Travel And Tourism Terms.docx

Travel and Tourism Terms Accessible: Handicapped accessible. Whether a hotel, restaurant, or attraction can accommodate people in wheelchairs or who have other disabilities. Assets: The attractions, hotels and restaurants within a given region. Assets are what that area has to offer guests who visit. Buyers: Travel Trade professionals who sell to consumers. They are tour operators, receptive operators, travel agents and OTAs (online travel agents). They look for destinations and attractions to package and sell to their customers. CVB: Convention and Visitors Bureau. Primarily the same thing as a DMO or TPA (see below). DMO: Destination Marketing Organization. A destination marketing organization is an entity that promotes a town, city, region, or country to increase visitation. It promotes the development and marketing of a destination, focusing on convention sales, tourism marketing, and services. The primary goal of a DMO is to create and implement strategic marketing plans around tourism, bringing local tourism businesses together and helping them to work collectively. This transforms a set of attractions, activities and services into a cohesive and compelling travel experience. Break the Ice Media works with several DMOs, including Cayuga County Office of Tourism, Genesee County Office of Tourism and Visit Syracuse. FAM: Familiarization Tour. FAMs are marketing initiatives, inviting either media or travel trade professionals to tour a region or destination. Experiencing it helps them write about it or sell it as a product to their customers. The activities on a FAM are typically shorter than what the actual visitor experiences. They provide a sampling of what is offered. FIT: Foreign Independent Traveler. An international family or small group travelling to the USA. They arrive by airplane and usually rent cars for transportation.

Fly drive: A vacation package that includes air transportation and a rental car. Many international tourists (FITs) prefer to buy these types of packages to explore a destination. Front-line staff: People who interact with and give service to customers, guests and visitors. For example, front desk staff at a hotel or a cashier at an attraction. Group Leader: The person who accompanies and/or leads the people on a group tour. They work for the Group Tour Operator who sells the tour. Group Tour Operator: A person who puts together vacation packages for groups. They sell these packages as products to consumers. They also fit into the category of Buyers. Inbound operators: Agencies that specialize in providing tour packages to international travelers visiting the United States. Also known as Receptive Operators. Travel agents from foreign countries will work with an inbound receptive operator to find a travel package that suits their customers. A couple of examples are TourMappers and ATI, who we’ve worked with. Inbound Tourism: Tourism generated by visitors from foreign countries. This does not include drive markets in the U.S. (domestic travel), and in New York State visitors. Itinerary: The planned route for a trip. This is what the travel trade professionals sell to their customers. It’s a pre-planned experience with where to go, when, and what to expect when you get there. Motorcoach: Large passenger bus. This is the vehicle most often used for people travelling with group travel tours. Net Rate: Hotel room inventory sold via a thirdparty distributor at prices subject to commission. The Net Rate is the price for a hotel room without the commission of the third-party distributor. These distributors could be a travel agent, receptive operator or online travel agent. (See also, Rack Rate)

Hiking − A long and vigorous walk on the trail. Partners: The people who own or manage the assets of a region. These partners work closely with their region’s DMO and benefit from tourism dollars spent at their establishments. Rack Rate: Standard daily rate established for hotel rooms. This rate is typically public, printed on hotel brochures and listed on websites. Suppliers: Tourism or Travel professionals who sell to businesses aka Buyers. They sell B2B (that means business to business). They work with tourism companies to promote their attraction or destination. TPA: Tourism Promotion Agency. This is basically the same thing as a DMO. A government agency that promotes tourism in a specific county or region within New York State. Attraction − It is a physical or cultural feature of a place that can satisfy tourists’ leisure based need. Cultural Heritage − It is an expression of the manner of living developed by a community and passed on from one generation to the next. It includes customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions and values. Dark Tourism − (Black or Grief tourism) It is the tourism involving travel to places historically associated with death and tragedy. Destination − It is a place the tourist visits and stays there for at least 24 hours. The destination supports staying facilities, attractions, and tourist resources. Ecotourism − It involves maintenance and enhancement of natural systems such as water, air, woods and forests, and flora and fauna through tourism. Excursionist − Persons traveling for pleasure in a period less than 24 hours

Intermediaries − They are the intermediate links between the form of goods and services tourists do not require and the form of goods and services the tourists demand. Itinerary − A documented plan of the tour. Leisure − The free time when obligations are at a minimum and one can relax. Recreation − The activities carried out during leisure time. Site − It is a particular place bound by physical or cultural characteristics Skiing − It is a recreational activity and competitive winter sport in which the participant uses skis to glide on snow. Snorkeling − It is the practice of swimming on or through a water body while being equipped with a diving mask composed of a shaped tube called a snorkel. Terrain − It is a stretch of land, especially with regard to its physical features. Tourism Carrying Capacity − The maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment, and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors' satisfaction. Travel − The act of moving outside one's home community for business or pleasure but not for commuting or traveling to or from usual places. United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) − It is the United Nations (UN) agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable, and universally accessible tourism. Visitor − A non-residential person visiting the place.

Foreign Tourist − Any person visiting a country, other than that in which he/she usually resides, for a period of at least 24 hours.

WTO − World Tourism Organization.