Introduction to travel and tourism

WHY DO PEOPLE TRAVEL?

People who travel do so for the following reasons:

• 
  They want the pleasure of rest, adventure, escape, discovery excitement, sport, romance or any other pleasure seeking motivation. Taken together they
  comprise leisure tourism.
  
• 
  They have to carry out business, visit family, fulfill religious duties or for medical reasons.
  
  

Although both sets of travelers are important to the industry as a whole, it is normally the former which is central to our understanding of tourism.

Travel for pleasure can be broken down into general interest tourism and special interest tourism.

General interest tourism is made up of people who are in search of rest, relaxation and enjoyment.

Special interest tourism attracts people who have certain interests or hobbies such as trekking, fishing, culture, adventure water sports, etc. and undertake travel to pursue these special interests or hobbies.

It is important for us to know why people travel to given destinations so that we can provide them with the type of product they demand.


WHAT IS THE TOURISM PRODUCT?

The term ‘tourism product’ can sometimes be difficult to define. In general terms the product is the total experience a tourist will have when visiting a tourist destination. This total experience will include:

- Geographical location;
- Climate;
- Natural resources (mountains, lakes, beaches, etc.);
- Man-made resources (theme parks, resorts, sports facilities, etc.);
- Cultural/historical features;
- Infrastructure (airports, water supply, power supply etc.);
- Tourism superstructure (hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, etc.);
- The atmosphere of a place and the warmth and hospitality of the people

In other words, the tourism product is the total package of everything a particular destination offers to the tourist.

As in all industries and businesses, a product is put together or manufactured for sale to the general public. In order to develop and sell a product, a company or organisation must know what the potential buyers really want. It is of little benefit to produce a beautiful product that nobody wants to buy. The tourism product too must meet the needs of potential buyers.

Some countries will have a much more varied product than others. This can be illustrated by comparing such countries as India with one like the Republic of the Maldives. The former has an enormous variation of natural tourism resources, while the latter is mainly dependent on the sole resource of island/water sports/beach. Nevertheless, the Maldives is an internationally recognised tourist destination. It has exploited its main resource by attracting a specific type of tourist.

Event a destination already possesses natural tourism resources, at needs infrastructure and superstructure to exploit those resources. It is of no benefit to have a wonderful destination in a place that people cannot reach or where there are no services or facilities. A destination needs adequate man-made facilities such as:

Airport and Roads Power supply Water supply Sewage and drainage systems Waste disposal facilities	INFRASTRUCTURE
Hotels Restaurants Bars Places of entertainment Ground transport etc.	SUPERSTRUCTURE
Heritage (culture, religion, history etc.) Geographical features Climate etc.	NATURAL RESOURCES & HERITAGE

The combination of infrastructure, superstructure and the natural resources of the country go to make up the tourism product. If any of these elements are below standard, the product will be affected and difficult to sell.