Introduction to travel and tourism

Tourism and the environment- how can you help?
Whether you work in an office, a hotel or as a guide there are things that you can do to reduce the risk on the environment. This applies just as much at home as it does at work.

• Save energy by switching off unnecessary appliances, e.g. air-conditioning. Energy is a scarce resource and should be conserved.

• Save water - water is a scarce resource. Try not to waste it.
• Detergents and chemicals pollute rivers and water supplies. Use them sparingly and take care where you dispose of them.
•Dispose rubbish in the proper containers. Rubbish and waste just dumped is not only an eyesore but can attract pests and vermin and cause disease. It also poses a threat to wildlife
and vegetation.
• If you work in an office, try not to waste paper. The more paper you use the more trees need to be cut down to make more.
• When you are talking to or working with tourists, stress the importance of conservation of your environment for their enjoyment and the enjoyment of others. For example, discourage them from buying coral or goods made from end angered species.
• If you have any ideas that will reduce wastage of scarce resources or help to protect your environment, suggest them to your supervisor or manager.
• Report any infringements of regulations that exist to protect the environment.

More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of conservation of the environment and scarce resources.

The tourist visits your country to experience the good things about your environment, so it makes sense to protect it. Perhaps more importantly, it should be protected for you and future generations.


WHAT IS A TRAVEL AGENT?
In the middle of the last century an Englishman called Thomas Cook started selling excursions by train. He put together different services such as transport and accommodation and sold them as a ‘package’ at one inclusive price to travelers. The providers of these services gave him a commission on all sales made and in this way the concept of a travel agency came into being. Today, we would call the organizer or such a trip, who buys the “ingredients “at one price, mixes them together, and sells them at a higher, inclusive price, a tour operator, and we would call the organization which sells the package on to the customer, and in turn earns his own commission, a retail travel agent. In those early days Thomas Cook acted as both tour operator and travel agent and so today Thomas Cook is internationally recognized as the founder of the modern travel trade. Just imagine how one small trip by train started the world’s biggest growth industry!

The modem travel agent can either be a small business with only a few staff members or it can be a very large and sometimes multinational organization with hundreds 0 employees. Travel agent may provide a full range of services, or specialize In the provision of only certain services Outbound tour operators tend to be quite large operations, while inbound ‘operators tend to have only a few staff ([here are, of course, exceptions to this).