Structure of the Tourism and Travel Industry

-Hayley Blunden

The tourism industry is huge and can be broken up to into a number of sectors.

Transportation is essential to tourist, whether they are going to and from airports or taking scenic tours. Types of transport include; Airlines Coach operators Cruise liners Railways Taxis Car rental companies

Transportation

This is made up of organisations which provide accommodation and sometimes food, beverage, and entertainment to visitors who are travelling away from home. Types of accommodation include; Hotels/motels Bed and breakfast Resorts Apartments Caravan/camping grounds farm stays

Accommodation

There are many other subsectors of the tourism industry which provide important support services to visiting tourist including; Tour guides Tourist information centres Travel insurance companies Retail outlets (duty free and souvenir shops) Food, beverage and entertainment outlets Travel guide publications Industry associations Tourism authorities Councils Research bodies Task forces

Information and coordination

These businesses organise and/or conduct tours and events which are generally components of packaged holidays. For instance, a wholesaler such as Sunlover holidays buys travel products in bulk (flights, accommodation, tour, attractions, tickets etc.) and packages those into travel deals which are then marked to travel agents and/or the general public. Wholesalers can be further segmented into inbound or outbound providers, packaging travel either in Australia or for overseas destinations. Tour operators usually operate locally and provide visitors with tours to specific attractions or regions, such as a day trip to the local wine region.

Tour operations and wholesalers

It is important to note that, although not classed as a sector of the tourism industry, the government must be included as a major influence on tourism, especially due to its huge role in tourism planning, research, promotion, advising and regulation.

Government

Attractions are often the lure for tourist to travel to a destination. Accommodation, transport and restaurants are considered ancillary services and in most cases are not the primary motivations for travel. Attractions can be either packaged into a tour or sold as a standalone product. They are quiet varied; some are free while others are not, some are government owned while some are commercial etc. Attractions can be segmented into: Natural e.g. parks and zoos Historical e.g. museums and monuments Cultural e.g. galleries, theatres, indigenous centres Manmade e.g. big pineapple, the Sydney Opera House Entertainment e.g. amusement parks, cinemas, sporting

arenas Festivals e.g. Mardi Gras, royal shows, Melbourne cup

Attractions

MICE stands for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition tourism. It involves the planning organising and hosting of short term or one-off events. Most major cities have convention centres designed to attract these events. This competitive sector contributes significantly to the industry due to size, cost and ancillary services involved in staging events. Meetings – off site gatherings (conventions and seminars) Incentives - corporate travel/trips to reward high performing

employees Conferences – large scale training, workshops and

information sessions Exhibitions – events which showcase industry products and

services (tradeshow)

Meeting and events

Travel agents and agencies are considered the public face of the industry and acts as a travel retail shop for consumers. They are essentially the intermediary that sells tourism services provided by other businesses. Travel agencies can target the general public, corporate markets and/or niche markets. They provide a range of services, such as travel advice, ticket sales, visa information and insurance needs.

Travel agents

Hayley Blunden