Tourism vs Hospitality: All What You Need To Know
"Hospitality" and "tourism" are frequently used interchangeably. While they are similar, they are not always the same. If you want to work in any of these businesses, you need understand the distinctions between hospitality and tourism.
What Is Tourism?
Tourism, as a term, refers to the act of going to a location, either inside or beyond one's own country, for business or pleasure. More specifically, the World Tourism Organization defines tourism as "going to and staying in areas beyond their typical surroundings for pleasure and not less than 24 hours, business, and other purposes for not more than one consecutive year." Tourism, as an industry, comprises of firms that provide goods or services to these people, sometimes known as "tourists."
Examples of tourism businesses include:
• Travel agents
• Cruise lines
• Hotels
• Tour guides
• Amusement parks
What Is Hospitality?
Hospitality, like tourism, is both a concept and an industry. Hospitality, as a concept, refers to the interaction between a guest and a host. When you go to a friend's house for dinner, for example, he or she is the host and you are the guest. This connection is governed by the notion of hospitality. Hospitality as an industry is made up of firms that rely significantly on such partnerships. Hospitality firms must cultivate deep and meaningful relationships with their visitors in order to prosper. Failure to do so will almost certainly result in customers switching to a competitor's products or services.
Common examples of hospitality businesses include:
• Restaurants
• Cafes
• Hotels
• Bed & breakfasts
• Clubs
• Event planning
The Differences between the Tourism and Hospitality Industries
Let's take a deeper look at how the tourism and hospitality businesses vary. Hospitality is a broader industry that encompasses numerous tourism-related industries. Tourism firms are frequently characterized as hospitality businesses because they rely on strong and lasting connections with their clients to prosper. The tourism and hospitality sectors vary in that the former is a smaller industry that focuses only on travel activities, whilst the latter is a wider industry that comprises all companies that require strong and lasting client interactions.
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