Notes Lesson 2.1 - Constituents of Tourism Industry Introduction The tourism industry is a vast industry made up of business and organizations that provide goods and services to meet the distinctive needs of tourists. These businesses and organizations are related to virtually all areas of the economy making tourism a very huge industry. Because of the economic impacts involved, profits, employment generation, earning of foreign exchange etc., more and more countries are declaring tourism as an industry; adopting policies and making plans for it; forming regula jons and giving incentives. It is also worth mentioning here that in many developed countries tourism is now being referred to as a service industry. This is so because these countries have reached a stage of perfection in terms of infrastructural development and the emphasis is on the: consumption of services. On the contrary the developing countries are still struggling to create infrastructural facilities. ‘The tourism industry comprises many sectors or sub-industries such as the hospitality industry, transport industry, attractions, and entertainment. alll these sectors are interconnected and integrated. They work with one another to some extent in providing goods and services as their survival depends on each other. Tourism is a chain of linkages and modern tourism is result of the intermixing and combined Organizations’ efforts of the various constituents. Constituents of Tourism Industry The tourism industry is the outcome of the combined efforts of various sub-industries or sectors which provide tourism related services. Large multinational companies (MNCs), small business houses, and individuals working as guides at tourist spots, all constitute the tourism industry. Some of the constituents are located at the destination itself, such as hotels, attractions, guides, shops, local transport, etc; some are encountered en route like customs, transport, foreign exchange money 50changers; while others are available at the place of origin of the journey, such as consulate for visa and travel agents. The tourism industry can be classified into two broad categories or sectors namely the main constituents and the secondary constituents as shown in table Main constituents Secondary constituents ‘Transport industry Shops and state emporiums Hospitality industry Arts and crafts Entertainment industry Local transport wvel agents and tour operators | Banks Guides and escorts Insurance companies ‘Tourism organizations Communication services- Media Performing artists Publishers, Advertisers Supporting staffs Agents and brokers Police service Constituents of the tourism industry ‘The tourism industry, as we can see, covers a very wide range of industries and services also referred to as sectors of the tourism industry. ‘The Government of Indiahas realized the tremendous scope of thisindustry in expanding the economy, and is offering incentives and conducting formal training programmes for service providers to give aboost to tourism in our country. Tourism industry is the one that deals with the tourists as consumers, the money spent by them, and the resources rendering various goods and services which facilitate the composition of the tourism product. This industry has been named as a ‘smokeless industry’ because unlike other industries it is invisible and non-polluting. The tourism industry is an extraordinarily complex integration of many industries spread over many sectors. Tourism is an umbrella industry containing a set of inter-related business participants. For example, industries like ‘Transport (Air, water and surface), Accommodation (Hotels, Motels, and Supplementary Accommodations), and Travel Companies, (Tour Operators/ ‘Travel Agents), Recreation and Entertainment Institutions, Handicrafts business, etc and the provision of the many goods and services demanded by tourists. 51Notes Main Constituents Transport Industry Transport is a fundamental component of the tourism industry. ‘Transport is a precondition for travel: it facilitates mobility and the movement of tourists from their place of origin to their destination and back. Transport is frequently neglected in the analysis of tourism, often being relegated to a passive element of the tourist experience. Yet transport remains as an essential service element of tourism, and in some cases it can form the focus of the tourism experience such as cruising and scenic train journeys. Various forms of transport have been associated with the development of tourism and technological developments in transport combined with the rise in personal disposable income have led to the expansion of both domestic and international tourism. Various types and forms of transports have been explained later in this chapter. Hospitality Industry The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry that mostly depends on the availability of leisure time and disposable income. A hospitality unit such as a restaurant, hotel, or even an amusement park consists of multiple groups such as facility maintenance, direct operations (servers, housekeepers, porters, kitchen workers, bartenders, etc.), management, marketing, and human resources. The Indian hospitality industry has emerged as one of the key industries driving growth of the services sector in India. It has evolved into an industry that is sensitive to the needs and desires of people. ‘The fortunes of the hospitality industry have always been linked to the prospects of the tourism industry and tourism is the foremost demand driver of the industry. The Indian hospitality industry has recorded healthy growth fuelled by robust inflow of foreign tourists as well as increased tourist movement within the country and it has become one of the leading players in the global industry. The other details and classifications have been discussed later in this chapter. 52Entertainment Industry Historically the word ‘entertainment’ has served a number of, definitions going back over 500 years, many of which are now obsolete or rarely used. Current and relevant definitions of entertainment include: “that which affords interest or amusement’ (OED, 2008); ‘an activity that is diverting and that holds the attention’ (Wordnet, 2008); and ‘amusement or diversion provided of guises, from that which is intentionally provided for an audience such as a stage show, to one of nature's spectacles such as flocks of migrating birds. The commonality between these two examples of entertainment is that they are both capable of diverting the attention of an audience, i. captivating, quite possibly in an amusing or agreeable way. ‘The key difference is that a stage show is put on with the specific intention of captivating or holding the attention of an audience, whereas flocks of birds do not migrate with the intention of captivating an audience they are just doing what comes naturally to them, but because we do not see this phenomenon regularly, it is novel and it has the ability to be captivating. Generally, the Recreation and Entertainment industry is one of the chief motivators in influencing travelers to a destination ~ whether they happen to be interested in cultural museums, heritage sites or experiencing the rugged outdoors, and virtually anything in between. Since these activities require travelers to have transportation, accommodation and food and beverage services as part of their overall visit, these formulate as a ‘main constituent of tourism industry. The Recreation and Entertainment industry includes a myriad of activities that range from bird watching to salmon fishing, horseback riding to white water rafting, golfing to wilderness trekking, and educational visits to entertaining stops. And regardless of size, these venues need people to work in gift shops and restaurants, as well as help maintain the facilities, manage the operations and promote the attractions. For a tourist entertainment provides an alternative to the monotony that the tourist faces in the life.This industry offers a wide variety of employment opportunities, ranging from seasonal part-time to permanent full-time positions. More than 80 different occupations are available within Recreation and Entertainment services. In the area of adventure tourism and recreation, anticipated labour demand by 2015 is 13,100 workers. In the area of attractions, projected labour demand by 2015 is 8,000 new workers. 53 NotesNotes Travel Agents and Tour Operators Retailing tourism products to consumers is a key element in the production, selling and distribution of tourism services where different organizations link the supply to the source of demand. To connect supply and demand, tourism industry has to communicate, trade and interact with the tourist and it does this through the distribution channel using intermediaries who seek to cooperate to sell a product, Tour operators are the organisers and providers of package holidays. They make contracts with hoteliers, airlines and ground transport companies then print brochures advertising the holidays that they have assembled. Travel agents are those who sell travel in the form of booking tickets for the travel over different forms of transports. It is estimated that there are some 7,000 travel agency shops ranging size from the multiples, with several hundred outlets each, to the individual shop. Some travel agents also undertake tour operating - be it on a small scale, eg a local agent packaging a group holiday for a local club, or on a larger scale - most famously by the legendary Thomas Cook, who was the first tour operator, and Sir Henry Lunn (Lunn Poly) who is widely credited with “inventing” skiing as a leisure activity. Agents can also sell the ‘components’ (flights, ferry bookings, car hire etc) for those who travel independently. Travel agents are being classified on the basis of the type of services they cater to the customers as: > Inplant Travel Agents where a branch of a travel agency is set up in the premises of corporate offices to cater to the travel requirements of their employees. > Full Service Agents which is functioned in the market area fulfilling all sort of travel requirements all types of customers. Commercial Group Agents which is offering the services to the corporate sectors by establishing their business somewhere in the market suitable to them, Incentive Travel Agents who mainly looking after the travel requirements of the incentive travellers. They mainly concentrate their business with the employees whose travel expenses are met by their company. For instance, central government employees are 54concerned; they have LTC (Leave Travel Concession) which can be availed once in three years. These type of agents are specialised in the various formalities and procedures of travel of this kind, Online Agents- This isa recent addition to the travel agency business and they cater to a global market by offering their services through online. This makes a large segment in the travel and tourism business as more and more customers are depending on internet to get their needs fulfilled. As we have many categories of travel agents as described above, tour operators are also classified into many depending on the scope of their service, v v Inbound Tour Operators are the one who make packages for the foreigners to visit our country. They offer different types of packages based on the interest of their clients including the destinations of tourist's interest, Outbound Tour Operators are making packages for out going tourist, the one who interest in visiting foreign countries. This is little more difficult than handling foreigners in our state because they should be aware of all travel formalities and places of interest in a foreign country. Domestic Tour Operators are those who make travel arrangement and packages for the domestic tourists to visit different places of interest in their country. Ground Operators are the one who deal with the arrangement of ground services as the tourist reach to a particular destination such as arranging transfers, arranging meals, guide services etc. Specialist Tour Operators are the one who specialized in special types of packages. Its a niche market where they try to satisfy a group of special interest tourists such as people who visit places for bird watching, expedition, adventure sports ete. Guides and Escorts Guides are those who stay at the tourist destination and explain the importance of the destination to the tourist. Escorts travel with the 55 NotesNotes tour group and serve as a guide where ever they go. It is another inevitable element of tourism industry where there is a high demand for qualified tourist's guides. Most of the guides we see today at different tourist places are not able enough to impart the authentic and real knowledge to the visitors. Able and experienced guides are paid high by major companies. ‘There is a regional level trai ing programme being conducted by Dept. of ‘Tourism, Govt. of India to supply adequate number of qualified guides. After the training, based on their performance in the evaluation, they are being licensed by the government and the license is issued for 3 years. After every three years, they need to renew the license. A person can serve asa licensed guide till the age of 65 in India. Tourism Organizations Various national and international travel organizations play an integral role in the growth and development of tourism industry. Organizations such as IATA, ICAO, WTO, PATA, LATO, TAAL, DOT ete. have been established and performing excellently in their own spheres to make sure that the industry is growing towards a meaningful end. Secondary Constituents Secondary constituents as listed in table are those form the second part of the constituents of tourism industry. The secondary constituents are secondary only on the list of priorities for the formations of tourism industry. However, they are highly essential from the individual (or) tourist, point of view. The readers are advised to take a second - look at the table and put them in the shoes of the tourists so as to feel the importance of the items listed as the secondary constituents. Among the lists there, local transport is of paramount importance. It is very easy to reach Agra from anywhere in the world but it is more important to have a pleasant transfer from the entry point ( say airport / railway station / bus stand) to the Taj Mahal to have a memorable experience of tourism. In the same way, a tourist may have enough of money in his bank account and also hold a valid ATM card but if there is no A.T.M at the tourist destination he may not be able to pay his bills immediately. Thus, the secondary constituents play a major role in the tourism industry. 56Conclusion The Constituents of Tourism Industry are detailed in this, lesson. The Main and Secondary constituents work in tandem for the complete tourism experience for tourists. It is important for the readers to learn what is the primary need for the tourist at the destination and provide the same for the pleasure of tourists. 37 Notes