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All topics in this section:
Essence, goals and concepts of tourism
The term tourism (tourism) was first used by V. Zhekmo in 1830. The word "tourism" comes from the French "tour", which means "walk". Until recently, in every country the concept of “that
History and factors of development of tourism and hospitality
The history of tourism is defined as a science that studies travel (hiking, excursions), from ancient times to the present. Applying a historical approach to learning
Tourism functions
The functions of tourism are determined by the objectives of tourism and the nature of tourism activities. Tourism activity can be defined as a series of phenomena and relationships that are the result of
The value of tourism in solving the economic and social problems of society
The role of tourism in world practice is constantly increasing. Being one of the largest, highly profitable and most dynamic industries, tourism, according to UNWTO, provides 10% of the turnover of industrial and
Tourism and science
The phenomenon of tourism has been recognized for a long time. However, tourism as a science is a fairly new phenomenon. The process of formation of tourism science began only 8-10 years ago. Tourism science, pe
Tourism potential of the territory
A necessary condition for the development of tourism is tourism potential, which can be assessed at different scales: at the level of the world, country, region, etc. Tourism potential refers to the entire
Tourist resources, objects and complexes
v Tourism resources are natural, historical, socio-cultural objects, including tourist display objects, as well as other objects capable of
Tourist regions and destinations
There are two approaches to the concept of "tourist region": - It is characterized as a geographical area that has certain boundaries - as geographers
Tourism enterprises, organizations and institutions
The provision of services to tourists in a particular region is provided by enterprises that are an important element of the “tourism object” subsystem. Some of them offer
Concepts and features of the tourism market
Market - an indirect relationship between producers and consumers of products in the form of the sale of goods, the provision of services, the scope of the sale of commodity money
Tourist routes and their types
Along with spatial forms, there are also linear forms of tourism organization. These include travel routes. In any case, travel (stays, trips, tours)
Tour concept. Tour composition
A tour is defined by specific characteristics: the geographical route and the order of its passage, the time interval, the timing of the provision, the composition and quality of services,
Tour formation technology
The tour formation technology includes 4 main stages: 1. Development and formation of the tour plan. 2. Search and selection of partners and suppliers
Tour promotion technology
Under the system of promotion of a tourist product is understood: v Organization of pre-sale and after-sale services for tourists (information support, etc.). v
Implementation of tours
The technology of realization of tours consists of five main stages: - work with the client by phone; - customer service in the office; - registration of the application; - conclusion d
International tourism market
International tourism is one of the most dynamically developing forms of international trade. In the economy of a hotel country, it performs a number of important functions: it is a source
International tourism
Based on a detailed study of the geography and state of tourism in the countries of the world, the experts of the World Tourism Organization grouped them according to signs of similarity not only in nature
International tourist exchange
The following opportunities underlie the intensive development of international tourism: - economic and social progress, especially in industrialized countries, allowing
Structure of tourist demand
The tourist market is an economic system of interaction of four main elements: tourist demand, supply of a tourist product, price and competition.
International tourism exhibitions, fairs, exchanges
Of particular importance for the promotion of the national tourism product in the external tourism market are international exhibitions and fairs. They provide a wide range
The system of organizational and managerial activity of a tourist enterprise
The system of tour operator and travel agency activities in the tourism and hospitality industry is built on the use of effective innovative business logistics technologies.
Progressive integration with the Consumer
The scientific basis of progressive integration is marketing management. Marketing management is a system of theoretical knowledge and skills in planning, development, formation and pro
Strategic investment, business planning in tourism
The scientific basis for effective investment planning is strategic management (Figure 4.1, economic link 3). Strategic management - a complex of strategic management
With a resource provider
The scientific and applied basis of regressive integration in tourism is the activity in booking, reservation and automated information systems (Figure 4.1, economic links 4; 5).
Management of the quality and competitiveness of the tourism product
The scientific basis of this technology is innovative management (Figure 4.1, economic link 6). Innovative management in tourism - a system of theoretical knowledge, practical mind
Promotion of a tourism product (tours, tourism services and goods)
The scientific basis for promotion is sales marketing (Figure 4.1, economic link 7). Effective organization of tour promotion includes the main stages: 1) Organization of additional
Travel agency activity
The Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Tourism" defines that travel agency activities are entrepreneurial activities of legal entities or individual entrepreneurs (tourage
Contractual relations in tourism
The Law of the Republic of Belarus "On Tourism" considers the issue of relations between a tourist enterprise and a tourist in general terms. An agreement with a tourist is the main document on the basis of which
Tourist formalities
Tourist formalities in the activities of tourist enterprises are usually understood as procedures related to the observance by tourists crossing the state border of certain conditions.
Tourism insurance
The safety of tourists in general in a country or in a tourist destination is associated with a large number of rules and regulations that must be implemented not only by the tourism administration
Information technology in tourism
The use of databases on the scale of one tourist enterprise allows you to organize and ensure the accumulation of data on sales, partners, suppliers, process accumulated
Tourism and hospitality industry
Tourism industry - a set of hotels and other accommodation facilities, means of transport, facilities for sanatorium treatment and recreation, catering facilities, facilities
Accommodation industry. hotel chains
The hospitality industry as a type of economic activity includes the provision of hotel services and the organization for a fee of short-term accommodation in hotels, campsites, motels
Organization of tourist accommodation service
v An accommodation facility is any facility that regularly or occasionally provides overnight accommodations. Accommodation facilities form the backbone of the tourism industry.
Organization of catering services for tourists
An important role in tourism is played by catering services, with the help of which the physiological need of tourists for food is satisfied. In international tourism practice, food, as a rule,
Sociocultural support for tourists
The leisure and entertainment industry provides socio-cultural support for tourists. In tourist centers, cycles of interconnected events of the touring and entertainment industry are held during the season, exhibitions
Organization and conduct of excursions
The organization and conduct of the tour are carried out by guides, guides-translators - specialists with professional tourism education, who have studied and mastered the excursion
Technology and stages of preparing a new excursion
Creating a new excursion (i.e. writing a control text, drawing up a route, selecting objects, writing a technological map) on any topic is a complex process that requires
Drawing up a route and technological map of the excursion
The route of the tour should be well thought out, connected with the process of showing objects during the tour, depending on the sequence of viewing the object adopted for this tour.
Methodology and technique of the excursion
The method of conducting the tour is aimed at helping tourists to more easily learn the content of the tours. The tour is conducted with the help of methodological techniques, which are divided into two
Transportation in tourism
The transport used in tourism is classified by the World Tourism Organization into land (road and rail); water (underwater and surface); air.
Organization of tourist animation
Tourism animation has a direct connection with the leisure and entertainment industry. At the same time, animation services are always isolated in the structure of the tourist product. Along with
The current state and dynamics of tourism development in the Republic of Belarus
The tourism potential of the republic is based mainly on the diversity and beauty of nature, the uniqueness of the historical and cultural heritage and consists of more than 15 thousand objects with historical
The structure of tourism management in the Republic of Belarus
The main objectives of state regulation in the field of tourism of the Republic of Belarus are: - ensuring the rights of individuals to rest, freedom of movement and other
Priority areas for tourism development
Analyzing the main trends in the development of the tourism industry at the global level, we can note the constantly growing and steadily increasing indicators of the development of this sector. For this tourism was
With its own characteristics: the isolation of tourism activities, the presence of risks, focus on profit from the sale of tourism services, state registration of subjects of tourism activities.
Tourist activity can be represented as a joint work of travel organizers in the formation and implementation of a tourist product, on the one hand, and the activities of tourists purchasing this product, on the other.
At the present stage of tourism development, it is customary to distinguish three main areas of tourism activity:
- The main goal of tour operator activity is to develop, promote and sell a new tourist product,
- Travel agents carry out work on the promotion and implementation of travel services,
- The work of other travel companies.
The creation of a new tourist product implies a certain algorithm of actions for a tourist who acquires the rights to the services included in the tour on the basis of agreements with persons providing individual services. Promotion of tourist services implies a set of measures aimed at selling it and increasing the level of sales. The means to achieve the implementation of the tour are advertising, exhibitions, the creation of information centers, the creation of catalogs, booklets, leaflets and so on. Realization, in fact, is the final process of tourism activities and implies a direct presentation of the tourist product to the consumer and its sale. Evaluation of the effectiveness of tourism activities, first of all, consists in customer satisfaction with the goods received, the growth in demand for services and the return of the client to the travel agency to buy a new tourist package again.
Functions of tourism activities
It is customary to single out several functions that perform tourism activities:
cognitive function. This function implies - obtaining new knowledge, getting to know new territories, cultures, nationalities, etc.
health function. Leisure and rest is, first of all, the restoration of the physical strength of a person. Recreation occupies a special place in tourism activities within the framework of the function under consideration.
social - communicative function. A tourist during his trip not only perceives the impact of the new surrounding world, but also actively influences it. Especially, this applies to international tourism, when interaction is carried out between different nationalities with their traditional ways. Certain efforts are required from the tourist and the host to achieve mutual understanding and friendly relations. Cooperation between tour operators and the host country also deserves special attention.
sports function. Active recreation has always been in demand among urban residents. Improving one's health, increasing sports opportunities, respectively, leads to a qualitative change in the standard of living.
aesthetic function. The spiritual development of a person, along with sports, is of great importance for a person. Therefore, tour operators are developing tours to creative places, museums, theaters, historical and new architectural complexes, and so on.
creative function. This function is a consequence of travel, when the tourist receives new experiences and new knowledge and opportunities, sees new facets of the world. This leads to the need to create and realize their creative potential.
pilgrimage function. The religious direction in tourism is one of the most ancient. The need to visit places of spiritual significance for certain groups of people leads to a variety of tourism programs in this area.
Tourism product as a result of tourism activities
Tourist product is the foundation of the tourist offer. Tourist product is a combination of complex elements. Some of its components may be included in the tour program and be recorded in the voucher. Considering the tourism product in the manufacturing sector, it can be determined that this is a certain combination of the quantity and quality of products, goods and services of the tourism industry that have been formed at the moment for sale to tourists.
The tourism product is based on a combination of resources and opportunities. In tourism theory, they are represented by several elements:
- tourist resources included directly or indirectly in the tour object;
- tangible and intangible objects, including various products, as well as related services designed to meet the needs of tourists or accompanying the process of their consumption of travel services;
- tourist services created to organize the consumption of a tourist product by a consumer - a tourist.
Based on the foregoing, three sources of the tourist product can be distinguished:
- Natural resources;
- an ordered system of knowledge and technologies of tourism and tourist services;
- the organizational and legal structure of enterprises and trained personnel of enterprises in the tourism sector, the tourism industry, related industries, capable of serving the satisfaction of tourist interest and being an object of consumption at all levels.
Remark 1
So, a simple tourist product can consist of one service or a set of services, an enterprise or associations of enterprises. It can also be a complex tourism product represented by a wide range of tourism services. An even higher level is occupied by a tourist product developed by a large tour operator, which includes not one tour, but several dissimilar destinations to one or more regions and centers. The highest level is represented by a regional or territorial tourism product, and the national tourism product completes this system.
Characteristics and properties of the tourist product
In the modern theory of tourism, it is customary to distinguish four main characteristics of a tourist product:
- intangibility of travel services. When providing services, there is no possibility for their demonstration, transportation, storage, etc.
- continuity of production and consumption. The production and consumption of services are directly interconnected and cannot be separated. The service is not created for the future, but is provided simultaneously with the appearance of the client
- variability. The quality of the service provided is inextricably linked with the professionalism of its specialist, his communication skills, courtesy, etc.
- inability to store. This characteristic forms an imbalance between supply and demand.
The tourist product, along with specific characteristics, also has special properties:
- situationality - the service provided earlier may differ upon repeated application;
- individuality - the company's focus on the individual needs of the client;
- the difference in the properties of the use value of tourism products is due to the fact that if there is a desire to purchase a tourism service, it is impossible to determine its clear characteristics upon actual receipt;
- uncertainty and relative anonymity of the source of travel services - due to the fact that when buying a tourist voucher, the client knows only a travel agency that guarantees him the quality of the service of enterprises that will be provided to him in the future;
- saturation phenomenon - occurs in connection with such a feature of tourism as seasonality and leads to an increase in the flow of tourists to certain areas;
- the tourist product is created by the efforts of many enterprises - it follows that each company pursues its own goals, is engaged in solving its own problems;
- the buyer overcomes the distance separating the place of purchase of the tourist product from the place of its consumption - this leads to the fact that the client can directly use the services only at the place of arrival;
- the use of travel services leads to the purchase of goods and services consumed both free of charge and sold at the place of arrival;
- costs associated with services that arise not only when purchasing a tourist product, but also during the trip itself;
- the process of tourist consumption is always limited in time and space;
- the subjectivity of the quality of the tourist product - is associated both with the state of the environment and the human factor among the service personnel, and with the well-being of the client himself;
- external factors - they are due to the fact that the travel agency is not responsible for their occurrence. Examples include terrorism, natural disasters, military conflicts, and so on.
Specialists have identified several consumer properties of the tourist product:
- hospitality - includes the dignity, respect and courtesy of the staff;
- reasonableness – the provision of all services must be consistent with the purpose of the travel of the tourist;
- reliability - compliance of the product actually provided to the tourist with advertising, reliability of information;
- efficiency - achieving the greatest effect for the tourist while minimizing his costs;
- integrity - completeness of the tourist product;
- clarity - the consumption of a tourist product, its focus, should be clear to both the tourist and the manufacturer;
- ease of operation - the ability to easily detect errors in maintenance technology;
- flexibility - the tourism product should provide for the possibility of replacing certain services in order to be focused on different consumers;
- usefulness - the ability to serve the achievement of any goal, to satisfy the needs of a specific target group of consumers.
The exact definition of a tourist product is given by the law "On the Fundamentals of Tourism in the Russian Federation". A tourist product is a right to a tour intended for sale to a tourist.
According to some authors, this definition does not correspond to generally accepted international definitions regulated by the WTO World Tourism Organization, of which Russia is a full member, and in some cases contradicts the Standard International Classification of Tourism Activities.
In turn, the law defines a tour as a complex of services for accommodation, transportation, meals for tourists, excursion services, as well as services of guides-interpreters and other services provided depending on the purpose of travel.
Based on the law on tourism activities, most of the authors of tourism textbooks define a tourism product as a combination of material (consumables) and intangible (services) consumer values necessary to fully meet the needs of tourists that arise during their travel.
At the same time, a tourist product is an economic category, and, unlike tourist services, it can take the form of a commodity. The service as such can be purchased and consumed only at the place of its production, while the tourist product can be purchased at the place of residence and consumed only at the place of production of tourist services.
From the point of view of marketing, according to its main characteristics, tourism has no fundamental differences from other forms of economic activity. At the same time, there is a specificity in tourism that distinguishes it not only from trade in goods, but also from other forms of trade in services. In tourism, there is trade in both services and goods (according to experts, the share of services in tourism is 75%, goods - 25%), as well as the peculiarity of the consumption of tourist services and goods at the place of their production, moreover, in a certain situation .
A tourist product is a service or a set of services (at least two), interconnected and different in their functional features. The main and mass tourist product of tour operator firms is a tour, i.e. travel on a specific route based on a comprehensive service.
According to experts in the field of tourism, the tourist product consists of three elements: a tour, additional tourist and excursion services and goods (Fig. 1.1).
Rice. 1.1. Tourism product structure
Sometimes a tourist product is associated with the concept of a "tourist package" - the main (obligatory set of services provided on an individual or group trip, which is of a serial nature and is offered for serial sale. A distinctive feature of a tourist product from a tourist package is that the tourist package - this is only a part of the tourist product, or more precisely, an obligatory part of the tour.
The tourist package includes four mandatory elements: a tourist center, transport, accommodation services, transfer (Fig. 1.2).
Rice. 1.2. The structure of the tourist package
tourist center - a place of rest for a tourist, including all his recreational opportunities: natural, cultural, historical, ecological, ethnic, socio-demographic, infrastructural. This element is mandatory, because without an object of interest it is impossible to organize a trip. It must be chosen. The tourist center is an integral symbol of interest that combines all the motives of the individual regarding recreational resources. Each tourist, coming to the tourist office, chooses his object, regardless of the scale of the territory. For one it is a country, for another it is a region, for a third it is a specific locality. Regardless of the individual interest of the consumer, the tour operator is obliged to reduce it to a single option - the tourist center. The tour operator is obliged to deliver the tourist to a specific place of rest, because it is there that the transport will be ordered, the hotel will be ordered there, etc.
Transport - means of transport with which you can get to the tourist center. The most widely used means of transportation is without a doubt the aircraft. For short distances - train, tourist bus, car. Most of the costs that determine the cost of a tour package are transportation costs. The more comfortable and fast mode of transport is used, the higher the cost of travel. With regard to high-speed modes of transport, it should be noted that, despite their high cost compared to other modes, they are also used for short distances, as they save tourists time for recreational purposes.
Accommodation services are the services of a particular hotel, which is offered to the tourist for accommodation during the trip. The order of accommodation in hotels differs according to the type of hospitality services that are offered to the tourist. These can be hotels, motels, villas, apartments, boats, campsites, etc. Catering services are not included as a separate element in the tourist package, since in tourism they form part of the accommodation services. In tourism, the following combinations of accommodation and meals are accepted:
- - BB - accommodation + breakfast;
- - HB - half board: accommodation + breakfast + dinner;
- - FP - full board: accommodation + breakfast + lunch + dinner
By purchasing a combination of BB or HB, the tourist gets the freedom of choice, since in this case he can model the program of his stay in the tourist center, choosing a restaurant at his own discretion, or he can go on an excursion, which usually includes lunch.
Transfer - delivery of a tourist from the place of arrival, located in the host country (airport, harbor, railway station), to the place of accommodation (hotel), where he will live, and back. Transfers are carried out using buses, sometimes taxis or limousines, if this type of transfer is included in the tour package or requested by the tourist. The package implies the obligation of tourist services and this distinguishes it from a tourist product. By purchasing a package that includes the mandatory basic elements, the tourist not only receives significant discounts from the tour operator (since he has purchased a serial tourist product of the tourist enterprise), but can always ask the tour operator to expand it by including other services, or he can do it on his own - directly in the tourist center .
The package of services on the tour is formed depending on the purpose of the trip and the needs of tourists according to the type of tourist recreation they have chosen.
When forming a tour and its package, there are two options for working with tourists: a) implementation of custom tours ; b) implementation of inclusive tours .
Custom tour.
When selling custom tours, the formation of the program and the acquisition of the composition of services are carried out at will and with the direct participation of the tourist. He is offered a choice of different service options for each type of service in his intended place of rest:
accommodation - different in terms of level, type and location of the hotel;
meals - different options (full or half board, or no meals at all), buffet or "a la carte" with service, etc .;
excursions, leisure and entertainment services to choose from;
transport services - options for air travel, rail travel, car rental, etc.;
sports and resort services - the use of such programs to choose from, as well as the possibility of trekking or hiking;
visa services, as well as insurance services (if necessary), etc.
The tourist himself participates in the preparation of the program of his vacation or trip. The services chosen by the tourist are formed into the tour program, the price that the tourist pays when purchasing the tour package (trip package) is calculated.
Typically, such orders are formed in agencies and then come to the tour operator for implementation. To ensure high-quality and prompt execution of orders, computer communication systems are currently widely used in international tourism, the users of which are many travel agencies and operator companies in the world. In international tourism, computer and telefax communication is widely used, which makes it possible to quickly (within one and a half hours) solve the problem of completing the package, calculating the price and selling the tour.
Inclusive tour.
This is a tour with a rigid, pre-planned (before contact with the client) set of services, focused on a certain type of recreation or tourism, as well as on the social class of tourists and their age. The most common inclusive tours can be called route tours, when a group of tourists travel by bus to several cities and countries. The peculiarities of preparing and conducting such a tour (a single program for all, strictly linked to the timing and schedule of the trip) do not allow making it custom-made. Cruise tours, hobby tours are also inclusive.
The composition of services on an inclusive tour does not change during implementation. The tourist has the right to buy it entirely or refuse it altogether.
Inclusive tours are organized and offered on popular routes (for example, "Classic Italy" or "Bus around Europe", etc.), to well-known tourist and recreational places that are in steady demand.
Most of the cost of inclusive tours is usually the payment for transport and accommodation, the smaller part is the payment for meals. The cost of other services, including excursions, is a small share of the total cost.
Inclusive tours make it possible to count on special air fares provided by airlines to travel agencies specifically for these tours. An inclusive tour for a tourist tariff in accordance with the requirements of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) must include at least three services: air travel, hotel accommodation along the entire travel route and one more, any, not related to the first two (excursion, car rental and etc.). Despite fluctuations in demand for such tours, they have certain advantages for their further development:
- in general, a complex trip costs less than a set of services purchased separately;
- it is easier for the travel agency to advise the client which route to choose, since the program and prices of services are known in advance;
- more opportunity to show the attractiveness of your product.
A tourist product goes through a series of successive stages in its development, called the product life cycle (Fig. 1.3).
The stage of bringing the product to market. This phase of the life cycle requires promotional spending (this is the best time to advertise a new product or service). This stage is characterized by high costs, slow sales growth and advertising campaigns to stimulate initial demand. It is in this period of the life cycle of a tourism product that there is a large percentage of failures, and due to the high costs of bringing a product or service to the market, there is still no profit at this stage.
Growth stage. In this period, the novelty, if it is in demand in the market, satisfies the interests of the market, which is reflected in the growth of sales and profits. Profit growth can make the market attractive to competitors. The firm's promotional costs remain high, but here the focus is on motivating the targeted choice and purchase of a particular firm's tourism product, rather than on motivating consumers to buy and try that tourism product. During the growth phase, the number of retail outlets for a product or service usually increases. During this period, the market becomes attractive to competitors, but due to economies of scale, prices for the service may decrease.
stage of maturity. A mature product is a tourist product that has already firmly established itself on the market. Its sales rates may continue to increase, but at a slower pace. Then they gradually level out. At this stage of the product life cycle, many retail outlets selling a product or service are very competitive. Firms are trying to find ways to maintain their market share. Ski resorts are the most appropriate example of a mature product. After several years of increasing sales growth, sales growth is gradually slowing down, resorts are trying to maintain their market share and diversify the offer.
saturation stage. At this stage, sales volumes reach their highest point, the product penetrates the market as much as possible.
Mass production and the use of new technologies make it possible to reduce the price level and make the tourist product more accessible to everyone.
Decline stage. Many tourism products remain at the saturation stage for several years. However, many of them become obsolete over time and new products are introduced to the market to replace the old ones. At the stage of decline, the demand for the product is reduced, advertising costs are reduced. As demand and profits fall, firms that cannot withstand competition leave the market. Only a small number of competing firms remain.
Rice. 1.3. Product life cycle
In the literature on tourism, a tour is defined as the primary unit of the tourist product, sold to the client as a whole, the product of the tour operator's work for a specific route and at a specific time.
Paying attention to the structure of the tour, you can determine that it consists of a tourist package with a full range of services on the route and at specific times (Fig. 1.4).
As noted above, tourism belongs to the non-industrial sector, because. services are the main subject of exchange and account for 80% of total sales in developed tourism markets.
A tourist product has four characteristics that distinguish a service from a product:
- 1. Intangibility
- 2. Inseparability of production and consumption
- 3. Variability
- 4. Failure to store
Rice. 1.4. Tour Structure
However, the tourism product, along with the specific characteristics of services, has distinctive features:
- · Due to seasonal fluctuations in demand, there is a so-called saturation phenomenon. As a result, quite clearly defined tourist zones can be distinguished (for example, “sun sea” - Cyprus, Greece, Turkey; “rest - treatment” - Karlovy Vary, Baden-Baden, “sport” - Slovakia, Austria, Switzerland , Kamchatka), etc.;
- tourism product is created by the efforts of many organizations, each of which has its own methods of work, specific needs and different commercial goals;
- the buyer overcomes the distance separating him from the product and the place of consumption of the tourist product;
- tourism product depends on variables such as time and space. The seasonality factor is of great importance (marketing activities of a tourist enterprise will differ during the peak season and off-season). In the off-season, additional measures to stimulate demand are needed - low prices, various additional services, etc.;
- · a significant impact on the quality of the tourist product is exerted by external factors of a force majeure nature, i.e. not dependent on the will and actions of the seller and the buyer - weather, natural conditions, politics, international events, etc.
Qualitatively and quantitatively, tours can be characterized by a set of indicators presented in fig. 1.5.
Rice. 1.5. Tour characteristics
The tourist product has certain consumer properties and specialists in the field of tourism distinguish several main ones:
- reasonableness - the provision of all services must correspond to the purpose of the tourist's travel;
- Reliability - compliance of the product actually provided to the tourist with advertising, reliability of information;
- Efficiency - achieving the greatest effect for the tourist while minimizing his costs;
- Integrity - the completeness of the tourist product;
- · clarity, ease of use - the consumption of the tourist product, its focus should be clear to both the tourist and the manufacturer;
- Flexibility - a tourist product should provide for the possibility of replacing certain services in order to be “focused on different consumers;
- usefulness - the ability to serve the achievement of any goal, to satisfy the needs of a specific target group of consumers.
It should be noted that a tourist product will have all these properties only if certain principles of hospitality are observed, and this depends primarily on the staff of the travel company:
- Creation of a positive image of the tourist area, organizations serving tourists;
- the desire of service personnel to provide maximum attention to the wishes and requests of the tourist;
- Providing full information about the possibilities of recreation, entertainment, etc.;
- · benevolent attitude towards tourists, which should be elevated to the principle of service.
It should be noted that the creation of a positive image of the tourist area depends not only on the attendants of the travel agency. The local population also plays an important role in creating a positive image of a tourist destination. The behavior of the inhabitants of the settlements through which the travel route passes, their benevolent or not very attitude towards tourists, lifestyle and many other aspects influence to a large extent the creation of a positive image of the tourist area. Not the last role here is given to the state and regional authorities and local governments that pursue, or at least should pursue a policy of development of the tourism industry, create attractive conditions for the development of the tourism industry, and take part in the development of tourism infrastructure.
Tourism, as defined by the International Academy of Tourism (Monte Carlo, Monaco), is a general concept for all forms of temporary departure of people from their place of permanent residence for recreational purposes or to satisfy educational interests in their free time or for professional and business purposes without engaging in paid activities along with temporary stay .
Tourism is the activity of persons traveling or staying in places outside their usual residence for a continuous period of not more than one year for leisure or business or other purposes, not connected with the performance of any remunerated activity in the place of residence.
Thus, the definition of tourism is based on the following features:
- - tourism is the result of the movement of people;
- - tourism always includes two elements: travel to the destination and stop there;
- - travel means leaving the country (or region) where the tourist permanently resides;
- - travel is a temporary movement of a tourist along a tourist route.
The main criteria for tourism are as follows:
- 1) Change of place outside the usual place of residence. Tourism is a type of travel and covers people staying in places outside their permanent place of residence;
- 2) Movement of people in fairly short periods of time. According to statistics, the largest share is occupied by weekend tourism (2-3 days), followed by small tourist trips (6-7 days), a smaller share is occupied by 8-12-day trips;
- 3) Stay in another place, while the place of stay should not be a place of permanent or long-term residence. It should not be related to labor activity (wage). This nuance should be taken into account, since the behavior of a person engaged in labor activity differs from the behavior of a tourist and cannot be classified as tourism. Another condition is that travelers must not stay in the place they visit for 12 or more months in a row. A person staying or planning to stay for more than one year in a certain place is considered a permanent resident from the point of view of tourism and therefore cannot be called a tourist;
- 4) Departure of people from their place of permanent residence to another area, country for tourism purposes. Movements within the area of permanent residence (for example, daily commuting) cannot be classified as tourism;
- 5) Payment for labor from a source in the visited place. The essence of this criterion is that the main purpose of the trip should not be the implementation of activities paid from a source in the place visited. Any person entering a country for work paid from a source in that country is considered a migrant and not a tourist. This applies not only to international tourism, but also to tourism within one country. Every person traveling to another location within the same country (or to another country) for an activity paid from a source in that place (or country) is not considered a tourist of that place.
Analysis of the above features and criteria allows us to identify the signs of tourism:
- - business trips, as well as travel for the purpose of spending free time - this is a movement outside the usual place of residence and work. If a resident of the city moves around it in order to make purchases, then he is not a tourist, since he does not leave his functional place;
- Tourism is not only an important branch of the economy, but also an important part of people's lives. It covers the relationship of a person with his external environment.
Consequently, tourism is a set of relationships, connections and phenomena that accompany the trip and stay of people in places that are not places of their permanent or long-term residence and are not related to their work activity.
Tourism is a tour operator and travel agency activity of tourist enterprises, as well as other organizers and intermediaries (for example, transport companies).
All types of products or services consumed by tourists can be classified as follows:
- - hotels and restaurants (including catering);
- - services of travel agencies and travel agencies;
- - services of excursion bureaus and others.
Tourism statistics documents list the following typical tourism products:
- 1) accommodation services: services of hotels and other accommodation facilities; second home services at own expense or free of charge;
- 2) services of catering establishments;
- 3) passenger transport services: intercity transportation by rail; transportation by road; transportation by water transport; transportation by air; ancillary services related to passenger transport; leasing of passenger transport equipment; maintenance and current repair of passenger transport equipment;
- 4) services of travel agencies, tour operators and guides: services of travel agencies; tour operator services; information support for tourists and services of guides;
- 5) cultural services: performing arts; activities of museums and other cultural services;
- 6) recreational services and other services in the field of entertainment: sports activities and services in the field of amateur sports; other services in the field of entertainment and recreation;
- 7) various tourist services: financial services and insurance; other services for leasing goods; other tourist services.
Tourism as a commodity is sold in the form of services. A tourism service, like a service in general, is the action of a certain consumer value, expressed in a beneficial effect that satisfies one or another human need. At the same time, the service can be provided either by a thing, that is, with the help of a commodity, or in the process of functioning of living labor itself.
To determine the features of the provision of tourist services, it is necessary to consider the essential features and features of the service as such.
The fundamental essential feature of services is a single process of production and personalized subjective consumption. A specialized process of connecting a service provider with an individually specific consumer, purposefully bringing the labor itself and its results to the consumer, is called “service” or “service”. At the same time, a tangible, materialized product of production is not provided to the consumer. The service process, as a rule, is individual, multivariate, creative in nature, differentiated in time, place, terms and methods of providing services, etc.
Service is a process that includes a series (or several) intangible actions that, of necessity, occur in the interaction between customers and service personnel, physical resources, systems of the service provider enterprise. This process is aimed at meeting the needs of the buyer of the service.
There are two types of services themselves: material (production), mediated with a thing, and intangible (non-production), not related to material products, the production of which is inseparable from their consumption.
If we turn to the definition adopted in international standards, then a tourist service is the result of the activities of an organization (tourist enterprise) or an individual entrepreneur to meet the relevant needs of tourists in organizing and implementing a tour and its individual components.
A tourist is a consumer of tourist services, works and goods - a tourist product (Figure 1). This is an indisputable truth, and a tourist center that forgets or neglects at least one of these components does not receive the planned tourism income.
On the contrary, those tourist centers in which everything is put at the service of the tourist and all branches of the tourism industry are harmoniously developing succeed and can allocate huge funds for the further development of the tourism industry.
Figure 1 - The main components of the tourism product
In accordance with the previous analysis, a tourist service is a set of purposeful actions in the service sector that are focused on providing and satisfying the needs of a tourist or a sightseer, meeting the goals of tourism, the nature and direction of a tourist service, tour, tourist product, not contradicting the universal principles of morality and good order. .
Service itself is an invisible commodity of a special kind. The service arises in the process of its consumption and does not exist separately, by itself. This is the main difference between a service and a product.
In addition, the good is usually delivered to the consumer, and in relation to the tourism service, the consumer is delivered to the place of its generation. Therefore, the production and sale of tourist services are regulated by different legislation than similar actions in relation to ordinary (tangible) goods. And although the Federal Law “On the Fundamentals of Tourism Activities” attempts to apply the rules of retail sale and purchase to trade in services, this is incorrect from a legal point of view, since retail sale and purchase regulates the trade in material items.
The difficulty is the definition of export tourism services. In the classical version, the export tourist service of the tourist leader (head) of the tourist group in the part carried out abroad, as well as the services of the bus driver sent to work abroad, should be classified as export.
For Russia, it is also important to define tourist services for foreign tourists provided on the territory of Russia as export services. There is a corresponding clarification of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, which classifies tourist services provided to foreign tourists in Russia by local travel companies as export activities. It is because of this that these firms can receive remuneration for their work in foreign currency.
Tourist services include: booking services, including transportation and accommodation and all others, issuing permits and other formalities, all types of transportation, meetings, seeing off and transfers, accommodation, meals, excursions and attractions, medical support and insurance, guide services - translators and other support.
The services may include the head of a tourist group, a guide-interpreter, who can sometimes act as a guide, if this does not contradict local rules for organizing excursions, for business tourists, the services of an adaptation specialist can be specially provided.
The list of services for each tour is different and is determined by the program, and each of these services contains many incoming elements.
If we consider tourism, then according to general principles, the presence of at least two services in the tourist package is mandatory - transportation and overnight stays. The package of services can be expanded by the tourism organizer at the request of the tourist, or such tourist services are provided by the organizers of the reception of tourists at the place of choice.
The latter is very important, since the principles and traditions of price competition in the sale of tours lead to minimization of the price of the tour, by minimizing, first of all, the set of services. In addition, one should take into account the mentality factor inherent in almost tourists of all nationalities, with the exception of the most affluent segments of the population.
We note separately the psychological factor. A tourist at the stage of choosing and purchasing a tour seeks by any means to minimize spending money on its purchase. Spending money is an inherent pleasure of a tourist service, but already directly on vacation.
The tourist wants to spend money on vacation at his own discretion, and therefore the purchase of additional services in the form of excursions and other entertainment is included in the range of actions called free spending of money. The thesis, a priori applied to tourism in this case, is that a tourist spends much more money on a trip than in his everyday life. In general, he saved them up for a whole year, and on vacation or a tourist trip he spends them with pleasure quite easily, at least for a week or two, freeing himself from the hardships of saving.
According to international statistics, tourists abroad spend up to 600 USD per week at the place of stay. At the same time, the majority of Russian tourists abroad spend, in general, two to three times more than tourists from other nations and countries.
Specialists of Russian tourism distinguish five clear special factors inherent in tourist services:
Unlike a good, which is only ready for consumption when it has finished moving from the place of production to the place of consumption, tourism services and goods can be consumed if the consumer is brought to the place of their production;
The formation of consumer income in that part of it that is intended for the purchase of tourist services and goods is regulated by the conditions of the country of permanent residence, although the consumption process itself is formed by the conditions of countries of temporary residence or world prices;
In the process of tourism, the consumer bears the costs both for meeting the needs that do not depend on being away from home, and caused by the very fact of travel;
The process of tourist consumption is limited in time (travel).
Tourist service as an "invisible" product has a number of features:
intangible nature;
Inability to accumulate;
Production and consumption take place simultaneously;
The consumer participates in the process of production of tourist services.
The tour is a complex of various services (accommodation, meals, transport services, household, tourist, excursion and others), combined on the basis of the main purpose of the trip and provided on a specific route at a specific time.
In addition to services, tourists can buy goods for tourism purposes. The totality of services and goods for tourism purposes forms the concept of "tourist product".
Tourist product includes:
Tours united by purpose (educational, health-improving, etc.);
Tourist and excursion services of various types (accommodation, meals, transport services, etc.);
Tourist souvenir goods (cards, postcards, badges, souvenirs, etc.).
Tourist services offered as a commodity on the world market are quite diverse. These include :
Tourist accommodation services (in hotels, motels, boarding houses, campsites, boatings);
Services for the movement of tourists to the country of destination and throughout the country by various types of passenger transport;
Services for providing tourists with food (in restaurants, cafes, bars, taverns, cafeterias, boarding houses);
Services aimed at meeting the cultural needs of tourists (visiting theaters, concert halls, museums, art galleries, natural and historical reserves, historical and cultural monuments, festivals, sports competitions);
Services aimed at meeting the business interests of tourists (participation in congresses, symposiums, scientific conferences, fairs and exhibitions);
Services of trade enterprises (sale of souvenirs, gifts, postcards, transparencies);
Documentation services (passports, visas, etc.).
A tourist can be provided either certain types of services of his choice, or a full range of services.
Tourist services have some features that are characteristic of services in general, in comparison with traditional goods. Four specific features are meant, namely: intangibility, inseparability from the source, impermanence of quality, perishability.
At the same time, these features, characteristic of services in general, have their own specifics in tourism. First of all, we are talking about the complexity of tourist services, which is understood as such a specific property of service activities, which is due to the provision of a whole range of services.
The complex of tourist services includes heterogeneous types of services, combined by type of activity into the following groups: hotel services, catering services, beverage sales services, canteen services and ready-made food delivery services, travel agency and travel agent services, tourist assistance services.
It is also necessary to note the positive property of the specific feature of the non-permanence of tourist services, namely, that due to this property, the consumer tourist market is not actually saturated.
For example, if a durable product is purchased, then as long as this product does not become morally obsolete or fails, there is no new need to purchase a similar product in return.
The tour as a product is not saved, upon returning from the tour there are impressions, memories, photographs, souvenirs that encourage you to go on a trip again either to the same place or to another.
Using this property, travel agencies try to maintain relationships with regular customers, offer them such trips to which they go again.
Tourist services are not material, as they are socio-cultural (non-material), since they are determined by the activities of the service provider to meet physical, ethical, intellectual, spiritual and other needs.
Tourist services are perceived by all human senses (touch, smell, hearing, sight, taste). This perception is subjective, and it may not coincide with the consumer's expectations obtained when buying a tour from a travel agency.
The subjective, emotional perception of tourist services leaves an imprint not only on consumption, but also on the ability to give an objective assessment of the result of the production activities of tourism companies, which acts as a beneficial effect.
Tourism services are characterized by the inseparability of production and consumption. Since the service is the result of direct interaction between the performer and the consumer, the process of providing a tourist service (production) occurs in parallel with consumption.
Tourist benefits are separated from the buyer in time and space, the consumer cannot use them until they are consumed, which is carried out directly at the place of provision of tourist services. This property is further enhanced by the fact that in order to gain access to tourist benefits, it is necessary to set off on a journey, overcome the distance, and reach the destination. The consumer needs professional help.
A necessary condition for the consumption of tourist services is the personal participation of the client in the process of providing the service. The quality of the service provided depends on how he participates, on establishing good contact between the performer and the consumer, on the personal qualities of the client himself.
The possibility of performing tourist services is under the influence of external factors that are of a force majeure nature and do not depend on the actions of the seller or buyer: natural disasters, aggravation of the international situation, military operations, etc.
Thus, the tourist service has its own specific features:
1. Tourist service is a complex of tangible and intangible components, characterized by a complex system of relationships between their various components.
2. Demand for tourism services is extremely elastic with respect to income levels and prices, but largely depends on political and social conditions.
3. As a rule, the consumer cannot see the tourist product before its consumption, and the consumption itself in most cases is carried out directly at the place of production of the tourist service.
4. The consumer overcomes the distance separating him from the tourist service itself and the place of consumption, and not vice versa.
5. The level of quality of a tourist service depends on variables such as space and time, and fluctuations in demand are characteristic of it.
6. The offer of tourist services is characterized by inflexible production. It can be consumed directly on site. A hotel, airport, recreation center cannot be transferred at the end of the season or to another region. They cannot adjust in time and space to changing demand.
7. The tourism service is created by the efforts of many enterprises, each of which has its own working methods, specific needs and different commercial goals.
8. The high quality of a tourist service cannot be achieved in the presence of even minor shortcomings, since the service of tourists consists of these very “little things”, by which the service as a whole is judged.
9. The assessment of the quality of a tourist service is highly subjective: a great influence on the assessment of the consumer is exerted by persons who are not directly related to the package of purchased services (for example, local residents, members of a tourist group, etc.).
10. The quality of tourist services is influenced by external factors of force majeure (natural conditions, weather, tourism policy, international events, etc.).
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