Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Case Studies
Case Studies
Let me take you on a journey and meet tourism professionals along the way. Traveling, after all, is what defines
tourism.
When I plan to go on an overseas trip, for business or leisure, the first tourism professional I come across
might not even be a human being but instead, an interactive web portal that can give me all the information I need to
make an informed decision about the where, when, what, and how of all my travel plans and requirements.
A very good example is the portal TripAdvisor. Interacting with TripAdvisor is a totally electronic process
where all information pertaining to the cities and countries, airlines, cruise liners, hotels, resorts, restaurants,
transportation services, travel and tour offerings, as well as country Advisor has documentation requirements, are all
available to its users. Trip Advisor over 400 million monthly travel-eager users who do not only use it to get au this
information but to also post reviews of their travel experiences, and or bad. Users can post as many as 10 photos per
review. The idea is to help other users make informed decisions and avoid tourism establishments who render poor
service. TripAdvisor is a 24/7 travel service portal that is always available, anytime and anywhere, without cost.
Once I have all the travel information and options I need, I can now continue with my travel cycle.
Do I buy my airline tickets or do I book my hotel rooms first? Room availability is usually a lesser challenge
than airline seat availability. With my itinerary in mind, I can do two things: book my tickets directly with the airline
companies or online travel agents or chose to personally discuss my itinerary with a travel professional. I decide to
meet my travel agent and, therefore, making them the first tourism professional I come face to face within this travel
cycle. A travel agent, more popularly called a TA in our industry, will be able to answer all my itinerary questions and
provide me with several airline options. The TA will also advise me about all the required documents, visas, and
travel fees per country of entry. ATA is someone you must nurture a good relationship with because you will be
calling on them every time you have to go on a trip. Although airline booking has been made easier by improved
technology, TAs are still very much in demand, especially for group and corporate travel requirements which are
more complicated and tedious. ATA can also ensure after-sales service once you start your actual travel, being
available for help in case problems arise.
There was one time I was traveling with a group of 20 other companions on a 30-day Filipino Concert Tour
to Rome, Milan, Geneva, Amsterdam, Vienna, London, Dubai, Muscat, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Singapore. When we
were on our way to Singapore from our last stop in Europe and the Middle East, our flight was diverted to Cairo,
Egypt due to bad weather conditions. We had to weather out the storm so to speak in the Cairo airport for about eight
hours. Instead of stressing myself with the itinerary challenges ahead, I chose to call our travel agent in Manila and
requested that he be on top of the changes because we had to arrive in Singapore no later than the next day for our
scheduled concert at 7 PM. Any further delays could have spelled a huge disaster for the concert tour series. Our TA
immediately planned a new itinerary that would take us to Singapore in time for the concert. Our TA delivered and we
continued our stress-free travel to Singapore just in the nick of time, arriving at 4 PM for the 7 PM concert! Consulting
Activities:
a. ldentify the cultural elements that were impacted in the case.
b. Create scenarios of what other options could have been undertaken by the tourism professional if he did not do as
indicated in the case and the consequences that could have happened for the individual and the tourism enterprise.
C Consider the reflections. Choose one and expound how this can be applied in your life as a student.
Activities:
a. Aside from the tourism sector, what other industries can a tourism professional work in?
b. What cultural elements will help a tourism professional succeed in this field?
c. ls culture uniquely a tourism concern? Why or why not?