Chapter 20: Ancillary Tourism Services

Question 1: Summarise the benefits of taking out travel insurance.

Answer Guide: Benefits of travel insurance include:

  • Protection against the failure of the holiday company or airline
  • Protection against loss of baggage
  • Compensation for travel delays
  • Cover for medical bills and repatriation if needed
  • Evacuation in an emergency
  • Phone assistance to help with medial issue, stolen passport, etc.

Question 2: Why are human guides an important part of the offer at many tourist attractions?

Answer Guide: Clearly, guides can provide information about the attraction. They can also help manage visitor behaviour and ensure a steady flow of visitors through the attraction.

They can also enhance the visitor experience as they personalise their responses to the audience.

Question 3: In this chapter, we discussed the existence of hotel guidebooks. Why might a hotel decide to pay for entry in such a guide?

Answer Guide: Such guidebooks are distributed to those tourists with an interest in the destination. If these are received ahead of the visit, then the hotel may benefit by being selected as the accommodation choice. However, even if the tourist collects the book after arrival, the hotel may benefit from business if it offers a restaurant or other services the tourist might use. It might also be considered for future visits to the destination.