Specialized tourism

The second half of the 20^th century was characterized by the arrival of mass tourism, which became possible through the use of jet aircraft and the introduction of package holidays. Tourism today continues to offer package tours, but at the same time attempts to see the tourist as an individual. Two key issues here are

- how to respond to individual tastes, and so promote difference in tourism

- how to respond to each tourist’s rights, and so promote equality in tourism.

As people have traveled more, the need to experience something different, something special has also grown. The result is ‘niche tourism’. Tour operators have realized there is a market for the specialist tourist, and it is a market that often spends more than the ‘package-holiday’ tourist. This market is perhaps the fastest-growing market in the tourism industry.

Literally anything has the potential to become a niche tourism product, from cosmetic surgery to discovering your family’s past (genealogy). Niche tourism has a thousand different faces – holidays for senior citizens, tours for disabled, garden tours, gastronomic holidays, tours geared towards the gay community, photographic holidays, ‘dark’ tourism (visiting places with sinister and macabre histories), and many more.

Certain broad categories of niche tourism seem to be developing just now:

• cultural – art, history, religion, education, customs and traditions;

• environmental – observing wildlife or sports activities in the wilder areas of the world;

• rural – activities in non-urban areas, normally directly related to rural lifestyles;

• urban – city-based activities, including business tourism.

Specialized tourism is trying to address the needs of the disabled traveler. In the past tourism was a luxury, today it is an indicator of a minimum quality of life and in many countries is seen as a right.

Reasons for Travel.

I. People travel for many different reasons. In the tourism industry we divide the reasons for travel into three main categories: leisure tourism, business tourism, and visiting friends and relatives (VFR).

Leisure tourism can mean anything from excursions, day trips, and weekend breaks to package holidays, pleasure cruises, and longer independent trips such as hill walking or treks in the mountains. It also includes cultural trips (for example, to music festivals), educational trips (for example, study tours), and religious trips (for example, pilgrims on a walking tour to a holy place).

Business tourism includes any travel away from one’s main place of residence, for such events as meetings, conferences, and trade fairs. It also includes special trips when workers are given a reward or a ‘thank you’ for good work (this is known as an incentive tour).

Travel in order to visit friends or family relatives is also regarded as part of the tourism industry. This could be for a special family party, such as a wedding or a regular trip made every year.

II. When we look at the movement of tourists there are three types of tourism: domestic, inbound, and outbound. Domestic tourism involves people who take holidays in their own country. Inbound tourism means people entering the country from abroad to take holidays. Outbound tourism involves residents of one country traveling to another country.

The things that attract travelers to a particular country are the following: climate and natural features; built attractions; accommodation; events; food drink and entertainment. The top ten tourist destinations of the world are France, the USA, Spain, Italy, China, the UK, Mexico, Russia, Canada, and Germany. The biggest tourist spenders are the USA, Germany, the UK, Japan, Spain, and France.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page. (St. Augustine).

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it. (Moore).