The Harvard Business Review has created a matrix which pits each individual’s orientation and focus areas to determine the person’s positioning as a thinker. The idea is to develop teams within organizations that are compatible not only in doing terms but also in terms of thinking. On the big picture or macro orientation, there exist four categories. The Explorer generates creative ideas and is good at business innovation. The Planner designs effective systems. The Energizer is good at mobilizing people to action. Then the Connector interlinks all by building and strengthening relationships. On the micro or detail orientation there exist four further cells. The Expert seeks objectivity and insight while the Optimizer is concerned about improving productivity and efficiency. The Producer wishes to achieve completion and momentum. Finally, the Coach wants to cultivate people and potential. Each of the employees in a firm will fall among either of the categories. 

Tourism consulting provided by the World Travel and Tourism Council has stated that more than 50% of Spain’s service exports stem from the travel and tourism industry alone. In fact nearly a sixth of Spain’s GDP also derived from the same. Tourism jobs account for more than double the employment opportunities provided by financial services. This trend is set to grow as the industry is poised for a growth of upwards of 2 percent and policies are being shaped in order to cater to the same.

As per tourism consulting provided by the World Travel Monitor, fewer young Europeans are travelling internationally than a decade back. This has been fuelled by several demographic factors, one of which is the low birth rates over decades which has resulted in the numbers of this segment simply plummeting. Another factor is that due to the internet, younger people are often preferring to surf the world from the comfort of their couches rather than actually going out tom explore. This is bad news for the budget hotel industry added to the existing problem of Airbnb’s increased presence. The only European country though which has ridden through these tough times seems to be Germany which has seen a spike in young inbound tourists’ numbers. 

International tourism has risen globally by about four percent as per tourism consulting provided by the World Tourism Organization. Europe, Asia and the Middle East were the most visited regions. Due to political instability North Africa suffered in terms of numbers. The fallout was worst in Tunisia where attacks on tourists in Tunis and Sousse has triggered fear and negatively impacted tourism jobs. Even sub-Saharan Africa experienced a dip mainly due to the Ebola outbreak.

Several new terms have been coined in the world of travel and tourism. There are new traveler categories as well as trip types. There is the constantly traveling for work or pleasure globizen. Then there are seekenders who escape on weekends or extended ones seeking unique experiences. This travel group ends up generating number of travel jobs. There are List-tickers whose primary motive behind traveling is to fulfill some bucket list. Finally there are those may be categorized as egotourists who travel distances to meet local people and immerse in local cultures yet stay at high end luxury resorts. As for trip types, there is this thing called weedery which aims at drug induced a holiday. There is this unique type known as fakeation where the ‘tourist’ actually stays at home but claims to be traveling. Also there is the honeyteer where a honeymoon is spent as a volunteer.

Mobile apps specifically catering to the tourism industry have been developed and are helping tourists a lot. As per market research conducted, it was realized that around 95% of travel related information searched on the mobile phones was via apps. Also three-fifths of smart phone users have downloaded travel related apps. Thus apps have been specifically designed to help tourists with room bookings, planning of itineraries, search for best food options, event notifications, area wise maps, language translation support and instant feedback. This has enabled en number of problems to be solved and enhance the travel experience.   

China is set to be the top source for tourists across the Asia Pacific region this year. This was revealed postbusiness research conducted by MasterCard. More than fifty million tourists are expected to leave the shores of China this year to travel across the region. South Korea occupies the second spot followed by Taiwan. Japan is in fifth spot, surprisingly bettered by the USA at rank 4. USA remains the highest ranked non-APAC member in this list with UK at ninth being the only other such country in the top ten. Japan’s influence in this region though continues to wobble.

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