VISITOR MANAGEMENT, TOUR
OPERATOR AND TRAVEL AGENTS
Introduction to Tourism
THE MANAGEMENT OF VISITORS

Visitor management can help to ensure that the expectations of
tourists are balanced aganist the demands of the host environment,
community and tourist business. Thus, successful visitor
management requires a clear understanding of the demands of these
groups and the extent to which they are prepared to compromise
their positions in order to achive a balanced outcome for all
stakeholders.
CARRYING CAPACITY

"Tourism Carrying Capacity" is defined by the World Tourism
Organisation as “The maximum number of people that may
visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing
destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural
environment and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of
visitors' satisfaction”. Whereas Middleton and Hawkins
Chamberlain (1997) define it as “the level of human activity
an area can accommodate without the area deteriorating, the
resident community being adversely affected or the quality of
visitors experience declining” what both these definitions pick
up on is carrying capacity is the point at which a destination
or attraction starts experiencing adverse as a result of the
number of visitors.
CARRYING CAPACITY
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Physical
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Economic
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The level of use which can be withstood before the
psychological experience of visitors is negatively affected
Social
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The level of tourism business which can be operated before
other industries are squeezed out by the competition for
resources
Perceptual
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The number of visitors which the site was designed for or has
the ability to accommodate
The number of visitors which can be tolerated by the host
community
Ecological

The number of tourists which can use an area before damage is
done to the natural or biological environment
TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE VISITORS (1)
TECHNIQUES TO MANAGE VISITORS (2)
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Hard techniques
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Closure of attraction or areas within an attraction
Zoning
Permits and licences
Vehicle bans
Entrance fees
Soft techniques
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Marketing
Directional signage
Limited infrastructure development
Codes of conduct
TOUR OPERATOR
A
tour operator typically combines tour and travel
components to create a holiday. The most common
example of a tour operator’s product would be a
flight on a charter airline plus a transfer from the
airport to a hotel and the services of a local
representative, all for one price.
TOUR OPERATORS’ POSITION IN THE
CHAIN OF DISTRIBUTION
ADVANTAGES OF WORKING WITH
A TOUR OPERATOR

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Help to sell additional quantities of their products to
different markets
Responsibility for marketing additional sales in hands of
operators
Risk of not selling products shifted to the tour operator
TYPES OF TOUR OPERATOR

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Domestic Operator that served the domestic market
have formed just a small part of the travel and tourism
industry, because it’s relatively simple for tourists to
make their own arrangements within their own country.
Incoming tour operators purchase tourism services in
their own countries and package them into products that
subsequently marketed abroad by partners.
Outbound tour operators send travelers from the
country they operate in to another country.
TRAVEL AGENTS

The Commission of the European Union defined travel
agents as retailers to leisure and business travellers,
selling flights (charter or scheduled), accommodation,
car hire, foreign currency, travel insurance and other
travel services. They are generally paid a commission by
the supplier of the service or in the case of a package
holiday by the operator
POSITION OF TRAVEL AGENT IN THE
CHAIN OF DISTRIBUTION