Sorting out companies in tourism

Memorize and dramatize:

Student 1: Now, with your help I understand better what I want to do in tourism business. But I still want to know more. I don’t quite understand what kind of companies there are in tourism.		Студент 1: Теперь с твоей помощью я лучше пони­маю, что я хочу делать в туристском бизнесе. Но я все же хочу знать больше. Я не совсем понимаю, какие виды компаний имеются в туризме.
Student 2: That’s a reasonable question! There are a lot of different companies that deal with tourism and travel.		Студент 2: Это резонный вопрос! Имеется много различных компаний, ко-торые занимаются туриз-мом и путешествиями.
Student 1: Frankly speaking, I know just travel agencies. Are there any other tourist companies?		Студент 1: Честно говоря, я знаю только турагентства. Есть ли какие-нибудь другие туристские компании?
Student 2: But of course! There are travel agencies and tour operators, tourist boards and tourist information centres, national tourist organizations...		Студент 2: Ну, конечно! Существуют турагентства и фирмы-туроператоры, ту-ристские советы и турист-ские информационные цен­тры, национальные турист­ские организации...
Student 1: There are some travel departments in big stores. What kind of companies are they?		Студент 1: В больших магазинах есть какие-то отделы путешествий. Что это за компании?
Student 2: Many tourist companies have got sales outlets. They have got such outlets in big hotels, airports, big stores or factories.		Студент 2: Многие ту-ристские компании имеют точки розничного сбыта. Они имеют такие точки в крупных отелях, аэропор-тах, больших магазинах или на производственных предприятиях.
Student 1: Factories? Do you mean to say there are travel agencies in factories?		Студент 1: Производствен-ных предприятиях? Ты хо­чешь сказать, что на произ­водственных предприятиях есть туристские агентства?
Student 2: Exactly! Don’t you see the reason?..		Студент 2: Именно так! Разве ты не видишь причину?..
Student 1: I guess, there are a lot of employees there who travel for pleasure and on business.		Студент 1: Я полагаю, там много служащих, которые путешествуют на отдых и по делам.
Student 2: Absolutely! The idea is to bring a sales outlet closer to the customers. Another idea is not to let competitors do it before you.		Студент 2: Конечно! Идея в том, чтобы перенести точку розничного сбыта ближе к клиентам. Еще одна идея в том, чтобы не позволить конкурентам сделать это раньше вас.
Student 1: How very smart! Now what kind of company is a tourist board?		Студент 1: Как толково! Ну, а теперь, что за компания туристский совет?
Student 2: It is a government body which promotes tourism to its country throughout the world or in a certain part of the world. As for the national tourist organization, it is a body which represents a group of national companies in the tourist business.		Студент 2: Это правитель-ственный орган, который продвигает туризм в свою страну по всему миру или в определенной части мира. Что касается национальной туристской организации, то это орган, который пред­ставляет группу националь­ных компаний в турбизнесе.
Student 1: You are so knowledgeable! And what sort of company is a tourist information office?		Студент 1: Ты такой знающий! А что за компания туристский информацион­ный центр?
Student 2: As the name suggests, it is an office which gives information to tourists.		Студент 2: Как предполагает название, это центр, который дает информацию туристам.
Student 1: I hear there are also national associations of travel agents in many countries. What are those?		Студент 1: Я слышал, во многих странах также име­ются национальные ассоциа­ции турагентств. Что это?
Student 2: Those are main trade associations of travel agents and tour operators of a country.		Студент 2: Это основные профессиональные ассоциа-ции турагентов и туропера-торов страны.
Student 1: What sort of companies do guides and guides-interpreters work for, I wonder?		Студент 1: Интересно, на какие компании работают экскурсоводы и гиды-пере-водчики?
Student 2: As a matter of fact, they don’t work for any travel company full-time. They are free-lancers. They work part-time.		Студент 2: На самом деле, они не работают в штате ни на одну туристскую компанию. Они “свободные художники”. Они работают внештатно.
Student 1: That sounds very attractive to me! You earn your money but you still have your freedom!		Студент 1: Это звучит очень привлекательно для меня! Зарабатываешь деньги, но все же имеешь свободу!
Student 2: It is not as simple as it seems to you. You earn your money when you’ve got some work to do in high season. But you don’t earn any money when there is no work in low or off-season.		Студент 2: Это не так просто, как тебе кажется. Ты зарабатываешь деньги, когда у тебя есть работа в высокий сезон. Но ты не зарабатываешь никаких де­нег, когда нет работы в низ­кий или мертвый сезон.
Student 1: A hard game to play!		Студент 1: Трудное дело!
Student 2: That’s obvious! I would say it’s a painstaking but a rewarding job. Those who start can hardly stop doing it. It sucks you in!		Студент 2: Это очевидно! Я бы сказал, это трудная, но благодарная работа. Те, кто начинает, едва ли могут остановиться заниматься ею. Она затягивает!

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

airport		аэропорт
association		ассоциация
attractive		привлекательный
body		орган
competitor		конкурент
to earn		зарабатывать
free-lancer		внештатный работник, представитель свободной профессии, “свободный художник”
full-time		полный рабочий день, штатно
high season		сезон, высокий сезон
low season		несезон, низкий сезон
off-season		мертвый сезон
outlet		точка розничного сбыта
painstaking		трудоемкий, тяжелый
part-time		неполный рабочий день, внештатно
to promote		продвигать (на рынок)
reason		причина
reasonable		разумный, резонный
rewarding		благодарный
sales outlet		розничная точка сбыта, розничная торговая точка
to sort out		разбираться
store		магазин
tourist board		туристский совет
tourist information centre		туристский информационный центр
tourist information office		туристское информационное представительство

TEXTS

Read the texts and answer the questions:

TOUR OPERATORS

Tour operators are tourist companies which develop and put together tour packages.

Tour operators do market research. They promote their tours and advertise them. Tour operators publish colourful brochures, booklets and travellogues.

Tour operators sell tour packages wholesale to travel agencies or sometimes direct to the public.

There are tour operators which also act like travel agencies. They produce and sell their products themselves.

There are independent tour operators. But among tour operators there are major airlines and shipping companies.

There are large tour operators, such as Thomas Cook & Sons Company or American Express Company. Thomas Cook is the oldest tour operator in the world.

 

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What kind of companies are tour operators?

2. What do tour operators do?

3. How do tour operators promote their tours?

4. How do tour operators sell their tours?

5. What kind of tour operators are there?

6. What are the best-known tour operators in the world?

TRAVEL AGENCIES

Travel agencies are retail tourist companies which work directly with the public. Travel agencies are often called shops where customers buy different tourist products.

Travel agencies sell tour operators’ tour packages and individual tourist services. Among tour packages are inclusive tours, charter inclusive tours and inclusive tours with an excursion. Travel agencies also sell coaching tours and cruising tours.

Travel agencies form groups of tourists to take part in
ready-made prepaid tours. They also make individual travel arrangements.

Among separate tourist services there are air tickets, train tickets, boat or ferry tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals, sightseeing tours, services of a guide or a guide-interpreter. Travel agencies also offer travel insurances and theatre tickets to their customers.

There are large travel agencies which are members of a chain. They branch out and have outlets within a city, a region, a country or all over the world. Very often they have got a word “Group” in their names, for instance, Barry Martin Group or Blue Heart Travel Group. Usually such travel agencies act as tour operators
as well.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What kind of companies are travel agencies?

2. Why are travel agencies called shops?

3. What do travel agencies do?

4. What kind of tours do travel agencies offer?

5. What kind of separate tourist services do travel agencies offer?

6. What kind of travel agencies are there?

TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICES

Tourist information offices are also called tourist information centres. Sometimes they are called visitor information centres.

There are tourist information offices at major airports, railway stations, hotels, holiday or leisure centres and many tourist attractions.

Tourist information offices have got office clerks who give advice to customers on car hire, sightseeing and other coach tours, accommodations, flights and so on. The clerks also give city orientations to guests.

Tourist information office clerks answer a lot of phone calls and give information on passports and visas, the Customs and luggage, weather and climate, city public transport and food service.

The office clerks speak foreign languages fluently because they deal with many international travellers.

There are usually racks full of city maps and guide books, booklets and folders, travellogues and timetables in tourist information offices. Travellers get most of them free of charge.

 

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What kind of companies are tourist information offices?

2. Where are tourist information offices?

3. What kind of advice do tourist information office clerks give?

4. What do tourist information office clerks do? What sort of
information do they give?

5. Why do tourist information office clerks fluently speak foreign
languages?

6. What kind of manuals for travellers are there in tourist
information offices?

TOURIST OUTLETS

Many travel companies branch out and have got a lot of outlets within a city, a region, a country or throughout the world. There are outlets of travel agencies, car hire companies, coaching companies.

There are travel agency outlets in hotels, airport terminals, railway stations, big department stores, at large factories and plants and office sites.

If a travel company has got an outlet at a factory or in an office building, it serves employees of those companies. Such an outlet provides the same services as other outlets and the head office of the travel company. It means that offers and prices are the same in all outlets.

There is usually just one travel clerk at a sales outlet. He or she does all the work. He or she answers phone calls, meets customers in person, works on the computer, does paperwork. This clerk makes bookings, sells and issues tickets, collects money and gives receipts. Of course the clerk keeps in touch with the head office and knows all up-to-date information on tours and tickets.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What is an outlet?

2. What sort of outlets are there?

3. Where are travel agency outlets?

4. Whom does a travel agency outlet at a factory or in office
building service?

5. What does it mean that all travel agency outlets provide the
same services?

6. How many clerks are there at a sales outlet?

7. What does the outlet clerk do?

8. How does the outlet clerk know the up-to-date information?

FREE-LANCERS

There are people in tourism who work for themselves. They are called free-lancers. They don’t work full-time for any tourist company. They work part-time or in high season only. They don’t work in low and off-season.

Among free-lancers there are guides, guides-interpreters, escorts, animators, travel writers. Tourist companies employ them for seasonal work. Cruising companies, resort hotels and holiday centres employ animators for summer high season. Travel agencies which deal with in-coming tourism employ guides, guides-interpreters, escorts. Travel writers offer their articles to magazines and newspapers when they wish to.

Free-lancers are registered. It means that, on the one hand, they have got licences. Licences prove their qualifications and give them permission to work. On the other hand, if they are registered, they pay taxes.

Free-lancers are as a rule members of professional associations.

In high season free-lancers earn a lot of money. In low and off-season they don’t earn any money at all or do some other job. Teachers work as free-lance guides, students work as escorts, actors work as animators. Travel writers are often permanent free-lancers.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What kind of people are called free-lancers?

2. How and when do free-lancers work?

3. What are some of the free-lance jobs?

4. What kind of companies employ animators?

5. What kind of companies employ guides, guides-interpreters and
escorts?

6. What do travel writers do?

7. What does it mean that free-lancers are registered?

8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a free-
lancer?

 

ACTIVE VOCABULARY

advantage		преимущество
advice		совет
airlines		авиакомпания
air ticket		авиабилет
article		статья
attraction		достопримечательность
branch		филиал
to branch out		разветвляться, образовывать филиалы
booklet		буклет
car hire		прокат автомобилей
chain		цепь (турагентств, гостиниц)
charter		чартер
climate		климат
coach		туристский автобус
coaching		путешествия на автобусе
coaching tour		автобусный тур
cruising tour		круизный тур
the Customs		таможня
department store		универмаг
disadvantage		недостаток
to employ		принимать на работу
escort		сопровождающий
ferry		паром
folder		раскладывающийся буклет, проспект, брошюра
free of charge		бесплатно
guide book		путеводитель
head office		головной офис
holiday centre		центр отдыха, дом отдыха
inclusive tour		инклюзив-тур, комплексный тур
in-coming tourism		въездной туризм
independent		независимый, индивидуальный
leisure centre		центр отдыха, центр досуга
licence, license		лицензия
luggage		багаж
magazine		журнал
major		крупный
manual		справочник, справочный материал, учебное пособие, руководство
office site		местонахождение офиса, офисное здание
permanent		постоянный
permission		разрешение
to publish		издавать
to put together (put, put)		комплектовать
rack		стеллаж, стенд, стойка
receipt		квитанция
research		исследования
to service		обслуживать
shipping company		судоходная компания, транспортная компания
tax		налог
terminal		здание (аэропорта, вокзала)
timetable		расписание
tourist product		туристский продукт
travel clerk		служащий туристской компании
travellogue		каталог путешествий
up-to-date		современный, новейший

VOCABULARY DRILL

Fill in the blanks:

free-lancers		racks		a chain
sales outlets		airlines		research
travellogues		high season		licenses
inclusive tours		arrangements		receipts
air tickets		advice		taxes

 

1. Tour operators publish colourful.......

2. There are...... and shipping companies among major tour operators.

3. Tourist information office clerks give...... to customers on passports and visas, luggage and the Customs.

4. Travel agencies make individual travel.......

5. A sales outlet clerk sells tickets and tours, collects money and gives...... herself.

6. People who work for themselves are called.......

7. Tour operators always do market...... when they develop tours.

8. There are...... among tour operators’ products.

9....... give free-lancers a permission to work.

10. There are...... with booklets and folders at travel agencies and their outlets.

11. Free-lancers are registered and they pay.......

12. Major tourist companies branch out and have.......

13. Some tourist companies are members of....

14. There are hotel rooms, train and...... among separate tourist services.

15. Most free-lancers work in.......

GRAMMAR DRILLS

THERE IS.../THERE ARE...

	+	a//some
	?	any
	-	not any//no

+ There is a folder on the rack.

? Is there any folder on the rack?

- There is not (isn’t) any folder on the rack.

There is no folder on the rack.

+ There are some folders on the rack.

? Are there any folders on the rack?

- There are not (aren’t) any folders on the rack.

There are no folders on the rack.

I. Make up interrogative and negative sentences:

MODELS:

+ There is an outlet here. + There are some outlets here.

? Is there any outlet here?? Are there any outlets here?

- There isn’t any outlet here. - There aren’t any outlets here.

There is no outlet here. There are no outlets here.

1. There is a travel clerk in this sales outlet.

2. There are some discounts in low season.

3. There is a new travellogue in our office.

4. There are some articles on tourism in this magazine.

5. There is a travel agency in our town.

6. There are some tourist attractions in this tourist destination.

7. There is a tourist information office at the railway station.

8. There is a car rental company at the hotel.

9. There are some English-speaking tourists in the group.

10. There are some timetables on the desk.

11. There are some folders on the rack.

12. There is a city map on the shelf.

II. Make up alternative questions:

 

MODEL: