Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism
What the sector is
Hospitality and tourism covers every business that serves people away from home: hotels and guest houses, restaurants and bars, tour operators, transport providers, attractions, and the public agencies that promote and regulate them. A candidate must be able to separate the four sectors of the visitor economy: accommodation, food and beverage, travel and transport, and attractions/entertainment. Understand the difference between hospitality (service delivered to guests, often locally) and tourism (travel away from the usual environment for leisure, business or other purposes, usually for less than a year).
Why people travel
Learn the standard motivators: leisure and recreation, visiting friends and relatives (VFR), business and conferences, health, education, and religious pilgrimage. Know that tourism is a demand-driven industry and that disposable income, paid leave, transport cost and safety all affect demand.
Economic and social importance
Be ready to explain tourism's contribution through foreign exchange earnings, employment (direct, indirect and induced), infrastructure development and cultural exchange. Also recognise leakage (money leaving the local economy through imported goods or foreign-owned operators) and seasonality.
Traps in questions
- Confusing a tourist with an excursionist: an excursionist stays less than 24 hours and does not use overnight accommodation.
- Treating a domestic visitor as a foreign visitor; domestic tourism involves residents of the same country.
- Assuming all tourism jobs are direct; a taxi driver serving tourists is direct, a farmer supplying a hotel is indirect.
Rule of thumb
Use the 24-hour and overnight test: if the visitor stays overnight and travels outside their usual environment, they are a tourist; if they return the same day, they are an excursionist. Worked example: a family from Gaborone drives to Kasane for three nights - domestic tourists. A businessperson flies in, attends a meeting and leaves the same evening - an excursionist.