Maria Consuelo Guerrero-

TABAY Maria Consuelo Guerrero

Tourist Attractions and Entertainment

Tourist Attractions and Entertainment The Retail Travel Agent Careers in Tourism

Tourist

Attractions

and Entertainment

Definition To define a Tourist Attraction is not simple. Here are two definitions: • A physical or cultural feature of a particular place that individual travellers or tourists perceive as capable of meeting one or more of their specific leisurerelated needs. Such features may be ambient in nature (eg. climate, culture, vegetation or scenery), or they may be specific to a location, such as a theatre performance, a museum or a waterfall. • Positive or favourable attributes of an area for a given activity or set of activities as desired by a given customer or market, including climate, scenery, activities, culture.

Types There are 4There a different types of attractions. There are called Natural attractions, Heritage attractions, Purpose- built attractions and Events. The tourist boards have esitmated that there are around 6,400 tourist attractions in the UK. In the travel and tourism sector, attractions are a vital part as they are what bring in all the tourist from around the world.

1- A Natural attraction is an attraction that has been created by nature. Many of these areas have been given a status to protect their environment and provide facilities so that the public are able to enjoy the sights. There are attractions such as caves, waterfalls, seashores and any other scenic view interest that haven't been created by mankind. The Lake District is one of the popular natural attractions in the UK 2- A Heritage attraction - attractions that are old and have been in place for many years and are now historical. In the UK, alot of the attractions are heritage attractions. These are attractions such as canals, railways, battlefields. These attractions are in place so that people can gain an appreciation of the past.

The Stone Henge is a popular hertiage attraction owned by English Heritage and is Located in Wiltshire.

3- A purpose-built attraction - attractions that have been built purposely to attract tourist into that area.

When people hear the term 'tourist attraction' it makes people think automatically about the purpose-built attractions that are fun and enjoyable and designed for many different reasons. In the UK there are many purpose-built tourist attractions like Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and Alton Towers.

4- Events are also attractions that bring in lots of tourists to the area. These are attractions such as small events like the Blackpool Illumintations or huge events like the Olympics and the Paralympics. Events play an important part in the tourist attractions because in different parts of the country, some places can't offer a large amount of natural or purpose-built attractions therefore the events may be the only reason people visit that certain area. Also Events bring in a lot of income which creates jobs and wealth in the area.

Whom Incentive tourists: Incentives tourists are those few lucky individuals, who get a holiday package as a reward from his company, for good work or achieving targets, set by the company. Incentive tourists draw inspiration from such tours to work harder, improve work relations and focus on team bonding. A salesman who is awarded with a nice holiday package for accomplishing the target sales is a perfect example of incentive tourist.

Health or medical tourist: Those who seek special medical treatment, which is only possible away from home, make trips to other places and are called Health or medical tourist. Some of these tourists avail medical assistance in other countries, for they may be expensive in their own country. Many health or medical tourists also make trips simply to stay for few days in healthier climate. Hoards of medical tourist fly to South Africa from oversee countries to undergo plastic surgery.

Business tourist: Tourist traveling with relation to business is known as business tourist. Business tourism is part of the business world. Most of the cities feature conference centers that cater to the needs of business tourists. A proper example of a business tourist is a salesman, who makes trips to different places to attend trade shows, to display and promote his own products also.

Education tourists: Tourists traveling to a particular place in another town, city or country for further study in order to improve his or her educational qualification are termed as education tourist. There are also group of people, who travel to attend workshops to upgrade skills. A clinic nurse, who makes trip to another province to attend a particular workshop, qualifying individual about infectious diseases is an example of an educational tourist.

Adventure tourists: Adventure tourists look for some unusual or bizarre experience. They seek adventurous activities that may be dangerous, such as rock climbing, river rafting, skydiving, shark cave diving and bungee jumping.

Cultural tourist: These types of tourists travel to experience the essence of assorted cultures, such as San rock art, or cultural festivals such as the National Art Festival in Grahams town, or the International Jazz Festival in Cape Town. Cultural tourists also prefer to witness the World Heritage Sites of the traveled country.

Eco-tourists: Nature loving tourists, who love to go green like traveling to Bonita Gardens in Bloemfontein South Africa or similar destinations are called eco-tourists. They travel throughout the world in search of destinations not affected by pollution or much human intervention.

Leisure tourist: These tourists want to rejuvenate and revitalize with comfort, while enjoying a break from mundane routine of life. Examples of this type of tourism are cruising while vacationing or simple relaxing on a beach.

Religious tourist: Religious tourist travel to sites of religious significance. World is dotted with a number of religious locations like Hajj in Mecca, Jerusalem in Israel, Varanasi in India, and the Vatican in Rome.

During Easter, a huge conglomeration of Christian pilgrimage takes place in Zion City.

Sport and recreation tourist: These sorts of tourists either take active part in or just watch sports events.

Some of such popular sport events are the Soccer World Cup, Wimbledon Tennis Championship, Comrades Marathon, and Fisher River Canoe Marathon.

Backpacking or youth tourist: This group of tourist is of young age and they travel with minimum luggage and on a limited budget. But they are very passionate and love excitements and adventures, while traveling. They generally have no specific travel schedules and tend to travel independently.

Special Interest Tourist (STI): They nurture particular passion in different things like bird watching, nature, fishing during the Sardine Run, food and wine or attending the Cape Town Book Fair.

Where For nearly 500 years, the emperors living within Beijing’s opulent Forbidden City dictated who could enter and leave. Well, the gates have opened, and tourists are pouring in to see it all for themselves. Attendance is up by 2.5 million since 2010.

The Forbidden City is a dream destination for some Americans, but most have never researched a trip to Everland or Lotte World. Yet these South Korean theme parks also rank among the world’s 50 mostvisited tourist attractions—beating out the Eiffel Tower (nearly 7 million), the Great Pyramids (4 million), and Stonehenge (1 million). And there are more surprises.

Where we choose to spend our vacation time says a lot about what we value. Despite—or perhaps because of—what the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) calls “global economic challenges,” more travelers are hitting the road than ever. International tourist arrivals increased by 5 percent in 2013, according to the UNWTO. That translates to a record of more than one billion trips. With its population of 1.36 billion, China became the second-largest exporter of tourists. Russia, now the fifth-largest outbound market, increased travel spending by 26 percent.

Like it or not, theme parks clearly have worldwide appeal. France’s Disneyland Park draws about the same number of visitors (10.5 million) as Sacré Coeur, and four of the world’s 20 most-visited tourist attractions are Disney parks.

Many inspiring and iconic places can’t quite keep up. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum narrowly missed the top 50, as did the British Museum in London (6.7 million), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (6.3 million), and the Roman Colosseum and Forum (5.1 million each). The Berlin Wall Memorial Site logged only 500,000 visitors in 2013, though extra crowds are arriving in November 2014 for the 25th anniversary of its fall.

Accessibility can be a factor. It takes extra effort to reach Yellowstone National Park (3.2 million) or the Terracotta Army in Xi'an, China (4.8 million). And Peru’s Machu Picchu has restricted tourism to help maintain the site’s integrity; only 2,500 can enter per day, or 912,500 per year.

So what is the most-visited tourist attraction in the world? And can 91 million people be wrong? To tally up the world’s most-visited attractions, we gathered the most recent data supplied by the attractions themselves or from government agencies, industry reports, and reputable media outlets. In most cases, it was 2013 data. Attractions that don’t sell tickets gave us estimates as best they could.

When The Off-Season Almost every travel destination has an off-season, and it’s an off-season for a reason. Usually, it’s because the weather is so terrible that you won’t be able to experience the main attractions. In some locations, the days are very short in the winter and there are few activities to participate in or sights to see after dark. For example, much of Europe is far enough north that during the winter it’s dark by 5 PM, and the weather is often cold, windy, wet, icy and snowy.

Airfare and hotel rooms may be at their cheapest prices of the year, but tourist attractions may have reduced hours or not even be open at all in anticipation of low demand.

Off-season doesn’t always occur in winter, of course. It depends on where you’re traveling to. If you’re traveling to India, for example, you’d probably rather avoid monsoon season, which occurs in the summer.

While savvy, experienced and adventurous travelers might enjoy a trip during the off-season, for most people, there’s a better option: shoulder season.

Shoulder Season Shoulder season is the time between the high season and the off-season when lodging and travel expenses are moderate and the weather is manageable. As with the off-season, shoulder season varies by location. It may also occur more than once a year. For example, in many European destinations, shoulder season occurs in both the spring and the early fall. In addition to saving you money, shoulderseason travel means avoiding the worst crowds.

The Retail

Travel Agent

Definition A retail agent otherwise known as a travel agent was for many years the only public face of the travel industry. They sold packages from brochures. Some travel agents were tied or owned by a tour operator. Others were independent, sourcing packages from tour operators and tour organisers.

In many ways, travel agents are very similar to tour organisers. For me, the difference is that a travel agent builds the business around their retail space, traditionally selling standard packages.

This is a different emphasis from a tour organiser who is less likely to base the business around retail space and is more likely to tailor packages to suit individual groups of customers. However, that said, a tour organiser could be based around a shop, and a travel agent could concentrate on tailoring packages.

Becoming a travel agent requires access to package providers, the ability to run marketing campaigns and a retail outlet. While the set up costs may well be higher than a tour organiser, due to the cost of the retail space, it is a viable start-up option.

A travel agents role is to help people plan, choose and arrange their holiday. They will usually work to a budget, set out by whoever is planning the holiday. They also offer advice and opinions on where to go and local tourist attractions, events and customs.

Kind of Business -Promoting and marketing the business -Dealing with customer queries and complaints -Providing advice about visas or passports -Recruiting, training and supervising staff -Managing budgets -Maintaining statistical and financial records -Planning -Selling holidays and insurance -Meeting profit or sales targets -Preparing promotional materials and displays -Typical employers of travel agents -Tour operators -Package holiday operators -Cruise lines -Independent travel agents -Most graduates enter the profession as junior counter staff (travel agency clerk/consultant), moving into managerial positions after having gained several years experience.

Key skills for travel agents Commercially aware Good interpersonal skills Numerical ability Verbal communication skills Fluency in foreign (particularly European) languages and personal travel experience are also highly valued.

Careers

in Tourism

What Kinds of Careers Are Available in the Tourism Industry?

From operational positions to management and executive-level responsibilities, you’ll find opportunities for solid training, knowledge and skill development along with unlimited career growth. The tourism industry also offers a unique environment for those who wish to start their own business.

Operational Positions These usually involve direct contact with tourists and are often the first step in a lifetime career. Sample jobs include: Ski Repair Technician Bartender Concierge Adventure Tour Guide Cook Sales Coordinator

Supervisory Positions These people hire, manage, motivate and schedule operational positions as well as provide key functional expertise. Sample jobs include: Guest Services Supervisor Ski Patrol Supervisor Event Planner Restaurant Shift Supervisor Team Leader Accounting Maintenance Supervisor Management Positions These positions involve budgeting, analysis, planning and change management in order to help employees and the organization to grow and prosper. There may also be interaction with other tourism sectors and community involvement. Sample jobs include:

Director of Sales and Marketing Head Chef Ski Area Manager Rooms Division Manager Adventure Company Owner Attractions Operations Manager Executives Executives are often responsible for several departments or divisions and usually work at a regional, national or international level. They are responsible for strategic planning and have significant budget responsibility. Sample jobs include:

Hotel General Manager Regional Manager of Restaurant Chain Vice President of Human Resources Tour Company President Convention Centre Executive Director CEO of Destination Marketing Organization (e.g. Tourism British Columbia) There are also many opportunities for entrepreneurs in the tourism industry.

Whether you’re looking to open a resort, an eco-tourism outfit, an adventure operation or a bed and breakfast, the incredible growth of tourism in BC means plenty of business opportunities for the entrepreneurial minded.

References

http://www.allaboutcareers.com/careers/industry/hospitality-tourism https://www.bcjobs.ca/blog/careers-in-the-tourism-industry/ http://discovertourism.ca/en/careers https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-dowith-my-degree/travel-and-tourism https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-dowith-my-degree/travel-and-tourism https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/my-career-options/tourism http://www.careerpilot.org.uk/jobs/travel-and-tourism/jobs