Tourism Essay

“A tourist is a traveler taking a trip to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (business, leisure or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited. These trips taken by visitors qualify as tourism trips. Tourism refers to the activity of the visitors” (Tourism Analysis, 2012).

Over the past sixty years, the tourism sector has grown to become a pillar of the global economy, driven by political cooperation, social change and far - reaching advances in technology; both in communications and infrastructure (UNWTO, 2011).

It is believed that product innovation and technology are key elements in improving business and destination competitiveness as it assists in enhancing the experience of the tourist’s. Which as a result helps retain existing customers, whilst attracting new customers.

The evolution of information technology has assisted the tourism industry in being able to reach a larger scale of the global audience with very little costs associated with advertising and promotion. It has helped modernise tourism destinations and add advanced features to create memorable tourists experiences. The fact is that customers, wether it be domestic or international have easy access to information on tourism destinations all over the world and price comparisons. Social networks are creating a translucent market, where users talk about their experiences, share pictures and etc. There are websites that compare multiple travel sites to give the customer the best price possible, wether it be flight deals, package deals and so forth.

As a result of information technology continually evolving and advancing, employees in the tou...

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...rovide appropriate information to the tourists, provide ease of access to the information by making it available on multiple mobile devices, such as iPads, tablets and etc. The era that we currently live in is oriented around technology, hence, companies and destinations need to keep up with the trend in order to survive in the global market.

With the help of technology, tourism destinations are better able to identify and understand their clientele, their needs and wants and satisfy requirements and also keep a track of their competition.

The incorporation of information technology, helps businesses reduce unnecessary expenses (by advertising on social media), to design experiences for travellers to make their stay more positive. In addition, informational technology should be used to differentiate company’s or tourism destinations from that of it’s competitors.