UNIT 7. THE TERTIARY SECTOR. SPACE AND ACTIVITIES.

1. TERTIARY SECTOR ACTVITIES.

1. 1. Tertiary sector activities.

Tertiary sector includes all the activities involved in delivering services intended to meet people's or other economic sectors needs. Among services the most important activities are:

• transport
• communications.
• trade
• tourism.
• health care
• education.

These activities has three main characteristics:

• Are inmaterial activities.
• Involve a low level of mechanisation.
• Are very heterogeneus activities.

 1. 2. Service classifications.

 We can classify the terciary sectors activities according to:

• Who delivers the service. Can be:

1. Public are provided by the State, using tax money and its aim is to achieve social welfare.
2. Private are provided by private companies, using money paid by their clients and its aim is to obtain a profit.

• fuction: commercial, related to transport, tourism, information, financial, etc.
• degree of specialisation. Can be:

1. Low-skilled services which requires few qualifications. Are more important in underdeveloped countries, whereas in developed countries are being subtituted by machines.
2. Skilled services which requires professional training such as bussines services or education. Are predominantly found in developed countries.
3. Highly-skilled service, or quaternary sector which require a high degree of profesional training such as scientific research.

1. 3. Services in the world today.

The terciary sector is more important in developed countries:

• In developed countries services are widespread, most of the people have access to basic services and services and suppose more than a 60% of the employment and GDP. This is a consequence of the welfare system, the higher living standards and the competition between bussines. 

•  In underdeveloped countries services are insuficcient and the majority of the population has no access to basic services. Service contribute much less to employment and the GDP. 

2. TRANSPORT (I). NETWORKS AND CONTEMPORARY TRANSPORT.

2. 1. Transport, its means and infraestructure.

Transport is the activity that moves people and merchandise between two or more places. Transport includes:

• transport system (land, sea or air).
• means of transports (cars, buses, lorries, trains, boats, etc).
• fixed infraestucture (roads, motorways, railways, etc).

2. 2. The global transport networks. 

Transport infraestructures create networks that include:

• nodes: points of departure or arrival
• pathways: lines that link the nodes together.

We can distinguish:

• Linked spaces (developed countries):

1. have numerous, dense and well-built transport networks.
2. the main transports nodes are these countries' capital cities.
3. good links to strategic global shipping routes.
4. Have the latest transports improvements.

• Poorly linked spaces. We can distinguish:

1. Less developed countries where only capital cities has large ports and airports, and has only few and badly build transport network. 
2. Underpopulated

3. TRANSPORT SYSTEM.

We can distinguish three types of transport systems:

• Land transport. It is the world's most widespread system. We can distinguish two types:

1.  Rail transport:

• Used for passenger and freight transport over medium and short distance.
• Advantages: high load capacity, safety, speed and low pollution levels.
• Disadvantages: ridigity of the routes and hig cost of maintenance.

1. Road transport:

• It is the most widely used transport network.
• Advantages: direct access between the points of departure and arrival.
• Disadvantages: low load capacity, high traffic density and atmospheric pollution.
• Developed countries have numerous, dnse and well-built networks.

4. TOURISM (I). TYPES AND TOURIST AREAS.

Tourism is the temporary  movement of people (from 24 hours and up to a year) from their place of residence to another place, generally, for leisure purposes.

4. 1.  Types of tourism.

There are different types of tourism:

• Waterside tourism is the most widespread, includes beach holidays.
• Mountain tourism includes skiing and adventure activities such hiking or mountain climbing.
• Rural tourism provides experiences of traditional agrarian activities.
• Other forms of tourism: cultural, bussines, religious, etc.

4. 2. Tourist areas.

We can distinguish three world areas according to their importance:

• The world's main tourist visitor and host regions: Europe and United States.
• Other international tourist destinations: Eastern Europe, Mexico and the Caribbean, South East Asia, North of Africa and Kenya.
• Less developed countries. Tourism is hindered by the lack of transport, infraestructure and political inestability.

5. TOURISM (II). EFFECTS AND TOURISM POLICIES.

 Tourism has a series of positive and negative effects:

• Economic effects:

1. Positive: creates employment and stimulates other economic activities.
2. Negative: precarious nature of the employment.

• Demographic and social consequences.

1. Positive: attracts population and has stopped emigration from certain areas, spreads knowledge of different customs.
2. Negative: saturation of the services, loss of the local identities.

• Enviromental effects.

1. Positive: rehabilitation of certain areas.
2. Negative: changes the landscape, rise of pollution.

•  New tourism policies.

Countries try to promote sustainable tourism, which combines economic development with the maintenance of natural and cultural values.

6. COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES.

6. 1. Trade and its elements.

Trade is the sale and purchase of merchandise and services betwwen producers and consumers in exchange for payment. Involves several elements:

• Supply and demand: sellers and buyers.
• Merchandise: goods and services traded for payment.
• Payment: for the merchandise acquired.
• Market: place where the sale and purchase is undertaken.

6. 2. The development of trade.

a) Trade in the past.

Pre-industrial era, was limited by the population's limited purchasing power and transport dificulties.
Industrial era, increase in trade due to the development of transport and growing demand.

 b) Trade today.

Its main characteristics are:

• Diversification of the supply of products.
• Increase of the costumer demand which has become diversified.
• New technologies has appeared.

7. Domestic trade.

Domestic trade is trade that is undertaken within a country's borders. There are two types:

• Wholesole trade (in spanish venta al por mayor). When the trade buys large quantities of merchandise direcly from manufacturers and then sell them o other traders.  
• Retail trade (in spanish, venta al por menor) sells directly to consumers.

Types of retail establisment:

• Shops, small-scale, traditional commerce.
• Supermarkets, use a self-service system and sell products a los prices.
• Superstores, offer a greater variety of products than supermarkets.
• Department stores

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