what is tourist product

What is Tourism Product? Definition, Types, Characteristics

• Post last modified: 3 October 2021
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What is Tourism Product?

Tourism Products are a combination of goods and services demanded by a tourist during travel to and stay at a destination. These include natural, cultural and manmade attractions and facilities such as hotels, transport and ancillary services.

In this process, tourists derive an experience which varies from individual to individual. From a broader perspective, the sum total of experiences derived by the tourists during the entire trip can be considered as the product.

Table of Content

• 1 What is Tourism Product?
• 2 Definition of Tourism Product
• 3.1 Natural Tourism Product
• 3.2 Man-Made Tourism Product
• 3.3 Symbiotic Tourism Product
• 3.4 Event Based Tourism
• 3.5 Site Based Tourism Product
• 4.1 Intangibility
• 4.2 Inseperatability
• 4.3 Perishability
• 4.4 Heterogeneity
• 4.5 Essentially of Users Presence
• 4.6 Complexity in Marketing
• 4.7 Absence of Ownership

Definition of Tourism Product

Burkat and Medlik say tourism products to an array of integrated products, which consist of objects and attractions, transportation, accommodation and entertainment, where each element of the tourism product is prepared by individual companies and are offered separately to consumers (tourist/tourist).

The tourism “product” is not the destination, but it is about the experiences of that place and what happens there. – Chris Ryan

Economist M. Sinclair and Mike Stabler define the tourism product as a “composite product involving transport, accommodation, catering, natural resources, entertainment and other facilities and services, such as shops and banks, travel agents and tour operators.”

According to Suswantoro (2007:75) on substantially the understanding of tourism products “is obtained and the overall service felt or enjoyed by tourists since he left his residence to the tourist destination of his choice and to return home where she originally departed”.

Types of Tourism Products

Following figure describes the classification of Tourism Product:

Natural Tourism Product

Man-made tourism product, symbiotic tourism product, event based tourism, site based tourism product.

These are the products connected to the natural environment. Natural environment that constitutes natural resources which is related to area, climate and its settings, and the landscapes. These natural resources are the most important elements in a destination’s attraction. Such as countryside, climate, natural beauty, water, flora and fauna, wildlife, beaches, deserts, islands or any scenic attraction.

Some examples of natural tourism products in India are Marina beach- Chennai, Darjeeling hill station-West Bengal, Islands of Andaman & Nicobar- Andaman & Nicobar, Deserts of Thar-Rajasthan, etc

Something which is not natural, found in the destinations to attract the tourists. These are man-made creations. As per the tourism point of view they are made for pleasure, leisure or business.

Man-made tourism products are further divided into three subtypes:

• Sites and areas of archaeological interest
• Historical buildings and monuments
• Places of historical significance l museums and art galleries
• Political and educational institutions
• Religious institutions
• Fairs and festivals
• Arts and handicrafts
• Folklore l native life and customs
• Amusement and recreation parks
• Sporting events
• Zoos and oceanariums
• Cinemas and theatres
• Night life l cuisines

Examples of Man-made tourism products are Ajanta and Ellora cave-Maharashtra (Cultural), Surajkund Craft Mela-Haryana (Traditional), Essel World-Mumbai, etc

This type of tourism product do not fall in any particular category because they are a blend of nature and man but the core attraction is nature. These are the natural resource that has been converted into a tourism product by maintaining and managing them.

In other words man has taken initiative to preserve the natural aspects of earth and also managed in a way to provide best possible services to the tourists who come for the visit, for example, accommodation, parking facilities, etc. Some examples are National Park or Wildlife Sanctuaries, Flower Festival, Marine Park, Aero and Water Sports, Botanical Garden etc.

In India, there are many national parks like Ranthambhore-Rajasthan, where tigers and many animals are preserved and tourists are given facilities like a jungle safari.

Product Here event is the main source of attraction. Tourist comes to observe and participate in the events. Events are temporary in nature and are often mounted in order to increase the number of tourists to a particular destination.

Some events are for a short time scale while other last for longer days. Sometimes events are mounted in those places where the tourist’s eye usually don’t reach such as unusual exhibitions.

Some examples of event-based tourism product include Camel Polo at Jaisalmer- Rajasthan, Kite flying in Ahmedabad-Gujarat, where tourists also participate and observes. In Snake boat race-Kerela, one can enjoy witnessing it. Short time scale event includes Republic day parade-New Delhi and long days event include Khajuraho dance festival-Madhya Pradesh.

It is a particular site or a place, permanent in nature which is the main source of attraction for the tourists. In India examples are like Taj Mahal, Beaches of Goa, Sunset at Kanyakumari, Temples of Khajuraho, etc.

Characteristics of Tourism Product

Following are the main characteristics of tourism products:

Intangibility

Inseperatability, perishability, heterogeneity, essentially of users presence, complexity in marketing, absence of ownership.

As discussed earlier in this chapter, tourism products are actually the services that are being sold to the tourists, and it’s not the goods. Services can’t be seen, smelled, felt or touched, it can only be experienced. What can be seen is their effect.

For example, a guide’s comments can be heard. A travel agents books a ticket from place A to B. The ticket is just a piece of paper, an entry pass for using the service. An airline provides the service of transportation, comfort and leisure. A thorough evaluation of the service before buying it is therefore impossible and leads customers to use other cues to help them assess the service like the interior of the restaurant, the appearance of the hotel entrance or the behaviour of the receptionist.

A service of a tourism product cannot be separated from the provider of the service. For most services, the producer and the seller are the same people. Services are manufactured and consumed at the same time. In the case of products, consumption takes place after production and often far away from the factory.

In the case of tourism products for example a guide has to be present to explain the attraction. A pilot has to be present to fly a plane. Both service providers and the service user have to be physically present for mutually satisfying the exchange of service. The visitor to a national park cannot experience counter service if the receptionist is not present, nor can the receptionist render the service is the visitor is absent.

The tourism product is highly perishable, which means it cannot be stored. For example, a hotel room or an aeroplane seat that is not sold on a particular day, is a lost sale. If the tourists don’t visit a particular place, the opportunity is lost. If the opportunity is lost, the moment is lost. This adversely affects the tourism business.

The demand has to be managed by the marketer in such a way as to ensure that as little capacity as possible is lost. The problem is unique for the tourism industry. Due to these reason sometimes heavy discount is offered by hotels or transport generating organization.

Services offered by most people are never the same. There is some degree of variability present in almost all types of services. This may be due to the extensive involvement of people in the production of service. This issue is not present when a machine dominates. Depending on the mood, behaviour, working style, efficiency and knowledge of the people variability exist.

For example, all air hostesses cannot provide the same quality service like the other. Yet again the same individual air hostess may not perform the same uniform service both in the morning as well as in the evening.

Even the tour package and the aircraft can’t be consistent of equal standards because an aircraft can de-shape the travelling pleasure into a nightmare and a holiday seaside is ruined by the prolonged rainy spell.

Another reason for variability of service is the involvement of customers in the process of product delivery and consumption system. For example, a musician performing at a program may not perform with uniformity. His performance will depend on the response and appreciation of the audience. Hence service varies from person to person, time to time and from situation to situation.

In travel and tourism businesses, service quality depends on uncontrollable factors and there is no sure way of knowing whether the service delivered matched what was planned or promoted, or what was expected by the customer.

Presence of the user is necessary to avail the service. The customer or the guest has to be personally present on the spot. It can’t be brought to the user. As in the case of other tangible goods, the buyer can avail the service from anywhere or from his home. But in the case of tourism products, it is not at all possible. The tourist has to go to the tourist attraction to experience the tour.

However the marketers here need an in-depth study of users behaviour, tastes, preferences, likes and dislikes so that expectations and realities coincide and satisfaction is made possible.

Tourism product involves complexity in marketing. It requires a lot of effort to convince a buyer. As in the case of travel agents. In order to sell their tour package they need to convince the customer by introducing various facilities, discounts and services. Product demonstration is bit difficult in the case of tourism product.

As in the case of tangible goods like television. As soon as we buy it, we become the owner of it. But this is not the case with tourism products. A tourism product when sold to the customer or tourist, he can only avail the service but can’t be its owner.

For example, while buying a hotel room, while buying a seat in an aircraft or a luxurious train, you can only take the facilities of the service for a certain time. You can’t be its owner for lifelong.

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What is a tourism product? Classification of tourism product services

Here at Hanami Hotel Danang , nestled in the heart of this vibrant coastal city, we have come to understand the true essence of what a tourism product is. It is more than just a service; it’s an experience—a tapestry of local culture, meticulous service, and memories waiting to be woven.

What is a tourism product? Classification of tourism product services. Venture with us as we explore the physical and emotional contours of these offerings, understanding their importance in the grand puzzle of travel and human connection.

This exploration is as much a journey for us as it is for you—arousing passion, expanding knowledge, and cementing our shared love for the world’s cultures and the adventures they hold.

What is a tourism product? Definition of tourism product

A tourism product is the elements and services created to meet the needs of tourists during their travels. These are the components and experiences that tourists can purchase or use to enjoy and make the most of their trip.

Tourism products include transportation means such as airplane tickets, train tickets, or bus tickets for tourists to reach their desired destinations. Additionally, there are accommodation services like hotels, resorts, guesthouses, or homestays, providing comfortable and convenient places for tourists to stay.

Tour packages are a popular tourism product, offering a service package for tourists to visit and explore destinations. They often include transportation, accommodation, tour guides, and related tourism activities. Tour guides are also an important service, accompanying tourists and providing information, guidance, and navigation throughout the trip.

Moreover, tourism products also include entertainment and sightseeing activities. Tourists can engage in activities such as nature exploration, historical site visits, enjoying the sea, and outdoor sports activities. Tourism products may also include culinary services, shopping, and visiting entertainment venues.

Components of a tourism product

Having grasped the concept of a tourism product, we will delve into its fundamental components. A tourism product is a complete experience from when a tourist leaves home until they finish their trip. From this, we can infer that the elements constituting a tourism product include:

Transportation

Transportation is an indispensable element of a tourism product. It ensures that tourists have the means to arrive at and move between different destinations during their trip.

The modes of transportation are diverse and varied, including airplanes, trains, buses, bicycles, motorcycles, and even other vehicles such as boats, cruise ships, cable cars, and horse-drawn carriages.

Airplanes are the primary mode of transportation for international or long-distance travel. They offer speed, convenience, and comfort to tourists. Airplanes also enable tourists to overcome long distances and access hard-to-reach destinations that might not be possible with other modes of transport.

Trains are a popular mode of transportation for domestic and international travel. Buses are a flexible and cost-effective option for city and regional travel. Bicycles and motorcycles help tourists save on transportation costs while also providing a more intimate experience with the environment and local community.

Additionally, in certain special cases, other modes of transportation such as boats, cruise ships, cable cars, and horse-drawn carriages may be used.

Boats and cruise ships are suitable for exploring seas, rivers, lakes, and islands. Cable cars offer thrilling sensations and stunning views from above. Horse-drawn carriages provide a traditional and environmentally friendly experience for tourists.

Accommodation Services

The provision of rest and lodging is a crucial part of a tourism product. When traveling, tourists need a safe and comfortable place to rest after their exploratory activities. Accommodations can include various types such as hotels, resorts, guesthouses, rental apartments, homestays, camping sites, and tents.

Hotels are a popular choice for tourists, especially in urban and developed tourist areas. Hotels typically offer a range of services and amenities such as comfortable bedrooms, restaurants, bars, fitness centers, and other facilities like spas and swimming pools.

Hotels can be categorized by star ratings to assess the level of comfort and quality of service. Whether it’s a hotel, resort, guesthouse, rental apartment, homestay, or camping site and tent, tourist accommodations must meet the basic needs of tourists for comfort, safety, and convenience.

Bedrooms should be fully equipped with necessary amenities such as beds, wardrobes, and lighting. Additionally, bathrooms must be clean and include facilities such as showers, bathtubs, sinks, and personal hygiene items.

Moreover, accommodations must also provide other amenities and services such as restaurants, bars, fitness centers, spas, swimming pools, cable TV, internet, and room service. The service staff should also be friendly, professional, and ready to assist tourists throughout their stay.

 Activities and Experiences

Travel is not just about moving to a new location, but it is also an adventure filled with experiences and exciting activities. As tourists embark on their journey, many activities and experiences await them.

One of the most significant experiences in travel is discovering famous tourist landmarks. Tourists can visit large cities and charming small towns, explore the unique architecture of temples, shrines, palaces, and churches, or admire the stunning scenery of dense forests, mountains, rivers, and seas.

Each destination has its own beauty and draws tourists into its historical and cultural story. Beyond exploration, tourists can also participate in entertaining activities.

With beautiful beaches, tourists can dive into the underwater world through activities like scuba diving, windsurfing, sailing, or surfing. Rivers and lakes also invite tourists to go kayaking or enjoy exciting boat trips.

If tourists want to challenge themselves, they can go mountain climbing, hiking, or exploring fascinating caves. These activities not only allow tourists to enjoy the incredible natural beauty but also bring a sense of excitement and satisfaction.

An indispensable part of travel is enjoying local cuisine. Tourists can embark on a culinary adventure, savoring specialty and traditional dishes at restaurants, eateries, and night markets.

Sampling unique foods and immersing oneself in local culinary culture is a wonderful way to gain a deeper understanding of the country and its people.

Guidance and Support Services

Services that provide information, guidance, and support for tourists during their travels are crucial to ensure they have a smooth and memorable trip. First, professional tour guides play an important role in providing information and guidance to tourists.

Customer support services also play a vital role in meeting the needs and requests of tourists. Customer support staff will advise and assist tourists in booking, ticket changes, itinerary information, and answering related queries.

Tourism information is also an essential service to help tourists get the necessary information before and during their trip. Tourist information centers provide tourists with information about tourist sites, destinations, schedules, and activities.

Tourists can learn about famous landmarks, local events, and available entertainment activities. Tourism information also includes tour packages, attraction tickets, and pricing information so tourists can choose and shape their trip.

Food and Culinary Services

In the field of tourism, elements related to culinary services and food play an important role in providing a unique and culturally rich experience for tourists. These services include a range of options such as restaurants, cafes, bars, hotel dining services, or on-site cooking services.

Restaurants are where tourists can enjoy a variety of local signature dishes. Restaurants may serve traditional dishes, local specialties, and international cuisine. By tasting local dishes, tourists have the opportunity to experience and discover the flavors, aromas, and cooking styles characteristic of the destination.

Restaurants can also create a unique space and environment for tourists to enjoy their meal and the culinary atmosphere.

Cafes and bars are also popular spots for tourists to enjoy drinks and light snacks. Cafes typically offer a variety of coffees, from traditional black coffee to special and blended types.

Additionally, cafes may serve other beverages such as tea, fruit juices, and light alcoholic drinks. Bars usually focus on serving alcoholic beverages and provide an entertainment space for tourists.

Classification of tourism products

There are many ways to classify tourism products based on various factors. Below is a common classification based on the main types of tourism products:

Cultural Tourism

This includes exploring historical sites, scenic landmarks, unique architecture, and experiencing the culture of a place. This could involve visiting museums, touring historical sites, attending local cultural festivals and events, and learning about the culture, history, and traditions characteristic of a culture.

Exploring historical sites, scenic landmarks, unique architecture, and experiencing the culture of a place is an important part of the travel experience. Through visiting museums, touring historical sites, attending local cultural festivals and events, and learning about the culture, history, and traditions of a culture, tourists have the opportunity to access the profound and unique aspects of the place they visit.

This not only provides tourists with a great experience but also expands their knowledge and understanding of the world around us.

Nature Tourism

This includes exploring and discovering beautiful natural landmarks and areas such as forests, mountains, seas, lakes, streams, meadows, and national parks. Tourists can engage in activities such as mountain climbing, hiking, fishing, caving, scuba diving, or visiting and enjoying special natural landscapes. Exploring and enjoying beautiful natural landmarks and areas gives tourists unique and unforgettable experiences. Tourists can participate in many activities such as mountain climbing, hiking, fishing, caving, scuba diving, or visiting and enjoying special natural landscapes. Each landmark and area offers its own beauty and unique experience, contributing to making the trip interesting and memorable.

Recreational Tourism

This tourism includes visiting amusement parks, theme parks, zoos, playgrounds, stadiums, casinos, popular shopping venues, and other entertainment activities. Tourists can enjoy games, go on rides, watch performances, and participate in sports and entertainment activities at these locations.

Tourists can enjoy games, participate in sports and entertainment activities at places like amusement parks, theme parks, zoos, playgrounds, stadiums, casinos, and explore popular shopping venues. With the diversity and richness of these activities, tourists can create memorable moments during their trip.

Arts and Culture Tourism

This includes experiencing art and cultural events such as watching art performances, cinema, live music, opera, ballet, visiting art exhibitions, participating in art courses, or engaging in local cultural events.

These artistic and cultural experiences not only bring joy and relaxation but also help tourists discover and understand more about the local culture, history, and artistic development. At the same time, participating in these activities creates opportunities for interaction, connection, and sharing of artistic and cultural passions with other art lovers.

Sports and Adventure Tourism

Activities include mountain climbing, hiking, cycling, wall climbing, caving, surfing, scuba diving, swimming, exploring terrain, camping, and other adventurous activities.

These sports and adventure activities bring excitement, challenge, and discovery to tourists. However, before participating in any activity, tourists should check safety and comply with local regulations to ensure a safe and memorable experience.

Resort and Relaxation Tourism

Enjoy a relaxing holiday at resorts, villas, luxury hotels, or famous beach, mountain, or city destinations. Tourists can enjoy spa services, massages, yoga, swimming, golfing, and participate in recreational activities at the resort.

Enjoying a relaxing holiday at resorts, villas, luxury hotels, or famous destinations provides tourists with an enjoyable and serene experience. From enjoying spa services, yoga, and swimming to playing golf and participating in recreational activities, people can find relaxation and happiness in their vacation.

As we conclude this journey into the intricacies of tourism products, we hope you have gained a deeper appreciation for the myriad experiences and services that come together to create memorable travel moments. Here at Hanami Hotel Danang, our greatest reward is crafting unforgettable memories for our guests against the backdrop of this vibrant coastal city and the alluring Vietnamese culture.

We invite you to become part of this tapestry yourself—allow us to be your guide as you explore lantern-lit streets, discover local delicacies, and find sanctuary in the arms of gentle waves and cherry blossoms in bloom.

Our tailored experiences, meticulous service, and insider knowledge of Danang’s hidden gems await. Contact us at Hanami Hotel Danang or visit hanamihotel.com to begin your journey today.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

• Address: 61-63 Hoang Ke Viem, Bac My An, Ngu Hanh Son, Da Nang
• Phone: 0905432992
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://hanamihotel.com
• Google Map: https://g.page/hanamihotel
• Facebook : https://facebook.com/hanamihotel

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Understanding the Tourism Product

The aim of this paper is to propose a marketing-oriented definition of the tourist product as well as a classification system of its components based on an extensive review and analysis of tourism marketing literature. Tourist products satisfy the tourist needs and are the objects of the transactions between tourists and businesses. Determining the tourist products is most helpful for social scientists interested in understanding the aforementioned transactions and the benefits derived by consuming these products. This proves to be a challenging task, though, due to the lack of a common understanding among the authors who have explored this issue as well as due to the different levels of tourist products and their complex nature. For instance, tourist products can be determined on two distinct levels: ➢ The total tourist product comprises a combination of all the elements, which a tourist consumes during his/her trip. ➢ The specific products are components of the total tourist product and can be sold as individual offerings such as accommodation, transport, attractions and other facilities for tourists. This paper focuses on the total tourist products, that can be understood as bundles of tangible and intangible components, based on an activity at a destination. It is the consumption of such a bundle that allows engaging in specific activities at the destination(s) and that creates the travel experience of each individual. Thus, the tourist product can be equated with the total travel experience. Tourist products are characterised by their complex nature. They consist of numerous components ― most of which constitute products themselves ― with each one playing a distinct functional role in this “amalgam of tangible and intangible elements”. These components complement each other, i.e. they are functionally interdependent as each one provides only a part of the total sum of benefits sought by tourists.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, the planning and development of the tourism product.

Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing

ISBN : 978-1-78756-292-9 , eISBN : 978-1-78756-291-2

Publication date: 29 November 2018

This chapter introduces its readers to the concept of tourism. It sheds light on the rationale for tourism, as it explains the tourists’ inherent motivations to travel. It also describes different aspects that together make up the tourism industry. Tourists travel to destinations that are accessible to them. They require accommodation if they are visiting a place for more than 24 hours. Leisure and business travellers may also visit attractions, and engage in recreational activities. Hence, the tourist destinations should have the right amenities and facilities. In this light, this chapter clarifies how destinations may offer different products to satisfy a wide array of tourists. Tourism products can include urban (or city) tourism, seaside tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, wine tourism, culinary tourism, health tourism, medical tourism, religious tourism, cultural (or heritage) tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism, business tourism (including meetings, incentives, conferences and events), among others.

• Hospitality
• Destination
• Destination marketing
• Tourism intermediaries
• Travel agencies
• Destination management
• Accommodation
• Low cost airlines

Camilleri, M.A. (2018), "The Planning and Development of the Tourism Product", Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing , Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-291-220181001

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Tourism product development.

At one extreme, tourism product development can be defined as embracing all elements with which the visitor to a destination comes into contact. This includes infrastructure (e.g., transport, utilities), the service personnel, places of lodging, attractions, activities, facilities, and amenities.

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At a more focused level, tourism product development can be defined as comprising only those attractions, activities, and facilities provided explicitly for the visitor.

The tourism product development is the process by which the resources of a destination are shaped to meet international and domestic customers’ requirements. This covers everything from humanmade facilities or attractions to activities requiring varying levels of physical input and organized events such as festivals and conferences.

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Creating a well planned tourism product is vital for better positioning and visibility in global tourism tourism market. It brings innovations, experiences and services to the market for tourists to charmed.

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7 Keys to creating a successful tourism product

What is a tourism product?

Basic functions of a tourism product, keys to designing a tourism product, examples of tourism products.

Within the competitive tourism sector, innovation, and the offer of products to propose stands out as one of the real competitive advantages and differential elements to navigate with strength in this tough market.

The tourism product becomes an important resource to work to attract a different audience and diversify the philosophy and brand of our travel agency .

But… How do you create a successful tourism product? Let’s highlight the keys that will help you develop an optimal tourism product. Let’s start at the beginning…

The tourism product is defined as the total set of functionally interdependent tangible and intangible elements that allow the tourist to meet their needs and expectations.

From a marketing point of view, the tourism product is a resource that fulfills two very different tasks:

• Each tourism product meets a need of its consumer through the benefits it incorporates. 
• Tourism products are the means to achieve sales targets. The design of the tourism product itself is the claim to increase conversions. 

Also, it is necessary to point out the importance of knowing the type of customer we want to attract and whether we can offer a product that meets the unique expectations of the selected niche of customers . It is equally important when designing a tourism product to consider the special travel agency regime to know the fiscal responsibilities and also how each transaction should be accounted for.

Also, our travel agency must have a brand culture and philosophy that must be in line with the tourism products to design and sell.

Given that meeting the needs and expectations of the client is a key factor in creating a tourism product, we must look to the functions that this tourism product must perform.

It is, therefore, possible to list 6 priority functions to be resolved to outline our tourism product project:

• Allows the tourist to participate in the main activity of the trip. 
• Besides being a part of the main activity, it facilitates to live the total experience of the trip as the tourist wants. 
• It facilitates transport to and from the destination , as well as within the destination itself. 
• Enhance the social interaction of the tourist during the trip. 
• Helps and simplifies travel preparation and management. 
• It makes it easier for the tourist to remember and revive the trip , to share that trip and experience with other people. 

Note : The main activity can be defined as the objective to be carried out with this tourist package: ecological tourism, cultural tourism, etc…

Through these functionalities, it is already possible to have a basic outline of what our tourism product should contain.

It is time to show the main keys to consider in drawing a professional and highly competitive tourism product.

Keeping the tourist as the main axis of the tourism product, we will start with those keys related to the needs that urge a person to make a tourist trip.

Means and conditions for participating in the main activity of the trip 

Everything related to what is offered to the tourist to enjoy what he wants for the trip. 

Elements in the trip’s destination and the trip’s transportation, for example, luxury cruises, boats, or trains.

Natural, cultural conditions, people, socio-economic conditions of destination, events, facilities, equipment, goods, and services related to the main activity also come into play in this category.

Qualitative aspects to involve the tourist in the main activity

At this point, all those aspects that help establish how the tourist is to engage and interact in the journey are defined.

The issues can be very different:

• Family trip or exotic destination 
• Greater or less distance from the place of residence to destination. 
• Luxurious or traditional atmosphere, etc… 

On the other hand, also, everything linked to all the comforts a tourist needs to visit a destination and consume its “attractions” must be covered.

Modes and other transport components

Clear and detailed definition of all transport systems enabling the transition from a place of residence to destination and vice versa, as well as within destination.

Elements for social interaction and tourist comfort

Everything related, and that allows the tourist to engage in leisure activities, communicate with others, socialize or simply keep informed and perform routine activities.

In this category, we can include accommodation, points of sale and/or shops selling food, public baths (outside accommodation), all kinds of services (communication, internet, etc…) sports and leisure facilities, cultural events, etc.…

These details are a priority and important as they strengthen the comfort and decision-making capacity of the client .

Preparation of the management and execution of the trip

In this section, all those aspects that facilitate and give transparency to everything related to the management of the trip come into the scene.

Everything here is important: All tourist information media such as travel guides, maps, national tourist organizations, travel-related websites, services provided by tour operators, travel agencies, companions, translators, certified travel guides vaccines, solar protection, medicine, and health services; passports, visas, travel insurance; credit cards and other financial services… up to the number of packages or suitcases to carry.

Practical details on participation in the main activity of the trip

The customer must leave nothing to the imagination, it must be all well presented.

Here, questions such as sale or rental of sports equipment, sports lessons, wine tasting, etc…

These are aspects that help the tourist in understanding the tourism product and in the benefits/experiences that he will draw from it .

Remember and relive your experiences

A tourism product must be a unique and remembered experience by the customer, to satisfy his wishes and leave a good note in our brand of a travel agency.

Thus, to stimulate sentimental or emotional value, it is interesting the idea of offering memories and gifts, usually with sentimental and symbolic values for tourists, is a point that adds value.

They allow tourists to remember and relive their experiences, thus prolonging the pleasure of the trip. They are also used to share the travel experience and to strengthen ties with others.

Tourism products are designed and adapted to the needs and desires of the selected audience. So, there are many possibilities. Here are some of the most popular tourism products:

Spiritual tourism

Spiritual tourism is tourism motivated by faith or for religious reasons . 

What is the tourist looking for? An experience based on a sacred pilgrimage, a journey led by faith, religion, and spiritual realization. The tourist seeks to satisfy some personal or spiritual need through tourism.

Therefore, the design of the spiritual tourism product must focus on these two points to find different forms and intensities of spiritual tourism motivated to a greater or lesser extent by religious or, on the contrary, cultural needs or in the search for knowledge.

Spiritual tourism provides the visitor with activities and/or treatments intended to develop, maintain, and improve the body, mind, and spirit . Many elements are incorporated that involve a learning experience.

A good example is the tourism products related to the Camino de Santiago. A product that offers everything the tourist/pilgrim wants:

• Accommodations 
• Transportation 
• Support vehicles 
• Guides 
• Monitor… 

Wine tourism

Wine tourism or wine tourism is one of the most fashionable forms of tourism. It is the type of tourism around the culture and professions of wine and vineyards, being related to culinary and cultural tourism .

What is the wine tourist looking for? The main motivation is to experience wine tastings and buy products from the region, but also identify other very important issues: Socializing, learning about wines, entertainment, rural environment, relaxation…

The main activities are based on the visit to vineyards, wineries, wine festivals, and wine shows, for which the tasting of grape wine and/or the experience of getting to know the wine region.

For example, a well-known tourism product for wine lovers is that linked to the city of Haro , designed with such important elements as:

• Hotels and other types of accommodation 
• Round-trip transportation from the winery to the lodging location 
• Visit wineries, wine libraries, restaurants. 
• Activities are related to wine tasting, marriage… where the capacity to socialize and share experiences is encouraged. 

Ecotourism has grown in parallel with increasing society’s awareness of environmental protection.

Ecotourism is a type of tourism responsible for natural areas with special care in conserving the environment, sustaining the well-being of the local population, and involving knowledge and education .

What is the ecotourism tourist looking for? They are people with a great awareness of the environment, eager to know and be part of experiences that help the environment and others.

A good tourism product based on ecotourism should offer:

• Activities that encourage cultural awareness by promoting respect for the place you travel and the community you visit. 
• It will help to create cultural awareness by promoting respect for the place you travel and the community you visit (environmental education workshops, ecosystem observation…) 
• Activities that promote the well-being of the local community, including the economy. Guided ecological tours with the consent and participation of residents. 

Ecotourism offers experiences that have a low impact on nature by preserving resources and protecting the environment.

A good example of ecotourism: Visit the local farmers’ fields in Chiapas, Mexico, learning how to make cocoa and supporting the conservation of their environment through product purchases on a guided tour.

Tour operators, travel agents, or travel agency management groups should consider these keys when creating and selling a successful tourism product. We must not forget that the tourism products respond effectively and attractively to the wishes, needs, and expectations of the selected type of customer , being a resource of great value to increase our brand image and customer loyalty.

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Cristóbal Reali, VP of Global Sales at Mize, with over 20 years of experience, has led high-performance teams in major companies in the tourism industry, as well as in the public sector. He has successfully undertaken ventures, including a DMO and technology transformation consulting. In his role at Mize, he stands out not only for his analytical and strategic ability but also for effective leadership. He speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. He holds a degree in Economics from UBA, complementing his professional training at Harvard Business School Online.

Mize is the leading hotel booking optimization solution in the world. With over 170 partners using our fintech products, Mize creates new extra profit for the hotel booking industry using its fully automated proprietary technology and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue across its suite of products for its partners. Mize was founded in 2016 with its headquarters in Tel Aviv and offices worldwide.

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Glossary of tourism terms

Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. These people are called visitors (which may be either tourists or excursionists; residents or non-residents) and tourism has to do with their activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Activity/activities : In tourism statistics, the term activities represent the actions and behaviors of people in preparation for and during a trip in their capacity as consumers ( IRTS 2008, 1.2 ).

Activity (principal): The principal activity of a producer unit is the activity whose value added exceeds that of any other activity carried out within the same unit ( SNA 2008, 5.8 ).

Activity (productive): The (productive) activity carried out by a statistical unit is the type of production in which it engages. It has to be understood as a process, i.e. the combination of actions that result in a certain set of products. The classification of productive activities is determined by their principal output.

Administrative data : Administrative data is the set of units and data derived from an administrative source. This is a data holding information collected and maintained for the purpose of implementing one or more administrative regulations.

Adventure tourism : Adventure tourism is a type of tourism which usually takes place in destinations with specific geographic features and landscape and tends to be associated with a physical activity, cultural exchange, interaction and engagement with nature. This experience may involve some kind of real or perceived risk and may require significant physical and/or mental effort. Adventure tourism generally includes outdoor activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, rock climbing, rafting, canoeing, kayaking, canyoning, mountain biking, bush walking, scuba diving. Likewise, some indoor adventure tourism activities may also be practiced.

Aggregated data : The result of transforming unit level data into quantitative measures for a set of characteristics of a population.

Aggregation : A process that transforms microdata into aggregate-level information by using an aggregation function such as count, sum average, standard deviation, etc.

Analytical unit : Entity created by statisticians, by splitting or combining observation units with the help of estimations and imputations.

Balance of payments : The balance of payments is a statistical statement that summarizes transactions between residents and non-residents during a period. It consists of the goods and services account, the primary income account, the secondary income account, the capital account, and the financial account ( BPM6, 2.12 ).

Bias : An effect which deprives a statistical result of representativeness by systematically distorting it, as distinct from a random error which may distort on any one occasion but balances out on the average.

Business and professional purpose (of a tourism trip): The business and professional purpose of a tourism trip includes the activities of the self-employed and employees, as long as they do not correspond to an implicit or explicit employer-employee relationship with a resident producer in the country or place visited, those of investors, businessmen, etc. ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Business tourism : Business tourism is a type of tourism activity in which visitors travel for a specific professional and/or business purpose to a place outside their workplace and residence with the aim of attending a meeting, an activity or an event. The key components of business tourism are meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. The term "meetings industry" within the context of business tourism recognizes the industrial nature of such activities. Business tourism can be combined with any other tourism type during the same trip.

Business visitor : A business visitor is a visitor whose main purpose for a tourism trip corresponds to the business and professional category of purpose ( IRTS 2008, 3.17.2 ).

Central Product Classification : The Central Product Classification (CPC) constitutes a complete product classification covering goods and services. It is intended to serve as an international standard for assembling and tabulating all kinds of data requiring product detail, including industrial production, national accounts, service industries, domestic and foreign commodity trade, international trade in services, balance of payments, consumption and price statistics. Other basic aims are to provide a framework for international comparison and promote harmonization of various types of statistics dealing with goods and services.

Census : A census is the complete enumeration of a population or groups at a point in time with respect to well defined characteristics: for example, Population, Production, Traffic on particular roads.

Coastal, maritime and inland water tourism : Coastal tourism refers to land-based tourism activities such as swimming, surfing, sunbathing and other coastal leisure, recreation and sports activities which take place on the shore of a sea, lake or river. Proximity to the coast is also a condition for services and facilities that support coastal tourism. Maritime tourism refers to sea-based activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports and includes their respective land-based services and infrastructure. Inland water tourism refers to tourism activities such as cruising, yachting, boating and nautical sports which take place in aquatic- influenced environments located within land boundaries and include lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, groundwater, springs, cave waters and others traditionally grouped as inland wetlands.

Coherence : Adequacy of statistics to be combined in different ways and for various uses.

Competitiveness of a tourism destination : The competitiveness of a tourism destination is the ability of the destination to use its natural, cultural, human, man-made and capital resources efficiently to develop and deliver quality, innovative, ethical and attractive tourism products and services in order to achieve a sustainable growth within its overall vision and strategic goals, increase the added value of the tourism sector, improve and diversify its market components and optimize its attractiveness and benefits both for visitors and the local community in a sustainable perspective.

Consistency : Logical and numerical coherence.

Country of reference : The country of reference refers to the country for which the measurement is done. ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Country of residence : The country of residence of a household is determined according to the centre of predominant economic interest of its members. If a person resides (or intends to reside) for more than one year in a given country and has there his/her centre of economic interest (for example, where the predominant amount of time is spent), he/she is considered as a resident of this country.

Country-specific tourism characteristic products and activities : To be determined by each country by applying the criteria of IRTS 2008, 5.10 in their own context; for these products, the activities producing them will be considered as tourism characteristic, and the industries in which the principal activity is tourism-characteristic will be called tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 5.16 ).

Cultural tourism : Cultural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination. These attractions/products relate to a set of distinctive material, intellectual, spiritual and emotional features of a society that encompasses arts and architecture, historical and cultural heritage, culinary heritage, literature, music, creative industries and the living cultures with their lifestyles, value systems, beliefs and traditions.

Data checking : Activity whereby the correctness conditions of the data are verified. It also includes the specification of the type of error or of the condition not met, and the qualification of the data and their division into "error-free data" and "erroneous data".

Data collection : Systematic process of gathering data for official statistics.

Data compilation : Operations performed on data to derive new information according to a given set of rules.

Data confrontation : The process of comparing data that has generally been derived from different surveys or other sources, especially those of different frequencies, in order to assess and possibly improve their coherency, and identify the reasons for any differences.

Data processing : Data processing is the operation performed on data by the organization, institute, agency, etc., responsible for undertaking the collection, tabulation, manipulation and preparation of data and metadata output.

Data reconciliation : The process of adjusting data derived from two different sources to remove, or at least reduce, the impact of differences identified.

Destination (main destination of a trip): The main destination of a tourism trip is defined as the place visited that is central to the decision to take the trip. See also purpose of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.31 ).

Destination management / marketing organization (DMO) : A destination management/marketing organization (DMO) is the leading organizational entity which may encompass the various authorities, stakeholders and professionals and facilitates tourism sector partnerships towards a collective destination vision. The governance structures of DMOs vary from a single public authority to a public/ private partnership model with the key role of initiating, coordinating and managing certain activities such as implementation of tourism policies, strategic planning, product development, promotion and marketing and convention bureau activities. The functions of the DMOs may vary from national to regional and local levels depending on the current and potential needs as well as on the decentralization level of public administration. Not every tourism destination has a DMO.

Documentation: Processes and procedures for imputation,  weighting,  confidentiality  and suppression rules, outlier treatment and data capture should be fully documented by the  survey provider.  Such documentation should be made available to at least  the body financing the survey.

Domestic tourism : Domestic tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor within the country of reference, either as part of a domestic tourism trip or part of an outbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Domestic tourism consumption : Domestic tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Domestic tourism expenditure : Domestic tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor within the economy of reference, (IRTS 2008, 4.15(a)).

Domestic tourism trip : A domestic tourism trip is one with a main destination within the country of residence of the visitor (IRTS 2008, 2.32).

Domestic visitor : As a visitor travels within his/her country of residence, he/she is a domestic visitor and his/her activities are part of domestic tourism.

Durable consumer goods : Durable consumer goods are goods that may be used repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more, assuming a normal or average rate of physical usage. When acquired by producers, these are considered to be capital goods used for production processes, as is the case of vehicles, computers, etc. When acquired by households, they are considered to be consumer durable goods ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.39 ). This definition is identical to the definition of SNA 2008, 9.42 : A consumer durable is a goodthat may be used for purposes of consumption repeatedly or continuously over a period of a year or more.

Dwellings : Each household has a principal dwelling (sometimes also designated as main or primary home), usually defined with reference to time spent there, whose location defines the country of residence and place of usual residence of this household and of all its members. All other dwellings (owned or leased by the household) are considered secondary dwellings ( IRTS 2008, 2.26 ).

Ecotourism : Ecotourism is a type of nature-based tourism activity in which the visitor's essential motivation is to observe, learn, discover, experience and appreciate biological and cultural diversity with a responsible attitude to protect the integrity of the ecosystem and enhance the well-being of the local community. Ecotourism increases awareness towards the conservation of biodiversity, natural environment and cultural assets both among locals and the visitors and requires special management processes to minimize the negative impact on the ecosystem.

Economic analysis : Tourism generates directly and indirectly an increase in economic activity in the places visited (and beyond), mainly due to demand for goods and services thatneed to be produced and provided. In the economic analysis of tourism, one may distinguish between tourism's 'economic contribution' which refers to the direct effect of tourism and is measurable by means of the TSA, and tourism's 'economic impact' which is a much broader concept encapsulating the direct, indirect and induced effects of tourism and which must be estimated by applying models. Economic impact studies aim to quantify economic benefits, that is, the net increase in the wealth of residents resulting from tourism, measured in monetary terms, over and above the levels that would prevail in its absence.

Economic territory : The term "economic territory" is a geographical reference and points to the country for which the measurement is done (country of reference) ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Economically active population : The economically active population or labour force comprises all persons of either sex who furnish the supply of labour for the production of goods and services as defined by the system of national accounts during a specified time-reference period (ILO, Thirteenth ICLS, 6.18).

Economy (of reference): "Economy" (or "economy of reference") is an economic reference defined in the same way as in the balance of payments and in the system of national accounts: it refers to the economic agents that are resident in the country of reference ( IRTS 2008, 2.15 ).

Education tourism : Education tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation the tourist's engagement and experience in learning, self-improvement, intellectual growth and skills development. Education Tourism represents a broad range of products and services related to academic studies, skill enhancement holidays, school trips, sports training, career development courses and language courses, among others.

Employees : Employees are all those workers who hold the type of job defined as "paid employment" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employer-employee relationship : An employer-employee relationship exists when there is an agreement, which may be formal or informal, between an entity and an individual, normally entered into voluntarily by both parties, whereby the individual works for the entity in return for remuneration in cash or in kind ( BPM6, 11.11 ).

Employers : Employers are those workers who, working on their own account with one or more partners, hold the type of job defined as a "self-employment job" and, in this capacity, on a continuous basis (including the reference period) have engaged one or more persons to work for them in their business as "employee(s)" (ILO, Fifteenth ICLS, pp. 20-22).

Employment : Persons in employment are all persons above a specified age who, during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in paid employment or self-employment (OECD GST, p. 170).

Employment in tourism industries : Employment in tourism industries may be measured as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in any of their jobs, as a count of the persons employed in tourism industries in their main job, or as a count of the jobs in tourism industries ( IRTS 2008, 7.9 ).

Enterprise : An enterprise is an institutional unit engaged in production of goods and/or services. It may be a corporation, a non-profit institution, or an unincorporated enterprise. Corporate enterprises and non-profit institutions are complete institutional units. An unincorporated enterprise, however, refers to an institutional unit —a household or government unit —only in its capacity as a producer of goods and services (OECD BD4, p. 232)

Establishment : An establishment is an enterprise, or part of an enterprise, that is situated in a single location and in which only a single productive activity is carried out or in which the principal productive activity accounts for most of the value added ( SNA 2008, 5.14 ).

Estimation : Estimation is concerned with inference about the numerical value of unknown population values from incomplete data such as a sample. If a single figure is calculated for each unknown parameter the process is called "point estimation". If an interval is calculated within which the parameter is likely, in some sense, to lie, the process is called "interval estimation".

Exports of goods and services : Exports of goods and services consist of sales, barter, or gifts or grants, of goods and services from residents to non-residents (OECD GST, p. 194)

Frame : A list, map or other specification of the units which define a population to be completely enumerated or sampled.

Forms of tourism : There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism. These can be combined in various ways to derive the following additional forms of tourism: internal tourism, national tourism and international tourism.

Gastronomy tourism :  Gastronomy tourism is a type of tourism activity which is characterized by the visitor's experience linked with food and related products and activities while travelling. Along with authentic, traditional, and/or innovative culinary experiences, Gastronomy Tourism may also involve other related activities such as visiting the local producers, participating in food festivals and attending cooking classes. Eno-tourism (wine tourism), as a sub-type of gastronomy tourism, refers to tourism whose purpose is visiting vineyards, wineries, tasting, consuming and/or purchasing wine, often at or near the source.

Goods : Goods are physical, produced objects for which a demand exists, over which ownership rights can be established and whose ownership can be transferred from one institutional unit to another by engaging in transactions on markets ( SNA 2008, p. 623 ).

Gross fixed capital formation : Gross fixed capital formation is defined as the value of institutional units' acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets. Fixed assets are produced assets (such as machinery, equipment, buildings or other structures) that are used repeatedly or continuously in production over several accounting periods (more than one year) ( SNA 2008, 1.52 ).

Gross margin : The gross margin of a provider of reservation services is the difference between the value at which the intermediated service is sold and the value accrued to the provider of reservation services for this intermediated service.

Gross value added : Gross value added is the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 3.32 ).

Gross value added of tourism industries : Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI) is the total gross value added of all establishments belonging to tourism industries, regardless of whether all their output is provided to visitors and the degree of specialization of their production process ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.86 ).

Grossing up : Activity aimed at transforming, based on statistical methodology, micro-data from samples into aggregate-level information representative of the target population.

Health tourism : Health tourism covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation, the contribution to physical, mental and/or spiritual health through medical and wellness-based activities which increase the capacity of individuals to satisfy their own needs and function better as individuals in their environment and society. Health tourism is the umbrella term for the subtypes wellness tourism and medical tourism.

Imputation : Procedure for entering a value for a specific data item where the response is missing or unusable.

Inbound tourism : Inbound tourism comprises the activities of a non-resident visitor within the country of reference on an inbound tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39 ).

Inbound tourism consumption : Inbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Inbound tourism expenditure : Inbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a non-resident visitor within the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(b) ).

Innovation in tourism : Innovation in tourism is the introduction of a new or improved component which intends to bring tangible and intangible benefits to tourism stakeholders and the local community, improve the value of the tourism experience and the core competencies of the tourism sector and hence enhance tourism competitiveness and /or sustainability. Innovation in tourism may cover potential areas, such as tourism destinations, tourism products, technology, processes, organizations and business models, skills, architecture, services, tools and/or practices for management, marketing, communication, operation, quality assurance and pricing.

Institutional sector : An aggregation of institutional units on the basis of the type of producer and depending on their principal activity and function, which are considered to be indicative of their economic behaviour.

Institutional unit : The elementary economic decision-making centre characterised by uniformity of behaviour and decision-making autonomy in the exercise of its principal function.

Intermediate consumption : Intermediate consumption consists of the value of the goods and services consumed as inputs by a process of production, excluding fixed assets whose consumption is recorded as consumption of fixed capital ( SNA 2008, 6.213 ).

Internal tourism : Internal tourism comprises domestic tourism and inbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident and non-resident visitors within the country of reference as part of domestic or international tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(a) ).

Internal tourism consumption : Internal tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of both resident and non-resident visitors within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and inbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Internal tourism expenditure : Internal tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of visitors, both resident and non-resident, within the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and inbound tourism expenditure. It includes acquisition of goods and services imported into the country of reference and sold to visitors. This indicator provides the most comprehensive measurement of tourism expenditure in the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(a) ).

International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities : The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) consists of a coherent and consistent classification structure of economic activities based on a set of internationally agreed concepts, definitions, principles and classification rules. It provides a comprehensive framework within which economic data can be collected and reported in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking. The classification structure represents a standard format to organize detailed information about the state of an economy according to economic principles and perceptions (ISIC, Rev.4, 1).

International tourism : International tourism comprises inbound tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips and the activities of non-resident visitors within the country of reference on inbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(c) ).

International visitor : An international traveller qualifies as an international visitor with respect to the country of reference if: (a) he/she is on a tourism trip and (b) he/she is a non-resident travelling in the country of reference or a resident travelling outside of it ( IRTS 2008, 2.42 ).

Job : The agreement between an employee and the employer defines a job and each self-employed person has a job ( SNA 2008, 19.30 ).

Measurement error : Error in reading, calculating or recording numerical value.

Medical tourism : Medical tourism is a type of tourism activity which involves the use of evidence-based medical healing resources and services (both invasive and non-invasive). This may include diagnosis, treatment, cure, prevention and rehabilitation.

Meetings industry : To highlight purposes relevant to the meetings industry, if a trip's main purpose is business/professional, it can be further subdivided into "attending meetings, conferences or congresses, trade fairs and exhibitions" and "other business and professional purposes". The term meetings industry is preferred by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and Reed Travel over the acronym MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) which does not recognize the industrial nature of such activities.

Metadata : Data that defines and describes other data and processes.

MICE : See meetings industry.

Microdata : Non-aggregated observations, or measurements of characteristics of individual units.

Mirror statistics : Mirror statistics are used to conduct bilateral comparisons of two basic measures of a trade flow and are a traditional tool for detecting the causes of asymmetries in statistics (OECD GST, p. 335).

Mountain tourism : Mountain tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in a defined and limited geographical space such as hills or mountains with distinctive characteristics and attributes that are inherent to a specific landscape, topography, climate, biodiversity (flora and fauna) and local community. It encompasses a broad range of outdoor leisure and sports activities.

National tourism : National tourism comprises domestic tourism and outbound tourism, that is to say, the activities of resident visitors within and outside the country of reference, either as part of domestic or outbound tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.40(b) ).

National tourism consumption : National tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of resident visitors, within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism consumption and outbound tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

National tourism expenditure : National tourism expenditure comprises all tourism expenditure of resident visitors within and outside the economy of reference. It is the sum of domestic tourism expenditure and outbound tourism expenditure ( IRTS 2008, 4.20(b) ).

Nationality : The concept of "country of residence" of a traveller is different from that of his/her nationality or citizenship ( IRTS 2008, 2.19 ).

Non-monetary indicators : Data measured in physical or other non-monetary units should not be considered a secondary part of a satellite account. They are essential components, both for the information they provide directly and in order to analyse the monetary data adequately ( SNA 2008, 29.84 ).

Observation unit : entity on which information is received and statistics are compiled.

Outbound tourism : Outbound tourism comprises the activities of a resident visitor outside the country of reference, either as part of an outbound tourism trip or as part of a domestic tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.39(c) ).

Outbound tourism consumption : Outbound tourism consumption is the tourism consumption of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( TSA:RMF 2008, figure 2.1 ).

Outbound tourism expenditure : Outbound tourism expenditure is the tourism expenditure of a resident visitor outside the economy of reference ( IRTS 2008, 4.15(c) ).

Output : Output is defined as the goods and services produced by an establishment, a) excluding the value of any goods and services used in an activity for which the establishment does not assume the risk of using the products in production, and b) excluding the value of goods and services consumed by the same establishment except for goods and services used for capital formation (fixed capital or changes in inventories) or own final consumption ( SNA 2008, 6.89 ).

Output (main): The main output of a (productive) activity should be determined by reference to the value added of the goods sold or services rendered (ISIC rev.4, 114).

Pilot survey : The aim of a pilot survey is to test the questionnaire (pertinence of the questions, understanding of questions by those being interviewed, duration of the interview) and to check various potential sources for sampling and non-sampling errors: for instance, the place in which the surveys are carried out and the method used, the identification of any omitted answers and the reason for the omission, problems of communicating in various languages, translation, the mechanics of data collection, the organization of field work, etc.

Place of usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides, and is defined by the location of his/her principal dwelling (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.20 to 2.24).

Probability sample : A sample selected by a method based on the theory of probability (random process), that is, by a method involving knowledge of the likelihood of any unit being selected.

Production account : The production account records the activity of producing goods and services as defined within the SNA. Its balancing item, gross value added, is defined as the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption and is a measure of the contribution to GDP made by an individual producer, industry or sector. Gross value added is the source from which the primary incomes of the SNA are generated and is therefore carried forward into the primary distribution of income account. Value added and GDP may also be measured net by deducting consumption of fixed capital, a figure representing the decline in value during the period of the fixed capital used in a production process ( SNA 2008, 1.17 ).

Production : Economic production may be defined as an activity carried out under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit that uses inputs of labour, capital, and goods and services to produce outputs of goods or services ( SNA 2008, 6.24. ).

Purpose of a tourism trip (main): The main purpose of a tourism trip is defined as the purpose in the absence of which the trip would not have taken place ( IRTS 2008, 3.10. ). Classification of tourism trips according to the main purpose refers to nine categories: this typology allows the identification of different subsets of visitors (business visitors, transit visitors, etc.) See also destination of a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 3.14 ).

Quality of a tourism destination : Quality of a tourism destination is the result of a process which implies the satisfaction of all tourism product and service needs, requirements and expectations of the consumer at an acceptable price, in conformity with mutually accepted contractual conditions and the implicit underlying factors such as safety and security, hygiene, accessibility, communication, infrastructure and public amenities and services. It also involves aspects of ethics, transparency and respect towards the human, natural and cultural environment. Quality, as one of the key drivers of tourism competitiveness, is also a professional tool for organizational, operational and perception purposes for tourism suppliers.

Questionnaire and Questionnaire design : Questionnaire is a group or sequence of questions designed to elicit information on a subject, or sequence of subjects, from a reporting unit or from another producer of official statistics. Questionnaire design is the design (text, order, and conditions for skipping) of the questions used to obtain the data needed for the survey.

Reference period : The period of time or point in time to which the measured observation is intended to refer.

Relevance : The degree to which statistics meet current and potential users' needs.

Reliability : Closeness of the initial estimated value to the subsequent estimated value.

Reporting unit : Unit that supplies the data for a given survey instance, like a questionnaire or interview. Reporting units may, or may not, be the same as the observation unit.

Residents/non-residents : The residents of a country are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located in its economic territory. For a country, the non-residents are individuals whose centre of predominant economic interest is located outside its economic territory.

Response and non-response : Response and non-response to various elements of a survey entail potential errors.

Response error : Response errors may be defined as those arising from the interviewing process. Such errors may be due to a number of circumstances, such as inadequate concepts or questions; inadequate training; interviewer failures; respondent failures.

Rural tourism : Rural tourism is a type of tourism activity in which the visitor's experience is related to a wide range of products generally linked to nature-based activities, agriculture, rural lifestyle / culture, angling and sightseeing. Rural tourism activities take place in non-urban (rural) areas with the following characteristics:

• Low population density;
• Landscape and land-use dominated by agriculture and forestry; and
• Traditional social structure and lifestyle

Same-day visitor (or excursionist): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Sample : A subset of a frame where elements are selected based on a process with a known probability of selection.

Sample survey : A survey which is carried out using a sampling method.

Sampling error : That part of the difference between a population value and an estimate thereof, derived from a random sample, which is due to the fact that only a subset of the population is enumerated.

Satellite accounts : There are two types of satellite accounts, serving two different functions. The first type, sometimes called an internal satellite, takes the full set of accounting rules and conventions of the SNA but focuses on a particular aspect of interest by moving away from the standard classifications and hierarchies. Examples are tourism, coffee production and environmental protection expenditure. The second type, called an external satellite, may add non-economic data or vary some of the accounting conventions or both. It is a particularly suitable way to explore new areas in a research context. An example may be the role of volunteer labour in the economy ( SNA 2008, 29.85 ).

SDMX, Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange : Set of technical standards and content-oriented guidelines, together with an IT architecture and tools, to be used for the efficient exchange and sharing of statistical data and metadata (SDMX).

Seasonal adjustment : Seasonal adjustment is a statistical technique to remove the effects of seasonal calendar influences on a series. Seasonal effects usually reflect the influence of the seasons themselves, either directly or through production series related to them, or social conventions. Other types of calendar variation occur as a result of influences such as number of days in the calendar period, the accounting or recording practices adopted or the incidence of moving holidays.

Self-employment job : Self-employment jobs are those jobs where remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits (or the potential of profits) derived from the goods or services produced.

Self-employed with paid employees : Self-employed with paid employees are classified as employers.

Self-employed without employees : Self-employed without employees are classified as own-account workers.

Services : Services are the result of a production activity that changes the conditions of the consuming units, or facilitates the exchange of products or financial assets. They cannot be traded separately from their production. By the time their production is completed, they must have been provided to the consumers ( SNA 2008, 6.17 ).

Social transfers in kind : A special case of transfers in kind is that of social transfers in kind. These consist of goods and services provided by general government and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) that are delivered to individual households. Health and education services are the prime examples. Rather than provide a specified amount of money to be used to purchase medical and educational services, the services are often provided in kind to make sure that the need for the services is met. (Sometimes the recipient purchases the service and is reimbursed by the insurance or assistance scheme. Such a transaction is still treated as being in kind because the recipient is merely acting as the agent of the insurance scheme) (SNA 2008, 3.83).

Sports tourism : Sports tourism is a type of tourism activity which refers to the travel experience of the tourist who either observes as a spectator or actively participates in a sporting event generally involving commercial and non-commercial activities of a competitive nature.

Standard classification : Classifications that follow prescribed rules and are generally recommended and accepted.

Statistical error : The unknown difference between the retained value and the true value.

Statistical indicator : A data element that represents statistical data for a specified time, place, and other characteristics, and is corrected for at least one dimension (usually size) to allow for meaningful comparisons.

Statistical metadata : Data about statistical data.

Statistical unit : Entity about which information is sought and about which statistics are compiled. Statistical units may be identifiable legal or physical entities or statistical constructs.

Survey : An investigation about the characteristics of a given population by means of collecting data from a sample of that population and estimating their characteristics through the systematic use of statistical methodology.

System of National Accounts : The System of National Accounts (SNA) is the internationally agreed standard set of recommendations on how to compile measures of economic activity in accordance with strict accounting conventions based on economic principles. The recommendations are expressed in terms of a set of concepts, definitions, classifications and accounting rules that comprise the internationally agreed standard for measuring indicators of economic performance. The accounting framework of the SNA allows economic data to be compiled and presented in a format that is designed for purposes of economic analysis, decision-taking and policymaking ( SNA 2008, 1.1 ).

Total tourism internal demand : Total tourism internal demand, is the sum of internal tourism consumption, tourism gross fixed capital formation and tourism collective consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.114 ). It does not include outbound tourism consumption.

Tourism : Tourism refers to the activity of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ).

Tourism characteristic activities : Tourism characteristic activities are the activities that typically produce tourism characteristic products. As the industrial origin of a product (the ISIC industry that produces it) is not a criterion for the aggregation of products within a similar CPC category, there is no strict one-to-one relationship between products and the industries producing them as their principal outputs ( IRTS 2008, 5.11 ).

Tourism characteristic products : Tourism characteristic products are those that satisfy one or both of the following criteria: a) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share total tourism expenditure (share-of-expenditure/demand condition); b) Tourism expenditure on the product should represent a significant share of the supply of the product in the economy (share-of-supply condition). This criterion implies that the supply of a tourism characteristic product would cease to exist in meaningful quantity in the absence of visitors ( IRTS 2008, 5.10 ).

Tourism connected products : Their significance within tourism analysis for the economy of reference is recognized although their link to tourism is very limited worldwide. Consequently, lists of such products will be country-specific ( IRTS 2008, 5.12 ).

Tourism consumption : Tourism consumption has the same formal definition as tourism expenditure. Nevertheless, the concept of tourism consumption used in the Tourism Satellite Account goes beyond that of tourism expenditure. Besides the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips, which corresponds to monetary transactions (the focus of tourism expenditure), it also includes services associated with vacation accommodation on own account, tourism social transfers in kind and other imputed consumption. These transactions need to be estimated using sources different from information collected directly from the visitors, such as reports on home exchanges, estimations of rents associated with vacation homes, calculations of financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM), etc. ( TSA:RMF 2008, 2.25 ).

Tourism destination : A tourism destination is a physical space with or without administrative and/or analytical boundaries in which a visitor can spend an overnight. It is the cluster (co-location) of products and services, and of activities and experiences along the tourism value chain and a basic unit of analysis of tourism. A destination incorporates various stakeholders and can network to form larger destinations. It is also intangible with its image and identity which may influence its market competitiveness.

Tourism direct gross domestic product : Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP) is the sum of the part of gross value added (at basic prices) generated by all industries in response to internal tourism consumption plus the amount of net taxes on products and imports included within the value of this expenditure at purchasers' prices ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.96 ).

Tourism direct gross value added : Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA) is the part of gross value added generated by tourism industries and other industries of the economy that directly serve visitors in response to internal tourism consumption ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.88 ).

Tourism expenditure : Tourism expenditure refers to the amount paid for the acquisition of consumption goods and services, as well as valuables, for own use or to give away, for and during tourism trips. It includes expenditures by visitors themselves, as well as expenses that are paid for or reimbursed by others ( IRTS 2008, 4.2 ).

Tourism industries : The tourism industries comprise all establishments for which the principal activity is a tourism characteristic activity. Tourism industries (also referred to as tourism activities) are the activities that typically producetourism characteristic products. The term tourism industries is equivalent to tourism characteristic activities and the two terms are sometimes used synonymously in the IRTS 2008, 5.10, 5.11 and figure 5.1 .

Tourism product : A tourism product is a combination of tangible and intangible elements, such as natural, cultural and man-made resources, attractions, facilities, services and activities around a specific center of interest which represents the core of the destination marketing mix and creates an overall visitor experience including emotional aspects for the potential customers. A tourism product is priced and sold through distribution channels and it has a life-cycle.

Tourism ratio : For each variable of supply in the Tourism Satellite Account, the tourism ratiois the ratio between the total value of tourism share and total value of the corresponding variable in the Tourism Satellite Account expressed in percentage form ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.56 ). (See also Tourism share).

Tourism Satellite Account : The Tourism Satellite Account is the second international standard on tourism statistics (Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework 2008 –TSA:RMF 2008) that has been developed in order to present economic data relative to tourism within a framework of internal and external consistency with the rest of the statistical system through its link to the System of National Accounts. It is the basic reconciliation framework of tourism statistics. As a statistical tool for the economic accounting of tourism, the TSA can be seen as a set of 10 summary tables, each with their underlying data and representing a different aspect of the economic data relative to tourism: inbound, domestic tourism and outbound tourism expenditure, internal tourism expenditure, production accounts of tourism industries, the Gross Value Added (GVA) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) attributable to tourism demand, employment, investment, government consumption, and non-monetary indicators.

Tourism Satellite Account aggregates : The compilation of the following aggregates, which represent a set of relevant indicators of the size of tourism in an economy is recommended ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.81 ):

• Internal tourism expenditure;
• Internal tourism consumption;
• Gross value added of tourism industries (GVATI);
• Tourism direct gross value added (TDGVA);
• Tourism direct gross domestic product (TDGDP).

Tourism sector : The tourism sector, as contemplated in the TSA, is the cluster of production units in different industries that provide consumption goods and services demanded by visitors. Such industries are called tourism industries because visitor acquisition represents such a significant share of their supply that, in the absence of visitors, their production of these would cease to exist in meaningful quantity.

Tourism share : Tourism share is the share of the corresponding fraction of internal tourism consumption in each component of supply ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.51 ). For each industry, the tourism share of output (in value), is the sum of the tourism share corresponding to each product component of its output ( TSA:RMF 2008, 4.55 ). (See also Tourism ratio ).

Tourism single-purpose consumer durable goods : Tourism single-purpose consumer durables is a specific category of consumer durable goods that include durable goods that are used exclusively, or almost exclusively, by individuals while on tourism trips ( TSA:RMF 2008 , 2.41 and Annex 5 ).

Tourism trip : Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips ( IRTS 2008, 2.29 ).

Tourist (or overnight visitor): A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Tourism value chain : The tourism value chain is the sequence of primary and support activities which are strategically fundamental for the performance of the tourism sector. Linked processes such as policy making and integrated planning, product development and packaging, promotion and marketing, distribution and sales and destination operations and services are the key primary activities of the tourism value chain. Support activities involve transport and infrastructure, human resource development, technology and systems development and other complementary goods and services which may not be related to core tourism businesses but have a high impact on the value of tourism.

Travel / traveller : Travel refers to the activity of travellers. A traveller is someone who moves between different geographic locations, for any purpose and any duration ( IRTS 2008, 2.4 ). The visitor is a particular type of traveller and consequently tourism is a subset of travel.

Travel group : A travel group is made up of individuals or travel parties travelling together: examples are people travelling on the same package tour or youngsters attending a summer camp ( IRTS 2008, 3.5 ).

Travel item (in balance of payments): Travel is an item of the goods and services account of the balance of payments: travel credits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by non-residents during visits to that economy. Travel debits cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from other economies by residents during visits to other economies ( BPM6, 10.86 ).

Travel party : A travel party is defined as visitors travelling together on a trip and whose expenditures are pooled ( IRTS 2008, 3.2 ).

Trip : A trip refers to the travel by a person from the time of departure from his/her usual residence until he/she returns: it thus refers to a round trip. Trips taken by visitors are tourism trips.

Urban/city tourism : Urban/city tourism is a type of tourism activity which takes place in an urban space with its inherent attributes characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as administration, manufacturing, trade and services and by being nodal points of transport. Urban/city destinations offer a broad and heterogeneous range of cultural, architectural, technological, social and natural experiences and products for leisure and business.

Usual environment: The usual environment of an individual, a key concept in tourism, is defined as the geographical area (though not necessarily a contiguous one) within which an individual conducts his/her regular life routines ( IRTS 2008, 2.21 ).

Usual residence : The place of usual residence is the geographical place where the enumerated person usually resides (Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses of the United Nations, 2.16 to 2.18).

Vacation home : A vacation home (sometimes also designated as a holiday home) is a secondary dwelling that is visited by the members of the household mostly for purposes of recreation, vacation or any other form of leisure ( IRTS 2008, 2.27 ).

Valuables : Valuables are produced goods of considerable value that are not used primarily for purposes of production or consumption but are held as stores of value over time ( SNA 2008, 10.13 ).

Visit : A trip is made up of visits to different places.The term "tourism visit" refers to a stay in a place visited during a tourism trip ( IRTS 2008, 2.7 and 2.33 ).

Visitor : A visitor is a traveller taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited ( IRTS 2008, 2.9 ). A visitor (domestic, inbound or outbound) is classified as a tourist (or overnight visitor), if his/her trip includes an overnight stay, or as a same-day visitor (or excursionist) otherwise ( IRTS 2008, 2.13 ).

Wellness tourism : Wellness tourism is a type of tourism activity which aims to improve and balance all of the main domains of human life including physical, mental, emotional, occupational, intellectual and spiritual. The primary motivation for the wellness tourist is to engage in preventive, proactive, lifestyle-enhancing activities such as fitness, healthy eating, relaxation, pampering and healing treatments.

Tourism Product Concept

Tourism Product Concept: Tourism product is usually as the amount of psychological and physical satisfaction it offers or delivers to the tourists when they are travelling to a new place or are on the way to a given destination it can be both domestic and international. Tourism products are more concerned towards services and facilities produced to fulfil the requirement of the consumers or the tourists.

Tourism product concept may be combined or amalgamated in nature i.e. the various attraction at a given destination, transportation facilities and other entertainment facilities result in full or 100% customer satisfaction. every element in tourism product is delivered by single supplier service or facilities like tour operator , airline companies, hotels and resorts etc. tourist products can be studied on the basis of four important elements viz. attraction, accessibility, accommodation and amenities.

Meaning of Tourism Product

Tourism product is a group of various components and elements which are combined together to satisfy the needs and wants of the consumers. The product in tourism industry is the complete experience of the tourist from the point of origin to the destination point and back to the origin point. The product in Tourism may be defined as the ‘sum total of physical and psychological satisfaction it provides to the tourist from the origin point to the destination and during their travelling route’.

Also read Tourism

The raw material in tourism industry is the natural beauty, Climate, History, Culture and people of the destination and some other important elements are the existing facilities or the infrastructure such as water supply, electricity, roads, transport , communication, services and other ancillary services. If any of these elements get missing, then it will completely destroy the whole experience of the tourist. Tourism products are offered in the market with some cost i.e. money. A Product could therefore be defined by its three characteristic: 

• The product must be offered
• It should satisfy some need or needs of the customers 
• It should be exchanged for some value 

Also read more about Tourism Product Life Cycle

So, we can say that if the Tourism Product i.e. the sum total of a country’s tourist attractions, transport systems, hospitality , entertainment, and infrastructure is well designed and developed and then offered to the tourist this will ultimately result in consumer satisfaction. Tourism products are nothing but various services offered to the tourists, and falls under the category of service product. Tourism product is the prime reason for tourist to choose a destination. Tourism product helps in earning revenue for the destination. So all the tourism product should be properly preserved and promoted

A) Attraction

Attraction is the first and the most important element of tourism product, until unless there is an attraction, then only a tourist would be encouraged to visit a particular place. Attraction is a very important element as it determines the choice made by a tourist to travel to a particular place rather than another place or destination. An attraction can be of different types such as historical buildings and monuments, areas of archaeological interests, mountains, beaches, resorts, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, Flora and Fauna, events like conferences, exhibitions, sports meet, world cups, music and art festivals etc.

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Demand for tourist products can be determined on the basis of upcoming trends in the market or current fashions. Present fashion in the market are helpful for analyzing and fulfilling the demand for different tourism products (which can include attractions, services and other amenities). Tourist visiting to hill stations for their natural beauty and panoramic views may choose to opt for some other destination due to current trends in the market and sometimes change in the fashion.

You may read History of Travel and Tourism

Peter has sketched up a list of the different attractions that are important in the tourism . Though, the attractions of tourism are, to a very large amount, geographical in character. Location and accessibility (whether a place or coastal or inland position and the ease with which a given place can be reached) are essential. Those who wish to seek wilderness and adventure may think of physical space at a destination.

Landscape or scenery is a mix of landforms; water and flora and has a beautiful and artistic value. Weather conditions, especially in relation to the amount of sunshine, temperature and precipitation (rain as well now), are of unique importance. Animal life might be a significant attraction, first in relation, to bird watching or viewing game in their natural habit and second, for sports purposes, e.g. hunting and fishing. Human’s influence on the natural landscape in the name of his settlements, archaeological remains and ancient monuments and is also a main attraction. Finally, a range of artistic elements folklore, artistic expressions, ways of life etc. offer valued attractions to large tourists.

B) Accessibility

Accessibility can be defined as means by which a person/tourist can travel or reach to particular place or destination. Tourist attractions can be of different types some may be accessible or some may be not by a mode of transportation . A tourist always looks up to a mode or means of transport in order to reach that particular place/attraction. Mode of transportation can be a coach, a car, an aeroplane, a ship or boat and a train that can enable or help a tourist to visit his desired destination. There are certain destinations which are not accessible by different modes of transport or inadequate transportation services, these destinations then turn into of a little value.  

Generally the tourist attractions that are situated close to a tourist generating area or market and are connected by a proper network of effective modes of transportation, experience a large number of tourist visits. Distance between the places of origin to the desired destination plays a crucial role in the movement of tourists and effect their choices in destination selection, proper connectivity between places or destination can act as motivation factor for tourists to visit a particular destination or place. Long distance destination increases the cost of travel for the tourists which somehow restricts the limits of different tourists travelling across places.

Time constraint and cost play a crucial role in the movement of tourists across the globe. An instance can be that of India. Almost two and half million tourist visitors for a country of the size of India may seem to be rather insignificant. Though, we see at certain things like the country’s distance from the affluent tourist markets of the world such as Europe, United States, Japan, Canada and Australia, one may determine that the long distance is one of the reasons liable for low tourist visits. It costs a tourist from these nations, quite a large amount, to travel to India for a vacation. It has been listed before that North America and Europe last to be major markets creating and getting areas for international tourist arrivals, accounting for as much as 70% and 20% respectively, of inbound tourist arrivals. Easy-going accessibility, thus is a main aspect for the development and growth of tourist arrivals.

C) Accommodation      

Lodging and other services balance the tourist attractions. Accommodation is very crucial and plays a central role and is very essential requirement of every tourist destination. As per the definition given by UNWTO, a person travelling to a new place from his place of origin must spend at least 24 hours at a particular destination so then only he/she would be considered a tourist. This tells about the importance of accommodation facilities at a different destination.

The demand for accommodation has always been there since ages. Therefore, the demand or the need for accommodation is met through variety of facilities. In the accommodation sector, the range and type of lodging is a bit wide-ranging and has experienced through different stages in the last couple of years. There is a decrease in the need for small hotels, boarding houses and other accommodation facilities. Large hotel chains have started to increase their share at famous tourist destinations and big metropolitans throughout the globe in more traditional holiday and sea- side resorts in Europe and elsewhere, large hotels are keeping their share of holiday resorts.

In the past few years, certain changes have arisen in the accommodation sector and the type of accommodation has totally transformed. The demand for non-traditional and informal types of lodging facilities have increased to a great extent. Holiday villages and concepts like home stays, condominiums and youth hostels are the current trends in the accommodation sector and popularity of these types of accommodations has increasing in the present times. Accommodation in itself has become an attraction in the modern times.

You can also read History of Travel and Tourism

In fact, a big group of travelers visit a specific town or destination simply since there is a first class luxury resort and hotel that offers outstanding facilities sand services for the entertainment of tourists. Few nations like Holland, France, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria have achieved a reputation for offering exceptional lodging with lavish food. Countless hotel companies away in different nations, specially the resort hotels have earned a status for their exceptional services, cuisines and other entertainment facilities. The French government for example, overlaid the way for tourist expansion of Corsica by introduction of a large hotel growth agenda. 

D) Amenities

Every tourist travelling to a new destination desires for world class facilities and services. In order to fulfill their demand huge efforts are made by the industry. High quality facilities are important aid to every tourist destination or center. For a coastal resort, services like swimming, boating, yachting, surf-riding and other amenities like recreation, dancing and other entertainment and amusement services are very essential for each and every tourist destination/center. Facilities can be of 2 kind’s natural, i.e. sea-bathing, beaches, possibilities of fishing, opportunities for trekking, climbing or viewing etc. and man-made, i.e. different kinds of entertainment facilities that can cater to the unique requirements of the various tourists. Outstanding beaches, sheltered from sunshine with palm and coconut trees and providing good bathing conditions makes a very goo the tourist center. Various other natural facilities like large water for the purpose of cruising or the chances for hunting and fishing are equally very significant.

Characteristics of Tourism Product 

Tourism products are mostly service goods that have different types or features. For instance, in business tourism management and planning are the services provided by different large convention centers and hotel chains. Various fair and festivals are the events that are provided for the entertainment and amusement only at a given time of the year and these are usually variable and perishable. In country like India numerous traditional/ancient attractions in the form of music and dance can be watched and experienced. There are different natural products which are been consumed by the tourist travelling to India like flora and fauna, wildlife. Following are some of the features and characteristics of tourism products:

a) Intangibility of Tourism Product

Unlike a physical product, say, a train or television, there is no handover of ownership of products is included in tourism. The goods or products in tourism cannot be consumed or demonstrated before purchasing it. Instead, some installations, amenities, items of equipment are available for a certain or fixed period pf time and for a particular use. For instance, a hotel room is offered or provided for a given time frame or a seat in a train is provided for a couple of hours of the journey.

b) Psychological 

A tourism product is offered to provide or offer certain level of satisfaction to the consumers or tourist. A person/tourist acquires experience with the consumption of different tourist products. Experiences derived while interacting to new places, people and environments helps in the encouragement of potential customers and helps in attracting them to consume the products offered to the market.

Read more about Hospitality

c) Highly Perishable

Usually a tour operator or a travel agent offer or sells various tourism products to the market, which are perishable in nature and cannot be stored or sustained for a longer time frame. Production of the products and services is only possible if there is a demand and the customers are actually present and if the customer buys the product it cannot be blocked, disturbed or customized. If the product is not consumed on time or is unused the chances are lost which means, if a tourist doesn’t buy the flight ticket on a given date, the chance at that time is lost or can say the validity of the seat is expired or is left unused. The reason can be heavy discounts or offers given by the airline company on the given date or during off season.

d) Composite nature of tourism Product

A tourism product is never offered or produced by a single enterprise there is an involvement of different parties (viz travel agent , hotels, airline company, tour guide etc.) when compared to a manufactured product. There is a involvement of various parties in providing or manufacturing a complete tourist product. The product shields broad experience of a holiday to a specific destination. And numerous suppliers and providers that supply to create this experience. For example, a hotel provides a food and rooms, travel agent makes booking for sightseeing and stay at different places, airline and rail provides seats etc.

e) Unstable Demand of Tourism Product

There is a problem or one can say a challenge for tourism products as tourism products are influenced by the seasonality, economic , political factors. For instance, there is a demand for the hill station in the summer season as people like to travel to cold places mostly places likes Manali, Shimla, Nainital, Mussorie etc. whereas the demand for coastal areas like Goa rises in the winters. There are different times of a year when there is a demand for a particular destination than other destinations. This is the time when there is a huge tension on the hotel bookings, transport system, the employment etc.

f) Fixed supply in the short run

Tourism product similarly as the factory-made products cannot be transported to the final consumers, the consumers have to go to the products offered to them. Product development is done on the basis of analysis of the taste and preferences, behavior, dislikes and likes of the consumers, so that the expectations and realities of the consumers. Therefore, the supply of the tourism product is limited in the short run and may be maximized on a long term basis depending upon the increasing demand pattern of the tourist product.

g) Absence of ownership in Tourism Product

Tourism products have absence of ownership. For instance, when you buy a product say a bike or a car, the possession of the same is reassigned to you, but when one rents a cab, he/she only buys the right to be transferred from one place to another, you neither own the driver nor the cab. Similarly, in case of tourism products like airline tickets, train tickets or a hotel room can be used for given time frame but not owned. Tourism products can only be purchased for using but the ownership of the same stays with the provider of the service or the product so, an Opera show can be watched but the performer cannot be kept.

 h) Heterogeneous nature of Tourism Product

Tourism is not a uniform product. Similarly, tourism product is not same, since they tend to change or vary in terms of quality and standard with the passage of time, unlike a television set or any other factory-made product. A flight or a tour package cannot be the same at all times. The reason behind the changing nature of the tourism products is a service and services are customers/consumer oriented. So there is variability in tourism products as all humans are not the same and vary in terms of their behavior, taste and preferences. For example, all workers working in a hotel cannot give the same excellence of facility and the same worker might not perform equally in the morning and evening. Therefore, the services cannot be uniforms or homogeneous.

Tourism products are first purchased and later on consumed that is why there is a high level of risk involved in purchasing before the consumption of the products. An element of chance of risk is always there in the process. For instance, a movie might not be as entertaining as it promises to be or a summer vacation in Goa may be disappointing due to bad weather or heavy rains.

j) Marketable

Tourism products are marketable at different markets. Firstly, both the regional and national organizations involve themselves in catering the potential customers/tourists to travel to different region/destinations across the country. Secondly, the individual firms are trying to market their own tourism products in order to cater potential customers.

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Selling and Marketing the Tourism Product

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• François Vellas &
• Lionel Bécherel  

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In order to achieve commercial success, tourism product designers and distributors offer products specifically adapted to the needs of the consumer. These are sold at competitive prices and should be perceived to have a good quality—price ratio. The tour operator packaging and selling tourism products should enjoy a high reputation and an image of quality. Success depends on an expert knowledge of the market, skilful packaging of the products and an ability to commercialise them.

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Further Reading

Ashworth, G. J. and Goodhall, B. C. Marketing in the Tourism Industry . London: Routeledge, 1990.

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Buck, R. C. ‘The Ubiquitous Tourist Brochure: Explorations in its Intended and Unintended Use’, Annals of Tourism Research , 4 (4), pp. 195–207, 1977.

Cooper, C., Fletcher, J., Gilbert, D. and Wanhill, S. Tourism Principles and Practice . London: Pitman, 1993.

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Kotler, P. Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control . 6th edn, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall International, 1988.

Middleton, V. T. C. Marketing in Travel and Tourism . Oxford: Heinemann, 1988.

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Vellas, F., Bécherel, L. (1995). Selling and Marketing the Tourism Product. In: International Tourism. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-24074-6_6

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The state of tourism and hospitality 2024

Tourism and hospitality are on a journey of disruption. Shifting source markets and destinations, growing demand for experiential and luxury travel, and innovative business strategies are all combining to dramatically alter the industry landscape. Given this momentous change, it’s important for stakeholders to consider and strategize on four major themes:

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Eu tourism nights increase at the beginning of 2024.

In the first quarter of 2024, there were 452.6 million overnight stays in tourist accommodations across the EU , marking a 7% increase compared with the same quarter of 2023. January recorded 133.9 million nights (+3% compared with January 2023), February 149.2 million (+6%) and March 169.5 million (+9%).

This information comes from monthly data on tourist accommodation up to March 2024 published by Eurostat today. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article .

Foreign visitors accounted for approximately 45% of all overnight stays in the first three months of 2024, with large differences among EU countries. The biggest share of foreign overnight stays at the beginning of the year was recorded in Malta (91%), Cyprus (87%), Luxembourg (82%) and Austria (78%).

Source dataset: tour_occ_nim

In contrast, foreign guests accounted for only one-fifth of overnight stays in Poland, Romania and Germany (19%, 20% and 20%, respectively).

In the first quarter of 2024, the increase in nights spent by foreign visitors (+11% compared with the first quarter of 2023) was much more pronounced than the increase in domestic nights (+4%). The largest increases in overnight stays by foreign visitors were recorded in Cyprus (+23%), Croatia (+22%), Malta and Luxembourg (both +21%). At the other end of the range, the smallest increases were recorded in Lithuania, Poland and Greece (all +3%).

For more information

• Statistics Explained article on nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments
• Thematic section on tourism
• Webinar on tourism statistics
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• Database on tourism

Methodological notes

• Data not available for Ireland.
• Nights spent: a night spent (or overnight stay) is each night a guest/tourist (resident or non-resident) actually spends (sleeps or stays) in a tourist accommodation establishment or non-rented accommodation. This article focuses only on nights spent in tourist accommodation establishment, while non-rented accommodation is out of the scope of this release.
• I551 (hotels and similar accommodation)
• I552 (holiday and other short-stay accommodation)
• I553 (camping grounds, recreational vehicle parks and trailer parks)

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Retraction: The design of tourism product CAD three-dimensional modeling system using VR technology

• The PLOS ONE Editors

Published: June 6, 2024

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305242
• Reader Comments

The PLOS ONE Editors retract this article [ 1 ] because it was identified as one of a series of submissions for which we have concerns about peer review integrity and similarities across articles. These concerns call into question the validity and provenance of the reported results. We regret that the issues were not identified prior to the article’s publication.

YD agreed with the retraction. SYH, JL, JR, WF, and TS either did not respond directly or could not be reached.

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Citation: The PLOS ONE Editors (2024) Retraction: The design of tourism product CAD three-dimensional modeling system using VR technology. PLoS ONE 19(6): e0305242. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305242

Copyright: © 2024 The PLOS ONE Editors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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