Tourisum Marketing (Term Paper) by p.rai87@Gmail

8/8/2019 Tourisum Marketing (Term Paper) by p.rai87@Gmail

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IntroductionThe project discusses “Tourism Marketing”. Tourism is a human activity of great significance. It

involves a temporary break from normal routine to engage with experiences that contrasts witheveryday life, with the mundane. Over the years, the definition of tourism has undergone a change

along with the historical changes. According to Himziker and Krapf tourism is “the sum of the

phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non–residents, in so far as it does

not lead to permanent residence and is not connected to any earning activity”.

With the increasing growth of tourism and its associated opportunities, the concept of marketing

tourism assumes a lot of significance.

The marketing mix-the 4 Ps-target audiences- segmentation- objectives- evaluations. These

and other terms are all used in the process of "marketing." In tourism and tourism related industries,

success means understanding this process. Covered here will be important concepts used in

marketing, the relationship of marketing to tourism, and a process for developing a marketing planfor tourism/recreation businesses and/or communities.

WHAT IS MARKETING

People hold a variety of misconceptions about marketing. Most common is its confusion with selling

and advertising. Selling and advertising are actually types of promotion which is only a component

of marketing. Marketing involves much more, including product/service development, place

(location and distribution), and pricing. It requires information about people, especially those

interested in what you have to offer (your "market"), such as what they like, where they buy and

how much they spend. Its role is to match the right product or service with the right market or audience. Marketing, as you will see, is an art and a science. According to the American Marketing

Association, marketing is "the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion,

and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual

and organizational objectives." Simply stated it is creating and promoting a product (ideas, goods or

services) that satisfies a customer's need or desire and is available at a desirable price and

place. Modern marketing is a way of doing business, heavily based on the "marketing concept"

which holds that businesses and organizations should:

(1) design their products/services to meet customer needs and wants;

(2) focus on those people most likely to buy their product rather than the entire mass market;

(3) develop marketing efforts that fit into their overall business objectives.

By adopting this concept you not only provide your customers with better products, you will avoid

wasting valuable time and money developing and promoting a product or service nobody wants.

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RECREATION AND TOURISM MARKETING

Earlier it was mentioned that a product can be "ideas, goods, or services." Since tourism is primarily

a service based industry, the principal products provided by recreation/tourism (R/T) businesses are

recreational experiences and hospitality. These are intangible products and more difficult to market

than tangible products such as automobiles. The intangible nature of services makes quality controldifficult 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 people's

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 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.

TEN Ps OF TOURISM MARKETING 1. Product

The tourism product differs from other products due to the wide range it covers, including such

areas as accommodations, transportation, food, recreation and attractions. Often the product includes

intangibles such as history, culture and natural beauty.

Many times the hospitality or tourism product is viewed as more of “service” in the

customer’s eyes. The closer we can determine how to satisfy the customer’s needs, the more

successful the estimation will be.

2. Price

This refers to the amount customers pay for the product or service provided. Quality tourism

experience at a fair price is what the customer is looking for in most cases.

Pricing should be based upon clear-cut goals and objectives: survival, profit maximization,

marketshare, competition or positioning.

3. Place

The place where the customer buys the tourism product can vary greatly. Travel agents, tour

operators and tour wholesalers are a few examples of the distribution points for tourism products.

Look for new distribution points in which you can sell your services. For example: web sites like

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Country-Adventures.com.

4. Promotion

A range of activities can be used to convince customers to buy the product, including

information kits, web sites, advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, travel shows, and public

relations.

Utilize tourist information centers, such as welcome centers.

Participation with your state, regional and local tourism offices and associations.

5. Partnership

By forging partnerships with companies that share the same business objective, you can better

meet the overall demands of the tourism customer while sharing the total marketing costs.

Strategic Alliances- Two or more organizations that can benefit from each others strengths.

Example: A winery might form alliances with restaurants, many attractions form alliances with

hotels.“Coopetition”- Cooperative efforts between competitive local or regional organizations that

enable them to compete effectively at the national and international levels. Example: Silos and

Smokestacks, tourism regions and boards.

6. Packaging

Because the tourism product often includes a variety of attractions, facilities and services,

packaging must also take on several different forms.

A presentation of products and/or services that would normally be purchased separately, but are

combined in a single purchase for the convenience of the consumer in ease, pricing etc.

7. ProgrammingProgramming special events and activities enhances and enriches the tourism product and makes

marketing much easier.

Generates new business, encourages repeat business, increases customer spending, increases

customer satisfaction, promotes off peak periods, etc…

Effective programming can provide an effective return on investment.

Programming, just as any marketing, should include a plan of action including the customer

groups to which it is to be aimed.

8. Positioning

Finding a special place in the market for the product to differentiate from your competitors. Niche

marketing is a case in point.

1. Identify a set of possible competitive advantages upon which to build a position.

2. Select the right competitive advantage.

3. Effective communication and delivery of the chosen position to a selected target market.

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9. People

The people who sell 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 the tourism industry is based upon word of- mouth advertising particularly

about the service received- what your customers say after they depart can thrust your business

forward or send it into a downward spiral.

10. Planning

An important part of a viable business plan is to develop a strategic marketing plan in an

effort to identify customer expectations. Research and planning also helps design and devise means

by which you can meet these expectations.

Provides a road map.

Is a working document. To be effective the plan must be maintained, reviewed and revised.

Should have an annual marketing plan, with a component that mentions long-term goals as well.

THE MARKETING PLANOne 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.

What is a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan provides direction for your marketing activities. Marketing plans need not be long

or cost a lot to put together. Think of it as a road map, with detailed directions on how to get to your

destination. Sure there may be a few bumps in the road, perhaps a diversion or two, but if the

marketing plan is carefully researched, thoughtfully considered and evaluated, it will help the

organization achieve its goals. The marketing plan details what you want to accomplish with your

marketing strategy and helps you meet your objectives.

The marketing plan:

• Allows the organization to look internally in order to fully understand the impact and results of

past marketing decisions.

• Allows the organization to look externally in order to fully understand the market in which itchooses to compete.

• Sets future goals and provides direction for future marketing efforts that everyone in the

organization should understand and support.

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•It is a key component in obtaining funding to pursue new initiatives.

A marketing plan includes these elements:

• Summary and Introduction

• Marketing Objectives

• Situation Analysis• Target Markets

• Strategies

• Tracking and Evaluation

Summary and IntroductionYour marketing plan should start with an executive summary. The summary gives a quick overview

of the main points of the plan. It should be a synopsis of what you have done, what you plan to do,and how you are going to get there.

Although the executive summary appears at the beginning of the plan, you should write it last.

Writing the summary is a good opportunity to check that your plan makes sense and that you haven’tmissed any important points.

Marketing ObjectivesYour marketing objectives should be based on understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and the

business environment in which you operate. They should also be linked to your overall businessstrategy.

For example, suppose your business objectives include increasing visitation by 10 percent over the

next year. Your marketing objectives might include targeting a promising or emerging new marketsegment to help achieve this growth.

As with any strategic initiative a marketing plan should start with objectives. Your marketing

objectives will guide your entire marketing initiative and be used for evaluation. Without objectivesyou may get off-track and will not know when you have reached your ultimate goal.

Objectives must:• Be measurable in quantitative terms, such as number of visitors, sales volume, and so forth. By

having quantitative objectives, you will have a clear target to strive toward and will know when theobjective has been achieved.

• Be framed within a specific time period.

• Be outcome based. In other words, what is the end result you are looking for?

Situation AnalysisA situation analysis details the context for your marketing efforts. In this section you will take a

close look at the internal and external factors that will influence your marketing strategy, this is

called a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis combines the external and internal analysis tosummarize your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

A Strength is an asset or a resource that can be used to improve a community’s competitive position, such as a natural attraction, historic buildings, or a strong retail base. A weakness is just the

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opposite, a resource or capability that may cause your community to have a less competitive

position, which can adversely affect tourism. For instance, empty commercial space or unattractive

vacant buildings are categorized as weaknesses. Opportunities are developed from a touristdestination’s strengths, or set of positive circumstances, and can include tourist overflow from a

nearby metropolitan city or the opportunity for special events within your community. Threats are

viewed as problems that focus on your weaknesses and which can create a potentially negativesituation. Depressed commercial activity or a competing tourist destination’s growing summer music

festivals are examples of threats.

You need to look for opportunities that play to your strengths. You also need to decide what to doabout threats to your business and how you can overcome important weaknesses.

INTERNAL EXTERNAL

STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES

WEAKNESSES

THREATS

Example:• Strength: A destination with amazing natural assets;• Weakness: Hiking paths are in disrepair; creek is dry during summer months;

• Opportunities: tourist overflow from a nearby metropolitan city or the opportunity for special

events within your community.• Threats: Target market also views another town with more dollars to have similar assets.

Your SWOT analysis might help you identify the most promising customers to target. You might

decide to look at ways of integrating adventure tourism or volunteer tourism into your marketing programs and use pod casts on the Internet to reach customers. And you might start to investigate

ways of raising additional investment to overcome your financial weakness.

This section also considers: • The rationale for your marketing efforts.

• The resources available within your organization and how these might facilitate or inhibit your

marketing strategies

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• A review of your past marketing efforts; what was successful and what was not successful. This

will help you make decisions regarding your current efforts..

• Trends and recent changes, nationally and regionally, that might influence your marketing strategy.This includes demographic, social, and economic trends.

• Competition analysis. Who are your primary competitors, who are their target markets, what are

they offering their visitors? Most importantly, how are you different? Differentiation can be basedon numerous factors: price, product, service quality, location, and many others. In this section also

consider who are your partners and allies and how can you work with them to achieve your

marketing objectives.

Target MarketsThe concept of target markets is one of the most basic, yet most important aspects of marketing.

There is no such thing as the “general public.” It is unrealistic to think that you can attract everyone.Defining your target market helps you decide where to commit resources and what kinds of

promotional methods and messages to use. Define your target market(s) specifically in terms of:

• Demographics: age, income, marital status, employment status.• Psychographics: reads magazines, attends sporting or cultural events, dines out once a month,member of a frequent flyer club.

• Residence: where does your market live?

• Social group: affluent couples without children, affluent families with one or more kids, youngfamilies with one or more children, singles.

• Activities: what do they want to do, include vacation versus business travelers, visiting friends and

family versus strictly vacation travel, as well as specific activities such as visiting cultural sites,resort visits, and golf..

• Motives or benefits: what are people trying to get out of their trip, what are they looking for?

• Past experience: have the people in your market visited your area before (i.e., repeat visitors) or

are they first time visitors?• Planning frame: how far in advance do people in your market plan their trips; one week, one

month, or are they spontaneous?

StrategiesStrategies are simply action plans that detail how the marketing variables of product, price, place and

promotion (commonly referred to as the four Ps of marketing) are used to attain the marketing plan’s

annual objectives and overall strategies.Your marketing plan is how you put your marketing strategy into practice. It’s worth highlighting

the main points of your strategy in your marketing plan.To understand the market well, you will need to break it down into different segments – groups of similar customers or travelers. For example, you can break the business market down into businesses

of the same size and in the same sector.

For each segment, you need to look at what customers want, what you can offer and what thecompetition is like. You want to identify segments where you have a competitive advantage. At the

same time, you should assess whether you can expect high enough sales to make the segment

worthwhile.7



Often the most promising segments are those where you have existing customers. If you are

targeting new customers, you need to be sure that you will be able to reach them.

Once you have decided what your target market is, you also need to decide how you will positionyourself in it. For example, you might offer a high quality product at a premium price or a flexible

local service. Some businesses try to build a strong brand and image to help them stand out.

Whatever your strategy, you want to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Plan your marketing tacticsOnce you have decided what your marketing objectives are, and your strategy for meeting them, you

need to plan how you will make the strategy a reality.

This section should incorporate your target markets, especially those that are primary. Consider thefour Ps:

• Product: specifically define what you are offering your visitors, and how it is different from what

is offered by others.

• Price: the price for your product and a justification of your pricing decision.

• Place (distribution): the way in which you will get your product to your market(s); directly

offered to visitors or via travel agents and/or tour operators. If you choose to focus on more than onemarket, prioritize your markets to help you decide where resources should be committed.• Promotion: the way you plan to promote your product. This section includes your advertising,

publicity, sales promotion and public relations strategies. Your media schedule should be included in

this part of the marketing plan.

If you sell a service, you can extend this to 7 Ps:• People: for example, you need to ensure that your employees have the right training.

• Process: the right process will ensure that you offer a consistent service that suits your customers.

• Physical evidence: the appearance of your employees and premises can affect how customers see

your service. Even the quality of basic items such as menus, can make a difference.Your marketing plan must do more than just say what you want to happen. It must include how you

will make sure that it happens.

The plan should include a schedule of key tasks. This sets out what will be done, and by when.Without a schedule, it’s all too easy to get bogged down dealing with day-to-day tasks and lose sight

of what you are trying to achieve.

It should also assess what resources you need. For example, you might need to think about what brochures you need, and whether they need to be available for electronic distribution (by e-mail or

downloaded from your Web site). You might also need to look at how much time it takes to sell to

customers and whether you have enough staff.The cost of everything in the plan needs to be included in a budget. If your finances are limited, your

plan will need to take that into account. You may also want to link your marketing budget to your

sales forecast.

Tracking

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This section of your plan should include plans and procedures for tracking each type of marketing

activity you are using. Tracking helps monitor the effectiveness of each marketing activity and is

especially helpful with your overall program evaluation.Here are some types of media along with ideas for tracking their effectiveness. The techniques will

vary depending on your product type and market.

• Display advertising - With traditional consumer publications, tracking can be done through theuse of different phone numbers, special offers (specific to that advertisement or publication), or

reference to a specific department to call for information. When those calls come in, your call-center

staff must be prepared to record the information so the results can be tallied for that publication.Many publications also include Reader Service Listings or business reply cards that allow the reader

to circle a number that corresponds to your ad on a mail-in postcard in order to get more information

about your product or service. While you may get a lot of junk requests (competitors, shoppers, or

literature collectors), you also can get some good leads. Keep a record of these leads and follow-upon the final result.

• Direct marketing - With postal mailings, tracking is relatively simple. Include on the mailing label

a code (called a key code or a source code) that corresponds with the mailing list so you know which

list is producing, and instruct your call-center staff to record the information by asking the customer for the code. You can also include customer numbers here and record repeat orders without the

problem of re-entering their information into your customer database.For telemarketing campaigns, tracking is also relatively simple since a live person is communicating

with the customer throughout the entire process, in most cases.

• TV or radio ads - These require similar tracking methods as consumer publications. They can be

tracked through the use of unique phone numbers, special offers (specific to that advertisement) or reference to a specific department to call for information. Again, when those calls come in, your

call-center staff must be prepared to record the information so the results can be tallied for that

particular spot. Another less exact method, if you’re marketing on a very large scale, is to track immediate sales along with the timing of the advertisement.

• Internet marketing - Usually, this is easily tracked because it is based on click-throughs or page

impressions. Your Web administrator should be able to provide reports that indicate the number of click-throughs that actually led to the purchase of your product. Also unique URLs that direct to

your Web site to track users response to a specific promotion or campaign. You may also experience

call-in sales as a result of your Web site activity. Make sure your call center is aware and records theinformation accurately.

• Promotions - Most closed promotions are basically “self-tracking” because they require the

customer to do something, such as fill out an entry form (trackable), turn in a coupon, return a rebate

slip (traceable), or log-on to a Web site to claim a prize (also trackable). Open promotions, such assales, require a little more work to track, although they can be tracked in a general way by noting

increased sales for that time period, store, region, or whatever the parameters of the sale.

• Events - An event is also tricky. You know how many people attended, but do you know howmany sales occurred as a result? You can issue coupons at the event that can be tracked, offer other

special deals, or even allow attendees to join a special club. You have to be creative in order to track

the true sales results of a big event.• Trade Shows - A trade show’s effectiveness can be tracked by collecting the right information at

the show and following up on it. These results must also be tallied and recorded. The success of

trade show attendance can be measured by the number of consumers who requested information

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from your booth, or the number of tour operators or travel agents who requested specific information

on your destination or business.

• Database - Before your marketing plan is kicked off, make sure you have the database structure in place to record this information. Use codes for every level of information so that you can sort by

various specifications. This takes a lot of planning, as well as training for your staff. Setting up the

records with drop-down boxes for selecting preset information such as product number, list codes, publication codes, or department codes, will make your records much more consistent and usable.

• Data Analysis & Storage - The tabulated results and customer information is very valuable

information. Make sure you routinely back up the system where this data is kept and keep copies insafe places. The customer data is extremely valuable to your future direct-marketing efforts, and

must be keyed in correctly and accurately.

EvaluationThe final section addresses the manner in which you will measure your success and in what ways

your objectives have been met. Although often overlooked, this section is vitally important as it

helps determine the success of your marketing efforts. It also assists in reporting Return onInvestment (ROI) to members, constituents, etc. Methods for evaluation of marketing efforts aredifferent for each type of marketing project. Your methods of tracking will help in your evaluation.

As an example, for print placement, you can measure the number of leads generated by a magazine

or newspaper ad. For a Web site, the number of page views or the number of Web-based requests for products or services can be measured. Public relations efforts can be measured by the number of

articles written about your community or business in newspapers and magazines, and the residual

media value. The success of trade show attendance can be measured by the number of consumerswho requested information from your booth, or the number of tour operators or travel agents who

requested specific information on your destination or business. Additional evaluation techniques

include attendance at an event from year-to-year, or a visitor research study to determine who is

visiting and how they found out about you.An evaluation may include the following: Leads generated through the marketing program – direct

marketing efforts, Internet leads, number of inquiries as a result of advertising efforts, travel trade

shows, Familiarization (FAM) tours, number of visitors, hotel occupancy rates, or hotel sales taxrevenues.

The most important questions should be asked

• Did we reach our goal?• Was the marketing campaign successful?

• Were we able to determine Return on Investment? (Please note that ROI refers specifically to

dollars returned for dollars invested.)• Did our efforts result in Conversion? In other words, were we able to convert an inquirer to a

visitor?

• Can we utilize our database to survey, capture additional information or to establish a Customer

Relationship Management program?

Tips for Writing a Marketing PlanA good marketing plan:

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• Sets clear, realistic and measurable targets – for example, increasing visitor attendance by 10

percent;

• Includes deadlines for meeting targets;• Provides a budget for each marketing activity;

• Specifies who is responsible for each activity.

Poorly thought-out objectives will cause problems. For example, you might set a target for thenumber of new inquiries. But if none of these inquiries turn into actual visitation, you will have

increased costs without any benefits.

Make it Happen

A plan will not happen by itself. You need to make someone responsible for monitoring progressand following up on overdue activities. Reviewing progress will also help you learn from your

mistakes so that you can improve your plans for the future.

Control

As well as setting out the schedule, the plan needs to say how it will be controlled. You need an

individual who takes responsibility for pushing things along. A good schedule and budget shouldmake it easy to monitor progress. When things fall behind schedule, or costs overrun, you need to be

ready to do something about it and to adapt your plan accordingly.From time to time, you need to stand back and ask whether the plan is working. What can you learn

from your mistakes? How can you use what you know to make a better plan for the future?

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INDIAN SCENARIO

India has been a spiritual and cultural destination for tourists from all over the globe from timeimmemorial. Its rich cultural diversity, religions, languages, magnificent monuments, its sheer size

and people have been a source of fascination for outsiders and insiders alike.

Goodwill and International understandingAgain, the appeal of tourism as an area deserving promotion on priority basis lies not just in the

volume of foreign exchange earnings but more in the goodwill and international understanding that ithelps to create. India has always been the country loved for international peace and harmony.

Tourism helps the foreigners to understand the peculiar Indian ethos, which was at once mystical and

realistic. Above all, tourism promotes national integration and a sense of oneness among nearly one billion people. Tourism in India has grown substantially over the last three decades. India has been

successful in generating its share in the world tourism market. Mostly tourists from North America,

Central and South America, Africa, Australia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, West Asia, South

Asia, South East Asia and East Asia are visiting India as foreign tourists. Out of these the share of

North America, Western Europe, West and South Asia occupies a major share in increasing Indiantourism trade. India accounts for four out of five tourists to South Asia. On an average, a foreign

tourist stays for about 27 days in India, which is an important indicator of increase of the foreignexchange earned by the country.

Indian Tourism Industry Forecast (2007-2011)

This 'Indian Tourism Industry Forecast (2007-2011)” report provides an objective analysis of the

present scenario and future prospects of the Indian tourism industry. This report focuses on different parameters of tourism industry including: inbound tourism, outbound tourism, expenditure by

inbound tourists, and medical tourism in India. It also helps clients to analyze the opportunities andfactors critical to the success of tourism industry in India.

Key Findings

- In India, inbound tourist expenditure per head is third highest in the world and even more thanglobal average tourist spending.

- India has been promoting its healthcare tourism by providing the visitors with private healthcare

facilities. It is expected that the number of tourists visiting India for the purpose of medical treatmentwill reach one Million by 2012, representing a CAGR of 28.09% from 2007.

- Disposable income in past (during 2001-2006) grew at a CAGR of 10.11%, thereby driving

domestic as well as outbound tourism.- Room rent accounts for more than 50% of revenue earned by Indian hotel industry.

- Indian outbound tourist flow is expected to increase at a CAGR of 12.79% over the five-year

period spanning 2007-2011.

- Tourist influx to India is expected to increase at a CAGR of 22.65% between 2007 and 2011.- India’s share in global tourism is expected to reach 1.5% by 2010.

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Key Issues and Facts Analyzed

- What is the current state of tourism industry in India?

- What are the emerging trends in the tourism sector in India?

- What is the future outlook of the tourism industry in India in terms of inbound as well as outboundtourism, and expenditure by inbound and outbound tourists?

- Which factors are driving the India tourism industry?

- Hotel industry scenario in India?

- Hotel industry occupancy rate and room supply by 2011?

Key Players Analyzed

This section covers the key facts about the major players (tour operator & hotels) currently operating

in the Indian tourism industry. The key players analyzed in this section include: Thomas Cook India

Pvt. Ltd., Kuoni India Ltd., Cox & Kings India Ltd., Raj Travels & Tours Ltd., prominent Hotels &

Resorts such as Taj Hotels, The Oberoi Group, Hyatt Corporation, ITC Welcomgroup.

ROLE OF GOVERNMENTS

The development and growth of a successful tourism sector is not simply abouta successful tourism strategy, no matter how brilliant the strategic thinking maybe. The strategy is key. Without it the destination risks throwing its doors opento the world and, for lack of better words, selling its soul – losing its culture,character and care for one another for the purpose of making money throughtourists. Cross messaging, cross purposes, cross wires. Ultimately canceling outopportunity.

Strategy is to a tourism sector what sheet music is to an Orchestra. It is thedirection, the focus and the framework.But is it merely paper – ink on lines with huge promise and desire to createsomething beautiful – until brought to life through the hands, heart and eyes of the conductor. For the tourism sector that conductor is the government of thedestination, the source of vision, inspiration and disciplining direction whichturns passion into proud, purposeful, clearly positioned tourism marketing andexperience excellence.

Why is the involvement of government really necessary, when in many ways tourism is a relatively

easy industry for anyone living in the destination to participate in? Advertising and marketing

agencies know how to successfully promote and advertise. Travel agents know how to successfullysell holidays. Hoteliers know how to successfully run hotels. Restaurants know how to successfully

serve fabulous local meals. And artisans know how to create curious and other keepsakes for tourists

to buy and take home as gifts. Why is it necessary for government to play a part? Simply this:

Tourism is not purely for tourism sake.

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To operate effectively for long-term benefit of the destination government must mobilize the tourism

sector as a critical driver of the greater:

• Economic• Social

• Cultural

• Industrial and• Infrastructural

development of the destination for its people and their future.

Like the conductor of the orchestra, the government of the tourism destination has the greater:

• Sense of vision,• Competitive market intelligence,

• Executional insight,

• Ability to bring all members of the orchestra together, and• Access to resources

to turn what is on paper into passionate, purposeful, integrated performance, which most

consistently and creatively attracts target audiences who will most appreciate and mostenthusiastically visit, the destination.

TWO LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE

Generally speaking, leadership of the tourism sector by government is

required at two fundamental levels:

1) MACRO: Establishment of overall Tourism Strategy and Policies to ensure sustainable

growth and development of the sector at social, economic and environmental levels, and

alignment of sector efforts to the greater national / regional growth mandate.

2) MICRO: Brand Leadership of the destination, ensuring creative, coordinated,competitive and compliant of marketing, promotion and innovation of the destination.

Working in harmony, these two dimensions of tourism leadership ensure that the vision

of the destination is brought to life through its daily expressions, ie destination brand

promise, destination promotion, experience offerings, product and service delivery,

policy implementation, infrastructure re- investment.

To fulfill the MACRO needs, governments mobilize Departments of Tourism

(often also referred to as Ministries) to take high level ownership and responsibility for

defining the long-term direction and impact of the tourism sector including policy, participation and governance. It is these Departments (Ministries) of Tourism which are

best placed to ensure that the sector strategy for tourism it directly aligned to and

supportive of, the greater national economic growth and development mandate and

strategy.

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Ultimately government must act as a central leadership force for the

tourism sector – its industry, community, partners and principals – providing

a central source for destination:

CLOSING NOTESIn the end it is as diverse as tourism destinations may be in terms of:

• positioning,

• proposition,

• profile and

• experience promise,

they share the need for inspired, visionary, comprehensive and carefully

coordinated leadership.

Just as the conductor is responsible for carefully guiding his/her musicians towards the

creation of musical magic as one united force, is it government who must confidentlylead the people of the destination’s tourism community, providing them the direction and

inspiration they need to live and love the destination which they call “home”… and

proudly share with audiences around the world whom they know will truly love their art.

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SECTORS IN TOURISM

Sectors Overview

The tourism industry has been divided into eight different sectors or areas. The following sector

descriptions are brief overviews.

1) Accommodation2) Attractions

3) Events and Conferences

4) Transportation

5) Travel Trade

ACCOMMODATION:

Accommodation is one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry. Various

types of accommodations exist in the tourism industry. These cater to different types of needs of customers which are as follows:-

1) Hotels:-Hotel properties usually cater to both business and pleasure travellers and offer a wide range

of accommodation types.• Deluxe, airport and convention hotels are generally located in urban centres or near

airports. They are often large (over 150 rooms) and have a wide range of facilities and

services (e.g. convention rooms, restaurants, shops, fitness centres). Many are members of a

chain, meaning that the property is part of a larger company and has sister properties in other areas. The benefit of working at a chain to an individual employee might be the ability to

transfer to other properties in the chain.

• All-suite hotels are increasingly popular. Each unit contains the same facilities as anapartment, meaning the traveller has a private place for meetings (i.e. the dining room table)

and a kitchen for cooking meals.

• Smaller, privately owned hotels offer lodging and many also contain a café or restaurant,and a beverage room.

• Resort hotels and lodges are usually located in or near recreational sites. Many offer guests

a wide range of activities, such as golf, skiing, tennis, riding or water sports. They may also

offer entertainment (e.g. nightclubs, shops, piano bars, casinos, dinner theatre) and haveconvention facilities.

• Motels, motor hotels and inns are often much smaller (less than 150 rooms), less expensive

facilities that appeal to overnight or short-stay travellers. Some motels are franchise or chain

operations, others are independently owned and operated. Motels are often found in smaller communities, the suburbs of cities and along major highways.

2) Bed and Breakfasts and Farm/Ranch Vacation Sites:-These cater to people wanting a personal touch, a unique heritage or lifestyle setting, or a

home-like atmosphere. Few accommodate more than 8 - 10 people. Prices and amenities vary

greatly from operation to operation. There may not be many positions at these sites, as manyare owner-operated sites and small enough that just one or two people can manage. However,

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a position at one of these sites can be as varied as any in the industry. Helping the guests

saddle up in the morning might be part of the 'front desk' position!

3) Cabins, Cottages and Houseboats:-Often located in recreation areas, and offering facilities such as a beach, fishing rentals,

playgrounds, etc., these are often destination sites for travellers. Generally, stays are longer

than a night or two and involve the whole family, including the dog.4) Campgrounds:-

Campgrounds cater to travellers who have their own roof, usually a tent or motorhome, but

require a serviced site for it. Campgrounds range in the services they supply, from'wilderness sites' with no services except maybe an outhouse, to full power and water

hookups, with complete restaurant, laundry, entertainment and washroom facilities. This type

of accommodation generally appeals to travellers who want an inexpensive outdoor experience and/or related activities, such as hiking, canoeing, fishing, hunting or boating.

5) Hostels:-These are usually non-profit facilities catering to budget-conscious or adventure travellers.

Guests supply their own sleeping bags, cook their own meals, and often sleep in dormitory-

style rooms.

ATTRACTIONS:

Every province and territory in India has major and minor attractions that attract visitors and

generate tourism revenue. Attractions include historic sites, heritage homes, museums, hallsof fame, art galleries, botanical gardens, aquariums, zoos, water parks, amusement parks,

casinos and cultural attractions. Many attractions are educational in nature, others are solely

for entertainment. India has a wealth of cultural and heritage attractions: Taj Mahal, RedFort, Golden Temple, Kanyakumari, Jammu & Kashmir, Gateway of India, Victoria

Memorial, Port Blair, wild life sanctuaries and the list is endless.

EVENTS AND CONFERENCES:

Events and conferences contribute lots of money to communities. Not only do travellers

spend money on the event or conference itself, but 'spinoff money' are also spent on

everything from accommodation to souvenirs. Travellers need to get to and from the event or conference site, so the transportation sector is also involved. They need to eat, so food and

beverage outlets are visited. Conferences usually have social events or entertainment

planned, so money is spent on tickets, admission, beverages and/or tips. Special events, such

as festivals and sports events, may have formal or informal meetings that take place, someeting space is rented, food and beverages are purchased, and/or local transportation is

required. All of this means money is transferred from travellers to the local economy.

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TRANSPORTATION:

Tourism was earlier defined as an industry that provides for the movement, comfort andenjoyment of people. The 'movement' in this definition is addressed by the transportation

sector. The sector is divided into four categories: Air, Rail, Ground and Water.

TRAVEL TRADE:

The travel trade sector supports the bookings and sales in the other sectors. The people thatwork in the travel trade make reservations for accommodations, tours, transportation, food

and beverage and/or for attractions. These bookings can be in the form of an all-

encompassing tour package or a single booking for a single traveller.

There are two subcategories in the travel trade sector.

• The first is the retail arm of the industry, made up of travel agencies.

• The second is the wholesale side, made up of tour operators, who sell to travel agencies.

Wholesale Tour Operators

Tour operators and wholesalers develop and package tours to sell to the retail trade, i.e. travel

agencies. Often these tours are all-inclusive (that is, they include all travel, accommodation,

meals, and entertainment) and are marketed to encourage specific markets to buy, e.g.employee incentive travel; convention-related or special interest travel, such as theatre, sports

or bird watching tours.

Tour operators work independently, or are affiliated with an airline, motor coach line or

other travel-related business. They respond to change in the industry by developing new andunique products that have a competitive edge in price, value and variety.

Retail Travel Agencies:Travel agencies sell travel packages as well as individual travel components, such as airline

tickets, car rentals and hotel reservations. They sell directly to the public, to both business

and pleasure travellers. There are many retail travel agencies like Yatra.com, travelguru.com,Awadh Tours and travels etc. To have a clear understanding of how these travel agencies use

the concept of tourism marketing to boost their businesses we have conducted a research on

one of these agencies –Yatra.com the details of which have been mentioned ahead.

Both retail and wholesale operations employ many people in a variety of positions. This is a

competitive industry and new regulations (for example, airline deregulation), industry

consolidation and new packages to new destinations keep those who work in this sector busyand challenged.

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Company Profile

Yatra.com is India's leading travel services company. It helps consumer’s book air tickets,

hotel rooms; holiday packages both for Domestic and International destinations. Bookings at

yatra.com can be made by logging on to the website, calling the 24x7 customer care center or

walking into any of the yatra.com Holiday Lounges across India. Yatra.com is backed bysome of the world's most reputed companies - Reliance ADA Group, Network 18, Norwest

Venture Partners and Intel Capital.

Yatra.com is born to address the needs of tourists looking for a one stop solution from where

they can plan their travel to any destination in India. Yatra.com’s main objective is to help

the traveler in planning a fascinating tour of India from the convenience of his/her ownhome. Any and every travel related information is available at Yatra.com. Here you will get

information on not only major cities but also on smaller cities as well. Detailed information

on tourist places both renowned and exotic will help you plan your tour better. In jan 2006,inspired by the growing wanderlust of the Indian traveler and his desire to share (and read

about others') travel experiences, was launched Yatra.com - an exciting new onlinecommunity that lets people to find and share detailed advice and experiences on places in

India (or around the world). And it makes it easy for users to connect to other travelers whoare passionate about travel.

Yatra.com lets travelers create personal travel blogs, or travel journals, with detailed routemaps, embedded photos and recommendations, and allows them to easily share these with

friends, family and others. Travel Blogs, written by real travelers, are a proven source of

trusted information for people researching and planning a trip. Travel shoppers can theneasily find this travel information, including advice on hotels and restaurants, from like-

minded travelers.

Prominently featured on Yatra.com are Hotel Reviews written by real travelers, first person

Travelogues, Travel Photos, and Videos, member contributed Destination Features and

reviews written by travelers, Event Calendar plus travel related member Queries & Answers.

This online travel community provides the best place for Indian travel enthusiasts to sharetheir travel experiences and for people to find relevant information on travel and destinations

from like-minded travelers.

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The majority of travel information sites currently available online, focus on price, or volume

availability, or provide very basic, generic and anonymous information. In contrast, they saw

a need to provide relevant, qualitative information to travelers. The site’s rapidly growingcommunity is proof that the need is being fulfilled.

Yatra Online Pvt. Ltd. is a smart travel company providing information, pricing, availabilityand booking facility for air travel, hotels, buses and car rentals across 5000 large cities and

small rural areas around the globe. As an online travel company, Yatra.com acts as a

complete tour planner for travelers and is a one-stop shop for every travel need.

Yatra's multi-language customer service center enables business and leisure travelers to make

well-informed and cost effective bookings 24 hours, 365 days a year, through its online, callcenter and mobile support. The air ticket bookings on the user-friendly website give out the

cheapest rates available in real time. As one of the largest consolidator of hotels, Yatra

provides room-booking facility in over 2,500 domestic hotels across 250 destinations in

India. Yatra also has international tie-ups with major consolidators for over 90,000 hotelsacross the world. The prices are highly competitive and booking rates are available at the

lowest rates in real time. Yatra provides hundreds of holiday packages to its customers thatinclude best deals and rates across the globe.

Since its inception, to facilitate individuals as well as businesses in planning trips of all

nature, Yatra.com has created a niche for itself in the industry. In its ongoing endeavor toincrease customer touch points, Yatra.com is offering its services through mobile and retail

mediums. With these options, customers can now book their travel and hotels in a convenient

manner over mobile handsets or by walking-in to the outlets of Yatra.com’s retail partners.

The Yatra.com team is currently 700 people strong with staff being based across 16 cities in

India.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Promod Haque, Managing Partner, Norwest Venture Partners

Dhruv Shringi, Co Founder & CEO - Yatra

Mr. Harshal Shah, CEO, Reliance Venture Asset Management Ltd.

HareshChawlaSonia Mehta, Chief Customer Experience Officer

Raja Natesan, Chief Operating Officer

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Our Investors

Reliance Venture Asset Management Ltd.

TV18 Group

Norwest Venture Partners

Intel Capital

Promotional strategies of yatra.com1. Yatra.com is on Facebook

2. Every time you book a return ticket to an international destination, you will get 10domestic tickets FREE.

3. Exciting deals • buy one international ticket and get 2 domestic tickets free

• Buy 1 domestic ticket and get 2 domestic tickets free• Win a mobile phone with your booking

4. Yatra.com now on DishTV – Channel #99 plan your next vacation on your TV! Book

Holiday packages & hotels from your living room.

5 Get 10% discount on HDFC bank cards

Achievements

1. Yatra.Com – The Only Indian Online Travel Company Awarded by RedHerring for the ‘2008 – Top 100 Start Ups in Asia’ Award Recognizes the100 “Most Promising” Asian Companies Driving the Future of Technology

2. August 2006, Yatra.com has fast grown to become India’s leading travelcompany, serving over 1 million customers.

3. It has been recognized as the ‘most used travel website’ by Juxt Consultin their India Online Survey 2008.

4. It has also been declared to have the ‘best brand recall’ in the travelsegment and the ‘most user friendly website’ according to the recentstudies conducted by Juxt Consult and Phocus Wright, which areindependent research organizations.

5. Yatra.com has also been awarded for ‘Excellence’ in August-07 by TTF-OTM (India’s biggest travel show).

6. Yatra.com wins the ‘Best Online Travel Agency’ Award for the Year

2008 By Galileo Express Travel World New Delhi, December 12, 2008

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QUESTIONNAIRE

Name –

Mobile No –

1. What is your occupation?

Corporate Business man Retired person Government

employees

2. Which mode of transport do you use?

Air rail road water

3. Do you use the facility of online ticketing?

yes No

4. How frequently do you travel?

Once a month once in six months

5. Have you heard about yatra.com?

yes no

6. How do you book your ticket?

By agent By an authorized counter online

7. Which website do you use for online booking ?

Yatra.com makemytrip.com tavelguru.com others

8. How do you know about yatra.com?

TV Internet newspaper other

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9. Are you satisfied with the services of yatra.com?

Yes No

10. Which is the best part in the yatra.com?

Deals customer service price

1. What is your occupation?

Corporate Business man Retired person Government employees

Total sample size - 50

Corporate - 27

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Business man - 13

Retired person - 6

Government employees - 4

Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50, 54% of the corporate people, 26%of business

people, 12% retired personal and 4%of the government employees are involved in

this survey. It indicates that the people from the corporate are highly involved in this

survey.

2. Which mode of transport do you use?

Air rail road water

66%

30%

4%

air

rail

by road

Air 66%

rail 30%

by road 4%

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Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50, 66% people use air services , 30% people use rail

services & 4% use road services. So the majority of the people use air services.

3. Do you use online ticket booking?

yes No

64%

36%

es

no


Yes - 32

No - 18

Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50, 64%people are using online booking and 36%

people are not using online booking.

4. How frequently do you travel ?

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Once a month once in six months once a year

4%24%

72%

once a month

once in a six months

once a year

Total sample size – 50

Once a month - 4%

Once in six months - 24%

Once in a year - 72%

Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50, 4% people travel monthly, 24% people travel in

every six months and only 72% people travel annually. So basically most of the

people travel annually i.e once a year.

5. Have you ever heard about yatra.com?

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yes no


yes - 35

no - 15

Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50, 70% people know about yatra.com. 30% people

have never heard about yatra.com. The main reason cited behind this is lack of

internet knowledge as well as English language.

6. how do you book your ticket

By agent By an authorized counter online

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46%

20%

34%


By agent - 23

By authorized counter - 10

online - 17

Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50, 46% of people are booking ticket by

agent,34%people are using online ticket booking and 20% people are using

authorized counter for ticket booking.

7. Which websites you use for online booking ?

Yatra.com makemytrip.com tavelguru.com others

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26%

34%10%

30%

atra.com

makemytrip

ravelguru

other


Yatra.com- 13

Makemytrip- 17

Travelguru-5

Other-15

Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50, 26% people are booking ticket by yatra.com,34%

people are booking ticket by makemytrip,10% by travelguru and 34% by other.

8. How do you know about yatra.com?

TV Internet newspaper other

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TV - 9

Internet - 23

Other - 7

News paper - 11

Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50,46% people know about yatra by internet,18%people

know by tv ,22%people know by newspaper and 14% people know by other. It shows

that mostly internet users know about yatra.com i.e. it should improve its advertisingthrough other media also.

9. Are you satisfied with the services of yatra.com?

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Yes No


Yes - 33

No - 17

Interpretation –

From the total sample size of 50, 66% people says that they are satisfied with

yatra.com service and 34% people says they are not satisfied with yatra service

because sometime they did not refund money within 72 hour. It means that they

should work upon their customer services as the late refunding may cut their

customers.

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10. Which is the best part in the yatra.com?

Deals customer service price

42%

26%

32%

deals

customer service

price


deals - 21

customer service - 13

price - 16

interpretation-from the sample size of 50,42% people says yatra deals are the best part

of yatra.com,26% people say customer servive is the best part of yatra.com and 32%

people say yatra prices are the best part of yatra,com.

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Conclusion:-

After all these efforts the position of yatra.com is clear in the current scenario. Yatra.com

has proven itself in the past few days. Yatra.com made a successful entry in the online

travel market with immediate visibility in 21 key cities without spending much on

advertising. With a turnover of $118 million in the very first year, Yatra.com had become the

fastest growing travel portal. From December 06 – December 07 Yatra.com got PR mileage

of Rs. 12, 54, 46,033. The brand values enhanced – great technology and exclusivity.

Within 1.5 years Yatra.com has a market share of 30%.

The profile of Indian travellers visiting international destinations has changed and today

many of them are able to take snap decisions and plan international travel within a few

days. Earlier, Indians used to plan in advance — at least 30-45 days — for international

travel. For instance, for a summer vacation in May-June they would start planning in

February or March. But for a year now, and thanks to relaxation in visa norms in countries

such as Thailand and Sri Lanka where you can get visa on arrival, we are now seeing

bookings coming in as late as 3-7 days from the date of journey.While youngsters tend to

book flights and hotels on the Website like yatra.com and plan sightseeing tours and other

interests on their own, Yatra’s holiday packages are becoming popular too. Some of them

have booked domestic and international flights from yatra.com earlier and now want a moremature product like a holiday package. The flavours of the moment are Thailand, Macau,

Sri Lanka and Singapore, the last for the FI event.

But the trends keep changing. During summer months European holidays are very popular,

but this is the season for shorter breaks and most people are headed towards east as well

as Dubai for 4-5 day trips. During winter, leisure tours to Australia are popular, as also

Switzerland, which is the destination favoured mainly by honeymooners, says Sabina.

While a European holiday costs about Rs 1 lakh per person, Switzerland packages,

including travel, are available for Rs 60,000 per person for five nights and six days. If

needed, Yatra offers assistance with visas at no extra charge in cities from where visas are

issued.

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http://www.articlesbase.com/flights-articles/online-travel-company-yatracom-1318916.html











Interestingly, Indian travellers are quickly moving away from organised group tours to

individual tours. That is the biggest trend that we are seeing. We do organise such tours on

special requests but we believe, as a product, large group tours will not last very long. Only

first-time travellers or senior citizens who want the safety of people around them are opting

for such tours. But youngsters, even when they are first-time travellers, want to go by

themselves and want an individual, customised package. She also finds that itineraries are

getting tweaked by individuals who make alterations and add their own preferences.

Today’s Indian traveller is very mature and evolved. He is not willing to take the

recommendations of the travel agent, he knows his mind and has done enough study of the

destination on the Net. Most people, she adds, go at least to two or three vendors before

making up their minds, and negotiate hard for good deals.

The average Indian traveller is cost-conscious and normally sets out a budget — between

Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh — and asks the Yatra.com team to work around it. But then there

is also the high-end customer for whom cost is no constraint. Needless to say, Yatra

representatives make destination presentations on their laptops for such customers at their

homes.

As for food, Indian vegetarian is the most popular and we do try and arrange vegetarian

food — at least one Indian meal a day — as far as possible. We get requests for Jain food

from the Gujarat market. But the youngsters are willing to try out local cuisine, but after 2-3

days all Indians want an Indian meal!

While many people pay online for their bookings, there are those who prefer to visit one of

Yatra’s 15 lounges in the country and pay by cash or cheque. But we do encourage people

to pay online.

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http://hawaiiyatra.blogspot.com/

http://hawaiiyatra.blogspot.com/



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