ABSTRACT
This chapter helps the students to identify the intermediaries in tourism and their significance in it. Distribution in the travel and tourism sector is a relatively more important function due to some of its special characteristics. Channels of distribution involve a number of intermediaries through which the producer makes available the products to the user or the final consumer. Booking, confirming the booking and issuing the confirmation documents are primary functions of tourism intermediaries. Most of the community-based tourism initiatives are small-scale and profit levels are low. The reason is that they usually find it difficult to undertake costly marketing and promotion efforts. The primary reason for the existence of the tour operation business is the benefits it can offer to various stakeholders in the tourism industry and the value enhancements it can bring to the entire value chain in the tourism industry.
