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.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 928