Prepared by: Ms.

Gordon
Topic: Tourism

Terms you should Know!

Tourist
Tourist Attraction
Tourism product
Tourism sector
Time share
Informal sector
Excursion
Economic linkage
Cruise Passenger
Disatribution system
Diversity
All inclusive resort or holiday aviation hub

What is tourism
Tourism can be defined in several ways: It can be defined as the services provided by the people
in a host country for example a Caribbean island to people from another country who come to
visit, usually on vacation.

Tourism may be international: When Tourist come from countries outside the region .
Many tourist come to the Caribbean from Europe and from North America.
It may be regional: When tourist come from one Caribbean country visit another
Or it may be domestic: When people simply take a vacation in a different part of their
own country.

Tourism and its products

The tourism industry covers all the businesses, small and large , which exist to serve
tourists needs during their stay. Tourism products are the experiences and facilities
provided for the tourist by the tourism industry such as the natural benefits of the
sunshine , the sandy beaches, and the sea itself, and the special events festivals, tourist
attractions and other experiences offered to tourist during their stay in the region. The
tourism products in the Caribbean include niche products , such as honeymoon facilities,
diving and whale watching, which have a particular appeal to narrow market segment.
Class work: Suggest some experiences that can be termed tourism products.
Tourism consist of three basic economic elements.
1. The demand: The demand or market consist of the tourist who is looking for an
2.

experience.
(a) The supply: This speaks to facilities, attractions, and other tourism products
such as excursions which are generally provided by a supplier.
2(b) The supplier provides for example, transportation, food, accommodation and
amenities such as water sport facilities and access to heritage festivals. In

providing these he or she is motivated by the desire for profit.

3. The destination: The tourist experience takes place in the destination. The
community at the tourist attraction may depend entirely on tourism for economic
and social development, increase in employment, and a better quality of life.
The tourist distribution system
Economically, the tourism products needs to be brought to where the demand is
there are two types of distributing channels.
1. Direct Marketing: By producers such as hotels and airlines.
2. Indirect saes through intermediary: This may take place via short channels, for
example airlines, selling their products via tour routes to travel agents and on
to tourist.

Why do people travel?

In early history humans travelled as explorers and conquerors, seeking new lands and riches,
freedom amd adventure, or to discover the secrets of nature or experiencenew culture. As
pilgrims people travelled to religious shrines and temples.
People also travel or visit a destination for;
1. Recreation
2. Sightseeing
3. Folk retention
4. Shopping
5. Health
6. Education
7. Performing arts
8. Research
9. Religion
10. Business
11. To visit families or friends (which is one of the major motivation of todays travel).

Tourism
Tourism products in the Caribbean are as varied and diverse as itsd people.All our different
ethnic nationalities and cultures have blended to produce a modern, vibrant and extensive range
of experiences for the tourist. The umbrella term tourism therefore includes many different type
sof experience, such as :

Eco-tourism
Sports tourism
Health tourism
Culture and heritage tourism
Community based tourism
Special events tourism
Cruise tourism
Note:

 Eco tourism involves travel for the purpose of understanding cultural and natural
history .Eco tourist are concerned to safeguard ecosystems and encourage
conservation.other names for ecotourism is green and soft tourism.
Sports tourism: This refers to a type of tourism product which ha as its main purpose
either: engaging in a sports event as a player, attending a sporting event as aspectator or
players supporters or , performing other duties resulting fromsporting events such as
sports journalism or sponsorship.
Examples of events that attract sports tourism are international golf championships,
International, (Test) or regional cricket matches.

Health Tourism
This is the term given to provision of health facilities which utilise the natural resources of the
region, in particular mineral water and the climate. It may also include special provision from
recuperation from illness.
Heritage Tourism
This tourist experience includes visits to plantation houses,historic sites and natural monuments,
and cultural activities that introduce tourist to the local cuisinr, music, dance, folklores and
remedies. It is therefore primarily an educational and cultural entertainment product combining
the arts in the national heritage of the country visited.
Community- based tourism
This refers to the ancient practice where travellers were accommodated in homes, hostels and
monasteries. It gets the visitors involved in the life of the community by providing family type
accommodation.

Special events tourism

This is tourism centered around a range of special activities such as carnival in Trinidad,
Crop over in Barbados, and sun, sand, and sea.
Cruise Tourism
A cruise ship is sometimes called a floating hotel . Cruise ship usually contain accommodation
for passengers in cabins, dining facilities and on board entertainment such as cinemas and live
music, swimming pools and sun- decks. Cruise tourists are called cruise passengers.
Factors affecting tourism in the Caribbean
.1. Where tourist come from: Tourist come from a wide area to enjoy a holiday in the Caribbean
(Read up on factors affecting tourism)
Tourist destinations
All the Caribbean islands and mainland territories attract tourist to a greater or lesser extent.But
their relative attractiveness depends on a number of factors:
1. Their profile in the tourist home countries, for example, whether or not they are seen as
welcoming, competitively priced, safe and politically safe.
2. Any disastrous events such as volcanic eruptions or hurricane damage which have
affected their ability to welcome tourists.
3. The quality and amount of accommodation they can provide for stop over tourist, which
will be reflected inthe price charged.
4. The number of sites that inidividually attract tourist, for example beaches in Jamaica or
waterfalls in Guyana.
In addition practical and financial constraints affecting the level of tourism development
include:

1. Availability, quality, and reliability of water and energy supplies.

2. Adequate human resources for tourism involved in marketing and promotion, market
research, training and other foundation jobs.
3. Availability of suitably trained workforce for the tourist industry including restaurants
and hotels management and staff, local guides and people with special skills such as
lifeguards and chefs.
Note: Some attempts are being made to promote the region as a single tourist
destination, so that tourist sees themselves as visiting the Caribbean as a whole, rather
than merely individual islands or countries.
Making improvements
Some of these items, for instance the accommodation offered, the safety and security
of tourist. And the quality of water or energy supplies can be improved by local action
or government policy. Disaster preparedness will also limit the damage caused by
hurricanes and the like, an therefore minimise the disruption of tourism.

Why tourist come to the Caribbean

A number of factors affect the decisions and choices tourist make about where to
take a holiday. These include:
1. Economic conditions: in the home country for example, disposable income and
immediate future prospects, whether potential tourist can be certain of having
enough saved up or easy access to credit in order to pay for a Caribbean holiday.
2. The effectiveness of marketing and promotion: of different destinations, partly
by travel agents, partly by host countries themselves;
3. A destination accessibility, especially the availability of direct flights from the
tourist home country to the holiday destination or easy access to ports of
embarkation for cruise ships, many cruises involve air travel either outward bound
or on the return journey;

4. Cost and availability of transportation: this is closely related to the

destinations accessibility, but may also be influenced by the ease of
transportation in the tourist home country, for example, whether or not tourist in a
location remote from large cities can access flights to the Caribbean easily.
5. Desirability of the tourism product: The profile of the Caribbean region, or
countries within it, influences whether a Caribbean destination will be chosen. If
Caribbean countries are seen as unwelcoming or unsafe, or tourism is badly
managed in the region, tourist will vote with their feet. And go elsewhere.
Uneven development
It is important to note that the development of tourism in the Caribbean as a
region is skewed. Some countries have developed tourism to a high degree and
earn a great deal of income from the tourist industry, even out of the main high
season. Others struggle to attract sufficient numbers to justify large scale
investment in the necessary infrastructure
Student work: Can you explain this phenomenon? What can be done about it?

Support services for tourism

Support organisations help tourist suppliers to provide services to the tourist
industry. There are several different kinds:
Regional institutions: such as the CTO and the Caribbean Hotel Association
(CHA) help to link national and local bodies and raise the profile of the
Caribbean as a tourist destination.
Economic and financial institutions: help tourism by providing funds, grants
and loans. These may be regional institutions such as the Caribbean
development bank and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, or outside donor

agencies such as the Organization of American STATES (OAS), the European

Union and the Canadian International Development Agency.
Training Institutions: within individual countries serve tourism in the region
by providing specialised training for tourism providers such as restaurateurs
and hotel- keepers.
The role of government/ government policies
As we have seen governments can influence the development of tourism through policies to
promote the country abroad as a tourist destination and develop the necessary infrastructure at
home. Here are some important ways in which governments can help to develop tourism.
1. By putting in place the requirements of a well developed tourism industry such a sbasic
infrastructure, physical and energy resources, and overseas and domestic marketing and
promotion through Tourist Boards, and government departments devote dtop tourism.
2. By addressing environmental and social concerns that influences tourist choice, such as
the creation of clean well managed physical environment, including beaches, hotels and
other tourist sites, combating environmental degradation , dealing with crime and illegal
drug trafficking, maintain good relations, between tourist and tourism providers.
3. By engaging with other countries in the region with regard to cooperation and
integration, for example in developing aviation hubs for the region. An aviation hub acts
a s a central magnet for tourist , since they can fly in from all major destinations, for
example in North America or Europe then travel onwardfrom the hub to more remote
locations
What can individuals do to help tourism.

Individual can seek to be friendly and welcoming since many visitors the welcome and
friendliness of the people of the Caribbean is one of the most powerful factors
influencing their choice of destination.
The impact of tourism
As we have seen , huge number of tourist visits and / or stay in the Caribbean territories
every year . Such large numbers are bound to have an impact on the region. The impact is
both negative and positive, and has a major effect on Caribbean economies and the
physical environment, particularly natural ecosystems.
Economic benefits (the positive impacts)
1. Tourism exerts enormous impact on the economic development of the Caribbean. It
has become a reliable and growing source of export revenue, an important part of
national income, and is a major generator of employment.
2. Tourism transfer income from other countries to the Caribbean in the form of tourist
spending on services such as accommodation and entertainment and goods such as
food, beverage, and luxury items. The total consumption expenditure made by a
visitor during his or her vacation is referred to as tourism expenditure.