ABSTRACT
The previous chapters have highlighted the very fragmented nature of the business which many refer to as ‘tourism’, being a complex amalgam of businesses that cooperate and work together to supply services and products to tourists as consumers. Each of these businesses and bodies are known as ‘organizations’, which are formal entities such as businesses or corporations that exist to interact, trade and exchange goods, services and knowledge to create wealth or other outputs through the use of their staff, capabilities and know-how within a tourism context. Profit is the main driver of many businesses operating in the private sector. But there are also organizations within the public sector (see Chapter 10) and voluntary sector which interact in tourism in a regulatory or voluntary sense or as interest groups (i.e. a professional organization such as ABTA, the Association of British Travel Agents – now the Travel Association), and seek to influence and affect change and represent specific interests or viewpoints. All of these organizations impact upon tourism and its direction, nature and operation (this will be discussed more fully in Chapter 10). For businesses to exist and operate effectively some form of management and organization is needed. This chapter will examine and develop the theme of management already raised throughout the book in each chapter, with a focus on the manager as the conduit for such action.
