A Take Home Exam

Presented to
ANNE-FATIMAH LATIP
Faculty member of the Tourism Department
College of Hotel and Restaurant Management
Mindanao State University
Marawi City

In Partial Fulfilment
Of the Requirements for the Course
HRM 51 - Vv(Principles of Tourism 1)
Second Semester, 2018-2019

Presented by

Johair M. Basher

May 2019
Travel Agency

Travel Agency is a Plan and sell transportation and accommodations for travel agency
customers. Determine destination, modes of transportation, travel dates, costs, and
accommodations required. May also describe, plan, and arrange itineraries and sell tour
packages. Travel agents sell also lodging, and entertainment activities to individuals and groups
planning trips. They offer advice on destinations, plan trip itineraries, and make travel
arrangements for clients.

A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism related
services to the public on behalf of suppliers such as activities, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines,
hotels, railways, travel insurance, and package tours. In addition to dealing with ordinary
tourists, most travel agencies have a separate department devoted to making travel
arrangements for business travelers; some travel agencies specialize in commercial and
business travel only. There are also travel agencies that serve as general sales agents for foreign
travel companies, allowing them to have offices in countries other than where their
headquarters are located.

Travel agencies became more commonplace with the development of commercial aviation,
starting in the 1920s. Originally, travel agencies largely catered to middle and upper class
customers, but the post-war boom in mass-market package holidays resulted in the
proliferation of travel agencies on the main streets of most British towns, catering to a working
class clientele looking for a convenient way to book overseas beach holidays

Traditionally, travel agencies' principal source of income was, and continues to be, commissions
paid for bookings of car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, sightseeing tours, tour operators,
etc. A fixed (in most cases) percentage of the main element of the price is paid to the agent as a
commission. Commissions may vary depending on the type of product and the supplier.
Commissions are not paid on the tax component of the price. Travel agencies also receive a
large variety of bonuses, benefits, and other incentives from travel and tourism related
companies as inducements for travel agents to promote their products. The customer is
normally not made aware of how much the travel agent is earning in commissions and other
benefits. Other sources of income may include the sale of insurance, travel guide books, public
transport timetables and money exchange.

Tour industry

The tour industry itself is both old and new. The well-to-do have always been able to travel to
see and experience interesting buildings, works of art, cultures, languages, cuisines, and there
have always been guides there when they arrived to show them the sights. Then, with the
beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the new middle class – factory owners, merchants,
traders, attorneys, those who contributed to the new economy at a level different and above
those who actually created the products – had both money and leisure time for travel. And the
tourism industry was created.
It was not until the late 1940s, after World War II, that tourism, on the large scale seen today,
began to grow. Mass tourism required the development of a transportation infrastructure,
trains, ships, highways, and most recently, airplanes, capable of moving large numbers of
people to places far away. With that support in place, travel has experienced year-over-year
growth, providing expanded career opportunities in its related industries, contributing an
estimated 5% to the worldwide gross domestic product (UN World Trade Organization).

Travel has created opportunities for employment in a variety of service-oriented industries with
ties to tourism:

 Transporation providers (i.e., taxis and airlines)

 Entertainment venues (i.e., theme parks)
 Hospitality services (i.e., resorts)

Adding to this the huge growth is the cruise industry, with around a dozen new cruise ships
coming on line per year, and accompanying demands for workers to make dream vacations
come true.

Other Sector of Tourism Industry

The tourism industry has been divided into eight different sectors or areas. The following sector
descriptions are brief overviews. 1. Accommodation 2. Adventure Tourism and Recreation 3.
Attractions 4. Events and Conferences 5. Food and Beverage 6. Tourism Services 7.
Transportation 8. Travel Trade

1. Accommodation: Accommodation is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in

the tourism industry. it serves as providing lodging to the guests further other functions
are providing foods (lunches and dinners) and beverages. Further, there are different
categories of accommodation on Nepal ranging from B and B’s (Bed and Breakfast), 3
stars, 4 stars, 5 stars, and heritage (top-notch accommodations)
2. Adventure Tourism and Recreation: These includes providing various recreation
activities to tourism. These are also the travel agents and tour operators who include
various recreation activities in the tour packages. In Nepal, trekking in Nepal is the
famous adventure activities followed by rafting, mountain biking, bungee jump to name
a few.
3. Attractions: These are also catered by the travel agents. Various tourist attractions of
the country are included in tour packages. Further, attractions include historic sites,
heritage homes, museums, halls of fame, art galleries, botanical gardens, aquariums,
zoos, water parks, amusement parks, casinos, and cultural attractions.
4. Events and conference: Also referred to as MICE tourism. This sector contributed huge
transaction in the economy. Further, this sector of tourism helps other sectors in
employment. For example for any conference, it is required for furnishing, fittings which
are outsourced. Events and conference are important tourism sectors in contributing to
the economy.
 5. Food and Beverage: Normally, the hotel has different food and beverages
outlets.However, in the case of Nepal, these services are catered by authentic Nepali
restaurant providing tourists with authentic Nepali meals along with cultural shows.
6. Tourism Services: The tourism services sector is made up of the organizations,
associations, government agencies and companies that specialize in serving the needs of
the tourism industry as a whole rather than the needs of travelers specifically.
7. Transportation: This sector in tourism provides a major role in providing logistics to the
tourists. It includes land transfers between the destination, airlines, rails, buses etc.
8. Travel Trade Shows: Though a traditional method of promoting a destination but is still
the most effective one. Here the buyers and sellers meet at the same platform and
promote their products

These are some of the tourism sectors to be looked upon. Furthermore, for a good tour
package, the travel agent will require to diligently combine all these aspects/sectors of tourism.
Some sectors of the tourism industry are more extensive and make up a larger component of
the market share than others and therefore they may have a higher consumer profile. Some
examples of these sectors would be transportation (airlines), accommodation (hotels), tour
wholesalers and retail travel agencies.

Tourism Law

According to the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the purpose of travel
legislation is to provide a regulatory framework for the proper development and management
of tourism activities. Ideally, this will aid in the conservation of natural resources and the
preservation of cultural traditions. As an added benefit, travel consumers and organizations
receive basic legal protection.

In a nutshell, tourism law refers to either general government regulations or specific travel and
hospitality industry laws. What follows is an overview of the laws governing tourism and an
explanation of why they are so important to travel consumers. In a nutshell, tourism law refers
to either general government regulations or specific travel and hospitality industry laws. What
follows is an overview of the laws governing tourism and an explanation of why they are so
important to travel consumers.

Tourism laws refer to a combination of state, federal and international laws that
regulate various aspects and functions of the travel industry. For instance, travel law may
involve anything from hospitality to employment to public health regulations.

In America, there are a few prominent legal regulations, such as seller of travel laws. There are
at least five states that maintain seller of travel laws. These states are Iowa, Hawaii, Florida,
Nevada, California and Washington. To explain, a seller of travel law means that the state
requires anyone who provides travel related services to register with the government. They will
be required to display their registration number on their advertising. Consequently, travel
consumers in these states are guaranteed a minimum level of recourse if they are the victims of
fraud or exploitation. Even though almost all other states do not have official travel regulation
agencies, most states have some sort of lax financial security registrations, such as posting
bonds with the government.

Today, hospitality managers are required not only to understand the day to day operation of
their operation but the legal aspect of hospitality management. Barth (2008) states that It can
be said that the actions of the hospitality manager will determine whether the business
become the subject of litigation. The legal judicial system is a main system that regulates
almost every part of the society, including tourism and hospitality industry. When one transacts
with another, that person is essentially contracting with the other party. Law, in this sense,
helps to safeguard the rights and obligations that these two contracting parties are entitled to.
Without a properly functioning legal system, the society will flounder and people will be
reluctant to enter into transactions with each other for fear of ending up with the shorter end
of the stick. The tourism and hospitality industry is closely interlinked with the legal system.
Business organizations such as hotels, agencies and restaurants rely on common law when
dealing with each other. Law also comes into play when businesses interact with customers
through the provision of goods and services. For example, restaurants have the legal obligation
to ensure that the foods they offer to customers are safe to consume and the premises are not
a fire hazard to occupants.

Tour and Environment

Travel and tourism is considered as the biggest and most renowned industry in the world. Many
countries know this dynamic industry as the main source of income, employment, and private
sector growth.

Since tourism paces its evolution as an industry in many countries, it has always been an
important issue in many countries. Tourism is one of the industries that can help countries to
achieve the economic, environmental and social aims.

Many of these forms of tourism especially related to those with special incentive to visit
spectacular places heavily rely on natural resources and culture of region tourism. As a result,
an explanation of the environment and cultural heritage is one of the main topics of tourism
development in the present age. In tourism it is common to have a distinction between the
physical environment and socio-cultural environment (the purpose of the physical environment
includes earth, air, water, vegetation, wildlife and man-made stuff. The purpose of socio-
cultural environment is human and political, cultural, economic and social influence on his life.
The physical environment is one of the main sources of tourism and since the ancient Greeks
and Romans; travelers have used to move to nature by the motive of getting experience.

With the Industrial Revolution, modern tourism was founded. Watching the flow of natural
environment and coastal areas changed into the recreation and holiday spending. Travelers
were influenced by various environmental factors, and that's why they came up with the
following of several products and services based on tourism.
According to widespread media reports about global environmental problems and issues,
attention to the environment is becoming increasingly more important. Thus the environmental
issue is also a major tourist issue.

People and officials of countries have realized that they have to be more serious on the health
of the planet, otherwise crisis and disaster will threaten everyone’s future life. Earth has a
limited capacity, so it must be properly protected to survive. Policymakers have realized that
the development of tourism industry in the future, need to be consistent and in accordance
with the requirements of the environment.

Meanwhile, some believe that the tourism industry is one of the best economic activities which
has the minimal damage to the environment and that's why it is called industry without smoke
and pollution. But we should not forget that ancillary services such as transportation and
exploitation of natural resources in tourism, indirectly lead to pollution of the environment.
Accordingly, in the future, the tourism development should be performed with caution and
with the development of tourism; environmental protection should also be actively pursued.

Fortunately, in recent years, tourism trips have been along emphasizing on the importance of
environmental protection. Undoubtedly, tourism activities in the areas of ecotourism can leave
environmental consequences either directly or indirectly.