What makes tourism different from other industries?

Answer 1

I think the one thing that stands out most is the fact your product is perpetually finite.

What I mean by this is that you have only up to a date to sell your product and once that date is past, you have lost it!

Airline seats, hotel rooms, ship staterooms, etc - once the date has passed and the product was not used, you've lost the revenue.

This shouldn't suggest that you should reduce prices to ensure you've placed a bum on a seat or a head on a bed. In fact, that logic could prove to be quite costly. It may make more sense to let the seat, bed, room, etc pass un-utilised as it may be more valuable to you to do so.

The other thing that stands out as unique to me is the frightfully poor margins the industry works with as profits. Travel agencies traditionally earned as little as 8 percent commission on a room booking, 10 percent on an airline seat, and often less on a car hire. The process has changed greatly over the past decade. Nevertheless, it's still a frightfully thin margin to work with in the face of competition.