UNIT 3

PROMOTERS OF TOURISM

 

Pre-reading

1. Read and translate the following international words:

agent	broker	total
client	start	terminal
rail	client	phrase
bus	serve	know-how
slogan	escort	car
auto	cruise	person
transportation	market	manager
rental	office	individual
music	company	percent
special	festival	state
hotel	theater
convention	reservation

 

2. Read and translate the following groups of words derived from a common root:

1)      busy — business — businessman — businesswoman — business person — businesslike;

2)      manage.— manager — manageress — managerial — management - manageable;

3)         office — officer — official — unofficial — officiate — officious;

4)         arrange — arranger — arrangement — disarrange — disarranged - arranged—prearrange;

5)      market — marketing — marketplace — marketer;

6)      social — socialize — socialism — sociable— society;

7)      part — party — partner — partnership — partial — partially;

8)      accord — according — accordingly — accordion — accordance - discord — cordial — cordially — cordiality;

9)      vary — varied — variety — variable — variability — various - variant.

 

Reading

3. Read the text and translate it. While reading the text try and find answers to these questions:

1.      Whom do we call a travel agent?

2.      What do travel agents usually sell their customers?

3.      What do travel agencies make their money on?

 

PROMOTERS OF TOURISM

Travel Agencies

A travel agent is a middle-person who acts as a travel counselor and sells on behalf of airlines, cruise lines, rail and bus transportation, hotels, and auto rental companies. Agents may sell individual parts of the overall system or several elements, such as air and cruise tickets. The agent acts as a broker, bringing together the client (buyer) and the supplier (seller). An agent has quick access to schedules, fares, and advice for clients about various destinations.

The first U.S. travel agents emerged in the 1880s, selling steamship and rail tickets and some arranged tours. 'Ask Mr. Foster' the oldest U.S. travel agency got its name because a Mr. Foster opened a travel informa­tion office in St. Augustine, Florida. Anyone in the area who had any travel questions was told to ask Mr Foster. As business grew, more offices opened and Mr. Foster decided to adopt the phrase as a business slogan. Eventually, offices opened in various parts of Florida and spread to New York and other major U.S. cities.

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has 28,000 members in 168 countries that include both travel agencies and travel suppliers. Total airline sales processed by travel agencies reached $51 billion in 1992. The Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) reports that travel agencies had 32,147 retail locations in 1992. The average travel agency's yearly sales are about $3 million. According to Travel Weekly Magazine, the top fifty travel agencies in terms of sales generated (approximately $25 billion in revenue) represent 30 percent of total agency sales.

Agents use computer reservation systems (CRS) to access availability and make bookings. In the United States, the main vendors are as follows:

1. Sabre, which is owned by Attierican Airlines and has more than 100,000 terminals and a 37.4 percent market share

2. Apollo, which is owned primarily by United Airlines and has a similar market share by location but fewer terminals

     3. Worldspan, which is shared by four companies (Delta, Northwest, TWA, and Abacus) arid has a 19.3 percent market share with 8,500 sites in the United States

     4. System One, which is owned by Continental Airlines and has a 14.9 percent market share and 6,800 locations.

According to the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), a travel agent is more than a ticket seller. Agents serve their clients in the following ways:

       •        Arranging transportation by air, sea, rail, bus, car rental, etc.

•        Preparing individual itineraries, personally escorted tours, group tours, and prepared package tours

•        Arranging for hotel, motel, and resort accommodations; meals; sightseeing tours; transfers of passengers and luggage between ter­minals and hotels; and special features such as tickets for music festivals, the theater, etc.

•        Handling and advising on many details involved with travel, such as insurance, travelers checks, foreign currency exchange, docu­mentary requirements, and immunizations and other inoculations

•        Using professional know-how and experience (e.g., schedules of air, train, and bus connections, rates of hotels, quality of accom­modations, etc.)

•        Arranging reservations for special-interest activities, such as group tours, conventions, business travel, gourmet tours, sporting trips, etc.

Approximately 43,000 travel agencies are currently operating in the United States, up from 29,548 in 1987. The average agency has between four and seven full-time employees. The average starting salaries are $12,000. The average salary for an agent with three to five years service is $18,000. Agents with ten plus years average $25,000. Managers make an average of $23,000. Twenty-one percent of agents receive commissions ranging between 6 and 11 percent of their sales. The average sales volume per agency is as follows:

•  33 percent of agencies have sales of less than $1 million

•  26 percent of agencies have sales between $1 and $3 million

•   27 percent of agencies have sales between $2 and $5 million

 • 14 percent of agencies have sales of more than $5 million

            Agencies make their money on commissions. They usually make 10 percent on air travel within the United States and about 11 percent on international travel. Commission on hotel accommodations ranges from 10 to 15 percent and commission on cruise packages ranges from 11 to 14 percent.

 

Vocabulary notes

 

middle-person	посередник
counselor	консультант
to emerge	вперше з’являтися
rail and bus transportation	залізничний та автобусний транспорт
on behalf of (smb, smih)	від імені
destination	пункт  призначення
retail locations	місцеве турбюро
to access availability	отримати доступ до бази даних про наявність
	(білетів, місць в готелях )
to make bookings	замовляти, бронювати
market share	доля на ринку
car rental = auto rental	прокат легкових автомобілів
insurance	страхуванне, страховка
reservation (-s)	бронювання,  попереднє замовлення
gourmet	гурман
full-time employee	працівник на повну ставку
part-time employee	сумісник
ten plus years	більше десяти років
to make an average	заробляти в рік в середньому
commission	комісійні
to range	коливатися (в межах)
cruise package	1) контракт на круїз ( включає в себе
	транспорт, послуги і розваги, які повністю
	організує туристична фірма);
	2) круїз, організований таким способом

 

Vocabulary focus

 

4. Match the equivalents:

 

1) destination	a)	курорт
2) itinerary	b)	пункт призначення
3) full-time job	c)	маршрут
4) employee	d)	багаж
5) luggage	e)	залізниця
6) fare (-s)	f)	работа за сумісництвом
7) rail	g)	співробітник
8) currency	h)	плата за проїзд
9) part-time job	i)	валюта
10) know-how	j)	работа на повну ставку
11) resort	k)	спеціальні знання та вміння

 

5. Match the synonyms:

 

1) business	a)	enterprise
2) customer	b)	the United States
3) America	c)	travel
4) luggage	d)	airport
5) different	e)	various
6) hotel	f)	client
7) terminal	g)	company
8) agency	h)	baggage
9) trip	i)	cosmopolitan
10) international	J)	inn
11) several	k)	some

 

6. Match the antonyms:

1) business	a)	united
2)  foreign	b)	employer
3)  few	c)	domestic
4)  seller	d)	leisure
5) the same	e)	buyer
6) employee	0	many
7) less	g)	different
8)  available	h)	collective
9) separated	i)	receive
10) individual	J)	missing
11) send	k)	more

 

7. Match the words with their definitions:

 

cruise	a)  a person or company that does business for another person or company, for example by selling their prod­ucts or by dealing with their customers
destination	b) a room of building where the people in ah organi­zation or department work
sightseer	c) someone who knows a lot about good food and wine
know-how	d) a large building where train, boat, or bus services start and finish
middleman	e) go on a journey or visit different places, especially places that are % away from where you live or work
money	f)  the place where tourists are going
office	g) what you earn invest and use to pay for things
terminal	h) knowledge needed to do something, usually some­thing practical
ticket	i)   a journey where you visit several places for pleasure
gourmet	j)   a tourist who is traveling around a place and look­ing at interesting things
travel	k) a person or company that buys things from pro­ducers and sells them to customers at a profit
client	1)   a journey on a ship for pleasure, especially one that involves visiting a series of places
tour	m) a piece of paper that shows you have paid:    for a journey on a train, plane, ship, etc.; — to go into a place of entertainment such as a cinema or football ground.

 

Comprehension

8. Answer the questions on the text:

1.     Why are travel agents often compared to brokers?

2.     What do travel agents have quick access to?

3.     Who was Mr. Foster and what did he do for a living?

4.     What do agents need computer reservation systems for?

5.     What are the main American tourist-service vendors?

6.     Are the responsibilities of a travel agent mostly confined to ticket selling?

7.     What else is a typical agent supposed to do in serving the customers?

8.     What other kinds of activities are involved with the agent's job?

9.     Which of them seems to you the most essential one? Why?

10. What is the difference between full-time and part-time employees?

11. How many full-time employees does the average travel agency have?

12. What is the average salary for a starting agent?

13. What is the average salary for an experienced agent?

14. Who earns more — a manager or an agent? Why?

15. What commissions do travel agents receive?

 

9. Complete the sentences using proper words and phrases
in the box.

 

1. Agents often sell air and cruise ________.
2. Currently, more than forty thousand travel agencies _________ in the U. S.
3. _______ travel agents use computer reservation systems.
4. Agencies _________ their money on commissions.
5. Agents serve their clients _________ by air, sea, rail, bus, and car rental.
6. As ________ grew, the phrase ‘to ask Mr. Foster’ was adopted as a business slogan.
7. In the 1880s, _________ already sold rail tickets and some arranged tours.

 

10. State whether the following statements are true or false. Comment on the true statements and correct the false ones.

 

1.      Travel agents often act as brokers.

2.      The first American travel agents emerged in the early nineteenth century.

3.     Mr. Foster opened his first travel information office in New York.

4.     The first professional travel agent in the United States was a Mr. Foster.

5.     Practically, travel agents are nothing more than ordinary ticket sellers.

6.     Travel agents never arrange for transfers of passengers and lug­gage between terminals and hotels.

7.     Agents seldom use computer reservation systems to make book­ings.

8.     Agencies mostly make their money on commissions.

 

Discussion

 

11. Try to evaluate a travel agency using the following words and phrases:

•        the main vendor in town;

•        agent;

•        to operate currently in the United States and Europe;

•        to make money on commissions;

•        manager;

•        tourist (traveler);

•        to earn more than...;

•        to have sales between $1 and $3 million;

•        the average starting salaries;

•        $11,000 (20,000…);

•        to prosper.

 

After having done the task describe this travel agency in detail.

 

12. Work in pairs:

a)Look at the following words and phrases and think of a story that might combine them all. You may reorder them in any way
you like using any form of the verb:

•        a new office opened;

•        was owned by the biggest travel agency in town;

•        both native and foreign tourists;

•        arranged transportation by air and rail;

•        transfers of passengers and luggage between terminals and hotels;

•        sightseeing tours;

•        special features such as tickets for music festivals;

•        used computer reservation systems to make bookings;

•        used professional know-how and experience;

•        achieved both development and financial objectives.

b) When you have decided upon the story, tell it to your partner.
Then listen to that of your partner. Ask each other as many
questions as you can to learn further details or clarify some
points.

   

13. Entitle the paragraphs beginning with the words:

The first U.S. travel agents...

According to the American Society...

14. Divide the text into other logical parts and entitle each of them.

15. Give a summary of the text.