This document discusses various types of special tourism services and products that have emerged to meet the evolving needs of travelers. It identifies eco, cultural, rural, adventure, health, new age, and educational tourism as specialized segments that have grown in the leisure market. In the business travel market, it focuses on the MICE industry (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions), and the roles of meeting planners, convention centers, event managers, and convention and visitor bureaus in organizing specialized events.

1. DESINGED BY,DESINGED BY,
sunil kumarsunil kumar
Special Tourism
Services and Products

2. Chapter ObjectivesChapter Objectives
To identify the charges in the leisure and business travel
markets that have facilitated the development of special
services and products
To identify some of the major special services and products
in the leisure and business travel markets
To understand the MICE market and the various specialized
roles that meeting planners, convention centers, events
managers, and convention and visitor bureaus play

3. Special Services and Products
•As the tourism industry has matured and tourists become more
knowledgeable and sophisticated special types of services and
products have developed to meet their travel needs.
•Both the leisure and business travel markets are affected by
these changes and pressures
•As great numbers of people travel, and the tourists look for
different travel experiences, new tourism products become
profitable.

4. Special Segments of Leisure
Travel
Reasons for the growth
As tourism has grown and matured, it has become increasingly
sophisticated and creative
Tourists search more meaningful or intense experiences
Tourism suppliers are constantly innovating ways to differentiate
themselves from other suppliers
Accumulation of knowledge and experience enables suppliers to
modify and improve their products
Competitive pressure of the market

5. EcoTourism
Ecotourism, also known as ecological tourism, is a form of
tourism that appeals to the ecologically and socially conscious
individuals
 Gained much attention in recent years
Physical environment is the focus of the touristic
activity
 Provides a first-hand active experience of a place
 Provides an educational experience
 Develops visitors’ understanding and appreciation of the place
visited
 Promotes both appropriate behaviors and conservative ethic.
 Environmentally responsible and uses various strategies to
minimize negative impacts
 Maximizes local economic returns

6. EcoTourism
Ecotourism destination countries and major
sites/activities
 Costa Rica (cloud forests, turtles, swamps and volcanoes)
 Belize (for its Mayan sites)
 Brazil (national parks)
 Ecuador (Galapagos Islands)
 Kenya (wildlife reserves)
 Nepal (mountain trekking)
 Peru (bird watching)
 South Africa (game and nature reserves)

7. Cultural Tourism
Cultural tourism is the subset of tourism concerned with a country or
region's culture, especially its arts.
 It focuses on traditional communities who have diverse customs,
unique form of art and distinct social practices, which basically
distinguishes it from other types/forms of culture
 Cultural tourism includes tourism in urban areas, particularly historic or
large cities and their cultural facilities such as museums and theatres.
 Also include tourism in rural areas showcasing the traditions of
indigenous cultural communities (i.e. festivals, rituals), and their values
and lifestyle.
It is generally agreed that cultural tourists spend substantially more than
standard tourists do.
This form of tourism is also becoming generally more popular
throughout Europe

8. Cultural Tourism
A type of cultural tourism in the U.S. is the Amish Community living in
Lancaster County, in PA
As the issue of globalization takes place, the challenge of preserving the
few remaining cultural community around the world is becoming hard.
The meeting between modern tourist and in the context of a tourist
experience can have significant impacts upon the local traditional
societies
Cultural tourism and ecotourism are usually closely related

9. Rural Tourism
Rural tourism has focus on participating in rural lifestyle. It can be a
variant of ecotourism. The emphasis is on having an experience in
rural setting. It takes multitude of forms.
 Rural tourism allows travelers to visit areas outside of urban areas
 Options include hiking and biking, visiting community museums
and buying locally produced crafts.
An example of rural tourism is “farm tourism” as found in many
countries in Europe.
 In Austria, there are about 21,000 farms providing about 109,000
rooms to farm tourists (1994).
In Northeast region of the U.S. many small inns often run as a
family business provide guests with a small-town experience.

10. Adventure Tourism
Adventure tourism is a type of niche tourism involving exploration or
travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas, where the traveler are
provided a challenge, thrill or intense experience.
Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity as tourists seek
unusual holidays, different from the typical beach vacation.
"adventure travel" usually include two of the following three
components: a physical activity, a cultural exchange or interaction, and
engagement with nature.
 In general, adventure tourism relies on natural, environmental features,
such as mountains, rivers, forests, and the like.
One of the most famous examples of adventure tourism has been the
hunting safari in Africa.
Another well-known form is mountain climbing.

11. Health Tourism
Health tourism refers to travel to facilities and destinations for obtaining
health-care services or health-related benefits. It is a rapidly-growing
practice of traveling to another country to obtain health care.
Such services typically include elective procedures as well as complex
specialized surgeries
 Medical tourism dates back thousands of years to when Greek
pilgrims traveled from all over the Mediterranean to the small territory in
the Saronic Gulf called Epidauria.
 Spa towns may be considered an early form of medical tourism.
The three main forms of health tourism are:
 Medical care
 Fitness and wellness
 Rehabilitation and recuperation
Popular medical travel worldwide destinations include: India, Cuba,
Columbia, Hungary, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, and
Thailand

12. New Age Tourism
People who consider themselves part of the New Age movement share a
belief in the importance of learning from ancient cultures, encompassing
spirituality, metaphysics, yoga, meditation, natural healing, herbology and
communion.
The sites visited in New Age tourism are in their very nature sacred sites
dating from the pre Christianity era, such as Stonehenge, the Easter
Islands, and the Great Pyramids in Egypt.
Another branch of New Age Tourism centers on physical health, offering
yoga, guided meditation, exercise, massage, and organic vegetarian and
other diets. Destinations such as Sedona, Arizona (U.S.), Bali [Indonesia)
or Dominica in the Caribbean are chosen for their natural attributes and
spiritual energy in healing.
The promise is that a natural approach to physical health leads to
spiritual health and fulfillment.

13. Educational Tourism
The term educational tourism generally refers to travel in which the
learning occurs within a structured or formal program.
A familiar and popular form of educational tourism is the “study abroad”
program, in which students attend schools or programs (usually for a
semester or academic year) in another location, often in a foreign country.
 One of the most popular reasons for attending a foreign school is to
learn language and culture of the destination. Tours are centered around
significant historical, cultural, or scientific sites and are often led by a
teacher with expertise in the sites.
.

14. Special Segments of Business
Travel
MICE market (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions).
MICE is used to refer to a particular type of tourism which large groups,
usually planned well in advance, are brought together for some particular
purpose.
MICE tourism usually includes a well-planned agenda centered around a
particular theme, such as a hobby, a profession, or an educational topic.

15. Meetings
Meetings can be defined as events designed to bring people together or
the purpose of exchanging information.
Meetings held by corporations and other businesses are classified as
corporate meetings, while those held by associations are referred to as
association meetings.
 Corporate meetings account for about 25 percent of the meetings
market, while organization meetings account for 75 percent.
 A forum is a larger gathering at which issues of interest or concern to
the audience are discussed, often led by a panel and moderator, and with
opportunities for comments and questions from the audience.
Symposium is much like a forum, but generally refers to meetings where
the subject matter of the meetings is academic or technical in nature.

16. Incentive Travel
Incentive travel refers to the segment of business travel that uses the
allure of a trip as an incentive or reward for achievement.
 A Typical example of incentive travel would be a company-paid
vacation to a resort for top-performing salespersons.
Sometimes this type of vacation will include motivational seminars,
morale-building activities, and other activities that build upon a gathering
of employees.
Incentive trips also can include business-related group activities, such as
the introduction of new products or promotional campaigns, or training
programs for employees.

17. The term convention refers to an event that combines both meeting
and exposition.
The conventions market can be divided into those that are sponsored by
professional and trade associations, and those that are sponsored by
corporations.
Conventions have the reputation for generating high expenditures on a
per visitor basis, as well as creating substantial economic impacts for the
host economy.
The many different segments of the tourism industry that benefit from
convention expenditures include hotels, restaurants, car rental, ground
transportation, entertainment, and retail.
 Conventions generate visitor activity, and revenues for hotels,
restaurants, entertainment
Large convention events bring prestige to a city.
Conventions

18. Major Components of the MICE
Market
 Meeting Planners
 Convention centers
 Convention and Visitor Bureaus
 Event managers

19. Meeting Planners
Meeting planners are professional people given an overall responsibility
for a meeting, many of whom specialize in different types of meetings.
 Some planners are independent businesses that perform their
services for client organizations.
Large organizations that hold meetings on a regular basis may employ
their own planners on staff.
 The responsibilities of a planner will vary depending on the type of
meeting being planned, facilities being used, sponsoring or host
organization, and other variables.

20. Responsibilities of a Meeting
Planner
Selecting or providing options for a meeting site
Devising a marketing plan for the meeting, if necessary
Planning transportation to and from the site
Arranging for and reserving hotel rooms for the attendees
Working with the meeting facility personnel to plan layout of the
meeting/exhibition room(s).
Organizing the exhibition, and working with exhibitors
Ensuring that audio-visual equipment needs are met
Planning for the registration process
Arranging for various food and beverage needs

21. Convention and Visitor
Bureaus
CVB: Non-profit organizations who represent a certain metro area, or
destination.
 CVB’s mission is based on the premise that travel to the area will
benefit all supply sectors, such as accommodations, entertainment,
transportation, and food and beverage.
CVBs are primarily designed to assist meeting and event planners with
coordination of event logistics such as site selection and transportation
needs.
 CVBs also promote their cities to planners

22. Convention and Visitor
Bureaus
Main Responsibilities of a CVB are:
 Developing a marketing strategy and destination image for the area.
 Promoting the area to potential travel buyers and planners.
 Facilitating the entire process of selling the area and hosting the event.
 Promoting the area’s public attractions and amenities to the visitors.

23. Convention Centers
A convention center is an exhibition hall, or conference center, that holds
conventions.
 Newly constructed and expanded centers are extremely large, with
some new and expanded centers providing nearly two million square feet
of exhibition space.
 Convention centers earn revenue from a variety of sources, including
the rent of the facility, food and beverage service, and concession stands.
 Convention centers typically offer enough floor area to accommodate
several thousand attendees.
 Convention centers rent space for meetings such as: corporate
conferences, industry trade shows, formal dances entertainment
spectacles and concerts.

24. Event Managers
Once an event has been booked for the convention center, the center
operator assigns it to an event manager. From this point forward, the
event manager becomes the link between the center and the client,
whether it be a planner or the sponsoring organization itself.
One of the key responsibilities of an event manager is to ensure that the
event contract is followed.
The contract between a convention center and a client for a specific
event contains provisions for all aspects of the event, including the client’s
requirements for the event, the agreed upon rental, and the mutual
responsibilities and obligations of both parties.

25. The End