specific tourist products represent

What is Tourism Product? Definition, Types, Characteristics

• Post last modified: 3 October 2021
• Reading time: 14 mins read
• Post category: Uncategorized

What is Tourism Product?

Tourism Products are a combination of goods and services demanded by a tourist during travel to and stay at a destination. These include natural, cultural and manmade attractions and facilities such as hotels, transport and ancillary services.

In this process, tourists derive an experience which varies from individual to individual. From a broader perspective, the sum total of experiences derived by the tourists during the entire trip can be considered as the product.

Table of Content

• 1 What is Tourism Product?
• 2 Definition of Tourism Product
• 3.1 Natural Tourism Product
• 3.2 Man-Made Tourism Product
• 3.3 Symbiotic Tourism Product
• 3.4 Event Based Tourism
• 3.5 Site Based Tourism Product
• 4.1 Intangibility
• 4.2 Inseperatability
• 4.3 Perishability
• 4.4 Heterogeneity
• 4.5 Essentially of Users Presence
• 4.6 Complexity in Marketing
• 4.7 Absence of Ownership

Definition of Tourism Product

Burkat and Medlik say tourism products to an array of integrated products, which consist of objects and attractions, transportation, accommodation and entertainment, where each element of the tourism product is prepared by individual companies and are offered separately to consumers (tourist/tourist).

The tourism “product” is not the destination, but it is about the experiences of that place and what happens there. – Chris Ryan

Economist M. Sinclair and Mike Stabler define the tourism product as a “composite product involving transport, accommodation, catering, natural resources, entertainment and other facilities and services, such as shops and banks, travel agents and tour operators.”

According to Suswantoro (2007:75) on substantially the understanding of tourism products “is obtained and the overall service felt or enjoyed by tourists since he left his residence to the tourist destination of his choice and to return home where she originally departed”.

Types of Tourism Products

Following figure describes the classification of Tourism Product:

Natural Tourism Product

Man-made tourism product, symbiotic tourism product, event based tourism, site based tourism product.

These are the products connected to the natural environment. Natural environment that constitutes natural resources which is related to area, climate and its settings, and the landscapes. These natural resources are the most important elements in a destination’s attraction. Such as countryside, climate, natural beauty, water, flora and fauna, wildlife, beaches, deserts, islands or any scenic attraction.

Some examples of natural tourism products in India are Marina beach- Chennai, Darjeeling hill station-West Bengal, Islands of Andaman & Nicobar- Andaman & Nicobar, Deserts of Thar-Rajasthan, etc

Something which is not natural, found in the destinations to attract the tourists. These are man-made creations. As per the tourism point of view they are made for pleasure, leisure or business.

Man-made tourism products are further divided into three subtypes:

• Sites and areas of archaeological interest
• Historical buildings and monuments
• Places of historical significance l museums and art galleries
• Political and educational institutions
• Religious institutions
• Fairs and festivals
• Arts and handicrafts
• Folklore l native life and customs
• Amusement and recreation parks
• Sporting events
• Zoos and oceanariums
• Cinemas and theatres
• Night life l cuisines

Examples of Man-made tourism products are Ajanta and Ellora cave-Maharashtra (Cultural), Surajkund Craft Mela-Haryana (Traditional), Essel World-Mumbai, etc

This type of tourism product do not fall in any particular category because they are a blend of nature and man but the core attraction is nature. These are the natural resource that has been converted into a tourism product by maintaining and managing them.

In other words man has taken initiative to preserve the natural aspects of earth and also managed in a way to provide best possible services to the tourists who come for the visit, for example, accommodation, parking facilities, etc. Some examples are National Park or Wildlife Sanctuaries, Flower Festival, Marine Park, Aero and Water Sports, Botanical Garden etc.

In India, there are many national parks like Ranthambhore-Rajasthan, where tigers and many animals are preserved and tourists are given facilities like a jungle safari.

Product Here event is the main source of attraction. Tourist comes to observe and participate in the events. Events are temporary in nature and are often mounted in order to increase the number of tourists to a particular destination.

Some events are for a short time scale while other last for longer days. Sometimes events are mounted in those places where the tourist’s eye usually don’t reach such as unusual exhibitions.

Some examples of event-based tourism product include Camel Polo at Jaisalmer- Rajasthan, Kite flying in Ahmedabad-Gujarat, where tourists also participate and observes. In Snake boat race-Kerela, one can enjoy witnessing it. Short time scale event includes Republic day parade-New Delhi and long days event include Khajuraho dance festival-Madhya Pradesh.

It is a particular site or a place, permanent in nature which is the main source of attraction for the tourists. In India examples are like Taj Mahal, Beaches of Goa, Sunset at Kanyakumari, Temples of Khajuraho, etc.

Characteristics of Tourism Product

Following are the main characteristics of tourism products:

Intangibility

Inseperatability, perishability, heterogeneity, essentially of users presence, complexity in marketing, absence of ownership.

As discussed earlier in this chapter, tourism products are actually the services that are being sold to the tourists, and it’s not the goods. Services can’t be seen, smelled, felt or touched, it can only be experienced. What can be seen is their effect.

For example, a guide’s comments can be heard. A travel agents books a ticket from place A to B. The ticket is just a piece of paper, an entry pass for using the service. An airline provides the service of transportation, comfort and leisure. A thorough evaluation of the service before buying it is therefore impossible and leads customers to use other cues to help them assess the service like the interior of the restaurant, the appearance of the hotel entrance or the behaviour of the receptionist.

A service of a tourism product cannot be separated from the provider of the service. For most services, the producer and the seller are the same people. Services are manufactured and consumed at the same time. In the case of products, consumption takes place after production and often far away from the factory.

In the case of tourism products for example a guide has to be present to explain the attraction. A pilot has to be present to fly a plane. Both service providers and the service user have to be physically present for mutually satisfying the exchange of service. The visitor to a national park cannot experience counter service if the receptionist is not present, nor can the receptionist render the service is the visitor is absent.

The tourism product is highly perishable, which means it cannot be stored. For example, a hotel room or an aeroplane seat that is not sold on a particular day, is a lost sale. If the tourists don’t visit a particular place, the opportunity is lost. If the opportunity is lost, the moment is lost. This adversely affects the tourism business.

The demand has to be managed by the marketer in such a way as to ensure that as little capacity as possible is lost. The problem is unique for the tourism industry. Due to these reason sometimes heavy discount is offered by hotels or transport generating organization.

Services offered by most people are never the same. There is some degree of variability present in almost all types of services. This may be due to the extensive involvement of people in the production of service. This issue is not present when a machine dominates. Depending on the mood, behaviour, working style, efficiency and knowledge of the people variability exist.

For example, all air hostesses cannot provide the same quality service like the other. Yet again the same individual air hostess may not perform the same uniform service both in the morning as well as in the evening.

Even the tour package and the aircraft can’t be consistent of equal standards because an aircraft can de-shape the travelling pleasure into a nightmare and a holiday seaside is ruined by the prolonged rainy spell.

Another reason for variability of service is the involvement of customers in the process of product delivery and consumption system. For example, a musician performing at a program may not perform with uniformity. His performance will depend on the response and appreciation of the audience. Hence service varies from person to person, time to time and from situation to situation.

In travel and tourism businesses, service quality depends on uncontrollable factors and there is no sure way of knowing whether the service delivered matched what was planned or promoted, or what was expected by the customer.

Presence of the user is necessary to avail the service. The customer or the guest has to be personally present on the spot. It can’t be brought to the user. As in the case of other tangible goods, the buyer can avail the service from anywhere or from his home. But in the case of tourism products, it is not at all possible. The tourist has to go to the tourist attraction to experience the tour.

However the marketers here need an in-depth study of users behaviour, tastes, preferences, likes and dislikes so that expectations and realities coincide and satisfaction is made possible.

Tourism product involves complexity in marketing. It requires a lot of effort to convince a buyer. As in the case of travel agents. In order to sell their tour package they need to convince the customer by introducing various facilities, discounts and services. Product demonstration is bit difficult in the case of tourism product.

As in the case of tangible goods like television. As soon as we buy it, we become the owner of it. But this is not the case with tourism products. A tourism product when sold to the customer or tourist, he can only avail the service but can’t be its owner.

For example, while buying a hotel room, while buying a seat in an aircraft or a luxurious train, you can only take the facilities of the service for a certain time. You can’t be its owner for lifelong.

Please Share This Share this content

• Opens in a new window X
• Opens in a new window Facebook
• Opens in a new window Pinterest
• Opens in a new window LinkedIn
• Opens in a new window Reddit
• Opens in a new window WhatsApp

You Might Also Like

Types of hotel & classification of hotel, international union of official travel organisation (iuoto), places to visit in dhanbad (2024), types of bar, what is record filing purposes, importance, methods, indexing, golden chariot (mysore – goa), leave a reply cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Market information
• Develop your tourism product
• Share this on:

How to get started developing your tourism product

Whether you are offering guided tours, boat rentals, accommodation or provide river cruises, you are offering services to your customers. For today’s tourists, just a service is not enough. They seek experiences, often even experiences that contribute to their quality of life. This document offers you guidelines to identify your customers’ needs and to develop innovative products, services or experiences that really matter to them.

Contents of this page

• Why develop your product with this method?
• This is what you need before you start
• Get inspired by your (potential) customer (Step 1)
• Make a persona for each type of customer (Step 2)
• Identify the core needs of the customers and the key opportunity areas for your business (Step 3)
• Develop a multitude of ideas for solutions, or new products, services or experiences (Step 4)
• Turn your best ideas into prototypes that can be tested and improved step by step (Step 5)
• Test your prototypes in practice (Step 6)

1. Why develop your product with this method?

The needs of tourists from Europe have evolved over the past few decades. Current tourists are looking for quality service and experiences that really matter to them. To offer quality and experiences that matter to your customers, you need to know them very well, personally. What quality means for some may be different from what it means to others. And an experience that is life-changing for some, may be dull to others. This report teaches you how to get in touch with your customers, how to learn what they really need to boost their quality of life, and how you can design products, services or experiences that really matter. The nice thing is that if you succeed, your customers will share their experiences with their friends and followers, also on social media. In other words: they will promote your product to others. For free!

The current coronavirus crisis has put international travel under pressure . In many countries, tourist arrivals have nearly dropped to zero. It is likely that international tourism will be affected by the COVID-19 crisis for the next couple of years. Several scenarios are possible. The frequent holidays made by Europeans to faraway destinations may decrease and this may turn into less frequent and longer holidays closer to home. The battle for tourist visits may become fiercer. The attention for sustainability may also increase. Europeans might be willing to travel longer distances, but only for a very good reason. To tempt potential tourists from Europe to come to your country, your region or your business, you need to stand out, to understand the traveller well and be super-innovative – more than ever. Amazing stories and experiences may become even more important. As will issues of safety, security and assisting tourists in returning to their home countries.

• Read more on this in our study on how to respond to COVID-19 . This study offers insight into actions you should take immediately, while also providing guidance on long-term decisions.   

The method described in this report is based on the principles of design thinking. It has been employed internationally in all kinds of businesses. To mention a few examples in tourism:

• Destinations like the Bahamas (an example is the One-Stop Online Booking and Immigration Card ).
• Design for All , also referred to as ‘universal design’, to allow access for people with disabilities. You can read more about this in this thesis .  
• Hotels. For example Hyatt Hotels has developed various prototype hotels around the world, which are free from regulation. Another example is The next-generation hotel experience , getting the details right to improve travellers’ stays, and designing a modern work experience for business travellers .
• Visitor attractions, like improving the tourist experience of the Polar Bear Society , a visitor attraction in Norway, or bringing Tourists to a hidden coastal gem .
• Travel and transport. Examples are pioneering a car-sharing service and developing a customer strategy for public transport in Oslo.
• Restaurants, like creating a fresh and modern take on the Indian culinary experience .
• Organisation and development. An example is turning a historic music college into a collaborative learning platform .
• Tourism-related services. An example is the mobile visitor centre in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Another example is to ‘design of waste out of the food system’, taking place in a collaboration between hotels, food banks, foundations, and entrepreneurs to fight food waste .  

2. This is what you need before you start

The procedure described below is not difficult. To follow the steps, it helps to have a few basic tools – but only if you already have them) – since it is the idea of how you are doing this that is important .

• Lots of sticky notes (Post-its)
• Sheets of flipchart paper

In product development, we try to find a match between the needs of the European market and any of your local situation and business resources that might entail certain limitations. The following tips are related to this.

• Where possible, engage your customers to build a personal relationship and to get to know them well.
• If you find it difficult to engage with customers from a different culture or find it difficult to understand them, try to work with local partners who can serve as intermediaries (such as tour operators in source countries) with the guests or act as interpreter.
• Involve others working in your business or in other businesses in the community where you live, people working in education, or other people with an open and positive mind. This will make it more fun and rewarding. It will also contribute to the quality of the work.
• To work through the process described below, you may want to ask support from a local CBI coach and or an intern from a university abroad, for example via SAVE tourism .

Below, the steps are described to help you to develop innovative products and services for new and existing customers. Staying tuned with the market is an ongoing process. The outcomes of each step are illustrated in Figure 1.

3. Get inspired by your (potential) customer (Step 1)

You can only create meaningful products, services and experiences for your customers if you truly understand them. So try to understand the situations and experiences that are or might be meaningful to them. If you do not have any customers yet, or are looking for new customers, you need to get your inspiration from existing market intelligence (step 1a). If you already have customers, you can use these customers as a source of inspiration (step 1b).

a. Get inspired by potential customers

The largest share of potential customers doesn’t know you or your product offering, or perhaps even the destination. So you have to draw their attention by offering products and services that matter. What do you need to do to make a start?

• Get access to market intelligence reports of the European market. Subscribe to free newsletters or blogs of market intelligence institutions, such as UNWTO , WTTC , Global Sustainable Tourism Council or IATA . Read the annual UNWTO publications , such as Tourism Highlights and World Tourism Barometer .
• Review and read the market intelligence information provided by CBI . This webpage gives access to a CBI trend report and promising market segments and target groups on the European market.
• These sources will help you to identify important (emerging) trends and markets in Europe on a regular basis.
• Try to identify a few target groups or niches that may feel attracted to your business.

b. Get inspired by existing customers

When customers make use of your service business they could also inspire you to make new products. This means that you would need to involve them in the development process. Do not ask them what they want (as they may not know) with a questionnaire, but try to get an idea of the needs they have in a different way.

There are three nice alternative methods you could use, although there are other methods available as well, such as the ones in Ideo’s free Human Centered Design Toolkit . The first time you do so, it might make you feel uneasy to approach a customer. However, always remember that communication with them is key in developing a better product or service.

• It is your duty as an entrepreneur to look after your customers. So you can see it as part of your job to observe your customers during different phases of their customer journey and to learn to understand this customer journey through their eyes. Such observation should be done discreetly and quietly, so as not to disturb or annoy them while enjoying their holiday or business trip. It gives you insights into what they think, what they do, how they interact with others, and what they dream and wish for. While you observe your customers, you can also make notes. Afterwards, you need to find a moment that suits your customer to share your observations in an informal setting, and ask questions about things you did not expect, did not understand, or what they found appropriate. Again, make notes!
• You may also ask your customers whether they would like to help you with improving your services. Ask your customers to take photographs . You could also ask your customers to document their customer journey with a camera and to take pictures of what they consider appropriate products or services. When they give you the pictures, ask them whether there is a suitable moment for them to share some thoughts about these. When you discuss them, do not forget to make notes. Do not insist if a person does not want to cooperate, but try others instead.
• The third approach also requires asking your customers for help in making your services more appealing to them. Ask your customers whether they are willing to take a number of ‘memory cards’ along with them while using your product or service. These cards have to be printed by you beforehand in a kind of postcard format (such as in Figure 2). Ask your customers to fill in a card each time they experience something they did not expect, or which they find very positive or negative. Ask them to return the cards to you by the end of each day or when they leave. If they are open to doing so, ask them whether they have time to share their thoughts with you. If so, be sure you make notes.
• Download and make use of the print version of the ‘memory card as shown in Figure 2.

A useful way to describe an individual customer is by using a puppet template. A puppet template is a simple picture of a single customer surrounded by clouds, words bubbles and icons, such as illustrated in Figure 3. Ideally you would make a puppet template together with a customer. This shows that you are open and willing to build a personal relationship with them. A good moment is when you have the chat about the observations, the photographs that they took, or the memory cards that they filled in. During this conversation you could also talk about the person’s age, where they come from, their work, what they do in their daily life, their main interests in life, their worries, their wishes and dreams, or their preferences in tourism. This generates a lot of relevant background information. Take notes! Each customer you talk with gets a separate puppet template.

You will end up with a number of puppet templates. Review the puppet templates and take a closer look at each one. What do you see? You will probably discover that some of the templates are similar to one another. This means that you have already started to understand your customers a little better! Now, group together the puppet templates that show similarities. Each group represents a type of tourist that makes use of your business .

• Involve people in your business or community to assist you with understanding the language or the culture of the customer.
• They may help you with making puppet templates and with grouping the templates into types of tourists.
• Download and use of the print version of the puppet template shown in Figure 3.

4. Make a persona for each type of customer (Step 2)

In the previous step, you grouped the puppet templates with similarities together. Each group represents a type of tourist who could be attracted to your business. Now the challenge is to turn each type of tourist into a market description. You will do this in the form of a so-called persona: one persona for each type of tourist. You might end up with 4-8 personas. You may need to go back to the market intelligence and the puppet templates in step 1 for detailed information. A persona describes each tourist profile, point for point. It would be nice to add a quote on each persona to bring them to life.

A persona includes:

• List of ages & countries or origin
• List of work and ambitions
• Details about personal lives
• List of main interests
• List of wishes, preferences and dreams
• You may want to add photographs (for example from magazines) and quotes that characterise the type of customer
• Key locations they went to
• Alone? Or with whom?
• What did they like and what not?
• Which emotions did they show?
• Key issues, needs, dilemma’s

Most organisations have their own template. The Interacting Design Foundation explains the use of personas in a video . In the figures below, you will find a few examples with different levels of detail and a different style. You can put each persona on a different flipchart sheet.

5. Identify the core needs of the customers and the key opportunity areas for your business (Step 3)

Now you need to identify the most prominent needs, hurdles, issues or disappointments of each type of customer (persona).

• What would be remarkable events and experiences for that persona? What were remarkable events and experiences for that persona?
• What would be stunning likes for that persona? What were stunning likes for that persona?
• What would be striking issues, hurdles, disappointments, wishes or needs for that persona? What were striking issues, hurdles, disappointments, wishes or needs for that persona?
• You may need to go back to the market intelligence and puppet templates in step 1 for possible answers.
• Write each possible answer on a separate sticky note no matter from which persona. Try to get at least 25 sticky notes in total. More would be even better.
• When you are finished, group the Post-its together into areas of which you think they could have a positive impact on your customers’ experiences. Label each grouping of Post-its with a short telegram-style sentence that identifies the impact area . You could write these labels on a Post-it. A label could be, for example: “customers need more personal attention during the excursion”, “customers like to enjoy local cuisine”, or “customers need to be able to connect online”.
• Finally, turn each label into a positive opportunity for your business, also known as an opportunity area , and write it on another Post-it that you put at the top of the label. The header could be for example: “much personal attention during excursion”, “provide local cuisine to the customer”, “adequate Wi-Fi network”.
• Try to do this step with your team or with people from the community.

Now you have created opportunity areas for your business! It would be great if you were able to end up with anywhere between two to five such opportunity areas.

6. Develop a multitude of ideas for solutions, or new products, services or experiences (Step 4)

During the previous steps you started with collecting a lot of information that, step by step, you worked into just a few opportunity areas for your business. Now we will try to generate ideas for new products, services or experiences that matter to your customers for each opportunity area. Ideally, you should take this step together with colleagues in your business (not just senior staff!). If you think it is outside the range of your core business, you may also want to involve other businesses in your community.

For a long-term benefit, you first need lots of ideas to get a single good one. This one idea should be innovative and really different from the others. It might be a completely new solution to a problem customers did not even know they had. Do not be satisfied with an obvious solution!

How does it work?

Brainstorm for each opportunity area

Write out each idea on separate Post-its

Sort and group/cluster the ideas that you wrote down

• Brainstorm for each opportunity area that you created in the previous step. Come up with as many ideas as possible. Try to think of weird solutions, products, services or experiences. Never worry whether ideas are right, wrong, absurd or obvious. That hampers your creative flow of thoughts. If you do it with your team you might end up with dozens of ideas.
• Write each idea on a separate Post-it . If it helps you to understand it better, you can make a drawing of what you have in mind.
• Next, sort and group the ideas that you wrote down . Put the bad ideas to the side. Group the ideas that go well together into clusters. Give each cluster a label that tells you what the overarching idea is that the cluster is about. Brainstorming for the opportunity area “provide local cuisine to the customer” could lead to the following labels (Figure 5): start our own restaurant; authentic design of the restaurant; involve local farmers; kitchen staff recruitment and training programme; sustainable waste treatment.
• If you take a closer look at the clusters with the labels, you might get ideas about more details. You can write these down on additional Post-its. For example, once you have made a cluster with the label ‘waste treatment’, you may add other ideas: the name of a certification programme you would like to comply with; how you want to adhere to the certification programme; aspects of how you organise the waste flow in the restaurant and kitchen; communication of the certification with the customers, etc. So the labels give you inspiration to add to the clusters to make these more specific.

You will end up with a shortlist of your best ideas for solutions: new products, new services or new experiences. It is a good idea to show the ideas to some of your customers for feedback. In the case of Figure 6, you would end up with the following products and services: authentically designed restaurant (product); strengthened involvement with the community (service and products); collaboration with regional/national educational institutions to train qualified kitchen staff to be skilled at cooking, but to also always pay attention to hygiene rules; a certified waste treatment service.

7. Turn your best ideas into prototypes that can be tested and improved step by step (Step 5)

Now is the time to create a first design for the ideas for new products or services that you have created. We call this a prototype . If you make such a detailed design, this will help you to understand your idea better, but also to determine whether you have the resources to implement it, and whether there are any unforeseen challenges or consequences. These things are important for long-term success.

• Select the ideas that could upgrade one of your business’s current products or services or be integrated with such a product or service. These ideas will probably be the easiest to develop because they fit best with your everyday work.
• For each of the products or services that you selected, make a detailed description of how you want it to be designed. We call this a prototype of your product or service.

How do you make a prototype?

• Take a large piece of paper, such as a flipchart sheet, for each of your innovative ideas.
• Draw a cross on each sheet in order to divide it into four quarters. Each quarter is dedicated to one building block of your product or service idea, as illustrated in Figure 5.
• Describe and visualise what each building block would look like according to you. Put your description into a few sentences. Also use a few sketches, drawings and/or cartoons. You can use simple shapes, because the quality of the sketch is not so important at this stage.

• Start with the name.
• Write down the persona(s) who would feel attracted to the product because it matches their needs. You need to go back to the steps you completed earlier.
• Write down an appealing story about your new product or service that can be communicated with the European market. If you have a website, you can put the name and story of your new product/service there.

Each sheet that you have finished is a prototype of the ideas that you have created for innovations for your business. These are ready to be tested, like the prototype of a new car or airplane that is tested in a wind tunnel.

Never worry that your prototype is incomplete or indistinguishable from the final product that you have in mind. This will be dealt with later in the process.

8. Test your prototypes in practice (Step 6)

The final step is to put your innovative idea into practice and offer it to your customers as you have described and visualised it in your prototype. It is a process of learning by doing. You get feedback from your customers on what worked and what did not. Based on this feedback, you then create a new and improved version of your product, service or experience. Then you once again get feedback and make more improvements. In this way, your product or service will improve step by step.

• Do not expect immediate success but accept that you can make mistakes now that otherwise would cost you a lot of money later on.
• See it as a learning process. Be open to the feedback and do not defend your prototype if the users are less positive than you expected. Try to get as much feedback and suggestions for improvement as possible.
• Try to put some speed and efficiency in this phase. This will help you with moving quickly from prototype to putting it to the test, to gathering feedback, and then to making a better version of your product or service.
• Never forget that new trends and new markets will arise. This means that your customer and the needs of your customers may change over the years. This is why you need to restart at step 1 every few years to stay tuned to the needs of the market.

This study was carried out on behalf of CBI by   Molgo  and  ETFI .

Please review our market information disclaimer .

Enter search terms to find market research

Do you have questions about this research?

Ask your question

Webinar recording

29 September 2020

Related research

• What is the demand for outbound tourism on the European market?
• What trends offer opportunities or pose threats on the European outbound tourism market?
• What are the requirements for tourism services in the European market?
• (opens in a new tab) Twitter
• (opens in a new tab) Facebook
• (opens in a new tab) LinkedIn

To read this content please select one of the options below:

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, the planning and development of the tourism product.

Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing

ISBN : 978-1-78756-292-9 , eISBN : 978-1-78756-291-2

Publication date: 29 November 2018

This chapter introduces its readers to the concept of tourism. It sheds light on the rationale for tourism, as it explains the tourists’ inherent motivations to travel. It also describes different aspects that together make up the tourism industry. Tourists travel to destinations that are accessible to them. They require accommodation if they are visiting a place for more than 24 hours. Leisure and business travellers may also visit attractions, and engage in recreational activities. Hence, the tourist destinations should have the right amenities and facilities. In this light, this chapter clarifies how destinations may offer different products to satisfy a wide array of tourists. Tourism products can include urban (or city) tourism, seaside tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, wine tourism, culinary tourism, health tourism, medical tourism, religious tourism, cultural (or heritage) tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism, business tourism (including meetings, incentives, conferences and events), among others.

• Hospitality
• Destination
• Destination marketing
• Tourism intermediaries
• Travel agencies
• Destination management
• Accommodation
• Low cost airlines

Camilleri, M.A. (2018), "The Planning and Development of the Tourism Product", Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing , Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-291-220181001

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

We’re listening — tell us what you think

Something didn’t work….

Report bugs here

All feedback is valuable

Please share your general feedback

Join us on our journey

Platform update page.

Visit emeraldpublishing.com/platformupdate to discover the latest news and updates

Questions & More Information

Answers to the most commonly asked questions here

International Economic Conference of Sibiu

IECS 2018: Innovative Business Development—A Global Perspective pp 209–218 Cite as

The Tour-Operators’ Role in the Process of Creating and Promoting Cultural Tourism Products—An Empirical Study

• Silvia Muhcina 4 &
• Andreea-Daniela Moraru 4  
• Conference paper
• First Online: 14 November 2018

948 Accesses

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics ((SPBE))

Nowadays, the tourism industry faces multiple challenges generated by the sudden changes in the marketing environment. The challenges of the international geo-political environment, the terrorist threats, the climate changes, the unprecedented technological development, and the transformations in consumer behavior patterns strongly influence the evolution of tourism activity. The suppliers of tourism services and products must face these challenges, create and distribute tourism products that can meet the needs of today’s tourists in an adequate manner. The paper presents the means through which the tourism organizations can closely cooperate with the suppliers of cultural attractions, create, and sell attractive tourism packages. Cultural tourism products can set off tourists’ interest and curiosity, and can both educate and satisfy the tourists’ needs for personal fulfillment from a cultural and spiritual point of view. Subsequently, the paper includes a quantitative analysis revealing youngsters opinions on the attractiveness of tourism products based on cultural elements.

• Distribution

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution .

Buying options

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Durable hardcover edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P.: Marketing. An Introduction, 12th edn. Pearson Education, Inc, New Jersey (2015)

Google Scholar  

Balaure, V., Cătoiu, I., Vegheș, C.: Marketing turistic. Uranus, București (2005)

Florescu, C., Mâlcomete, P., Pop, N.A.: Marketing. Dicționar explicativ. Economica, București (2003)

Kotler, Ph., Haider, D.H., Rein, I.: Marketingul locurilor. Teora, București (2001)

Moldoveanu, M., Ioan-Franc, V.: Marketing și cultură. Expert, București (1997)

Muhcina, S., Moraru, A.D.: A viewpoint on economy students’ perceptions regarding the promotion process of tourism products using online marketing. Manage. Strat. J. 24 (4), 718–725 (2014)

Richards, G. (ed.): Cultural Tourism in Europe. CAB International, Wallingford (1996)

Silberberg, T.: Cultural tourism and business opportunities for museums and heritage sites. Tourism Manage 16 (5), 361–365 (1995)

Article   Google Scholar  

Stănciulescu, G.: Tehnica operațiunilor de turism. All, București (1998)

WTO.: Standard International Classification of Tourism Activities (SICTA), Madrid (1991)

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Ovidius University of Constanta, Constanta, Romania

Silvia Muhcina & Andreea-Daniela Moraru

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreea-Daniela Moraru .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Faculty of Economic Sciences, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romania

Ramona Orăștean

Claudia Ogrean

Silvia Cristina Mărginean

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Cite this paper.

Muhcina, S., Moraru, AD. (2018). The Tour-Operators’ Role in the Process of Creating and Promoting Cultural Tourism Products—An Empirical Study. In: Orăștean, R., Ogrean, C., Mărginean, S. (eds) Innovative Business Development—A Global Perspective. IECS 2018. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01878-8_18

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01878-8_18

Published : 14 November 2018

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-01877-1

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-01878-8

eBook Packages : Economics and Finance Economics and Finance (R0)

Share this paper

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

share this!

April 9, 2019

What most attracts us to a tourist destination? Attractions, culture and gastronomy

by Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona

Tourists' expectations when visiting a particular place are related to several features of the chosen destination: culture, architecture, gastronomy, infrastructure, landscape, events, shopping and others. These features attract people to the destination and contribute to the overall experience of the trip. As a whole, they are crucial aspects of the destinations and have a profound influence on their success. Therefore, the study of the market segment of urban destinations is particularly important due to the impact on the economic development of cities.

A destination's competitiveness refers to the ability of the brand to successfully occupy a niche in the market in the long term. It is the potential to create and integrate value-added products to maintain the resources while keeping their position in the market compared with other competitors. For the brand image , the uniqueness of the destination is key to its desired positioning and this makes the brand unique and distinguishable for tourists.

Sara Vinyals Mirabent, a researcher of the Communication, Advertising & Society (CAS) Research Group of the Department of Communication at UPF has raised the issue and has studied it at the 12 most popular urban destinations in Europe. This research helps to understand how European cities use their most attractive features to compete in the market segment of urban destinations and to stand out from other competing cities.

Vinyals has published the results of her study in the advanced online edition of Journal of Destination Marketing & Management . The aim of this study was twofold. On the one hand, it sought to identify the dominant features of communication to attract visitors to Europe's most popular urban destinations. On the other, the study aimed to determine the most relevant characteristics of the destinations that act as distinguishing elements. It is a baseline study on the most popular destinations in the context of European urban tourism that addresses the limitations of previous studies. The research is part of the ITOURIST research project.

The study performs a content analysis to identify the similarities and differences of the official communication channels of the twelve most popular urban destinations in Europe. The final sample includes twelve official websites operated by official tourism organizations from the following cities: London, Paris, Istanbul, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Milan, Rome, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Madrid and Frankfurt.

The results show that to compete in this specific market, tourist products and packages, cultural attractions and gastronomy are the critical elements chosen to attract visitors. The twelve cities studied showed a significant amount of content dedicated to these issues on all of the websites considered (over 40%). The prevalence of these strategies in all cases indicates their crucial role for these competitive urban destinations. The results also identify that strategies related to history, accommodation and leisure attractions are the main sources of differentiation between European cities.

Among the European urban destinations studied, the content analysis revealed three main areas of differentiation (D1, D2 and D3) which can be used to place smaller destinations on the market. The main difference between destinations can be explained by the dichotomy between the advertising strategies related to leisure and culture (D1). However, the areas related to infrastructure (D2) and location near tourist sites (D3) represent a significant source of differentiation. These three main factors among Europe's twelve most popular destinations may explain more than 70% of the differences between destinations.

The results of this study point to the clear need to promote the city's tourist products and packages, its cultural attractions and its gastronomy in the online competition as European urban destination . In addition, infrastructure and transport, landscape and natural resources, events and sports also seem to have a more stable presence through communication practices, although these categories are less important in the discourse than the previous ones.

Provided by Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona

Explore further

Feedback to editors

Using CO₂ and biomass, researchers find path to more environmentally friendly recyclable plastics

8 hours ago

Precision agriculture research identifies gene that controls production of flowers and fruits in pea plants

Long-term forest study shows tornado's effects linger 25 years later

9 hours ago

A new coating method in mRNA engineering points the way to advanced therapies

ATLAS provides first measurement of the W-boson width at the LHC

10 hours ago

Smart vest turns fish into underwater spies, providing a glimpse into aquatic life like never before

Ants in Colorado are on the move due to climate change

Caterpillar 'noses' are surprisingly sophisticated, researchers find

Building footprints could help identify neighborhood sociodemographic traits

11 hours ago

Fossilized dinosaur eggshells can preserve amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, over millions of years

12 hours ago

Relevant PhysicsForums posts

Interesting anecdotes in the history of physics.

17 hours ago

What are your favorite Disco "Classics"?

Apr 9, 2024

Cover songs versus the original track, which ones are better?

Biographies, history, personal accounts.

Apr 7, 2024

Purpose of the Roman bronze dodecahedrons: are you convinced?

Apr 6, 2024

Favorite Mashups - All Your Favorites in One Place

Apr 5, 2024

More from Art, Music, History, and Linguistics

Related Stories

London calling! Travelers seek 'trust' in holiday destinations

Aug 9, 2018

Personifying places can boost travel intentions

Aug 22, 2017

Businesses think they're on top of carbon risk, but tourism destinations have barely a clue

Jan 8, 2019

Peer-to-peer accommodation services change travel patterns in many ways

Nov 2, 2015

We're in the era of overtourism but there is a more sustainable way forward

Jan 16, 2019

Photo mining

Nov 29, 2018

Recommended for you

Can the bias in algorithms help us see our own?

Public transit agencies may need to adapt to the rise of remote work, says new study

Giving eyeglasses to workers in developing countries boosts income

Value-added tax data could help countries prepare better for crises

Mar 27, 2024

Survey study shows workers with more flexibility and job security have better mental health

Mar 26, 2024

Let us know if there is a problem with our content

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter

57 UNDERSTANDING TOURIST BEHAVIOR IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT – Contributions by Astrid Kemperman

The travel and tourism industry is among the most affected sectors by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a massive fall in international tourism demand. While the industry is currently recovering, the World Tourism Organization argues that this fall in demand offers the opportunity to rethink the tourism sector and build back better towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient sector that ensures that the benefits of tourism are enjoyed widely and fairly (UNWTO, 2021). Over the last decades, it has become clear that the growth of tourism brings significant challenges with it and is itself also influenced by for example climate change, pollution, decreasing natural resources, growing populations, and local and cultural differences. The negative environmental impacts of tourism are substantial: tourism puts stress on local land use, can lead to increased pollution, and more pressure on endangered species and the natural habitat. A more sustainable tourism approach would mean taking into account the current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, the preferences and needs of visitors, the industry, the environment, and host communities (UNWTO, 2021).

At the same time, recent technological and digital innovations also change the way people live, work, travel, interact with one another, and how they spend their free time. The borders between the digital, social, and physical environment are more and more intertwined. Technological advances, information dissemination, the influence of social networks, and increasing available free time and monetary budgets have further strengthened the need to create sustainable development opportunities for the tourism industry to support and improve efficient destination planning, management, and local community empowerment and inclusiveness. Moreover, as argued by Gretzel and Koo (2021), these technological developments lead to a convergence of urban residential and touristic spaces, and there is value in merging so-called smart tourism and smart city planning and management development goals to serve both residents and tourists in the best possible ways.

Research is needed to test the possible impact of new technology on tourists, their needs, preferences and activities, social relationships, and interaction with the environment. These considerations drive my general research aim: to develop a deeper understanding of individuals’ needs, preferences, and spatial activity patterns within the context of the digital, social, and physical environment to help find solutions for these challenging problems. In this chapter, a concise overview of my research, from the past to present and some new ideas are presented and discussed, as shown in figure 1:  investigating tourist choice behavior within a changing digital, social and physical environment to support planning and design of environments that enhance tourist experiences and quality of life.

Facets of tourist choice behavior

Central in my research over the years is understanding and adding to knowledge on tourist choice behavior, and I have been doing so taking a quantitative research approach using advanced data collection methods (e.g., dynamic stated choice experiments) and modeling approaches (e.g., discrete choice modeling, Bayesian Belief Network models). Tourists make a variety of choices including whether or not to travel, destination choice (e.g., Kemperman, Borgers & Timmermans, 2002b), transport mode choice (e.g., Grigolon, Kemperman & Timmermans, 2012c), accommodation choice (e.g., Randle, Kemperman & Dolnicar, 2019), trip duration choice (e.g., Kemperman, Borgers, Oppewal & Timmermans, 2003), and what activities to undertake while at a specific destination (e.g., Kemperman, Joh, & Timmermans, 2004). However, when explaining and predicting tourist choice behavior a variety of unique properties need to be taken into account. Over the years I have investigated some of these aspects.

First, compared to other types of choices like transport mode choice, tourists are inclined to show variety-seeking behavior in their choices over time, meaning that a time-invariant preference function is not reasonable (Kemperman, 2000). Variety seeking behavior in tourists may be influenced by a variety of factors such as availability of choice alternatives or changes in their characteristics, differences in decision-making contexts, different choice motivations, different travel party group composition or travel companions, and in general a basic desire for novelty (Kemperman, Borgers, Oppewal and Timmermans, 2000). Specifically, a discrete choice model of theme park behavior including seasonal and variety-seeking effects is proposed and estimated and the external validity of the model is assessed leading to accept the hypothesis that tourists differ in their preferences for theme parks by season and show variety-seeking behavior over time (Kemperman, Borgers & Timmermans, 2002b).

In general, tourist choices, certainly compared to for example commuter choices, are made less frequently, represent high-involvement decisions, often include multiple choice facets, the decision process may take longer, and they might be based on well-established long-term agendas (Grigolon, 2013).  A portfolio choice experiment concerning the combined choice of destination type, transport mode, duration, accommodation, and travel party for vacations is developed (Grigolon, Kemperman & Timmermans, 2012b). Specifically, the influence of low-fare airlines on the portfolio of vacation travel decisions of students is investigated. The findings confirm earlier studies that conclude that travel-related decisions for tourists, in general, are multi-faceted and not only related to the destination itself (e.g., Dellaert, Ettema, & Lindh, 1998; Jeng & Fesenmaier, 1997; Woodside & MacDonald, 1994).

In another study, based on revealed data about vacation history in terms of the long holidays of a sample of students, interdependencies in the vacation portfolios and their covariates are explored using association rules (Grigolon, Kemperman & Timmermans, 2012a). The portfolios include joint combinations of destination, transport mode, accommodation type, duration of the trip, length of stay, travel party, and season. Results show and confirm dependencies between vacation portfolio choice facets and their covariates. These insights provide a better understanding of tourist choice behavior and the context in which choices are made and can support policy and planning decision-making.

Tourist activity choices

When tourists are at a destination or in a city there is the timing and sequencing of tourists’ activity choices. Over-usage and congestion of specific attractions or facilities are difficult to avoid and may cause severe problems for a destination or city. For destination planning and management, it is important to understand how tourists behave in time and space, how the demand for various activities and attractions fluctuate over time, and how they can be accommodated and directed.

One of my first studies on this topic (Kemperman, Borgers & Timmermans, 2002a) introduces a semi-parametric hazard-based duration model to predict the timing and sequence of theme park visitors’ activity choice behavior that is estimated based on observations of tourist activity choices in various hypothetical theme parks. The activities include a description of the activity/attraction as well as their waiting time, activity duration, and location. The main findings support the prediction of how the demand for various activities is changing during the day and how the visitors are distributed over the activities in the park during the day. This information is relevant for visitor use planning to optimize the theme park experience.

In another study on visitors’ activities undertaken while tourists are at a destination, we focus on interrelated choices of tourists, multi-dimensional activity patterns as opposed to particular isolated facets of such patterns (Kemperman, Joh, & Timmermans, 2004). Moreover, in this study, it is tested whether activity patterns of first-time visitors tend to differentiate from the activity patterns of repeat visitors, mediated by their use of information. Differences between the two groups are assumed to be reduced when first-time visitors use information about the available activities and the spatial layout of the theme park. Specifically, the sequence alignment method is applied to capture the sequence of conducted activities. We conclude that the activity patterns of the two groups do differ, first-time visitors follow a very strict route in the park as indicated by the theme park, while repeat visitors have a more diverse order in their activity pattern. However, the difference between the two groups is reduced when first-time visitors use information about the available activities and the spatial layout of the park.

In an aim to measure and predict tourists’ preferences for combinations of activities to participate in during a city trip, a personalized stated choice experiment is developed and binary mixed logit models are estimated on the choice data collected (Aksenov, Kemperman & Arentze, 2014). An advantage of this approach is that it allows estimation of covariances between city trip activities indicating whether they would act as complements or substitutes for a specific tourist in his/her city trip activity program. The model provides information on combinations of activities and themes that tourists prefer during their city trip and that can be used to further fine-tune the recommendations of city trip programs and optimize the tourist experience.

As shopping is one of the most important activities for tourists, we also investigate shopping route choice behavior in a downtown historic center, including the motivation for the shopping trip, familiarity with the destination, and whether the shopping route through the downtown area is planned or not before the visit (Kemperman, Borgers, & Timmermans, 2009).  A model of tourist shopping behavior is proposed and estimated to investigate differences in route choice behavior of various types of tourist shoppers. The results indicate that shopping supply and accessibility, some physical characteristics, and the history of the route followed are important factors influencing route choice behavior. Furthermore, it can be concluded that shopping motivations, familiarity with the area, and planning of the route affect tourist route choice behavior. The model allows investigating the effects of environmental characteristics on route choice behavior and assessing various future planning scenarios, such as changes in physical aspects in the downtown area, or changes in the supply of shops to optimize visitors’ shopping trips.

Social and physical environment and tourist choice behavior

The social environment including the social relationships and cultural milieus within which tourists interact and make their choices is intertwined with the physical, natural, and built environment in which tourists travel and their activities take place.

First, a study in which we explore children’s choices to participate in recreational activities and the extent to which their choices are influenced by individual and household socio-demographics, and characteristics of the social and physical environment (Kemperman & Timmermans, 2011). Travel and activity diaries of a large sample of children aged 4-11 years old in the Netherlands are used to collect data on out-of-home recreational activity choices and this data is merged with measures describing the social and physical living environment.  A Bayesian belief network modeling approach is used to simultaneously estimate and predict all direct and indirect relationships between the variables.  Results indicate that recreational activity choices are, among others, directly related to the socio-economic status of the household, the perceived safety of the neighborhood, and the land use in the neighborhood. Planners and designers are recommended to find a good land use mix, and specifically, make sure that they focus their attention on safety issues to stimulate children’s recreational activity choices.

In a more recent study, we investigate with a stated choice experiment how different presentations of cause-related corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives affect holiday accommodation choices, with a specific focus on the relative importance of tourist involvement, the message-framing, and the donation proximity (Randle, Kemperman, & Dolnicar, 2019). In a tourism context, we see that an increasing number of organizations implement so-called social corporate responsibility (CSR) initiatives, meaning they give some of their benefits back to the local community, society and, or the environment and it is of interest to see whether tourists take these initiatives into account when making their choices and how messages are valued. We found that different market segments are affected differently by these SCR initiatives when choosing their holiday accommodation.  Specifically, there is one CSR-sensitive segment that cares about nature and the natural landscape, experiencing nature intensely, and efforts to maintain unspoiled surroundings and scores higher on community involvement than other segments. In general, it is found that negative message framing is the most promising option in terms of positively influencing tourist choices. It is concluded that although CSR initiatives do not appear to have a consistently positive effect on all tourist accommodation choice behavior, neither do they negatively affect demand. Specifically, it is advised to tailor CSR messages such that they are most effective in influencing the SCR-sensitive tourist segment.

Tourism can have an enormous environmental impact, and specifically, air travel negatively contributes to global carbon emissions. A voluntary carbon offset program supports airlines to take proactive measures to reduce the environmental impact. We have tested, using a stated choice experiment, the effectiveness of different communication messages to increase voluntary purchasing of carbon offsets by air passengers (Ritchie, Kemperman, & Dolnicar, 2021). Results indicate that tourists who book their flights prefer carbon offset schemes that fund local programs over international ones, that are effective in mitigating emissions, and are accredited. The willingness to pay for carbon offsets when booking for a group is lower than when booking an individual flight for oneself. Moreover, the tourist market can be divided into different segments with their characteristics, including age, employment status, frequent flyer membership, and flight behavior. Therefore, it is important to target the segments for aviation carbon offsetting by matching certain types of attributes and present an optimal program to each of the segments.

Integration of the digital environment in tourist choice behavior

Nowadays digital technologies can support tourists in making their choices, planning their trips, and optimizing their experiences (e.g., Buhalis, 1998; Gretzel, Mitsche, Hwang & Fesenmaier, 2004; Kemperman, Arentze, & Aksenov, 2019; Rodriguez, Molina, Perez & Caballero, 2012; Steen Jacobsen & Munar, 2012). We introduce this concept of ‘smart routing’ in the development of a recommender system for tourists that takes into account the dynamics of their personal user profiles (Aksenov, Kemperman, & Arentze, 2016). This smart routing concept relies on three levels of support for the tourist: 1) programming the tour (selecting a set of relevant activities and points of interests to be included in the tour, 2) scheduling the tour (arranging the selected activities and point of interests into a sequence based on the cultural, recreational and situational value of each) and 3) determining the tour’s travel route (generating a set of trips between the activities and point of interests that the tourist needs to perform to complete the tour). This approach aims to enhance the experience of tourists by arranging the activities and points of interest together in a way that creates a storyline that the tourist will be interested to follow and by reflecting on the tourists’ dynamic preferences.

For the latter, an understanding of the influence of a tourist’s affective state and dynamic needs on the preferred activities is required (Arentze, Kemperman, & Aksenov, 2018). Finally, the activities and points of interest are connected by a chain of multimodal trips that the tourist can follow, also in relation to their preferences and dynamic needs. Therefore, each tour can be personalized in a ‘smart’ way optimizing the overall experience of the trip. In the study, the building blocks of this concept are discussed in detail and the data involved, and finally, a prototype of the recommender system is developed.

C onclusion and future research

This chapter gives an overview of research that I have worked on over the years in collaboration with other researchers to develop a deeper understanding of tourists’ choice behavior and to generate insights and provide support for policy, planning, and managerial decision making in finding answers to the challenges the tourism industry and environment are facing. Specifically, examples of research are presented that tested in different ways facets of tourists’ needs, preferences, and spatial activity patterns within the context of a changing digital, social and physical environment.

Based on this overview some avenues for future research, in line with the presented framework in Figure 1, can be given. First, the studies presented show how tourist choices are influenced by their social and physical environment and that in understanding these choices it is important to take these aspects into account. Specifically, the social environment or social influence by family members, peers, or colleagues might also be an important additional explanatory facet in explaining tourist choices, for example in understanding and promoting the choice for sustainable tourist behavior. Research has also indicated that role of social media, online reviews, and social influencers have become increasingly important in the choices tourists make, and including the influence of someone’s social network, colleagues, peers, and family members in predicting tourist choice behavior is an interesting research opportunity (Kemperman, 2021).

The digital and technological developments support and improve other ways of data collection, for example by using virtual reality, simulators, or eye-tracking (e.g., Cherchi and Hensher, 2015; Kemperman, 2021).  Tourists are often unfamiliar with a specific destination or tourist service, and therefore presenting them with more visual, virtual reality or interactive choice options might be of interest to better measure their preferences and choice behavior. Moreover, virtual or augmented reality environments also allow testing the effects of interventions on tourist preferences and behavior before they are actually implemented. This is an advantage, specifically when high investments are involved.

Moreover, technological innovations support the collection of more and more types of so-called big data and this data can be very useful in tourism research (Li, Xu, Tang, Wang, & Li, 2018). Big data sources for tourism research come in a variety of forms, such as user-generated data (e.g.,  tweets, online photos), device data (e.g., GPS data, mobile phone data), and transaction data (e.g., online booking data, customer cards). These types of smart big data sources might be used to understand how inner-city visitors’ activity choices emerge and evolve in space and time to provide city managers and planners with important information for future management and planning such as visitor flows and clusters, and interesting locations (e.g., Beritelli, Reinhold & Laesser, 2020).

Finally, to conclude, there is a challenge for more research and evidence to further expand knowledge on tourist choice behavior and support optimizing tourists’ experiences and quality of life.

Written by Astrid Kemperman, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

Aksenov, P., Kemperman, A.D.A.M., & Arentze, T.A. (2014). Toward personalized and dynamic cultural routing: A three-level approach. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 22 , 257-269.

Aksenov, P., Kemperman, A., & Arentze, T. (2016). A Personalised Recommender System for Tourists on City Trips: Concepts and Implementation. In De Pietro, G., Gallo, L., Howlett, R.J., Jain, L.C. (eds): Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services 2016 , Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 525-535.

Arentze, T., Kemperman, A. & Aksenov, P. (2018). Estimating a latent-class user model for travel recommender systems. Information Technology & Tourism, 19( 1-4), 61-82.

Beritelli, P., Reinhold, S., & Laesser, C. (2020). Visitor flows, trajectories and corridors: Planning and designing places from the traveler’s point of view. Annals of Tourism Research, 82, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.102936.

Buhalis, D. (1998). Strategic use of information technologies in the tourism industry. Tourism Management, 19 (5), 409-421.

Cherchi, E., & Hensher, D. A. (2015).Workshop synthesis: Stated preference surveys and experimental design, an audit of the journey so far, and future research perspectives. Transportation Research Procedia, 11 , 154–164.

Dellaert, B. G. C., Ettema, S. D. F., & Lindh, C. (1998). Multi-faceted tourist travel decisions: A constraint-based conceptual framework to describe tourists’ sequential choices of travel components. Tourism Management, 19, 313–320.

Gretzel, U. & Koo, C. (2021). Smart tourism cities: a duality of place where technology supports the convergence of touristic and residential experiences. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 26 (4), 352-364.

Gretzel, U., Mitsche, N., Hwang, Y.H., & Fesenmaier D.R. (2004). Tell me who you are and I will tell you where to go: Use of travel personalities in destination recommendation systems. Information Technology & Tourism, 7 , 3–12.

Grigolon A.B., Kemperman A.D.A.M., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2012a). Exploring interdependencies in students’ vacation portfolios using association rules. European Journal of Tourism Research, 5( 2), 93-105.

Grigolon A.B., Kemperman A.D.A.M., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2012b). The influence of low-fare airlines on vacation choices of students: Results of a stated portfolio choice experiment. Tourism Management, 33 , 1174-1184.

Grigolon A.B., Kemperman A.D.A.M., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2012c). Student’s vacation travel: A reference dependent model of airline fares preferences. Journal of Air Transport Management, 18 (1), 38-42.

Grigolon, A. (2013). Modeling Recreation Choices over the Family Lifecycle. Ph.D Thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven.

Jeng, J.M. & Fesenmaier, D.R. (1998), Destination Compatibility in Multidestination Pleasure Travel. Tourism Analysis, 3 , 77-87.

Kemperman A.D.A.M., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2011). Children’s recreational physical activity. Leisure Sciences, 33 (3), 183-204.

Kemperman A.D.A.M., Borgers A.W.J., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2002a). A semi-parametric hazard model of activity timing and sequencing decisions during visits to theme parks using experimental design data. Tourism Analysis, 7, 1-13.

Kemperman A.D.A.M., Borgers A.W.J., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2002b). Incorporating Variety-Seeking and Seasonality in Stated Preference Modeling of Leisure Trip Destination Choice: A Test of External Validity. Transportation Research Record, 1807 , 67-76.

Kemperman A.D.A.M., Borgers A.W.J., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2009). Tourist shopping behavior in a historic downtown area. Tourism Management, 30 (2), 208-218.

Kemperman A.D.A.M., Borgers A.W.J., Oppewal H. & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2003). Predicting the duration of theme park visitors’ activities: An ordered logit model using conjoint choice data. Journal of Travel Research, 41 (4), 375-384.

Kemperman A.D.A.M., Borgers A.W.J., Oppewal H., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2000). Consumer Choice of Theme Parks: A Conjoint Choice Model of Seasonality Effects and Variety Seeking Behavior . Leisure Sciences, 22 , 1-18.

Kemperman A.D.A.M., Joh C.H., & Timmermans, H.J.P. (2004). Comparing first-time and repeat visitors activity patterns. Tourism Analysis, 8 (2-4), 159-164.

Kemperman, A. (2000). Temporal aspects of theme park choice behavior. Modeling variety seeking, seasonality and diversification to support theme park planning, Ph.D Thesis, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven.

Kemperman, A. (2021). A review of research into discrete choice experiments in tourism – Launching the Annals of Tourism Research curated collection on discrete choice experiments in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 87, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2020.103137.

Kemperman, A., Arentze, T., & Aksenov, P. (2019). Tourists’ City Trip Activity Program Planning: A Personalized Stated Choice Experiment. In Artal-Tur, A., Kozak, N., Kozak, M. (eds): Trends in Tourist Behavior: New Products and Experiences in Europe , Springer, Springer Nature Switzerland

Li, J., Xu, L., Tang, L., Wang, S., & Li, L. (2018). Big data in tourism research: A literature review. Tourism Management, 68 , 301-323.

Randle, M., Kemperman, A., & Dolnicar S. (2019). Making cause-related corporate social responsibility (CSR) count in holiday accommodation choice. Tourism Management, 75 , 66-77.

Ritchie, B.W., Kemperman, A., & Dolnicar, S. (2021). Which types of product attributes lead to aviation voluntary carbon offsetting among air passengers? Tourism Management, 85, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104276 .

Rodríguez, B., Molina,J., Pérez, F., & Caballero, R. (2012). Interactive design of personalised tourism routes. Tourism Management, 33 (4), 926-940.

Steen Jacobsen, J.K., & Munar, A.M. (2012). Tourist information search and destination choice in a digital age. Tourism Management Perspectives, 1 (1), 39-47.

UNWTO (2021). COVID-19 response. Retrieved from https://www.unwto.org/tourism-covid-19

Woodside, A.G. & MacDonald, R. (1994), General System Framework of Customer Choice Processes of Tourism Services, in R. Gasser and K. Weiermair (eds.), Spoilt for Choice, Kultur Verlag, Austria.

Women’s voices in tourism research Copyright © 2021 by The University of Queensland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

UN standards for measuring tourism

Share this content.

• Share this article on facebook
• Share this article on twitter
• Share this article on linkedin

Glossary of tourism terms

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Activity/activities : In tourism statistics, the term activities represent the actions and behaviors of people in preparation for and during a trip in their capacity as consumers ( IRTS 2008, 1.2 ).

Activity (principal): The principal activity of a producer unit is the activity whose value added exceeds that of any other activity carried out within the same unit ( SNA 2008, 5.8 ).

Activity (productive): The (productive) activity carried out by a statistical unit is the type of production in which it engages. It has to be understood as a process, i.e. the combination of actions that result in a certain set of products. The classification of productive activities is determined by their principal output.

Administrative data : Administrative data is the set of units and data derived from an administrative source. This is a data holding information collected and maintained for the purpose of implementing one or more administrative regulations.

Adventure tourism : Adventure tourism is a type of tourism which usually takes place in destinations with specific geographic features and landscape and tends to be associated with a physical activity, cultural exchange, interaction and engagement with nature. This experience may involve some kind of real or perceived risk and may require significant physical and/or mental effort. Adventure tourism generally includes outdoor activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, rock climbing, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, canyoning, mountain biking, bush walking, scuba diving. Likewise, some indoor adventure tourism activities may also be practiced.

Aggregated data : The result of transforming unit level data into quantitative measures for a set of characteristics of a population.

Aggregation : A process that transforms microdata into aggregate-level information by using an aggregation function such as count, sum average, standard deviation, etc.

Analytical unit : Entity created by statisticians, by splitting or combining observation units with the help of estimations and imputations.

Balance of payments : The balance of payments is a statistical statement that summarizes transactions between residents and non-residents during a period. It consists of the goods and services account, the primary income account, the secondary income account, the capital account, and the financial account ( BPM6, 2.12 ).

Bias : An effect which deprives a statistical result of representativeness by systematically distorting it, as distinct from a random error which may distort on any one occasion but balances out on the average.

Business and professional purpose (of a tourism trip): The business and professional purpose of a tourism trip includes the activities of the self-employed and employees, as long as they do not correspond to an implicit or explicit employer-employee relationship with a resident producer in the country or place visited, those of investors, businessmen, etc. ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Business tourism : Business tourism is a type of tourism activity in which visitors travel for a specific professional and/or business purpose to a place outside their workplace and residence with the aim of attending a meeting, an activity or an event. The key components of business tourism are meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. The term "meetings industry" within the context of business tourism recognizes the industrial nature of such activities. Business tourism can be combined with any other tourism type during the same trip.

Business visitor : A business visitor is a visitor whose main purpose for a tourism trip corresponds to the business and professional category of purpose ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Central Product Classification : The Central Product Classification (CPC) constitutes a complete product classification covering goods and services. It is intended to serve as an international standard for assembling and tabulating all kinds of data requiring product detail, including industrial production, national accounts, service industries, domestic and foreign commodity trade, international trade in services, balance of payments, consumption and price statistics. Other basic aims are to provide a framework for international comparison and promote harmonization of various types of statistics dealing with goods and services.

Census : A census is the complete enumeration of a population or groups at a point in time with respect to well defined characteristics: for example, Population, Production, Traffic on particular roads.

Coastal, maritime and inland water tourism : Coastal tourism refers to land-based tourism activities such as swimming, surfing, sunbathing and other coastal leisure, recreation and sports activities which take place on the shore of a sea, lake or river. Proximity to the coast is also a condition for services and facilities that support coastal tourism. Maritime tourism refers to sea-based activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports and includes their respective land-based services and infrastructure. Inland water tourism refers to tourism activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports which take place in aquatic- influenced environments located within land boundaries and include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, groundwater, springs, cave waters and others traditionally grouped as inland wetlands.

Coherence : Adequacy of statistics to be combined in different ways and for various uses.

Competitiveness of a tourism destination : The competitiveness of a tourism destination is the ability of the destination to use its natural, cultural, human, man-made and capital resources efficiently to develop and deliver quality, innovative, ethical and attractive tourism products and services in order to achieve a sustainable growth within its overall vision and strategic goals, increase the added value of the tourism sector, improve and diversify its market components and optimize its attractiveness and benefits both for visitors and the local community in a sustainable perspective.

Consistency : Logical and numerical coherence.

Country of reference : The country of reference refers to the country for which the measurement is done. ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Country of residence : The country of residence of a household is determined according to the centre of predominant economic interest of its members. If a person resides (or intends to reside) for more than one year in a given country and has there his/her centre of economic interest (for example, where the predominant amount of time is spent), he/she is considered as a resident of this country.

Country-specific tourism characteristic products and activities : To be determined by each country by applying the criteria of IRTS 2008, 5.10 in their own context; for these products, the activities producing them will be considered as tourism characteristic, and the industries in which the principal activity is tourism-characteristic will be called tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 5.16 ).

Cultural tourism : Cultural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions.

Data checking : Activity whereby the correctness conditions of the data are verified. It also includes the specification of the type of error or of the condition not met, and the qualification of the data and their division into "error-free data" and "erroneous data".

Data collection : Systematic process of gathering data for official statistics.

Data compilation : Operations performed on data to derive new information according to a given set of rules.

Data confrontation : The process of comparing data that has generally been derived from different surveys or other sources, especially those of different frequencies, in order to assess and possibly improve their coherency, and identify the reasons for any differences.

Data processing : Data processing is the operation performed on data by the organization, institute, agency, etc., responsible for undertaking the collection, tabulation, manipulation and preparation of data and metadata output.

Data reconciliation : The process of adjusting data derived from two different sources to remove, or at least reduce, the impact of differences identified.

Destination (main destination of a trip): The main destination of a tourism trip is defined as the place visited that is central to the decision to take the trip. See also purpose of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.31 ).

Destination management / marketing organization (DMO) : A destination management/marketing organization (DMO) is the leading organizational entity which may encompass the various authorities, stakeholders and professionals and facilitates tourism sector partnerships towards a collective destination vision. The governance structures of DMOs vary from a single public authority to a public/ private partnership model with the key role of initiating, coordinating and managing certain activities such as implementation of tourism policies, strategic planning, product development, promotion and marketing and convention bureau activities. The functions of the DMOs may vary from national to regional and local levels depending on the current and potential needs as well as on the decentralization level of public administration. Not every tourism destination has a DMO.

Documentation: Processes and procedures for imputation,  weighting,  confidentiality  and suppression rules, outlier treatment and data capture should be fully documented by the  survey provider.  Such documentation should be made available to at least  the body financing the survey.

Domestic tourism : Domestic tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor within the country of reference, either as part of a domestic tourism trip or part of an outbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Domestic tourism consumption : Domestic tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Domestic tourism expenditure : Domestic tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor within the economy of reference, (IRTS 2008, 4.15(a)).

Domestic tourism trip : A domestic tourism trip is one with a main destination within the country of residence of the visitor (IRTS 2008, 2.32).

Domestic visitor : As a visitor travels within his/her country of residence, he/she is a domestic visitor and his/her activities are part of domestic tourism.

Durable consumer goods : Durable consumer goods are goods that may be used repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more, assuming a normal or average rate of physical usage. When acquired by producers, these are considered to be capital goods used for production processes, as is the case of vehicles, computers, etc. When acquired by households, they are considered to be consumer durable goods ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.39 ). This definition is identical to the definition of SNA 2008, 9.42 : A consumer durable is a goodthat may be used for purposes of consumption repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more.

Dwellings : Each household has a principal dwelling (sometimes also designated as main or primary home), usually defined with reference to time spent there, whose location defines the country of residence and place of usual residence of this household and of all its members. All other dwellings (owned or leased by the household) are considered secondary dwellings ( IRTS 2008, 2.26 ).

Ecotourism : Ecotourism is a type of nature-based tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to observe, learn, discover, experience and appreciate biological and cultural diversity with a responsible attitude to protect the integrity of the ecosystem and enhance the well-being of the local community. Ecotourism increases awareness towards the conservation of biodiversity, natural environment and cultural assets both among locals and the visitors and requires special management processes to minimize the negative impact on the ecosystem.

Economic analysis : Tourism generates directly and indirectly an increase in economic activity in the places visited (and beyond), mainly due to demand for goods and services thatneed to be produced and provided. In the economic analysis of tourism, one may distinguish between tourism's 'economic contribution' which refers to the direct effect of tourism and is measurable by means of the TSA, and tourism's 'economic impact' which is a much broader concept encapsulating the direct, indirect and induced effects of tourism and which must be estimated by applying models. Economic impact studies aim to quantify economic benefits, that is, the net increase in the wealth of residents resulting from tourism, measured in monetary terms, over and above the levels that would prevail in its absence.

Economic territory : The term "economic territory" is a geographical reference and points to the country for which the measurement is done (country of reference) ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Economically active population : The economically active population or labour force comprises all persons of either sex who furnish the supply of labour for the production of goods and services as defined by the system of national accounts during a specified time-reference period (ILO, Thirteenth ICLS, 6.18).

Economy (of reference): "Economy" (or "economy of reference") is an economic reference defined in the same way as in the balance of payments and in the system of national accounts: it refers to the economic agents that are resident in the country of reference ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Education tourism : Education tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation the tourist's engagement and experience in learning, self-improvement, intellectual growth and skills development. Education Tourism represents a broad range of products and services related to academic studies, skill enhancement holidays, school trips, sports training, career development courses and language courses, among others.

Employees : Employees are all those workers who hold the type of job defined as "paid employment" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employer-employee relationship : An employer-employee relationship exists when there is an agreement, which may be formal or informal, between an entity and an individual, normally entered into voluntarily by both parties, whereby the individual works for the entity in return for remuneration in cash or in kind ( BPM6, 11.11 ).

Employers : Employers are those workers who, working on their own account with one or more partners, hold the type of job defined as a "self-employment job" and, in this capacity, on a continuous basis (including the reference period) have engaged one or more persons to work for them in their business as "employee(s)" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employment : Persons in employment are all persons above a specified age who, during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in paid employment or self-employment (OECD GST, p. 170).

Employment in tourism industries : Employment in tourism industries may be measured as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in any of their jobs, as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in their main job, or as a count of the jobs in tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 7.9 ).

Enterprise : An enterprise is an institutional unit engaged in production of goods and/or services. It may be a corporation, a non-profit institution, or an unincorporated enterprise. Corporate enterprises and non-profit institutions are complete institutional units. An unincorporated enterprise, however, refers to an institutional unit —a household or government unit —only in its capacity as a producer of goods and services (OECD BD4, p. 232)

Establishment : An establishment is an enterprise, or part of an enterprise, that is situated in a single location and in which only a single productive activity is carried out or in which the principal productive activity accounts for most of the value added ( SNA 2008, 5.14 ).

Estimation : Estimation is concerned with inference about the numerical value of unknown population values from incomplete data such as a sample. If a single figure is calculated for each unknown parameter the process is called "point estimation". If an interval is calculated within which the parameter is likely, in some sense, to lie, the process is called "interval estimation".

Exports of goods and services : Exports of goods and services consist of sales, barter, or gifts or grants, of goods and services from residents to non-residents (OECD GST, p. 194)

Frame : A list, map or other specification of the units which define a population to be completely enumerated or sampled.

Forms of tourism : There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism. These can be combined in various ways to derive the following additional forms of tourism: internal tourism, national tourism and international tourism.

Gastronomy tourism :  Gastronomy tourism is a type of tourism activity which is characterized by the visitor's experience linked with food and related products and activities while travelling. Along with authentic, traditional, and/or innovative culinary experiences, Gastronomy Tourism may also involve other related activities such as visiting the local producers, participating in food festivals and attending cooking classes. Eno-tourism (wine tourism), as a sub-type of gastronomy tourism, refers to tourism whose purpose is visiting vineyards, wineries, tasting, consuming and/or purchasing wine, often at or near the source.

Goods : Goods are physical, produced objects for which a demand exists, over which ownership rights can be established and whose ownership can be transferred from one institutional unit to another by engaging in transactions on markets ( SNA 2008, p. 623 ).

Gross fixed capital formation : Gross fixed capital formation is defined as the value of institutional units' acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets. Fixed assets are produced assets (such as machinery, equipment, buildings or other structures) that are used repeatedly or continuously in production over several accounting periods (more than one year) ( SNA 2008, 1.52 ).

Gross margin : The gross margin of a provider of reservation services is the difference between the value at which the intermediated service is sold and the value accrued to the provider of reservation services for this intermediated service.

Gross value added : Gross value added is the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 3.32 ).

Gross value added of tourism industries : Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI) is the total gross value added of all establishments belonging to tourism industries, regardless of whether all their output is provided to visitors and the degree of specialization of their production process ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.86 ).

Grossing up : Activity aimed at transforming, based on statistical methodology, micro-data from samples into aggregate-level information representative of the target population.

Health tourism : Health tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation, the contribution to physical, mental and/or spiritual health through medical and wellness-based activities which increase the capacity of individuals to satisfy their own needs and function better as individuals in their environment and society. Health tourism is the umbrella term for the subtypes wellness tourism and medical tourism.

Imputation : Procedure for entering a value for a specific data item where the response is missing or unusable.

Inbound tourism : Inbound tourism comprises the activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference on an inbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Inbound tourism consumption : Inbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Inbound tourism expenditure : Inbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(b) ).

Innovation in tourism : Innovation in tourism is the introduction of a new or improved component which intends to bring tangible and intangible benefits to tourism stakeholders and the local community, improve the value of the tourism experience and the core competencies of the tourism sector and hence enhance tourism competitiveness and /or sustainability. Innovation in tourism may cover potential areas, such as tourism destinations, tourism products, technology, processes, organizations and business models, skills, architecture, services, tools and/or practices for management, marketing, communication, operation, quality assurance and pricing.

Institutional sector : An aggregation of institutional units on the basis of the type of producer and depending on their principal activity and function, which are considered to be indicative of their economic behaviour.

Institutional unit : The elementary economic decision-making centre characterised by uniformity of behaviour and decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function.

Intermediate consumption : Intermediate consumption consists of the value of the goods and services consumed as inputs by a process of production, excluding fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as consumption of fixed capital ( SNA 2008, 6.213 ).

Internal tourism : Internal tourism comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident and non-resident visitors within the country of reference as part of domestic or international tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(a) ).

Internal tourism consumption : Internal tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of both resident and non-resident visitors within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and inbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Internal tourism expenditure : Internal tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of visitors, both resident and non-resident, within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and inbound tourism expenditure. It includes acquisition of goods and services imported into the country of reference and sold to visitors. This indicator provides the most comprehensive measurement of tourism expenditure in the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(a) ).

International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities : The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) consists of a coherent and consistent classification structure of economic activities based on a set of internationally agreed concepts, definitions, principles and classification rules. It provides a comprehensive framework within which economic data can be collected and reported in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking. The classification structure represents a standard format to organize detailed information about the state of an economy according to economic principles and perceptions (ISIC, Rev.4, 1).

International tourism : International tourism comprises inbound tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips and the activities of non-resident visitors within the country of reference on inbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(c) ).

International visitor : An international traveller qualifies as an international visitor with respect to the country of reference if: (a) he/she is on a tourism trip and (b) he/she is a non-resident travelling in the country of reference or a resident travelling outside of it ( IRTS 2008, 2.42 ).

Job : The agreement between an employee and the employer defines a job and each self-employed person has a job ( SNA 2008, 19.30 ).

Measurement error : Error in reading, calculating or recording numerical value.

Medical tourism : Medical tourism is a type of tourism activity which involves the use of evidence-based medical healing resources and services (both invasive and non-invasive). This may include diagnosis, treatment, cure, prevention and rehabilitation.

Meetings industry : To highlight purposes relevant to the meetings industry, if a trip's main purpose is business/professional, it can be further subdivided into "attending meetings, conferences or congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions" and "other business and professional purposes". The term meetings industry is preferred by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and Reed Travel over the acronym MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) which does not recognize the industrial nature of such activities.

Metadata : Data that defines and describes other data and processes.

MICE : See meetings industry.

Microdata : Non-aggregated observations, or measurements of characteristics of individual units.

Mirror statistics : Mirror statistics are used to conduct bilateral comparisons of two basic measures of a trade flow and are a traditional tool for detecting the causes of asymmetries in statistics (OECD GST, p. 335).

Mountain tourism : Mountain tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in a defined and limited geographical space such as hills or mountains with distinctive characteristics and attributes that are inherent to a specific landscape, topography, climate, biodiversity (flora and fauna) and local community. It encompasses a broad range of outdoor leisure and sports activities.

National tourism : National tourism comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors within and outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(b) ).

National tourism consumption : National tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of resident visitors, within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and outbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

National tourism expenditure : National tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of resident visitors within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and outbound tourism expenditure ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(b) ).

Nationality : The concept of "country of residence" of a traveller is different from that of his/her nationality or citizenship ( IRTS 2008, 2.19 ).

Non-monetary indicators : Data measured in physical or other non-monetary units should not be considered a secondary part of a satellite account. They are essential components, both for the information they provide directly and in order to analyse the monetary data adequately ( SNA 2008, 29.84 ).

Observation unit : entity on which information is received and statistics are compiled.

Outbound tourism : Outbound tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor outside the country of reference, either as part of an outbound tourism trip or as part of a domestic tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39(c) ).

Outbound tourism consumption : Outbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Outbound tourism expenditure : Outbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(c) ).

Output : Output is defined as the goods and services produced by an establishment, a) excluding the value of any goods and services used in an activity for which the establishment does not assume the risk of using the products in production, and b) excluding the value of goods and services consumed by the same establishment except for goods and services used for capital formation (fixed capital or changes in inventories) or own final consumption ( SNA 2008, 6.89 ).

Output (main): The main output of a (productive) activity should be determined by reference to the value added of the goods sold or services rendered (ISIC rev.4, 114).

Pilot survey : The aim of a pilot survey is to test the questionnaire (pertinence of the questions, understanding of questions by those being interviewed, duration of the interview) and to check various potential sources for sampling and non-sampling errors: for instance, the place in which the surveys are carried out and the method used, the identification of any omitted answers and the reason for the omission, problems of communicating in various languages, translation, the mechanics of data collection, the organization of field work, etc.

Place of usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides, and is defined by the location of his/her principal dwelling (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.20 to 2.24).

Probability sample : A sample selected by a method based on the theory of probability (random process), that is, by a method involving knowledge of the likelihood of any unit being selected.

Production account : The production account records the activity of producing goods and services as defined within the SNA. Its balancing item, gross value added, is defined as the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption and is a measure of the contribution to GDP made by an individual producer, industry or sector. Gross value added is the source from which the primary incomes of the SNA are generated and is therefore carried forward into the primary distribution of income account. Value added and GDP may also be measured net by deducting consumption of fixed capital, a figure representing the decline in value during the period of the fixed capital used in a production process ( SNA 2008, 1.17 ).

Production : Economic production may be defined as an activity carried out under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit that uses inputs of labour, capital, and goods and services to produce outputs of goods or services ( SNA 2008, 6.24. ).

Purpose of a tourism trip (main): The main purpose of a tourism trip is defined as the purpose in the absence of which the trip would not have taken place ( IRTS 2008, 3.10. ). Classification of tourism trips according to the main purpose refers to nine categories: this typology allows the identification of different subsets of visitors (business visitors, transit visitors, etc.) See also destination of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 3.14 ).

Quality of a tourism destination : Quality of a tourism destination is the result of a process which implies the satisfaction of all tourism product and service needs, requirements and expectations of the consumer at an acceptable price, in conformity with mutually accepted contractual conditions and the implicit underlying factors such as safety and security, hygiene, accessibility, communication, infrastructure and public amenities and services. It also involves aspects of ethics, transparency and respect towards the human, natural and cultural environment. Quality, as one of the key drivers of tourism competitiveness, is also a professional tool for organizational, operational and perception purposes for tourism suppliers.

Questionnaire and Questionnaire design : Questionnaire is a group or sequence of questions designed to elicit information on a subject, or sequence of subjects, from a reporting unit or from another producer of official statistics. Questionnaire design is the design (text, order, and conditions for skipping) of the questions used to obtain the data needed for the survey.

Reference period : The period of time or point in time to which the measured observation is intended to refer.

Relevance : The degree to which statistics meet current and potential users' needs.

Reliability : Closeness of the initial estimated value to the subsequent estimated value.

Reporting unit : Unit that supplies the data for a given survey instance, like a questionnaire or interview. Reporting units may, or may not, be the same as the observation unit.

Residents/non-residents : The residents of a country are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located in its economic territory. For a country, the non-residents are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located outside its economic territory.

Response and non-response : Response and non-response to various elements of a survey entail potential errors.

Response error : Response errors may be defined as those arising from the interviewing process. Such errors may be due to a number of circumstances, such as inadequate concepts or questions; inadequate training; interviewer failures; respondent failures.

Rural tourism : Rural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's experience is related to a wide range of products generally linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle / culture, angling and sightseeing. Rural tourism activities take place in non-urban (rural) areas with the following characteristics:

• Low population density;
• Landscape and land-use dominated by agriculture and forestry; and
• Traditional social structure and lifestyle

Same-day visitor (or excursionist): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Sample : A subset of a frame where elements are selected based on a process with a known probability of selection.

Sample survey : A survey which is carried out using a sampling method.

Sampling error : That part of the difference between a population value and an estimate thereof, derived from a random sample, which is due to the fact that only a subset of the population is enumerated.

Satellite accounts : There are two types of satellite accounts, serving two different functions. The first type, sometimes called an internal satellite, takes the full set of accounting rules and conventions of the SNA but focuses on a particular aspect of interest by moving away from the standard classifications and hierarchies. Examples are tourism, coffee production and environmental protection expenditure. The second type, called an external satellite, may add non-economic data or vary some of the accounting conventions or both. It is a particularly suitable way to explore new areas in a research context. An example may be the role of volunteer labour in the economy ( SNA 2008, 29.85 ).

SDMX, Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange : Set of technical standards and content-oriented guidelines, together with an IT architecture and tools, to be used for the efficient exchange and sharing of statistical data and metadata (SDMX).

Seasonal adjustment : Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique to remove the effects of seasonal calendar influences on a series. Seasonal effects usually reflect the influence of the seasons themselves, either directly or through production series related to them, or social conventions. Other types of calendar variation occur as a result of influences such as number of days in the calendar period, the accounting or recording practices adopted or the incidence of moving holidays.

Self-employment job : Self-employment jobs are those jobs where remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits (or the potential of profits) derived from the goods or services produced.

Self-employed with paid employees : Self-employed with paid employees are classified as employers.

Self-employed without employees : Self-employed without employees are classified as own-account workers.

Services : Services are the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units, or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets. They cannot be traded separately from their production. By the time their production is completed, they must have been provided to the consumers ( SNA 2008, 6.17 ).

Social transfers in kind : A special case of transfers in kind is that of social transfers in kind. These consist of goods and services provided by general government and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) that are delivered to individual households. Health and education services are the prime examples. Rather than provide a specified amount of money to be used to purchase medical and educational services, the services are often provided in kind to make sure that the need for the services is met. (Sometimes the recipient purchases the service and is reimbursed by the insurance or assistance scheme. Such a transaction is still treated as being in kind because the recipient is merely acting as the agent of the insurance scheme) (SNA 2008, 3.83).

Sports tourism : Sports tourism is a type of tourism activity which refers to the travel experience of the tourist who either observes as a spectator or actively participates in a sporting event generally involving commercial and non-commercial activities of a competitive nature.

Standard classification : Classifications that follow prescribed rules and are generally recommended and accepted.

Statistical error : The unknown difference between the retained value and the true value.

Statistical indicator : A data element that represents statistical data for a specified time, place, and other characteristics, and is corrected for at least one dimension (usually size) to allow for meaningful comparisons.

Statistical metadata : Data about statistical data.

Statistical unit : Entity about which information is sought and about which statistics are compiled. Statistical units may be identifiable legal or physical entities or statistical constructs.

Survey : An investigation about the characteristics of a given population by means of collecting data from a sample of that population and estimating their characteristics through the systematic use of statistical methodology.

System of National Accounts : The System of National Accounts (SNA) is the internationally agreed standard set of recommendations on how to compile measures of economic activity in accordance with strict accounting conventions based on economic principles. The recommendations are expressed in terms of a set of concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that comprise the internationally agreed standard for measuring indicators of economic performance. The accounting framework of the SNA allows economic data to be compiled and presented in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking ( SNA 2008, 1.1 ).

Total tourism internal demand : Total tourism internal demand, is the sum of internal tourism consumption, tourism gross fixed capital formation and tourism collective consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.114 ). It does not include outbound tourism consumption.

Tourism : Tourism refers to the activity of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ).

Tourism characteristic activities : Tourism characteristic activities are the activities that typically produce tourism characteristic products. As the industrial origin of a product (the ISIC industry that produces it) is not a criterion for the aggregation of products within a similar CPC category, there is no strict one-to-one relationship between products and the industries producing them as their principal outputs ( IRTS 2008, 5.11 ).

Tourism characteristic products : Tourism characteristic products are those that satisfy one or both of the following criteria: a) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share total tourism expenditure (share-of-expenditure/demand condition); b) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share of the supply of the product in the economy (share-of-supply condition). This criterion implies that the supply of a tourism characteristic product would cease to exist in meaningful quantity in the absence of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 5.10 ).

Tourism connected products : Their significance within tourism analysis for the economy of reference is recognized although their link to tourism is very limited worldwide. Consequently, lists of such products will be country-specific ( IRTS 2008, 5.12 ).

Tourism consumption : Tourism consumption has the same formal definition as tourism expenditure. Nevertheless, the concept of tourism consumption used in the Tourism Satellite Account goes beyond that of tourism expenditure. Besides the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips, which corresponds to monetary transactions (the focus of tourism expenditure), it also includes services associated with vacation accommodation on own account, tourism social transfers in kind and other imputed consumption. These transactions need to be estimated using sources different from information collected directly from the visitors, such as reports on home exchanges, estimations of rents associated with vacation homes, calculations of financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM), etc. ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.25 ).

Tourism destination : A tourism destination is a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries in which a visitor can spend an overnight. It is the cluster (co-location) of products and services, and of activities and experiences along the tourism value chain and a basic unit of analysis of tourism. A destination incorporates various stakeholders and can network to form larger destinations. It is also intangible with its image and identity which may influence its market competitiveness.

Tourism direct gross domestic product : Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP) is the sum of the part of gross value added (at basic prices) generated by all industries in response to internal tourism consumption plus the amount of net taxes on products and imports included within the value of this expenditure at purchasers' prices ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.96 ).

Tourism direct gross value added : Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) is the part of gross value added generated by tourism industries and other industries of the economy that directly serve visitors in response to internal tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.88 ).

Tourism expenditure : Tourism expenditure refers to the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables, for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips. It includes expenditures by visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are paid for or reimbursed by others ( IRTS 2008, 4.2 ).

Tourism industries : The tourism industries comprise all establishments for which the principal activity is a tourism characteristic activity. Tourism industries (also referred to as tourism activities) are the activities that typically producetourism characteristic products. The term tourism industries is equivalent to tourism characteristic activities and the two terms are sometimes used synonymously in the IRTS 2008, 5.10, 5.11 and figure 5.1 .

Tourism product : A tourism product is a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as natural, cultural and man-made resources, attractions, facilities, services and activities around a specific center of interest which represents the core of the destination marketing mix and creates an overall visitor experience including emotional aspects for the potential customers. A tourism product is priced and sold through distribution channels and it has a life-cycle.

Tourism ratio : For each variable of supply in the Tourism Satellite Account, the tourism ratiois the ratio between the total value of tourism share and total value of the corresponding variable in the Tourism Satellite Account expressed in percentage form ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.56 ). (See also Tourism share).

Tourism Satellite Account : The Tourism Satellite Account is the second international standard on tourism statistics (Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008 –TSA:RMF 2008) that has been developed in order to present economic data relative to tourism within a framework of internal and external consistency with the rest of the statistical system through its link to the System of National Accounts. It is the basic reconciliation framework of tourism statistics. As a statistical tool for the economic accounting of tourism, the TSA can be seen as a set of 10 summary tables, each with their underlying data and representing a different aspect of the economic data relative to tourism: inbound, domestic tourism and outbound tourism expenditure, internal tourism expenditure, production accounts of tourism industries, the Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) attributable to tourism demand, employment, investment, government consumption, and non-monetary indicators.

Tourism Satellite Account aggregates : The compilation of the following aggregates, which represent a set of relevant indicators of the size of tourism in an economy is recommended ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.81 ):

• Internal tourism expenditure;
• Internal tourism consumption;
• Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI);
• Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA);
• Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP).

Tourism sector : The tourism sector, as contemplated in the TSA, is the cluster of production units in different industries that provide consumption goods and services demanded by visitors. Such industries are called tourism industries because visitor acquisition represents such a significant share of their supply that, in the absence of visitors, their production of these would cease to exist in meaningful quantity.

Tourism share : Tourism share is the share of the corresponding fraction of internal tourism consumption in each component of supply ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.51 ). For each industry, the tourism share of output (in value), is the sum of the tourism share corresponding to each product component of its output ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.55 ). (See also Tourism ratio ).

Tourism single-purpose consumer durable goods : Tourism single-purpose consumer durables is a specific category of consumer durable goods that include durable goods that are used exclusively, or almost exclusively, by individuals while on tourism trips ( TSA:RMF 2008 , 2.41 and Annex 5 ).

Tourism trip : Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.29 ).

Tourist (or overnight visitor): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Tourism value chain : The tourism value chain is the sequence of primary and support activities which are strategically fundamental for the performance of the tourism sector. Linked processes such as policy making and integrated planning, product development and packaging, promotion and marketing, distribution and sales and destination operations and services are the key primary activities of the tourism value chain. Support activities involve transport and infrastructure, human resource development, technology and systems development and other complementary goods and services which may not be related to core tourism businesses but have a high impact on the value of tourism.

Travel / traveller : Travel refers to the activity of travellers. A traveller is someone who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration ( IRTS 2008, 2.4 ). The visitor is a particular type of traveller and consequently tourism is a subset of travel.

Travel group : A travel group is made up of individuals or travel parties travelling together: examples are people travelling on the same package tour or youngsters attending a summer camp ( IRTS 2008, 3.5 ).

Travel item (in balance of payments): Travel is an item of the goods and services account of the balance of payments: travel credits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by non-residents during visits to that economy. Travel debits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from other economies by residents during visits to other economies ( BPM6, 10.86 ).

Travel party : A travel party is defined as visitors travelling together on a trip and whose expenditures are pooled ( IRTS 2008, 3.2 ).

Trip : A trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips.

Urban/city tourism : Urban/city tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in an urban space with its inherent attributes characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as administration, manufacturing, trade and services and by being nodal points of transport. Urban/city destinations offer a broad and heterogeneous range of cultural, architectural, technological, social and natural experiences and products for leisure and business.

Usual environment: The usual environment of an individual, a key concept in tourism, is defined as the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines ( IRTS 2008, 2.21 ).

Usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.16 to 2.18).

Vacation home : A vacation home (sometimes also designated as a holiday home) is a secondary dwelling that is visited by the members of the household mostly for purposes of recreation, vacation or any other form of leisure ( IRTS 2008, 2.27 ).

Valuables : Valuables are produced goods of considerable value that are not used primarily for purposes of production or consumption but are held as stores of value over time ( SNA 2008, 10.13 ).

Visit : A trip is made up of visits to different places.The term "tourism visit" refers to a stay in a place visited during a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.7 and 2.33 ).

Visitor : A visitor is a traveller taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ). A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Wellness tourism : Wellness tourism is a type of tourism activity which aims to improve and balance all of the main domains of human life including physical, mental, emotional, occupational, intellectual and spiritual. The primary motivation for the wellness tourist is to engage in preventive, proactive, lifestyle-enhancing activities such as fitness, healthy eating, relaxation, pampering and healing treatments.

Tourism Product Concept

Tourism Product Concept: Tourism product is usually as the amount of psychological and physical satisfaction it offers or delivers to the tourists when they are travelling to a new place or are on the way to a given destination it can be both domestic and international. Tourism products are more concerned towards services and facilities produced to fulfil the requirement of the consumers or the tourists.

Tourism product concept may be combined or amalgamated in nature i.e. the various attraction at a given destination, transportation facilities and other entertainment facilities result in full or 100% customer satisfaction. every element in tourism product is delivered by single supplier service or facilities like tour operator , airline companies, hotels and resorts etc. tourist products can be studied on the basis of four important elements viz. attraction, accessibility, accommodation and amenities.

Meaning of Tourism Product

Tourism product is a group of various components and elements which are combined together to satisfy the needs and wants of the consumers. The product in tourism industry is the complete experience of the tourist from the point of origin to the destination point and back to the origin point. The product in Tourism may be defined as the ‘sum total of physical and psychological satisfaction it provides to the tourist from the origin point to the destination and during their travelling route’.

Also read Tourism

The raw material in tourism industry is the natural beauty, Climate, History, Culture and people of the destination and some other important elements are the existing facilities or the infrastructure such as water supply, electricity, roads, transport , communication, services and other ancillary services. If any of these elements get missing, then it will completely destroy the whole experience of the tourist. Tourism products are offered in the market with some cost i.e. money. A Product could therefore be defined by its three characteristic: 

• The product must be offered
• It should satisfy some need or needs of the customers 
• It should be exchanged for some value 

Also read more about Tourism Product Life Cycle

So, we can say that if the Tourism Product i.e. the sum total of a country’s tourist attractions, transport systems, hospitality , entertainment, and infrastructure is well designed and developed and then offered to the tourist this will ultimately result in consumer satisfaction. Tourism products are nothing but various services offered to the tourists, and falls under the category of service product. Tourism product is the prime reason for tourist to choose a destination. Tourism product helps in earning revenue for the destination. So all the tourism product should be properly preserved and promoted

A) Attraction

Attraction is the first and the most important element of tourism product, until unless there is an attraction, then only a tourist would be encouraged to visit a particular place. Attraction is a very important element as it determines the choice made by a tourist to travel to a particular place rather than another place or destination. An attraction can be of different types such as historical buildings and monuments, areas of archaeological interests, mountains, beaches, resorts, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, Flora and Fauna, events like conferences, exhibitions, sports meet, world cups, music and art festivals etc.

You may may be interested to read about Aviation Industry

Demand for tourist products can be determined on the basis of upcoming trends in the market or current fashions. Present fashion in the market are helpful for analyzing and fulfilling the demand for different tourism products (which can include attractions, services and other amenities). Tourist visiting to hill stations for their natural beauty and panoramic views may choose to opt for some other destination due to current trends in the market and sometimes change in the fashion.

You may read History of Travel and Tourism

Peter has sketched up a list of the different attractions that are important in the tourism . Though, the attractions of tourism are, to a very large amount, geographical in character. Location and accessibility (whether a place or coastal or inland position and the ease with which a given place can be reached) are essential. Those who wish to seek wilderness and adventure may think of physical space at a destination.

Landscape or scenery is a mix of landforms; water and flora and has a beautiful and artistic value. Weather conditions, especially in relation to the amount of sunshine, temperature and precipitation (rain as well now), are of unique importance. Animal life might be a significant attraction, first in relation, to bird watching or viewing game in their natural habit and second, for sports purposes, e.g. hunting and fishing. Human’s influence on the natural landscape in the name of his settlements, archaeological remains and ancient monuments and is also a main attraction. Finally, a range of artistic elements folklore, artistic expressions, ways of life etc. offer valued attractions to large tourists.

B) Accessibility

Accessibility can be defined as means by which a person/tourist can travel or reach to particular place or destination. Tourist attractions can be of different types some may be accessible or some may be not by a mode of transportation . A tourist always looks up to a mode or means of transport in order to reach that particular place/attraction. Mode of transportation can be a coach, a car, an aeroplane, a ship or boat and a train that can enable or help a tourist to visit his desired destination. There are certain destinations which are not accessible by different modes of transport or inadequate transportation services, these destinations then turn into of a little value.  

Generally the tourist attractions that are situated close to a tourist generating area or market and are connected by a proper network of effective modes of transportation, experience a large number of tourist visits. Distance between the places of origin to the desired destination plays a crucial role in the movement of tourists and effect their choices in destination selection, proper connectivity between places or destination can act as motivation factor for tourists to visit a particular destination or place. Long distance destination increases the cost of travel for the tourists which somehow restricts the limits of different tourists travelling across places.

Time constraint and cost play a crucial role in the movement of tourists across the globe. An instance can be that of India. Almost two and half million tourist visitors for a country of the size of India may seem to be rather insignificant. Though, we see at certain things like the country’s distance from the affluent tourist markets of the world such as Europe, United States, Japan, Canada and Australia, one may determine that the long distance is one of the reasons liable for low tourist visits. It costs a tourist from these nations, quite a large amount, to travel to India for a vacation. It has been listed before that North America and Europe last to be major markets creating and getting areas for international tourist arrivals, accounting for as much as 70% and 20% respectively, of inbound tourist arrivals. Easy-going accessibility, thus is a main aspect for the development and growth of tourist arrivals.

C) Accommodation      

Lodging and other services balance the tourist attractions. Accommodation is very crucial and plays a central role and is very essential requirement of every tourist destination. As per the definition given by UNWTO, a person travelling to a new place from his place of origin must spend at least 24 hours at a particular destination so then only he/she would be considered a tourist. This tells about the importance of accommodation facilities at a different destination.

The demand for accommodation has always been there since ages. Therefore, the demand or the need for accommodation is met through variety of facilities. In the accommodation sector, the range and type of lodging is a bit wide-ranging and has experienced through different stages in the last couple of years. There is a decrease in the need for small hotels, boarding houses and other accommodation facilities. Large hotel chains have started to increase their share at famous tourist destinations and big metropolitans throughout the globe in more traditional holiday and sea- side resorts in Europe and elsewhere, large hotels are keeping their share of holiday resorts.

In the past few years, certain changes have arisen in the accommodation sector and the type of accommodation has totally transformed. The demand for non-traditional and informal types of lodging facilities have increased to a great extent. Holiday villages and concepts like home stays, condominiums and youth hostels are the current trends in the accommodation sector and popularity of these types of accommodations has increasing in the present times. Accommodation in itself has become an attraction in the modern times.

You can also read History of Travel and Tourism

In fact, a big group of travelers visit a specific town or destination simply since there is a first class luxury resort and hotel that offers outstanding facilities sand services for the entertainment of tourists. Few nations like Holland, France, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria have achieved a reputation for offering exceptional lodging with lavish food. Countless hotel companies away in different nations, specially the resort hotels have earned a status for their exceptional services, cuisines and other entertainment facilities. The French government for example, overlaid the way for tourist expansion of Corsica by introduction of a large hotel growth agenda. 

D) Amenities

Every tourist travelling to a new destination desires for world class facilities and services. In order to fulfill their demand huge efforts are made by the industry. High quality facilities are important aid to every tourist destination or center. For a coastal resort, services like swimming, boating, yachting, surf-riding and other amenities like recreation, dancing and other entertainment and amusement services are very essential for each and every tourist destination/center. Facilities can be of 2 kind’s natural, i.e. sea-bathing, beaches, possibilities of fishing, opportunities for trekking, climbing or viewing etc. and man-made, i.e. different kinds of entertainment facilities that can cater to the unique requirements of the various tourists. Outstanding beaches, sheltered from sunshine with palm and coconut trees and providing good bathing conditions makes a very goo the tourist center. Various other natural facilities like large water for the purpose of cruising or the chances for hunting and fishing are equally very significant.

Characteristics of Tourism Product 

Tourism products are mostly service goods that have different types or features. For instance, in business tourism management and planning are the services provided by different large convention centers and hotel chains. Various fair and festivals are the events that are provided for the entertainment and amusement only at a given time of the year and these are usually variable and perishable. In country like India numerous traditional/ancient attractions in the form of music and dance can be watched and experienced. There are different natural products which are been consumed by the tourist travelling to India like flora and fauna, wildlife. Following are some of the features and characteristics of tourism products:

a) Intangibility of Tourism Product

Unlike a physical product, say, a train or television, there is no handover of ownership of products is included in tourism. The goods or products in tourism cannot be consumed or demonstrated before purchasing it. Instead, some installations, amenities, items of equipment are available for a certain or fixed period pf time and for a particular use. For instance, a hotel room is offered or provided for a given time frame or a seat in a train is provided for a couple of hours of the journey.

b) Psychological 

A tourism product is offered to provide or offer certain level of satisfaction to the consumers or tourist. A person/tourist acquires experience with the consumption of different tourist products. Experiences derived while interacting to new places, people and environments helps in the encouragement of potential customers and helps in attracting them to consume the products offered to the market.

Read more about Hospitality

c) Highly Perishable

Usually a tour operator or a travel agent offer or sells various tourism products to the market, which are perishable in nature and cannot be stored or sustained for a longer time frame. Production of the products and services is only possible if there is a demand and the customers are actually present and if the customer buys the product it cannot be blocked, disturbed or customized. If the product is not consumed on time or is unused the chances are lost which means, if a tourist doesn’t buy the flight ticket on a given date, the chance at that time is lost or can say the validity of the seat is expired or is left unused. The reason can be heavy discounts or offers given by the airline company on the given date or during off season.

d) Composite nature of tourism Product

A tourism product is never offered or produced by a single enterprise there is an involvement of different parties (viz travel agent , hotels, airline company, tour guide etc.) when compared to a manufactured product. There is a involvement of various parties in providing or manufacturing a complete tourist product. The product shields broad experience of a holiday to a specific destination. And numerous suppliers and providers that supply to create this experience. For example, a hotel provides a food and rooms, travel agent makes booking for sightseeing and stay at different places, airline and rail provides seats etc.

e) Unstable Demand of Tourism Product

There is a problem or one can say a challenge for tourism products as tourism products are influenced by the seasonality, economic , political factors. For instance, there is a demand for the hill station in the summer season as people like to travel to cold places mostly places likes Manali, Shimla, Nainital, Mussorie etc. whereas the demand for coastal areas like Goa rises in the winters. There are different times of a year when there is a demand for a particular destination than other destinations. This is the time when there is a huge tension on the hotel bookings, transport system, the employment etc.

f) Fixed supply in the short run

Tourism product similarly as the factory-made products cannot be transported to the final consumers, the consumers have to go to the products offered to them. Product development is done on the basis of analysis of the taste and preferences, behavior, dislikes and likes of the consumers, so that the expectations and realities of the consumers. Therefore, the supply of the tourism product is limited in the short run and may be maximized on a long term basis depending upon the increasing demand pattern of the tourist product.

g) Absence of ownership in Tourism Product

Tourism products have absence of ownership. For instance, when you buy a product say a bike or a car, the possession of the same is reassigned to you, but when one rents a cab, he/she only buys the right to be transferred from one place to another, you neither own the driver nor the cab. Similarly, in case of tourism products like airline tickets, train tickets or a hotel room can be used for given time frame but not owned. Tourism products can only be purchased for using but the ownership of the same stays with the provider of the service or the product so, an Opera show can be watched but the performer cannot be kept.

 h) Heterogeneous nature of Tourism Product

Tourism is not a uniform product. Similarly, tourism product is not same, since they tend to change or vary in terms of quality and standard with the passage of time, unlike a television set or any other factory-made product. A flight or a tour package cannot be the same at all times. The reason behind the changing nature of the tourism products is a service and services are customers/consumer oriented. So there is variability in tourism products as all humans are not the same and vary in terms of their behavior, taste and preferences. For example, all workers working in a hotel cannot give the same excellence of facility and the same worker might not perform equally in the morning and evening. Therefore, the services cannot be uniforms or homogeneous.

Tourism products are first purchased and later on consumed that is why there is a high level of risk involved in purchasing before the consumption of the products. An element of chance of risk is always there in the process. For instance, a movie might not be as entertaining as it promises to be or a summer vacation in Goa may be disappointing due to bad weather or heavy rains.

j) Marketable

Tourism products are marketable at different markets. Firstly, both the regional and national organizations involve themselves in catering the potential customers/tourists to travel to different region/destinations across the country. Secondly, the individual firms are trying to market their own tourism products in order to cater potential customers.

Read more on Aviation Industry in India

Read more on Tourism Economics

Tourism Product Concept Tourism Product Concept Tourism Product Concept Tourism Product Concept

You Might Also Like

Dark Tourism

Alternative Tourism

Spiritual Tourism

This post has one comment.

Pingback: Which of the following is a characteristic of the tourism product? – AnswerParadise.net

Comments are closed.