The Tourism Product- Components of the Tourism Industry
Introduction to Tourism BEM1012 James Ince 620021716 number one tutorial question- Describe how the components of the tourism industry interact together in order to provide tourists with their holiday experience. Please state whether you agree, or disagree with the view of some academics that there is no such thing as the ‘Tourism Product’. In the industry of tourism, there are a number of components that link together, to provide a family, couple or a group with a vacation. These components are more like steps. These steps include, how you get to your destination, where you stay, what activities you do and who organizes all of these things.
The formal names for these components are: accommodation sector, attraction sector, transport sector, travel organisers sector, destination sector. They all play a vital role in any vacation. The accommodation sector deals with where they are going to stay, for example, hotel, hostel and bed and breakfast. The attraction sector involves what activities the guest will do, while vacating. For example, Amusement parks, museums, beaches. The transport sector deals with how the tourist will get to their destination. Whether it is bus, train, plane or cruise ship.
The travel organizers are the people that market and sell you the trips. For example, travel agents, tour guides, cruise lines. Destination sector is where the government assist a business. For example, Government may guarantee revenue, tax incentives to build hotels or attractions. All of these segments need to be balanced and coordinated properly to complete a successful industry. If anyone of these steps is not completed to a certain standard, it could impact on the overall industry. In the industry, there is something called the tourism product.
This is what a destination collectively does, that either influences the tourist in a positive or negative way. At the end of the trip, it is the tourist perception of the destination, which is the tourism product. It is all the physical and non-physical components grouped together. For example, some of the physical components would be transportation and attractions. The non-physical components would be things like the weather and safety. The tourism product is providing the whole experience to the costumer, giving them the non-bias opinions for their vacation.
Some academics have said that they don’t believe there is such thing as a tourism product. I disagree with this statement, because I believe you could have a successful business that provides all of these things to the costumer. My idea of the tourism product is having all of the components and steps needed to make the perfect vacation, added into one big step. This would save the customer, a lot of effort researching on their destination, which they know nothing about. They would get the insights, and secrets on their destination. Without all of the bias and marketing strategies.
This business would be successful and reliable because, it is not their product to sell, they are just putting it together for the costumer. The business would have to put the whole trip together for the costumer. To achieve this the business would have to get an insight on what the costumer’s interests were, to therefore plan activities that they would enjoy. To complete this process, they would have to put together all of the components together. Starting with the accommodation sector. A good example of a tourism product is, in my country Barbados, there are many different kinds of vacations you could have.
If you are of the wealthy class in England, you can come to Barbados and stay in a five star resort. You can take the expensive chartered yachts out for the day as attractions. There are BBW’s you can rent to drive around for you transportation, this way; you can have all the things you have at home. If this life style does not suit you and you are more of a middle class citizen in England. You could buy a cheap airplane ticket, from a travel agent on your street. Arrive on virgin or British airways. Stay in a three star hotel, rent a small car. Choose attractions that suit you, going to the beach, spending days in rum shops.
Both of these examples give a brief explanation about what the tourism product is. The first component that the tourist must deal with while planning their vacation is, accommodation sector. This sector deals with where the tourists stay when they are vacating. This sector really depends on who is it is staying, whether it is a family, young couple, honeymooners or elderly. It depends on this because; they will want to be close to attractions that they enjoy. For example, young people will want to be close to the club street, while elderly would like to be close to museums or spas.
This links to other components because, for transportation. They would like to fly in near to their hotel; therefore they wouldn’t have to pay so much to get from the airport to their hotel. This reasoning also applies to the attraction sector also, because the tourist vacating, would prefer to be close to the attractions, that they have chosen to participate in. This sector is vital in planning for a vacation, because it determines where you are going to stay. The two factors that help people decide where they are going to stay are price and quality.
These two factors usually come hand in hand. Although if you do enough research and enough asking around. You will find a cheap place to stay, with standard quality. The main challenges that occur when dealing with these components are: safety, quality, how central it is, fake marketing and how busy it will be. The second component that is dealt with when planning a vacation is the transportation sector. This sector deals with how the tourist will get from their home to their destination. When tourist plans this stage, they look for the cheapest, safest and best quality flight.
This links to the previous component because, when you are traveling you want to get near to where you are staying. Therefore you wont have to travel far to get to your accommodation, and save money on extra traveling expenses. This component also depends on what kind of group is going on this vacation. If you have young ones that you are traveling with you won’t book first class because they would probably be too loud. It also depends on how wealthy you are. For example if you can’t afford first class, it is unnecessary to book it because it is a luxury need, not a necessity.
The third component of the tourism industry is the attraction sector. This sector deals with what the tourist will do while on vacation. To plan this, you must first look at who is traveling. For example, if it is a young group of friends, then attractions that suit them are nightclubs or amusement parks. If elderly are traveling, then museums or restaurants will attract them. This links to transport because; you need a way to get there. If it is nearby, then taxi will be adequate, but if the journey is far, then a train or bus may be necessary.
It also links to the component accommodation because of the same reason; you want to search for attractions near to your hotel. You want to do this because; you don’t have to pay that extra for distance transportation. The fourth component is the travel organizer. This sector is about who markets, sells and organizes your trip. This is the sector that is advertised in the television and radio; these people put together your trip, and try to make it as cost affected as they can. Examples of travel organizers would be cruise lines. Cruise lines are all in one package deals, you pay for everything upfront, and the whole trip is planned for you.
This is a sensible trip, because you know how much you are spending upfront. The fifth and last component is the destination sector. This sector deals with government assisting and helping the tourism industry. The government does this, because they want to economy to be competitive, and each industry to strive. Examples of government assisting the industry would be, government pay for infrastructure, incentives to build hotels or other attractions, training course for staff and allowing a business to do something, in order to attract people.
This component links to the others, because some businesses cannot afford to do all of these things without help from government. To conclude, each of these components assist each other, in order for people to have a balanced trip. These components include, accommodations, attractions, transportation, travel organizers and destination sector. Each of these is needed for a tourist to have an enjoyable trip. If one of these components is not completed, the whole trip could be impacted majorly, there needs to be a balance among all of the steps.
In the industry there is something called the tourism product, this product is the perception of the destination, from the tourist’s point of view. Whether the perception is negative or positive. It is how all of the components have come together, and how well they complemented, and worked with each other. Many academics think that there is no such thing as a tourism product; I disagree with this opinion, because I believe you can have a successful business, which provides all of these components to a customer.
