CHAPTER 1 The Meaning and Importance of Tourism and Hospitality

The Relationship of Tourism and Hospitality

• The Tourism Industry and the Hospitality Industry strongly affect one another. Since this
is the case, industry leaders combine the two as one large industry --- the tourism and
hospitality industry.
• This large industry is composed of (1) Food and Beverage Services (2) Lodging Services
(3) Recreation Services and (4) Travel-Related (Tourism) Services.
• The above mentioned constitute the Tourism and Hospitality network.
• “Network” means a complicated interconnection of parts or components.
• The Food and Beverage Component – the public looks for food and beverage services in
hotels, airlines, airports, trains, cruise ships and shopping malls. There must be food service
available to them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
• Commercial Restaurants – fast – service restaurants, ethnic restaurants and specialty
restaurants.
• Taverns, Bars, Kiosks, Vending Machines, Supermarkets, Food Stalls, Food Carts and
Food Trucks.
• Food Service Establishments are found in Theme Parks, in school and colleges; in
hospitals and homes for senior citizens; prisons and half-way houses; shelters for the homeless.
• The Lodging Component – “LODGING” involves providing overnight or even long-term
services to guests. For others, lodging not only provide beds but also entertainment and
recreational facilities. The lodging industry component accommodate several customer
preferences such as budget motels to luxury hotels and expensive resorts.
• Lodging facilities includes hotels, motels, bed and breakfast, resort hotel, resort
condominium, conference center and time-sharing. Lodging establishments that offer special
facilities includes ski lodges in Colorado and casino hotels in Las Vegas.

Lodging Establishments
• Parador – an old Spanish monastery or castle that was converted to a hotel.
• Pension or Pensione – a French or Italian home in which guests are provided with a
room and board.
• Chateau – a French castle or elegant country home used as a hotel.
• Ryokan – a Japanese inn in which traditional customs are observed.
• Hostel – a lodging facility in which inexpensive accommodations are provided to
students and guests on a non-profit basis.
• Recreation and Entertainment Component – Entertainment originated from the
traditional duties of a host to entertain his or her guests, whether they are neighbors or
travelers from other places. In earlier times, innkeepers, tavern-keepers and their descendants
have attended to their guests’ needs for entertainment by having conversations with them,
others told stories. Some provided games such as darts or chess. Others employed jugglers and
traveling minstrels.
• Nowadays, guests are offered different kinds of entertainment and recreational
activities such as golf, tennis, hiking, boating, swimming, handball, gambling and concerts.
• Travel and Tourism Component – refers to those businesses that provide primary
services to travelers. Aside from food and beverage, lodging, recreation and entertainment, this
component provides transportation services and the services of travel agencies and tour
operators.
• Transportation – its purpose is to transfer people to go from one place to another.
There is primitive or simple to modern and complex. This includes RV’s (recreational vehicles),
buses, trains, ships and airplanes.
• Travel Agencies and Tour Operators – are modern additions to the travel and tourism
world.
• Travel Agent – is one who sells travel services in a travel agency. He or she sells travel
services that are assembled by others into “packages.”
• Package – is a bundle of related services offered to a buyer at a single price.
• Tour Operators – are wholesalers who make the necessary contacts with hotels, airlines
and other providers of travel services and devise packages which will appeal to retail buyers.
They are volume purchasers who are able to negotiate lower prices. They are able to sell tour
packages at a cheaper price that the individual consumer.

Definition of Tourism
• Tourism – (1) is the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and
stay of non-residents, in so far as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not
connected to any earning activity (2) it is the temporary short-term movement of people to
destinations outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during
their stay at these destinations (3) it is a pleasure activity in which money earned in one’s
abode is spent in places visited.

Five Characteristics of Tourism (Burkart and Medlik, 1997)

• Because of its complexity, tourism is a combination of phenomena and relationships;
• It has 2 essential elements: the dynamic element or the journey and the static element
or the stay;
• The journey and stay are to-and-fro destinations outside the place of residence and
work;
• The movement to destinations is temporary and short-term, with the intention to return
within a few days, weeks, or months;
• Destinations are visited for purposes not connected with paid work, that is not to be
employed and not for business or vocational reasons.

Definition of Hospitality
• The word “Hospitality” is derived from the Latin word hospitare, which means ‘to
receive as a guest.’
• The host is prepared to meet a guest’s basic requirements while the guest is away from
home. These requirements are food, beverages, lodging or shelter.
• Other Latin words that are related to “hospitality” are hospital, hospice, and hostel.

Meaning of Tourist
• A tourist is a person who visits a country other than in which he or usually resides for a
period of at least 24 hours (League of Nations, 1937).
• A tourist is any person visiting a country other than of earning money (United Nations
Conference, 1963). It covers 2 classes of visitors:
• Tourists – temporary visitors staying at least 24 hrs. whose purpose could be classified
as leisure, business, family, mission or meeting.

Excursionists – temporary visitors staying less than 24 hrs. in the destination visited and not
making an overnight stay.

Elements of Travel
• Distance – the difference between local travel or traveling within a person’s home
community and non-local travel or traveling away from home. It excludes commuting to and
from work. Trip is defined as ‘each time a person goes to a place at least 100 miles away from
home and returns.’
• Length of Stay at the Destination – tourists are temporary visitors who make at least
one overnight stay, while excursionists are temporary visitors who do not stay overnight in the
country that they visit.
• Residence of the Traveler – it is the origin of the traveler.
• Purpose of Travel – visiting friends and relatives; conventions, seminars, meetings;
business; outdoor recreation e.g. hunting, fishing, boating and camping; entertainment e.g.
sightseeing, theater and sports; personal – family, medical, funeral, wedding etc.

The Nature of a Tour

• Domestic Tourism – refers to travel taken exclusively within the national boundaries of
the traveler’s country.
• International Tourism – involves the movements of people across international
boundaries.
• Inclusive or Package Tour – is an arrangement in which transport and accommodation is
bought by the tourist at all-inclusive price and the price of the individual elements are not
determined by the tourist.
• Independent Tour – is an arrangement in which the tourist buys the products
separately, either making reservations in advance thru a travel agent or on his/her own.
• Independent Inclusive Tour (IIT)– is one in which the tourist travels to his or her
destination individually.
• Group Inclusive Tour (GIT)– he or she travels in the company of other tourists.
The Tourist Product
• The TOURIST PRODUCT is consisting of what the tourist buys. It is a combination of
what the tourist does at the destination and the services he uses during his stay.
• SERVICE is the first characteristic of a tourist product. It is an intangible item.
• PSYCHOLOGICAL in ITS ATTRACTION is the second characteristic.
• TENDS TO VARY IN STANDARD and QUALITY OVER TIME is the fourth characteristic of a
tourist product.
• FIXED is another characteristic of a tourist product.

The Tourist Destination

• It is a geographical unit where the tourist visits and stays. It may be a village, a town, a
city, an island etc. Its success depends on the inter-relationship of three basic factors:
attractions, amenities or facilities, and accessibility.
• ATTRACTIONS may be site and event attractions. A site attraction is one in which the
destination itself has an appeal. An event attraction is one in which tourists are drawn to the
destination solely because of what is taking place there.
• Attractions may be natural or man-made. Natural attractions include mountains,
beaches and climatic features. Man-made attractions include buildings of historical or
architectural interests.
• AMENITIES or FACILITIES include accommodation, food, local transport,
communications and entertainment at the site.
• ACCESSIBILITY means having regular and convenience of transport in terms of
time/distance to the destination from the originating country at a reasonable price.

Tourist Services
• Tourist Services are supplied by Passenger Transport, which provides the means to
reach the destination, as well as the movement at the destination.
• Distinctions in transport are between public and private, domestic and international,
and among the various modes --- land, sea and air.
• Accommodation, food and beverage, and entertainment is the second group of tourist
services.
• The third group of tourist services consists of those provided by the travel agent and the
tour operator.
• The travel agent is the distributor of the product, while the tour operator is the
manufacturer of the product.
• Currency, documentation, information, shopping, sightseeing are also forms of tourist
services.
Characteristics of Tourism and Hospitality
• The product is not brought to the customer; the consumer has to travel and go to the
product to purchase it.
• The products of tourism are not used up.
• Tourism is a labor-intensive industry.
• Tourism is people oriented.
• Tourism is a multi-dimensional phenomenon.
• The tourist industry is seasonal.
• The tourist industry is dynamic.

Importance of Tourism and Hospitality

• Contribution to the balance payments.
• Dispersion of development.
• Effect on general economic development.
• Employment opportunities.
• Social benefits.
• Cultural enrichment.
• Educational significance.
• A vital force for peace.