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There are four large and distinctive segments of tourism consumers that deserve special discussion，because of their sizes and importance to the industry.These segments are business and professional travelers，vacation and leisure travelers，mature travelers and international travelers.Let’s take a brief look at the size，importance，and common characteristics of each of these segments.

Business travel is considered to be the backbone or “bread and butter” of the tourism industry，because business people are often required to travel as a part of their day-to-day activities.Since travel is a part of their jobs，the amount of money they spend on tourism services tends to stay fairly constant，and they are not as price-sensitive as vacation and leisure travelers.Therefore，the demand for business travel services is fairly inelastic. When demand does not significantly change with price fluctuations，it is said to be inelastic. In contrast，when demand changes substantially as price fluctuates，it is referred to as elastic.The demand for vacation and leisure travel and tourism services is elastic since it can be significantly influenced by changes in prices.

The prices travelers pay for airline tickets provide an excellent example highlighting differences between inelastic and elastic demands.When looking at air fares，you may have noticed the least expensive air fares are the ones booked the furthest in advance of the scheduled departure date.Since business people typically have to travel on short notice，they are willing to pay higher fares to obtain needed services.However，since leisure travel is elastic and these individuals can plan their trips in advance，they are attracted to lower air fares.How would the concepts of inelastic and elastic demand work for a downtown commercial hotel experiencing heavy demand from business travelers during the weekdays while attempting to fill the rooms with leisure travelers on the weekend?