WELCOME

Welcome to Technical English 7 for tourism! In this course, you will find and excellent opportunity to improve and overcome your linguistics skills. We will only need your participation through our forums, chat room, interactive practice and assignments. Remember that the tutor will track your advance in the different activities to develop.
We hope you enjoy this virtual course and reach its learning goals.

BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN THE WORLD

INTRODUCTION

Communication through the English language is a basic requirement in the tourism business. It is well known that English is the international language used in the tourism and commercial activities. In our country as part of the American continent and because of the commercial activity it develops, English has become a fundamental tool in tourism business.

This course will continue the contents developed in Technical English VI. It will develop basic language   and   professional skills students of tourism will require.

All topics developed are related to the touristic field.  It also will reinforce grammatical structures, spelling and punctuation necessary for the development of writing  in business.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

General Objective

Ø      Develop language skills, knowledge and communicative abilities necessary in the tourism business.

Specific Objectives

Ø      Apply  writing skills when writing reports, summaries and brochures 

Ø      Develop reading strategies in the tourism field

COURSE EVALUATION

Evaluation of the Course:

Activity	Percentage
Tests (2)	30 %
Class Participation	10 %
Forums	15%
Investigations,    Quizzes,     Workshops,     Assignments      projects	15 %
Final Project	30 %
	100 %

CLASS 1

Class # 1

What is Tourism? 

Since the beginning of time humans have traveled. Food, water, safety or acquisition of resources (trade) were the early travel motivations. But the idea of travel for pleasure or exploration soon emerged. Travel has always depended upon technology to provide the means or mode of travel. The earliest travelers walked or rode domesticated animals. The invention of the wheel and the sail provided new modes of transportation. Each improvement in technology increased individuals' opportunities to travel. As roads were improved and governments stabilized, interest in travel increased for education, sightseeing, and religious purposes. One of the earliest travel guides was written by Pausanias, a Greek, which was a 10 volume Guide to Greece, for Roman tourists in 170 A.D..

Tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries that delivers a travel experience, including transportation, accommodations, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses, activity facilities and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups traveling away from home. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) claims that tourism is currently the worlds largest industry with annual revenues of over $3 trillion dollars. Tourism provides over six million jobs in the United States, making it the country's largest employer.

Dimensions of Tourism
All tourism activities are related to one or more of the following dimensions of tourism.
Attractions: Are the primary motivation for traveling. They may be a primary destination such as Disney World or secondary destination which are interesting places to visit on the way to your primary destination.

Natural Resources: Natural resources are the combination of physical features (Yosemite National Park, California), the climate (Vail, Colorado), and the natural beauty of the area (Acadia National Park, Maine). Culture: A way of life which is observed through a peoples religion, history, government and traditions. Ethnicity: To visit family and friends. Entertainment: Tourism developments of all sizes from Disney World, Universal Studios, Las Vegas to local community Special Events. X-treme Tourism: Tourism based on high adventure activities (See Whirlwind Tourism)
	Time and Money: This is the critical component to tourism, the ability to get from Assignment: Assignment #1 Read the lesson 1. Choose three of the attractions explained  and prepare a power point presentation about these attractions from Panama. Send this power point to the instructor. The Criteria of evaluation for this assignment will be…

Assignment 1

Assignment: Assignment #1 Read the lesson 1. Choose three of the attractions explained  and prepare a power point presentation about these attractions from Panama. Send this power point to the instructor. The Criteria of evaluation for this assignment will be…

	5 pts.	4 pts.	3 pts.	2 pts.	25 pts.	Final grade
Overall Presentation
Organization of the Ideas
Images
Content
Grammar and spelling