ABSTRACT
Operating tours and retailing tourism products to consumers are key elements in the
production, selling and distribution of tourism services. Organizations that do this
link the supply to the source of demand. However, tourism is not like many other
products or services. It is intangible, and is often an experience or product that cannot
be stored, tried or tested before purchase, and so the consumer often buys as an act of
faith in the hope that what the tourism industry supplies is in line with their
expectations and needs. This is epitomized in the following quotation:
The travel industry, according to everybody outside it, is run by cowboys.
