Contenidista Licenciatura en

• Inglés Nivel 2•
Carolina Guerrero TURISMO

Índice

Unit III: Tourist information service ................................................................... 2

Objetivos .................................................................................................... 2
Take off ...................................................................................................... 2
Information types ........................................................................................ 2
Tourist Information Centres .......................................................................... 3
Customer care ............................................................................................. 4
Assessing customer types ................................................................... 4
Tourist information ...................................................................................... 5
How do I get to…? .............................................................................. 5
Where in the world? ..................................................................................... 6

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 Contenidista Licenciatura en
• Inglés Nivel 2•
Carolina Guerrero TURISMO

Unit III: Tourist information service

Objetivos

 Describir los diferentes tipos de clientes.

 Redactar acerca de los diferentes centros de información turística.
 Brindar la ubicación de un sitio a partir de diálogos donde se utilicen las
preposiciones de lugar.

Video

Para comenzar, los invito a ver el video de Introducción a la

unidad, disponible en el aula virtual.

Take off

1. How many different ways of providing information to

tourists can you think of? Use the photos to help you.
Example: Printed brochures and leaflets
2. What types of encounters with the public do they
involve?
Example: Face to face (at a Tourist Information Centre)
3. What types of questions do the public ask?
Example: Directions (How can I get to the castle?)

Vocabulary

Information types

1. Which of the heading (a-i) from a tourist information website will give information on

1) accommodation? a) What’s on
2) events? b) Walks and tours

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 Contenidista Licenciatura en
• Inglés Nivel 2•
Carolina Guerrero TURISMO

3) attractions? c) Book-a-bed-ahead
4) children’s activities? d) This month’s featured events
5) transport? e) Places to visit
6) guided tours? f) Emergency health care
7) emergencies? g) Places to stay
h) Family Fun
i) Getting about

2. Which of these words do you associate with

1) A Tourist Information Centre?
2) A website?
3) Other information sources?
a) Click
b) Display rack
c) Recorded information
d) Leaflet
e) Home page
f) Reception
g) Call centre
h) Search
i) FAQs
j) Helpline
k) Listings
l) Maps
m) Touch screen
n) Interactive
o) Customer care

Reading

Tourist Information Centres

Read the article and answer the questions:

Inside tourism: information

Tourism information comes in a variety of forms, but the two most important are probably Tourist
Information Centres (TICs) and websites.
TICs are found in city centres, major resorts, and transport termini. Tourist information offices, which may
be smaller than TICs, are also found in smaller towns and rural areas. Inside de TIC there will be displays
of leaflets and brochures on local attractions, entertainment venues and events, transport information such
as timetables and schedules, and listings of accommodations providers. Many TICs have touch-screen

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 Contenidista Licenciatura en
• Inglés Nivel 2•
Carolina Guerrero TURISMO

facilities and interactive information displays, as well as trained staff.

Staff will be expected to provide information on a range of areas –such as which restaurant provides a high
chair for a baby, the best place for a scenic walk or drive, how to get to local sights, and where the nearest
toilets are. Some TICs will have an accommodation booking service, including booking accommodation at
the next destination for tourist who are travelling around the region. They may also be able to reserve
theatre tickets, arrange car rental, book an excursion or a guide, change currency, and even make an
emergency dental appointment.
To work in a TIC, a pleasant and helpful personality is essential. You should have a good telephone
manner, be able to work with computers, and have good written skills. Knowledge of a foreign language is
also useful.

1. How many ways of presenting information are mentioned?

2. What services are mentioned?
3. What skills are important if your work in a TIC?
4. Can a website provide the same services as a TIC?
5. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of TICs and websites as sources
of information for tourists and visitors?

Customer care

Assessing customer types

Customers come in all shapes and

sizes. Working in a Tourist Information
Centre, you will meet people with very
different characteristics and ways of behaving.

Here are some customer types. Do you

recognize any of the types from people you
know or have dealt with?

 The questioner: asks lots and lots of questions even though they don’t really need
to know.
 Straight to the point: wants a clear simple answer to their query, and nothing
extra.
 Empty head: not sure what they want to know, but feel they ought to ask
something.
 The shy one: wants help but won’t ask for it.
 Know-it-all: wants to tell you how much they know.
 The sponge: fascinated by everything you have to say and absorbs all the
information.
How would you deal with these customer types?
Would you treat them all the same?

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 Contenidista Licenciatura en
• Inglés Nivel 2•
Carolina Guerrero TURISMO

Listening

Tourist information

1. Listen to these extracts from different sources of tourist information. Decide if the
information is
a) A recorded information line
b) Given face-to-face
c) From a phone helpline.
2. Listen again. What information is the enquirer asking about? Choose from the list.

1 2 3 4 5
a) Sights to visit
b) Visas
c) train availability
d) theatre tickets
e) art galleries
f) booking accommodation
g) currency exchange
h) guided excursions
i) child-friendly restaurants
j) local maps

Listening

How do I get to…?

Look at the map of Southwold, a seaside resort in
England.
1. Describe the location of the following places,
using the preposition in brackets.
a) TIC (next to)
b) Disabled toilets (opposite)
c) Disabled toilets (between)
d) Town hall (on)
e) Sailor’s Reading Room (at the end of)
f) School (near)
2. Listen to a tourist information officer giving
directions from the TIC. Follow the routes and
identify the places he is describing.

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 Contenidista Licenciatura en
• Inglés Nivel 2•
Carolina Guerrero TURISMO

3. Listen again and complete the directions.

a. When __________ of the Information Centre, turn right and __________ the
High Street. Walk on through the Market Place __________ a fork in the road.
If you take the __________ and go along Queen Street, __________ some
nice antique shops and a small art gallery and eventually __________ a Green
hill. __________ the hill __________ the cannon and you’re there.
b. The best way is to __________ Church Street- it’s just __________ to the
right; can you see it? If you turn right __________ Church Street, __________
a lovely little green and __________ the lighthouse – you can’t __________ it.
Just __________ the lighthouse and then the seafront is just __________ you.
When you get to the seafront __________ and you can either __________ the
beach or the cliff. You’ll see it in the distance sticking out to sea. It
__________ any longer than fifteen minutes.
4. Match the phrases in A with the places in B. There will often be more than one
possibility.
A B
1) Go along a) The TIC
2) Walk towards b) The hill
3) Come out of c) The Street
4) Get to d) A bus
5) Walk on through e) The city centre
6) Turn right out of f) The bar
7) Turn right at g) The park
8) Reach h) The fork in the road
9) Take i) The right-hand turn
10) Go past j) The market

5. Choose two of the paring and try to link them using if, when, until, or and.
Example: Go along the street until you come to the market.

Reading

Where in the world?

Read about the award-winning Copenhagen Tourist Information Centre.

1) What type of information does it give?
2) What is unusual about the way in which the information is presented?
3) Do you think a TIC like this would be good in your town or city?

Copenhagen Right Now

The Copenhagen Right Now tourist information office is very popular indeed. Last year, more than
400,000 tourists visited the redesigned centre just opposite the main entrance to Tivoli Gardens

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 Contenidista Licenciatura en
• Inglés Nivel 2•
Carolina Guerrero TURISMO

Now, the tourist information centre has been

awarded the annual prize for best branding by
VisitDenmark, the official Danish board of tourism.
The prize is a recognition of the innovative and
highly user-centred design concept. The idea was to
build a hub for the information that visitors truly
want when visiting Copenhagen –information about
what is happening now.
This information is not
traditionally found in travel
guides or agencies. For instance,
Copenhagen Right Now guides
the visitor to interesting spots,
local venues, and other locations
off the beaten track.
Tourist can discover such things as:
where do the locals go for a good cup
of coffee, or how does one see
Copenhagen in three hours.
A collection of display cases takes
relevant information such as posters, flyers, and
the like from the city’s fences, and is a reflection
of what is happening in the city right now, from
flea markets and hip hop concerts to ballets and
operas.

A database of citizens of Copenhagen tells the visitors which shops. Restaurants, bars, and parks the
locals like and dislike, in order to let the visitor know what the ordinary Copenhagener find cool and
uncool.
Read more about Copenhagen Right Now at www.visitcopenhagen.dk or visit the centre at: 4A
Verterbrogade, Copenhagen V, Tel: +45 70 222 442

Activity 3: Writing

Recommendations
Write about a tourist information advice and recommendation
sheet for your own area. You should include the following sections.
 Tourist information in…
 A general description
 Information on natural features
 Places to visit (e.g. museums, historic buildings)
 Nightlife and entertainment
 Shopping
 Accommodation
 Other important information

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 Contenidista Licenciatura en
• Inglés Nivel 2•
Carolina Guerrero TURISMO

Universidad Católica de Santiago del Estero

www.ucse.edu.ar
semucse@ucse.edu.ar - Tel (54 385) 421-1777 interno 285
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