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neering, security, reservations, human resources
management, accounting and marketing.
Second, the food service sector provides tourists
with foods and drinks while away from home. But
not all food service properties are restricted to
tourists, with a majority of them serving local
residents. Food service operations can be divided
by type and ownership and the latter can be either
independent or franchise. The most important
aspects of the management of foodservice operations
relate to the service delivery system, production
planning, consumer food preference, menu
planning, physical design, nutrition, purchasing,
cost control and marketing.
Third, the transportation sector in tourism
includes only those passenger services which
transport tourists between their origin and destination,
as well as those used by tourists at the
destination for sightseeing and internal travel.
Commercial transportation services can be divided
into land, sea and air. The former consists of rail,
motor coach �buses), rental cars, taxi and limousines.
The relative magnitude of each of the above
and their importance to tourism varies from
country to country. Rental cars are by far the
fastest growing commercial land transportation
mode in most destinations. Limousines are used
mostly by business tourists to and from the airports,
while taxi services are used by tourists as a mode of
intra-city transportation as well as coming from or
going to airports, seaports and railway stations.
Commercial sea transportation services are dominated
by cruise lines, a mode which is currently
experiencing a phenomenal growth. Major cruises
operate in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Pacific,
Northern Europe and Alaska regions. Most
modern ships are floating luxury resorts which
provide every conceivable amenity or service.
These vessels can accommodate anywhere between
100 and 4,000 passengers. The next mode, airline
operations, can be singled out as one which has
totally revolutionised the tourism industry and
made travel to long-haul destinations accessible,
inexpensive and comfortable. The typical airline
organisation consists of the line functions of
engineering and maintenance, flight operations,
marketing and services. Airline staff functions
consist of finance and property, information
services, personnel, corporate communications,
economic planning, legal and medical.
Fourth, the travel agent and tour operation
sector is comprised of those intermediary businesses
which sell individual and combined tourism
goods and services. Travel agents sell, among other
things, airline tickets and hotel rooms and are
rewarded through commissions received from
suppliers. To illustrate, the sector supplies information
and advises on destinations, itineraries and
facilities; sell tickets on any mode of transportation;
sells insurance policies for passengers and luggage;
provides clients with accommodation reservations;
arranges for excursions and visits to various
attractions; and assists with or supplies a range of
miscellaneous services such as visas, money orders,
tickets to theatres, museums and the like. Most
travel agencies are small and employ less than ten
individuals. Their crucial management aspects
involve marketing and sales, delivery of service,
human resources management, accounting,
budgeting and office automation. Still within this
sector, tour operators �tour wholesalers) combine
various tourism components, goods and services,
and sell these through their company, retail outlets
and travel agents. The most important managerial
aspects related to these tour businesses are selection
of destinations, planning, preparing and marketing
vacation tours.
Fifth, the conventional and meeting sector is
concerned with meeting, convention, congress,
trade show and exposition functions or businesses.
These gatherings, which vary in size from a
few dozen participants to tens of thousands, can be
regional, national, or international in scope. The
actors in the convention and meeting sector are
meeting planners and convention managers,
trade shows, hotels, convention and visitors bureaus,
exhibitors, exhibit designers, transportation
services, exposition service contractors, destination
management companies and food service companies.
Sixth, theme park and attraction enterprises
constitute one of the newest sectors of the tourism
industry. They represent particular built locations
where for a single admission fee visitors are offered
a mix of recreation and entertainment opportunities.
Today most such attractions are centred on a
unified theme or motif such as history, future,