EVOLUTION OF TOURISM

The development of tourism is inevitably tied to the economic growth of cities, regions and even nations as well as greatly influenced by the development of transportation. Therefore, it is evident that tourism is most common in nations which have the most well-developed transportation networks and are economically successful at that time. Beginnings:- Human population has existed for hundreds of thousands of years in all parts of the world. For example, Cro-Magnon man was active in Europe and the Middle East about 40 000 B.C. However, there was relatively little travel as we know it today until relatively recently in human history. > The Sumerians The recorded history of tourism began with Sumerians, who inhabited Mesopotamia, near the Persian Gulf, by about 4000 B.C. Much of the area, covering part of the modern state of Iraq, was particularly fertile. Sumerian farmers were eventually able to produce so much grain that they had a surplus available to trade. In addition to growing and trading grains, the Sumerians became skilled at converting it to alcoholic beverages, primarily beers. Local Sumerian taverns served various beers and provided a gathering place for local residents. >The Middle East By 2000 B.C., Middle East people travelled long journeys to trade for exotic goods, catered to in caravanserai (inns), providing food and shelter. > Empires: 3200 B.C. to A.D 476 While several civilisations were thriving in the region around Persian Gulf, others were developing around the Mediterranean Sea between 3200 B.C. and A.D. 476 􀄃 a period known to the historians as the Empire Era. During this time, three significant empires flourished around the Mediterranean: the Egyptian, the Greek and the Roman. Their developments in tourism reached their zenith during the Roman period with the creation of a transportation network that surrounded the Mediterranean and extended to such distant points as England, France and Germany. (a) Egypt The Egyptians created a political entity by around 3200 B.C., headed by a pharaoh, their term for a king. The famed pyramids were built as tombs for the pharaohs as early as 2700 B.C. and became tourist attractions that people travelled great distances to view. Besides, people travelled to see other sights, to trade goods, to transact government business, and to attend religious festivals. Thus, ancient Egyptians might have been responsible for beginning the activity we now call tourism. (b) Greece The Greeks were great travellers. By 356 B.C. they dominated the Mediterranean region. They established colonies that stretched their empire as far west as Spain and even to the north coast of the Black Sea. Besides, many Greeks travelled to great religious centres, particularly Delphi and Olympia, to take part in games and competitions and to consult their oracles. Their two most important contributions to tourism were their language, which became universally accepted as the language of international trade; and their currencies, which were widely circulated, accepted, and trusted as the medium of exchange for monetary transactions. These made travel and trade comparatively easy and thus played an important role in increasing the volume of both. (c) Rome By the time Rome conquered most of Western Europe and the Middle East, tourism was well established throughout the empire. Travelling was relatively safe and easy because the traveller needed only one currency 􀄃 Roman coins 􀄃 to travel anywhere in the Empire; the excellent roads systems made travel faster and easier; and the traveller needed to know only Latin or Greek, the language of business and government, to communicate fairly easily in any part of the empire. > Decline and Revival: 476 to 1300 After the fall of the Roman Empire and the decline in international trade, most of the population returned to agriculture. Cities began to crumble and some virtually disappeared. Trade nearly ceased and the middle class disappeared. This period was marked by invasions into areas of Europe that had once been the Roman Empire. The invaders were so-called barbaric tribes of north central Europe. Travel and tourism virtually ceased. Travel was undertaken primarily for religious reasons. This was the age of feudalism, a system whereby land was given by a ruler in return for loyalty and service. Church monasteries took over the job of feeding and housing travellers. > Renaissance: 1300 to 1600 The term „renaissance‰ is derived from the French word for rebirth and originally referred to the revival of artistic values, especially in Italy. Later, the term came to mean a distinct historical period characterised by the rise of the individual, scientific inquiry and growth of worldly values. By about 1350, some degree of safety had returned to roads, and travel and trade increased, creating conditions that led to the rise of the middle class in the economic life of Europe. The 16th century also saw the beginnings of an activity known as the grand tour. Wealthy English would send their sons to tour Europe to „finish their education‰ on a tour that might last as long as three years. Paris was a favourite destination, as was the Italian peninsula. Young men would spend an entire year learning about arts and humanities. > Early Modern: 1600 to 1800 The period from 1600 to 1800 was particularly important in the evolution of tourism. One critical element was the beginning development of roads, which facilitated the use of stagecoaches between cities. With regard to this, the famous English tavern was originally built mainly for travellers by stagecoach. Another important development was the English common law, which forms the basis of Malaysian law and which has special significance for the hospitality industry today. >The Industrial Era: From 1800 The Industrial Revolution, which dates from the mid-1700s, started in England with the development of machines to do work that was formerly done by hand. This period was an age of invention. With steam engines, power could be made available in locations that had no access to water transportation. The greatest period of growth followed the invention of the railroad in 1825. This new form of transportation started a network designed to move raw materials and finished goods from place to place. > Health Tourism and Leisure Travel It was not until the 19th century that cultural tourism developed into leisure and health tourism. Leisure travel was a British invention due to sociological factors. Britain was the first European country to industrialise and the industrial society was the first society to offer time for leisure to a growing number of people. Not initially the working masses, but the owners of the machinery of production, the economic oligarchy, the factory owners, the traders, the new middle class. The British origin of this new industry is reflected in many place names. At Nice, one of the first and most well established holiday resorts on the French Riviera, the long esplanade along the sea front is known to this day as the Promenade des Anglais; and in many other historic resorts in continental Europe, old well-established palace hotels have names like the Hotel Bristol, Hotel Carlton or Hotel Majestic 􀄃 reflecting the dominance of English customers to whom these resorts catered in the early years. > Mass Tourism Mass tourism did not really begin to develop until two things occurred. (a) Improvements in communications allowed the transport of large numbers of people in a short space of time to places of leisure interest, and (b) Greater numbers of people began to enjoy the benefits of leisure time. The biggest development of all was the invention of the railways, which brought many seaside towns within easy distance of large urban centres. The main purpose of mass tourism is visiting attractions. The father of modern mass tourism was Thomas Cook who, on July 5, 1841, organised the first package tour in history, by chartering a train to take a group of teetotallers from Leicester to a rally in Loughborough, some twenty miles away. Cook immediately saw the potential for business development in the sector, and became the world's first tour operator. The combination of short holiday periods, travel facilities and distances meant that the first holiday resorts to develop were towns on the seaside, situated as close as possible to the growing industrial conurbations. For a century, domestic tourism was the norm, with foreign travel being reserved, as before, for the rich or the culturally curious. > International Mass Tourism Increasing speed on railways meant that the tourist industry could develop slowly, even internationally. By 1901, the number of people crossing the English Channel from England to France or Belgium had already passed 0.5 million per year. However, it was with cheap air travel in combination with the package tour that international mass tourism developed after 1963. > Recent Developments Mass tourism has been stagnating and declining in recent years. The mass tourist economy has also been hit badly by terrorism, with specific attacks on destinations such as Bali and Kenya.

The hospitality and tourism industry has changed more than a little since the first motel, in San Luis Obispo, California, was opened in 1925. (Its rooms went for $2.50 a night.) Today, there are more than four million guest rooms in the country, and tourists and businesspeople spend about $550 billion each year on travel in the United States. The industry includes behemoths like Marriott, Hilton, Six Flags, and Disneyland and Walt Disney World, on down to out-of-the-way bed-and-breakfasts and roadside attractions like the Liberace Museum (in Las Vegas), the Cadillac Ranch (Amarillo, Texas), and the Dan Quayle Center and Museum (Huntington, Indiana). Which means that the Gideons, who placed their first Bible in a hotel room in 1908, have a lot more work to do than they used to. But they're not the only ones. Today, the industry employs more than seven million people directly and even more than that indirectly. (For example, consider a waiter in a restaurant in Palm Springs, California, which is in the middle of the desert: His job wouldn't exist if it weren't for the fact that Palm Springs is a tourist destination.) Accountants, nurses, salespeople, lifeguards, park rangers, street cleaners, car rental agents, blackjack dealers, caterers, cruise directors, the actress in the Snow White costume, the clerk in the t-shirt shack, the tennis pro, the golf course groundskeeper-the industry employs these folks and many, many more. Despite the size and complexity of the industry, today many of its arms are interconnected by technology. Computer systems now allow people to reserve airline tickets, rental cars, hotel rooms, and tours-all at the same time. These computer systems are called computer reservation systems (CRSs) or global distribution systems (GDSs). Although many in the industry work in behind-the-scenes positions, those on the front lines-travel agents, front desk clerks, tour guides, and so on-must be enthusiastic and articulate. And in most any position, you'll need to have a love of service and a strong attention to detail. In the end, your job is about how satisfied you've made the customer. Recovery? It's been a very difficult few years for the hospitality and tourism industry. The economic recession has caused businesses, individuals, and families to cut back on their spending on travel, and fears of terrorism have made many folks even less inclined to travel. The results have included lower industry revenues, layoffs, and a tighter job market. Today, though, there are signs that people are starting to travel more and that the industry may be recovering. Industry analysts are expecting increasing demand for hotel rooms and seats on airline flights in 2004, with an increase in job opportunities in many sectors of the industry. The Internet The biggest change in the travel industry in recent years has been the rise of the Internet. It used to be that you had to speak with your travel agent, or call hotels and airlines directly, to make your travel plans. But as Internet usage spread, it became possible to use the new technology to research destinations and compare prices yourself, or visit websites that provide all that information in one place. Indeed, companies such as Expedia and Travelocity have become quite profitable doing just that. In 2003, 12 percent of lodging reservations were made online, and that number is sure to grow in coming years. One of the changes wrought by the Internet has been to make the travel agent and reservations clerk less necessary to making travel plans. According to industry experts, the Internet has also raised the number of rooms occupied per night-but it's also caused lower revenue per room, as the ease of Internet comparison shopping and Internet-only promos have increased competition among hospitality providers. Niche Markets As in many other industries, the big players in the hospitality and tourism industry have become vastly more efficient due to technology and management advances in recent years. These days, smaller players just can't compete on price. So how can smaller hotels, motels, and tour operators compete with bigger players who pay half what they do for supplies? For many smaller players, the answer is finding a market niche that is not adequately served by the big players and becoming a specialist in providing services for that niche. Although some market niches are already served by big industry players (think: golf resorts, or tour operators who put together trips to New York City to see Broadway plays), there are plenty of niches that smaller players focus on. For example, there are tour operators that focus on the gay male market, Christian- or Jewish-focused Jerusalem-tour packagers, back country-skiing tour guides, ecotourism resorts, and so on. If you love travel and have a passion for a certain place or activity, it's likely you'll be able to find a company that operates in that niche. The only problem is that many of these companies will be so small that they'll rarely have an open position for you to fill. Hospitality and tourism is a big, hard-to-pin-down industry that actually consists of 15 or more specific sectors, including car rentals, restaurants, convention and meeting planning, airlines, State and National Parks, convention and visitor bureaus, and tour operators. That's way too much for us to look at here, though, so we'll stick to the following core sectors of the industry: Lodging The lodging sector, which serves both vacationers and business travelers and which made $103 billion in revenue in 2002, consists of hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfast providers, hostels, and the like: places where you can stay the night. Lodging types include budget accommodations (e.g., EconoLodge, Super 8, and Motel 6), midpriced lodgings (e.g., Sheraton, Marriott), and high-end luxury hotels (e.g., W Hotels, Ritz-Carlton), as well as hostels, campgrounds, and bed-and-breakfasts. Major players in this sector include Carlson Companies, Cendant, Hilton, Marriott, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Accor, and Choice Hotels. Resorts These are destinations built around a specific activity (e.g., golf or skiing), attraction (e.g., Walt Disney World), or target demographic (e.g., Club Med destinations for singles and families, respectively). Unlike the lodgings sector, this sector is focused squarely on the vacation market and includes timeshare accommodations. Big players here include Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Club Med, Sandals, Fairfield Resorts, Bluegreen Corp., Intrawest Corp., Vail Resorts, and American Skiing Co. Gambling Las Vegas, Reno, and Atlantic City used to be the only places that came to mind when you mentioned the word "casino," but in recent years this sector has been growing in places from Louisiana to North Dakota and from Florida to California. Gaming businesses include casinos, riverboat casinos, racetracks, and racetrack casinos (or "racinos"). Casinos can be stand-alone attractions, or can be combined with lodging facilities (and in some cases, such as Vegas's New York New York, nongambling attractions) to make gambling resorts. This sector employed 351,000 people in 2002. Big players here include Harrah's, MGM Mirage, Caesar's, Mandalay Resort Group, and Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. Attractions This sector comprises all the places you might visit as your primary destination while on vacation, as well as all those places you might stop to check out en route to your primary destination. In other words, everything from amusement parks (for instance, Disneyland) and roadside attractions (such as the Salem Witch Museum) to notable natural landscapes (the Grand Canyon), famous or historical buildings (Graceland, the Alamo), and in some cases entire towns or cities (Branson, Missouri). Big players in this sector include the National Parks Service, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Busch Entertainment Corp., Paramount Parks, Universal Parks & Entertainment, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and ClubCorp. Travel Agencies and Travel Packagers Travel agents and packagers help travelers plan their business trips and vacations. Travel agents help business travelers and tourists plan and purchase everything from airline tickets and car rentals to resort stays and attraction tickets. Travel packagers put together trips for individual tourists or groups of tourists, arranging for everything from hotel stays and restaurant reservations to tours guides, theater reservations, and sports lessons. Smaller travel agencies and packagers are more likely to focus on a single market, activity, or location. For example, one travel packager might focus on singles tours, another might offer only surf tours, and another may concentrate on tours of Asia. Major players in this category include American Express, Cendant, Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, WorldTravel, Maritz Inc., and World Travel Specialists Group. Cruise Lines Cruise lines are included in this profile because while other modes of transportation, like airlines, are primarily about getting passengers from place to place, on a cruise ship the trip is the focus. Indeed, cruise ships are essentially floating resorts, with all the activities and amenities of resorts of every kind. Major players here include Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Royal Olympic, and Star Cruises. The outlook in the hospitality and tourism industry varies depending on the position and sector you're interested in working in: Opportunities in hospitality, which have been fewer than usual during the recent economic downturn, are projected to grow at a slightly greater rate than jobs overall between 2000 and 2010. For travel agents, the outlook isn't nearly so bright, due to the growing popularity of travel websites for planning trips and making reservations among both individual and corporate travelers. Of course, the hospitality and tourism industry is especially sensitive to the overall economy; when things are tough in the economy, businesspeople tend to travel less, and would-be vacationers tend to scale back their travel plans, if not cancel them altogether. Events of global significance, such as terrorist attacks and disease epidemics, can also hurt the travel business. Be aware that, occasionally, the industry will go into a downturn, and that when that happens nobody's job is completely safe. A final note: Adventure travel is one particularly hot spot in the travel business these days. Competition is tough for positions in this sector, but jobs here should continue to grow in coming years.

FUNDAMENTALS OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM BUSINESS

Terminology
• Hospitality
A term implies whereby a guest who is away from home is welcomed by a host where basic necessities are provided such as food, beverages and lodging. The term is derived from the Latin word ÂhospitaireÊ, which means Âto receive a guestÊ.
• Hospitality Industry
An industry comprises business entity of food, beverages, lodging or a combination of these businesses to travellers during their stay in a destination.
• Tourism
As recommended by the World Tourism Organisation and adopted by the United Nations, the term tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes. It is known as an „invisible‰ export because tourism constitutes non-merchandise transactions.
• Domestic Tourism
Tourism that includes internal tourism and inbound tourism in a destination.
• National Tourism
Tourism that includes internal tourism and outbound tourism in a destination.
• International Tourism
Tourism that includes inbound tourism and outbound tourism in a destination.
• Ecotourism
It is environmentally friendly travel which acts as a tool for conservation and serves as ecologically responsible tourism.
• Travel and Tourism Industry
Businesses providing primary services to travellers, including the traditional hospitality businesses and others closely linked to them in such fields as entertainment, recreation, and transportation, plus travel agencies and tour operators.

The hospitality industry consists of broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry that mostly depends on the availability of leisure time and disposable income. A hospitality unit such as a restaurant, hotel, or even an amusement park consists of multiple groups such as facility maintenance, direct operations (servers, housekeepers, porters, kitchen workers, bartenders, etc.), management, marketing, and human resources.
· The hospitality industry covers a wide range of organizations offering food service and accommodation. The industry is divided into sectors according to the skill-sets required for the work involved. Sectors include accommodation, food and beverage, meeting and events, gaming, entertainment and recreation, tourism services, and visitor informatio