Introduction to Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry
This domain introduces the scope of travel, tourism and hospitality and tests whether you can classify travellers, identify industry sectors and use basic tourism terminology accurately. PSEB NSQF questions often give a short Punjab-based scenario and ask you to label it correctly.
Core distinctions
- Tourism is travel away from the usual environment for less than a year, for leisure, business or other purposes, not for permanent remunerated work.
- A visitor includes tourists (overnight) and excursionists (same-day). A traveller may be a commuter, migrant or crew member, not a tourist.
- Domestic, inbound and outbound describe market flows, not distance.
- The five A's are attraction, accessibility, accommodation, amenities and ancillary services.
Industry sectors
Travel agencies and tour operators, transport, accommodation, food and beverage, attractions, events and tourist information form the industry. Hospitality is broader than hotels: it includes accommodation, food service and guest-facing service.
Worked example
A family from Ludhiana drives to Amritsar, visits the Golden Temple and returns the same evening. They are domestic excursionists, not overnight tourists. Reasoning: the trip is within India (domestic), away from home, under 24 hours (excursionist) and for leisure or pilgrimage. If they stay overnight in a hotel, they become domestic tourists.
Traps that cost marks
Calling every traveller a tourist; treating a school commute as tourism; ignoring purpose; and defining hospitality as only hotels. Remember that an NRI whose usual residence is abroad and who visits Punjab is an inbound visitor.
Key points
- Tourism lasts under one year.
- Excursionist: under 24 hours.
- Five A's frame a destination.
- Domestic, inbound and outbound are market flows.
- Hospitality is wider than hotels.