Unit 1 Introduction to Tourism

☆Vocabulary

What is tourism? What do you think is the difference between a traveler, a visitor and a tourist? Read the following description and discuss with your partner.

Other terms of interest are:

Hospitality：The community's attitude which permeates every tourism location that makes the tourist feel welcome and safe.It is the result of the interaction between the tourist and the local population.

Excursionist: Persons traveling for pleasure in a period less than 24 hours （Macintosh and Goeldner, 1986）.

Foreign Tourist：Any person visiting a country, other than that in which he/she usually resides, for a period of at least 24 hours （Committee of Statistical Experts of the League of Nations, 1937）.

Travel：The act of moving outside one's home community for business or pleasure but not for commuting or traveling to or from school （Macintosh and Goeldner, 1986）.

Visitor: Any person visiting a country other than that in which he/she has his/her usual place of residence, for any reason other than following an occupation remunerated from within the country visited （United Nations Conference on International Travel and Tourism, 1963）.

☆Reading

Read the passage about tourism and its sectors and classifications.Try to summarize to your partner and teacher about your understanding of tourism after reading the article.

What is Tourism?

Although many of us have been “tourists” at some point in our lives, defining what tourism actually is can be difficult.Tourism is the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business or other purposes.

Tourism is a dynamic and competitive industry that requires the ability to constantly adapt to customers' changing needs and desires, as the customer's satisfaction, safety and enjoyment are particularly the focus of tourism business.Tourism is 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.

There are three elementary forms of tourism in relation to a given area （e.g.region, country, group of countries）:

（1）Domestic tourism.This is defined as comprising the activities of residents in a given area traveling only within that area, but outside their usual environment.

（2）Inbound tourism.This is defined as comprising the activities of non-residents travelling in a given area that is outside their usual environment.

（3）Outbound tourism.This is defined as comprising the activities of residents of a given area traveling to and staying in places outside that area （and outside their usual environment）.

Sectors

The tourism industry is divided into five different sectors:

■ Accommodation

■ Food and Beverage Services

■ Recreation and Entertainment

■ Transportation

■ Travel Services

The diversity of these five sectors shows that the career options in the tourism industry are unlimited.Depending on your interests and skills, you can work indoors or out, nine to five or midnight to noon.You can work in an office, in an airport or at home.You can have one career in the winter and another in the summer.In short, you can make your career fit the lifestyle you want.

Essential Requirements for Tourism

Time, as the hours for leisure increase,so does the opportunity for travel.Changes in work days or hours, school calendars will affect how and when people can travel.The overall travel pattern has moved from a two-week vacation to 6-8 three or four-day mini-vacations per year.

Money, the majority of travel requires discretionary income.Discretionary income is the money left over after all monetary obligations （food, rent and taxes） have been paid.

Mobility is the access to transportation （car, bus, plane, train or ship） and the hours required to get to their destination.

Motivation is the reason people travel.Motivations may include seeking novelty, education, meeting new people, adventure or stress reduction.

Classification of Main Purposes of Travel

■ Leisure, recreation and holidays

■ Visiting friends and relatives

■ Business and professional activities

■ Health treatment

■ Religion and pilgrimages

■ Others

（http://www.go2hr.ca/BCsTourismbrIndustry/WhatisTourism/tabid/71/Default.aspx）

Match the classification of tourism activities with their coverage.

☆Practice

Activity: Tourism—Do we need it? Discuss pros and cons of developing local tourism.

· Split students into two groups—one group represents “Let's Do Tourism”, a tourism development company；the other group represents the residents of your city and is in opposition to the plans of “Let's Do tourism”.

· Give students fifteen minutes to prepare for the discussion in their groups.Students should discuss the points mentioned and any other points they may come up with in their groups.

· Finish the activity as a class by asking each student to choose one reason either for or against the project.Each student should then discuss one of the points in front of the rest of the class.Ask other students to comment on the arguments presented.

Your Town, The Next Tourist Paradise

A company called “Let's Do Tourism” is panning to invest a large amount of money to turn your town into a major center for tourists.They have made plans to manufacture a number of hotels and other tourist infrastructure in your town.As well as the hotels, they have also made plans to radically improve the night life in your town by opening a string of clubs and bars.They hope that by the year 2004 your town will be a major competitor within the tourist industry in your country.

Group 1

You are the representative of “Let's Do Tourism”，your aim is to promote the plans of your company and to convince me that tourism is the best solution for your city.Points to concentrate on:

· The increase in jobs that will come with the increase in investment.

· The money that the tourists will bring into the local economy.

· The progress and development of your city which will result in becoming more important in not only your region, but also your country.

· Better for the young people in your city as there will be much more investment in leisure industries.

Group 2

You are the representative of the residents of your city and are in opposition to the plans of “Let's Do tourism”.Your aim is to convince me that this is a bad idea for your town.Points to consider:

· Environmental issues—tourists=pollution.

· Troublemakers—many tourists do not respect the places they visit and are only interested in getting drunk and causing trouble.

· The rise in tourism will bring about radical changes and will result in the traditional way of life in your town being lost, perhaps forever.

· Rather than promote the position of your city in your country, this move will make your city the laughing stock of your country.

（http://esl.about.com/library/lessons/nbl_tourism1.htm）