Travel & Tourism Studies, Notes for Paper I, Introduction to the Travel & Tourism Industry

Introduction
The tourism industry in most country is an important one; one that contributes largely to
the development of the destination. In 1950 there were 25 million tourist arrivals
internationally, in 2008 it was over 900 million and in the year 2012it reached 1.035
billion tourist arrivals internationally.

Definition of tourism
According to WTO, tourism can be defined as activities of persons travelling to and
staying in places other than their usual environment for not more than one consecutive
year for leisure business and other purposes.

Characteristics of a tourist
 A tourist is someone who:
o might be away their normal place of residence for a period of up to one
year. (but will return home)
o usually takes part in activities that would normally be associated with
leisure and tourism
o is on a visit that is temporary and short termed.
o could be away from home but not necessarily on a holiday.

Types of tourism
 There are two main types of tourism
o Domestic tourism
o International Tourism
 Inbound Tourism
 Outbound Tourism
 Domestic tourism
o Domestic tourism can be defined as when locals travel within their own
countries for tourism purposes.
 Eg: A Maldivian family living in Male’ takes a trip to Addu atoll for
the Eid holidays.

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Travel & Tourism Studies, Notes for Paper I, Introduction to the Travel & Tourism Industry

 International Tourism
o Inbound Tourism (Incoming)
 Inbound tourism could be said where the people are entering a
country in question from their home country.
 Eg.: Inbound tourism for Maldives would include the visit of a Sri
Lankan family who has come to Maldives to visit their friends.
o Outbound tourism (outgoing)
 Outbound tourism can be defined as when people travel away from
their home country to another country for business, leisure and
other purposes.
 Eg.: Outbound tourism for Maldives would include the visit of a
Maldivian family who has gone to India to visit their friends.

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Travel & Tourism Studies, Notes for Paper I, Introduction to the Travel & Tourism Industry

Reasons why people travel

People have different reasons for travelling depending on their interest and financial
potential. These are few reasons categorized why people travel:
 Leisure
o People travel in free time to different places and spend their time in
indulging themselves in different activities some of them include:
o Example; Holidays
 Business
o This includes people travelling across the globe for business reasons like
attending seminars, conferences, meetings, & trainings. Business sector
of tourism is often referred to as the MICE sector too.
 Meetings
 Meetings are defined as events designed to bring people
together for the purpose of exchanging information, either
within one company or different companies.
 Incentives
 Incentives include travel to a foreign country or domestically
as part of motivational scheme to increase or reward an
employee’s effort.
 Conferences
 Conferences are multi-day events having at least 100
delegates attending the event for the purpose exchanging
information.
 It is also expected that around 40% of delegates are
foreigners.
 Exhibitions
 Exhibitions involve bringing together people in order to view
products and services.

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Travel & Tourism Studies, Notes for Paper I, Introduction to the Travel & Tourism Industry

 Visiting Friends and Relatives

o Visiting friends and relatives for the purpose of leisure, recreation and
holidays.
o It can also include occasions such as births, weddings, funerals
 Other
o Medical purposes
o Religion
o Education

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