Tourism: Jargon buster

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• Incoming or inbound tourism - refers to visitors from other countries coming to the UK.
• Outbound tourism - refers to UK residents travelling abroad.
• Domestic tourism - refers to UK residents travelling within the country itself.
• Ecotourism - defined by the International Ecotourism Society as ‘responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people’.
• FITs - fully independent travellers are those who follow their own itinerary rather than take a package or travel with a group.
• GITs - group independent travellers are those who follow their own itinerary, with others but independently of a tour guide.
• Ground handlers - are tour operators providing services to incoming passengers, often on behalf of an overseas travel agent.
• Long haul - usually refers to destinations in the Middle East, Asia, the Americas and Australia.
• Sustainable tourism - The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) defines sustainable tourism as tourism that 'meets the needs of present tourists and host regions, while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future'. Rather than being a type of product, it is an ethos that underpins all tourism activities. As such, it is integral to all aspects of tourism development and management rather than being an add-on component.
• TICs - tourist information centres.
• VFR - refers to the domestic trend of visiting friends and relatives.