Grade 11 Travel and Tourism
Grade 11 Travel and Tourism
Grade 11 Travel and Tourism
Tourists are classified, according to their needs and their reasons for
travelling, into four broad categories:
business and professional tourist
leisure and holiday tourists
tourists travelling to visit friends and relatives (VFR)
Youth tourists, including backpackers and gap year travellers.
The tourism industry tries to meet the needs of all types of tourists
by providing suitable facilities and services for each category.
• Business tourist: travel is related to business and the world of work. MESE which stands for meetings,
exhibitions and special events. These are all part of the business world. All major cities have conference centres
that cater for the needs of business tourists. An example of a business tourist would be a salesman who travels to
another city to attend a trade show and promote the products he sells.
• Education tourists: travel to attend a place of learning in another town, city, or country, in order to study for or
improve a qualification. They may also be people that attend workshops to learn new skills or improve existing
ones. A clinic nurse who travels to another province to attend a workshop about infectious diseases is an example
of an educational tourist.
• Incentive tourists: are people who are rewarded in the form of a company paid holiday for their hard work, or for
achieving goals set by their company. This incentive to travel motivates employees to work harder, improves work
relationships, and builds team spirit. A salesman who receives a holiday package for achieving the most sales in
the company is an example of an incentive tourist.
• Health or medical tourist: travel because they want to visit a holiday spa, needs medical special treatment that
is only available away from home, undergo procedures that are cheaper in another country, or are recovering from
an illness in a healthier climate. Many tourist come from oversees countries to South Africa to have plastic surgery.
Adventure tourist: want an unusual and exciting experience. They want to
participate in activities that may be dangerous, such as rock climbing, river rafting,
skydiving, shark cave diving and bungee jumping.
Cultural tourist: want to experience different cultures, such as San rock art, or
cultural related festivals such as the National Art Festival in Grahams-town, or the
International Jazz Festival in Cape Town. They would also want to experience the
World Heritage Sites in the country.
Leisure tourist: want to rest and relax and have a break from the usual routine
Examples of this type of tourism are a cruise on a cruise liner, a trip on a Blue train,
attending a special music special music performance or relaxing on the beach.
Religious tourist: want to see and experience places of religious importance. There are many
religious destinations in the world such as the Hajj in Mecca, Jerusalem in Israel, Varanasi in
India, and the Vatican in Rome. During Easter the largest Christian pilgrimage to Zion City,
Moria, Limpopo, takes place. More than a million pilgrims travel to Moria to every Easter.
Shopping tourist: travel to shopping malls, shopping centres, factory shops, crafts market,
festivals, and touring shopping routes such as the Midlands in KwaZulu-Natal. Their main
Special interest tourist (STI): have particular interest such as bird watching, food and wine,
flowers, fishing during the Sardine Run, or attending the Cape Town Book Fair.
Sport and recreation tourist: participate in or watch sporting events. Popular events include
the Soccer World Cup, Winblendon Tennis Championship, Comrades Marathon, and Fisher
River Canoe Marathon. Surfing, mountain climbing, cricket, swimming, golf and tennis are
popular sports.
Tourist visiting friends and relatives (VFR) want to
stay in contact with friends and relatives and travel
away from home to visit them. These tourist may travel
to attend a wedding, funeral, or birthday celebration of
friends or relatives.
Backpacking or youth tourist: generally have little luggage,
are on a budget, want to experience adventure and
excitement, tend to travel independently, enjoy meeting
other traveller, and have flexible travel schedules. A group
of young tourists on a weekend walking tour in the
mountains, or a student touring around the country by bus
are examples of this group of tourist.