Speaking Exercises

XIV. Answer the following questions to the text:

1. What does the events and conferences tourism sector deal with?

2. How is money contributed to the local economy?

3. What kinds of events do you know?

4. What national attractions are there in your country?

5. What international event have you taken part in?

6. What recent visits of celebrities to your country do you remember?

7. Have you ever taken part in the organization of a local event? Did you like it? Would you like to (if not)?

8. What formal meetings for people do you know?

9. Which is the most popular in your country?

10. What convention facilities does your city provide?

XV. Role-play. Imagine that you are sales advisers in a specialist online or high street travel agency. Convince your customers to travel to the following events through your agency.

a) Select one of the events listed below:

· Ashes Cricket 2006-07 Australia

· Vancouver 2010 Olympic and paralympic Winter Games

· Oktoberfest in Germany

· Vienna Ball in Austria

b) Write a script for one of the following customer contact situations:

· A telephone call

· A face-to-face meeting

c) Act out your script. One of you should act the role of the adviser and the other the customer. The aim is to show how to encourage the customer to book travel, accommodation, event tickets and complementary services through your agency.

In order to do this, you will have to do the following:

1. Research into the event:

· Where will it be held?

· When does it take place?

· Is it a one-off or a continuing event?

· How much will it cost to attend?

· Are tickets still available?

· What are the main features of the location?

· How can you get there?

· If it’s a continuing event, how easy is travel between the sites?

2. Remember that important customer service selling skills include:

· Being approachable

· Being courteous

· Being friendly

· Having extensive product knowledge and an understanding of the alternatives

· Enthusiasm for events

· Knowledge of complementary products, for example entry to an event PLUS accommodation, travel PLUS insurance, or possibly a flight PLUS onward transport.

XVI. Think about possible ways of promoting your event:

Note: there are always hundreds of ways to draw attention to your event. This giant, illuminated football was displayed in towns across Germany to promote the 2006 Fifa (Féderation Internationale de Football Association) World Cup! How would you promote your event?

Reading Exercises

XVII. Read and translate the following text:

Sport tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of the travel and tourism industry. In 2003, sport tourism accounted for an estimated $51 billion of revenue, or one tenth of global travel and tourism industry earnings.

Countries increasingly compete to host sporting events, realising the boost to the economy that this can provide: higher visitor numbers, better local infrastructure, more facilities and higher international profile - these are all benefits that cities can obtain from hosting major international sporting events.

But it's not only the locations that benefit; individual sports fans are also increasingly involved in the business of sport tourism. Sports tourists spend more per day than almost any other tourist. They often come from the most affluent demographic groups. They are keen to spend more of their leisure time visiting new destinations, travelling more frequently and showing dedication to their sport.

The past decade has seen more and more overseas visitors willing and able to attend such events as the Olympics, international cricket matches, major football tournaments, prestigious horse races and the golf tours.

This is just a short list of the kind of events which the sports tourism industry tries to promote to the global market. Add to this the growing interest from individuals to participate in these and other sports, and the scale of the business becomes clear.

XVIII. For each of the statements below choose True or False:

1. In 2003, sport tourism was one of the slowest growing segments of the travel and tourism industry……………………………………………...True/ False

2. The revenue from sport tourism accounted for one tenth of global travel and tourism industry earnings in 2003………………………………. True/ False

3. No countries want to host sporting events because it’s too difficult and troublesome……………………………………………………… True/ False

4. A higher international profile can not be obtained from hosting major international sporting events…………………………………….. True/ False

5. Cities can obtain many benefits from sporting events…………… True/ False

6. Sport tourism business benefits involve not only income from the locations, but also the individual fans’ money as well..…………………….. True/ False

7. Sports tourists often come from the most affluent demographic groups, but spend less per day than any other tourist………………………. True/ False

8. Sports tourists show dedication to their health visiting new sporting events……………………………………….……………………..True/ False

9. More and more overseas visitors are willing to attend such events as the Olympics, international cricket matches, major football tournaments, prestigious horse races and the golf tours…………………………True/ False