TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICES

The tourism department operates tourism information offices in many origin

countries. A tourism information office promotes, or builds, travel to a destination
country through advertising and special promotional activities. For example,
representatives of the information office give brochures about vacations, the
destination country, and special tours to travel agents in the origin country. A
brochure is a printed folder, or pamphlet, about a place, product, or company.
Brochures advertising tourism are written, printed, and supplied to information offices
in origin countries by the tourism department.
Mr. Carter is the director (manager) of a tourism information office. He has a
large staff. A staff in a business office is a group of people who work together. The
staff includes people who work directly with travel agents; others who do work with
companies and businesses; people who contact newspapers and television and radio
stations; some who work with airlines and hotels; people who write advertising; and
information clerks and secretaries.
One of Mr. Carter's most important jobs is that of public relations director. The
purpose of this job is to establish a good attitude toward his country among the public
(people) of the origin country. As part of this job, he supervises the writing and
distribution of press releases (news stories) for the media. Media refers to all the ways
of spreading information, such as newspapers, radio, television, and other means of
communication. Media is a plural word, meaning it refers to all these means. Radio is
a medium of communication; it is one of the media used for advertising. Public
relations people place special news stories in the media to help build interest in the
destination country. Advertisements in the media, paid for by the tourism department,
also help establish interest.
Employees in public relations and advertising must be fluent in English if they
work in English-speaking countries. "To be fluent" means to speak, read, and write a
language almost as well as the natives do. Mr. Carter's staff members write
advertisements, news releases, and brochures to promote travel to their country. They
give lectures (talks) and show films about their country to groups of people. They
answer questions about travel to their country. English for Tourism page 5
 Mr. Carter holds press conferences whenever something of importance or
interest happens in his country. A press conference is a meeting attended by reporters
from newspapers, magazines, radio, or television. At a press conference, someone
makes announcements that their readers, listeners, or viewers might find interesting.
Whenever an important person from his country visits, Mr. Carter holds a press
conference to introduce that person to the representatives of the media. Such news
items help to build interest in and knowledge about his country.
Information offices also give tourists and immigrants helpful information. The
clerks give them any necessary documents or visas that may be required for entrance.
The staff can also tell them about different laws and regulations in the destination
country. Mr. Carter and his staff also work with businesses and industries that might
be interested in either moving to or doing business with the destination country. Mr.
Carter's country wants foreign industries to come and help build industry there. The
country is also interested in exporting some of its products. In turn, the country is
anxious to get the best prices on products imported from other countries. Wherever
they go and whatever they do, the information staff members represent their country.
"We are the face of our country to the rest of the world," Mr. Carter says. "Before they
know anything about our country, people form their impressions and attitudes about it
from the things we do and say."