Question

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Answer 1

One of the great debates in tourism is how do we differentiate between tourism and travel, and the tourist and the traveler. There are perhaps as many definitions of these two terms as there are tourism and travel professionals. Some tourism entities define tourists as someone who has traveled at least 100 miles from home and spends at least one night in a taxable place of lodging. Industry professionals often define visitors as people from another political jurisdiction who spend money in a place not their own, travelers are people who go from point A to point B for any purpose and for any length of time. In all cases, however and no matter which words we use travel and tourism involve leaving place “A” and going to place “B”. Despite the fact that the industry would prefer to think of itself as emphasizing interpersonal relationships, fun, relaxation or education, tourism and travel always involve getting to someplace new. It is for this reason that travel and tourism are very oil/price-sensitive products with high spoilage rates. That is to say, once an airplane has left the gate, the profit from unsold seats can never be regained. The same is true of unsold hotel rooms or attraction tickets. To make tourism even more sensitive, most people are not obliged to travel except in cases of business and family.