total travelling experience will be rated negatively.
7. Composite Products(compound product):- Tourism products are composite in nature which can seem as a combination of attraction, accessibility, accommodation and other supplementary services necessary for traveling people. Each of these services as components of tourism is supplied by the individual services providers such as hoteliers, transportation service providers or travel/tour operators or other supplement services providers and offered directly to the tourists. The real tourism product is composite product whether it is sold as a package or assembled by the tourists himself or by his travel company. Thus, we cannot avoid the involvement of different individual component(4A’s) in the tourism industry.
8. Involvement of Disposable Time and Money:-Most tourism demand involves the use of disposable time and money. Tourist or vacation traveler need disposable income and leisure time in order to get engaged in tourism industries. The person who has the extra money after fulfilling his/her basic requirement of life and free time would have freedom of choice as how to use his/her that extra and time for tourism activities. For examples: How to travel means of transportation when to travelling time is? , where to stay at the destination(accommodation)? , How much can be spent, Travel destination etc.? At the same time, travellers are highly sensitive to the price of the tourism product they are going to select.
9. Unstable:-Products of the tourism industry always differ even the same hotel room in the same week with the same weather can be perceived due to the mood of the chef. It is always about the experience that the customer makes rational product attributes like price, night of stay, additional services can only be compared to a minor degree. It is challenging to the deal with the customer perception of the product(the perceived quality). As it is highly affected by numerous uninfluenceable aspects such as weather construction/production sites, other customers etc. Hence, the product is very inconsistent and cannot be standardized.
10. People Oriented:-The tourism industry builds the entirely upon the people. The interaction between the staff and the customer determines the perceived product quality. Unlike tangible product where the customer buys certain features production quality, durability etc. The holiday quality results from personal interreaction starting with the information and booking process over the stay up to the journey.
11. Imitability:-Offers products of tourism companies are generally easy to copy when the neighbor hotel adds the spa facility to his offers, which could be easily copied and supplied by other neighboring hotel members.

There are two types of factors that affect tourism, they are:

1. Internal factors :

Internal factors that affect tourism are:-

• Political stability,
• Good infrastructure,
• Human resources,
• Investments,
• Income,
• Attractions,
• Weather, climate,
• Natural disaster,
• Geography
• Rule of law and services.

2. External factors:

External factors that affect tourism are:-

• Travel advisory,
• Dispute between the countries,
• Terrorism,
• Culture,
• Diseases,
• International promotion,
• Economic crises.

Criteria to characterize the tourism:

1. Displacement
2. Purpose
3. Duration
4. It is an experience rather than goods.
5. Service industry
6. Expenses

References:

1. A.K.Bhatia. Tourism development Principles and Practices. New Delhi: Sterling Publisher Pvt.Ltd, 2009.
2. Pariyar, P. 2011. A DECADE OF TOURIST ARRIVAL IN NEPAL : A Project Work Report , BBS final year, Finance group (Tourism) Faculty of Management , Public Youth Campus, Dhobichaur, Kathmandu, Nepal
3. Limbu, B. "Tourism." Tourism. 20 12 2010.
4. Runckel, Charles. www.Business-in-Asia.com. 2007. <http://www.business-in-asia.com/asia/medical_tourism.html>.
5. Singh, Gurjit. Tourism and amp; it impacts. n.d.