Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Part 4 ppsx

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78DICTIONARY OF TRAVEL, TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY

most of its inhabitants. Such towns, to be found

particularly in Australia and North America,

many of them former mining settlements, are

now sometimes historical tourist/visitor attrac￾tions. See also depressed area.

ghosting Term used, i.a., for the incidence of

not declaring one’s sole paid employment to

the authorities for taxation purposes, to be

distinguished from moonlighting. See also

black economy.

gîte French name for self-catering holiday

(vacation) accommodation in a countryside

location, which may be an apartment, cottage

or the whole or part of a house. Many are

converted from farm outbuildings, flats in

former presbyteries or school houses, and

wings of a château. There are around 10 000

gîtes throughout France. Gîte de France and Gîte

Ruraux de France designations indicate that the

accommodation meets the standards set by

those organizations.

giveaway A promotional gift item given free

to customers and/or industry contacts, such as

branded travel bags, T-shirts, stationery and

souvenirs. Also called promotional items.

glacier A large mass of ice, resulting from the

compaction and crystallization of snow and

moving slowly downslope under the influence

of gravity. There is a distinction between

piedmont and valley glaciers, the former spread￾ing out over a broad front and the latter being

narrowly confined and often moving more

rapidly. Glaciers are now found mainly in

mountainous country in high and middle

latitudes, particularly Scandinavia, the Alps,

the northern Rockies and South Island, New

Zealand, where they left their mark in the

rugged scenery, overdeepened valleys and

fjords of mountain country; such areas are

hence attractive to visitors.

glen Gaelic term for a deep narrow valley,

usually forming the course of a stream, as

distinct from strath.

global distribution system (GDS)

Worldwide computer reservation system

(CRS), such as Galileo International, also

called global reservation system (GRS), which

has the capacity to distribute airline and other

travel services throughout the world.

global reservation system (GRS) See

global distribution system

global tourism regions Grouping of

countries in conformity with the six Regional

Commissions of the World Tourism

Organization, used for statistical purposes:

Africa; Americas; East Asia and the Pacific;

Europe; South Asia; Middle East.

global warming Increase in global temper￾atures caused by the release and accumulation

in the atmosphere of certain gases, which

allow solar radiation to penetrate but prevent

heat from escaping. Described as the green￾house effect, it may cause increases in sea

levels, which could destroy low-lying coastal

resorts, but also affect ski resorts, and damage

coral reefs and other tourist/visitor attrac￾tions.

globalization Growth of global markets and

multinational companies to service them, with

a convergence in world tastes, product prefer￾ences and lifestyles leading to increasing

standardization and market homogenization.

Travel and tourism provides a stimulus,

especially to globalization of culture, and also

displays many of its features.

Golden Age Passport Card available to

those of 62 years of age and over, which allows

unlimited access to parks and sites operated by

US National Park Service.

golden era of bus and coach travel

Description given in Great Britain to the inter￾War period 1918–1938 when more passengers

were carried on buses and coaches then ever

before or after.

Golden Week Term used for a week in May

in Japan, in which several public holidays

occur, resulting in heavy Japanese demand for

tourism facilities and services both in and out

of Japan, when tour, transport and accommo￾dation prices rise sharply in response to the

excessive peaking of demand.

gondola Light flat-bottomed boat with a high

point at each end worked by one oar at stern,

used as a means of transport on Venetian

canals.

gorge Deep steep-sided narrow river valley.

DICTIONARY OF TERMS

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go-show American term for airline standby

passenger.

Gothic Architectural style of the twelfth to

sixteenth centuries in Europe, of which the

main characteristics are the pointed arches and

ribbed vaulting. The term is also applied to the

painting and sculpture of the period.

Gourde Unit of currency of Haiti.

gourmand One fond of eating, one who eats

greedily, glutton. See also epicure; gourmet.

gourmet A connoisseur of food and drink. See

also epicure; gourmand.

gram(me) (g) A metric measure of weight

equal to one-thousandth of a kilogram(me).

Grand Tour Term to describe travel by the

younger members of the English society in

countries of Continental Europe, increasingly

in evidence between late sixteenth and early

nineteenth centuries. Undertaken for what may

nowadays be labelled as wanderlust motiva￾tions to become ‘educated and civilized’ by

exposure to European art, manners and

society; much of it took place with tutors and

servants, often over two or three years.

Together with early travel to spas and coastal

resorts, the Grand Tour represents the begin￾nings of tourism as we know it today.

gratuity A sum paid voluntarily by a

customer in addition to normal price, to one

rendering a personal service as in catering,

hairdressing and taxi transport. See also

service charge; tip; tronc.

gravity model Based on Newton’s law of

gravitation, one of several attempts to explain

the factors which affect tourist flows and deter￾mine the volume of flows between regions.

The two main factors are ‘the mass’ of the

regions (e.g., the population) and the distance

between them (in linear, time or cost terms):

the larger ‘the mass’ and the smaller the

distance, the greater the flows. Mathematically,

in its simple form, flows between two regions

are predicted by multiplying their mass and

dividing it by the square of a measure of

distance. See also distance decay.

greasy spoon Term describing a small,

inexpensive and often unsavoury-looking café.

Great Britain (GB) England, Wales and

Scotland, also referred to ambiguously as

Britain, which is sometimes used erroneously

for British Isles and United Kingdom (UK).

Great Lakes Name given to five linked lakes

on the border of the USA and Canada: Lakes

Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario.

green audit See environmental audit

Green Belt An area of countryside, which

may comprise farmland, woodland as well as

other land, surrounding a large built-up area,

in which building development is strictly

controlled in order to prevent unplanned

spread of urban areas, and neighbouring towns

merging, as well as to preserve the special

character of historic towns and to assist in

urban regeneration. In Great Britain Green

Belts have been established around major

cities, including London, Edinburgh, Glasgow,

Liverpool and Greater Manchester, as well as

several smaller cities and towns.

green field site An undeveloped plot of

land, usually in a rural area, for which devel￾opment is intended or in progress.

Green Globe Global environmental manage￾ment and awareness programme for travel and

tourism companies committed to environmen￾tal practice improvement, developed by World

Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

green holidays (vacations) Holidays

(vacations) spent in the countryside on work to

improve the environment, usually sponsored

by public and voluntary agencies.

green tourism See alternative tourism

greenhouse effect See global warming

Greenwich Mean/Standard Time

(GMT)/(GST) The local time at the zero

meridian of Greenwich, England, and the

standard time for the British Isles, from which

the standard time round the world is calcu￾lated.

greeter American term for a male employee

who receives guests in a restaurant and shows

them to their tables. Such a female employee is

called a hostess.