What is Tourism? Raditya Andhika Putra 1SA05

WHAT IS TOURISM ?

Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. Tourism may be international, or within the traveller's country. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".

Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Today, tourism is a major source of income for many countries, and affects the economy of both the source and host countries, in some cases being of vital importance.

The word tourist was used in 1772 and tourism in 1811. It is formed from the word tour, which is derived from Old English turian, from Old French torner, from Latin tornare; 'to turn on a lathe,' which is itself from Ancient Greek tornos (τόρνος); 'lathe'.

Tourism is an important, even vital, source of income for many regions and countries. Its importance was recognized in the Manila Declaration on World Tourism of 1980 as "an activity essential to the life of nations because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational, and economic sectors of national societies and on their international relations."

Tourism brings in large amounts of income into a local economy in the form of payment for goods and services needed by tourists, accounting for 30% of the world's trade of services, and 6% of overall exports of goods and services. It also creates opportunities for employment in the service sector of the economy associated with tourism.

The service industries which benefit from tourism include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships, trains and taxicabs; hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts; and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, restaurants, casinos, shopping malls, music venues, and theaters. This is in addition to goods bought by tourists, including souvenirs.

In 1936, the League of Nations defined a foreign tourist as "someone traveling abroad for at least twenty-four hours". Its successor, the United Nations, amended this definition in 1945, by including a maximum stay of six months.

In 1941, Hunziker and Kraft defined tourism as "the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity." In 1976, the Tourism Society of England's definition was: "Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to destinations outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes."[18] In 1981, the International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined tourism in terms of particular activities chosen and undertaken outside the home.

In 1994, the United Nations identified three forms of tourism in its Recommendations on Tourism Statistics:

Domestic tourism, involving residents of the given country traveling only within this country

Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country

Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country

The terms tourism and travel are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context, travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The terms tourism and tourist are sometimes used pejoratively, to imply a shallow interest in the cultures or locations visited. By contrast, traveler is often used as a sign of distinction. The sociology of tourism has studied the cultural values underpinning these distinctions and their implications for class relations.

Total volume of cross-border tourist travel

International tourist arrivals reached 1.035 billion in 2012, up from over 996 million in 2011, and 952 million in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, international travel demand continued to recover from the losses resulting from the late-2000s recession, where tourism suffered a strong slowdown from the second half of 2008 through the end of 2009. After a 5% increase in the first half of 2008, growth in international tourist arrivals moved into negative territory in the second half of 2008, and ended up only 2% for the year, compared to a 7% increase in 2007. The negative trend intensified during 2009, exacerbated in some countries due to the outbreak of the H1N1 influenza virus, resulting in a worldwide decline of 4.2% in 2009 to 880 million international tourists arrivals, and a 5.7% decline in international tourism receipts.

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism

WHAT IS TRAVEL AGENCY ?

A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism related services to the public on behalf of suppliers such as activities, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, travel insurance, and package tours. In addition to dealing with ordinary tourists, most travel agencies have a separate department devoted to making travel arrangements for business travelers; some travel agencies specialize in commercial and business travel only. There are also travel agencies that serve as general sales agents for foreign travel companies, allowing them to have offices in countries other than where their headquarters are located.

The modern travel agency first appeared in the second half of the 19th century with its root in 1758 as establishment of Cox & Kings Ltd.In the year 1970, Cox & Kings the longest established travel company centered its focus on its business of travel and tourism. Lately Thomas Cook also established a chain of agencies in the last quarter of the 19th century, in association with the Midland Railway. They not only sold their own tours to the public, but in addition, represented other tour companies. Other British pioneer travel agencies were Dean & Dawson, the Polytechnic Touring Association, and the Co-operative Wholesale Society. The oldest travel agency in the United States is Brownell Travel; on 4 July 1887, Walter T. Brownell led ten travelers on a European tour, setting sail from New York on the SS Devonia.

Travel agencies became more commonplace with the development of commercial aviation, starting in the 1920s. Originally, travel agencies largely catered to middle and upper class customers, but the post-war boom in mass-market package holidays resulted in the proliferation of travel agencies on the main streets of most British towns, catering to a working class clientele looking for a convenient way to book overseas beach holidays.

A travel agency's main function is to act as an agent, selling travel products and services on behalf of a supplier. Consequently, unlike other retail businesses, they do not keep a stock in hand, unless they have pre-booked hotel rooms and/or cabins on a cruise ship for a group travel event such as a wedding, honeymoon, or a group event. A package holiday or a ticket is not purchased from a supplier unless a customer requests that purchase. The holiday or ticket is supplied to the agency at a discount. The profit is therefore the difference between the advertised price which the customer pays and the discounted price at which it is supplied to the agent. This is known as the commission. In many countries, all individuals or companies that sell tickets are required to be licensed as a travel agent.[citation needed]

In some countries, airlines have stopped giving commissions to travel agencies. Therefore, travel agencies are now forced to charge a percentage premium or a standard flat fee, per sale. However, some companies pay travel agencies a set percentage for selling their product. Major tour companies can afford to do this, because if they were to sell a thousand trips at a cheaper rate, they would still come out better than if they sold a hundred trips at a higher rate. This process benefits both parties. It is also cheaper to offer commissions to travel agents rather than engage in advertising and distribution campaigns without using agents.

Other commercial operations are undertaken, especially by the larger chains. These can include the sale of in-house insurance, travel guide books, and public transport timetables, car rentals, and the services of an on-site bureau de change, dealing in the most popular holiday currencies.

A travel agent is supposed to offer impartial travel advice to the customer, as well as coordinating travel details and assisting the customer in booking travel. However, this function almost disappeared with the mass market package holiday, and some agency chains seemed to develop a "holiday supermarket" concept, in which customers choose their holiday from brochures on racks and then book it from a counter. Again, a variety of social and economic changes[which?] have now contrived to bring this aspect to the fore once more, particularly with the advent of multiple, no-frills, low-cost airlines.

Traditionally, travel agencies' principal source of income was, and continues to be, commissions paid for bookings of car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours, tour operators, etc. A fixed percentage of the main element of the price is paid to the agent as a commission. Commissions may vary depending on the type of product and the supplier. Commissions are not paid on the tax component of the price. Travel agencies also receive a large variety of bonuses, benefits, and other incentives from travel and tourism related companies as inducements for travel agents to promote their products. The customer is normally not made aware of how much the travel agent is earning in commissions and other benefits. Other sources of income may include the sale of insurance, travel guide books, public transport timetables and money exchange.

Since 1995, many airlines around the world and most airlines in the United States now do not pay any commission to travel agencies. In this case, an agency adds a service fee to the net price. Reduced commissions started in 1995 in the United States, with the introduction of a cap of $50 on return trips and $25 on one way. In 1999, European airlines began eliminating or reducing commissions, while Singapore Airlines did so in parts of Asia. In 2002, Delta Air Lines announced a zero-commission base for the U.S. and Canada; after a few months United Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, US Airways and American Trans Air all followed suit.

The majority of travel agents have felt the need to protect themselves and their clients against the possibilities of commercial failure, either their own or a supplier's. They will advertise the fact that they are surety bonded, meaning in the case of a failure, the customers are guaranteed either an equivalent holiday to that which they have lost or, if they prefer, a refund. Many British and American agencies and tour operators are bonded with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), for those who issue air tickets, Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) for those who order tickets in, and the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) or the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), for those who sell package holidays on behalf of a tour company.

There are three different types of agencies in the UK: multiples, miniples, and independent agencies. Multiples comprises a number of national chains, often owned by international conglomerates, like Thomson Holidays, now a subsidiary of TUI Group, the German multinational. It is now common for the large mass market tour companies to purchase a controlling interest in a chain of travel agencies, in order to control the distribution of their product. (This is an example of vertical integration.) The smaller chains are often based in particular regions or districts.[citation needed]

Five different types of agencies exist in the United States: independent, host, franchise, consortium, and mega agencies. American Expressand the American Automobile Association (AAA) are examples of mega travel agencies. Carlson Wagonlit Travel is an example of a consortium agency consisting of various types of specialty agencies. Expedia CruiseShipCenters is an example of a franchise travel agency, consisting of independently operated travel agencies ran by franchisees. Oasis Agent is an example of a host agency. An example of an independent travel agency, is one that is started by a sole proprietorship, or partnership between individuals that have no business partnerships with competition agencies. Each type of travel agency has its pros and cons.

Independent agencies usually cater to a special or niche market, such as the needs of residents in an upmarket commuter town or suburb, or a particular group interested in a similar activity, such as sporting events, like football, golf, or tennis.

Travel agencies choose between two approaches. One is the traditional, multi-destination, outbound travel agency, based in the traveler's originating location; the other is the destination focused, inbound travel agency, that is based in the destination and delivers an expertise on that location. At present, the former is usually a larger operator while the latter is often a smaller, independent operator.

With general public access to the Internet since the mid-1990s, many airlines and other travel companies began to sell directly to passengers. As a consequence, airlines no longer needed to pay the commissions to travel agents on each ticket sold. Since 1997, travel agencies have gradually been dis-intermediated, by the reduction in costs caused by removing layers from the package holiday distribution network. However, travel agents remain dominant in some areas such as cruise vacations where they represent 77% of bookings and 73% of packaged travel.

In response, travel agencies have developed an internet presence of their own by creating travel websites, with detailed information and online booking capabilities. Travel agencies also use the services of the major computer reservations systems companies, also known as Global Distribution Systems (GDS), including: Amadeus CRS, Galileo CRS, SABRE, and Worldspan, which is a subsidiary of Travelport, allowing them to book and sell airline tickets, car rentals, hotels, and other travel related services. Some online travel websites allow visitors to compare hotel and flight rates with multiple companies for free; they often allow visitors to sort the travel packages by amenities, price, and proximity to a city or landmark.

All travel sites that sell hotels online work together with GDS, suppliers, and hotels directly to search for room inventory. Once the travel site sells a hotel, the site will try to get a confirmation for this hotel. Once confirmed or not, the customer is contacted with the result. This means that booking a hotel on a travel website will not necessarily result in an instant confirmation. Only some hotels on a travel website can be confirmed instantly (which is normally marked as such on each site).[citation needed] As different travel websites work with different suppliers, each site has different hotels that it can confirm instantly.[citation needed] Some examples of such online travel websites that sell hotel rooms are Expedia, Orbitz, Reservations.com and Priceline.

The comparison sites, such as Kayak.com and TripAdvisor, search the resellers sites all at once to save time searching. None of these sites actually sells hotel rooms.

Often tour operators have hotel contracts,[clarification needed] allotments,[clarification needed] and free sell agreements[clarification needed] which allow for the immediate confirmation of hotel rooms for vacation bookings.[citation needed]

Mainline service providers are those that actually produce the direct service, like various hotels chains or airlines that have a website for online bookings.[original research?]

Portals serve as a consolidator of various airlines and hotels on the internet. They work on a commission from these hotels and airlines. Often, they provide cheaper rates than the mainline service providers, as these sites get bulk deals from the service providers.[original research?]

A meta search engine, on the other hand, simply scrapes data from the internet on real time rates for various search queries and diverts traffic to the mainline service providers for an online booking. These websites usually do not have their own booking engine.

A travel agent may work for a travel agency or work freelance.

With many people switching to self-service internet websites, the number of available jobs as travel agents is decreasing.

Since 1995, many travel agents have exited the industry, and relatively few young people have entered the field due to less competitive salaries. However, others have abandoned the "brick and mortar" agency for a home-based business to reduce overhead, and those who remain have managed to survive by promoting other travel products, such as cruise lines and train excursions, or by promoting their ability to aggressively research and assemble complex travel packages on a moment's notice, essentially acting as an advanced concierge. In this regard, travel agents can remain competitive, if they become "travel consultants" with flawless knowledge of destination regions and specialize in topics like nautical tourism or cultural tourism

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travel_agency

Kinds and difference for stay place

Rented house is a kind of accommodation which means that entire house is given to the tenant, whereas Paying Guest refers to another way of providing accommodation in which the guest is usually provided a portion of the house and the owner usually takes care of the food along with the lodging facilities. A guest needs to share the space with the owner.

If a person owns a house in the place he is currently residing then, he stays in his own house. Taking a scenario of a different situation where a person is compelled to stay at another place where he does not possess any accommodation, then he is left with choices like renting a house or staying as a paying guest. Stay at hotels would be very expensive and is not apt for long time stay. Thus the person is left with two choices and they are either to rent a house or to stay as a paying guest.

Rented houses provide an accommodation from the landlord to the tenant. The whole house is given to the tenant and the tenant needs to pay the rent to the landlord in exchange of this facility. The rent may be paid monthly, annually or in some other manner. This depends upon the feasibility. The house may be furnished or semi furnished. Generally, the rent of fully furnished houses is higher in comparison to semi furnished houses. The landlord does not stay with the tenant, therefore the privacy of the tenant is entirely maintained. However, a landlord may give some instructions to the tenant. These instructions generally involve the maintenance of the house. In many cases, a security deposit is also taken by the landlord, this security amount is refundable. In most of the cases the tenant is asked to pay for the bills related to the house like electricity bill, etc. Paying Guests or P.G. is generally popular with students. As the name indicates, this accommodation is related with the feel of guest. Generally, in a P.G. accommodation a person is treated like guest but it does not mean that one does not have to pay for the accommodation. It is known as P.G. because it originally meant staying at owner’s accommodation in which a room or some space is provided and the owner may still live in the same house. However, today P.G also refers to an accommodation where it is shared by few people and the owner does not stay in the same house or flat. Generally, these P.G. provides the food facility and can be accompanied by various other services like cleaning, etc. It depends upon the owner of P.G. that what kinds of services he wants to include in his accommodation. Another important thing to note is that why bachelors prefer P.G. The reason is straightforward, they do not want to worry about food, electricity bills etc, as in most of the P.G.’s these all are taken care of by the owner.

Rented houses are generally preferred by families as they need more space and privacy of the family is also maintained, whereas P.G’s are preferred by students or single working people. The rented houses have higher rents than in comparison to P.G., but again it depends upon the facilities provided by the owners and may vary. They both come with their own advantages and disadvantages. As in a P.G., the owner mostly stays along; the guest needs to take care of lot of things and is not given the same liberty that a tenant gets in a rented house. But the preference depends upon various factors like specific requirements, availability, rent, etc.

Source : http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-rented-house-and-paying-guest