Introduction to Travel, Tourism and Hospitality
This domain tests the vocabulary and models the rest of the course depends on: who counts as a tourist, how tourism is classified, what the tourism system contains, and how hospitality fits in. Expect definition-led multiple-choice items and short application questions.
Definitions that carry marks
- Tourist (UNWTO): a visitor who stays at least one night outside their usual environment, for less than one year, for leisure, business or other purposes. A same-day visitor is an excursionist, not a tourist.
- Domestic tourism: residents travelling within their own country. Inbound: non-residents entering. Outbound: residents leaving.
- Tourism system: attraction, accessibility, accommodation, amenities and ancillary services. A destination fails if any link is weak.
- Hospitality covers accommodation, food and beverage, and guest service; it is part of tourism but also serves local customers.
Worked example
A family from Ludhiana drives to Amritsar, visits the Golden Temple, stays two nights and returns. Reasoning: they stay in India, so it is domestic tourism; they stay two nights, so they are tourists, not excursionists; the purpose is leisure. If they returned the same night, they would be excursionists. If non-resident Indians made the same trip from Canada, it would be inbound tourism for India.
Traps
Calling every traveller a tourist; ignoring the one-night rule; confusing inbound with outbound; treating hospitality as only hotels; forgetting that business travel is tourism.