tourism industry (1)

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Tourism Industry

CHAPTER 1: INDUSTRY AND WORKINGS

Tourism is an industry that operates on a massively broad scale: itembraces activities ranging from the smallest sea-side hotel; to air-lines, multi-national hotel chains and major international touroperators. Originally, non-traditional industries such as tourismemerged as a solution to strike a balance between ecology andindustry. The tourism industry is now one of the largest sectors earningforeign exchange for the exchequer. In the face of such benefits, manycountries have started assigning due weightage to the tourism industryin their national development agenda.

Tourism statistics:♠ Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries at presentand holds the status of the world's no. 1 industry.

♠ The tourism industry as a whole is presently estimated to earn overUS$ 3.5 trillion worldwide.

♠ The industry creates a job every 2.4 seconds with every one of thosedirect jobs creating another 11 indirect ones.

♠Spending on tourism amounts to 5%-10% of total consumer,spending in a year worldwide.

♠ India's share of the total market is a pittance at 0.51%. The non-tourist countries like Malaysia and Indonesia get much more touriststhan India.

♠ However, the average duration of stay of foreign tourist in India isone of the highest in the world. On an average, it exceeds 27 days inthe case of non-package tourists and is 14 days in the case of packagetourists.

♠ Tourism has the distinction of being the third largest export industryafter gems and jewellery and readymade garments in India.

♠ The Tourism industry's foreign exchange earnings in India are around$3.2 billion. Tourism is the highest foreign exchange earner if weconsider the fact that net value addition in Gems and jewellery is lessthan 30 % whereas, in tourism it is more than 90 %.



India: Tourism Revenues and Expenditures 1990-2010

♠ It also has one of the best employment multipliers when comparedwith any other industry in India. It generates maximum jobopportunities, as it provides direct employment to 9.1 million peopleand indirect employment to another 12.4 million. But these statisticsdo not appear so impressive when viewed in the global perspectiveand compared with that of other countries shown in the graph below.

Tourists Arrivals and Receipts From Tourism 1996

Source: 1. Report, World Tourism Organization - 1996.

2. Study by Mahajan and Aibara , Consultants to the Tourism and HotelIndustry , 1997.



♠ Tourism has been a neglected sector in India. Though it wasrecognized as a priority sector in the Seventh Five Year Plan, hardlyanything was done to promote this industry.

♠ Though the government has promised to give industry status totourism, still, budgetary support for this department is a mere Rs. 379crore. This is despite a total tax collection of about Rs. 2000 crore in1996 from this sector.

♠ The tourism industry currently stands 127 th on the list of priorities of the Indian government. It is true that India has yet to reach theprosperity level where leisure activity can be included in the prioritysector but, if solving the country's unemployment and foreignexchange problems are on the top of the national agenda, thepotential of this industry cannot be neglected.

A S.L.E.P.T. Analysis Of The Tourism Industry InIndia:

Social: Tourism was always looked upon as something that led to thedestruction of the social fabric of a place. The more the amount of

outside people coming into a place, the more the perceived risk of thatplace losing its identity. A good example is Goa. From the late 60's tothe early 80's when the Hippy culture was at its height, Goa was ahaven for such hippies. Here they came in thousands and changed thewhole culture of the state. This had a ripple effect on the country.People became cautious, especially of the international tourists.Whenever a certain place became famous, the example of Goa wascited to discourage the inflow of international tourists.However some places such as Kerala and Rajasthan have been able tostrike a balance between their own culture and the demands of theinternational tourists and have profited handsomely in the bargain.People are now adopting themselves to the fact that tourism pays andit can be a major source of income for them.In addition, tourism as a form of recreation has really caught on.People themselves have started traveling and are willing to travel to aplace that is out of the way and exotic. While traditionally traveling ona holiday meant going to a hill station or a beach, now people arewilling to go in for adventure tourism and also visit places that mightbe exotic and cannot really be called hospitable. For example, now



places like Leh and Lakshwadeep are mentioned in the same breath asGoa or Kashmir.

Legal: The laws that govern the industry are not the same in all the parts of

the country. Many of the laws that are in effect are old and archaic,and not geared to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

With respect to taxation, the World Travel and Tourism Council hasobserved that

“Tax paid by tourists in India is the highest in the world. Indianhotels charge about 40% tax compared to other Asian countries whereit varies between 3% and 6%" .Such high taxation renders the tourism sector as a wholeuncompetitive. Further, there is considerable disparity between statelevel taxes, especially on food and beverages. In fact, the sales tax on

imported beverages varies widely, e.g. 63% in Karnataka to 28.75% inWest Bengal.

With respect to Foreign Investment in any tourism related venture,clearance must be obtained from the Central government (RBI orForeign Investment Promotion Board). 51% foreign equity isautomatically approved subject to meeting certain prescribed criteria,including having a capital base proposal below US $143 million (Rs. 6billion). In the case of NRIs, 100% foreign equity is automaticallyapproved. Foreign equity holding above 51 percent are possible, butare subject to FIPB approval. It is to be noted that the Ministry of Industry provides final clearance of FIPB approvals.Dividends on such investments are repatriable.

The National Policy on Tourism lays emphasis on sustainabledevelopment of tourism. In accordance, the Government hasbrought out a comprehensive Eco Tourism Policy and Guidelines .

There are several Acts and laws, which ensure sustainable tourism. These are the Wild Life Protection Act 1972, the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 , and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Act 1986 . These do not set aside any specific area for tourism, butsuch areas have to be identified by the State Governments and obtainthe required approvals/relaxations.

Eco-tourism policies and Guidelines have been formulated by theGovernment in consultation with the industry and are beingimplemented on a voluntary basis.



Economic: The tourism industry not unlike the other industries grows with theincrease in the spending of the people. The more the people spend themore the industry grows. The spending power of the people has beenincreasing in the country and all over the world. Since we are

concentrating on the international tourists, the large increase in thespending power in most developed countries has left a large amount of idle cash in their hands. This has led to a tourism boom the world overand India has been no exception. There have been more peoplecoming into the country with more cash than ever before. This has leadto an increase in the demand for better hotels. People who previouslyused to come to the country on a shoestring budget and hunt aroundfor the cheapest accommodation can now afford to go in for luxuryhotels. This has led to an increase in the number of hotels in thecountry. However, an increase in spending does not only limit itself toaccommodation. The increase in the spending is also evident in the

increase in the number of people traveling by air. Even the numberdomestic tourists traveling by air has dramatically gone up.

Political: The political factors are the main driving force of the industry. TheIndian tourism industry is built on the backbone of Governmentsupport and the industry cannot sustain itself without it. The variousarchaeological sites and the places of historical importance, the roadsand the railways are all in the hands of the Government. All thesupport services like the hotel industry, the airlines industry and thetourist operators to name some are heavily dependent on the supportand the cooperation of the Government.

The major reason as to why tourists visit India is for the vast and richheritage that our country has. That is under the control of theGovernment, through the Archaeological Survey of India . Anypolicy change that comes into force can have dramatic effect on theway the industry players perform. For example, the Governmentcharges high rates of taxes on the luxury and the star category hotelsand this has always been a cause of disagreement between the hotelassociations and the Government. There are many areas where thegrowth of tourism has not been rapid or has seen dramatic fall becausethe political environment has not been conducive. Examples are theNorth East for the former and Kashmir for the latter. The neglect of theGovernment in developing the North-East has led to a situation wherethere is practically no tourism in the seven states.

Similarly, the political turmoil in the state of Kashmir and now inGujarat has caused a virtual decimation of the flourishing tourismindustry. However, there has been a change in many of the policies of



the Government with regard to the tourism industry. The hotel industryhas been getting many incentives and many State Governments areencouraging the growth of major hotels in their states. After years of tight control over airport infrastructure, Government has finally takenthe decision to privatize the airports.

Technological:Although technology does not seem to be a major influence at firstglance, it plays a major part in the promotion of a place. Bettercommunication facilities are one of the first prerequisites for growth inthe inflow of tourists. This has been made possible with technology.Improved technology in the field of communication at cheaper costshas resulted in many remote and inaccessible areas of the countrygetting connected to the rest of the world. This connectivity has madethese places visible to the world. Better communication means accessto media. And that is very important if any place wants to be on the

world tourist map.Similarly better transportation facilities have lead to a dramaticincrease in the number of tourists visiting any particular place. Thepresence of an airport and the availability of frequent flights are agreat convenience to any traveler.

Swot Analysis :

STRENGTHS

a. India's geographical location, a culmination of deserts, forests,mountains, and beaches.

b. Diversity of culture i.e. a blend of various civilizations and theirtraditions.

c. A wealth of archeological sites and historical monuments.

d. Manpower costs in the Indian hotel industry are one of the lowest inthe world. This provides better margins for the industry.

e. A very wide variety of hotels is present in the country that can fulfillthe demand of the tourists. There are international players in themarket such as Taj and Oberoi. Thus, the needs of the internationaltourists and travelers are seen to while they are on a visit to India.



WEAKNESSES

a. Lack of adequate infrastructure. The airlines in India, for example,are inefficient and do not provide basic facilities at airports. The road

condition in India is very bad.b. A xenophobic attitude among certain sections of people.c. No proper marketing of India's tourism abroad. Foreigners still thinkof India as a land of snake charmers. There are many places where theimage of India is one of poverty, superstition, and diseases. The caseof Plague in Surat in 1994 led to a decrease of 36% in arrival of foreigntourists in India.

OPPORTUNITIES

a. More proactive role from the government of India in terms of framing policies.

b. Allowing entry of more multinational companies into the countrygiving us a global perspective.

c. Growth of domestic tourism. The advantage here is that domestictourism and international tourism can be segregated easily owing to

the difference in the period of holidays.

THREATS

a. Economic conditions and political turmoil in other countries affectstourism.

b. Political turbulence within India in Kashmir and Gujarat has alsoreduced tourist traffic.

c. Aggressive strategies adopted by other countries like Australia,

Singapore in promoting tourism.



CHAPTER 2: TYPES OF CUSTOMERS & SEGMENTATION

A.Users Of Tourism Services The users of tourism services can be categorized in a number of

ways.

One such way of classifying the users is by dividing them intocategories such as General, Sex, Region, Education, etc.

1. General : Domestic, ForeignKids, Teens, Youths, SeniorsStudents, Executives, ArtistsPoliticians, Movie stars

2. Sex : Men, Women3. Region: Rural, Urban4. Education : Literate, Illiterate5. Status: Rich, Poor6. Profession : Executives, Academics, Sportsmen, Artists7. Occupation : White collar, Blue collar

Another method of classifying users of tourism services is on thebasis of the frequency of usage of services.

1. Non-users: They lack the willingness, desire and ability (income& leisure time).



2. Potential Users: They have the willingness but the marketingresources have not been used optimally to influence theirimpulse.

3. Actual Users: They are already using the services generated bythe tourist organizations

4. Occasional Users: They have not formed the habit of traveling5. Habitual Travelers: They have formed a habit and avail of theservices regularly.

B.Need For SegmentationConsumer behavior can be defined in psychological terms as the whole

range of the generation of wants and their transformation into buying orusing decisions. Users have values, perceptions, preferences andexpectations which are the result of environmental influences. There are anumber of factors that influence the behavioral profile of consumers.

In recent years, the users have become more discriminating in theirusing habits and therefore their needs for different services, products andbrands change constantly. This makes it essential that the marketersanalyze their behavioral profile and undertake segmentation so that theyknow the level of expectations.

In a nutshell, tourist organizations need to undertake segmentation inorder to simplify their task of creating and stimulating demand. In thisway they can identify the potential tourists, transform them into actualtourists and further into habitual tourists.

C.Segmentation Though there are a number of bases for segmentation of tourists, one of the most important is Lifestyle. Traveling decisions are fantasticallyinfluenced by changing lifestyles. They are also affected by other factorssuch as level of income, availability of leisure time, etc.

BASE OFSEGMENTATION

CATEGORIES

Holiday Mass marketPopular marketIndividual market

Demand PrimarySecondaryOpportunity

Geography InternationalOn the basis of regions, cities,etc.

Psychography LifestylePersonality motive



KnowledgeDemography Age

SexReligion

Socio-economic Rich, PoorRural, UrbanLiterate, Illiterate

Purpose Business TravelCultural TourismCommon Interest Convention

Age Teens YouthSeniors

Such segmentation is useful when deciding the offerings to target a

particular segment. For example:

♠ The mass market consists of vacationists that travel in large groupsand prefer all-inclusive tours. They are generally conservative.♠ The popular market consists of smaller groups going on inclusive orsemi-inclusive tours. This group includes pensioners and retiredpeople.♠ The individual market consists of chairmen, senior executives, etc.♠ As the lifestyle changes, consumption of services might change. Forexample, a newly married couple might prefer romantic holidays, butonce they have children they would prefer family vacations wherethere are plenty of activities to entertain kids.♠ Teens and youth might prefer adventure holidays whereas senior citizens would probably prefer more relaxing vacations.



Chapter 3. The Tourism Industry

The tourism industry comprises of the following main and distinctivesectors:

TransportationAccommodation

Tour operators Tourism Destination Operators/ Destination Management

Transportation Tourism industry is heavily dependent on the transportation

industry which comprises of airlines, cruise and ferry lines, passengerrailways, coach and bus travel, car hire. Thanks to the increase intourist traffic, over the years, the range of airline services hasconsiderably, not only in terms of frequency of flights and number of destinations, but also in terms of different services, and differing levelsof service to meet different passenger needs. This shows the importantrole marketing plays as competition and demand intensifies.

Passenger rail services have also changed, and their role intourism is as wide as with, for example, Euro rail tickets allowingextensive international travel at basic(service) standard for studentsand budget tourists, to the luxury of Palace on Wheels – where thetrain voyage is the holiday.

Cruise lines are operating different services tailored toconsumers’ budgets, and other shipping lines involved in the touristindustry, especially the ferry operators, are broadening and upgradingtheir range of services and facilities to meet consumer expectations,and to remain competitive.Coach and bus companies have acted in a similar fashion and so havethe car rental companies.



AccommodationAccommodation includes hotels, ranging from the biggest

international chains recognizable worldwide such as Hilton and HolidayInn to small independent establishments. In order to gain recognitionin an increasingly competitive marketplace, many smaller independent

hotels have grouped together, adopting a consortium approach. Undera central brand name, they can offer central reservations services, foreg. and present a recognizable identity to consumers which enablesthem to compete against the larger, more established chains. Othertypes of accommodations are also well established in tourist markets,notably self-catering apartments and club type complexes.

With the innumerable dream destinations India offers the best of the accommodation facilities to the travelers to the land. There areplenty of hotels and resorts in India that cater to the needs of touristsof all kinds. The hotels and resorts in India provide high standards of

quality of accommodation, facilities and comforts to satisfy the client’sat the most reasonable rates. The variety of hotels and resorts in Indiaranging from Luxury Hotels, Standard Hotels, Budget Hotels to theHeritage Hotels In India. Then there are several Indian & InternationalHotel Chains in India. The services and the facilities are such that thehospitability of India gets revealed always. Throughout the length andthe breadth of the country that is dotted with tourist destinations thehotels and resorts are available to make your experience of Indiaunique.

The incomparable and incredible land of India offers plenty of accommodation options such that the visit to the wonderland suits allpockets. The country where tradition and trends fuse to give you thebest the range of possible accommodations is vast. There are theexclusive hotels and hotel chains that boast of luxurious amenities andworld-class décor.

Hotels in India have been categorized on different parameters allof them taking into account the factors such as service provided,infrastructure, location, heritage value, and types of guestsaccommodated. Like many other countries worldwide, thesecategorizations help the common travelers zero down on theaccommodation option he can afford or wanted to stay at duringhis/her visit.

Tour operators

Tour operators are the firms which specialize in providing the wholeholiday package, incorporating travel and accommodation needs for



the consumer. They range from highly specialized operations such asIndianvisit.com, who customize every kind of trip that you can dreamof, to large operators offering services at all different levels to cater forbudget, family, or singles holidays to ‘near’ or ‘faraway’ destinations.

Thomas Cook is one of the best known of such operators; they also

offer travel agency and financial services to their consumers. Anindependent local coach firm may also be a tour operator, and manytransportation companies also offer holiday packages.

In today’s competitive market and with the increased bargainingpower of the consumers there is only one way to survive in the rat raceand that is by segmenting the market and offering different productspertinent to the demand of that segment.

With this in mind, what does a holiday in India symbolizes? Thisis a question that every traveler to this vast subcontinent of humanbeings, dust, chaos, and religion asks himself at least once. For many

of them India is the exotic orient where you can find only the snakecharmers or sadhus. For few who have gone through contemporaryliterature on the country, India is an organized chaos (as described oneof the renowned writers and sociologists). For the ones who have seenthe exploitations of Indian expats in Silicon Valley might consider thecountry as a future hub of knowledge economy.

For a quintessential vacationer in India, the country presentsitself in the plethora of colors, hues, and shapes. With its inexhaustiblerange of culture, traditions, wildlife, beaches, and mountains India ishuge. The country is not only about chaos and ways to control them; it

is about life, the civilization and continuity of it that makes people lookbeyond the obvious. But obvious, we believe, is not the choice that youare going to make while visiting India. What you need is somethingdifferent, something that is new, and something that is exciting.Concept tourism is one exciting option that a few tour operators likeIndianholiday.com believe is worth taking interest in. These operatorsgive you a number of exciting options categorized according to theinterest and concept to tour India.Wildlife HolidaysHeritage HolidaysPilgrimages

Ecotourism in India: India, the land of geographical varieties offersseveral tourist destinations that not just de-stress but also rejuvenateyou. There are several ways to enjoy Mother Nature in most pristineway. There are series of eco tours for India that provide the coolesthangouts to take pleasure in indulging oneself into the God giftedenvirons.Beach Holidays: Has the combination of Sun, Sand, Sea and Surf evertempted you to take a break from the daily monotonous chores that



you perform so religiously? Then we have just the right package foryou with the sure-shot itinerary to relax you completely. The balmybeaches of India are perfect escapade for the fun loving holidaytourism seekers. India with its long coastline of 7500 kms, offers someof the most exotic beach holidays and beach tourism destinations in

the world. The great peninsula with the Indian Ocean in the middle andaccompanied by the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal on each sidebesides the two archipelagos of Lakshadweep and Andamans is perfectfor beach holidays for tourists the world over. The young state of Goacertainly happens to be the Beach Capital of India. It offers the perfectspot for the novice divers. The blaze of glory, the beautiful waves, theswinging palms and the many hues of the sky, the nature is for sure atits best at the beaches. India boasts of many beaches of Goa in theWest, Kovalam in the South and Gopalpur in the East. So you mayhead towards any direction of the Indian peninsula and be invited tothe sun bathed beaches. The never-ending shores and the untouched

oceanic horizons seem to be mesmerizing. The photogenic dawn anddusks at the beaches are sure to be repetitive visitor to the shores.

• Cultural Holidays: Ever wondered at the cultural diversity of India? The enticing unity represented by the people of thecountry who display a wide range of religions, culture, customsand languages. The rich and varied heritage happens to be oneof the many sources of pride of the nation. The mysterious waysof the people, their lifestyles and the inseparable culture cannotbe done solved in words but can surely be enjoyed withexperience.

• Adventure Holidays : Ever felt the waves of a river on yourface, wish to see to the land and everything on it from a heightof 18,000 feet? Fancy trotting from one palace to another ridinga camel or perhaps get a better view of the jungle sitting smarton an elephant? Well if any of them is an affirmative, theadventure holidays and tourism in India are just for you. Try outthe aerial, aqua or land adventures and enjoy. The quest to dothe uncommon, the desire to meet challenges makes peopletake up any of the adventure activities and rejuvenatethemselves. India is the land of variety and diversity. The terrainof the sand dunes and long stretches of barren land is ideal for

desert safaris, the queen of rivers, the fun of watching thewildlife at the Corbett National Park gets multiplied whenenjoyed riding an elephant, the Ganges is irresistible for thewater sports and the scenic beauty of Jammu is picture perfectfor the paragliding. You name the adventure and India hasthe right spot for it.

• Ayurveda and Rejuvenation : India adheres to the age-oldphilosophy of Ayurveda - in a traditional way - that's what makes



India a different locale to visit. Ayurveda recognizes that eachindividual is different and so treatment too should becustomized. Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicineholds out to the world the promise of a healthy long life. step intothe world, where healing is a ritual and nurturing life a tradition,

i. e. experience the magical power of Traditional Ayurveda.Ayurveda and Rejuvenation programs include a few programscombining Ayurveda along with sightseeing and other aspects of tourism in India. An extensive and well - crafted out Ayurvedictreatment package that would rejuvenate your body and mindand make you face the hustle and bustle of the city life again.

• Golf Tours: If Golf, is what you are passionate about and youhappen to be an avid traveler then the 21 day Golf Holidayspackage of India being offered is something you cannot refuse togo ahead with. The perfect break from the stressful routinereligiously followed otherwise. Just catch up with the Golf fever

that has caught the entire country in a big way. Add that extratouch of versatility in you by playing the different surfaces in thevarious golf clubs developed in several cities of India. The turfs,the mounds, the climate, the yards of green all make golf betterthan ever before.

• Handicrafts Tours:• Festival Tours• Museum Tours• Railway Tours: Kuuuuu& Chuk Chuk !!! Doesn't the whistle of

the luxury train. Be onboard the luxury trains of India, the Palaceon Wheels, the Royal Orient and the Toy Trains are the pride of

Indian Railways, the largest passenger train service in the worldseem to invite you. The Palace on Wheels lives by its name andis no less than a fort on the swing. The lavish lifestyle, thefacilities, the décor, the comfort and the style have made thefirst tourist train of India the most sought after. The marveloustrain that today is a joint effort of the Rajasthan TourismDevelopment Corporation and the Indian Railways. During thisexcursion, the tourists are overwhelmed with the beauty at themajor stations of Jaipur, Chittaurgarh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpurand Bharatpur, and Agra chugging through the culturally colorfulstates of Rajasthan and Gujarat. You may even opt for a voyage

onboard the Royal Orient, the train offering both style andcomfort. It is a project of the Tourism Corporation of GujaratLimited along with the Indian Railways. The rainbow of citiestrotted by the royal extravagance of the bygone era includeDelhi, Chittaurgarh, Junagarh/Veraval, Somnath/Sasan,Gir/Ahmedpur, Mandvi/Palitana/ Sarkhej, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.Besides the Royal trains, the toy trains of India have attractedmany a tourists. The ride on the train with a 4500 kilometers



track chugs through the popular hill stations of the country likeShimal, Darjeeling, Ooty/ Udagamandalam or Ootacamund andMatheran. The toy trains are called so because of the narrowgauge railway lines they ride on. The wondrous miniature of railengineering that offers the most scenic beauties of the

Himalayas from Kalka to Shimla and another from Jal Pai Guri toDarjeeling.• Yoga Tours in India: India has been the land of saints and

sages who meditated and practiced yoga. The spiritual city of Rishikesh happens to be the Yoga capital of India. Tourists andtravelers flock to contemplate and practice Yoga and meditationin the lap of Himalayas. The city hosts the International YogaWeek every year in the month of February attracting severalexperts and participants.

Backwater Tours in India: Cruising along the backwaters of Kerala is an ideal way to

discover the real Kerala. The placid backwaters that stretch for over fifteen hundredkilometers are covered with swinging palm trees. The tourists are left spell bound by thetranquility of the backwaters while riding the Houseboats, it's the most authentic andunexplored way to explore the beauty of the backwaters. The Houseboats that float on the

backwaters are the improved version of the Kettuvalloms. The frequently visited touristdestinations amongst the backwaters in Kerala comprise of Kovalam, Alappuzha,Kottayam and Ernakulam. The tourists may indulge into tourism activities likeboating, fishing and sightseeing while exploring the backwaters of Kerala. The backwater cuisine, which comprises of delectable fresh fishlike pearl spotted fish, barramundi, crabs, mussels and prawns is fingerlicking good.

All these tours have been designed keeping in mind the requirementsof travelers coming from different parts of the world.Apart from these, there are some organizations which specialize incustom made tours. Some of these tours offered are:Special theme parties: Under these the following options areavailableMoonlight Boat Cruise on the Backwater of Kerala:Guests are ferried aboard a spacious, specially decorated boat for adelightful moonlight cruise on the backwater of Cochin. South Indianculinary surprises are served. There is also a thrilling firework display.Rajput Wedding:

A traditional Rajput wedding ceremony where the group membersparticipate as 'Baraati' (the bridegroom's family and friends who formthe wedding party) and the bridal party.Bollywood: Guests in garish costumes, some posing as directors, some as actionheroes, romantic leading ladies, ruffians live their dreams of becominga star.Corporate incentive tours:



In today's world incentive travel is one of the most effective marketingand motivational tools especially in the corporate sector. After all thoselong hours at work let the corporate employee get the much-deservedbreak in the form of an incentive. The various corporate incentive toursthat are offered have been planned in a manner to rejuvenate and

refresh the employees for the forthcoming assignments.Along with thecorporate incentives tours arrangements can be made for conferences,conventions, seminars, board meetings, client presentations, trainingprograms, workshops, dealers meet or any other relationship buildingactivity in any destination in India.Dream Marriages:

Tie the knot with your knight in shining armor in the most royal way.Celebrate the biggest and the best occasion of your life - Marriage- inthe most beautiful style. Get married at any of the captivating castles,pulsating palaces or the happening hotels and make your dream cometrue. At your dream marriage there will be fun and festivity all around

backed by the music of your choice and decorations with your favoriteflowers. The feast to your eyes and ears will be equaled by thesumptuous food that will treat the taste buds at the dream marriage.From champagne bottles and confetti to photographers we canarrange it all for the special you and the very special occasion of yourdream marriage. The setting for the realization of your dream will besplendid and the arrangements will be spectacular for your marriagethat will bring smiles on every face and heart!Tourism Destination Operators/ DestinationManagement

This is new category in many senses, as it is an area of thetourism industry which has seen a massive growth in the developmentof theme parks and other types of artificial tourist destinations in therecent years. However Disneyland and Disneyworld in America werethe forerunners of this development in tourism marketing, and theyhave been well established for decades.

It is due to the recent growth, and the continuing trends, whichmake it area which should be considered separately as a tourismindustry. The new EuroDisney theme park in France is an example of atourism destination operation. On a smaller scale, heritage parks whichbeing developed from Britain’s industrial wasteland such as WiganPier, which attracted over half a million tourists in 1991, and similarattractions now represent a significant amount of tourism activity.



Chapter4. Some Players



Some of these players mentioned in the above graph can be explainedas follows:Govt. of India (GOI): The Govt. is the most important playersince the land is owned by the Govt. and they also have a lot of resources at their disposal in comparison to pvt. players. In the

following part we have considered the case of Rajasthan Govt. whichhas marketed well and the second case of Sikkim Govt. which in spiteof having a lot to gain by tourism has a very lackadaisical attitude.Rajasthan-The Land of the Kings

Rajasthan, the Land of the Kings, is India at its exotic andcolourful best. It is the home of the Rajputs, a group of warrior clanswho have controlled this part of India for 1000 years according to acode of chivalry and honour akin to that followed by medieval Europe'sknights. Although the fortunes of its former rulers may be in tatters,the culture of Rajasthan, with its battle-scarred forts, amazing palaces,riotous colours and sense of gallantry, a is a still a very a much a alive.

The harsh Rajasthani landscape and tribal customs havefashioned a people and culture which are visibly different from thosefound in the rest of India - from the huge, pastel-coloured turbans andsoup-strainer moustaches sported by the men to the bright mirroredskirts and chunky silver jewellery of the women. They have alsoendowed the state with a magical air of romance, speckled with desertforts, lush oases, and exotic cities that rise out of the landscape likeshimmering backdrops to Tales of the Arabian Nights. No-one visitsRajasthan without taking home superb memories, a parcel of Folk art and a lot of sand a ina the a eye.Though these resources arethere, so what? They are also present in other states likeMadhya a Pradesh. a Then a what a isa different a for a Rajasthan?Before deciding what to offer to the international tourist, a state shouldfirst find out that what is it that this tourist wants? Rajasthan seems tohave found an answer to it and thushas a become a a a favoured a destinations a of a tourists.

What Rajasthan offers is not a mere site-seeing tour like anyother historically significant place, but treats the tourists to anexperience of times bygone. It may be a ride aboard 'Palace onWheels' or a stay in any of the Heritage hotels strewn across the state,for the right price Rajasthan makes you royalty for your stay there andthis is what attracts the people. This has not been any easy task toaccomplish. The combined efforts of the public and the stategovernment has made it possible for desert state to triumphantlymarch in the country's otherwise funereal tourism scenario. Some of the noteworthy state government actions are wholeheartedendorsement of private investment in the hotel industry leading to thenumber of hotel rooms growing at a fair rate. The loans and subsidies



are being given on liberal terms to owners of forts and palaces toconvert their properties into hotels. The other side also embraced thisidea fully as it gave the royalty a chance to once again play kings andqueens. There are 17 heritage hotels recognised by the department of tourism, 30 other operating heritage properties and 12 are in the

planning stages. And as many as 56 properties have expressedinterest in offering themselves for the heritage status.A few of these turnaround stories are:

Luni a Haveli a -Aa dream a in a red a sandstoneLuni is a small village some 30 km from Jodhpur and the haveli is atleast two centuries old. No one lived there after 1860, save bats andsundry reptiles. In 1992-93 it all changed, extensive renovations werecarried out and today the Luni Haveli is one of Rajasthan's moreimpressive heritage hotels. The property extends over two and a half acres, has 19 rooms and will soon offer its guests a swimming pool. Ithas achieved a 50% average a occupancy. a It is run by 27 years oldVikram Singh and Yamini his wife who till date thank a certain hotelchain who approached them to develop the property. However, thedeal could not be made but the idea was implanted and today LuniHaveli is beginning to find itself on tourist itineraries.

Dera a Dundlod a Kila

Dera Dundlod Kila, a 250-year-old fort in the heart of Shekhawati. Its reins are in the hands of Thakur Raghubir Singh and hisdynamic son, Kunwar Raghavendra Singh, better known as Bonnie. Thefather-and-son duo decided to convert the property into a hotel with adual purpose in mind: it would, on the one hand, save the sprawlingfortress from turning into a ruin and, on the other, generate somebadly needed income for the family. Today, with 27 rooms and anannual turnover of Rs 10-12 lakh, the Singhs are reaping the rewardsof their sagacity.

Narain a niwas a palace-Aa a rest a house a for a camel a caravans!

Today the palace in the golden city of Jaisalmer has a yearly turnoverof a neat Rs 70 Lakhs. Also the local crafts are finding a new lease of life with the increase in their demand. The various local arts are alsoreviving due to the same. Thus we see that if managed properlytourism is beneficial to all.



Sikkim- AnaIgnoreda LandSikkim the tiny Himalayan state and one of the smallest of the Indianunion has the potential of becoming a large tourist attraction. Nestledin the magnificent Himalayas this state is nature at its most beautiful.In addition, the untouched air of this state takes one back to the timewhen man and nature coexisted harmoniously.The pure air and cleanwater does wonders for one's senses. Everywhere one marvels at sitesof a spring stream orchard bloom. Despite being endowed with virginresources, which could turn it into a major international destination forspecial kinds of high-value tourism, the state remains in thebackwoods of such activities. The tourism in the state is virtuallyabsent, the reasons sited by the office bearers are -the security-oriented approach of the centre, which virtually throttled thedevelopment of the state, is tourism. To visit this state one has to gothrough number of clearances and if one is a foreign national then thisnumber increases exponentially. But this seems to be a silly excuse bythe government to hide its inefficiencies. The infrastructure in the stateis so poor that the locals would not rely on them, what of theinternational tourists. Basic facilities like roads are absent what to talkof the rest. One could really question government's decision aboutsecurity here when it is itself encouraging tourism in border states likeRajasthan. It has cities like Jaisalmer and Jodhpur open to tourismwhich share border with Pakistan. Whatever the reasons this jewel of the Himalayas lays wasted when India is crying out for internationaltourists.

Apart from the Govt. players there are pvt, tour operators. Wehave taken the case of an online tour operator, Indianvisit.com, itsprofile is as follows:

D. Indianvisit.com - Presenting India in a Way Never Seen Before

Indianvisit.com is a part of Indian Holiday Pvt. Ltd. (earlierknown as TRAFFORD TOURS & TRAVELS ), a proactive travelorganization in Indian tourism industry for the last 10 years. They are aprofessionally managed closely held agency and management controlis vested with the first generation promoter entrepreneurs. Transactionlevel operations are executed by a team of professionally qualifiedprofessionals, who are well versed with the complexities of Travel &

Tourism Trade. Their guest service team has a cumulative experienceof 100 man-years in tourism industry. The team is well aware andequipped to cater to requirements of various market segments andunderstands the nuances of tourism in India.



ServicesTours

They have been operating a variety of tours for their Groups andIndividual tourists and have been able to mastermind their tours withgreat deal of efficiency. The company specializes in inbound tours and

offers a host of tourism related services to inbound tourists in the Indiaand neighboring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and Srilanka.Various tours they offer are as below. Tailor-made packages, culturaltours, adventure tours, religious tours, yoga & meditation tours,Rejuvenation & Ayurveda tours, safaris, special interest tours,conferences, incentives and much more in the Indian Subcontinent.Apart from above other various travel related services they provide areas below:Hotel Booking:Individual or group booking in any hotel of any category and in anypart of Indian subcontinent can be provided instantly. Owing to their

very good connections with the hotels in almost every part of thecountry, they are always in a position to offer very lucrative discountedrates to their clients. Enter their hotel query form and just let themknow the name of city and category of hotel and wait for sometime.

Their professionals will get back to you in no time with a number of suitable options.Air Booking:

Their exceptionally good relations with the Domestic and InternationalAirlines enable them to come up with very good discounts for theirclients. Their online reservation system - Abacus helps us inconfirming the bookings instantly even in the very a busy a sectors.Itinerary Planning and Tailor Made Holiday:IndianVisit have long been helping their guests with necessaryarrangements in many exciting programs. Just tell them the time of arrival & departure, the total duration of travel and your approximatebudget. Rest all leave a to a them.Transport:

They have a large fleet of cars / coaches at their disposal, and havingthe fleet itself is not enough, they need to see that they use besttransport for their clients, and provide them a good value for theirmoney, hence they have maintained a separate department takingcare of all their transport requirements.

Other Services:School and college group tours:College and school group tours are probably the most difficult one tohandle as the young boys and girls expect and demand far more fromtheir travelling experience than other travellers and they have and aninsatiable appetite for enjoyment. Even a small problem in the tour can



dampen their enthusiasm or can drive them crazy so everything has tobe absolutely perfect for such tours. their meticulously planned andwell executed tours have won a number of young friends for them.City sightseeing and tour excursions:

They can arrange city sight seeing tours for individual / group traveller

in any of the touristic destination. The city tour can be provided in ana/c and non a/c car or coach. A four hour half day trip would not givethe tourist short exposure, to the city and a full day city tour is there if they have more than 04 hours to spare. Beat area of all the cities arecovered with a variety of excursions, all organized in such a way thatthey start in the morning and after an experience to remember, theywould come back to the place where they started from, in the evening.Limousine/luxury car/ coach services:

They always have a large fleet of cars and coaches at their disposaland can provide the same at any part of the subcontinent forsightseeing tours, for airport transfers or for any such purpose. The

operations of their Transport department are incredibly swift and silkysmooth - thanks to the large and luxurious fleet of air- conditioned,well trained and dressed chauffeur driven cars and coaches at itsdisposal. Their quality control concept allows us to not to use morethan 03 years old cars / coaches on longer drives. Their chauffeurs arewell aware of the basic ethics of the travel trade and hospitalityindustry thus a personalized service to all the valued guests isguaranteed, even if they are traveling only along with the chauffeur.

Multilingual Guides & Professional Experts:Sight seeing without guides serves no purpose and can just be a dull

and boring experience. They provide guides who with their eloquenceand immense knowledge about the city and the monuments make thesightseeing a gratifying, memorable and enjoyable experience. Theyprovide not only the English speaking guides but also arrange theguides who speaks French, German, Italian, Japanese or Spanish etc onprior request. On special request, the professional escort from thecompany accompanies the guests during the entire tour at a verynominal cost and help in making their trip all the more interesting,comfortable and entertaining. An accompanying escort would not onlyensure the smooth movement of tours, but with his / her vivacity wouldadd to the enjoyment and would keep on appraising the tourist with

the inner and deep beliefs of the local residents.

Discounted Tours:Indianvisit.com your complete travel guide to the incredible land of India offers tours at the lowest discounted expenses. Opt for any of thediscounted tours presented to you and end up saving while you spend.Besides the discounted tours are the special packages and custom-tailored tours are available for various tourist destinations they provide



services including accommodations, sightseeing tours, optionalexcursions, guides and personal drivers, ground transportation,package tours, combined in the discounted package tours and lowtransportation charges. The accommodation on the discounted tour willbe of the tourist’s choice and as per their budget.

Chapter5. Internal Customers

The image of the company begins with each and every employeeand is reflected in his or her attitude about the company. Theemployees are a first market, an internal market for the firm's offeringsas well as for its external marketing programs. An emphasis has to beplaced on the need to view people, functions and departments internalto the firm as internal customers, to whom internal services have to beprovided in the same customer-oriented manner as to externalcustomers. Everything that the service provider does for its customersis first perceived and received by its own personnel. If employees donot believe in the promises given by external marketing activities thenthey will not be able or willing to perform as effective part-timemarketers and contribute to a good interactive marketing impact.

The five approaches or paths are as follows to ensure the above are:

1. Create a collective pride in the mission and values of the firmsamong employees (the mission and pride path)

2. Make everyone's tasks, why they are important and howperformance is measured, clear to employees and follow up results in aconsistent manner (the process and metrics path).

3. Give employees personal freedom and opportunities for earnings,but also significant personal risk , with few rules about behavior (theentrepreneurial spiit path).

4. Show respect for the individual achievements of the employees andrecognize quality performance (the individual achievement path).

5. Offer reward and bonus system to support accomplishments (thereward and celebration path).



Empowerment and enabling employees These two concepts are to be understood as not only they motivate theemployees but also are important for the effective implementation of internal marketing. Empowering employees means to give employees,

who come into contact with customers the authority to make decisionsand take action in a large number of potential problematic situations.But there has to a limit as to how far this authority can go, and theselimits must be carefully determined. If empowerment is correctlyimplemented as a part of an internal marketing process then it canhave a decisive impact on the satisfaction of employees.Empowerment does not mean a static relationship but a continuousnurturing of trusting relationships between management andemployees. Empowering employees means:

1. Providing them with information about the performance of the

organization2. Rewarding them based on the organization's performance3. Creating a knowledge base that makes possible for employees tounderstand and contribute to the performance of the organization and4. Giving employees the power to make decisions that influenceorganizational directions an performance.

But empowerment cannot function without simultaneouslyenabling employees so that they are prepared to take theresponsibility that goes with the new authority. Enabling means thatemployees need support to be able to make the independent decisionseffectively in the service process. If this support is not providedproperly then proper conditions for empowered employees do notexist. Enabling includes:

1. Management Support: so that supervisors and managers giveinformation an also take over decision-making when needed but do notinterfere unnecessarily with the decision-making authority of employees.

2. Knowledge Support: so that the employees have the skills and theknowledge to analyze situations and make proper decisions.

3. Technical Support: from support staff, systems, technology anddatabase that provides contact employees with information and otherservices required for handling situations.

Chapter 6. TOTAL PRODUCT CONCEPT

Core Tourism Pdt.

B. DESTINATION/ TOUR PACKAGEFormal Product

TOUR GUIDESAugmented ProductTHEME TOURS

SPECIAL INTEREST

A. TOURS

DIFF.

HOTELS

(5 STAR, 3STAR,

LODGES ETC)SAFETY

BASIC

TRANSPORTA-TION

SOUVENIERSLOCAL

SPECIALITYFOOD

ACCESSIB-ILITY

THEMEHOTELS

MULTI LINGUALGUIDES ANDPROFESSIONAL EXPERTS

MEDICAL

INSURANCEMULTI CUISINE

CUSTOMIZED

TRANSPOR-

TIME

SHARING



CHAPTER 7: MARKETING PROCESSES

(SERVICE MARKET TRIANGLE)



“THE SERVICE INDUSTRY TRIANGLE”

Company :

The company in the Tourism Sector can be the Central Government,the State tourism Corporations, Tour Operators such as SOTC, ITDC,etc. The company carries out ‘External Marketing’ as well as.‘Internal Marketing’

External Marketing : It makes promises to the customers, for e.g. theMalaysian government’s advertisement “Malaysia, Truly Asia” thatpromises a veritable cultural paradise to the customer.

Internal Marketing: The Company enables the Providers to fulfill thepromises made by it to the customers. For example, the Malaysian

Government maintains the local transportation within the country,maintains the tourist spots such as KL Towers, etc.

Providers: The Providers include all the entities that finally fulfill the Company’spromise to the Customers. They undertake ‘Interactive Marketing’,because they are in touch with the final customer. Thus in the case of the Malaysian government, this would include the transportationproviders (Malaysian Airlines, Air India, local bus transportation, localtrains in Kuala Lumpur, car and two-wheeler rentals), the differenthotels within Malaysia (Tanjam Putri), souvenir outlets at tourist areas,tourist spots (Genting highland, KL Towers, Twin Towers, etc.),restaurants (KFC Joints, Mary Brown, Pizza Hut), etc.



Chapter8. Unique Characteristics Of TheTourism Industry

There are four main characteristics which distinguish the tourismindustry from other service providers:

Inflexibility:

The tourism industry is highly inflexible in terms of capacity. Thenumber of beds in a hotel or seats on an airplane is fixed so it is notpossible to meet sudden upsurges in demand. Similarly, restauranttables, hotel beds and airplane seats remain empty and unused inperiods of low demand. The seasonal nature of tourism activityexacerbates this problem.

Perishability: Tourism services are highly perishable. An unused hotel bed or anempty airplane seat represents an immediate loss of that service as ameans of earning profit. This has an impact on overall industryprofitability.

Fixed location:

Tourism destinations are fixed locations so effort must be concentratedin communicating the facility to the potential consumer. A consumercan conveniently watch a Hollywood movie at the local cinema but hasto be persuaded to travel to India to see the Taj Mahal.

Relatively Large Financial Investment:

Every modern tourist establishment and facility requires largeinvestment, frequently over a long time scale. This means that the

level of risk and the rate of return are critically important to tourismmanagement.



Chapter 9: Classification Of ServicesON THE BASIS OF THE END USER

The end user for Tourism Services is always the CONSUMER , andtherefore on the basis of the end user, Tourism Services fall under thecategory of ‘ Consumers’ . However these consumers may vary, whichis why Tourism Services also differ.

SERVICE PRODUCT CONTINUUM

As per the Product-Service Continuum, Tourism Services fall under thecategory of “Goods + Services”. The core product is the destination,which is purely intangible. However, tourism is linked to a number of tangible goods such as souvenirs, cuisine, etc which constitute animportant part of any vacation or holiday any consumer might take.

Therefore it cannot be classified as only services, and falls under thecategory of “Goods + Services”.

PEOPLE BASED SERVICES

Tourism Services are high contact services, as people interact withpeople at virtually EVERY stage of the way. Tourism services are verypeople-oriented services, and the service people are plenty and havehigh contact with the consumers. The consumer interacts with amyriad of service people starting from when he books his ticket andthroughout the course of his holiday.

EXPERTISE

Tourism Services are mostly professional services. The servicepeople include travel agents, tour operators, hoteliers, caterers, tourguides, etc. Almost all of these people are trained and areprofessionals. They might be trained by professional institutes (IATA,IITM, etc.) or by the agency/company they are working for (SOTC).

ORIENTATION TOWARDS PROFITS



All Tourism Services are commercial , and are undertaken with a viewto earn profits.

DOMESTIC OR FORIEGN TOURISM

As per 1998 figures, Domestic tourists traveling through the countrywere 167 million approximately. Tourist arrivals in India for the year ason March 2002 were 23,70,784 (Inbound Tourism). The number of Indian citizens traveling abroad was 38,10,908 (Outbound Tourism).

Chapter 10: How To Market Tourism(The 7 Ps)

The Product Mix :

Components of a tourism product

The tourism product is essentially an intangible thing. Also, becausetourism is a multi-segment industry, the task of formulating a productmix becomes more difficult & challenging.

Selling a holiday is ‘selling dreams’. The way to win the customer’sheart is through the peripheral services provided along with the coreproduct. Thus a tourism product is quite a complex one, including thedestination, airline seat, hotel room, occasional tangible products suchas souvenirs, a free bag or bottle of whisky, etc.

Innovation in the tourism industry helps to raise the sensitivity in thisregard. There is nothing fixed or fundamental about the tourismproduct. The content factor is within the jurisdiction of the government



that undertakes the maintenance, development and conservation of tourist attractions such as parks, museums, beaches, historicaltreasures, etc. Unless these factors are developed in the right fashion,the marketing professionals would never be successful in making themarketing resources productive.

Thus the direct or indirect patronage of the government is essential to get a positiveresponse. The government and private tourist organizations work together to undertakeactivities such as developing infrastructural facilities such as transportation, water,

banking, Medicare facilities, etc., and also developing and maintain hotels, cottages,havelis, lodges, etc.

The Price MixIn pricing decisions, the product or the service mix of the touristorganization is important. They have to set prices in line with thequality of services to be made available to the customers. Pricingdecisions are influenced by internal and external factors. The tourismprofessionals are supposed to watch the emerging trends in both themarkets. They are required to think in favour of discounting price.

These may include discounts for cash payments, seasonal discounts,trade discounts etc. But while offering the discounts, it is not to beforgotten that it may also create image problem since some of thevalue sensitive tourists may doubt the quality.

The Promotion Mix

Creation of awareness has a far reaching impact. The touristorganizations bear the responsibility of informing, persuading andsensing the potential tourists in a right fashion. The marketers need touse the various components of promotion optimally so that theysucceed in increasing the number of habitual users. Promotion helps inmaximizing the duration of stay, frequency of visit by offering newtourist products in the same country to areas which hitherto haveremained untapped or partially tapped. The various dimensions of tourism promotion are as follows:

Advertising : Advertisement helps in furnishing important informationto the actual and potential tourists. Its coverage is wide. Advertising isaimed at the public to create awareness of the travel offers availableon a resort and its attractions to influence their business decisions.Intangibility can be compensated with the help of visual exposure of scenes and events. We can project hotel bedrooms, well arrangedrestaurants and cafeterias, swimming pools etc.



Publicity: It focuses attention on strengthening the public relationsmeasures by developing a rapport with media people and getting theirpersonalized support in publicizing the business. It helps in projectingthe positive image of tourists organizations since the prospects truston the news items publicized by the media people. Eg. Kumarakom in

Kerala after Prime Minister A B Vajpayee’s visit. The publicityprogramme include regular publicity stories and photographs to thenewspapers, travel editors, contact with magazines on stories etc.

There are different groups in publicity, such as advertising publicity,projected publicity, structural publicity and personal publicity.

Sales promotions: Sales promotion measures are the short termactivities seeking to boost sales at peak demand periods to ensure thatthe firms obtain its market share and are used to help launch a newproduct or support an ailing or modified one. The tool of salespromotions is designed to appeal particularly to those customers who

are price-sensitive. There are a number of techniques to promote saleand the tourist professional need to use them in the face of theirrequirements vis-à-vis the emerging trends in the business. Eg. In thetourism industry, a travel company offers give-aways to their clients,such as flight bags, wallets for tickets and forex and covers of passport. The hotels offer a number of facilities like shoe shine clothes,first aid sewing kits, shower caps and shampoo. Further, the VIP clientsalso get fruits and flowers in their rooms.

Thomas Cook offered 3 tier sales promotion based on price and onemore novel technique as detailed below:

• Cook agreed to match the price of any holiday they sold whichwas known as price promise.

• Money back guarantee to the clients who purchase the productor any tour operator known as trading charter.

• Matching of customers need with a particular holiday known asformal guarantee.

• A business travel challenge in which the details of expenditureon staff business travel booked through other agents over a 3months period were submitted by companies to Cook, speciallyto calculate expected savings, provided the bookings are made

through them.

Word-of-mouth Promotion: Most communication about tourismtakes place by word-of-mouth information which in a true sense isword-of-recommendation. In the tourism industry it is found that theword-of-mouth promoters play the role of a hidden salesforce, whoinstrumentalize the process of selling. The high magnitude of effectiveness of this tool of promotion is due to high credibility of the



channel, specially in the eyes of the potential tourists. The sensitivityof this tool makes it clear that tourist organizations need toconcentrate on the quality of services they promise and offer. Themarketers or the tourist organizations need to keep their eyes open,identify the vocal persons or the opinion leaders and take a special

care of them so that they keep on moving the process of stimulatingand creating demand.

Personal Selling: Personal Selling is based on the personal skill of anindividual. The oral representation in conversation bears the efficacy of transforming the motivation into persuasion. The travel and hotelbusiness depend considerably on the personal selling. Thedevelopment of travel and tourism has been possible due to welleducated and trained sales personnel. The development of tourismbusiness has been influenced by the services rendered by the travelagents and travel guides since they work as information carriers.

Personal selling is the personal presentation of a tangible product orintangible services or ideas to the personal customers. It is importantto mention that in the tourism industry, the personnel who attendtourists form an essential ingredient of the product, such as salespersonnel are found responsible for dealing with customers behind thecounter, the resort representatives cater to the need of tourists whenthey reach the destination etc. all of them play a vital role in ensuringthat the tourism products satisfy the tourists. The phrase- thecustomer is always right applies specifically to the tourism industry. Noreduction in price would compensate for impolite and indecent travelguide, a solvent waiter and a surly or a haughty coach driver. These

facts are testimony to the proposition that the travel business is linkedwith the performance and behaviour of sales personnel or travel staff.

Telemarketing: it is a method of selling in which a professionallysound telemarketer expands the business. The quality of technologyand the communicative ability of the telemarketers determine themagnitude of success of this component. In tourism, the travel agents,offices of airways, receptionist, secretaries can’t work efficiently if thetelephonic services are not up to the mark. This makes a strongadvocacy in favour of recruiting a person considered to beprofessionally sound, personally-committed sales personnel having an

in-built creativity, innovation and imagination.

PlacePlace or distribution management is concerned with two things –availability and accessibility.



Researchers in tourism must determine how and where potentialcustomers prefer to buy tourism products and services.

Most tour operators sell their services through travel agents, howeversome deal directly with the consumers and eliminate middlemen.

Other companies may also utilize more than one method of distribution. Airlines, for example, sell tickets through travel agents,and sell seats on flights to tour operators, and also offer travelers tobook seats themselves through their own booking offices.

There exist, however, a number of intermediaries in the tourismmarketing channel. It depends largely on the channel type. Theintangibility feature in the service sector prevents intermediaries fromtaking possession or ownership of goods. Tourism, however, proves anexception where cuisine and souvenirs are goods and ownership ispossible for the intermediaries.

Transport also plays a major role in the tourism industry. It makes thedestinations accessible to people from around the world. Also, in thecase of tangible products in tourism such as souvenirs and cuisine,transportation becomes a major logistical component.

PeopleWe can’t deny the fact that sophisticated technologies have beensuccessful in accelerating the pace of development. We also agree

with this view that new generation of information technologies havesimplified the task of decision makers. At the same time we also haveto accept the fact that the sophisticated technologies can’t delivergoods to the development process if the employees operating andmaintaining these technologies are not of world class. Technologiesneed due support of human resources who invent, innovate anddevelop technologies.

Like other industries, the tourism industry depends substantially onmanagement of human resources. The tourism industry is an amalgamof the services of a lot of people and hence this industry cannot work

efficiently if the travel agents, tour operators and travel guides lackworld class professional excellence. Of course the offices of travelagents depends on the new technology but after all employees and theother staff contribute significantly to the process. The travel guidesneed professional excellence since the projection of a positive imageregarding a destination in particular requires their due cooperation,failing which even the world class services offered by the travel agents



are found meaningless. The tour operators also need to managehuman resources efficiently.

In the management of people, the related organizations arerequired to think in favour of developing an ongoing training programso that we find a close relation between the development of

technologies and the quality of personnel who are supposed to operateand maintain the same. They need a lot of credentials to fulfill theexpectations of the customers. The organization has to make theenvironmental conditions conducive and focus has to be laid on theincentives to the employees for energizing the process of performanceorientation. Employee orientation requires due weightage to efficiencygeneration, value-orientation and perfection.

In the tourism industry the travel agents and the travel guides are thetwo most important people who speak a lot about the industry. Henceit is imperative that they have to be at their best at all times. Travel

guides especially, are expected to have a lot of patience, good senseof humour, tact to transform the occasional tourists into habitual ones,thorough knowledge of the places, linguistic skills etc.

The Government plays an important role in providing the right kind of people for this industry. As such there are a lot of Govt. and Pvt.Institutes which offer training for the same. At present, the Ministry of

Tourism is running 21 Institutes of Hotel Management (IHMs) andCatering Technology and 14 Food craft Institutes (FCIs). The IHMsprovide 3-year Diploma in Hotel Management, 1- 1/2 year Post-Graduate Diploma in Accommodation Operations, 1-1/2 year Post-

Graduate Diploma in Dietetics and Hospital Food Science, 1-1/2 yearCertificate course in Food Production, 6- month Certificate course inFood & Beverage Services, 6- month Certificate course in Hotel andCatering Management, 1-1/2-year Post Diploma in Hotel Administrationand P.G. Diploma in Fast Food Operations. The FCIs are engaged inproviding the craft Diploma in Cookery, Food & Beverage Service/Restaurant & Counter service, Reception & Book Keeping, HouseKeeping and Bakery & Confectionery. The training courses run by theInstitutes are designed to suit the needs of the various target groups.

Apart from this The Indian Institute of Travel Management (IITM),

established in 1983, by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, isfilling the vacuum for an institute that develops manpower exclusivelyfor the tourism industry. The institute has successfully undertakenmajor initiatives for developing human resources required for thetourism industry. The institute took its shape after the NationalCommittee of Tourism, which comprised members of Parliament,recommended that an institute catering to the requirements of tourismindustry be set up immediately. The purpose of the institute is to



provide academic opportunities to graduates and undergraduatesdirectly and in collaboration with the leading institutes and universities,for successful careers in Holiday and Leisure Management, touroperation, transportation, accommodation and interpretation services.

The institute is working with the objective of total professionalism of

human resources engaged in business of tourism through diplomasafter graduation, specially designed practical training and fieldresearch, foreign language training programs, executive developmentprograms for retired defense service personnel, workshops, seminarsand conference, tourism orientation talks at school and college levelsand tourism promotion competition among young generation. Astudent who graduates from IITM is absorbed in the middle levelexecutive positions in travel agencies, with tour operators, transportcompanies, hotels, domestic and international airlines, cargo services,besides getting into government jobs. The institute is also offeringcourses in computer applications and software studies, basic course of

air travel fares and ticketing, basic course on airlines, travel agenciesand tour operation management, basic course in air and sea cargoservice management, basic course on computer application in traveland tourism industry, diploma in tourism and travel management andforeign language. Apart from IITM there are other institutes like TheInstitute of Hotel, Cargo and Tourism Management (IHCTM), anotherone run by World Tourism Organization and various other privateinstitutes catering to the needs of the industry.

tourism industry (1)

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