Basic concepts of tourism. Types of tourism.

1. What is tourism?

2. What three main categories tourism is classified?

3. What types of tourism do you know? Give as many examples as you can. What types are traditional ones? What types are brand new? What are more popular/less popular? Why?

4. What are niche types of tourism available in the region?

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which imply tourism expenditure[1].

Tourism is one of the world’s fastest growing industries as income is generated by the spending of goods and services required by tourists. The tourism industry is therefore very important to the well being of many countries.

According to the World Tourism Organization “Tourism comprises the activities of persons traveling to, and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes.”

Tourism can be classified into the following types:

Inbound International tourism: Non-residents traveling in the given country.

Outbound International tourism: Residents traveling in another country.

Domestic tourism: Residents of the given country traveling only within this country.

Another classification of types of tourism is given according to the purpose of tourist visit. They are: leisure tourism, sport tourism, business tourism, incentive tourism, familiarization tourism and so on.

Leisure tourism is a type of recreational tourism when people travel on holiday but not on business. The purpose of leisure tourism is having a good rest and getting acquainted with the well-known sights of a destination where you travel. Usually leisure travelers seek for sun, sea and sand. Leisure tourists enjoy organized entertainment and sport. In future more and more people will travel for pleasure and visit different places and their famous attractions.

Sport tourism is a kind of active holiday. The purpose of sport tourism is to exercise the body and to keep physically fit. Many clients like to set aside a week or even a few days to concentrate on trying to get fit or to improve their fitness condition. During sporting tours travelers enjoy natural surroundings, fresh air and clean water.Tourists combine action and relaxation during a sporting tour. Sporting tours may be of several kinds: climbing, hiking, boating, rafting or diving. Within sports tours there is water tourism, mountain tourism, mountaineering, skiing.

Business tourism is a travel for business purposes. Travelling on business has become one of the main sectors of the travel industry. Nowadays the tourist companies try to provide business travelers with all the possible facilities for a comfortable business journey with compartments away from other travelers, international telephone calls, tasty meals when they want to, and in general a greater control over their environment. In future tourist companies will provide more services for business travelers. They will not only provide first class services for them, but also collect information on markets and trade fairs, economic data, arrange negotiations. They will also arrange different excursions to famous sights and provide good opportunities for having a good rest at the destinations.

Incentive tourism is a travel offered to employees as a reward for good results in their work.

A holiday given as a price has more motivating power than rewarding employee with a gift or cash. It happens because the employee enjoys a challenge presented by his company. He welcomes the competition as it shows that he has a position in the company that demands personal achievement.

This kind of trip always requires the involvement of a tour operator and a travel agency to organize a trip.

Familiarization tourism, which is another part of incentive tourism, means that a tourist or a business company sends its staff on education tour to other business companies in different destinations. The main purpose of an educational tour is to get familiar with the kind of service provided by different tour operators. During these tours the company managers get acquainted with local facilities, hotels, restaurants and local attractions. They study the practice of the tour operators or local agencies. The main purpose of travel staff on a familiarization or FAM tour is to get necessary knowledge from personal experience. After the familiarization tour the travel agency clerks know better what to offer and what to explain to the customers about the destination. If a tour operator wants to promote a new destination he should organize a familiarization tour for the staff of different travel agencies that will sell this destination to customers. So a FAM tour is an incentive to the travel agency staff and a benefit to the tour operator who organizes this tour. FAM tours are very popular and they will become even more popular in future.

The Tourism industry has developed through the years and presently is one of the most diversified, customized and specialized industries. Tourism activities are divided into mass tourism and niche tourism. According to this classification leisure tourism is regarded as mass tourism, and other types of tourism are regarded as niche tourism. I consider that the main type of tourism, which has to be developed in our region is eco-tourism, owing to specification of the Baikal area.

[1] Understanding Tourism: Basic Glossary // World Tourism Organization UNWTO.- Official website.- URL: http://media.unwto.org/en/content/understanding-tourism-basic-glossary.