2_Concepts of Tourism.mp4 Dear Learners, In today’s class, we will discuss a new unit i.e. Understanding Tourism. So in this class, we'll discuss about what is tourism? Understand about tourism phenomena, then explain the various characteristics of tourism and appreciate why and how it is a constantly changing activity? We will list the concepts of tourism, define a tourist, tourist product and destination and to know what a tour is? So this is about the major topics which we are going to cover in this class. So first we will try to understand what is tourism? As a tourism student you should be familiar with the terms like tourism and tourist. Tourism is basically concerned with pleasure, holidays, travel and going or arriving somewhere. These are the motivations that make people leave their normal place of work and residence for short term temporary visits to other places. So these visits are basically short and temporary visits because once you're going to some tourist destination you are going there for a short time which may be two days or five days or a week and so on but whatever is the duration it will be temporary. In no case you are going to become the owner of that particular destination. So it is a temporary visit where you will go and spend some time, see different landscapes, meet different people, hear different languages, etc. In this process, we consume goods and services, services like transportation, accommodation, food & beverage etc. and receive pleasurable new experiences that give greater interest and curiosity. So these are basically different experiences which you will get in that particular tourist destination. These experiences are different from routine life and from daily office work. These are the motivations which motivate people to get a break from their daily life and go to other places to get the pleasure. Tourism as a significant phenomenon involves a temporary break from normal routine to engage with experiences that contrast with everyday life. So almost all travel types like the pilgrim, the merchant, the student, the missionary, the refugee, the conqueror etc. can be cited as the prototypes of the modern tourist. Like in the past, people used to travel for the pilgrimage and trade purposes. So tourism existed that time also and people used to travel to different place for different purposes. A tourism phenomenon is moving away from our normal place of work which is short term or temporary visit to other places for pleasure. As per UNWTO tourism is the movement of people away from their normal place of residence and work for a period of not less than 24 hours and not more than 1 year. It means that a person needs to spend at least 24 hours at a destination to be categorized as a tourist. Tourism also involves the recognition and collection of signs that represent a reality of another time and another place. For example camel rides in the desert for a person who resides in the hills. The person who has his normal place of residence in the hills will be motivated by the idea of spending some time in the deserts or near the beaches which is a new experience for him . Tourist’s views, requirements and pattern of consumption changes from time to time depending upon their class, gender, age, education qualification, etc. To cater to the new requirements tourism professionals globally work and develop new tourism products. Depending upon the class, gender and age of tourists different tourism products are offered to them. A middle class tourist may prefer a budget class accommodation for him whereas an upper class tourist may prefer a star category accommodation. Accordingly provider of services have to see which types of tourists are coming to a particular destination so as to design the type of products which can be offered to such tourists. With changing trends the tourism professionals globally work on the new products and services which can be offered to the tourists to attract more and more tourists. Now we will discuss few concepts of tourism: Boorstin and Baurdrillard view tourists travel as guided group isolated from the host environment and people, they remain in an environmental bubble and participate in pseudo-events as they do not encounter the real world on the street level. For example, a group of tourist who have purchased a tour package in which all the services are available like transportation from the airport to the hotel , their stay in the hotel, food, local sight-seeing, etc. .All the services are packed for them in their tour package. In this type of tour packages, the tourists do not get a chance to experience the real life of the local people like their life style, culture and customs, etc. On the other hand there are tourists who travel on their own without buying any tour package because their motivations are different. Such tourists want to experience the local life style of native people at the destination, they prefer to use the local transport for the purpose of sight-seeing. Sometimes they prefer to stay with the local people to feel the real lifestyle of that particular area, their traditions and local cuisines etc. Understanding tourism is very essential for the professionals involved in this activity. Therefore it becomes necessary to define tourist and then understand how tourism has emerged from past to the present, the various characteristics of tourism products and list the types of destinations and identify their attractions. According to Hunziker and Kraf, tourism is the sum of phenomenon and relationships arising from travel and stay of non-residents in so far as it does not lead to permanent residence and is not connected to any earning activity. This definition excludes the day trips and business trips. Another definition according to the League of Nations is that tourism covers the social activity of those who travel for a period of 24 hours or more in a country other than the one a person usually lives in. This definition excludes domestic tourism and emphasizes only on international tourism. Another definition as per the Rome conference is “Tourism as a visit to a country other than one’s own or where one usually resides and works”, for the following reasons: Tourism – the activity of temporary visitors staying at least 24 hours for leisure, business, family, mission and meeting. Excursion - the activity of a temporary visitor staying less than 24 hours but not excluding people in transits. Another definition according to the Tourism Society of Britain is “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 definitions including day visits and excursions” The next sub-topic is about the movement of tourists. How tourists move from one place to another place. Tourists are broadly classified as: International tourists and domestic tourists International tourists travel from one country to another country who are further categorised into inbound and outbound tourists. Inbound tourists refer to the tourists who enter a country which is not their country of origin whereas outbound tourists refer to those tourists who leave their country of origin to another country. Domestic tourists are those tourists who travel within their country of origin. For example consider a tourist of Indian origin going from India to Australia. For India that tourist becomes an outbound tourist whereas for Australia he is an inbound tourist. On the other hand a tourist travelling from Chennai to Srinagar and then returning back is an example of domestic tourism. So this is how we can differentiate between the international tourism and the domestic tourism. Now we will discuss about the tourism products and services. Tourism product is both a physical as well as a psychological construction which is challenged to transform dreams into reality. Here I will explain with the help of an example, that you buy a tour package to visit a destination which you might have explored on internet about the destination, the hotel you are going to stay in, the different attractions of the destination and different activities at the destination and so on. So basically you are buying a dream for which you pay in advance and once you reach the destination only then you actually start experiencing the different products and services which you had bought through the tour package. It is not like other consumer products which you buy from the shop, touch it and feel it on the spot. Such consumer products are tangible in nature whereas tourism products are at large intangible in nature. So tourism products are like buying a temporarily strange environment including unique climate and geographical features, intangible benefits like bargain, luxury service, hospitality, atmosphere, a culture, and the heritage which you will experience later on once you reach that tourist destination. So tourist products are unique and luxurious and are more pshycological in nature to convert dreams into reality. For example, a tour is more than buying a near collection of services like aircraft seat, a hotel bed, meals and an opportunity to see the Taj Mahal. I will explain with the help of an example, foreign tourists coming to India to see Taj Mahal have actually seen the pictures of Taj Mahal and have heard or read about the beauty of Taj Mahal. It is all in their imagination or dreams which becomes reality once they actually see the monument. The popularity of a tourism product depends on the reputation earned by the satisfaction of previous users and on advertising as well. Moreover tourism services cannot be tested, seen, sampled or compared in advance and it cannot be stored for future use like other normal products. When tourists travel to a destination they have some impacts on the destination. The impacts on a destination due to tourist movement can be categorised into economic impacts, environmental impacts and impacts on local people, culture and customs. We will discuss about these impacts in detail in another class. Tours can be within the national boundaries or in any place of the world which has already discussed is called domestic and international tourism respectively. Unique natural or geographical features like the coastline, islands, mountains, health resorts and countryside etc. are the motivations for people to travel from one place to another place. People staying in the hill stations would like to visit the places where they could see the coastline and beaches etc. because in the hills they have not seen the beaches. Similarly people from the coastline would like to go to hill stations to enjoy the weather of mountains. So people from different geographical areas have different motivations to travel. Sometimes price also plays an important role in motivating people to travel. Destinations offer discounts during off seasons which attract people to visit the destinations. During that time tourism products are offered at cheaper rates to attract more and more tourists. Tourism destination is both a site and an event and these two factors are the attractions. World cup cricket match is an example of event based attraction. Whereas Khajuraho temple, Taj Mahal, beaches of Goa and Shimla hills are examples of site attractions. Image of a destination plays a vital role in attracting tourists towards destinations and the image is not built overnight but over a long period of time. This is all for present class in which we have tried to explain some basic concepts of tourism like definitions of tourism, tourism phenomenon, characteristics of tourism products, concepts of tourism, defining a tourist , tourism destination and tourism products and services. Thank You.