Characteristics of the Tourism Market


tourism goods and services. Tourism demand is the human need for tourism goods and services. There are two factors that determine the appearance of tourism demand: demand and purchasing power or the ability to pay for that need to use tourism products. Tourism demand is a special and highly synthetic type of social need, expressing the desire to temporarily leave the usual place of residence to go to natural and cultural conditions in another place; is the necessary desire of people to be freed from the stress of noise, the increasing environmental pollution in industrial and urban centers, to rest, entertain, enhance understanding, restore health...

Tourism demand is expressed at three levels: individual tourism demand, group tourism demand and social tourism demand. Individual tourism demand includes the demands and desires of each specific person for specific tourism products, for example, the tourism demand of a tourist who wants to come to Lao PDR to enjoy a unique beauty in the world, which is the megalithic archaeological landscape with thousands of stone jars scattered along the valleys and low fields of the central plain of the Xieng Khouang Plateau located at the northern end of the Truong Son range. Group tourism is the demand of a group of people with the same characteristics, for example, students who want to travel to scenic spots, veterans who want to travel to visit ancient battlefields, etc. The total tourism demand of members of society is called social tourism demand. However, social demand is not the arithmetic sum of the tourism needs of individuals or of groups in society. The travel needs of individuals and groups have some overlap or resonance. The travel needs of society, groups and individuals do not exist separately but interact with each other in a dialectical relationship. Of the three needs mentioned above, the travel needs of individuals are the most important element in creating group travel needs and social travel needs. Group travel needs and social needs guide the formation and recognition of individual travel needs. Travel needs


Tourism is the first factor that creates demand for tourism in the market. Demand for tourism only appears when people with tourism needs have the ability to pay to meet that need.

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People's demand for tourism is very diverse. People can divide tourism demand into two groups: demand for tourism services and demand for material goods consumed during the travel time. Demand for tourism services includes demand for transportation services and ensuring accommodation, food and drink, demand for services to perceive and enjoy intangible values ​​for which tourists are willing to pay for the trip. In addition, there is a demand for a variety of additional services arising during the tourist trip such as entertainment services, communication, health care, souvenir shopping, etc. Most of the demand for additional services at tourist destinations needs to be met in a short time. Demand for material goods consumed during the travel time such as demand for accommodation, food and drink, material activities, souvenirs for a trip and demand for goods of economic value to tourists, etc.

Characteristics of tourism demand: demand in the tourism market has different characteristics compared to demand in the general market. These are:

Characteristics of the Tourism Market

Firstly , demand in tourism is the demand of society for tourism products that can be realized or satisfied in the conditions of a market economy that is open between localities in the country and between the country and foreign countries. Therefore, demand for tourism is a type of demand that often goes beyond the scope of a province or a country, has connectivity between regions in the country and is highly internationalized. This often creates a very large geographical gap between those who have demand for tourism and places that have supply for tourism, requiring support means to connect supply and demand in tourism activities.

Second , the demand in tourism is diverse with many forms of services. It includes demand for sightseeing, discovery, rest, entertainment, relaxation and other purposes. Nowadays, with the strong development of digital technology and the internet, there is also demand for on-site tourism through


Websites with global games, virtual reality tours (VR)… are a type of product associated with demand in TTDL.

Third , the services of accommodation and catering establishments are not the purpose of demand in tourism, but they are a significant component in the volume of tourism demand and determine the quality of the trip.

Fourth , tourism demand is highly flexible. Many times tourism demand only arises when tourists are on a trip. For example, the purchase of a tourism product is only determined when tourists see and feel the benefits of that product during their trip. Tourists can also decide to change direction in a tour as they wish when they feel the benefits.

Fifth , tourism demand is cyclical. It depends on many factors, such as leisure time, annual leave, income, financial accumulation as well as their travel habits and psychology. The income and financial accumulation of tourists are influenced by the input factors of the family budget, the situation of dividing the family budget into savings and consumption. Travel habits and psychology are formed by traditions such as festivals and weather, climate or by psychological phenomena.

In addition, tourism demand also has characteristics such as seasonality, the ability to ensure safety and security. For example, tourism demand often does not appear to go to places where there is often war, violence or economic, political and social instability.

Factors determining tourism demand: tourism demand is affected by many factors, including internal and external factors. Internal factors such as motivation to travel. External factors such as economic improvement, demographic and social changes, technological improvements, politics, planning and ecological factors, safety... and appropriate market factors, policies to encourage tourists, infrastructure, tourist transportation and appropriate development institutions. Some major factors that have a strong impact on tourism demand are: population income, tourism product prices, quality and uniqueness.


of products, related products and substitute products. For example, demand in the tourism market is inversely proportional to the price of goods and tourism services. If the price increases, the demand for tourism decreases and vice versa, if the price decreases, the demand for tourism increases. Population structure, ethnic composition, gender, age, demographic characteristics, distribution and population density also directly affect the formation of demand and volume of tourism demand. Elderly people with time and finances, poor health prefer to travel for relaxation and medical treatment, while young people who are healthy and have little time prefer adventure or sports tourism to enjoy thrills. Different occupational levels have different travel purposes and different needs for tourism goods and services. The characteristics of each profession make people have to move, also creating demand for tourism. The state of excitement or boredom due to success or failure stimulates the demand for tourism. In particular, shortened working days and hours create conditions for increased demand for weekend tourism. Long free time, due to scientific and technological progress and perfect management institutions, increases high labor productivity, also giving rise to demand for tourism.

In addition, natural conditions, environment, politics, society, government policies, national defense and security, the development of the transportation system, advertising, tastes, etc. also have a strong impact on the structure and volume of tourism demand. The strong development of science and technology also contributes to promoting the growth of tourism demand. With the advent of cable television systems, the Internet and social networks have been providing rich and diverse information to tourists, thereby creating new demand for tourism.

- Tourism supply

Tourism supply is the quantity of tourism products supplied on the market corresponding to each price level, production cost level in a certain period of time and space. Tourism products include tourism goods and services provided by tourism production and business establishments.

The supply of tourism products has the following characteristics : (1) Perishable : they cannot be stored in warehouses, an unused service constitutes a loss.


irrecoverable loss for the company. For example, a hotel room is not sold today. (2) Non-expendable : is conditional on the presence of the customer, so displacement is important. (3) Inseparability : production and consumption are carried out repeatedly in the same place and at the same time. This is one of the pillars of tourism because to enjoy the service or product it is necessary to compensate. (4) Rigidity : the tourism product lacks elasticity in the direction of slowly adapting to changes in demand. This is caused by the large investment costs of the tourism industry and the long construction time, the bid cannot follow the changes in demand that often occur quickly. (5) Heterogeneous and complementary: in the global product there is complementarity between different by-products, isolated by-products are heterogeneous and do not form a whole, have their own entity. (6) Subjective : the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of tourists depends on other things in their emotional state, how the product is delivered and the expectations that have been created. (7) Intangible : the buyer cannot own it or touch it, only they can enjoy it.

The tourism market is a seasonal market. In fact, most tourism products are seasonal. Up to 80% of a tourism company's total annual revenue can be generated in 2 or 3 months of the peak season, summer or winter, depending on the type of tourism offered. For example, ski tourism, beach tourism, etc. are seasonal. This is one of the major problems in the business of tourism companies because what companies want is continuity in time, for example, a hotel can only be at its busiest all year round.

To counter this effect, companies implement aggressive pricing measures and policies, offering very low prices to attract the maximum number of visitors out of season.

The tourism market has been strongly influenced by new technologies and marketing methods. Thanks to technological advances, companies have the conditions


reach the maximum number of customers and diversify the offer to increase competitiveness with other destinations with similar tourism services to attract tourists. All destinations are now offered in addition to the main resource, other resources, an example is the destination of sunbathing and beaches also provide a resource to supply the tourism product.

Tourism supply is affected by many factors : (1) Price: when the price of tourism goods and services increases, the supply of tourism increases and vice versa, when the output price decreases, the supply also decreases. (2) Production costs: the cost of providing tourism goods and services decreases under the condition that product prices remain unchanged, the profit of the enterprise decreases, increasing the supply output and vice versa. (3) Demand in the tourism market and expectations. Ultimately, production determines consumption. But in a market economy, when there are many unused resources, actual demand has a decisive impact on the actual supply level. The tourism market is no exception. The scale of tourism demand in the market has a decisive effect on the supply volume of tourism goods and services. Tourism demand increases, tourism supply also increases. When the structure of tourism demand changes, the structure of tourism supply must also change accordingly. (4) Advances in science and technology: when there is an increase in scientific and technological progress, the productivity of tourism products increases, the cost of products decreases and the quality of products increases, making it more convenient for tourists, so the supply of tourism products increases. (5) Competition: tourism supply also depends on the level of competition between tourism production and business establishments. If the level of competition increases, the trend of expanding the scale of tourism businesses is promoted more strongly, thereby increasing the supply of tourism. (6) The role of the state: in modern economies, tourism supply also depends on state intervention. If the state exempts or reduces taxes on the supply of tourism goods and services, businesses will expand their supply, and the number of tourism products will increase.

The tourism market is operated by the relationship of supply, demand, price, competition in the production, distribution and consumption of tourism goods and services.


- Supply-demand relationship: the relationship between supply and demand for tourism forms the tourism market. The tourism market is the process of interaction between supply and demand for tourism goods and services. In the tourism market, tourists and tourism product suppliers interact with each other to determine the price and quantity of products to be bought and sold on the market.

- Price of tourism goods and services : is the price at which tourists want to buy and tourism product suppliers want to sell. That is the price that balances supply and demand, the market price. In essence, the price of tourism products is the monetary expression of the value of tourism products and is the result of an agreement between the buyer, who is a tourist, and the seller, who is a tourism business organization. The basis of price is the value of the product. However, because prices are formed on the market, they are also affected by supply and demand relationships, competition or monopoly relationships in the market, the value of money and state intervention in this market. The change in the correlation between supply and demand of tourism will lead to the rise and fall of market prices of tourism products, conversely, prices also affect tourism supply and demand. If tourism demand increases but supply does not increase in time, the price of tourism products will increase and vice versa, if demand decreases, the price must decrease. If the prices of tourism goods and services decrease, this reflects that supply is greater than demand, then tourism supply will decrease, and the scope of business will narrow.

- Competition in the tourism market: is the struggle between tourism business entities to compete for favorable conditions for production and consumption of tourism products to gain higher profits and to survive and develop in the market economy. In the tourism market, competition mainly takes place on the supply side, that is, on the side of producers and suppliers of tourism goods and services. Competition is an important factor in the tourism market. According to the general rule, competition has two positive and negative sides. Competition forces businesses to find ways to attract customers in order to consume more products. They must find optimal pricing options to consume tourism goods and services, expanding market share. Reducing prices of services and goods before and after the tourist season is one of the


among the competitive measures used by businesses to attract customers and extend the tourist season. It is very necessary for the state to maintain and protect healthy competition or effective competition in tourism business activities; at the same time, there must be a policy mechanism to prevent and overcome the negative effects that the competition process inevitably creates and cannot overcome by itself.

2.1.2. Characteristics of the tourism market

- Characteristics of tourism product development direction

Tourism products include tourism goods and services. The origin of tourism products is tourism resources produced by tourism businesses into tangible or intangible products to meet the needs of tourists. Tourism products are diverse and include: adventure tourism, leisure business tourism, conference or seminar tourism, business tourism, visiting relatives and friends. Industrial products in the tourism industry are tourist rooms, travel arrangements and reservations, air transport, other local transport such as car rental, food and beverage establishments, entertainment and recreation, petrol and other retail activities. In addition to products that meet the needs of the domestic market, there is an increasing trend of developing products that meet the needs of the international market including tourist accommodation services, providing hotel services for international tourists, aviation operations, car rental, travel agencies and tour arrangement services.

Due to the impact of the fourth industrial revolution, tourism products are increasingly developed based on information technology and digital platforms such as virtual reality tourism, tourism based on new 3D website platforms that can bring in 3D digitized landmarks. Viewers can experience traveling, visiting, and interacting with that landmark in a more attractive 3D environment than current conventional websites cannot do. This is a new era for a new revolution called Tourism 4.0. Today, the global tourism market has seen the rise of online tourism business trends. According to Nielsen Market Research Company, businesses

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