CHAPTER 1

TOURISM
Tourism is travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision
of services to support this leisure travel. The World Tourism Organization defines
tourists as people who travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for
not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not
related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.
Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2004, there were over 763
million international tourist arrivals.

Tourism is vital for many countries, due to the income generated by the consumption
of goods and services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism
industry, and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with
tourism. These service industries include transportation services such as cruise ships
and taxis, accommodation such as hotels, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues,
and other hospitality industry services such as spas and resorts.

DEFINITION:
One of the earliest definitions of tourism was provided by the Austrian economist in
1910, who defined it as, bob total of operators, mainly of an economic nature, which
directly relate to the entry, stay and movement of foreigners inside and outside a
certain country, city or a region.

In 1981 International Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism defined Tourism

in terms of particular activities selected by choice and undertaken outside the home
environment.

The United Nations classified three forms of tourism in 1994 in its Recommendations
on Tourism Statistics: Domestic tourism, which involves residents of the given
country travelling only within this country; Inbound tourism, involving non-residents
traveling in the country; Outbound tourism, involving traveling in another country.

The UN also derived different categories of tourism by combining the 3 basic forms
of tourism: International tourism, which comprise domestic tourism and inbound
tourism; National tourism, which comprise domestic tourism and outbound tourism;
and International tourism, which consists of inbound tourism and outbound tourism.

Intra bound tourism is termed by the Korea Tourism Organization and widely
accepted in Korea. Intrabound tourism differs from domestic tourism in that the
former encompasses policy-making and implementation of national tourism policies.
Recently, the tourism industry has shifted from the promotion of inbound tourism to
the promotion of Intrabound tourism because many countries are experiencing though
competition for inbound tourist. Some national policymakers have shifted their
priority to the promotion of Intrabound tourism to contribute to the local economy.
Examples of such campaigns include See America in the United States, Get Going
Canada in Canada, and Guseok Guseok(corner to corner) in South Korea.

Before people are able to experience tourism they usually need disposable income
(i.e. money to spend on non-essentials); time off from work or other responsibilities;
leisure time tourism infrastructure, such as transport and accommodation; and legal
clearance to travel.

Individually, sufficient health is also a condition, and of course the inclination to

travel. In some countries there are legal restrictions on travelling, especially abroad.
Certain states with strong governmental control over the lives of citizens (notably

established Communist states) may restrict foreign travel only to trustworthy citizens.
The United States prohibits its citizens from travelling to some countries.

CLASSIFICATION OF TOURISM:

Recreational tourism:
In the recreational tourism, the tourist spent their leisure hour at the hill stations,
sea beaches etc. such type of tourism provides an opportunity to the tourist to get
away from day to day humdrum bad refresh their mind and energy.

Adventure Tourism:
Adventure tourism is a type of niche tourism involving exploration or travel to
remote areas, where the traveler should expect the unexpected. Adventure tourism
is rapidly growing in popularity as tourists seek unusual holidays, different from
the typical beach vacation. Adventure tourism typically involves traveling into
remote, inaccessible and possibly hostile areas. It may include the performance of
acts that require significant effort and grit and may also involve some degree of
risk.

Health tourism:
Health tourism has always existed, but it was not until the eighteenth century that
it became important. In England, it was associated with spas, places with
supposedly health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver
disorders and bronchitis. The most popular resorts were Bath, Cheltenham,
Buxton, Harrogate, and Turnbridge Wells. Visits to take the waters also allowed
the visitors to attend balls and other entertainments. Continental Spas such as
Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) attracted many fashionable travelers by the nineteenth

century.
Ecological tourism:
One of the most promising types of tourism all over the world is ecologic tourism.
This type of tourism lets people gain power and energy in the course of
communicating with nature and watching it. Besides, it stimulates environment
protection thus making this type of tourism profitable for local population.
3

UNESCO list of worlds legacy includes five natural objects from Russia: virginal
forests of Komi, the Baikal Lake, volcanoes of Kamchatka, golden mountains of
Altai and western Caucasus. It is ecologic tourism that could contribute to
environment protection, increasing the employment rate and social and economic
development. Apart from these places, there are many other places in Russia that
could be attractive for ecologic tourists.

Niche tourism:
Physical activity or sports oriented niche tourism includes adventure tourism
such as mountaineering and hiking (tramping); Backpacker Tourism; Sport travel
to do skiing, golf and scuba dri9ving or see a sports event (e.g., FIFA World Cup);
and extreme tourism for people interested in risky activities.
Learning-oriented niche tourism includes audio tourism and audio walking tours;
bookstore tourism, in which travelers visit independent bookstores; creative
tourism workshops; educational tourism for classes; ancestry tourism, to visit birth
places; hobby tourism (such as garden tours, amateur radio DX-peditions, or
square dance cruises) The cultural sub-type of learning-oriented niche tourism
focuses on cultural and arts activities, including cultural tourism, music tourism,
and heritage tourism. The nature and environment-oriented sub-types include
Coastal Tourism; Ecotourism (e.g. sustainable tourism in Rainforests or national
parks); Garden tourism; and Rural Tourism such as Agritourism.

Lifestyle-oriented niche tourism include Gay tourism; Gourmet tourism; Wine

tourism; Health tourism; Medical tourism; Inclusive tourism (or Accessible Tourism)
for people with disabilities; Mystical (e.g., involving Meditation, yoga, and rituals).

TOURISM MARKETING:
Tourism marketing is the systematic and coordinated execution of business policy by
either tour operators or tourist organizations to achieve optional satisfaction of needs,
wants, demands of identifiable consumer groups and in meeting the demands, to
achieve reasonable returns. It is an integrated efforts by tour organizations to optimize
the satisfaction of tourist groups and individuals. Data on tourist needs, demand; data
on tourist places mostly preferred through marketing research. The tourism marketing
communicates the tour content to the tourist through advertising and promotion. be
Ideas,

Earlier it was mentioned that a product can goals, or services. Since tourism is
primarily a service based industry, the principal products provided by tourism
businesses are recreational experiences and hospitality. These are intangible products
and are more difficult to market than tangible products such as automobiles. The
intangible nature of services makes quality control difficult but crucial. It also makes
it more difficult for potential customers to evaluate and compare service offerings. In
addition, instead of moving the product to the customer, the customer must travel to
the product area/community). Travel is a significant portion of the time and money
spent in association with recreational and tourism experiences and is a major factor in
peoples decisions on whether or not to visit your business or community.
As an industry, tourism has many components comprising the overall travel
experience. Along with transportation, it includes such things as accommodations,
food and beverage services, shops, entertainment, aesthetics and special events. It is
5

rare for one business to provide the variety of activities or facilities tourists need or
desire. This adds to the difficulty of maintaining and controlling the quality of the
experience. To overcome this hurdle, tourism related businesses, agencies, and
organizations need to work together to package and promote tourism opportunities in
their areas and align their efforts to assure consistency in product quality.
Why tourism needs marketed?
Gone those days when tourist can accept your tour program, food etc. If a tour
organization is practice; it may be survive in 21st century. In fact tourist needs to be
understood and accordingly tour to be planned. Thus the marketing is practiced to
understand what is the demand by tourist and how to supply it. With such types of
process the organization will able to project bright image in tourist world.
Significance of tourism marketing:
It helps in identifying the tourists behaviors, which in turn helps the organization in
getting its objective, also makes possible workable information system, helps in
overcoming competitions, simplifies the task of marketing planning, product
development, also it eases formulating prices and marketing communicating efforts.
In global, nearly 16 countries contribute70% of business France, US, UK, Australia,
New Zealand, Germany, Hongkong,

Malaysia, Singapore, China, Switzerland,

Thailand, Canada, Greece, Asia.

ABOUT THE TITLE:

TITLE OF THE STUDY:
The present study is titled as A STUDY ON TOURISM MARKETING.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:
1)
2)
3)
4)

To study about the working of tour agencies in INDIA.

To study the level of operations.
To study how they promote their tourism activities.
To study the success in promoting the tourism.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The area of our research is to study how tourism in INDIA is operating, how the
tourism activities are promoted and how the tourism culture is.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:
The study has been made on a sample and hence it may not be very representative in
nature.
DATA COLLECTION AND METHODOLOGY:
7

PRIMARY DATA:
A questionnaire was prepared for getting the view of tourism activities and their
promotion in INDIA. For this Tours & Travel Agencies were visited. The survey was
conducted in DOMBIVLI.
SECONDARY DATA:
Secondary data was collected from Books and Internet.
CHAPTER 2
TOURISM MARKETING PLAN:
One of the most important steps a business or community can take to improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing efforts is to develop a written
marketing plan. This plan will guide their marketing decisions and assist them in
allocating marketing resources such as money and personnel time. The plan should
include:
(1) The overall business objectives-what they want to accomplish;
(2)

An assessment of the market environment-what factors may affect their

marketing efforts;

(3) A business/community profile-what resource are available,

(4) Market identification (segmentation)-the specific groups or clientele most
interested in their product;
(5) The marketing objectives for each segment;
(6) The marketing strategies (or mixes)for different markets a travel agency targetthe best combination of the 4 Ps (product, price, place, promotion) for each
segment;
(7) An implementation planhow to make it work;
(8) The marketing budget-how much they have to spend; and
(9) A method for evaluation and change.
MARKETING MIX:

A firm takes the support of numerous marketing instruments with regards to its
product, pricing, distribution and promotion. The formulation of the mix is vital for its
role in helping managers to conceive right ideas regarding the switching on of the
marketing action, particularly to raise the acceptability of the product by creating and
penetrating demand.
The marketing strategy, or mix, should be viewed as a package of offerings designed
to attract and serve the customer or visitor. Recreation and tourism businesses and
communities should develop both external and internal marketing mixes for different
target markets.
Framing of the proper marketing mix is significant because it helps the tourist
organization in accomplishing the objective and projecting a faire image. (Fig 2.1)

A) EXTERNAL MIX:
The external marketing mix includes product/service, price, place/location, and
promotion.
1. Product :
The principal products that recreation and tourism businesses provide are recreational
experiences and hospitality. The factors that create a quality recreational experience
often differ among people. Decisions on what facilities, programs and services to
provide should be based on the needs and desires of the target market(s).
9

Recognize that a recreational/tourism experience includes five elements: trip planning

and anticipation; travel to the site/area; the experience at the site; travel back home;
and recollection. Businesses should look for ways to enhance the quality of the overall
experience during all phases of the trip. This could be accomplished by providing trip
planning packages which include maps, attractions on route and on site, and
information regarding lodging, food and quality souvenirs and mementos.
Tourism businesses should also view their service/product in generic terms. Thinking
of products/services in this manner helps focus more attention on the experiences
desired by customers and also the facilities, programs and services that will produce
those experiences. For example, campgrounds are the business of providing
recreational lodging not just campsites to park an RV or set up a tent. Marians
should provide recreational boating experiences, not just slippage.
Tourism Products:
1.

Accommodation:
Unclassified
One star
Four star
Five star

2.

Destination:
Natural Scenes
Historical Excellence
Artificial Beauties
Social Cultural Excellence

3.

Transportation:
Airways
Railways
Roadways
Waterways

4.

Tour operators:
Travel companies
Travel agents
Guides

5. Shopping:
Handicrafts
10

 Handloom
Book
2. Place:
Too many tourism businesses and communities fail to recognize their role in
improving travel to and from their areas. They focus instead on servicing the customer
once they arrive at the site/community. A bad experience getting to or leaving a
TOURISM site can adversely affect a persons travel experience. Ways to help
prevent this include:
(1)Providing directions and maps:
(2)Providing estimates of travel time and distances from different

market areas;

(3)Recommending direct and scenic travel routes;

(4)Identifying attractions and support facilities along different travel routes; and
(5)Informing potential customers of alternative travel methods to the area such as
airlines and railroads.

3. Pricing:
Price is one of the most important and visible elements of the marketing mix. When
setting prices it is important to take into consideration all of the following:
(1) business and target market objectives;
(2) the full cost of producing, delivering and promoting the product;
(3) the willingness of the target market to pay for the product or service you provide;
(4) prices charged by competitors offering a similar product/service to the same target
market(s);
(5) the availability and prices of substitute product/services(for example,
campgrounds, motels, and bed and breakfast are all substitutes for lodging);
(6) the economic climate (local and national);and
(7) the possibility of stimulating high profit product/services (such as boats) by
offering related services (such as maintenance) at or below cost.
11

When establishing prices, tourism businesses should give attention to pricing

strategies which may encourage off season and non-peak period sales, longer stays,
group business, and the sale of package (combination of room, meals, and recreational
facilities).

4. Promotion:
Promotion provides target audiences with accurate and timely information to help
them decide whether to visit your community or business. The information should be
of importance and practical use to the potential or existing visitor and also accurate.
Misrepresentation often leads to dissatisfied customers and poor recommendations.
Dont make claims you cannot live up to.

Developing a promotional campaign is not a science with hard and fast rules. Making
decisions regarding which type or combination of promotion types to use (personal
selling, advertising, sales promotions, or publicity) is not always easy. If, however,
you follow a logical process and do the necessary research, chances for success will
be improved. It will be necessary to make decisions regarding:
(1) Target audience---the group you are aiming at;
(2) Image---that which your community or business wants to create or reinforce;
(3) Objectives---those of the promotional campaign;
(4) Budget---the amount of money available for your promotion;
(5) Timing---when and how often should your promotions appear;
(6) Media---which methods (television, radio, newspaper, magazine) will most
effectively and efficiently communicate your message to the target audience; and
(7)

Evaluation---how can the effectiveness of the promotional campaign be

determined.

12

5. Process:
There are many different types of processes involved in running a tourism business,
for example, administration, training, planning, and strategizing, recruitment,
purchasing, distribution and service delivery. It is important to ensure that these
processes are planned and carried out properly so that operations run smoothly and
problems are rectified quickly.

For example, a hotel needs a efficient front and back office communications to ensure
high quality service and experience without inconvenience for the customer.

A great deal of attention needs to be paid to processes in services-oriented businesses.

Dealing with staff turnover, sick leave, suppliers and distribution channels all have an
impact on how the service is delivered. Implementing clear procedures will ensure
that the best possible service is delivered at all times.

6. People:
The people who sell the product and service your product are an extremely
important part of tourism marketing. Friendly personal service and trained

employees can make or break a tourism business.

Because much of tourism industry is based upon word of mouth advertisingparticularly about the service received- what their customers say after they depart

can trust your business forward or send it into a downward spiral.

It is extremely important to ensure that all staff dealing with customers carries out

excellent service delivery at all times.

Staff professionalism can be boosted and grown through solid training and

employee reward systems.

Service invariably involves front line people and it is here that a tourism offering
can really can do well or fail miserably.

7. Physical Evidence:

13

The physical evidence of a tourism product refers to a range of more tangible

attributes of the operations. Tangibalising the product is a good way of giving
positive or attractive hints or cues to potential customers with regard to the quality of
the product.
For example, if you run a shuttle service then it are important to ensure that your
vehicles are spotlessly clean at all times. Elements such as quality and attractiveness
of decor, effective layout of establishment, surroundings and quality of promotional
material are all important.

B) INTERNAL MIX:
As stated, marketing services such as recreation and tourism differ from marketing
tangible products. Recreation and tourism businesses must direct as much attention at
marketing to customers on site as they do not attracting them. In this respect, internal
marketing is important.

The success of internal marketing is dependent on creating an atmosphere in which

employees desire to give good service and sell the business/community to visitors. To
create such an atmosphere requires the following four important elements:

(1) Hospitality and Guest Relations:An organization wide emphasis on hospitality and guest relations, including a
customer oriented attitude on the part of the owners and managers as well as the
employees. If the owner/manager is not customer sensitive, it is unlikely the lower
paid employees will be.
(2) Quality Control:A program which focuses on improving both the technical quality and the functional
quality. All employees who come into contact with customers should receive
hospitality training.
14

(3) Personal Selling:Training the staff in the selling aspects of the business or community. This also
includes rewarding them for their efforts. By being informed about the marketing
objectives, and their role in accomplishing those objectives, they can help increase
sales.
(4) Employee Morale:Programs and incentives aimed at maintaining employee morale. The incentives can
be both monetary and non-monetary. A customer oriented atmosphere usually results
in customers that are more satisfied, do less complaining and are more pleasant to
serve. This helps build employee morale, their desire to provide good service and their
efficiency.
Pricing Tourism Products & Services:
In general, tourism businesses appear to be in a highly competitive industry with
limited flexibility to set prices. Either they sell at or below the established market
price or see a rapid drop in sales. Establishing a firms price under such circumstances
is straightforward, although not always simple. All one needs to do is to identify what
the competition is charging and price ones own product comparably.

Despite this apparent lack of flexibility, however, the uniqueness of tourism/recreation

goods and services actually enables producers to establish prices. This uniqueness
stems from a number of product attributes, including: business location, its natural
environment, the types of facilities offerred, the personal relationships that
management and staff develop with customers, and real and perceived differences in
the quality of the firms products.

Because most tourism businesses have at least some flexibility to establish prices, this
bulletin will address the key factors that should be considered in making pricing
decisions. Keep in mind, however, that the same uniqueness which provides pricing
flexibility also precludes development of a universally applicable formula for guiding
15

pricing decisions. Furthermore, the goals of businesses in this industry vary widely
and, because price is a major tool for achieving a businesss goals, identical
businesses under identical circumstances may logically establish different prices.

While it is not possible to prescribe a single formula for all price-setting decisions, it
is possible to identify the primary components of a sound pricing strategy. These
ingredients can be found in textbooks and by observing business pricing practices.
Both sources are drawn upon here to provide you with the ingredients to make sound
pricing decisions. Ultimately, you must fit them to your business goals and
circumstances to arrive at the best prices for your products.

Tourism Promotion Management

Tourism Advertising:

Advertising, in a true sense, is a communication link between the seller and the buyer
or the consumer. It is an active attempt at influencing people to action by an overt
appeal to reason or emotion. Advertising as a part of the total marketing mix
influences the sale of the product. Advertising should be complementary to personal
selling, an important marketing tool concerned with communication. Thus advertising
is a potent tool of marketing and a component of overall promotion activities.

Categorically, for tourism, the advertising is aimed at the public to create awareness
of the travel offers available, or a resort and its attractions to influence their business
decisions. The media available for advertising are newspapers (national, regional,
local, weekly and Sunday editions), Technical press (technical magazines and
newspapers), magazines (general, womens magazine and special interest, e.g.,
recreation, hobbies, furnishing etc.), commercial television, commercial radio, poster
sites (out doors generally at transport termini), cinema and theatres (program and
displays during intervals) and direct mail.

16

Advertising in tourism essentially follows the AIDA principles of attracting attention

(advertisements are placed on TV), creating awareness or interest by an invitation to
receive information, specially prepared to transform curiosity into readiness),
fostering desire (by a combination of public relations activity surrounding the
prospects for the launching of product and inspiring action (by sending application
forms or publishing them in newspapers).

DISTRIBUTION:
In the tourism industry, the distribution is concerned with transmission of information
about the products to the interested persons. As and when the booking is made, the
confirmation becomes essential.

It is essential that tourism organizations attempt to simplify and rationalize the

distribution systems. A number of factors influencing the distribution policy, such as
the location of points-of sale, the cost of distribution, effectiveness if the marketing
efforts, the image of the tourist organization and tourist motivating regarding the
products.

A) The Marketing Channel In Tourism Industry:

Marketing channels are the distribution networks through which products flow to
market. Of course, the middlemen constitute the building blocks that producers seek
to link together into marketing channels to bridge over the gap between themselves
and the target market. Very often, the available middlemen dictate the marketing
channels. In a true sense, the distribution is a major marketing decision area in which
marketing channel is found important. In any marketing channel, the producer is the
first in the succession of the enterprises involved in the distribution prices. More
formally defined, a marketing channel or channel of distribution is path traced in the
direct and

17

Indirect transfer of ownership to a product moving from producers to ultimate

consumers. In the tourism industry, the marketing channel describes the methods by
which a service is distributed from its manufacturing source to its eventual
consumers.

B) The chain of distribution:

The term chain of distribution donates the methods by which a product or service is
distributed from producers to the consumers. The middlemen are the link is strong:
the producers succeed in raining the tourists influx. The middlemen are wholesales,
buying tourism products in bulk and then making then available to the retailers, e.g.
the travel agents. The retailers are the travel agents. The tour operators buy a range of
tourism products in bulk, viz. airline seats hotel accommodation, and coach transfers
tec. They package the tourist products and sale either to travel agents or direct to the
tourists.

The travel agents buy travel services at the request of their clients and provide a
convenient network of sale outlets catering to the needs of a local catchments area.
In figure, we find the chain of distribution or the channel of distribution for the
tourism products. e.g. from producer to the tourists direct, from producers to retailers
and the tourists.
The distribution chain is shown below:

18

b) TOURISM INDUSTRY AND MIDDLEMEN: (Fig 2.2)

1) TOUR OPERATORS ARE WHOLESALERS IN TOURISM INDUSTRY:

(Fig 2.3)

2) TRANSPORT SERVICE MIDDLEMEN: (Fig 2.4)

3) ACCOMODATION:

(Fig 2.5)

MARKET SEGMENTATION
19

Tourism businesses and communities often make the mistake of attempting to be all
things to all people. It is difficult, and risky, to develop marketing strategies for the
mass market. Strategies designed for the average customer often results in
unappealing products, prices, and promotional messages. For example, it would be
difficult to develop a campground that would be equally attractive to recreational
vehicle campers and backpackers or promote a property to serve both snowmobilers
and nature oriented cross country skiers.

Marketing is strongly based on market segmentation and target marketing. Market

segmentation is the process of:
(1) taking existing and/or potential customers/visitors(market) and categorizing them
into groups with similar preferences referred to as market segments;
(2) selection the most promising segments as target markets; and
(3) designing marketing mixes, or strategies (combination of the 4 Ps), which
satisfy the special needs, desires and behavior of the target markets.
There is no unique or best way to segment markets, but ways in which customers can
be grouped are:
(1) location of residence---instate, out-of-state, local;
(2) demographics---age, income, family status, education;
(3) equipment ownership/use---RVs, sailboats, canoes, tents, snowmobiles;
(4) important product attribute---price, quality, quantity; and
(5) lifestyle attributes---activities, interests, opinions.

To be useful, the segment identification process should result in segments that suggest
marketing efforts that will be effective in attracting them and at least one segment
large enough to justify specialized marketing efforts.

20

After segments have been identified, the business or community must select the
target markets, those segments which offer them the greatest opportunity. When
determining target markets, consideration should be given to:
(1) existing and future sales potential of each segment;
(2) the amount and strength of competition for each segment;
(3) the ability to offer a marketing mix which will be successful in attracting each
segment;
(4) the cost of servicing each segment; and
(5) each segments contribution to accomplishing overall business/community
objectives.

It is often wiser to target smaller segments that are presently not being served, or
served inadequately, than to go after larger segments for which there is a great deal of
competition.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES FOR EACH SEGMENT:

Marketing objectives which contribute to the accomplishment of overall business
objectives should be established for each target market. Objectives serve a number of
functions including:
(1) guidance for developing marketing mixes for different target markets;
(2) information for allocating the marketing budget between target markets;
(3) a basis for objectively evaluating the effectiveness of the marketing mixes (setting
standards); and
(4) a framework for integrating the different marketing mixes into the overall
marketing plan.
The target market objective should:
21

(1) be expressed in quantitative terms;

(2) be measureable;
(3) specify the target market; and
(4) indicate the time period in which the objective is to be accomplished.
For example, increase the number of overnight stays by people from the Chicago
market over the next two by five percent.
Remember, rank objectives by priority and carefully evaluate them to ensure that they
are reasonable given the strength of the competition and resources available for
marketing.

Product & Service Trends:

Hotel rooms, increasing equipped as offices with full-size desks, computers and
advanced communications technologies, will minimize the need for business

centers.
Expansion of Europes high-sped train network will eliminate short haul flights.
Hub airport will install capsule-cocoon hotels in terminal facilities.
Hotel and restaurant facilities will be designed for an aging population with lower

rise steps, more handrails and wider doors.

Travel guidebooks will become highly specialized and more frequently consulted-

primarily on the web.

100% Satisfaction Guaranteed will replace Let the Buyer Beware.
Growth in demand for home food delivery outpace all other food service

segments.
A new wave of budget conference & exhibition hotels will be built to meet the

convention needs of cost conscious companies.

Center-city urban resorts will challenge sun, sand & sea vacation villagers in the

leisure market.
Credit card check-in/check-out, F&B vending machines, self-cleaning bathrooms

and self-serve laundries will eliminate most human contact in budget hotels.
Luxury resorts that once shunned children will welcome them with an expanded
array activities and tailored dining options.

22

Tourism Marketing Trends:

The Internet will become the dominant distribution channel for all travel and

tourism products eliminating most intermediaries.

Understanding customers as people- their likes, dislikes, habits, interest and
hobbies- will become critical to establishing competitive advantage in hospitality

marketing.
Customer retention will replace customer acquisition as travel agencies strategic

objective.
Homogenization of airlines services will render them commodities while lodging

products will continue to focus on differentiation.

Print media advertising will move onto the web.
Increasingly value-conscious customers will demand more and better product

information.
Consumers will increasingly expect to negotiate hotel and airline rates Crosssector strategic alliances between food service lodging, travel and entertainments

companies will prove to be effective marketing formats.

As marketers increasingly distinguish between loyalty and satisfaction, frequent

use programs will become more elaborate.

Hotel revenue management systems will become more sophisticated and be
relocated from the reservations department to sales & marketing.

23

CHAPTER 3
TOURISM : INDIA
INTRODUCTION:
India is one of the popular tourist destinations Asia. Bounded by the Himalayan
ranges in the north, and surrounded on three sides by water( the Arabian Sea, Bay of
Bengal, and the Indian Ocean), with a long history and diverse culture, India offers a
wide array of places to see and things to do. In 2004, foreign tourists visiting India
spent US$ 15.4 billion- the world India is also ranked among the top 3 adventure
tourism destinations. The Travel and Tourism industry holds tremendous potential for
Indias economy. It can provide impetus to other industries, create millions of new
jobs and generate enough wealth to help pay off the international debt. That is why we
have included Tourism amongst the Core Sectors of the Indian Economy.

Tourism is now well recognized as a major growth engine. Several countries have
transformed their economies by developing their tourism potential. Tourism has great
capacity to create large-scale employment- from the most specialized to the unskilled.

The Indian economy is undergoing a major transformation. With an annual growth of

eight percent, India has become the second most favored destination for foreign direct
investment. As an economic activity in the service sector, tourism also has enormous
potential for contributing to economic growth.
Tourism has the potential to change the economic face of a region. Promotion of
tourism would bring many direct and indirect benefits to the people. Some of the
direct benefits accruing to the local community of a region as a result of tourism
development are:
24

Employment opportunities in tourism and hospitality sector

Development of private enterprise
Improved standard of living
Social upliftment and improved quality of life
Better education and training
Sustainable environmental practices
Foreign exchange earning

Some of the indirect benefits accruing to the local community of a region as a result
of tourism development are:

Infrastructure development-power, water, sanitation, hospitals, roads, etc.

Market for local produce
Employment in infrastructure sector
Economic upliftment due to income multiplier effect.

PROFILE OF TOURISM IN INDIA:

Incredible India:

India is probably the only country that offers various categories of tourism. These
include history tourism, adventure tourism, medical tourism (ayurveda and other
forms of Indian medications), spiritual tourism, beach tourism (India has the longest
coastline in the East) etc.

Explore India- choose the locales of your choice, and see what each state has to offer.
Lose yourself in the wonder that is India. Meander through lands steeped in chivalry
and pageantry that begin before recorded history. Explore modern cities that have the
roots of a multi-hued past. Make a pilgrimage to holy shrines that echo with tales of
antiquity. Frolic on a vast array of golden beaches that dot an enviable coastline,
washed by two seas and an ocean. Sport with adventure in style. Let the jungle lure
you to a fascinating world at a diverse array of wildlife sanctuaries and national
parks this is wonder that is India.

25

 Growth
The growth of tourism in India, has been rapid in the last five years despite a late
start. Tourist arrivals have gone up by more than 25% and foreign exchange earnings
has jumped by 40%. The World Travel & Tourism Council has rated India as one of
the five fastest growing tourism economies in the world. The survey conducted by
Lonely Planet has also supported this view. The rich heritage, trade, culture, history
and growing economy have become major attractions for the tourists. The survey
conducted by Conde Nast Traveller came out with the findings that India is
preferred to many other tourist destinations like France, Singapore and Switzerland.

India on the World Map

The Indian tourism industry has not had it so good since the early 1990s. With global
recession seeming to have waned decisively, Indian economy growing at around 7%
per annum and rise in disposable incomes of Indians, an increasing number of people
are going on holiday trips within the country and abroad resulting in the tourism
industry growing wings.

It is fast turning into a volume game where an ever-burgeoning number of participants

are pushing up revenues of industry players (hotels, tour operators, airlines, shipping
lines. etc.) Thus, the tourism sector is expected to perform very well in future and the
industry offers an interesting investment opportunity for long-term investors.

Despite the numerous problems, tourism industry was the second-largest foreign
exchange earner for the country during the year ended March 2003. During 2002, 2.2
million foreigners visited India. Foreign tourist in-flow has risen 20% this year.

India : An Idea whos time has come

Indias economic reforms have given a big push to tourism sector. Tourism is today
projected as an engine of economic growth and an instrument for eliminating poverty,
solving unemployment problem, opening up new fields of activity and the uplifted of
women. New opportunities are being tapped to promote eco, adventure, rural, postage,
26

wildlife and health and herbal including medical tourism. The subcontinent to whose
splendor, diversity and world-class facilities the world has finally woken up to. Away
from threats, untouched by SARS and politically stable India is the flavor of the
season. Take a fresh look at her flourishing economy (double digit growth in third
quarter of 2003- 2004), geographically strategic location, faith fortified by major
software firms to make it a global backup hub for software the staggering figure of
over 366 national/international level expos and about 100 congress already scheduled
for leap year 2004 (of which over 50 in January alone), her forex reserves, her rising
Sensex, rapidly growing consumer markets, presence of worlds finest and choicest
brands and the exceptional growth in interest from FIIs, to understand why India
offers a feel good factor. Truly, India is one of the most exciting emerging markets in
the world.
The booming tourism industry:
The year 2004-05 saw tourism emerging as one of the major sectors for growth of
Indian economy, the foreign exchange earnings increased from Rs. 16,429 crore to
21,828 crore up to December.
Similarly in the last year, tourism industry registered a growth rate of 17.3% in
foreign tourist arrivals, which has been the highest in last 10 years. Foreign exchange
earnings grew at an even higher rate 30.2%.
Indias tourism industry is thriving due to an increase in foreign tourist arrivals and
greater than before travel by Indians to domestic and abroad destinations. The visitors
are pouring in from all over the world: Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia.
At the same time, the number of Indians traveling has also increased. Some tourists
come from Middle East countries to witness the drenching monsoon rains in India, a
phenomenon never seen in desert climates.
Domestic tourists are also fueling the industrys revival. Many of them escape from
the summer heat on the plains to resorts in the Himalayan Mountains. One of the
major beneficiaries this year is Kashmir, where a ceasefire between India and Paksitan
has reduced violence, if not completely, at least enough to help revive the states
sagging tourism industry.

27

Among the most favored tourist destinations in India, Kerala for its scenic beauty,
Agra for TajMahal, Khujarao for its sculptures and temples, Goa for its beaches and
some pilgrimages are the most important.

The disastrous tsunami didnt affect Indias tourism industry, as tourist arrivals in
India rose 23.5 percent in Dec 2004 and tourist arrivals crossed 3 million mark for the
first time in 2004. The disaster was expected to have a negative Impact on Indias
tourism in terms of large-scale cancellations of tourist to India but nothing of that sort
was seen.

TOURISM POTENTIALS OF INDIA:

India has significant potential for becoming a major global tourist destination. The
country witnessed foreign tourist arrivals of 2.75 million in 2001.

Travel and tourism is second highest foreign exchange earner for India, and the
government has given organizations is this industry export house status. There is
considerable government presence in the travel and tourism industry. Each state
has a tourism corporation, which typically runs a chain of hotels / motels and
operates package tours, while the central government runs the India Tourism
Development Corporation. Incoming foreign tourist arrivals have shown a 6%
compounded annual growth rate over the last 10 years. The government has
realized the potential and has advanced several incentives to promote

infrastructure growth in the tourism sector.

Current investments are likely to see hotel room capacity increase by 20 % over
the next three years, with several international hotel chains entering the hotel
industry. Similar growth is anticipated in air travel capacity.

28

TOURISM STATISTICS:
Foreign Tourist Arrival in India During 2008 and Corresponding Figures For
2006 & 2007

FOREIGN TOURIST ARRIVAL

(Nos.)

PERCENTAGE
CHANGE

MONTH

2006*

2007*

2008#

2007/06

2008/07

January

459489

535631

591337

16.6

10.4

February

439090

501692

561393

14.3

11.9

March

391009

472494

541478

20.8

14.6

April

309208

350550

384203

13.4

9.6

May

255008

277017

300840

8.6

8.6

June

278370

310364

340159

11.5

9.6

July

337332

399866

429456

18.5

7.4

August

304387

358446

391423

17.8

9.2

September

297891

301892

330874

1.3

9.6

October

391399

444564

452566

13.6

1.8

November

442413

532428

521247

20.3

-2.1

December

541571

596560

521990

10.2

-12.5

TOTAL

4447167

5081504

5366966

14.3

5.6

29

Foreign Exchange Earnings (in Rs. Crore) During 2008 and Curresponding
Figures For 2006 &2007

FOREIGN EXCHANGE EARNINGS (IN RS.

PERCENTAGE

CRORES)

CHANGE

MONTH

2006*

2007*

2008#

2007/06

2008/07

January

3970

4698

5438

18.3

15.8

February

3793

4401

5182

16.0

17.7

March

3378

4144

5035

22.7

21.5

April

2850

3218

3773

12.9

17.2

May

2350

2543

2988

8.2

17.5

June

2566

2849

3409

11.0

19.7

July

2990

3436

3870

14.9

12.6

August

2698

3080

3626

14.2

17.7

September

2640

2594

3143

-1.7

21.2

October

3355

3785

4248

12.8

12.2

November

3793

4533

4935

19.5

8.9

December

4642

5079

5083

9.4

0.1

TOTAL

39025

44360

50730

13.7

14.4

STRATEGIES FOR EFFECTIVE MARKETING:

30

The competition for travelers from the source markets, identified for India, is fierce,
and effectively complete in these markets, India will have to shift its currant tradition
marketing approach to one of that is more aggressive and competitive. In this context,
India will have to use an array of marketing tools and strategies to:

The differentiate itself from the completing destinations, including developing of

unique market position, image and brand that can not held by the competitors;
Undertake an extensive qualitative and quantitative market research programs in

the target source markets;

Identify and assemble the highly attractive productive tailored to the interest of
each source market, and develop and implement on going cost effective promotion
programs in each source market in partnership with the state and private sector
industry in India and source market. Of special importance is the formulation and
implementation of village tourism program that would be primarily targeted at the
domestic urban market in India but which could also attract the International

market;
Establish an effective and on going market representation presence with the travel

in each source market;

Establish an internet portal for the various languages to service the information,
product description. And product sales requirements of the target market segments
in each source market, and to connect these directly with the preferred supplier

SWOT ANALYSIS:
The tourism sectors contribute to the national development priorities and strategies
has so far been relatively limited. A review of the sectors competitive strengths and
weakness, opportunities and treats indicates that it has considerable growth potentials.
The main results of the analysis are:

Competitive strength:

Indias great competitive strength from the tourism point of view is its ancient and yet
living civilization that gave rise to fore of the worlds great religious and philosophies,
and brought travelers and trade millennia ago. The rich natural and rural landscape of
31

the India is punctuated with the built heritage of its ancient past and more modern
structure of the present and its hope for the future. Indias contacts with the other
civilization is reflected in the rich cultural diversity of its people through its
languages, cuisine, traditions, customs, music, dance, religious practices and festivals,
its holist healing traditions, art and craft.
Weaknesses:

Lack if major city experiences

Weather, especially compared to overseas sun destinations
Cost comparison to overseas sun destinations
Transport infrastructure
Staff skills
Traffic congestion
Lack of warmth of local communities

Opportunities:
The competitive opportunities are:

Leverage the huge potential of its domestic population to develop rural tourism
Leverage of strength as one of the world ancient civilization in the contest of its
rich and diverse natural heritage to increase its share of the huge international

travel market, especially the fast growing long haul segment of this market,
Leverage Indias strength as one of the worlds largest economies for business,
meetings, convention, incentives, events, and exhibition based tourism.

Threats:

The main internal threats to the development in the tourism sector are security, safety
and health situation; failing to involve communities in decision making process for
tourism development; and the failure to adopt and implement sustainable development
and management principals and practices at tourism site, especially in the rural and
natural areas of the country. Growth will mean increase in low quality, seasonal jobs

Growth will bring more visitors to parts of the region already up to capacity
Lose support of local communities as they suffer from more traffic and
environmental damage
32

Competition from other areas is growing stronger

1) LEVEL AT WHICH THE TOURS AGENCIES WORK:

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.1)

From the above graph, we find that 50% of the Tours & Travel agencies operate at the
Local level, 30% at the National & International level and 20% at the National level.

2) MODE OF TRANSPORT THROUGH WHICH TOUR ACTIVITIES ARE

CONDUCTED:

ANALYSIS:

(Fig 4.2)

From the above graph, we find that 50% of the Tours & Travel agencies operate
through Air, Rail, & Roadways, 30% through Roadways, and 10% each through
Waterways.
33

3) TOUR DESTINATIONS:

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.3)

From the above graph, we find that 70% of the Tours & Travel agencies have their
Tour Destinations at All the Places, while 30% of them have their Tour Destinations at
Natural Scenes only.

4) PERIOD OF ADVERTISEMENT:

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.4)

From the above graph, we find that 70% of the Tours & Travel agencies advertise
Seasonally, 20% Monthly and 10% advertise Regularly.
5) MEDIUM OF ADVERTISING TOURISM ACTIVITIES:

34

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.5)

From the above graph, we find that 70% of the Tours & Travel agencies advertise
their tourism activities through Pamphlets, 20% through Media & Pamphlets and 10%
through Media.

6) MODE OF SALES DISTRIBUTION:

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.6)

From the above graph, we find that 50% of the Tours & Travel agencies have their
Sales Distribution through Direct Sales, 30% through both Direct Sales & Travel
Agents and 20% through Travel Agents.
7) WAY IN WHICH RESERVATIONS ARE MADE FOR TICKETS:

35

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.7)

From the above graph, we find that 50% of the Tours & Travel agencies provide the
reservations to the tourists through Office, Online & Telephone, 30% through Office
& Telephone and 20% through Office & Online.

8)MANAGING TOURIST INFORMATION SYSTEM:

ANALYSIS: (Fig4.8)
From the above graph, we find that 90% of the Tours & Travel agencies manage
Tourist Information System, while 10% of them donot manage Tourist Information
System.
9) SOFTWARE FOR KEEPING ACCOUNTS:

36

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.9)

From the above graph, we find that 40% of the Tours & Travel agencies use TALLY
for keeping accounts, 30% use EXCEL, 20% use REGISTER and 10% use
COMSOFT DATABASE software.

10) GOVERNMENT TAXES APPLIED ON TOURISM ACTIVITIES:

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.10)

From the above graph, we find that 50% of the Tours & Travel agencies pay Service
Tax, 30% pay Road Tax and 20% pay both Service and Road Tax.

11) LIMITATIONS FROM GOVERNMENT ON TOURISM ACTIVITIES:

37

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.11)

From the above graph, we find that 60% of the Tours & Travel agencies donot face
Limitations from the Government in their Tourism activities, while 40% of them face
Limitations from the Government.

12) PRICES FIXED ACCORDING TO:

ANALYSIS:

(Fig 4.12)

From the above graph, we find that 60% of the Tours & Travel agencies fix their
prices according to Competition, 10% on the basis of Market Segments, 10% on the
basis of Income Groups, and 20% on the basis of all the above.
13) SPECIAL CONCESSIONS TO REPEAT VISITORS:

38

ANALYSIS:

(Fig 4.13)

From the above graph, we find that 80% of the Tours & Travel agencies give
Discounts to Repeat Visitors, while 20% donot give Concessions or Discounts to
Repeat Visitors.

14) IS INSURANCE PROVIDED TO TOURISTS:

ANALYSIS:

(Fig 4.14)

From the above graph, we find that 80% of the Tours & Travel agencies provide
Insurance to the tourists while 20% donot provide Insurance to the tourists.
15) FIRST - AID FACILITY TO TOURISTS:

39

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.15)

From the above graph, we find that 80% of the Tours & Travel agencies provide FirstAid facilities to the Tourists, while 20% of them donot provide First-Aid facilities.

16) SELF OWNED MECHANICS ON TOURS:

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.16)

From the above graph, we find that 70% of the Tours & Travel agencies donot have
self owned mechanics for long Tours, while 30% have self owned mechanics for long
Tours.

17) COMMUNICATION OF TOUR ESCORTS IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

TO TOURIST :

40

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.17)

From the above graph, we find that 60% of the Tours & Travel agencies have their
guides communicating in different languages with the Tourists, while 40% donot have
their guides communicating in different languages with the Tourists.

18) HOTEL ARRANGEMENT FOR TOURISTS:

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.18)

From the above graph, we find that 100% of the Tours & Travel agencies make Hotel
Arrangements for Tourists, while 10% of them donot make Hotel Arrangements for
Tourists.
19) FOOD OFFERED ACCORDING TO TOURISTS DESIRE:

41

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.19)

From the above graph, we find that 60% of the Tours & Travel agencies provide food
to the Tourists according to their wish, while 40% of them donot provide food to the
Tourists according to their wish.

20) SUCCESS OF AGENCIES IN PROMOTING THEIR TOURISM

ACTIVITIES:

ANALYSIS: (Fig 4.20)

From the above graph, we find that 80% of the Tours & Travel agencies feel that they
are Successful in Promoting their Tourism activities, while 20% of them feel that they
are Stable and not so Successful in Promoting their Tourism activities.
FINDINGS:

Majority of the tours and travel agencies work at local level.

Seasonal advertising is made largely through pamphlets.
It is observed that, reservations are made through Office, Online and Telephone.

42

Due importance is given to online and office reservation because it is found that
proper information is not provided through telephone and some of the telephone

calls for enquiry may be fake.

Majority of tours and travel agencies use Tally for keeping their accounts.
Service tax is applicable to those Tours & Travel Agencies whose annual turnover

is above Rs.800000/Majority of the Tours & Travel agencies fix their prices on the basis of

competition.
Majority of the Tours and Travels agencies provide insurance facilities to their

tourists.
It is observed that most of the Tours & travel agencies do not have self owned

mechanics for long tours.

The Government regulations are not transparent and there is lot of red-tapism.
The Tours & Travel agencies do not have their guides communicating in different

languages to tourists from different states.

There is provision for first- aid facility to the tourists.
Majority of the Tours & Travel agencies have their tour destination which includes

Natural Scenes, Historic Places, Artificial Beauties and so on.

Most of Tours & Travel agencies operate through Airways, Railways and

Roadways.
Tourist Information System is maintained by most of the Tours & Travel agencies,
which enables them to have a detailed record of the tourists so that they can

provide special concessions to repeat visitors.

Majority of the Tours & Travel agencies have their sales distribution through

direct sales
The Tours & Travel agencies make hotel arrangements for tourists.
Food preferences of tourists are taken into consideration.
It is found that most of the Tours & Travel Agencies are successful in promoting
the tourism activities.

43

SUGGESTIONS:

The Tours & Travel agencies should gear up their tourism activities at national &

international level.
Along with seasonal advertisement, regular advertisement should be made, so that

tourism impact is maintained.

Along with pamphlets, different media should also be used to have a better

awareness among the people.

As far as possible, reservation through telephone should be, avoided to prevent

fake enquiries.
Comsoft database, a software which is specially for managing accounts should be

used by all Tours & Travel agencies.

The prices of the tour packages should be fixed taking into consideration the low

income groups and the market segments.

All Tours & Travel agencies should have self owned mechanic for long tours to

have an immediate remedy on breakdowns.

The government should encourage the tourism activities by providing

concessional infrastructural facilities for average income group people.

The Escorts of Tours & Travel agencies should be well versed with all types of

different languages to facilitate better communication between the tourists.

The Tours & Travel agencies should also try to conduct tours through waterways.
The Tours & Travel agencies should make arrangements for training their staff and
employees to overcome the breakdown problems during long tours.

CONCLUSION:

44

Tourism Marketing in INDIA has a wide scope. There are thousands of places of
tourist attractions. The Tours & Travel Agencies can encourage their tourism through
Waterways, which is also todays need. The tourism product and the tour packages
should be arranged in such a way that they are reasonable and also affordable to the
low income group people. Media advertisement should be encouraged on a wide
scale. If the people in tourism cater to the needs of the tourists, it will result in their
satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction in tourism is greatly influenced by the way in which the service
is delivered and the physical appearance and personality of the business. It is critical
that these elements be communicated in the best possible manner to convince people
to come and experience what the agencys business or community has to offer.
Equally important is the ability to generate repeat business because of their efforts.

Thus, marketing becomes the method to reach potential visitors. It is a vital part of
tourism management and can be done effectively and well, with sophistication and
tact, or it can be done poorly in a loud, crass and intrusive manner. Also there should
be regular updation of the tourism marketing plans. Government encouragement to
the tourism activities will also help the tourism to flourish in INDIA as well as
ABROAD, lasting for never ending success.
QUESTIONNAIRE:
1) On what level does your travel agency work ?
a) Local
b) National
c) International
d) Both National & International

2) How does your transportation take place through ?

a) Airways
45

b) Railways
c) Roadways
d) Waterways
e) Air, Rail, Roadways
f) All the above

3) What are your tour destinations ?

a) Natural Scenes
b) Historic Places
c) Social cultural
d) Artificial Beauties
e) All the Places

4) When do you advertise your tourism activities ?

a) Seasonally
b) Monthly
c) Regularly

5) Through what medium do you advertise or promote your tourism activities ?

a) Media
b) Advertising Pamphlets
c) Media & Pamphlets
d) Any other

6) Your sales distribution is through which system ?

46

a) One-stage system - direct sales

b) Two-stage system- travel agent
c) Both 1st & 2nd Stage

7) In what way is the reservation done for Stickets ?

a) Office & Online
b) Office & Telephone
c) Office ,Online & Telephone

8) Do you manage tourist information system ?

a) Yes
b) No
9) What type of software do you use for managing or keeping accounts ?
a) Excel
b) Comsoft Database
c) Register
d) Tally

10) What type of government taxes are applied on your tourism activities ?
a) Service tax
b) Road tax
c) Both Service & Road tax

11) Do you face any limitations from the Government, in promoting your tourism
activities ?
a) Yes
b) No

47

12) Prices are fixed according to

a) Competition
b) Income Groups
c) Market Segment
d) All the above

13) Do you provide special concessions to repeat visitors ?

a) Yes
b) No

14) Is Insurance provided to the tourists?

a) Yes
b) No

15) Do you provide first aid facilities to tourists ?

a) Yes
b) No

16) Do you have Self Owned Mechanics ?

a) Yes
b) No

17) Do your tourist escorts communicate in different languages to tourists of different

states countries ?
a) Yes

48

b) No

18) Do you arrange hotels for tours ?

a) Yes
b) No

19) Is the food offered according to preferences of the tourist ?

a) Yes
b) No

20) Do you feel your agency is successful in marketing your tourism activities?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Stable

49