Tourism Expenditure

Tourism Expenditures


Anything that can be purchased is a commodity. By creating tourist attractions, the tourism industry tends to commodify almost all aspects of the contemporary world. This is known as commodification.

The UNWTO has defined a  tourism commodity as  any good or service for which a significant portion of demand comes from persons engaged in tourism as consumers.

Significant portion is not defined, however, if we assume that this is more than 50 percent, then a tourism commodity is any product or service for which at least 50 percent of the buyers are tourists. (Depending on the product, service and place, the tourist demand could be less than 50 percent.)

Furthermore, almost anything can become a tourist attraction, with the right marketing.

Attractions
can include forms of transportation (e.g., San Francisco ’s Cable Cars), food and beverage (e.g., wine tourism in California).

The magnitude of tourism as an economic activity in a destination is usually measured primarily by estimating the total expenditures made by visitors in the course of at trip(or on behalf of a visitor, such as contracts with a hotel made by a tour operator inassembling a tour for sale).

A few purchases before and after a trip can be considered part of the trip ’s expenses, such as the purchase of consumables made immediately before departure, such as gas for the car, and expenditures such as the dry
cleaning of travel clothes immediately after the trip.

Tourist Motivation

Tourist Motivation


There is no one approach or model that is widely accepted as the standard for
assessing tourist motivation. This is due to the diverse combination of products and experiences that comprises the tourism industry, and the associated wide range of tourist interests and needs. Motivations and needs also change over time, such as over
the course of a lifetime, from one trip to the next, and from one activity to the next on the same trip.

In addition, many tourists are not aware of what motivates them to
take a certain trip or visit a particular attraction, except in the most general of terms which typically include recreation, relaxation, education and escape from their work-a-day world.

One example of a tourist motivation model that incorporates significant elements of supply is that suggested by Mayo and Jarvis (1981). They proposed that travel motivation can be divided into the following four types, based on what the tourists most wish to gain, see or experience in the trip. More than one of these can occur at the same time, though one tends to be more prominent than the others for any single trip.

1. Physical Motivators: The desire for physical rest, sports participation, beach recreation, relaxing entertainment and health considerations.

2. Cultural Motivators: The desire for knowledge of other countries, including their music, art, folklore, dances, paintings and religion.

3. Interpersonal Motivators: The desire to meet new people; to visit friends or relatives; to escape from routine, family, or neighbors; or to make new friendships away from the home setting; to experience anomie (which refers to social interactions in an anonymous setting).

4. Status and Prestige Motivators: The desire for recognition, attention, appreciation and a good reputation among family, friends and acquaintances in the home setting. (This is also referred to as ego enhancement.)

The advantage of this approach is that participation in specific activities can be used to classify motivations. Visitation to a museum is, therefore, an indication of a cultural motivation, while going to a beach would be a type of physical motivation.

The attachment of motivation to activities facilitates the easy collection of data on tourist behavior at its most apparent level, making this approach preferred by local and national tourism boards

Travel Journalism

Travel Journalism

Travel journalism is not travel writing. Nor is it travel blogging. Travel journalism is a writing form all its own. Even though travel journalism is often dubbed as a lesser form of journalism, it is indeed an important medium of information, especially as our world shrinks with globalization.

Travel journalism must stay factual and the authors must strive to be non-biased in order to decrease the feeling of “us” versus “them” among peoples, reduce miscommunication whether in  businessor between locals and travelers and to help readers understand the culture and importance of a place they visit.

A travel journalist must go beyond writing reviews of a festival, museum, or hotel, attraction and tourist site.

Travel journalists must explain what each of these things means to a culture Travel writing appeals to tourists, while travel journalism appeals to travelers those who want to authentically understand other cultures