Travel & Tourism Management (Notes and Case Studies)

For several countries in the world, Tourism significantly impacts the local economy, there exists a positive relationship between economic development and the number of tourists that come to India, creating lots of jobs and earning substantial revenue. Every year, millions of people travel, either within the country or go off to foreign locations for their holidays. Countries like India have only recently realized the need to tap this sector, as the demand for good tourist destinations from middle-class Indians has risen.

However, the tourism industry is highly vulnerable to natural as well as human-caused disaster. Tourist destinations must undertake a comprehensive study to understand the effects of various disasters on their business, and what can be done to minimize the impact.

The Increasing Importance of Tourism

Tourism basically means the movement of people to other places, mostly for pleasure, and especially on one’s holidays. For most travellers, tourism basically means an organized journey where they visit several places for leisure, fun, business or even other purposes. The tourism business involves attracting visitors and hosting and entertaining them; the various operators and businesses that host tourists and organize tours are also often clubbed under this category.

Tourism was always a big industry in several countries but a few countries have now started understanding its potential. For countries, this industry earns valuable foreign exchange; millions of people visit different cities and countries every year and earn valuable foreign exchange for the host nation. Countries like India have only recently woken up to the tremendous potential of this sector (Ohlan (2017)) and are looking for ways to overcome the several challenges as mentioned by Hannam (2010). With access to higher disposable incomes, the middle-class Indian is looking for good tourist destinations even if it’s expensive; and foreigners are looking to explore places in India that have not been explored before. With millions of people traveling around, tourism also has an impact on the social, cultural, and economic sectors, besides creating several employment opportunities related to tourism.

Visitors are more interested in going to places that offer a different landscape compared to the place where they live. As Al-Otaibi (2011) points out, visitors often like to go to places that offer things that are not easily available where they live. For example, a lot of Saudi people like to go to Malaysia, it’s the favourite tourism destination for most Saudis’ tourists who have Islamic and social values, conservative cultural and environmental. But they are more interested in Malaysia’s nature, tropical weather and entertainment activities which is missing in Saudi Arabia.
Most popular tourist attractions have a few key attractions which attract tourists. For example, Egypt is popular because of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, Orlando has the Disney parks, and India has the Taj Mahal, and so on. Having said that, the tourism potential of any location is usually determined by the sum of all resources, which includes natural, cultural, historical, resources, its infrastructure and of course the people.

How Tourism Impacts Economy

Tourism boosts the local economies in the world. Apart from the impact on the economy, tourism offers several advantages to local governments and residents. There are some countries whose economy solely depends on tourism, even though the importance of this sector may vary from country to country.

Over the years, as pointed out by Brian Archer (1995), Tourism has become an increasingly essential economic resource (Jackson (2006)) as it contributes largely towards increasing the gross product (both the material and the human component) in the modern civilized world. Several research reports, including Akkemik (2012), have listed several beneficial effects of tourism; one of the more important ones being the positive impact on a region’s progress and economic development (Slocum, 2011), (Corina Larisa Bunghez, 2016).

This is why Tourism boards spend a lot of effort and money to develop tourism in their regions. Several jobs are also created because of tourism.
Of late, the tourism industry has also been criticized for not doing its bit to reduce the impact of tourism on the environment. The increase in tourism also brings in many negative effects for local residents and the environment.

References

Ohlan (2017) The relationship between tourism, financial development and economic growth in India. Future Business Journal. Volume 3, Issue 1, June 2017, Pages 9-22

Al-Otaibi, E.A.F.. (2011). Consumer decision making process in selecting tourism destination. 4. 2221-2238.

Consumer decision making process in selecting tourism destination
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290176944_Consumer_decision_making_process_in_selecting_tourism_destination

Brian Archer. Importance of tourism for the economy of Bermuda.  Annals of Tourism Research. Volume 22, Issue 4, 1995, Pages 918-930

Julie Jackson. Developing regional tourism in China: The potential for activating business clusters in a socialist market economy. Tourism Management. Volume 27, Issue 4, August 2006, Pages 695-706

K. Ali Akkemik. Assessing the importance of international tourism for the Turkish economy: A social accounting matrix analysis. Tourism Management. Volume 33, Issue 4, August 2012, Pages 790-801

Slocum, Susan L.; Backman, Kenneth F.; Robinson, Kenneth L. Tourism Pathways to Prosperity: Perspectives On the Informal Economy in Tanzania. Tourism Analysis, Volume 16, Number 1, 2011, pp. 43-55(13). https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ta/2011/00000016/00000001/art00005

Corina Larisa Bunghez (2016). The Importance of Tourism to a Destination’s Economy. Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania. Journal of Eastern Europe Research in Business & Economics

Academic Questions

Q. How in your opinion state tourism development corporations can help sustain the development of the tourism sector?

Q. What are the product strategies in a service marketing?

Q. Define travel. List the differences between travel and tourism. 

Q. Elaborate the elements of process management in a service organization. 

Q. Explain in detail the planning process in Tourism Industry. (10marks)

Q. Define sales forecasting. Explain different methods of forecasting demand.(10marks)

Q. State the purpose of exhibition and Trade fair. (10marks)

Q. Discuss the various divisions of WTO and the scope of there departments.

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