NCHM JEE key terms

The practice of welcoming and caring for guests by meeting their needs for food, shelter, comfort and service, usually in commercial settings such as hotels, restaurants and resorts.

The activity of people travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for leisure, business or other purposes for not more than one consecutive year.

A person who travels away from home for leisure, business or other reasons and stays at least one night but less than a year in the place visited.

A visitor who travels to a place outside their usual environment for less than 24 hours without staying overnight, such as a day-tripper or cruise passenger on shore leave.

Tourism practised by residents of a country travelling within their own country, without crossing an international border, often the largest segment of national tourism demand.

Tourism involving non-residents travelling into a country to visit it; these visitors bring foreign exchange and are counted in a country's international arrival statistics.

Tourism involving residents of a country travelling to another country; spending by these travellers counts as an import of services in the home country's balance of payments.

A place with attractions, amenities and access that draws visitors and where they spend time, such as a city, resort, region or country marketed as a travel product.

A natural or man-made feature, site or event that motivates people to visit a place, ranging from monuments and beaches to festivals and theme parks.

The bundle of physical and service elements a visitor buys or experiences at a destination, including transport, accommodation, attractions and activities, often assembled by tour operators.

A pre-arranged combination of transport, accommodation and sometimes meals or activities sold at a single inclusive price, typically assembled and sold by a tour operator.

A business that assembles tourism components such as transport, hotels and sightseeing into packages and sells them, usually through travel agents or directly to consumers.

A retail business that sells travel products and services, such as tickets, packages and insurance, on behalf of principals like airlines, hotels and tour operators, earning commission.

A detailed day-by-day plan of a journey listing places, timings, transport and activities, prepared by a traveller or agent to organise and communicate the trip.

The hotel department handling reservations, registration, guest information, cashiering and check-out, acting as the main point of contact between the hotel and its guests.

The hotel department responsible for cleaning and maintaining guest rooms and public areas, managing linen and laundry, and ensuring comfort and hygiene standards throughout the property.

The hotel or restaurant function of preparing service areas, taking orders and serving food and drink to guests, covering styles from table service to buffet and banquet operations.

The sequence of stages a hotel guest passes through: reservation, arrival and registration, occupancy, and departure, with each stage generating records used for service and billing.

The arrival process in which a guest registers, presents identification, confirms booking details and receives a room key, marking the start of the occupancy stage.

The departure process in which the guest settles the bill, returns the key and completes formalities, after which the room status is updated for housekeeping and billing records closed.

The percentage of available rooms sold in a given period, calculated as rooms sold divided by rooms available multiplied by one hundred, a key measure of hotel performance.

Total room revenue divided by the number of rooms sold in a period, showing the average price actually achieved per occupied room rather than the published tariff.

The practice of adjusting room rates and inventory availability by segment and date to maximise total revenue, based on forecast demand, booking pace and price sensitivity.

A term used in food and beverage operations for one seated diner, used to count business volume, plan staffing and calculate average spend per guest.

A printed or displayed list of dishes and drinks offered by an establishment, arranged in courses or categories and priced to guide guests and support kitchen planning.

The gap between what guests expect and what they actually receive, judged through reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangible cues in the service setting.

Tourism managed to meet visitor needs while protecting the environmental, social and cultural resources of host areas and improving long-term benefits for local communities.

Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains local people's well-being and involves interpretation and education for visitors.

The maximum number of visitors a site or destination can absorb without unacceptable damage to its environment, infrastructure, resident life or visitor experience.

The regular fluctuation of tourism demand across the year caused by climate, holidays and school terms, producing peak and off-seasons that affect staffing, pricing and cash flow.

An endorsement or permission granted by a country allowing a foreign national to enter, usually issued before travel and specifying purpose and permitted length of stay.

An official document issued by a national government certifying the holder's identity and nationality and requesting permission for the holder to travel abroad and return.

The government process of checking travellers entering a country, verifying documents and purpose of visit, and granting or refusing entry at border control points.

The conversion of one country's currency into another at an official or market rate, a service travellers need abroad and a source of earnings for tourism destinations.

The process by which tourist spending circulates through a local economy, generating successive rounds of income and employment as businesses and residents respend the money received.