Volume and
dimensions of tourism have been raising so rapidly in last years that it has
attracted attention of everybody. With the increase in the life standard,
leissure time and transportation facilities; people have started to travel more
than any other period of history. Tourism’s important role in economy and
socio- cultural aspects is well accepted. But the tourism nowadays is not
simple one; like going to holiday to enjoy good weather. Modern tourists have
diverse interests than traditional ones. On the other hand, environmental,
political and local participation issues are being raised in tourism.
Hence, it is
necessary to know the components and elements of tourism industry in order to
grasp the essence of the phenomena.
There are four major components of tourism industry;
1.
Accomodation
2.
Transportation
3.
Attractions
4.
Support services
Accomodation
In the early
history, there were only limited kinds of loding; inns, boarding houses etc.
With the development of transportation, variety and quality of loding facility
was increased. With the developmentof railways, roadways, waterways and
airways, lots of places with loding facilities were developed. In last half
century, the range and type of accomodation has changed significantly. There is
a decrease in the traditional small private hotels/bread and breakfast and
boarding houses. Share of big hotels in accomodation industry is increasing.
Non-traditional type of accomodation such as holiday village are on trend.
A.J. Burkart and
S. Medlik have classified the holiday accomodation into four categories;
1.
Service accomodation; including hotels, pension houses, guest houses
etc.
2.
Self catering accomodation;
camping, caravan, rented house etc.
3.
Homes of friends and
relatives; normally as non-paid guests
4.
Other accomodations; like
boats, youth hostel etc.
Any modern
holiday destination provides a wide range of lodging facilities. Sometimes,
special types of accomodation or luxury hotel becomes a main reason for visit
in the particular destination; for example Bahamas. Nevertheless, accomodation
occupies a biggest share in the total tourist expenditure. For example, accomodation
noted down 32% share in total expenditure amongh foreign tourists in UK in 1978
which is still not less in present day tourism (British Tourist Authority,
1978).
Transportation
Transportation
is the blood stream of tourism developement. Development of tourism in any
destination depends on the level of development of transportation . The reason
of being Europe as no. 1 tourist generating and attracting region is the
excelent system of transportation in the reason. When we overview the tourism development in
the world, it goes along with the pace of development in transportation system.
In the ancient
times, walking and use of beasts of burden were main way of transportation.
With the invention of steam engines, railway and water transportation became
more efficient and widely used. Introduction of railway system paved the way
for long haul travel in europe and developed countries. Motor cars enhanced the
speed and volume of travelling which is still continuing. Aeroplanes
facilitated for faster and long haul travel into any part of the world. With
each invention of transportation means, there is an extra milestone for the
tourism development.
Basically, we
can divide transportation means into;
— Air transportation; aeroplanes, helicopters, rocket....
— Rail transportation; treins and luxury ones....
— Road transportation; bus, cars etc
— Ocean transportation; boat, ship, cruise ships etc
— others ; cable car, beasts of burden etc
In the context
of Europe, private cars have a significant share in tourism transportation.
Open borders and excellent system of roadways creates a convenience for that.
There is a growing competition in the airline industry and lots of options are
available to reach any tourist destination. Cruise ships are still a mean of
luxury water transportion. In the complex topography and adventure
destinations, walking and beast of burden still stands as a popular mean of transportation.
Attractions
Attractions are
the reason for visit to any place. Attractions can range from man made heritages
to the natural ones. Michael peters(1969)has drawn up an inventory of tourist
attractions;
1.
cultural; sites with cultural,
historical,political and archaelogical importances
2.
traditions; festivals, arts and
handicrafts, local music, lifestyle etc
3.
Scenic; places with spectacular
natural views, wild life and biodiversity
4.
Entertainment; sports events,
recreational parks, night life etc
5.
Other attractions; excellent
climate, unique attractions
Support services
Support services are those services that help
tourist to enjoy his stay in the destination. Without these services, a
tourist’s stay in the destination might not be comfortable. Examples of these
services are;
— Information facilities
— Insurance services
— Guiding services
— Money exchange/drawing facilities
— ........................................................
These services
are provided by public as well as private sectors. In public sector; NTO,
regional and local tourist organisations are responsible for the tourist policy
formulation , publication for the informations for the tourists etc. Private
companies cater guiding, street food, drink stall etc.
Elements of tourism
Besides the four
components of tourism, there are certain other factors that are essential for
tourism. For instance, a tourist may repeat the visitation to Nepal because he
has some passion for hospitality of people and his emotional ralations. Let’s
see these factors;
1.
Pleasant weather/climate; people have preference for favourite climate.
People living in cold places long for sunny climate and people living in
tropics dream for cooler places. Often people long for
better climatic/weather forms than they have.Sometimes, experiencing different
climate is a motivation for travel. That’s why, people travel from;
·
Offshore to coast/beaches
·
Cloudy/cold to sunny/warm
places
·
Warm/cool to winter holiday
destinations
·
And sometimes, experience of
extreme climate like tropical desert, rainforest, monsoon etc can be a
motivation for travelling.
2.
Scenic attractions; any potential tourist choose
his destination after seeing, hearing or
making imagination of spectacular landscape of the place. Scenic
landscapes can be divided into;
·
Manmade landscape; traditional
houses, festivities, roads etc.
3.
Accesibility; people travel to the
places nearer and easily reachable though other destination farther may offer
better things. More people of europe prefer to go to austria to view mountains
whereas Himalayan countries offer far better experiences. So, nearer to the
tourist generating countries, more chances of getting tourists to the
destination. On the other hand, destination near to the transportation hub have
greater advantages. For example, being near to singapore (a big air traffic
hub), Bali has advantage of getting lots of tourists.
4.
Historical and cultural factors; people
are nostalgic to history and exotic cultures. So, people travel to;
·
Places with historical events
in past; Rome, Berlin, Lumbini......................
·
Places with cultural
significance; Paris as ‘ cultural capital of Europe’ and London as ‘melting pot
of cultures.’
5.
Amenities; people look for the
facilities/services that not found in the place of origin. So, if any
destination offer better amenities like interesting shopping facilities,
excellent food, luxuray products etc, it becomes an added value for the
destination.
6.
Hospitality; value of all facilities and conveniences can decrease
if there is no good hospitality. Certain destination like Thailand have good
name for hospitality which is the prominent reason for a large number of
tourists as well as repeated visits. In general, hospitality is a general
feeling of welcome that visitors receive while visiting a destination area.
Hospitality depends on;
·
Tourist services supplied by
service providers
·
General feeling of warmth from
the local population.
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