Appendix: Glossary

• Aboriginal cultural experiences: experiences that are offered in a manner that is appropriate, respectful, and true to the Aboriginal culture being portrayed
• Aboriginal cultural tourism: Aboriginal tourism that incorporates Aboriginal culture as a significant portion of the experience in a manner that is appropriate, respectful, and true (see Aboriginal cultural experiences)
• Aboriginal peoples: the indigenous people of Canada, recognized in the Canadian Constitution Act as comprising three groups: First Nations, Métis, and Inuit
• Aboriginal tourism: tourism businesses that are majority owned and operated by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (known as indigenous tourism outside of Canada)
• Aboriginal Tourism Association BC (AtBC): the organization responsible for developing and marketing Aboriginal tourism experiences in BC in a strategic way; members are over 51% owned and operated by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit
• Aboriginal Tourism Association Canada (ATAC): a consortium of over 20 Aboriginal tourism industry organizations and government representatives from across Canada
• Adventure tourism: outdoor activities with an element of risk, usually somewhat physically challenging and undertaken in natural, undeveloped areas
• Advertorial: print content (sometimes appearing online) that is a combination of an editorial feature and paid advertising
• Agritourism: tourism experiences that highlight rural destinations and prominently feature agricultural operations
• American Indian: a term used to describe First people in the United States, still used today
• Ancillary revenues: money earned on non-essential components of the transportation experience including headsets, blankets, and meals
• Appropriation: the action of taking something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission
• Art museums: museums that collect historical and modern works of art for educational purposes and to preserve them for future generations
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC): a forum that brings together countries from the Asia Pacific region (including Canada), and which has a Tourism Working Group that looks at policy development in a tourism context
• Assets: items of value owned by a business to be used in the production and service of the experience
• Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG): Canada’s only internationally recognized guiding association, offering a range of certifications
• Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA): a trade organization established in 1977 to ensure high standards of customer service, engage in advocacy for the trade, conduct research, and facilitate travel agent training
• Authentic Indigenous Artisan Program: protects Aboriginal artists by identifying three tiers of artwork based on the degree to which Aboriginal people have participated in their creation; a tool to combat cultural appropriation
• Authenticity of experience: a hot topic in tourism that started with MacCannell in 1976 and continues to today; discussion of the extent to which experiences are staged for visitors
• Avalanche Canada: a not-for-profit society that provides public avalanche forecasts and education for back country travellers venturing into avalanche terrain, dedicated to a vision of eliminating avalanche injuries and fatalities in Canada
• Average cheque: total sales divided by number of guests served
• Average daily rate (ADR): average guest room income per occupied room in a given time period

B

• Back of house: food production areas not accessible to guests and not generally visible; also known as heart of house
• BC Hospitality Foundation (BCHF): created to help support hospitality professionals in their time of need; now also a provider of scholarships for students in hospitality management and culinary programs
• BC Hotel Association (BCHA): the trade association for BC’s hotel industry, which hosts an annual industry trade show and seminar series, and publishes InnFocus magazine for professionals
• BC Lodging and Campgrounds Association (BCLCA): represents the interests of independently owned campgrounds and lodges in BC
• BC Parks: the agency responsible for management of provincial parks in British Columbia
• BC Restaurant & Foodservices Association (BCRFA): representing the interests of more than 3000 of the province’s foodservice operators in matters including wages, benefits, and liquor licenses, and other relevant matters
• Beverage costs: beverages sold in liquor-licensed operations; this usually only includes alcohol, but in unlicensed operations, it includes coffee, tea milk, juices, and soft drinks
• Blue Sky Policy: Canada’s approach to open skies agreements that govern which countries’ airlines are allowed to fly to, and from, Canadian destinations
• Botanical garden: a garden that displays native and/or non-native plants and trees, often running educational programming
• Breach in the standard of care: failure of a defendant to work to the recognized standard
• BRIC: an acronym for the growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China
• BRICS: the acronym for the BRIC countries with the addition of South Africa
• British Columbia Golf Marketing Alliance: a strategic alliance representing 58 regional and destination golf resorts in BC with the goal of having BC achieve recognition nationally and internationally as a leading golf destination
• British Columbia Government Travel Bureau (BCGTB): the first recognized provincial government organization responsible for the tourism marketing of British Columbia
• British Columbia Guest Ranchers Association (BCGRA): an organization offering marketing opportunities and development support for BC’s guest ranch operators
• British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC): the crown corporation responsible for operating casinos, lotteries, bingo halls, and online gaming in the province of BC
• British Columbia Snowmobile Federation (BCSF): an organization offering snowmobile patrol services, lessons on operations, and advocating for the maintenance of riding areas in BC
• Business Events Industry Coalition of Canada (BEICC): an advocacy group for the meetings and events industry in Canada

C

• Camping and RVing British Columbia Coalition (CRVBCC): represents campground managers and brings together additional stakeholders including the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association of BC and the Freshwater Fisheries Society
• Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA): founded in 1966 and headquartered in Kelowna, BC, CWSAA represents ski areas and industry suppliers and provides government and media relations as well as safety and risk management expertise to its membership
• Canada’s West Marketplace: a partnership between Destination BC and Travel Alberta, showcasing BC travel products in a business-to-business sales environment
• Canadian Association of Tour Operators (CATO): a membership-based organization that serves as the voice of the tour operator segment and engages in professional development and networking in the sector
• Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR): a national railway company widely regarded as establishing tourism in Canada and BC in the late 1800s and early 1900s
• Canadian Ski Guide Association (CSGA): founded in British Columbia, an organization that runs a training institute for professional guides, and a separate non-profit organization representing CSGA guide and operating members
• Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA): created in 2000, an industry organization funded by the Canadian Tourism Commission to increase Canadian capacity to attract and host sport tourism events
• Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC): the national government Crown corporation responsible for marketing Canada abroad
• Capacity: the ability of a person to enter into a legal agreement; depends on the age and mental state of the person (among other factors)
• Captured patrons: consumers with limited selection or choice of food or beverage provider given their occupation or location
• Carbon offsetting: a market-based system that provides options for organizations to invest in green initiatives to offset their own carbon emissions
• Career planning: a series of deliberate steps with outcomes to help individuals achieve their short- and long-term career goals
• Carrying capacity: the maximum number of a given species that can be sustained in a specific habitat or biosphere without negative impacts
• Causation: a strong link between the actions of the defendant and the injury to the plaintiff
• Collaborative consumption: also known as the sharing economy, a blend of economy, technology, and social movement where access to goods and skills is more important than ownership (e.g., Airbnb)
• Commercial Bear Viewing Association of BC (CBVA): promoters of best practices in sustainable viewing, training, and certification for guides, and advocating for land use practices
• Commercial foodservice: operations whose primary business is food and beverage
• Commercial general liability insurance: the most common type of liability insurance that provides coverage for litigation; generally legal costs and personal injury settlements arising from a lawsuit are covered
• Community destination marketing organization (CDMO): a DMO that represents a city or town
• Community gaming centres (CGCs): small-scale gaming establishments, typically in the form of bingo halls
• Competitive set: a marketing term used to identify a group of hotels that include all competitors that a hotel’s guests are likely to go to consider an alternative to the company (minimum of three)
• Conferences: business events that have specific themes and are held for smaller groups than conventions
• Conflict management: the practice of being able to identify and handle conflicts sensibly, fairly, and efficiently
• Conscious consumerism: refers to consumers using their purchasing power to shape the world according to their values and beliefs
• Consideration: the value exchanged between parties in the contract (money, services, or waiving legal rights)
• Conventions: business events that generally have very large attendance, are held annually in different locations each year, and usually require a bidding process
• Co-op education: a special program offered by a college/university in which students alternate work and study, usually spending a number of weeks in full-time study and a number in full-time employment away from the campus
• Costs per occupied room (CPOR): all the costs associated with making a room ready for a guest (linens, cleaning costs, guest amenities)
• Cross-utilization: when a menu is created to make multiple uses of a small number of staple pantry ingredients, helping to keep food costs down
• Crown land: land owned and managed by either the provincial or federal governments
• Crown land tenure: rights given to commercial organizations to operate on Crown land
• Cruise BC: a multi-stakeholder organization responsible for the development and marketing of British Columbia as a cruise destination
• Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA): the world’s largest cruise industry trade association with representation in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australasia
• Culinary tourism: tourism experiences where the key focus is local and regional food and drink, often highlighting the heritage of products involved and techniques associated with their production
• Cultural commodification: the drive toward putting a monetary value on aspects of a culture
• Cultural/heritage tourism: when tourists travel to a specific destination in order to participate in a cultural or heritage-related event
• Customer lifetime value (CLV): a view of customer relationships that looks at long-term cycle of customer interactions, rather than at single transactions
• Customer needs: gaps between what customers have and what they would like to have
• Customer orientation: positioning a business or organization so that customer interests and value are the highest priority
• Customer relationship management (CRM): a strategy used by businesses to select customers and to maintain relationships with them to increase their lifetime value to the business
• Customer wants: needs of which customers are aware

D

• Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People: a 2007 statement that set forth the minimum standards for the survival, dignity, and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world
• Destination BC: the provincial destination marketing organization (DMO) responsible for tourism marketing and development in BC, formerly known as Tourism BC
• Destination management company (DMC): a company that creates and executes corporate travel and event packages designed for employee rewards or special retreats
• Destination marketing organization (DMO): also known as a destination management organization; includes national tourism boards, state/provincial tourism offices, and community convention and visitor bureaus
• Destination mountain resorts: large-scale mountain resorts where the draw is the resort itself; usually the resort offers all services needed in a tourism destination
• Dine-and-dash: the term commonly used in the industry for when a patron eats but does not pay for his or her meal
• Direct climate impacts: what will occur directly as a result of changes to the climate such as extreme weather events
• Dive Industry Association of BC: a marketing and advocacy organization protecting the interests of divers, dive shops, guides, dive instructors, and diving destinations in BC
• Diversity: a term used by some in the industry to describe the makeup of the industry in a positive way; acknowledging that tourism is a diverse compilation of a multitude of businesses, services, organizations, and communities
• Duty to care: the relationship between the plaintiff and defendant (monetary, supervisory, custodial or otherwise) that requires a responsibility on behalf of one party to care for the other

E

• E-commerce: electronic commerce; performing business transactions online while collecting rich data about consumers
• Ecological footprint: a model that calculates the amount of natural resources needed to support society at its current standard of living
• Emerging markets: markets for BC that are monitored and explored by Destination BC —  China, India, and Mexico
• Employment Standards Act: defines legal requirements around employment such as minimum wage, breaks, meal times, vacation pay, statutory holidays, age of employment, and leave from work
• Entertainment: (as it relates to tourism) includes attending festivals, events, fairs, spectator sports, zoos, botanical gardens, historic sites, cultural venues, attractions, museums, and galleries
• Environmental accreditation or certification: a voluntary system that establishes environmental standards and regulates adherence to reducing environmental impacts
• Environmental Assessment Office: the provincial agency responsible for reviewing large projects occurring on Crown land in BC
• Environmental management: policies and procedures designed to protect natural values while providing a framework for use
• Environmental stewardship: the practice of ensuring natural resources are conserved and used responsibly in a way that balances the needs of various groups
• Eskimo: a term once used by non-Inuit people to describe Inuit people; no longer considered appropriate
• Ethnic restaurant: a restaurant based on the cuisine of a particular region or country, often reflecting the heritage of the head chef or owner
• Event: a happening at a given place and time, usually of some importance, celebrating or commemorating a special occasion; can include mega-events, special events, hallmark events, festivals, and local community events
• Experiential learning: learning that takes place when a student directly participates in experiences designed for a learning purpose; takes place both inside and outside of the classroom; and involves reflection as well as action
• Export-ready criteria: the highest level of market readiness, with sophisticated travel distribution trade channels, to attract out-of-town visitors and highly reliable service standards, particularly with groups
• Exposure avoidance: a risk control technique that avoids any exposure to that particular risk

F

• Fad: something taken up in a finite, short amount of time – can represent a valuable business opportunity, but investment can be risky
• Familiarization tours (FAMs): tours provided to overseas travel agents, travel agencies, RTOs, and others to provide information about a certain product at no or minimal cost to participants — the short form is pronounced like the start of the word family (not as each individual letter)
• Family/casual restaurant: a restaurant type that is typically open for all three meal periods, offering affordable prices and able to serve diverse tastes and accommodate large groups
• Festival: public event that features multiple activities in celebration of a culture, an anniversary or historical date, art form, or product (food, timber, etc.)
• Fine dining restaurant: licensed food and beverage establishment characterized by high-end ingredients and preparations and highly trained service staff
• First Nation: one of the three recognized groups of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples (along with Inuit and Métis)
• First Nations land: land under Aboriginal title or that is managed by First Nations
• FirstHost: an Aboriginal tourism workshop focusing on hospitality service delivery and the special importance of the host, guest, and place relationship
• Food and beverage (F&B): type of operation primarily engaged in preparing meals, snacks, and beverages, to customer order, for immediate consumption on and off the premises
• Food cost: price including freight charges of all food served to the guest for a price (does not include food and beverages given away, which are quality or promotion costs)
• Food primary: a licence required to operate a restaurant whose primary business is serving food (rather than alcohol)
• Foodie: a term (often used by the person themselves) to describe a food and beverage enthusiast
• Fractional ownership: a financing model that developers use to finance hotel builds by selling units in one-eighth to one-quarter shares
• Franchise: enables individuals or investment companies to build or purchase a business and then buy or lease a brand name under which to operate; also can include reservation systems and marketing tools
• Franchisee: an individual or company buying or leasing a franchise
• Franchisor:  a company that sells franchises
• Fragmentation: a phenomenon observed by some industry insiders whereby the tourism industry is unable to work together towards common marketing and lobbying (policy-setting) objectives
• Front of house: public areas of the establishment; in quick service it includes the ordering and product serving area
• Full-service restaurants: casual and fine dining restaurants where guests order food seated and pay after they have finished their meal
• Fully independent traveller (FIT): a traveller who makes his or her own arrangements for accommodations, transportation, and tour components; is independent of a group

G

• Globalization: the movement of goods, ideas, values, and people around the world
• Greenwashing: the act of claiming a product is “green” or environmentally friendly solely for marketing and promotional purposes
• Guide Outfitters Association of BC (GOABC): established in 1966 to promote and preserve the interests of guide outfitters, who take hunters out into wildlife habitat; publishers of Mountain Hunter magazine

H

• HelloBC: online travel services platform of Destination BC providing information to the visitor and potential visitor for trip planning purposes
• Heterogeneous: variable, a generic difference shared by all services
• Hidden job market: employment opportunities that aren’t posted through traditional channels, but rather arise because of a person’s connections and relationships
• Homogenizing: making the same, as in the effect of tourism helping to spread Western values, rendering one culture indistinguishable from the next
• Hospitality: the accommodations and food and beverage industry groupings
• Hotel Association of Canada (HAC): the national trade organization advocating on behalf of over 8,500 hotels
• Hotel Guest Registration Act: requires hotel keepers to register guests appropriately, which includes noting the guest’s arrival and departure dates, home address, and type and licence number of any vehicle
• Hotel Keepers Act: allows an accommodation provider to place a lien on guest property for unpaid bills, limits the liability of the hotel keeper when guest property is stolen and/or damaged, and gives the provider authority to require guests to leave in the event of a disturbance
• Hotel type: a classification determined primarily by the size and location of the building structure, and then by the function, target markets, service-level, other amenities and industry standards

I

• In country: a term to describe using a local-ownership approach in order for the wealth generated from tourism to stay in a destination
• Inbound tour operator: an operator who packages products together to bring visitors from external markets to a destination
• Incentive travel: a global management tool that uses an exceptional travel experience to motivate and/or recognize participants for increased levels of performance in support of organizational goals
• Indian (or Native Indian): a legal term in Canada, once used to describe Aboriginal people but now considered inappropriate
• Indigenous peoples: groups specially protected in international or national legislation as having a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory, and their cultural or historical distinctiveness from other populations
• Indigenous tourism: a synonym for Aboriginal tourism, the more commonly used term in BC (see above)
• Indirect environmental change impacts: what will occur indirectly as a result of climate change, including damages to infrastructure
• Informational interview: a short appointment where you learn about an employer, or a specific role, from someone already established in the field
• Inherent risk: risk that is inherent to the activity and that cannot be removed
• Injury: proof the plaintiff did in fact receive an injury resulting in damage; can be bodily injury or property damage
• Intangible: untouchable, a characteristic shared by all services
• Integrated marketing communications (IMC): planning and coordinating all the promotional mix elements and internet marketing so they are as consistent and as mutually supportive as possible
• Intentional torts: assault, battery, trespass, false imprisonment, nuisance, and defamation
• Interactive media: online and mobile platforms
• International Air Transport Association (IATA): the trade association for the world’s airlines
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO): a specialized agency of the United Nations that creates global air policy and helps to develop industry capacity and safety
• International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA): organization that supports professionals who produce and support celebrations for the benefit of their respective communities
• Internship: short-term, supervised work experience in a student’s field of interest for which the student may earn academic credit
• Interpersonal factors: the influence of cultures, social classes, family, and opinion leaders on consumers
• Inuit: one of the three recognized groups of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples (along with First Nation and Métis), from the Arctic region of Canada

L

• Larrakia Declaration: a set of principles developed to guide appropriate indigenous tourism development
• Liquor Control and Licensing Act: defines the ways in which alcohol can be made, imported, purchased, and consumed in BC
• Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB): the BC government agency responsible for legislation and control of alcohol sales, service, manufacture, import, and distribution in the province
• Liquor primary licences: the type of licence needed in BC to operate a business that is in the primary business of selling alcohol (most pubs, nightclubs and cabarets fall into this category)
• Loss reduction: a risk control technique that reduces the severity of the impact of the risk should it occur
• Low-cost carrier (LCC): an airline that competes on price, cutting amenities and striving for volume to achieve a profit
• Loyalty programs: programs that identify and build databases of frequent customers to promote directly to them, and to reward and provide special services for those frequent customers

M

• Marae: a communal or sacred centre that serves a religious and social purpose in Polynesian societies
• Market-ready business: a business that goes beyond visitor readiness to demonstrate strengths in customer service, marketing, pricing and payments policies, response times and reservations systems, and so on
• Marketing: a continuous, sequential process through which management plans, researches, implements, controls, and evaluates activities designed to satisfy the customers’ needs and wants, and its own organization’s objectives
• Marketing orientation: the understanding that a company needs to engage with its markets in order to refine its products and services, and promotional efforts
• Market segmentation: specific groups of people with a similar profile, allowing marketers to target their messaging
• Mass media: the use of channels that reach very large markets
• Meetings, conventions, and incentive travel (MCIT): all special events with programming aimed at a business audience
• Meeting Professionals International (MPI): a membership-based professional development organization for meeting meeting and event planners
• Métis: one of the three recognized groups of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples (along with First Nation and Inuit), meaning “to mix”
• Ministry of Environment: the provincial ministry responsible for the environment in BC
• MINTS: an acronym for the countries of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey, and South Korea
• Moment of truth: when a customer’s interaction with a front line employee makes a critical difference in their perception of that company or destination
• Monoculture: a farming practice that depletes the soil and encourages the use of pesticides and fertilizers for increased production
• Motel: a term popular in the last century, combining the words “motor hotel”; typically designed to provide ample parking and easy access to rooms from the parking lot

N

• National Airports Policy (NAP): the 1994 policy that saw transfer of 150 airports from federal control to communities and other local agencies, essentially deregulating the industry
• Nature-based tourism: tourism activities where the motivator is immersion in the natural environment; the focus is often on wildlife and wilderness area
• Nearby markets: markets for BC, identified by Destination BC as BC, Alberta, and Washington State, characterized by high volume and strong repeat visitation
• Negligence: failing to meet a reasonable standard of care toward others despite being required to do so
• Net promoter score (NPS): a metric designed to monitor customer engagement, reflecting the likelihood that travellers will recommend a destination to friends, family, or colleagues
• Networking: creating relationships within a sector for the purpose of enhancing and developing one’s professional identity
• Non-commercial foodservice: establishments where food is served, but where the primary business is not food and beverage service
• North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): a way to group tourism activities based on similarities in business practices, primarily used for statistical analysis

O

• Occupancy: percentage of all guest rooms in the hotel that are occupied at a given time
• Occupiers Liability Act: specifies responsibilities for those that occupy a premise such as a house, building, resort, or property to others on their property
• Off-road recreational vehicle (ORV): any vehicle designed to travel off of paved roads and on to trails and gravel roads, such as an ATV (all-terrain vehicle) or Jeep
• Online travel agent (OTA): a service that allows the traveller to research, plan, and purchase travel without the assistance of a person, using the internet on sites such as Expedia.ca or Hotels.com
• Open skies: a set of policies that enable commercial airlines to fly in and out of other countries
• Operating supplies: generally includes reusable items including cutlery, glassware, china, and linen in full-service restaurants
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): an organization of 31 member countries who gather to discuss a range of policy issues, with a special committee dedicated to tourism
• Organizational culture: ways of acting, values, and beliefs shared within an organization
• Out-of-home (OOH): channels in four major categories: billboards, transit, alternative outdoor, and street furniture
• Outbound tour operator: an operator who packages and sells travel products to people within a destination who want to travel abroad
• Outdoor recreation: recreational activities occurring outside; generally in undeveloped area
• Outdoor Recreation Council of BC (ORC): a not-for-profit organization that promotes the benefits of outdoor recreation, represents the community to government and the general public, advocates and educates about responsible land use, provides a forum for exchanging information, and connects different outdoor recreation groups

P

• Parks Canada: the federal agency responsible for management of national parks, historic sites, and marine conservation areas
• Passenger load factor: a way of measuring how efficiently a transportation company uses their vehicles on any given day, calculated for a single flight by dividing the number of passengers by the number of seats
• Passive customer: a guest who is satisfied (won’t complain, but won’t celebrate the business either)
• PEEST: an acronym for political, economic, environmental, social, and technological forces
• Perceived risk: the perception of the risk level of the practice, activity, or event; varies greatly from person to person
• Perishable: something that is only good for a short period of time, a characteristic shared by all services
• Personal attributes: describe what you are like aa a person/employee, such as your attitude, personality type, and so on
• Personal factors: the needs, wants, motivations, previous experiences, and objectives of consumers that they bring into the decision-making process
• Pop-up restaurants: temporary restaurants with a known expiry date hosted in an unusual location, which tend to be helmed by a well-known or up-and-coming chef and use word-of-mouth in their promotions
• Practicum: practical experiences outside the classroom, supported by professionals in a workplace environment
• PRICE concept: an acronym that helps marketers remember the need to plan, research, implement, control, and evaluate the components of their marketing plan
• Primary costs: food, beverage, and labour costs for an F&B operation
• Print media: newspapers, magazines, journals, and directories
• Private land: any land where private property rights apply in BC
• Profit: the amount left when expenses (including corporate income tax) are subtracted from sales revenue
• Public galleries: art galleries that do not generally collect or conserve works of art; rather, they focus on exhibitions of contemporary works as well as programs of lectures, publications and other events

Q

• Quick-service restaurant (QSR): an establishment where guests pay before they eat; includes counter service, take-out, and delivery

R

• Railway Safety Act: a 1985 Act to ensure the safe operation of railways in Canada
• Real risk: the actual risk of the practice, activity, or event; generally determined by statistical evidence
• Receptive tour operator (RTO): someone who represents the products of tourism suppliers to tour operators in other markets in a business-to-business (B2B) relationship
• Recreation: activities undertaken for leisure and enjoyment
• Regional destination marketing organization (RDMO): in BC, one of the five DMOs that represent a specific tourism region
• Regional mountain resorts: small resorts where the focus is on outdoor recreation for the local communities; may also draw tourists
• Resort Associations Act: developed to provide opportunities to fund a variety of promotional services for a community; the act defines what it means to be a resort community
• Restaurants Canada: representing over 30,000 food and beverage operations including restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions, and suppliers
• Revenue: sales dollars collected from guests
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): a calculation that combines both occupancy and ADR in one metric
• Ridesharing apps: applications for mobile devices that allow users to share rides with strangers, undercutting the taxi industry
• Risk: the possibility for loss or harm
• Risk management: practices, policies, and procedures designed to minimize or eliminate unacceptable risks
• Risk retention: the level of risk that is retained by the company through a conscious decision-making process
• Risk transfer: a risk mitigation strategy where the risk is transferred to a third party through contract or insurance

S

• Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC: representing more than 600 members in the commercial sea kayaking industry, providing operating standards, guide certification, advocacy, and government liaison services
• Self-assessment: informal and formal methods of gathering information about yourself to make career decisions
• Self insuring: the practice of an operation retaining the risk rather than transferring through insurance; may be a conscious choice or a necessity based on lack of available coverage
• Service learning: course-based, credit-bearing educational experience in which students participate in organized service that meets community needs, and reflect on the service
• Service recovery: what happens when a customer service professional takes actions that result in the customer being satisfied after a service failure has occurred
• Services marketing: marketing that specifically applies to services such as those provided by the tourism and hospitality industries, differs from the marketing of goods
• Services marketing triangle: a model for understanding the relationship between the company, its employees, and the customer; differs from traditional marketing where the business speaks directly to the consumer
• SERVQUAL: a technique developed to measure service quality
• Sharing economy: an internet-based economic system in which consumers share their resources, typically with people they don’t know, and typically in exchange for money
• SMERF: an acronym for the social, military, educational, religious, and fraternal segment of the group travel market
• Social media: refers to web-based and mobile applications used for social interaction and the exchange of content
• Societal marketing: marketing that recognizes a company’s place in society and its responsibility to citizens (or at least the appearance thereof)
• Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE): a global network of professionals dedicated to the recognition and development of motivational incentives and performance improvement
• Sport tourism: any activity in which people are attracted to a particular location as a participant, spectator, or visitor to sport attractions, or as an attendee of sport-related business meetings
• Sustainable development: planning and development that is mindful of future generations while meeting society’s needs today

T

• Tangible: goods the customer can see, feel, and/or taste ahead of payment
• Technical skills: skills and knowledge required to perform specific work
• Third space: a term used to describe F&B outlets  enjoyed as “hang out” spaces for customers where guests and service staff co-create the experience
• Tip-out: the practice of having front-of-house staff pool their gratuities, or pay individually, to ensure back-of-house staff receive a percentage of the tips
• Top priority markets: markets for BC identified as a top priority for Destination BC — Ontario, California, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, South Korea, Australia — which are characterized by high revenue and high spend per visitor
• Total Quality (TQ): integrating all employees, from management to front-level, in a process of continuous learning towards increasing customer satisfaction
• Total quality management (TQM): a process of setting service goals as a team
• Tour operator: an operator who packages suppliers together (hotel + activity) or specializes in one type of activity or product
• Tourism: the business of attracting and serving the needs of people travelling and staying outside their home communities for business and pleasure
• Tourism carrying capacity (TCC): the maximum number of people that can visit a specific habitat in a set period of time without negative impacts, and without compromising the visitor experience
• Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC): a membership-based advocacy group formerly known as the Council of Tourism Associations of BC (COTA)
• Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC): the national industry advocacy group
• Tourism marketing system: an approach that guides the planning, execution, and evaluation of tourism marketing efforts (PRICE concept is an approach to this)
• Tourism paradox: the concept that tourism operations destroy its very requirements for success — a pristine natural environment
• Tourism services: other services that work to support the development of tourism and the delivery of guest experiences
• Tourism world-making: the way in which a place or culture is marketed and/or presented to tourists
• Tourist: someone who travels at least 80 kilometres from his or her home for at least 24 hours, for business or pleasure or other reasons; can be further classified as domestic, inbound, or outbound
• Tourist attractions: places of interest that pull visitors to a destination, open to the public for entertainment or education
• Trade shows/trade fairs: can be stand-alone events, or adjoin a convention or conference and allow a range of vendors to showcase their products and services either to other businesses or to consumers
• Tragedy of the commons: the tendency of society to overconsume natural resources for individual gain
• Transferable skills: skills required to perform a variety of tasks that can be transferred from one type of job to another
• Transportation Safety Board (TSB): the national independent agency that investigates an average of 3,200 transportation safety incidents across the country every year
• Travel agency: a business that provides a physical location for travel planning requirements
• Travel agent: an individual who helps the potential traveller with trip planning and booking services, often specializing in specific types of travel
• Travel Industry Regulation: part of the BC Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act that outlines the requirements for licensing, financial reporting, and the provision of financial security for travel sales
• Travel services: under NAICS, businesses and functions that assist with planning and reserving components of the visitor experience
• Trend: a phenomenon that influences things for a long period of time, potentially shifting the focus or direction of industry and society in a completely different direction

U

• Unintentional torts: primarily consist of negligence
• United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO): UN agency responsible for promoting responsible, sustainable, and universally accessible tourism worldwide
• Upscale casual restaurant: emerging in the 1970s, a style of restaurant that typically only serves dinner, intended to bridge the gap between fine dining and family/casual restaurants

V

• Values: an individual’s ways of living and making decisions that is congruent with his or her beliefs and principles
• VFR: an acronym for visiting friends and relatives; a tourism consumer market
• Visitor centre: a building within a community usually placed at the gateway to an area, providing information regarding the region, travel planning tools, and other services including washrooms and Wi-Fi
• Visitor-ready business: often a start-up or small operation that might qualify for a listing in a tourism directory but is not ready for more complex promotions (like cooperative marketing); may not have a predictable business cycle or offerings
• Volunteering: performing a service without pay in order to obtain work experience, learn new skills, meet people, contribute to community, and contribute to a cause

W

• Waiver: a document used as risk management technique where the responsibility for the risk is transferred to the participant through contract and voluntary acceptance of risk
• Western Canada Mountain Bike Tourism Association (MBTA): a not-for-profit organization working towards establishing BC, and Western Canada, as the world’s foremost mountain bike tourism destination
• Wilderness Tourism Association (WTA): an organization that advocates for over 850 nature-based tourism operators in BC, placing a priority on protecting natural resources for continued enjoyment by visitors and residents alike
• Wine tourism: tourism experiences where exploration, consumption, and purchase of wine are key components
• Word of mouth: information about a service experience passed along orally or through other social information sources from past customers to potential customers
• WorkSafeBC: BC’s occupational health and safety organization

1-8

• 8 Ps of services marketing: refers to product, place, promotion, pricing, people, programming, partnership, and physical evidence