TOPIC: TYPES OF TOURIST

AND TOURIST PROFILES

GRADE: 10
TYPES OF TOURIST BY: Mr
Samukelo Innocent Luyanda
Nkonyeni UJ B Ed 3rd year student

Learning objectives: in this topic the

learners are going to learn about :

Definition of what a tourist and an excursionist is

15 Different types of tourist

How to draw tourist profiles

TOURIST DEFINED AND TYPES OF TOURISTS

What is a Tourist?
II I IIIIII III IIIIIII IIII IIII IIII III IIIIIII, IIIIIIII II IIIII IIIIIIII III
IIIIII IIII I III I.I. II IIIII III IIII IIII I IIII. II IIIIIIIIIIII II I IIIIII III
IIIIIII II III IIIIIIIIIII III IIIIIII II III IIII III.

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.

1.1 Tourists travelling for business and professional

reasons

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.

Tourist travelling for leisure and

holiday reasons

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.

Eco-tourists:

travel to experience nature such as traveling to Bonita Gardens in

Bloemfontein South Africa

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.

Tourist travelling for leisure and holiday reasons

continue..

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 purpose is to buy items.

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,

1.3 Tourist travelling to visit friends and

relatives (VFR)

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.

1.4 Youth travel: backpackers and gap year travellers

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.

Gap year travellers: do not study further or enter job

opportunity after school, instead they take break called a
gap year. They travel, work and earn money, learn new skills
or do volunteer work in another country. During this time
they gain skills and life experience before starting tertiary
education. These young people are also known as
gappers.

2 Drawing up a tourist profile

To make sure that the needs of all types of

tourist are met it is important for travel agents
to draw up tourist profile. This is a summary
of facts about what tourists want and expect
form the travel experience.

A basic tourist profile contains

the following information about
the tourist:

name
nationality
age
contact details such as address and telephone number
occupation
need and preferences, for, example, adventure, sport, one
education
specific requirement such as accommodation, transport, or
food
and the length of the trip, and arrival and departure date.

Travel agents prepare tourist profiles of their clients and use

the information when arranging trips for them. This will
ensure that the specific needs of the tourist are met.

Learners Activity: Types of tourists

1 Explain the following

1 Explainused
the following
acronyms
in tourism
acronyms used in tourism

SIT
SIT
MESE
MESE
VFR
VFR

Learner activity cont.

33Describe
Describeeach
eachof
ofthe
thefollowing
followingby
bygiving
giving
an
anexample:
example:
Cultural
Culturaltourist
tourist
Eco-tourist
Eco-tourist
Incentive
Incentivetourist
tourist
Gap
Gapyear
yeartraveller
traveller

4 Using the illustration and the information below draw up a

tourist profile for John. You may need to make up some
details to complete the profile:

John
JohnBrown,
Brown,from
fromSydney,
Sydney,isisvisiting
visitingSouth
SouthAfrica
Africa
th
for
ten
days
to
celebrate
his
24
thbirthday. He
for ten days to celebrate his 24 birthday. He
wants
wantsto
toexperience
experienceas
asmany
manyadventure
adventureattractions
attractions
as
he
can
before
he
returns
home
on
Christmas
as he can before he returns home on Christmas
day.
day.He
Heisisaasports
sportsscience
scienceconsultant,
consultant,does
doesnot
noteat
eat
meat,
and
wants
to
taste
some
South
African
food.
meat, and wants to taste some South African food.
He
Hewants
wantsto
totake
takephotographs
photographsofofwildlife
wildlifeand
andthe
the
new
friends
in
the
hostels
in
which
he
will
stay.
new friends in the hostels in which he will stay.His
His
back
contains
all
his
clothes
and
sleeping
bag.
He
back contains all his clothes and sleeping bag. He
does
doesnot
nothave
haveenough
enoughmoney
moneyfor
forfancy
fancyrestaurant
restaurant
or
expensive
gifts.
He
forgot
his
international
or expensive gifts. He forgot his international
drivers
driverslicense
licenseat
athome
home. .

Memorandum or Answers for Activity

1.
SIT: Special Interest Tourist
MESE: meetings,
exhibitions and special
events
VFR: Visiting Friends and
Relatives
2
D
A
B
C

3
3
A) Cultural Tourist: want to experience different
A) Cultural Tourist: want to experience different
cultures, such as San rock art, or cultural related festivals
cultures, such as San rock art, or cultural related festivals
such as the National Art Festival in Graham-stown, or the
such as the National Art Festival in Graham-stown, or the
International Jazz Festival in Cape Town. They would also
International Jazz Festival in Cape Town. They would also
want to experience the World Heritage Sites in the
want to experience the World Heritage Sites in the
country.
country.
B) Eco-tourist: want to travel to experience the natural
B) Eco-tourist: want to travel to experience the natural
environment and experience different cultures. The
environment and experience different cultures. The
sustainable of resources is important to these tourists. An
sustainable of resources is important to these tourists. An
example of this type of this tourism would be visiting the
example of this type of this tourism would be visiting the
iSimangaliso Wetland Park in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
iSimangaliso Wetland Park in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
C) Incentive tourists: are people who are rewarded in
C) Incentive tourists: are people who are rewarded in
the form of a company paid holiday for their hard work, or
the form of a company paid holiday for their hard work, or
for achieving goals set by their company. This incentive to
for achieving goals set by their company. This incentive to
travel motivates employees to work harder, improves work
travel motivates employees to work harder, improves work
relationships, and builds team spirit. A salesman who
relationships, and builds team spirit. A salesman who
receives a holiday package for achieving the most sales in
receives a holiday package for achieving the most sales in
the company is an example of an incentive tourist.
the company is an example of an incentive tourist.
D) Gap year travellers: do not study further or enter job
D) Gap year travellers: do not study further or enter job
opportunity after school, instead they take break called a
opportunity after school, instead they take break called a
gap year. They travel, work and earn money, learn new
gap year. They travel, work and earn money, learn new
skills or do volunteer work in another country. During this
skills or do volunteer work in another country. During this
time they gain skills and life experience before starting
time they gain skills and life experience before starting
tertiary education. These young people are also known as
tertiary education. These young people are also known as
gappers.
gappers.

Name

4. Tourist Mr.
Profile
John

Brown

Nationality

Australian

Age

24

Contact details

2 Boundary Road, Bondi Beach

Sydney (Learners may supply
made up contact detail)

Occupation

Sports Science Consultant

Needs and preferences

Accommodation hostel
Sport watch local rugby
Photography trip to a game
reserve
Food visit to township
restaurant. Mr Brown is a
vegetarian so make sure
vegetarian food is available

Specific requirements

Transport- bus, for journeys

between cities, minibus taxi in
and around towns, air for the
long flight
Dietary

Budget

Low to middle

References

Brown, D. Holomisa, T. Kota, l, et al

(2011). Via Afrika Tourism Grade10
teachers Guide. Types of tourist and
tourist profile (pp.7-9). Heerengracht:
Cape Town