Tourism Product

As tourism is termed as a very big industry, like other industry it also sells its product to the potential tourist. But there is a big difference in the tourism product and other products. As tourism is termed as a smokeless industry and unlike other product it has not its own entity or a single item but it is the combination of different products, services and attractions.

A tourism product is the sum of the physical and psychological experience got by tourist during their traveling to the destination. It is the composite product, as the combination of different services like tourist attraction, transport, accommodation and of entertainment which provide tourist satisfaction.  Each of the components of a tourist product is supplied by individual providers of services like hotel companies, airlines, travel agencies, etc.

The tourist product can be analyzed in terms of its attraction, accessibility and accommodation.

Attractions:  Of the three basic components of a tourist product, attractions are very important. Unless there is an attraction, the tourist will not be motivated to go to a particular place. Attractions are those elements in a product which determine the choice made by particular tourist to visit one particular destination rather than another. The attractions could be cultural, like sites and areas of archaeological interest, historical buildings and monuments, flora and fauna, beach resorts, mountains, national parks or events like trade fairs, exhibitions, arts and music festivals, games, etc.

inventory of the various attractions which are of significance in tourism are given below:

Inventory of Tourist Attractions

Cultural: Sites and areas of archaeological interest, Historical buildings and Monuments, Places of historical significance, Museums, Modern Culture, Political and Educational institutions,

Religious Institutions Traditions: National Festivals, Arts and Handicrafts, Music, Folklore,

Native life and Customs Scenic: National Parks, Wildlife, Flora and Fauna, Beach Resorts, Mountain Resorts.

Entertainment: Participation and Viewing sports, Amusement and Recreation Parks Zones and Oceanariums, Cinemas and Theatres, Night Life and Cuisine.

OTHERS: Climate, Health resorts or Spas, Unique characteristics not available elsewhere.

Accessibility: It is the means of transport used to reach the area where attractions are located. Tourism mode of transport may be a motor car, a coach, an airplane, a ship or a train which enables the tourist to reach his predetermined destination. Availability of transportation determines the value of the destination, easy accessibility of a place, increase the value of destination or vice versa.

Accommodation: Accommodation plays an important role and very basic to tourist destinations. The demand for accommodation away from home is met by a variety of facilities, which is home away from home. There is a large number of varieties are available in the accommodation. . There has been an increasing demand for more non- traditional and informal types of accommodation. The latest trends in accommodation are holiday villages. In recent years there has been an increase in the popularity of such accommodation.

Some times accommodation in itself attracts a large number of tourists simply because there is a first class luxury hotel or resort which provides excellent services and facilities. , many resorts have gained a reputation for their excellent cuisine, services and facilities

CHARACTERISTICS OF TOURISM PRODUCT

By now, you must have understood what a tourism product is. Now let us look

at some of its characteristics:-

1) Intangible: Tourism is an intangible product means tourism is such kind of product which can not be touched or seen and there is no transfer of ownership, But the facilities are available for specified time and for a specified use. For e.g. a room in the hotel is available for a specified time.

2) Psychological: The main motive to purchase tourism product is to satisfy the psychological need after using the product, by getting experience while interacting with a new environment. And experiences also motivate others to purchase that product.

3) Highly Perishable: Tourism product is highly perishable in nature means one can not store the product for a long time. Production and consumption take place while tourist is available. If the product remains unused, the chances are lost i.e. if tourists do not purchase it.  A travel agent or tourism operator who sells a tourism product cannot store it. Production can only take place if the customer is actually present. And once consumption begins, it cannot be stopped, interrupted or modified. If the product remains unused, the chances are lost i.e. if tourists do not visit a particular place, the opportunity at that time is lost. It is due to tourism reason that heavy discount is offered by hotels and transport generating organizations during off season.

4) Composite Product: Tourist product is the combination of different products. It has not a single entity in itself. In the experience of a visit to a particular place, various service providers contributes like transportation The tourist product cannot be provided by a single enterprise unlike a manufactured product. The tourist product covers the complete experience of a visit to a particular place. And many providers contribute to tourism experience. For instance, airline supplies seats, a hotel provides rooms and restaurants, travel agents make bookings for stay and sightseeing, etc.

5) Unstable Demand: Tourism demand is influenced by seasonal, economic political and others such factors. There are certain times of the year which see a greater demand than others. At these times there is a greater strain on services like hotel bookings, employment and the transport system, etc.

Same day visitor

A visitor who does not spend the night in the destination visited.

It can be classified under two categories.

      1. International same-day visitor: any visitor who does not spend the night in the country visited. The definition includes the following categories of the visitors.

                  i) Cruise passengers:  who arrives in a country on a cruise ship and return to the ship each night to sleep on board, even though the ship remains in port for several days. Also includes in tourism group are, by extension, owners or passengers of yacht and passengers on a group tourism accommodated in a train.

                  ii) Crew members:  who do not spend the night in the country of destination- tourism group also includes crew of warships on a country visit to a port in the country of destinations, who spend the night on board the ship and not at the destination.

      2. Domestic same-day visitor:  a visitor who does not spend the night in the place visited.

Traveler

Traveler: a visitor is a traveler but all travelers are not visitors. A traveler is "any person traveling between two or more countries or between two or more locations within his/her country of usual residence".

 Two types of travelers are

1. Domestic traveler.

2. International traveler.

1. Domestic traveler: any person on trip within his or her own country of residence irrespective of the purpose of the travel and means of transport used, even though she/he may be traveling on foot.

 2. International traveler: any person on trip outside his/her own country of residence irrespective of the purpose of the travel and means of transport used and even though he/she may be traveling on foot.

Incredible India

India is a vast country. It is the country of diversification.This is the country having glorious history and rich cultural heritage. It is such kind of country where one can find a lot of diversification in the dresses, languages, cuisines, dances, music, fairs and festivals just a differences of miles only. hence it will not be exaggeration that India is such a big country, where one can find a variety of different cultures.

As tourism involves the movement of people to the destinations for different purposes. some time tourists visit to fulfill their needs of pleasure, relaxation and recreation and other time for experiencing spiritual feelings. one of the purposes of the tourists to visit a destination may be to explore a new attraction and their culture or to praise the beautification of the nature in the form of  Splendid Beaches, Extended Hills, Vast Desert, Deep Blue Sea and others.          

If the availability of the attractions are considered different countries are specialized in different form of tourism attractions like some have fabulous beaches then others have long peaks, if one is rich in culture then others are famous for their adventure activities. Some countries are having significance for spiritual or pilgrimage centers only. hence in order to explore the different forms of tourism, the respective tourists have to visit different countries.

But this is not in the case of country like India. India has fortune of having all types of tourism whether to explore hills for relaxation, pleasure one can go to hill areas situated in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and others. a vast desert is also find here in the areas of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Some coastal areas are also famous here for their beaches in the areas of Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala and Tamilnadu. If one want to go for wild life and bird watching then wild life sanctuaries in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala. India has eye catching natural beauty in the areas of North East region. This is the place which has been said to be "Adobe Of God". Either these are the Ghats of Varanasi and Haridwar or four Dhams as Badrinath Dham, Dwaraka Dham, Jagannath puri Dham and Rameshwaram Dham, instead sacred places of different religions also find here like Vast Buddhist Circuits, Pilgrimage Centers of Jainism, and Takhts of Sikkhism where everyone can satisfy their spiritual thirst. Besides this India is a big center of world's Heritage sites like Qutab Minar, Taj Mahal, Ajanta caves, Ellora caves. 

India is such a tourist Destination where one can travel in all seasons. Hence it would not be exaggerate to say that India is Truly Incredible.

Tourism Industry

Tourism industry does not have a single entity but it is the combination of different industries include primary suppliers like attraction of the destination, transportation industry (surface transport, air transport and water transport), hospitality industry (hotels, restaurants etc.), tour operators, travel agents, banking, insurance, shopping and entertainment. in the case of secondary supplier it involves the suppliers of primary suppliers. e.g. a hotel required supply of vegetables and fruits and other items in order to provide its services further therefore vegeatble and fruit seller are the secondary supplier of the tourism industry as supplier to primary suppliers.




Components of Tourism Industry

 

In this industry when the product is sold to consumer it is in the package form include all or some of the components mentioned above.

Meaning and Definition of Tourism

What is tourism?

Theobald (1994) suggested that etymologically, the word "tour" is derived from the Latin tornare and the Greek tornos, meaning "a lathe or circle; the movement around a central point or axis." This meaning changed in modern English to represent "one's turn." The suffix –ism is defined as "an action or process; typical behavior or quality," whereas the suffix –ist denotes one that performs a given action. When the word "tour" and the suffixes –ism and –ist are combined, they suggest the action of movement around a circle. One can argue that a circle represents a starting point, which ultimately returns back to its beginning. Therefore, like a circle, a this represents a journey that is a round trip, i.e., the act of leaving and then returning to the original starting point. Thus, one who takes such a journey can be called a tourist.

One of the earliest definitions of tourism was provided by the Austrian economist in 1910, who defined it as, “total of operators, mainly of an economic nature, which directly relate to the entry, stay and movement of foreigners inside and outside a certain country, city or a region."

Hunziker and Krapf, in 1941, defined tourism as "the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent residence and are not connected with any earning activity."

In 1976 Tourism Society of England defined it as "Tourism is the temporary, short-term movement of people to destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes."

In 1981 International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined Tourism in terms of particular activities selected by choice and undertaken outside the home environment.

In 1994, the United Nations classified three forms of tourism in its Recommendations on Tourism Statistics:

· Domestic tourism, involving residents of the given country traveling only within this country.

· Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country.

· Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country.