MACRO PERSPECTIVE

OF TOURISM AND
HOSPITALITY
By: Joylyns P. Dalida
OVERVIEW

Tourism and Hospitality has been one of the largest and

fastest-growing industries in the world. It contributes greatly
to global economic development, particularly in countries
that are leading in tourism and hospitality revenues.

Beyond its economic significance, tourism and

hospitality promotes mutual understanding
among people of different cultures.
THE RELATIONSHIP OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

The tourism and hospitality industries strongly affect one

another. Several associations and industry leaders consider
the combined industries of tourism and hospitality as one
large industry-the tourism and hospitality industry. The
components of this large industry include: (1) food and
beverage services, (2) lodging services, (3) recreation
services, and (4) travel-related (tourism) services. These
components constitute the tourism and
hospitality network.
A. The Food and Beverage Component

The public looks for food and beverage services

everywhere-in hotels, motels, airlines, airports, cruise
ships, trains, and shopping malls. There must be food
service available to them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and
snacks. There are commercial restaurants that provide
food and beverage services such as fast service
restaurants, ethnic restaurants, and specialty restaurants.
B. The Lodging Component

Lodging involves providing overnight or even long-term

services to guests. For many people, lodging is a place to
sleep. For others, lodging facilities not only provide beds
but also entertainment and recreational facilities. Hence,
the lodging industry component has began to
accommodate several customer preferences-from budget
motels to luxury hotels and expensive resorts.
C. 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. The host has
always felt an obligation to attend to the needs of his or
her guests not only for food and beverages and lodging,
but also for entertainment.

Many centuries ago, innkeepers, tavern-keepers, and their

descendants have attended to their guests' needs for
entertainment by talking to their guests.
D. Travel and Tourism Component

Travel and tourism are used together as an umbrella term

to refer to those businesses that provide primary services
to travelers. These include not only food and beverage
services, lodging services, recreation and entertainment
services, but also transportation services, and the services
of travel agencies and tour operators.
E. Transportation

The main purpose of transportation is to make it possible

for people to go from one place to another. There are
many ways to do this, from the primitive and simple to
the modern and complex. The common means of
transportation are automobiles, recreational vehicles
(RVS), buses, trains, ships, and airplanes.
F. Travel Agencies and Tour Operators

Travel agencies and tour operators are modern additions

to the travel and tourism world. Both have become
important in the survival of many businesses in the
tourism and hospitality industry.

A 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." In the travel business, a
package is a bundle of related travel services
offered to a buyer at a single price.
DEFINITION OF TOURISM

The definition of the Tourism Society in Britain was:

"Tourism 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.“

This definition was reformulated by the Tourism

Society in Cardiff: "Tourism may be defined in terms
of particular activities selected by choice and
undertaken outside the home environment."
DEFINITION OF HOSPITALITY

The word "hospitality" is derived from the Latin word

hospitare, which means "to receive as a guest." This
phrase implies that a host is prepared to meet a guest's
basic requirements while the guest is away from home.
The requirements of a guest in these circumstances are
food, beverages, lodging, or shelter. Several related words
come from the same Latin root, including hospital,
hospice, and hostel. In each of these words, the principal
meaning is a host who receives, welcomes, and
caters to the needs of people who are temporarily
away from their homes.
MEANING OF TOURIST

In 1937, the League of Nations defined "tourist" as

follows: "A tourist is a person who visits a country other
than that in which he or she usually resides for a period of
at least 24 hours."

In 1963, a United Nations Conference on International

Travel and Tourism recommended a new definition of a
"visitor" as "any person visiting a country other than that
of earning money."
This definition covers two classes of visitors:

1. Tourists. Temporary visitors staying at least 24 hours,

whose purpose could be classified as:

a. leisure, such as recreation, holiday, health, study,

religion, or sport;
b. business;
c. family;
d. mission; and
e. meeting;
2. Excursionists. Temporary visitors staying less than 24
hours in the destination. visited and not making an
overnight stay, including cruise travelers, but excluding
travelers in transit.
ELEMENTS OF TRAVEL

Four basic elements have been used as criteria for

defining travelers and/or tourists. These are: distance,
length of stay at the destination, residence of the traveler,
and purpose of travel.

A. Distance
What must be considered under distance is the
difference between local travel or traveling within a
person's home community and nonlocal travel or
traveling away from home. It excludes commuting
to and from work and change in residence.
B. Length of Stay at the Destination

The second basic element of travel used as a criteria for

defining travelers is the length of stay at a destination. The
definition of tourists and excursionists as proposed by the
WTO is largely based on length of stay. 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.
C. Residence of the Traveler

The residence or origin of the traveler is the third basic

element of travel. For business and research purposes, it
is important to know where people live.
D. Purpose of Travel

The residence or origin of the traveler is the third basic

element of travel. For business and research purposes, it
is important to know where people live.
The fourth basic element is the purpose of travel. It can be
divided into seven:
1. visiting friends and relatives;
2. conventions, seminars, and meetings;
3. business;
4. outdoor recreation - hunting, fishing, boating,
and camping;
5. entertainment - sightseeing, theater, and sports;
6. personal - family, medical, funeral, wedding; and
7. others.
THE NATURE OF A TOUR

To analyze the nature of a tour systematically, it will be helpful

to understand the difference between domestic and
international tourism, as well as independent and package
tour. Domestic tourism refers to travel taken exclusively within
the national boundaries of the traveler's country. People find it
easy to do so because there are no language, currency, nor
documentation barriers. International tourism involves the
movement of people across international boundaries. It is
more difficult to travel outside one's country because the
country visited has a different language, currency, and
documentation requirements, such as passports, visas,
and other conditions of entry to be met by tourists.
THE TOURIST PRODUCT

The first characteristic of a tourist product is that it is a service.

It is an intangible item. It cannot be inspected by prospective
purchasers before they buy as they can with a washing
machine, a stereo, or other consumer goods. The purchase of
a package tour involves a high degree of trust on the part of
the buyer.

The second characteristic is that the tourist product is largely

psychological in its attraction. It is more than a collection of
services such as an aircraft seat and a hotel room. It is the
temporary use of a strange environment plus the culture and
heritage of the region and other intangible benefits
such as atmosphere and hospitality.
Another characteristic is that the product tends to vary in
standard and quality over time unlike the production of a
television set. A package tour cannot be consistently of equal
standard

Still another characteristic is that the supply of the product is

fixed. The number of hotel rooms available at a particular
resort cannot be changed to meet the changing demands of
tourists during a particular season. The unsold hotel room or
aircraft seat cannot be stored for another sale as is the case
with tangible products. Thus, great efforts are made to
fill hotel rooms and aircrafts by discounting the prices of
these products at the last minute.
THE TOURIST DESTINATION

The tourist destination is a geographical unit where the tourist

visits and stays. It may be a village, a town, a city, a district, a
region, an island, a country, or a continent. The success of a
tourist destination depends upon the interrelationship of three
basic factors: attractions, amenities or facilities, and
accessibility.

A site attraction may be a country, a geographical region such

as the Alps, a city, or a resort such as Boracay.
Event attractions include congresses, exhibitions,
festivals such as the Ati-Atihan Festival, and sports
events such as the Olympic Games.
Attractions may also be natural or man-made. Natural
attractions include mountains, beaches, and climatic features
such as sunshine and pure air. Man-made attractions include
buildings of historical or architectural interest such as Fort
Santiago, holiday camps, or theme parks such as Disneyland in
Los Angeles, USA.

Amenities or facilities include accommodation, food, local

transport, communications, and entertainment at the site.
However attractive a destination, its potential for tourism will
be limited unless the basic amenities which a tourist requires
are provided. Amenities will differ according to the attraction
of the site. Sometimes, the amenity is itself the principal
attraction as in the case when a resort hotel is built to
offer different kinds of entertainment in a previously
undeveloped region.
Accessibility means having regular and convenience of
transport in terms of time/distance to the destination from the
originating country at a reasonable price. If private transport is
to be the means of access, tourism flow will depend upon
adequate roads, gasoline stations, and the like. Good railways
and coach services, airports, and seaports are designed to
facilitate accessibility.
TOURIST SERVICES

The travel and stay of tourists give rise to a wide range of

services in the course of a holiday. The principal 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
constitute the second group of tourist services. Hotels are of
vital concern to a large proportion of tourists. At present, food
and beverage operations cut across all sectors of the travel
industry since eating is a necessity, as well as a pleasure for
travelers. Entertainment, combined with amusement and
recreation, is the primary reason why millions of people travel.
The third group of tourist services consists of those provided
by the travel agent and by the tour operator. The travel agent is
the distributor of the product, while the tour operator is the
manufacturer of the product. The travel agent provides an
intermediary function between the tourist and the providers
of transport and accommodation, while the tour operator
combines the individual components of a holiday into a
product, which is then sold directly to the public through travel
agents.

Other tourist services include currency, documentation,

information, sightseeing, and shopping.
Characteristics of Tourism and Hospitality

1. In tourism and hospitality, the product is not brought to the

consumer; rather, the consumer has to travel and go to the
product to purchase it. In other industries, an item
manufactured in a factory is brought to the wholesaler and
retailer and ultimately to the consumer.

2. The products of tourism and hospitality are not used

up; thus, they do not exhaust the country's natural
resources. The products of other industries have a
limited life and at the end of it are either junked or
replaced with new ones.
3. Tourism and hospitality is a labor-intensive industry. It
requires more manpower than other industries.

4. Tourism and hospitality is people-oriented. It is primarily

concerned with people. One of the most important
motivations of tourists is to meet other people and see how
other people live.

5. Tourism and hospitality is a multidimensional phenomenon.

It is dependent on many and varied activities which are
separate but interdependent.
6. The tourism and hospitality industry is seasonal. During
vacation seasons, millions of tourists travel, which result in
increased revenues for several tourism agencies; but when
vacations are over, these companies experience a big decline
in dollars earned.

7. The industry is dynamic. It is characterized by the changing

ideas and attitudes of its customers and therefore must be
always prepared and willing to adjust to these changes.
IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

1. Contribution to the balance of payments. Tourism and

hospitality can help correct the balance of payments and
deficits of many countries by earning the much-needed
foreign currency in international trade. Examples of countries
in which the tourism and hospitality industry has helped
reduce the deficits are: Spain, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand,
Hong Kong, and Singapore.

2. Dispersion of development. International tourism

and hospitality is the best means to spread wealth
among countries; thus, bridging the economic gap
between the rich and the poor nations.
3. Effect on general economic development. Expenditures by
tourists can have beneficial effects on all economic sectors and
can lead to the development of different industries and other
economic activities.

4. Employment opportunities. Tourism and hospitality is a

source of employment. It is a service industry, which could
have a significant effect on those countries with surplus labor
such as the Philippines. For countries where there is a high rate
of unemployment and underemployment, tourism and
hospitality can provide a ready solution.
5. Social benefits. Social exchange takes place when tourists come in
contact with the inhabitants of the places they visit. Their social
background and their presence affect the social structure and way
of life of the local residents. In the same way, tourists are also
affected by the experience so that they often carry with them new
habits and a new outlook on life when they return home.

6. Cultural enrichment. Tourism and hospitality emphasizes a

sharing and appreciation of cultures rather than the lack of trust
brought about by isolation. Through tourism and hospitality, we can
appreciate the rich human and cultural diversity that the world
offers and evolve a mutual trust and respect for one another and
the dignity of life on earth. Likewise, tourism and hospitality
contributes to the preservation and development of the
TAKE HOME ACTIVTY:

Select a local tourist destination. Make a research on the

following:
a. What type of visitor does the destination draw?
b. What does the destination’s management do to
bring in visitors?
c. What features has its management added to
lengthen the visitor’s stay?
CHAPTER QUIZ (2pts each)
Identify the ff:
1. The temporary or short-term movement of people to
destinations outside the places where they normally live and
work.
2. A geographical unit where the tourist visit and stays.
3. Movement of people across international boundaries
4. An attraction in which the destination itself has an appeal
5. Facilities such as accommodation, food, transportation,
communication, and entertainment at the destination.
ENUMERATE THE FOLLOWING:
11-13 Give at least 3 elements of travel
14-15 Kinds of visitor