Tourism Promotion Services 1

Week 10: Sources of Tourism Product Information

Sources of Tourism Product Information

Learning Objectives

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

1. Define what a tourism product is and its characteristics.

2. Identify the components of a tourism product.
3. Differentiate the types of products.

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Definition of Tourism Product and Services

A product may be defined as anything value that meets a specific need. It may
come in the form of s necessity or a luxury. A necessity is something we cannot do
without while a luxury is something that we can forego if we do not have the budget for
it.

In consumer marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market for

attention acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy z want or need. It may
include physical objects, services, places, organizations and ideas. Example of
consumer products include things we use on daily basis such as shampoo, soap, rice ,
milk and coffee. These are the kinds of product you see in the grocery or department
store.

On the other hand tourism products are products and services that are not
consumed on a daily basis. It is often a luxury that people get to enjoy when they have
extra money. These products and services to makes may be combined to make up the
overall tourism product. There are many products are meals in a restaurant , hotel , and
bus transport to a province.

A tourism product refers not only to tangible products but to service as well. A
service is something that a customer cannot see to prior to purchase. You are asking
the customer to purchase something that is invisible and cannot be tested. A product is
like ready-to-wear dress you see in the store while a service is custom-made dress you
ask dressmaker to sew for you. Products include food, souvenir items , and drinks

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while services include tour guiding services, in-flight services in san airplane ,
conference, organizing , and the like.

However, a tourism product may stand alone such as a meal in restaurant or

flight to a specific destination. Often, a tourism product or service is usually consumed
in connection with other products and services mainly because tourism products and
services are consumed away from home. For example, the tourist needs to eat in
restaurants, sleep in hotels or resorts, and ride a vehicle that is not his own in one trip.

To help us differentiate a tourism product from a regular consumer products,

most tourism product have the following characteristics:

1. Intangible

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Tourism products cannot be touched, smelled, tasted , felt, or heard prior to

purchase. It cannot be subjected to prior scrutiny. One cannot examine or test it prior to
purchase unlike consumer products that may be sampled.

Except for food that may be sampled prior to purchase, most tourism products
cannot be sampled prior to purchase. You cannot try out the bed of a hotel without
having checked-in , or know how it feels to step on the powdery white sand of Boracay
beach without going on the destination.

This is also the reason word of mouth (what others who have been there say
about the product or service) is very important in tourism promotions. It is because you
cannot try out the product before actually purchasing it.

2. Inseparable

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The tourism product cannot be separated from the consumer. When tourists avail
themselves of products and services, they have to personally go to where the product
are. Since what is being sold is an experience, the product and the consumer cannot be
in two different places; they have to be in the same place except, again for food which
can be ordered for delivery. Note, however, that the food can be delivered but not the
dining experience.

A tourist who avails himself/herself of airline ticket needs to be physically present

inside the airplane to experience the paid trip. Products cannot be delivered to where
the consumer is; most of the time, it is the consumer who goes to where product is to
avail himself/herself of the product.

3. Variable

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The tourism experience is likely to be different depending on the time the product
is availed, the people one is with, and the manner the service was provided at the time
of consumption. One may be likely to have gone to the same resort several times, ye
each experience may have different. You may have gone to the resort the first time with
your parents and there were very few other guests in the resort; hence your experience
may be one of peace and quiet. The next visit you made to the resort was with your
friends and it was summer. There were lots of bits rowdy and noisy because you are
with your friends. This makes your second visit different from your first.

4. Perishable

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Unlike consumer products with which unsold inventory can be kept and stored for
sale again the next day, most tourism products cannot be carried over the next day.
Products and services not sold today cannot be for sale tomorrow. To illustrate,100-
room hotel may sell all its room today, If 20 rooms are vacant today (meaning 70 rooms
were sold), the 20 rooms cannot be added to the 100 rooms the hotel will sell tomorrow.
Regardless of whether the hotel was a fully occupied today or not, it will always just
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have 100 rooms in inventory every day. The same concepts hold true for airline seats,
restaurant seats, and resort facilities.

Because of the perishability of the tourism product, most tourism establishments

offer different rates during peak and lean months to make up for revenue during lean
season.

Components of the Tourism Product

Hsu et al. (2008) discussed these components as (1) destination attractions, (2)
destination facilities (3) accessibility, (4) images, and (5) price.

1. Destination attractions

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These are the elements of the tourism product that pulls people to a destination. These
are what the visitors want to see. The Philippines attractions mainly fall under the sun,
sand, and sea category but should also include ols churches, historical artifacts,
festivals, and many festivals, and many others. The Filipino, known to be friendliest in
the world, is also a major tourist attraction.

2. Destination facilities

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A wide range of tourist facilities within the destination are those the products and
services that will help the tourist enjoy the destination attractions. These include
accommodation facilities (hotels, inns, and apartelles), transportation (taxi, rent-a-car),

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food and beverage (restaurants and bars), shopping centers, and many other support
facilities.

3. Accessibility

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For a tourism product to be highly successful in fracture services (airports, roads,

bridges, etc.) and transportation systems (direct flights of airplanes, trains, buses, etc.)
should be put in place.

4. Images

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Central to the product is its image. Destination image helps the visitors form
expectations of what they will experience when they are in the destination. It also
motivates them to make a decision to visit the said destination.

5. Price

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Pricing is an important component of the tourism product. It allows consumers to

determine the level of service they may receive in the destination. Pricing products
highly will create an expectation of excellence and high standards while pricing it too
low might give consumers doubts on the product’s quality. Factors such as seasonality,
distance, product classification, and length of time may affect pricing.

Sources of information

Whilst each section in this manual will

detail specific sources of information
relating to a particular aspect of the
tourism industry, there are a number of
sources that will be a great starting point
to get an overview of the industry as a
whole.

Colleagues, supervisors and managers

These people are your first-line sources of information. You should feel free to ask them
questions whenever you need to find information. Get to know them and actively seek
out their opinions, experiences and views. They can help you find out what is
happening, where the business is heading, what they think of the industry and its
various stakeholders and what they intend doing personally.

Talking to these people demonstrates your interest in the industry and the more you talk
to them the easier it will become to ask subsequent questions.

Representatives

Many suppliers have sales representatives who call on the business on a regular basis.
Sales representatives, known also as „sales reps‟ or just „reps‟, visit the business for
public relations (PR) purposes or to introduce new products. These PR calls are
courtesy visits where they don‟t actually ask for anything but simply call in and „have a
chat‟.

This talk can be useful in finding out what is happening at other businesses, trends in
the industry, new products, blackout periods and impending price rises.

They are an excellent source of information, certainly about their products, but also
about the industry in general because they visit so many businesses and speak to so
many staff.

Developing your own industry information you accumulate provides

network you with a sound understanding of the
industry and will help your career
As a member of the tourism industry, it progression.
is vital to build your industry network.
This involves reaching out to all people
in all aspects of the industry and
discussing industry happening, trends
and current information. The more
people you meet and the more

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To develop a useful and representative network of contacts you will need to make
deliberate attempts to target and talk to people you respect within the industry including
owners, managers and others.

Make yourself known and visible and demonstrates you value them as
keep yourself „in the loop‟ which means: a contact.
 You need to contact your network
when you find out something you
think they might need to know.
This highlights the two-way
nature of the concept of
networking
 You need to occasionally contact
them just to „keep in touch‟ even
when there is nothing specific to
pass on to them. Often they
remember something they need
to tell you and your call

Conferences and seminars

You should attend these whenever possible and make an effort to attend a major one at
least every two years. Let your employer know you are interested in attending and keep
an eye in the media and trade publications about events that are coming up.

Conferences and seminars are

extremely useful because they are:
 A great source of industry
contacts. It is beneficial to begin
„networking‟ as soon as possible
 Good sources of new ideas, new
products and new industry
thinking
 A good opportunity to share and
test ideas.

If you can’t attend them, then make sure you read about them in the trade magazines or
make contact with someone who has attended.

Product launches

You are in a good position to attend

many of these by the virtue of being in
the travel industry. Sales
representatives may give you an
invitation or an invitation may be given
to all staff at your workplace. These
events are good networking
opportunities and they also provide
product knowledge about the product
being launched.

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References:

Hsu, Cathy, Killion, Les, Brown, Graham, Gross, Michael J., Huang, Sam. 2008.
Tourism Marketing: An Asia-Pacific Perspective. John Wiley and Sons: Australia.

Kotler, Phillip, Bowens, John T., Makens, James C. 2010. Marketing for Hospitality and
Tourism 5th edition. Pearson-Prentice Hall: New Jersey

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