Author: Andre Coleman

The main aim of our course work is to critically estimate or appraise Marketing Strategy of Ryan air airlines and to point out some strategic issues which practically shows the planning procedure and provide some new planning procedures which gives information build and coverage towards strategic issues. We have to discuss about the Ryan air customer service which keeps the Ryan air airlines in top position from past decade. We have to identify the Advantages and Disadvantages that are under lying with in this company and the improvements which are observed by the customers and to discuss about how far the company reaching customer satisfaction in this Competitive market.

Rayair ways is an Irish limited and it stands first among all the other air lines in Europe . This was all started in the year 1985 by rayn’s family with only 25 customers in their first route from Waterford to London Gatwick airport with 15 seats.slowly this company grew and it became the top in Europe air industrys connecting 150 destinations in more than 25 countries with cheapest air tickets .this air ways have a mojor role in the stock markets of Europe as this company is the largest tax payers. As the company grew day by day it had implemented certain policies in servies and their prices which have attracted the customers largely.this company operated with only 5000 customers in the beginning but now this industry operates well over 70 million customers as per the survey conducted in the year 2009.This is the only airlines which have deceased their cost tickets to a very less price which has created a revolution in the entire European air industries which made raynair airways to stand in no1 position along with customer satisfaction in the air lines world.

Raynair overview

The overview gives us proper description regarding the position and the details of the company as a competitor among the other industries. The cheif of the company Michael o leary was awarded the best busuiness man which brought a respectable name to the industry also in the year 1994 this company had it first boieng 737 which gradually increased to 210 boieng planes by the end of year 2009 increasing the profit to the company as well as the ceating capacity of the plains.rayn air has new routes which save d the time of the customers travelling by those routes and this also attracted the customers to a largr extent.the company also had a good customer care services as they cleared all the quires by the customers within 7 days and they don’t have any marketing agencies which benefits the company as well as the customer also and they are confirmed about the prices of thrir trips

Raynair position:

The company has occupied no 1 position in the entire Europe and 16th position among the worlds competetion. In To obtain this spot the company works very hard by implementing new ideas and making changes in this competition world . the people responsible for this is everone who aorks for the betterment of the company . this company has defeated british airways in customer service ,baggage missing and profits.

Achievements and Awards:

Rayanair’s achievements are as follows,

It took many awards from Irish government & also from the other world air line boards.

The company 2 prestigeous charity awareds for their services towards the disabled persons

It also backed the best deaf and blind friendly award in serving the deaf and blind people.

Was awarded the best advertising award for it advertisements.

The college of business and in the year 2006 has awarded Rayn air with ucc alumnus award.

Rayn air has achieved the best business and service awards from the government of Ireland.

Customer service:

Rayn air goes with the motto to provide the best service for its customers by

Online ticket booking from outside the airport.

Solving their problems ,requests and others before departures.

Takes care in baggage handling. Makes sure that no baggage is missing as it the most important from the customers aspect.

Advertising on television help the customers to know about thier flights , fairs ,and also about the destinations to which flights will travel and departure.

It has its own magazine t help the customers.

Advertises itself through british broad caste channel and also more frequently during the breaks when live sports are going on.

Raynair employees:

It has more than 7000 employees working in the company who has good communication skills and customer service skills .

The company also has a human resource development department that deals with the problems regarding the employees and to create a friendly atmosphere where in they can work more effectively.

The company takes care about the health and safety of the customers and the employees working for the company. The company also provide proper training for the employees to avoid accidents during flight and these training programmes were also approved by the Irish avation authority lead by Ireland government.

MARKETING MANAGEMENT:

Ryan air deals to increase the companies profit by making use of the resources which makes improvements in marketing techniques and management . Every such department has a manager for each who are responsible for managing things which the company implements.

MARKETING STRATEGY:

The main stratergy of Raynair is customer service oriented that influences the company increasing its profit directly along with the brand name. Raynair estimates low air fares with more passengers and charging on the baggage along with value added tax.the secret behind the success of Rayn air is the cheap availability of the air tickets in different charges for different classes and charging the baggage on both economy and business class is same.the main difference is the quality of requirements in plain’s.proper maintenance and operating model of network that communicates from different bases has been the successful stratergy . More stratergies are covered in swot analysis that have been achieved by regular changes in their policies due to market copetetion.

SWOT ANALYSIS:
STRENGTHS:

The company has a brand name as it is operating more than 2 decades.

Customer can pay directly to the company.

Increase in seats made less maintenance cost less which benefiting the company

Boeing plains are easy to operate just like the other planes to the employees.

Safety of baggage in comparision with other airlines.

Operates very good network which makes the trip fast and safe.

WEAKNESS:

Discounts are not properly provided.

Has a bad impression from print media.

Extension of business to other countries is not allowed.

Customers are charged for their baggages where as the other air lines are providing it for free or less cost comparatively.

New routes made the destinations delay and reach on wrong time by which the customers would loose their patience.

OPPURTUNITIES:

Ryan air has many destinations in Europe.

Plays a major part in stock exchange.

Rayn air won profits even at the time of recession.

Cheap flight tickets attracts more customers.

THREATS:

Rapid hike in fuel on regular bases.

Competition from other air lines.

Price motivation

Opposition from print media.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES:

Internet ticket booking direct from the company.

Reaching the destinations in a single flight.

Greater qualities in services.

Own airlines.

Faster service in reching the destinations.

Less ticket fair.

Offers and previllages and compliments on buying the tickets

It has no agencies

Flights have more seating capacity.

Disadvantages

Seats are not allotted properly to the customers.

Cancellation of tickets may take long time and some times customers may loose money.

Cargo services are provided for free of cost.

Opposed by the paper and print media.

Baggage is also charged in extra other then ticketing and value added tax.

Air bags and oxygen masks are provided at the customers request.

CONCLUSION:

From the above discussion we concluded that the marketing strategies of Ryan air airlines is well planned and executed and some strategic issues which are applied to the company to achieve good market in the airlines business which are done in practical manner. We concluded that the rain air airlines is number 1 in Europe continent and most respect company in the world which maintain strategies according to customer needs and maintain health and security precautions for both passengers and employees. Ryan air airlines has lot of problems that the people are not satisfied with the offers and extra charges which are held in baggage and food. Ryan air also extracts some advantages like low cost air tickets, Security, Service. Some of the problems with Ryan air airlines are cancellation of tickets will be done when conditions apply when compared to other airlines and extra charges on Luggage and more taxes and vat which altogether comes to the cost of other airlines and more passengers are un satisfied about their journey and at one time Michael says that the Ryan air airlines are charging ?1 for using toilets which brings bad impression on the airline. This company do not have any agencies and the company is directly accessed by the customers through internet which is completely secured and the passengers made payments through their pc. Finally we concluded that this Ryan Air Airlines plans to operate their network throughout the world with more flights and to spread their customer satisfaction throughout the world.

TRAVEL INDUSTRY CURRENT PRACTICES
INTRODUCTION

In this chapter I will take an overview of the travel industry in order to better understand the context about which I am writing. Consideration of the value of the business travel spend, the role of Travel Management Companies and the role of technology in its operation and future vision, are the relevant issues in this regard. An outline of the various managerial approaches used by private industry will help inform my analysis of travel management in the public sector and what lessons can be learnt.

VALUE OF BUSINESS TRAVEL

In 2013 Hermes Consultancy Management produced a white paper on ‘Corporate Travel Management in Western Europe: Opportunities and Challenges’. The research was commissioned by Amadeus (a Global Distribution Service provider) in order to better understand how organisations manage their travel activities and to identify saving opportunities for travel managers. The white paper calculated that in 2011, business travel in Western Europe amounted to almost ˆ 200 billion, concentrated in five countries: Germany, UK, France, Italy and Spain. Hermes (2013). Eleven corporations in the UK, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands took part in the research study and numerous travel mangers, executives and travellers from these companies were interviewed. The Central Statistics Office tells us that in 2011, the Irish business travel spend was ˆ548 million on 698,000 business trips (CSO 2013) of that public sector travel under the Government air travel contract was : ˆ5.9 million for 18,358 trips and in 2013 it increased to ˆ6,972, 477 for 25,902 trips. The increase in volume can be attributed to Ireland Presidency of EU during 2013.

Business travel is a substantial and growing sector with a significant travel spend. As globalisation continues apace, companies and governments will reach out to newer markets for their goods and services, at the same time as continuing to consolidate traditional markets in a challenging economic climate. Figures from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) indicate that spending on business travel within the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain is forecasted to climb by 6% next year, an increase which may be set to come about as a result of improvements to the global economy. Government travel is predicted to increase by 4.9% according to GBTA, who believe that the slightly lower percentage for government travel might be because governments have already successfully cut travel spend, while corporate business is enjoying an uptick as it starts and continues to hire new employees who travel. Government business in Europe accounts for 4.7% (ˆ940 mil) of all business travel demand compared with 5% globally. The Director of Operations with GBTA McGavock believes that, that share is expected to increase for at least the short term. “While 2012 was a difficult year, by the end of 2013 we predict an upturn, and in 2014 we believe we will see extensive growth. The next five years should see a bounce back in business travel among all of Western Europe’s major markets.” The European Commission predicts that the 27 countries it represents will emerge from recession in the fourth quarter of 2013, with its overall economy growing by 1.4% in 2014, Eurostat (2012). Accompanying this growth will be an increasing requirement for corporate travel and this expansion will require robust and innovative management in order to control costs and spend.

TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANIES

Travel Management Companies are the medium through which organisations use to implement and manage their business travel requirements. They should not be confused with the work of a traditional Travel Agency which provides travel to the leisure traveller on behalf of suppliers, airline, hotel, car hire companies. Most travel agencies have a separate department that deals with business travel, and some travel agencies specialise in commercial and business travel only. This department would trade as a travel management company and implement the organisations travel policy. They procure travel on behalf of the organisation according to its policy on the class of travel permitted to fly, negotiate corporate fares/rates with airlines and hotels as well allowing the organisation use its corporate credit card to procure flights online via their online booking tool.

According to the Buying Business Travel magazine (2013) the top five (5) TMC’s operating in Europe based on their European spend are:

CarlsonWagonlit Travel (CWT), (?1,157m)
HRG Travel, (?1,000m)
American Express, (?958.1m)
Capital Travel and Events (?525m)
BCD, (?480m)
FCM Travel Solutions (?428)

All of the above have a presence in Ireland through either partner agreements or wholly owned. The current provider for the Irish Government travel contract is CarlsonWagonlit Travel. The previous government providers were; HRG (Club Travel) and FCM Solutions. Due to the size of the Government spend approximately ˆ6 to ˆ9 mil annually it is not surprising that the top TMC’s have continually competed for the business. In addition as it is a centralised contract, a large sized company would be required to deal with the volume of transactions generated by Irish Government travel. Each of these companies use a global distribution system (GDS) which provides a network whereby TMC’s can access fares from the various airline reservations systems and facilitates online transactions. This in turn provides a portal for clients of TMC’s to procure their air travel through the use of online booking tools OBT). The most popular GDS providers are, Travelport, Galileo, Sabre and Amadeus, public sector has had access to Travelport through KDS OBT licensed by CWT and Galileo OBT licensed by HRG.

ECONOMIC CLIMATE

The impact of the global economic downturn has resulted in an increased emphasis on generating savings, as companies strive to operate within an ever decreasing resource envelope. This is relevant to all organisations and Travel Management Companies in particular. Economic stringency has allowed travel managers to take a more prominent role within their companies, and has made travel management, as a profession, an important element of a company’s strategic planning. According to the Global Business Travel Association (2014), travel managers have been asked to lead company-wide efforts to reduce travel costs, track relevant savings, and report them back to senior management. The knock-on effect of this to TMC’s is increased competitiveness within the travel management sector. The natural ambition of business organisations is specifically the transformation of inputs (resources) into outputs (goods or services) (Worthington & Britton, 2006: 4). In the context of a TMC, the company employs the relevant staff to carry out specialised travel advisory duties, and provides the necessary booking systems to their staff in order to maximise their input to output ratio; in the current economic climate this is becoming more and more challenging. So the drive is on in every sector to achieve greater value for money.

TECHNOLOGY

In Chapter 2, I looked at technology in relation to the procurement of travel; here I will examine it as it impacts on the business environment, in which TMC’s operate. In terms of external environmental factors, Thomas Davenport (2013) indicated that technological change is one of the main issues currently impacting TMC’s, with the potential of completely transforming the way in which the companies operate. Davenport ( 2013) and a number of other authors including Fred Gebhard (2013), highlighted that the travel industry is at a ‘Big Data’ crossroads, and that complex, large volume and unstructured datasets are beginning to reshape and transform the industry. Additionally, Davenport suggested that big data will require the industry to address a number of challenges, in order to unlock its potential: technological complexity; data accuracy and rights of use; business and technological alignment. At the corporate buyer level gaining access to accurate travel reporting data is a major factor in the effective management of air travel and presents opportunity to identify where savings can be achieved. This is very important for both the buyer and supplier of air travel. It is interesting to note that technological developments pose both an opportunity; and a threat to TMC’s. The opportunities for the companies may involve ensuring the company is up to date with technological advancements within the industry in order to remain competitive. Conversely, if TMC’s are slow on the uptake of embracing and implementing new technology in their organisation, they may be at a disadvantage within the business travel market. Overall, the rapid advancements in technology alone present a significant challenge to the travel industry, specifically to TMC’s.

Voice BASED AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

A key writer on the travel industry, Scott Gillespie (2012) identified various technological changes which he emphasised are a ‘tipping point’ for the corporate travel industry. Some of those changes mentioned include the technological advancements of voice-based user interfaces from Apple, Google. Gillespie asserted that these new interfaces may be a threat to company policy compliance, due to the convenience of using such interfaces for travellers; which may in turn cause them to purchase travel outside of company policy direction. If the traveller does not book through the proper channels directed within company policy, there is no way for the TMC or corporation to track the traveller’s whereabouts or provide them with services in an emergency (West, 2013) In Chapter 2 we looked at ‘M’ technology and the growth of that market and its increasing importance in the procurement of air travel. CarlsonWagonlit Travel has invested in this area in its recent acquisition of Worldmate a leading mobile technology company. This will bear fruit in CWT’s mobile app ‘CWT TO GO’. Airlines are slowly moving towards mobile phone app technology which will replaces the requirement for printing of electronic tickets and boarding passes by using mobile phone QR code (barcode) technology to check in for flights. The ongoing evolution of technology emphasises the importance for TMC’s to keep up to date with it in the provision of procurement systems for clients which are not only economical, efficient and effective but contemporary and convenient to use.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR)

The concept that organisations should be held accountable for the effects of their actions on people, their communities and the environment is known as CSR. There are many aspects of CSR which impact on the travel industry and consequently their end users. There are increasing concerns for rising carbon emissions; this coupled with rising costs naturally leads organisations to seek alternatives to air travel. These alternatives include video conferencing and webinars, however, it has been emphasised that face-to-face meetings still remain an important aspect of business negotiations (Forbes, 2009). This affects the competitive environment of TMC’s, since a threat of a substitute method to conduct meetings is available. Travel Management companies need to maintain their relevance in a rapidly changing business environment. And Government travel needs to be particularly vigilant as penalties are imposed on increasing carbon emissions under the Kyoto Protocol.

MODELS OF TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

It is not feasible to produce a definitive list of air travel procurement models, but in general they fall under the following categories;

INHOUSE CENTRALISED MODEL & TMC;

This model is one where all travel is procured from a centralised office within the company in association with a TMC, who provides online and offline bookings. This model allows greater control over travel policy and spends and is used by both private and public sector. Business travelers would feel this model is too restrictive and doesn’t allow flexibility but that is mute point when it comes to controlling spend.

INHOUSE DECENTRALISED MODEL & TMC

This model is one where travel can be procured by the individual employee either directly with the TMC for offline booking or online through the corporate booking tool. This model allows greater control to the individual and is favored by high-tech or internet based companies, E.G. EBay, Google, independence over their booking. This model tends to be accompanied by an incentive programme, whereby travelers can gain perks by purchasing travel within company policy and in this way costs can be controlled.

INHOUSE CENTRALISED AND DECENTRALISED & TMC

This model is a mixture of the two above and is a very inefficient model of travel procurement as it is very difficult to control travel expenditure and policy compliance. It is generally adopted by organisations where there is little senior management buy in to control the travel spend.

INHOUSE TMC IMPLANT.

This model allows a staff member of the TMC to reside within the organisation to procure all of the travel requirements of the organisation. This can be an expensive option unless travel policy is strictly enforced.

INHOUSE GDS IMPLANT( verify with Volker in Amadeus/ Microsoft )

This model allows for the provision of a staff member of the GDS provider to be embedded within the organisation to assist the procurement of all travel requirements of the organisation. This can be a very efficient option as it eliminates the ‘middle man’ charges of the TMC in the procurement of air travel as it procures direct with the GDS provider. Some organisations who favour this method also have a TMC contract for the provision of VIP or specialised travel only.

In the public sector in Ireland government travel is purchased through a centralised contract but managed and procured in many different ways by each of the Government Departments, bodies and agencies with varying usage of online and offline methods. Some use the contract to procure only air travel, others use it for air and hotel (Brussels hotels only as per the contract) and car hire. More and more private companies are using a travel expense management system (OBT) where all expenses related to travel; air, hotel, car, and subsistence/entertainment are captured on the same system, in this way making it more transparent and easier to control and analyse travel expenditure.

SUMMARY

The world of business travel is a valuable, innovative and technologically evolving industry. The opening up of new markets and the drive to expand business into new frontiers is a reality. Coupled with this is the requirement to develop new business relationships which must be nurtured though face to face meetings thus giving continued impetus to this sector. We have reviewed the role and function of TMC’s and technology in the travel industry and the future challenges they face. The various models of travel management gives us an insight into how the travel industry operates and provides a framework that can be compared against the research findings when examined in more detail and assist in establishing what can we learnt by both the private and public sector in the management of air travel

Organization defines tourists as people who “travel to and stay in places outside their usual

Environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and 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”.

According to international passenger survey (IPS) 2009, more than 14 million overseas visitors visited London, Over 50% of London visitors were EU nationals, dominated by arrivals from France Germany, Spain and Italy. A further 14% arrived from the rest of Europe. According IPS itself they spend around 8,315 billion pound in year 2009.As the data shows people visited London for different reason among which 50 percent visitor visited for holiday purpose , 23 percent visited for visiting friends and relatives,18 percent visited for business, 1 percent visited as a student and rest 8 percent visited for other reason.( For statistics see appendix 1)

Urban tourism:

http://www.stayfitbug.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/london-nightlife.jpg A night view of central London.

Urban tourism has, in one form or other, been with us since Mesopotamia and Sumeria were spawning the phenomenon of urbanization. People with the means and inclination to do so have been drawn to towns and cities just to visit and experience a multiplicity of things to see and doaˆ¦These (towns and cities) were the melting pots of national culture, art, music, literature and of course magnificent architecture and urban design. It was the concentration, variety, and quality of these activities and attributes … that created their attraction and put certain towns and cities on the tourism mapaˆ¦ (Karski 1990, p. 15).

Today tourism consumes substantial amounts of space within urban destinations: tourist-historic urban cores, special museums of many kinds, urban waterfronts, theme parks and specialized precincts all contribute to this consumption (Gospodini 2001) . Today major urban areas perform important functions ,all the modern technologies and development takes place in urban areas. They are the key gateways for both international and domestic tourists. As a whole we can say that every tourists first destination will take place in urban areas no matter which country it is in entire Globe.

Museums and tourisms in uk

As we all know that the tourism plays a vital role in UK economy as it is recognized as 5 th largest industry in the UK and UK Museums are the key players in attracting the inbound and outbound visitors . According to ” National Museum Directors conference April 2009? Museums’ success in attracting visitors: eight of the top ten UK visitor attractions in 2008 were museums and galleries and three UK Museums were in the top ten most visited International Museums in 2008.

Museums are major beneficiaries of income from visitors, who contribute directly to the tourism

economy. Studies calculate that in 2006 overseas visitors to major UK museums and galleries

spent ?350 million as a result of their visit4 and UK visitors, who spend considerably less per visit,

were estimated to have spent ?245 million in 2004.5 Visitor surveys show that the vast majority of

visitors have a positive experience in major museums.(national museum directors conference April 2009)

Contribution of museums to urban tourism

As we discuss above in museums and tourism, we are clear that museums contribute a huge chunk of benefit in tourism industry .Most of the city have museums and it plays a vital role in urban tourism. Once it (the museums) was a place that had instruction and the propagation of a particular view of the world as its underpinning. Now it (to museums) has come to be seen as an urban landmark- a replacement for the missing agora, a place devoted to spectacle (Sudjic 1993:143)

In 2008-2009 the national museums received well over 40 million visitors, this figures defines clearly that museums contribute a huge impact in tourism industry.

Ammonite

http://www.destination360.com/europe/uk/images/s/natural-history-museum.jpg

Front view of natural history museum, south Kensington, London

There are over 240 Museums in London among them; the Natural History Museum is one of the largest Museums on exhibition road, South Kensington, London ,which was created from the private collection of British physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753). The museum is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It has been voted as the seven wonder of London by time out magazine. The museum is home to earth and science specimens having some 70 million items within 5 main collections:

Mineralogy

In this department they have collection of approximately one third of a million specimens and consists of four main elements: minerals, including gems, (about 180,000 specimens),rocks, including building stones and ocean bottom deposits, (about 160,000 specimens), meteorites (about 3,000 specimens) and ores (about 30,000 specimens).

Botany

In this department they have collection of an estimated 6 million specimens including seed plants, spores and pollens, lycophytes and ferns, bryophytes, algae, diatoms, lichens and slime moulds and is one of the most comprehensive collections in the world.

Zoology

In this department they have collection of some 28 million specimen’s house at south Kensington, tring and wandsworth. They include remarkable diversity of material from whales to protists, prepares at wet or dry preserved specimens, mounted on slides or frozen tissue samples.

Entomology

In this department they have the collection of estimated 28 million prepared specimens including insects and other terrestrial and fresh water arthropods including spiders, mites and myriapods.

Paleontology

In this department they have the collection of approximately 9 million specimens including microfossils, macro-invertabates, plants and vertabates.

Aim

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of Natural History Museum in London tourism.

Objectives:

To describe and analyse the visitors profile at the museum, changes in the profile in recent years, how many are international tourists (a specific category of visitor, different from e.g. school groups, local people, domestic tourists).

To understand and analyse ,What do the museum visitors think about the building ,services and products of museum and the area as a London tourist attraction.

To understand the feelings of local residents about their local museum and impact of museum tourist on their daily life .

Literature review

Museums are institutions based on objects. This is what makes them different from other social and cultural institutions. As it is stated;

Museums are pump primers, their presence can be compared to the opening of a subway station, or even an airport: an investment which has the effect of raising property values. They have the ability to raise the profile of a development, bringing life into an area. (Sudjic 1993:141)

The establishment of the British museums in 1753 And the transformation of the Louvre into a museum in the beginning of the nineteenth century marked a new era in urban tourism culture development in which museums of art, archaelogy and natural science began to appear in most major cities in Europe and North America( Thomkins 1973; feldstein 1990).

This is the data drawn by the help of data provided by Natural History Museum to show the no of visitors and their type of five years from year 2004-2005 to 2008-2009.

Performance indicator 09-10 08-09 07-08 06-07 05-06

Outturn Outturn Outturn Outturn Outturn

Visitors

Number of total visitors 4,388,944 3,843,310 3,779,420 3,892,878 3,281,810

Number of child visitors 1164390 1,131,054 1,251,131 1,325,946 1,049,808

Number of over 60s visitors 307,226 269,032 249,139 290,977 223,643 Number of visitors from lower 429,569 333,832 289,978 299,622 422,482

Socio-economic groups (NS-SEC

Groups5-8) aged 16 and over

According to the annual report

Methodology:

Research is a systematic and objective process to interpret facts, increase knowledge of the subjects and draw conclusions based on those learning processes (Saunders et al. 2007). There are various approaches to conduct the research, yet, it is vital to identify appropriate epistemological and methodological bases that allow the collection of sufficient information, and ultimately to answer questions raised by the researcher (Gratton & Jones 2003).

In order to achieve the first objectives the author will use secondary data to describe and analyse the visitors profiles at the museum, in this objective he will try to find out particularly who are the visitors like, their origin, their age groups, education and relevant information.

The second objective, which is to identify what do the Natural History Museum visitors think about the building, services and products of museum and the south Kensington area as a London tourist attraction? To meet this objective the author will carry out a survey of 20 people outside the museum gate ,asking the visitors who visited the museum recently.

In order to meet third and last objective, that is; To understand the feelings of local residents about their local museum and impact of museum tourist on their daily life .Qualitative data will be pivotal, So the Author will carry out the face to face interview of around 20 local residents of South Kensington near to the Natural History Museum in order to get their opinion about the Museum.

Hence the overall aim, the role of Natural History Museum to London tourism will be achieved through the collection of both primary and secondary data using both qualitative and quantitative data research method.

Field work:

To find out the second objective, which is to identify what do the Natural History Museum visitors think about the building, services and products of museum and the south Kensington area as a London tourist attraction? The author had carried out the survey of 20 visitors at the time of field visit.(for questionnaire and data collection refer to appendix)

According to the data collection on survey out of 20 people, there were 55% male and 45% female of which 25 % were married and rest 20 % of them were single. The table also shows that the majority of the volunteer to the survey belonged to the 17- 30(50%) and 31-59(30%) age group, though there were a good representative of individuals(20%) between the age group of over 60 years old.

Majority of volunteer represent the managerial professional occupations (55%), followed by entrepreneur representing 25 %, followed by 15% belonging to skilled job holder and rest of them were in semi skilled job (5%). The table also explain that the majority of the volunteer were holding diploma or degree representing 50% in a whole, followed by master degree holder (25%) and GCSE/A level 20 %, and the rest 5 % were holding a PhD.

If we move further then the table explains that there were a huge no of inbound tourist representing 40 % of total tourist which were from different parts of united kingdom, followed by European union country representing 35 %, then after the Asian country (15%) majority form china and India as it is not shown in data, rest of them (10%) were from western country.

As a part of survey the author carried out a survey mainly asking 10 important questions , as the table or data explains that the majority of the volunteer were excited and satisfied with the services and facilities after visiting the museum and they were telling that the museum building were amazing and excellent. As the figure shows that the majorly of the people were excited with the environment of the south Kensington, as it is a part of central London and they were telling that its modern and well facilitated in terms of transportation, cleanness, different restaurants and pubs, and also another two major museum that is Victoria and Albert museum and science museum and they seem very happy with the local people and their hospitality.

As we can see that the majority of the volunteer (50%) likes the blue zone or department which has the amazing dinosaur collection, marine invertebrates etc, followed by red zone(25%) or department which has the collection of vision of earth, earth today and tomorrow, earth lab etc, and then green zone where you can see the best minerals collection, fossil marine reptiles, primates etc, and lastly orange zone where you can Explore the Wildlife Garden and see behind the scenes of the Darwin Centre.

According to data the volunteer looks very positive and satisfied about museum and the London as a great tourist destination , and the majority of them were willing to come back again as they were suggesting that the administration should work out a bit more to make it more well organised and modern.

To find out the third objective that is evaluating the opinion of local residents about their local museum (specially Natural History Museum) , the author had carried out the face to face interview of 20 people. ( for the sample questions and data please see appendix 3)

According to the data collected on 6 th of august 2010 ,there were 45 percent of male volunteering followed by 55 percent female of which 30 percent were married and rest 25 percent were unmarried belonging to different age groups ,majority of them were in between 17 to 59. There were mixture of educated people holding mixture of education qualification working in different category of jobs of which 15 % of volunteer were working as the semi skilled jobs.

Referring to the interview results, majority of volunteer were very excited and happy of the existence of their local museum ,though there were some mixed negative reaction about the museum , especially people were complaining about the overcrowding problem as I asked about the first question that was what do you think about your local Museum. As I moved to second question which was what are the benefit of your local museum in your life ,there were a mixture of positive answers ,majority of volunteer were telling me that they can see different people from different parts of the world ,they can interact with them, because of museum that particular area is very much developed and secured ,out of 20 some were shop keeper who told me that they were very much benefited form the shop because of the tourist who comes to visit the museum, some were telling me that because of museum visitor there are dozens of bars , restaurants , shops which created thousands of jobs . As I asked them third question which was what is the negative impact you local museum ? majority of volunteer were answering me that because of the museum their place is overcrowded ,polluted (sound ,air etc)and urbanised(lose their ethnicity ) .some of them were sharing me that they cannot get sit to sit on the bus neither in train because of huge no of tourist. As i moved further to fourth question which was are you happy with the tourist that come to visit your local museum and local area, there were mixed answers of which some were saying that they were very happy because they can see different people from different parts of the world, some were saying they can chat with them and know about their culture , their place it’s like sharing a culture and tradition between two different people . some of them were not happy they were sharing me that some tourist are uncivilised they spit on the bus and tube , shout on the bus and tube they said that they were mentally annoyed by the behave of the tourist.

As I asked them my last question , what is the best thing that you like about the museum that is in your area. For this question majority of the volunteer gave me positive feedback ,that the museum is attracting huge no of tourist from the inbound and out bound and it helps them in running their jobs and business ,they are very proud to be the local resident of the historic place ,they and their generation can see different collection of the museum very easily . They and their children can learn from the museum and can be the part of the great museum. As top of this some of them were suggesting that there should be done more in local area by the museum and the government in terms of transport, cleanliness’ and safety to attract more tourist.

Analysis :
Conclusion :

Refrences:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100227192739AAsbDHB

http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/contributing-society-and-economy/tourism/

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2007/november/news_12913.html

http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/news/newsletters/?item=3

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/index.html

Natural History Museum ,Souvenir Guide to the amazing world of nature.

http://www.jerwood.org/?lid=34

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2007/november/news_12913.html

Cities and visitors: regulating people, markets, and city space By Lily M. Hoffman, Susan S. Fainstein, Dennis R. Judd, page 219

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_History_Museum

http://www.london-insider.co.uk/2010/07/review-the-deep-exhibition-natural-history-museum/#ixzz0vAF6ASy7

http://www.visitlondonmediacentre.com/images/uploads/London_-_Overseas_Visits_2009_-_Factsheet.pdf

http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/media/documents/what_we_do_documents/museums_tourism_briefing_apr09.pdf

http://www.enjoyengland.com/Images/England%20factsheet_tcm21-170496.pdf

http://www.alva.org.uk/visitor_statistics/

http://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/media/documents/what_we_do_documents/museums_deliver_full.pdf

http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc0607/hc07/0777/0777.pdf

http://smb.museum/ifm/dokumente/materialien/IfM_001-202_WEB.pdf4

http://smb.museum/ifm/dokumente/materialien/IfM_001-202_WEB.pdf

http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/freedom_of_information/108835-visitorNumbers.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_in_London#Visitor_figures

Museum, media, message By Eilean Hooper-Greenhill

Gratton, C., & Jones, I., 2003. Research Methods for Sports Studies. London: Routledge

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A., 2007. Research Methods for Business Students 3rd ed. Essex: Pearson Education.

Introduction

The role of government is an important and complex aspect of tourism, involving policies and political philosophies. State intervention in the trade is a relatively recent practice for central government. State participation increased as tourism became a mass phenomenon, reaching a peak shortly after the Second World War in 1939-45. A slow withdrawal began in the boom years of the 1980s with the shift to the market-oriented economy. These trends are noted in this chapter, together with an examination of the principal aspects of state intervention:

Areas for state action.
Definitions of the role of the state.
Principal state functions.
Tasks of the destination authority.
Government tourism policies.
International intergovernmental bodies concerned.
International trade organizations with an advisory role.
International regional organizations.

The importance of many international organizations depends to some degree on the extent to which national governments have delegated their powers to intergovernmental bodies. This is the case with the European Union (EU), where many functions in taxation, regional and infrastructure development, and policy matters in transport, social and environmental regulation, are now within the competence of the administration in Brussels. For the most part, intergovernmental bodies’ activities are advisory or technical in character. There have been few intergovernmental initiatives outside the EU leading to action in the travel field, but there has been a slow movement towards liberalization of movement.

Areas of state intervention

In general the state recognizes that the duties of the public sector must cover such matters as health, safety, fair trading and consumer interests and infrastructure in transport such as roads, railways and ports. These are all matters of direct concern to the resident population. There is a mixed record in the provision of leisure facilities, environmental protection and conservation which includes responsibility for the unique cultural heritage, an important part of Europe’s visitor attractions.

Strategy

Whatever form of organization or degree of devolution in the state’s role, it is essential that the public authority, central or local government should agree an overall strategy. This should be reinforced by an outline plan or guidelines, to present a coordinated picture of the destination’s future shape as a tourism area, both at national and local level. This may apply at regional level where the regional destination is in fact an accepted tourism entity, for example the Lake District or the Norfolk Broads in England. The state tourism agency, tourist board or government department will have an important role to play in advising on the strategy, offering opportunities to consult and cooperate with a dispersed private sector, and preparing a destination marketing strategy based on an identification of the appropriate markets and their needs and wishes. This leads to a product market fit indicating products and services required to attract the preferred visitor traffic. This is a vital role. The market will determine the outcome and the marketers have the essential responsibility to ensure product development to suit the required visitor movement.

Based on periodic surveys of the government role by the WTO, the OECD and individual countries, the principal functions of a Ministry of Tourism or of agencies under government control can be summarized as:

Research, statistics and planning.
Marketing.
Development of tourism resources.
Regulation, including trade regulation.
Training and education.
Facilitation/liberalization.
Local and regional tourist organizations

At the local level the regional or local authority has a role similar to that of the central government and in many ways a more comprehensive and important one. Indeed, in the early days of mass travel stimulated by the growth of the railway network, public sector intervention in tourism was solely at the local level. There were no national tourism organizations. The growth of large resorts, pioneered in Britain at the main seaside centres, encouraged the development of local tourism administrations to carry out the responsibilities of the host destination.

International organizations

There are a number of international bodies, both government and nongovernment, with tourism interests. Government bodies reflect the national government’s interest in, and political will regarding, tourism intervention. In the industrialized countries, the tourism priority tends to be low. Because of the wide range of tourism activity the number of organizations with some concern or responsibility is great, but coordination and often ooperation as at the national level is weak. Furthermore, consultation with industry and operating sectors is often inadequate, as the sector’s voice is weak. The main sector industry bodies inevitably present the case of their own trade, sometimes as in modes of transport in a competitive situation. Thus the collective tourism approach is hard to organize and sustain, even when cooperation at the operating level is effective.

World Tourism Organization

The World Tourism Organization (WTO), an intergovernmental body recognized by the UN as an official agency with a consultative status, has taken the lead in representing its member governments’ collective view in tourism issues. Like its predecessor body, the International Union of Official Travel Organizations, it has developed useful technical programmes in statistics, research and the exchange of ideas and experience and in technical aid, particularly for poorer countries. The WTO has made efforts recently to strengthen its links with commercial and non-government partners through its system of affiliate membership which should help in the provision of practical guidance and as a basis for cooperative action.

Non-governmental international organizations

As the work of the intergovernmental bodies expanded, trade sectors and professional bodies found it necessary to organize both at the world and regional international level, first to respond or react to government interventions, and second, where practical, to seek a more positive relationship in cooperative and collective tasks. The need for consultation at appropriate levels became more pressing and although clearly essential not always accepted by government bodies. Industry sectors have established their international associations or groups, such as:

Alliance International du Tourisme (AIT).
International Air Transport Association (IATA).
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
International Hotel Association (IHA).
International Road Transport Union (IRU).
International Union of Railways (UIL).
Universal Federation of Travel Agents Associations (UFTAA).
International regional organizations

Both at UN and geographic regional level there are regional bodies concerned with their regional needs. So long as liaison is maintained, such regional action and support can be very effective in tourism. This is certainly the case in Europe, which is seen at world level as a destination entity with many common interests. The Council of Europe with Cultural Activities and the United Nations European Economic Commission are examples. The latter body, covering both East and West Europe, has been active in transport matters among others. (An introduction to tourism book) Governments to:

Develop holistic and comprehensive tourism development strategies in partnership with community and industry stakeholders (including major foreign tour operators or industry associations, where appropriate), that include realistic expectations for the social, cultural and environmental benefits to be reaped from tourism

Create positive investment structures to support and encourage sustainable development of tourism destinations

Pressure industry associations to report on how they are achieving more sustainable tourism (e.g. industry associations are asking their members to sign up to guidelines and charters but few are enforcing this as a criteria for membership)
Legislate for corporate social reporting
Facilitate arenas to share best practices between sectors (hotels, tour operators, airlines and cruise lines) so that they can learn from one another
Ensure sustainable tourism measures are seen as a core value in wider development plans and policies rather than solely focusing on economic benefits
Legislate or provide incentives to businesses who adopt internationally recognised certification schemes or standards within their country

(http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/economics.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/CSR+in+the+Tourism+Industry/$FILE/CSR+in+the+Tourism+Industry.pdf)

We often heard that front office play an important role in the hotel industry. The front office or can be known as the main nerve of the hotel is the first and the last sector that interact with a client. Front offices are typically called so because they are at the front or entrance hall of a business, giving customers an easy access to office workers. This vital section of the business can serve many purposes, depending on the company, and are frequently the best place to obtain any customer-related information. Front offices may have an entry desk staffed with a secretary or administrative worker. This main desk can offer assistance to incoming clients or customers, and can direct queries to correct personnel. On the other hand, all personnel in the department may be trained in customer assistance, since front office workers may have many duties, training all of them in customer service means that someone will almost always be available to help a guest.

1.1 Division of Front Office

There are many part of division inside the front office department. All of this part of partition should duty their tasks and responsibility. Furthermore they should help each other so that the enrollment will complete with success and this will make the customer feels satisfy with the service and willingly to come again. The part of this department are Front Office Manager, Assistant Front Office Manager, Front Desk Representative, Night Auditor, Cashier, Reservationist and Telephone Operator. All departments play an important role to make the guest feel satisfy with our service.

1.1.1 Front Office Manager

The basic duty of front office manager is to directly supervise the front desk, reservation, concierge and PABX. Hotel PABX system comes with a front desk management system either PC based or telephone operator console based which is used by operator to perform various tasks easily. Using this console, one can update, monitor room status like occupied, cleaned. It can be used to print out call details room wise, estimate telephone bills. Other duties of the front office manager are assisting in the training and cross-training of front office employees, prepares monthly reports, assists the rooms division manager in formulation and completion of front office policies and procedures.

1.1.2 Assistant Front Office Manager

The assistant of front office manager is to control the operational activities of the hotel front desk within hotel procedure to provide the highest standard of courteous service while permitting acceptable profit levels. On the other hand, they have to ensure work is completed to include, shift closings, room deposits, refunds and rebates. They also have to prepare staffing schedules, complete payroll, and monitor labor expenses to budget figures and take personal responsibility for correcting customer service problems.

1.1.3 Front Desk Representative

Hotel front desk clerks make room reservations, offer information and services to guests and receive payment for services. They are employed by hotels, motels and resorts. Hotel front desk clerks perform some or all of the following duties such as maintain an inventory of vacancies, reservations and room assignments, register arriving guests and assign rooms, answer enquiries regarding hotel services and registration by letter, by telephone and in person, provide information about services available in the community and respond to guest complaints and compile and check daily record sheets, guest accounts, receipts and vouchers using computerized or manual systems.

1.1.4 Night Auditor

A night auditor works for a hotel or motel doing bookkeeping and often performing as the front desk agent as well. With the exception of for the smallest motels, most types and sizes of these businesses provide work for night auditors. These might be part-time positions, or the hotel may employ one full-time auditor and one part-time. Duties vary depending on the size of the capability, but the major focus of the job description is conduct end-of-day accounting duties. The job description for night auditors includes performing information entry on spreadsheets or in a file, and processing dissimilar types of computer accounting reports for the hotel and restaurant. They input reservations on a computer system and also update the occupied status of rooms as guests come and go.

1.1.5 Cashier

The cashier has to uphold precise account balances for hotel operating cost and collect payment from guests. Hotel expenses contain room charges, abroad telephone calls, meals and laundry. They should be able to carry out foreign exchange, for example, converting foreign currencies and travelers cheques into local exchange, protect safe deposit boxes and resolve bill payments, expenses rapidly and correctly for guests who are checking out.

1.1.6 Reservationist

A hotel reservations agent is an essential part of hotel operations. Guests get their first impression of the hotel service values at the time of reservation. Therefore, reservations agents must be courteous, well-informed and educational. The main duty of a reservations agent is to rent hotel rooms to potential guests. The agent must conquer any objections the guest has. Hotel managers provide rule so the agent will know precisely what to say if the guest resists the deal. This may come in the form of a script that must be insecurely followed. A reservationist is also someone who reserves events, tickets or makes travel preparations. Reservationists use customer-service skills to help people. The reservationist books events, tickets or arrangements online, by phone or in person. He produces customer confirmations and meets the customer??s needs to the best of his capability. Contacting customers when a termination is submitted is also the dependability of a reservationist.

1.1.7 Telephone Operator

The supreme duty of a telephone operator is that of transferring calls from external the hotel to the suitable guest room. For security measurement, operators have to do this without giving out the room number of a hotel guest. The telephone operator may not often be face-to-face with guests of the hotel, but plays an important role on behalf of the hotel to the guest. For this situation, a friendly and polite tone of voice is all-important. The duties of the telephone operator include answers incoming calls, straight calls to guest room through the switchbox.

1.2 Organization Chart in Small Hotel, Mid Size Hotel and Large Hotel

There are three main charts for front office division in hotel industry that is inside the small hotel, mid size hotel and the large hotel.

2.0 Conclusion

Each department plays an important role in order to get a complete task to get the main thing that is the satisfaction of the customer. Sequentially to carry out its mission, worldwide and departmental goals and objectives, every company shall build a formal organization depicting different hierarchy of managing, supervision, and employee or the staff levels. All hotels mission is to make the hotel success by satisfying the customer need. If the hotels fail to do so, it means that they have failed everything. This is because we have to be humbled to the guest and respect the guest although they are wrong. The statement saying that ??guest will always be right?? is the rules showing that everything that the guest do and say, we have to give and take. The main department that is front office management has to play the important role as they are the one that will communicate with the guest from the guest check in until they will check out. Smile and greet the guest politely will make the guest feel happy and hoping that they will see us again.

Question 2

Front office staffs must have certain skills to attract guests during the first impression. Write about Front Office staff skill in guest relations.

1.0 Introduction

Impression and attitudes of the staffs are the most important things that the hotel should be aware when it comes to the customer satisfaction. They have to welcome the guest with a great smile and greet them politely as they are persons that will decide whether we deserve to have them in the hotel or opposite that. As been said by F.Howard in the Business Publications, Eye contact is the first thing they’re taught. The idea is to know a person before and after the guest opens the front door and enters the lobby. To do this, staff members have to be alert and aware of what is going on around them. What they are trained to do is recognize the people by providing eye contact and a smiling nod to let them know that they’ve been known. To make a successful business in the hotel, all the staff and employee should take a few steps so that the circle of the chain inside the hotel is moving smoothly.

1.1 Meaning of the guest

A guest is the person who buys room, meeting space, food and beverages or other service from the hotel. They are someone that who has certain needs and wants to be fulfilled and if the hotel cannot fulfill them, a competitor of the other hotel is the best choice of the guest to fulfill their satisfaction. A guest is someone who is in his or her mind, thinking that they are always right. We should never argue or match with a guest because if we do so, it??s like we??re giving the hotel to bankrupt.

1.2 Importance of Guest Relations

According to L.F Dennis in the ??Rooms at The Inn: Front Office Operations and Administration?? book, in the clients mind, the character and competence of the entire hotel are reflected in the personality of the front office staff. The people of the front office may be the client??s first and last contact with the hotel. For the arriving guests, their behavior sets the tone for the entire stay. For departing clients, their final words create lasting impressions. It is the staff responsibility to create a sense of belonging. Clients must be made to feel as they are part of a family. The front desk staff must convey the impression that it is not there just to sell rooms, but rather to make the guest??s stay at the hotel as enjoyable as possible.

1.2.1 First Impression

Personal appearance is the most obvious factor in influencing first impression. An individual??s appearance can communicate neatness, organization, pride and self-esteem. Eye contact and facial expressions also influence how people are perceived by others. A neat appearance, confidents, enthusiastic manner and a voice that convey warmth and sincerity are the most important tools of a front desk representative.

1.2.2 Personal Appearance

Appearance is the function of sex and age. Regardless of the sex or age of a front desk representative, he or she will encounter certain biases in guests or others. For example, some people have the mistaken belief that older staff members are not ??up to date?? and others automatically assume that younger employees are inexperienced. A front desk representative, who dresses with authority, wears quality accessories and maintains a conservative appearance will produce a positive reaction in every client.

1.2.3 Communication

Communication and understanding must also take place. Addresses guests will create the impression of respect and concern that the hotel has for its clients. A courteous staff member is a good listener as well as an efficient communicator. Asking questions indicates that the representative is interested in the client. Listening to the answers indicates personal respect and attention to the guest needs.

1.3 Dealing with Complaints

Clients communicates their complaints not only to the front desk staff but also to coworkers, business associates and other guests. There are ways for dealing with clients who have complaints that are:

?? Never be defensive

?? Define the problem

?? Validate the clients feelings

?? Restate your understanding

?? Promise to take action

?? Follow Up

1.4 Preventing Complaints

Complaints can often be avoided by properly educating guests about hotel policies and procedures. The most common complaint of hotel guests is related to credit card guarantees. Proper information can prevent misunderstandings and minimize complaints. On the other hand, the front office staff keep doing mistake, for example they will forget to key in the details of their guest and when the guest wants to check-in, they can??t do it because the guest name are not inside their check-in list. They have to always be alert every time when it comes toward related of the guest.

1.5 Effective Telephone Techniques

The front office staff spends a great deal of its time on the telephone, communicating with people both inside and outside the hotel. Although some people have better speaking voices than others, verbal communication is an art that can be learned with practice. There are ways to develop an efficient, courteous telephone manner that are:

?? Be prepared

?? Answer promptly

?? Use proper identification

?? Speak directly into the telephone

?? Relax and be yourself

?? Ask questions

?? Listen carefully

?? Take notes if necessary

?? Use reflective phrases

?? Keep call holds to a minimum

?? End the call courteously

2.0 Conclusion

The way to cooperate with customer is to love and the respect the customers. The ability to connect and build rapport with other people is a foundation life skill, and should be ideally, be actively developed from an early age. In business and in the workplace, on the domestic front and in our community lives, we all stand to promote from more effective communication skills. We crave for more fulfilling interpersonal relationships. The front office staffs should greet their customers with sincere and be patient with what the customer complaint because customer will always be right. Good communication is the lifeblood of the service industry and it’s important that your communication style reflects professionalism. To make the business or hotel success is to make the customer satisfy, listen to what they want. They will feel happy and think that they wanted to come again to your hotel.

Nowadays in developing countries, ecotourism is used as an excellent tool for promoting sustainable development. It is very beneficial for local communities creating environmental, economic and social benefits. Ecotourism is carried out by many tourism planners and marketers nowadays. The important aspect involved in ecotourism is its proper planning and implementation. In the case of improper planning it converts all the economic gains into social and environmental disasters. Ecotourism has gained popularity developed into a worldwide phenomenon showing no signs of slowing down. Even though it is not a universal remedy for attaining sustainable development, its potential towards promoting sustainable development deserves considerable attention. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of ecotourism in attaining sustainable development in Costa Rica.

Ecotourism

The concept of ecotourism was well identified in 1960’s by Hetzer who contributed to this by identifying four principles of ecotourism. They are minimizing environmental impacts, respecting host cultures, maximizing benefits to local communities & maximizing tourist satisfaction. Ecotourism is an integration of social, environmental and economical benefits meeting both human and environmental needs. One of the major causes for the evolution of ecotourism is the dissatisfaction with mass tourism creating over development, pollution and foreign investment. According to International Ecotourism Society (2004) Ecotourism is a “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people”.

Sustainable Development

The term sustainable development received international recognition in 1980’s. In 1987, Bruntland commission defined sustainable development as “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs”. It is a combination of social, economical and environmental development.

Ecotourism & Sustainable Development

It is nothing but sustainable tourism. In 1995 World Trade Organization stated in Agenda 21 that “Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future”. Sustainable tourism involves a number of principles in it. Sustainable development is not the only goal of ecotourism, but sustainable development is very important for achieving the goal of ecotourism.

About Costa Rica

Costa Rica which means “Rich Cost” is a country in South America bordered by Nicaragua in north, Panamma in south, Caribbean Sea in east and Pacific Ocean in west. The government is constitutionally democratic. It constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949 becoming military neutral. It was ranked first among the Americas for Environmental Performance Index in 2010.

Total area – 19,653 sq.m

Water percentage – 0.7

Population – 4,253,897

GDP (nominal) – $29.318 billion

It contains 5% of the world’s biodiversity. Around 25% of the country’s land area is covered by protected national parks and protected areas. About 24 national parks are found in Costa Rica. The Monteverde cloud forest reserve is a home for about 2000 plant species, over 400 birds, over 100 species of mammals and numerous orchids.

Growth of ecotourism in Costa Rica

Costa Rica earned reputation as a premier ecotourism destination in the world also considered as ecotourism’s post child. Some of the factors that influenced ecotourism in Costa Rica are pleasant climate, excellent national park, best public health care system, best public education, highest literacy rate in Latin America etc. It is also blessed with abundant natural resources such as beaches, mangroves, mountains, caves, waterfalls, volcanoes and tropical rainforests which is one of the most biologically diverse areas of the world containing 5% of entire planets biodiversity. In a short period Costa Rica has reached high level of maturity in ecotourism creating both beneficial effects and detrimental consequences on sustainable development. It is considered as a model in implementing ecotourism in many other areas.

Economic impacts

Globalization plays an important role in global economic decision making. As globalization and unbridled economic competition continue to dominate the global agenda, the travel agents who came up with the idea of ecotourism were now looking for new markets and not the ways to save the world. Because of this issue, many protected regions of Costa Rica are increasingly integrated into the global economy. Park entry fees and other form of revenues increase the value of protected land rather than the revenue obtained from deforestation.

Ecotourism also earns foreign exchange to developing countries by bringing tourists from north ( from developed countries). A survey states that in early 1990’s Costa Rica was the leading overseas ecotourism destination for U.S travellers, but only 20% of its revenue went to the local community and the remaining was paid to the tour operators, tickets on foreign owned airlines, to import products that appeal foreign tourists. A certain percentage of profits can be recycled to the local community development through legislation so that revenue leakage is reduced.

In general, the employment opportunities of the people living near to ecotourism destinations is based on the tourists. In Costa Rica, people living near to Monteverde cloud forest reserve is an excellent example who have gained great economic values with this. Contrast to the previous point, Osa peninsula a ecotourism spot in Costa Rica has made its inhabitants even more poorer than before over attraction by ecotourists which created profit to outsiders.

Marketing in general is used to elaborate a buisness scale. In Costa Rica in regions where outsiders dominate, marketing is used es an efficient tool by the local community to elaborate their buisness. Fake marketing is also done in some regions which is of no environmental responsibility. Since ecotourism is a seasonal activity, it can fluctuate over time to time and the local community cannot entirely depend on this for their earnings which leads to economic discomfort. Outsiders took over many regions in Costa Rica which have become distorted and the prices have increased drastically so that many Costa Ricans have been priced out of land and home ownership.

Social impacts

Even though the local communities are not traditionally involved in ecotourism planning and implementation, it becomes essential for them to get involved in different phases of it for their own benefits. Also the local communities are very familiar with the local resources, it makes them essential to involve in decision making. Stakeholder participation and community involvement are very important in decision making process since they have the greatest stake in the outcome of any ecotourism project.

The culture of the local community plays an important role in ecotourism. For a sustainable ecotourism, cultural structures of the local community must be well understood so that the disintegration of the local communities can also be avoided. In Costa Rica, people in many rural areas did not support ecotourism instead they felt it as a threat to their cultural dynamics. Ecotourism brings many advantages to the local community if they integrate themselves with it otherwise it can lead to commofication resulting in erosion of culture and community cohesion.

Ecotourism provides some employment opportunities to the local community such as hotel servicing, crafting, government agency staff, tour operators etc. In Costa Rica local community people are trained in the areas of park maintanance, habitat restoration, management etc in order to incorporate them in protected area management. Govrnment should provide some subsidies and intensives to local poor people to own a buisness. Many innovative and resposible locally owned ecotourism projects fail due to insufficient investments and their competition with large foreign companies.

The goal of ecotourism is that the profits from ecotourism must be reinvested into the local community to meet their basic needs. Additional revenues are channeled into programmes which directly benefit the local people in their health and education. When people get focused to ecotourism getting support from their community, they will devote their time and energy to it, understanting that the success of ecotourism is directly linked to their individual capacity to achieve greater standards of life.

Environmental impacts

National parks in Costa Rica are the backbone of its ecotourism industry contributing much to the country’s tourism industry as a whole. In 1960’s Costa Rica’s first strictly protected area was established, after that four national parks were offically created in 1970’s to preserve its biodiversity. There are 30 and above national park’s and more than 230 protected areas in costa Rica. Cost Rica forms a variety of ecosystem with 850 bird species, 1260 tree species, 1200 orchid species, 270 mammal species, 361 species of reptiles and amphibians and more than 35,000 species of insects.

The creation of parks and protected areas protect natural species, but it resulted in deforestation. National parks form the crucial part of ecotourism in Costa Rica which was increasing since 1980’s and attained maturity at the end of 1990’s. Even ecotourism earnings have contuined to increase, the Costa Rican government is not properly funding to the parks and protected areas leading to dependancy on foreign donations much.

Other than national parks and protected areas, private reserves have emerged as another important way to protect Costa Rica’s natural resources and biodiversity. About 68 reserves were found in Costa Rica in which more than 40 involves in ecotourism in which La Selva, Rara Avis, Monteverde cloud forest reserve are some of those in it. Monteverde forest reserve recieves nearly 50,000 visitors per year which contains most important population of quetzal, an endangered bird species. Private reserves serve as an intimation to the government that ecotourism has good earning potential and it can be economically viable when sufficient resources are invested.

Ecotourism projects results in natural degradations when the natural areas are overcroweded with visitors. Solid waste generation, pollution, habitat destructions, forest degradations and trail erosion results in increase of local carrying capacities. The negative effects of ecoourism can be minimized by emphasising low- impact construction, controlling the number of visitors, taking care in interacting with local flora and fauna. A balance between development and conservation should be created in order to avoid the degradation of natural environment.

Education is often cited as on of the most crucial element for every individual as well as for a society. Environmental education contributes much for ecotourism. Knowledgable tour guides can provide a quality environmental education. Local guides have more advantage over foreign guides since they have more knowledge about local ecologic, natural history and local culture. Lack of experienced and knowledgable trail guides is one of the major problems with ecotourism in Costa Rica. Creating educated public understanding the importance of ecotourism in Costa Rica will help the countries benefit for long run.

1. Although the man has made extensive progress in his relatively short existence on earth, he is still virtually helpless in front of vagaries of nature. Natural disasters such as cyclones, flood and earthquakes ravage man’s domain at will and cause much loss to life and property. Despite everyone’s concern for disasters and technological developments in the world, the response to disasters has been knee jerk and uncoordinated at international, national and state levels. The problem is more acute in developing countries rather than in developed ones. The United Nations and its specialised agencies have always had an interest in and commitment to disaster relief. Therefore, there are various disaster relief, preparedness, prevention and mitigation programmes being carried out by various United Nations Organisations [1] .

2. The trend of occurrence of disasters is increasing and will escalate in future. Disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes, which have been the most destructive, along with the floods and droughts that arise from extreme weather conditions, are expected to get worse due to adverse impact of climate change. In the 21st century, the 2001 Bhuj earthquake; the 2004 tsunami; the 2005 earthquake in Kashmir; heavy rainfall in Mumbai in 2006 when nearly 1 m rain fell in a single day; the 2008 Bihar Kosi disaster; the August 2010 cloud burst in Leh; and, most recently, the September 2011 Sikkim earthquake have seen the armed forces as first responders [2] .

3. In Indian context it is unlikely that the local civil administration will have the resources available immediately to deal with a major disaster such as the earthquake that occurred in Gujarat in 2001 or the Tsunami of 2004. Therefore, it is essential that the state governments prepare detail disaster management plans and keep the resources in terms of men and material ready for use at short notice. There is a need for civil administration at the district and state levels to organise disaster relief cells with a pool of reserve. At present due to the inability of local administration to deal with natural calamities, armed forces are invariably employed for disaster relief.

4. In spite of breakdown of communications and the absence of a major strength of troops and resources, the response of the armed forces has always been prompt and won the respect of all concerned. The mainstay and strength of the Armed forces vis-a-vis civilian organisations has been the sense of discipline, training to respond to orders, adaptability, selfless dedication to the cause, genuine concern and focused action. These factors have always resulted in many individuals and NGOs wanting to route assistance through the Armed forces. Seeing the good work being done by the Armed forces, the government organisations, NGOs and civil agencies then join in the relief effort. This generates a spirit of cooperation. The mere presence of Armed forces troops instils a sense of security and gives solace to the affected people [3] .

Disaster Response Activities

5. Disaster management, which involves assessment and response, can be seen in various activities. The following are various activities of emergency response.

Warning.

Search and Rescue.

Evacuation and Migration.

Response and Relief.

Logistics and Supply.

Communication and Information Management.

Rehabilitation.

Post-Disaster Assessment [4] .

6. Natural calamities impart lessons at a huge cost of life and property. But if these lessons do not lead us to learning, then the cost will seem even heavier. At the time recurrence of disaster, the failure to learn from the previous incidents hurts the most. The massive earthquake in Gujarat and the subsequent chaos were indicators of how important prior planning is in managing relief and rehabilitation during various disasters. The Kutchh region required massive immediate assistance , however civil administration was unprepared for such crisis. Indian armed forces were employed for the relief from the begining. This made the need for a proper disaster mitigation plan very apparent. Learning from experience is essential in building a knowledge resource which would help in being better prepared in the future.

CHAPTER II
METHODOLOGY

1. Hypothesis. A common thread in a country’s response to disaster situation is military support to civilian authorities. India disaster relief mechanism in the present form lacks the required synergy between civil and military organisations to facilitate a synergised response.

2. Statement of Problem. The civil administration often falls back on the armed forces for assistance in crisis situations. Efficient disaster management mechanism, therefore, should incorporate the armed forces at each stage. The formulated plans should specify the assistance likely to be required in disaster situations. The most efficient system will be to have seamless integration in operations, with an aim of ‘core competency’ areas of each establishment giving its best in least time. The aim of the study is to examine the disaster relief mechanism existing in the country and analyze the interplay of various organizations in handling the disaster situation.

Justification for the Study

3. Over the past few years, the Government has introduced a paradigm shift in the approach to disasters. Corner stone of this approach is the realisation that disaster management has to be multi-disciplinary and spanning across all the sectors of development. As calamities evoke extraordinary response, the civil authority’s reliance on the Armed Forces has also ever increased. Due to their quick response, Armed forces have become a ‘mantra’ in the hands of the state to respond to such calamities spanning from Law and Order problems to large scale disasters. Despite our country being extremely vulnerable and prone to natural calamities, no detailed hazard and vulnerability assessments have been carried out either at the State or the National level [5] .

4. Is the country adequately prepared with infrastructure and strategy against various natural disasters? There are differences of opinion on this issue. According to some, there are certain limitations, but overall, the country is well equipped. Others, however point out that the country does not have detailed vulnerability assessments, forcing it to only respond to calamities and organise reconstruction [6] . It is in this context that this study assumes greater importance. It will analyse various facets of disaster preparedness, evaluate existing structures for disasters management and put forward its recommendations.

5. For the purpose of this study disasters related to war, civil disturbance and slow disasters (Like crop failure, famine etc) will be kept out. Natural disasters (Like floods, earthquake etc) and the response of armed forces in helping civil administration would be the focus of the study. The study is basically confined to the role of Armed forces, to include Air Force and Navy in providing assistance to the civil authorities in all natural calamities.

6. Method of Data Collection. Data and information has been collected from Military Papers, periodicals, newspapers and books. Disaster management setup of the country has been derived from NDMA 2005 & Ministry of Home Affairs documents on disaster management.

7. Organisation of the Dissertation. The research paper is covered under the following Chapters :-

(a) Introduction.

(b) Methodology.

(c) National policy on disaster management.

(d) Role of armed forces.

(e) International disaster relief system.

(f) Current concerns and recommendations.

CHAPTER III
NATIONAL POLICY ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT

“As of now, the government has no concrete disaster management policy. Many disasters are first created by us and then crores of rupees are spent on rescue and relief operations. The government should focus more on a sustainable model of development which can avoid disasters.”

Sunder Lal Bhauguna

1. Evolution of Disaster Management in India. Disaster management in India has evolved from an activity-based reactive setup to a proactive institutionalized structure; from single faculty domain to a multi-stakeholder setup; and from a relief-based approach to a ‘multi-dimensional pro-active holistic approach for reducing risk’. The beginnings of an institutional structure for disaster management can be traced to the British period following the series of disasters such as famines of 1900, 1905, 1907 & 1943, and the Bihar-Nepal earthquake of 1937. Over the past century, the disaster management in India has undergone substantive changes in its composition, nature and policy [7] .

2. Emergence of Institutional Arrangement in India. A permanent and institutionalised setup began in the decade of 1990s with set up of a disaster management cell under the Ministry of Agriculture, following the declaration of the decade of1990 as the ‘International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction’ (IDNDR) by the UN General Assembly. Following series of disasters such as Latur Earthquake (1993), Malpa Landslide (1994),Orissa Super Cyclone (1999)

and Bhuj Earthquake (2001), a high powered Committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. J.C. Pant, Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture was constituted for drawing up a systematic, comprehensive and holistic approach towards disasters [8] . There was a shift in policy from an approach of relief through financial aid to a holistic one for addressing disaster management. Consequently, the disaster management division was shifted under the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2002 and a hierarchical structure for disaster management evolved in India2.

Organisation and Structure of Disaster Management

3. Disaster management division is headed by Joint Secretary in ministry of home affairs, who is assisted by three Directors, Under Secretaries, Section Officers, Technical Officer, Senior Economic Investigator consultants and other supporting staff. The upper echelon of the structure also consists of Secretary (Border Management), Home Secretary, Minister of State in charge and the Home Minister.

4. Shifting from the relief and response mode, disaster management structure in India started to address the issues of early warning systems, forecasting and monitoring setup for various weather related hazards. A structure for flow of information, in the form of warnings, alerts and updates about the oncoming hazard, also emerged in this framework. A high powered group was setup by involving representatives of different ministries and departments. Some of these ministries were also designated as nodal authorities for specific disasters3.

Disaster Management Act, 2005

5. This Act provides for the effective management of disasters in the country. NDMA provides institutional mechanisms for formulating and monitoring the implementation of the disaster management. It also ensures measures by the various branches of the Government for prevention and mitigation of disasters and prompt response during any disaster situation. The Act provides for setting up of National Disaster Management Authority under Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, State Disaster Management Authorities under the Chairmanship of the Chief Ministers, District Disaster Management Authorities under the Chairmanship of Collectors/District Magistrates/Deputy Commissioners.

6. The Act further provides for the constitution of different Executive Committee at national and state levels. Under its aegis, the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) for capacity building and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for response purpose have been set up. It also mandates the concerned Ministries and Departments to draw up their own plans in accordance with the National Plan. The Act further contains the provisions for financial mechanisms such as creation of funds for response, National Disaster Mitigation Fund and similar funds at the state and district levels for the purpose of disaster management. The Act also provides specific roles to local bodies in disaster management4.

National Level Institutions

7. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was initially constituted on May 30, 2005 under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister. The NDMA has been mandated with laying down policies on disaster management and guidelines which would be followed by different ministries, departments of central government and state government in taking measures for disaster risk reduction. It has also laid down guidelines to be followed by the state government authorities in drawing up the State Plans and to take such measures for the management of disasters, Details of these responsibilities are given as under :-

(a) Lay down policies on disaster management.

(b) Approve the National Plan.

(c) Approve plans prepared by various ministries or departments of the government of India in accordance with the National Plan for disaster management.

(d) Lay down guidelines for the State Authorities in drawing up the State Plan.

(e) Lay down guidelines for the different ministries or departments of the government for the purpose of integrating the measures for prevention of disasters and the mitigation of their effects in their development plans & projects.

(f) Coordinate the implementation of the policy and plan for disaster management within the country.

(g) Recommend provision of funds for the purpose of disaster mitigation.

(h) Provide support to other countries affected by disasters on the recommendation of Central Government.

(j) Take other measures for the prevention of disaster, mitigation, preparedness and capacity building for dealing with the disaster situation .

(k) Lay down policies and guidelines for functioning of the National Institute for Disaster Management [9] .

8. Composition of NDMA. Besides the nine members nominated by the Prime Minister, Chairperson of the Authority, the Organisational structure consists of a Secretary and five Joint Secretaries including one Financial Advisor. There are 10 posts of Joint Advisors and Directors, 14 Assistant Advisors, Under Secretaries and Assistant Financial Advisor and Duty Officer along with supporting staff [10] .

9. State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA). The Disaster Management Act, 2005 provides for constitution of SDMAs in all the states and UTs. The Act envisages establishment of State Executive Committee, to be headed by Chief Secretary of the state Government with four other Secretaries of such departments as the state Government may think fit. It has the responsibility for coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the National Policy, the National Plan and the State Plan.

10. District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). NDMA provides for constitution of DDMA for every district of a state. The District Magistrate/ District Collector/Deputy Commissioner heads the Authority as Chairperson besides an elected representative of the local authority as Co-Chairperson. The District Authority is responsible for planning, coordination and implementation of disaster management and to take such measures for disaster management as provided in the guidelines. The District Authority also has the power to examine the construction in any area in the district to enforce the safety standards and also to arrange for relief measures and respond to the disaster at the district level.

11. National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM). In the backdrop of the International decade of Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR), a National centre of disaster management has been established at the Indian Institute for Public Administration in 1995. The Centre was subsequently upgraded and designated as the National Institute of Disaster management on 16th October 2003. Disaster management act, 2005 entrusts the institute with various responsibilities, such as to develop the training modules, undertake research and documentation for disaster management, organise the training programmes, organise study courses, conferences, and seminars to promote disaster management. It is also responsible for publication of journals, research papers and books on disaster management [11] .

12. National Disaster Response Force. The National Disaster Response Force has been constituted under Disaster management act, 2005 by up-gradation/conversion of eight standard battalions of central para military forces i.e. two battalions each from Border Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force to build them up as a specialist force to respond to disaster or disaster like situations.

13. The eight battalions of NDRF consist of 144 specialised teams trained in various types of natural, manmade and non-natural disasters.72 of such teams are designed to cater to the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear(CBRN) calamities besides natural calamities. Each NDRF battalion consists of 1149 personnel organised in 18 teams comprising of 45 personnel, who are being equipped and trained for rendering effective response to any disaster situation, both natural and manmade. All these eight battalions are being trained in natural disasters while four of them are being additionally trained for handling CBRN disasters. Based on vulnerability profile of different regions of the country, these specialist battalions have been presently stationed at the following eight places:-

Bhatinda.

Gr. Noida.

Vadodara.

Pune (talegaon).

Bhubaneshwar (mundali).

Kolkata.

Guwahati.

Patna.

Chennai (Arakkonam). [12]

14. The Government of India has approved the raising of two additional battalions of National Disaster Response Force by up gradation and conversion of one battalion each of Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force to be located in the states of Bihar (Bihata, Patna) and Andhra Pradesh (Vijaywada) respectively. The administrative approval for raising the two battalions was issued on 13-10- 2010 [13] .

15. State Disaster Response Force. The states/UTs have also been advised to set up their Specialist Response Force for responding to disasters on the lines of National Disaster Response Force by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Central Government is providing assistance for training of trainers. The state governments have been also advised to utilise 10 percent of their State Disaster Response Fund and Capacity Building Grant for procuring the search and rescue equipment and for training purposes of the Response Force [14] .

Civil Defence

16. Role of Civil Defence. During times of emergencies, the CD organisation has the vital role of mobilising the citizens and helping civil administration for saving life and property, minimising damage, and raising public morale. 225 towns have been nominated as CD towns.

17. Each town has nucleus of four Permanent Staff along with 400 CD Volunteers for a two lakh population. It is expected that each state will have one CD Training Institute with permanent strength of 36 personnel, five vehicles and other equipments. The District Magistrate is designated as a Controller for CD Towns. The present strength of CD volunteers is 5.72 lakhs, out of which 5.11 lakhs are already trained. The target strength of CD volunteers has been fixed at 13 lakhs based on the population of CD towns as per 2001 census [15] .

National Crisis Management

18. For effective implementation of necessary relief measures in the wake of a natural disaster, the Cabinet has established a Committee. On the constitution of this committee of the cabinet, the concerned Secretary will provide all the necessary information and data to and seek directions of the cabinet committee in all the matters concerning disaster relief. In the absence of this cabinet Committee, all matters relating to disaster relief will be reported to the Cabinet Secretary.

19. National Crisis Management Committee. A National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) has been constituted in the Cabinet Secretariat. The composition of the Committee is as under [16] :-

(a) Cabinet Secretary – Chairman.

(b) Secretary to Prime Minister – Member.

(c) Secretary (MHA) – Member.

(d) Secretary (MOD) – Member.

(e) Director (IB) – Member.

(f) Secretary (RAW) – Member.

(g) Secretary (Agriculture) – Co-opted Member.

(h) An Officer of Cabinet Secretariat – Convener.

20. Calamities Relief Fund. The government has earmarked two funds i.e. Calamities Relief Fund and National Fund for Calamities. The nodal agency for recommending release of these two funds is the Crisis Management Group in the Ministry of Agriculture, which is headed by Central Relief Commissioner. The allocation for the all the states under these funds is done by the Finance Commission for a duration of five years, based on the vulnerability of the states to Natural calamities and average expenditure. National Fund for Calamities is additional fund besides Calamities Relief Fund ; while 75 percent of CRF is contributed by the centre, the allocation under National Fund for Calamities is entirely by the centre and more or less discretionary [17] .

Forecasting & Warning

21. Forecasting about climate change is pre requisite for taking preparedness measure to respond to the disaster is the most important element of disaster management. The Ministry of Environment & Forest , Ministry of Earth Sciences , Ministry of Science &Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Non-conventional Energy, Defence Research & Development Organization, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indian Space Research Organization and Indian Meteorological Department promote and undertake climate and climate change related research in the country [18] .

(a) Atmosphere Watch Stations. A network of 10 Global Atmosphere Watch Stations consisting of Allahabad, Jodhpur, Kodaikanal, Minicoy, Mohanbari, Port Blair, Pune, Nagpur, Srinagar and Vishakhapatnam, is maintained by IMD as per WMO protocols and standards since 1974 to generate data and information on the exchange of trace materials between the atmosphere and the earth’s surface, making atmospheric turbidity and air quality measurements to quantify trends and acid rain threats.

(b) Atmospheric monitoring. There are 25 types of atmospheric monitoring networks that are operated and coordinated by the IMD. This includes meteorological, climatologically, environment, air pollution and other specialized observation of atmospheric trace constituents.

(c) Cyclone Warning. The IMD has established an observation network for detecting cyclones through 10 cyclone detection radars along the coasts. The detection range of these radars is 400 km. INSAT-1B satellite also monitors cyclonic movements. Ships and commercial radars are also utilized for cyclonic warnings. About 260 merchant ships have meteorological observation systems.

(d) Flood Forecast. The Ministry of water resources has an effective flood forecast system with 157 flood forecasting centres covering 62 river basins. Along with IMD, they monitor rainfall & water levels in the reservoirs. India has also developed radars which give accurate estimate of rainfall up to 200 km around the radar site.

(e) Tsunami warning. Post tsunami dated 26th December, 2004, Ministry of Earth Sciences has established the Indian National Tsunami Warning System at Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad. The Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS) was made operational on 15th Oct 2007. This agency has developed a protocol for issue for Tsunami Watch, Alert and Warnings. The Centre gives information to all responders about the origin, time, location of the epicentre, magnitude and depth of an earthquake inside the ocean and accordingly issues bulletins.

(f) Avalanche Warning. DRDO’s network of more than fifty laboratories is deeply engaged in developing Defence technologies. Centre for Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) is one of the laboratories of the DRDO located at Chandigarh with its primary function to do research in the field of snow and avalanches and to provide avalanche control measures and forecasting support to Armed forces.

Role of Voluntary Organisations

22. The role of voluntary organisations is to help people overcome the problems created by natural calamities by providing relief services to the people. They also works as the eyes and ears by acting as the intermediary between the masses and the government agencies to avoid duplication, ensure proper distribution of resources and organise vigilance groups for preventing of misuse of resources.

23. Some of the activities under taken by voluntary organisations are:-

(a) Establishing free food distribution centres, distributing blankets, clothes and medicines to prevent epidemics.

(b) Organising necessary relief camps, first aid centres, and immunisation camps.

(c) Organisation relief teams and sending them to far-flung affected areas to provide relief and monitor relief programmes.

(d) Organising awareness programmes about different relief activities initiated by Government and Non Government Organisations.

(e) Generating employment opportunities in the affected areas.

(f) Adoption of families of the affected areas.

CHAPTER IV
ROLE OF ARMED FORCES

1. The armed forces of any nation are probably best organised to provide support for establishing a various of public services like public works, communications, transport, medical services, search & rescue, and support activities. They are able to react quickly in a self contained, self sufficient and mobile fashion. Armed forces personnel are well trained in the skills necessary to perform their professional activities and can function under an integrated / flexible management system. So there is an enormous potential inherent in them to provide enormous capability to restore emergency services.

2. During the natural calamities, when many parts of the country are affected by them and it is beyond the capability of local administration to organise the rescue and relief, armed forces may be called upon to provide / organise relief measures. Armed Forces may also be called upon to provide assistance to other friendly countries, in case this has been requested for. One such example is that of Bangladesh. In 1991, when it was hit by worst cyclone in the history of the country the US armed forces, carried out relief operations [19] . In addition Indian Air Force also sent six helicopters for airlifting relief material to the affected areas.

3. Each year Armed Forces are called upon on several occasions for rendering assistance to civil administration throughout the nation during monsoon season for providing rescue and relief during the floods. The role of the armed forces during relief, rescue operations after Uttarkashi earthquake, Latur earthquake in Maharashtra, Chamoli earthquake and Floods in Orissa are well known.

4. Assistance Provided by Armed Forces. The Armed Forces may be called upon to render following type of assistance during natural calamities [20] :-

(a) Infrastructure for Command and Control.

(b) Medical Aid.

(c) Transportation of Relief Material.

(d) Establishment of Relief Camps.

(e) Construction and Repair of Roads and Bridges.

(f) Maintenance of Essential Services.

(g) Evacuation of People to Safer Areas.

(h) Stage management of International Relief.

5. Since the civil administration remains ill equipped for undertaking quick response to major disasters, the armed forces has been the primary option. As one of the most dedicated, professional, and modern armed forces in the world, the Indian armed forces respond to any disastrous situation with all their might. It is due to their technical competence, trained manpower, and logistical capabilities that they are always ready to rapidly undertake any kind of disaster-related rescue and relief operations.

6. They are also located in most remote areas where natural calamities are frequent. For instance, when the tsunami hit the Indian coast on December 26, 2004, the Indian armed forces, co-coordinated by the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), efficiently handled relief, rescue, and evacuation work under Operation Sea Wave, including extending aid to Sri Lanka and Maldives under Operation Rainbow and Operation Castor, respectively.

7. Whether, it was the Kashmir earthquake of 2005, the tropical cyclone in Bangladesh in, 2007, the fire at Burrabazar in Kolkata in 2008, the serial blasts at Bangalore and Ahmedabad in 2008, or the Mumbai attack of November 2008, the roles played by the armed forces are numerous. In August 2010, when Leh, was hit by flash floods which killed many people and left many other injured, the Indian Armed forces’s resp

The front office is the place where the customers or the hotel guest come in first contact with the hotel. This is the departments which handles room reservations, receives the guest and assign them rooms. The front office not only deals with the above functions but also sees to guest relations and guest comforts. The front office also deals with the check out formalities required before the hotel guest finally vacates the hotel room and departs from the hotel.

Classification of Hotels:

Hotel is defined by British Law as a place where a prospective guest can receive food and shelter provided he is in position to pay for it and is in condition to be received.

Hotels may be classified according:

Location

Number of rooms

Types of plan

Types of client

Length of guest stay

Facilities

Location:

Down Town

Suburban

Resort

Motel

Airport

Down Town:

It is located in the heart of the city, within a short distance of the business centre, shopping arcade, theatres, public building, etc. Rate sin the hotels are normally high. Normally business client prefer such hotels.

Suburban:

Located in the suburbs, it has the advantage of quieter surroundings. Rates are moderate to low. Such hotels are ideal for budget traveler and also organizations who find the quite setting ideal for conferences, seminars, educational programs etc.

Resort:

This type of hotel is located in the hill stations or at beaches. It is mainly patronized by vacationers. Basic facilities are provided and the rates offered are often on American plan.

Motels:

It is located on highways. They provide modest boarding and lodging to highway travelers. The length of guest stay is usually overnight. Rates are on European plan.

Airport:

These hotels are situated at airport and ideal for transit passengers who have only a few hours in the city making, it is impossible for them to stay in a down town hotels. Rates are on European plan.

Categorization by number of rooms:

Small hotels

Medium hotels

Large hotels

Very large hotels

Small hotels:

Hotels with 25 rooms and less may be termed as small hotels.

Medium hotels:

Those with 26 to 100 rooms may be termed as medium hotels.

Large hotels:

Those with 101 to 300 rooms are called as large hotels.

Very large hotels:

Hotels with above 300 rooms may be termed as very large.

Types of plan:

American plan

Modified American plan

Continental plan

European plan

Bermuda plan

American plan: Room Rent + Break fast + Lunch + Dinner

Modified American plan: Room Rent + Break fast + Lunch / Dinner

Continental plan: Room Rent + Continental Break fast

European plan: Room Rent only

Bermuda plan: Room Rent + Early Morning Tea / Coffee

Types of clients:

Group hotels

Commercial hotels

Family hotels

Group hotels:

Group hotels cater to groups and their rates would be on American plan.

Commercial hotels:

Cater mostly businessmen and are on European plan.

Family hotels:

A family hotel would be on American plan, such hotels are normally situated in resorts.

Length of guest stay:

Transient hotels

Residential hotels

Semi – Residential hotels

Transient hotels:

Hotels where a guest can register for a day or even less.

Residential hotels:

Hotels where guest stay for a minimum period of one month. The hotel signs a detailed list with the customer.

Semi – Residential hotels:

Hotels which are incorporate the features of both the transient and residential hotels.

Facilities:

Facilities provided by the hotel play a major role in the classification or grading of hotels. Different facilities provided in the hotels are as follows

Rooms

Restaurants / Bar

Shopping complex

Health club

Beauty parlor

Car parking

Laundry

Tour packages

Swimming pool

Travel agency

Coffee shop

Banquet hall

House doctor

Sports facilities

Pastry shop

Telephone

Postal facilities

Foreign exchange

Recreation facilities

Organization chart of Front Office Dept:
FRONT OFFICE MANAGER
ASST. FRONT OFFICE MANAGER
LOBBY MANAGER DUTY MANAGER GUEST RELATION TELEPHONE MANAGER MANAGER
SENIOR SENIOR RESERVATIONIST SENIOR RECEOTIONIST INFORMATIONIST TELEPHONE
OPERATOR
ASST. ASST. ASST. ASST.
RECEPTIONIST INFORMATIONIST RESERVATIONIST TELEPHONE OPERATOR
TRAINEES TRAINEES TRAINEES TRAINEES
SENIOR BELL CAPTAIN
ASST. BELL CAPTAIN
BELL BOYS PAGE BOYS DOOR MAN
Duties and responsibilities of Front Office staff
Front Office Manager:

Front manager has a wide range of responsibilities

He must maintain high level of efficiency among the front office staff

He should make effective decision regarding reservation polices and room assignment

Handle guest complaints and problems with courtesy

Maintain an open communication with other depts.

Assign duty to staff members, prepare weekly work schedule and shift arrangement

Holds regular staff meeting to ensure the hotel facilities and operating procedure

Responsible for new employees and reviewing the performance of each staff member.

During peak period the manager may be required to assist the front office representatives in the performance of the duties.

Manager is responsible for setting polices regarding no-show, early arrival and over booking.

Work closely with sales and marketing dept. regarding group reservation, billing arrangements and general forecast.

He should maintain close communication with house keeping dept. about room status and accounting dept. for information about special billing requirements.

He should submit regular written report on the activities of front office.

Asst. Front Office Manager:

Responsible for co-ordination of front desk operation

Monitoring guest accounts and payments

Authorizing and check special credit procedure

Assist front desk representatives during peak period

Prepare daily room occupancy report

Reviewing reservation for current date

Front Office Supervisor:

Prepare budget and monthly outlook report

Ensure that all the staff report on the time with proper uniform and properly groomed

Check statistical data’s on the day of preceding a regard to room revenue and occupancy

Brief staff to ensure maximum efficiency

Check if any repeat guest or vip has checked in as a walk in and see that proper status is given and ensure personalized service

Check and sign the log book and take follow up actions

Check reservation for the day with corresponding to ensure proper instructions on slips such as rates, billing, special request, etc.

Ensure that no keys are missing to prevent security risk

Meet and greet all guests on arrival and ensure proper rooming

Reception / Registration Assistant:

Having be informed on daily room status

Check up vip’s reservations and issue vip amenities

Handle group registrations as well as free individual travelers

Prepare all records connected with pre-registration of vip, invalids and old people

Handle group registration as well as free individual traveler

Maintain satisfactory part of all registration on stationery

Open out guest folio without delay and transmit it to front office cashier

Work closely with information assistant

Give all departure rooms to house keeping depts.

Take all clear rooms promptly from house keeping

Sell higher priced rooms and other hotel facilities to trained salesmanship

Handle scanty baggage with care and effort

Known color codes used in reception

Known room history namely location, rate, theme and the view of each rooms

Information Assistant:

Distribute room keys to registered guest in the hotel when arrival errand card is presented

Answer incoming call for guest and report all messages

Handle all guest mail, parcels, information’s, telegrams as per laid down procedures

Keep information aids like time table, road maps, hotel guides, etc.

Maintain guest racks alphabetically

Sell hotel facilities through trained salesmanship

Sign lobby departure errand card in acknowledgement of room key from a departing guest

Receptionist:

The receptionist primary duty is to receive the guest, enquire his/her requirements and room him/her

Welcoming is the guest is the duty of the receptionist

Registering the guest

Allocate the rooms

Room the guest by handling over the key to the bell boy to accompany the guest

Notify the concern dept. of the arrival, departures and moves

Passing on message to the guest

Giving information to the guest

Handling the mail and key to the guest

In smaller hotels the receptionist is required to do other duties in the front office. Those includes:

Reservation and reservation enquires

Recording the guest bill, post the vouchers, etc.

Receive the money in settlement of bills

Handling the telephones and messages

Reservation Clerk:

Prepare the room status for several day ahead

Reservation clerk attend to the reservation enquires, personal, post-card, cables, telex, telephone and gives proper information

Book the rooms in advance

Conform the booking arranges

Prepare the arrival list and informs the receptionist

Senior Bell Captain:

Supervise the lobby attendants

Take attendance and prepare staff schedules

Attend to guest complaints and handle telephone calls

Handle left luggage formalities and maintain the baggage check room

Train lobby attendants to maximize the departmental efficiency

Organize and supervise check in, check out baggage formalities of groups, crews, etc.

Control the sale of postage stamps and stationery to guests

Maintain record of all guest with “scanty baggage” and inform Asst. Manager

Conduct daily briefly of lobby attendant

Co-ordinate and control the distribution of morning news papers

Supervise the storage of essential medicine prescribed by the house doctor and be accountable of the issue made

Keep lobby clean at all times

Keep baggage neatly and in an orderly fashion at the specified places

Bell Boy:

Take the baggage from the in the porch or gate to the room

Escort the guest to the room on arrival

Place the baggage in the room on the luggage rack

Explain the operation of light, switches, air conditioning control to the guest and switch them on

Handle departure of guest

Check the room to ensure the guest has left no articles in the room by mistake

Switch off all lights and air-conditioning

Ensure collection of keys from guest at the time of check out and obtain clearance from information section

Check for mail, messages for departure guest and if available mail or messages is collected and give to departing guest

Take the baggage and place it in the car

Handle baggage of guest when they are shifting to another room

Distribute newspapers to guest rooms

Track unwanted guest in the hotel

Attend to instruction of supervisor

Deliver guest messages to guest rooms

Doorman / Linkman:

Another member of uniform staff. His place of duty is outside the main entrance of the hotel

He is responsible for cleanliness and good order of the front entrance of the hotel and area around it

He opens the car and taxi doors

When a car or taxi arrives he signals to the bell desk to send a bell boy and then opens the door of the car and helps the guest incoming out of the car and at the same time the bell boy handles the luggage of the guest

He keeps the unwanted visitors away from the hotel

Lift Operator:

In some hotels the lift are not automatically operated and are attended by an operator

Even if the lift are automatic it is advisable to have an attendant available

Responsible for the cleanliness of his lift

He must never permit any unauthorized person to operate his lift

He should take care that the lift is not overloaded

Telephone Supervisor:

Schedule staff to ensure smooth operation

Debit correct phone charges to guest and inform the front office cashier promptly

Check telephone for efficiency on a periodic basis

Maintain performance records of telephone operators and advise regarding increments and promotions

Brief staff at the beginning of the shift

Keep a close check on wake-up calls

Telephone Operator:

Extend a warm and courteous telephone service to guest or management and employees of the hotel

Handle wake-up call and ensure prompt service

Responsible for proper and accurate accounting of calls made by hotel officials or guest

Use proper pronunciation

Maintain speed and accuracy when connecting all incoming and outgoing calls

Brief the next shift operator regarding all pending works to be done

Avoid interruptions ( Break the continuity)

Night Auditor:

To ensure that any outstanding transactions have been entered

To verify that all the bills and other accounts are correct

To verify that front office guest in residence records are up to date and accurate

To prepare a management report summarizing the trading activities

Layout of Front Office Department
SAFETY DEPOSIT LOCKER
LEFT LUGGAGE CENTRE
BELL DESK
TRAVEL COUNTER
GUEST RELATION EXECUTIVE
LOBBY MANAGER
HOUSE TELEPHONE
PUBLIC TELEPHONE
INFORMATION
RECEPTION
REGISTRATION
CASHIER
COUNTER
BACK AREA
ENTRANCE
LOBBY
Functions of Front Office Department

Registration of rooms

Reservation of rooms

Greeting of guests

Giving information

Handling of mails and telegrams and register parcels

Handling of message

Allotment of rooms to the guest

Dealing with guest luggage’s

Providing safety locker facilities to guest

Dealing with guest complaints

Handling of keys

Providing security to the guest

Handling credit cards and guest accounting

Providing data’s to the management

Maintaining guest history card

Dealing with scanty baggage and skipper

Working closely with sales and marketing department regarding sale of room

Providing warm welcome and customer service to the guest

Qualities of Front Office Staff

As the Front Office is a critical department in a hotel in view of its revenue generating capacity and influence in image building, the staff working in it assumes a special importance.

Great care is taken in the selection of front office staff as they play a key role as:

Salesmen:

They motivate the guest to spend on the various hotel facilities

Problem Solvers:

Guest invariably approach the front office for help incase they have a problem or complaint. The staffs have to be diplomatic and resourceful to solve the problem at the shortest possible time.

A reference Point:

Guest who want information or want to pass on information use them for this purpose

Coordinators:

Since they are a reference point, the front office staffs are required to coordinate with other departments, airlines, travel agencies and city tour offices to give the guest personalized service.

Image Builders:

As an extension to their salesman role, front office staff can certainly generate a good image for the establishment in their manner of dress, communication, personal conduct and efficiency.

Essential Attributes:
A High Sense of Personal Grooming:

Uniforms must be clean and neatly pressed. Hair should be groomed well. Nails should be manicured. A soft similar scented is preferable. Jewelers should be restricted to one ring and a necklace for ladies.

Persona Hygiene:

This is imperative to front office personnel. As they are constantly exposed to hotel guests, a clean appearance helps to project a good image not only of themselves but of the establishment as well.

Self Confidence:

This is necessary as front office personnel meets guest of different countries, status and cultures. They should be comfortable and feel easy in dealing with these people.

Communication must be correct and clear:

It is preferable that front office staff know more than one language. It helps in communicating with guest who cannot speak English or local language.

Diplomacy is the greatest attribute required:

Very often there are situations when a guest is irate (angry) over something; a diplomatic dealing helps in diffusing the explosive moment. It is quite common for a busy hotel to have no room to offer a guest who has come with a confirmed booking. A diplomatic approach is the only way by which the guest can be pacified.

Calmness to take the busy demands of a front office operations:

The front office staff should have a high degree of tolerance for pressure of work and be calm and composed at all times.

Ability to remember names and faces
Good manners
Ready Smile
Physical Fitness:

Front office operations require the staff to stand for long hours. The staff must be sturdy and active.

Quick decision making Ability:

Front office staff must be able to decide quickly a course of action that satisfies the guest.

Department that the front office co-ordinates with other departments
F&B
ROOM SERVICE
ENGINEERING
HOUSE KEEPING
STORE
FRONT OFFICE
ACCOUNTS
SALES
KITCHEN
Lobby:
Arrival:

The bell boy escorts guest from the main door with their luggage to the front office. After the guest has been registered, the front office informs the bell boy of the room number so that the guest may be escorted to his luggage place in the room.

Departure:

In most hotels a guest wishing to check out of the hotel, calls the bell desk for a porter to carry his luggage down. The bell desk informs the front office of the intentions of the guest so that the cashier can prepare his bill. It is only after the front office is satisfied regarding the payment of bills and retrieval of room key will they allow the bell boy to remove the luggage outside the premise of the hotel.

Shifting:

Often a guest requests the front office for a change of room. The front office intimates the bell desk to send bell boys to help in the shifting of luggage.

Scanty Baggage:

“Skippers” are those guests who leave the hotel without paying their bills. This is made possible because the “skippers” comes with little luggage to avoid bringing the attention of the bell boys to his secret checkout. The bell boys have to be alert to notify the front office about guests with scanty baggage so that a necessary advance is taken from them and a close watch is kept on them.

Message:

The information section of front office alerts the bell boys to deliver messages received by them for guest in the hotel.

Paging:

“Paging” is the system of displaying the name of a guest on a small board with a long handle. The small board is held above the head of the bell boy and has small bells which are rung to draw the attention of customers to the board. When a phone call is received for a guest in a specified location this paging system is used to contact guest. The bell boy does the paging in most public areas especially the lobby.

House Keeping:
House Keeping Room Report:

To keep a tight control on rooms, the house keeping and front office have to closely coordinate. One way is through the room report where by the house keeping staff checks each room on every floor and advises their status through a report.

Room Clearance Arrangement:

When a guest checks out, the front office has to inform immediately the house keeping desk or the floor, to clean the rooms so that it is ready for sale again. This information is controlled on a departure intimation control sheet. House keeping in return would have to inform the front office immediately after a room has been cleared and prepared for sale to a guest.

Occupancy statistics:

After reconciling the “Room Rack” with the house keeping Room Report the front office reception compile data’s on the “occupancy” position of the hotel for the day in the form of a report for the purpose of management information.

Special arrangements for groups and VIP’s:

The front office informs house keeping to be alert to attend to rooms occupied by groups or VIP’s. Service has to be quicker and efficient. House keeping provides flowers for VIP’s in the room on receipt of the amenities voucher issued by the front desk.

Accounts:
Front office cashier:

The front office cashier receives payment for guests stay in the hotel. This is the point where all the charge vouchers generated by the guest are received to be included in the overall bill. The bell captain must inform the cashier about the intended checkout of a guest so that the guest bills are updated and kept ready for presentation. Also, the cashier is inform of a new arrival by the reception by opening and forwarding a new folio in the guest name giving room numbers and time of check in.

Night Auditor:

The night auditor audits all guest bills received by the front officer cashier and prepares and proves for the calendar day.

Room Service:
Arrivals and Departures:

The room service is kept closely intimated on arrivals and departures of guest. It is this department that provides food and beverage services to the room and must be informed as to the occupant in order to raise bills accordingly.

VIP Procedures:

The front office informs room service through the amenities voucher and a list of the VIPs expected to arrive in the hotel, so that special service provides a complimentary basket of fruit, liquor, cakes and pastries or what ever the establishment wishes to extend to a VIP as per the policy.

Telephones:
Arrivals and Departures:

This is another department that is informed immediately of the arrival and departure of a guest. So that where calls come for a particular guest it is fully knowledgeable about his/her presence in the hotel. So that call may be connected to him/her. Also calls made by the guest are recorded or metered

Engineering:

The engineering department is responsible for any maintenance of furniture, fixtures and equipments and for rectifying faults in the services provided like air conditioning, plumbing, etc.

Stores:

The stores are responsible for supplies of relevant forms, formats and stationery.

Sales:

There is very close co ordination between the front office and sales especially in improving of room sales on lean occupancy days. The front office also informs sales whenever important guests, who influence the business of the hotel ‘check in’, so that special attention can be given to him/her. Sales keeps the front office updated with the new agreements made with travel agents and airline crews.

Reservation

The reservation section in the front office is the nerve centre of the department where all requests of reservation are received and processed.

Modes of Reservation:

Reservation may come by various modes. They are:

Letters

Telex

Telegrams

Cables

Telephones

Personally

Source of Reservation:

Air lines

Whole sale tour operators

Travel agents – Local and Foreign

Free Individual Traveler (Any person who makes a booking directly with a hotel and not through a travel agent)

Companies and Commercial business houses

Consulates and Institutions

Reservation Form
SURNAME FIRST NAME ADDRESS/ COMPANY
SURNAME FIRST NAME ADDRESS / COMPANY
HOUR/
FLIGHT
WILLARRIVE:
DAY
DEPARTURE
DATE & TIME
DATE
DEPARTURE
DATE & TIME
HOUR
FLIGHT
DATE
WILL ARRIVE:
DAY
ACCOMMODATION AND RATE DESIRED
SINGLE DOUBLE TWIN SUITE
ACCOMMODATION AND RATE DESIRED
SINGLE DOUBLE TWIN SUITE
REMARKS AND BILLING INSTRUCTIONS
CREDIT NO. PHONE NO. VERBAL BY
REMARKS AND BILLING INSTRUCTIONS
CREDIT NO. PHONE NO. VERBAL BY
REQUESTED BY
RECEIVED BY
DATE
Reservation Chart
Sep. 2007 Date of Month
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
101
102
103
104
105

Reservation Chart is used for the control of reservation system. The horizontal column represents each day of the month while the vertical column represents each room in a hotel.

If a particular guest requests for a single room on the 7th, 8th, 9th of the month the corresponding blocks of any single room number is colored off. Thus a reservation assistant gets a pictorial view of occupancy and booking in a particular month.

There might be different colors of reservation slips for easy identification on the reservation rack of the source of booking.

WHITE : I NDIVIDUAL
YELLOW : GROUPS AND CREWS
GREEN : VIPS
PINK : THROUGH TRAVEL AGENT
PURPLE : CONVENTIONS (CONFRENCE, PARTIES)
Group Reservation:

A group is a body of 15 persons or more. Because it involves volume business, management offers a special discount. The discount is given to tour operators who sell a total tourism package to customers which include airfares, hotel accommodation, fees for sight seeing, etc. The discount depends on the volume of groups sent and the frequency of visits organized by the tour operator. In addition to the group discounts there are special facilities for the tour leader.

Groups of 15-30 – One complimentary room for their tour leader

31-45 – Two complimentary rooms

Group reservation and correspondence assume importance and must be dealt with quickly and accurately because

Groups from a major part of business

The travel agent or tour operators arrangements are depend upon confirmation of accommodation

Group reservation demands blocking of a large number of rooms; thus the hotel could suffer if the group is cancelled at the last minute

A final confirmation of group booking takes longer to materialize (to be fulfilled)

Instant Reservation:

Instant reservation is a facility offered by large hotels or chain hotels operations where by a customer anywhere may easily make a reservation at locations far away from the hotel itself. Basically, hotels feed information on room availability. So that the reservation can confirm the booking immediately.

Reservation Procedure:

Step – I: As soon as the guest ask for room on certain date look at the room status board which will indicate the status of the room on those days under any one of the three categories (i.e.) On Request or Free Sale or Sold Out.

Step – II: If the date indicates “Sold Out” informs the guest politely that the dates required are sold out. If the date indicates in “Request” inform the guest that the date requested by you are wait listed. If the date indicates “Free Sale” informs the guest that the rooms are available and they are pleased to ensure a room for you.

Step – III: Take down the particulars in the reservation form.

Step – IV: It is important to ask the party to send a written confirmation of reservation request. Billing instructions specially are never accepted verbally. Sometimes, a doubtful party may be asked to give a deposit in advance which may be a certain part of the room rent the reservation period.

Step – V: Type out a reservation slip in two copies. One goes to the reservation rack while the other is clipped with the reservation form.

Whitney Rack / Reservation Rack:

The reservation racks are stored on the wall of the reservation office in full view of reservation clerk. This system is same as the reservation diary. Instead of entering in the diary the details are entered in the slip. This slip is arranged on the Whitney rack in alphabetical order against the date of arrival. This system is designed by a person named Whitney. Any special information is also recorded on the Whitney Slip.

Over Booking:

This is the practice of accepting more reservation than the actual room available. The purpose of over booking is to assist the hotel in obtaining ma

The Tourism industry today is highly competitive and generates considerable income for every destination of interest, and has arguably become economically indispensable. In the last decade, the structure and operational aspects of the industry have been undergoing significant changes in an attempt to keep up with Social and Economic developments as a result of the fast dispersal of the Internet and increasing E-Business; all of which have impacted on the demand for tourism products and the manner in which they can be obtained.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is being used in a multitude of overlapping activities within the Tourism sector, ranging from internal organisational functions to external communication between different parts of the industry, as well as facilitating how employees of the industry perform their jobs and how consumers experiences are enhanced. In other words the application of ICT is affecting the entire Tourism Value Chain (Buhalis, 2003). Its fair to say that in light of this, the continuous development of ICT has profound implications in the way the industry managed.

With the implementation of new forms of ICT, an innovative type of E-Tourism has emerged that is radically transforming the Tourism industry on a world wide scale; the effects of which are discussed in more detail on the pages that follow.

Since the early 1960’s when the first Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) was introduced, which according to Fesenmaier (2000) changed the way Tourism Operators conducted business in the sector; four interrelated eras can been identified (Frangialli, 1998). The Data Processing era in the 1960s; Management Information Systems era in the 1970s; Strategic Information Systems era in the 1980s and the Emerging Network era in the 1990s. Since their introduction many of these systems have been changed from their original appearance, new tools have emerged to take advantage of the benefits introduced by these systems, not least of all the Emerging Network era where the internet has significantly enhanced the operational aspects of the sector in general.

It is fair to argue that the Internet has had considerable impact on the application of Tourism management, as people are able to obtain all their travel information and services at home via the Internet. The distribution of travel and tourism products using the Internet has bought about significant cost advantages for providers of Tourism services, and increased customer satisfaction as they provide a full service to their consumers. It is unquestionable, this revolutionary development is accountable for much of the technological developments at the heart of the industry today (Poon, 1993) which has evolved as a result of the Network era, identified above, and has led to further developments in the form of Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce).

Keen and Macintosh (2001) stress that M-Commerce is marking the start of a fifth era of innovation and will continue to extend the way Tourism organisations conduct business. Moreover, according to Keen and Macintosh (2001), those who adopt new ICT and those who manage partner relationships more dynamically, will expand their market share even further by taking advantage of new developments. Just as CRS changed the way Travel Operators conducted their business, technologies, such as WiFi and WiMax [same as Wi-Fi only on much larger scale] are now changing the way Operators communicate with consumers.

Academics such as Kalakota, (2001) suggest that Wi-Fi and M-Commerce, are key technological developments with wide-ranging benefits to the tourism industry. Wi-Fi stands for “wireless fidelity” and in simple terms means that computers, peripherals and connectivity to the Internet no longer need to be connected physically, creating a completely wire free system. The benefits of such a system include the costs of setting up are reduced as cabling is expensive, disruptive and not always possible. Wi-Fi allows wider networks, because it does not need to be limited to those machines which are physically linked, fostering greater mobility as people are no-longer restricted to working only at their desks.

As a result of these reasons, the cost of creating Wi-Fi networks in places like coffee shops for example are low, which has lead to the creation of many new “Wi-Fi hotspots” encouraging visitors to linger and spend more on refreshments for example. Hotels are also taking advantage of the benefits and offering Wi-Fi services to all its guests at next to nothing. Furthermore, the implications for major visitor attractions are equally exciting. For example visitors to museums could use along their own Wi-Fi enabled device and access the museum website in their own language and obtain information on exhibits and so on.

Service providers are building nationwide networks of Wi-Fi hotspots that can be accessed for a fee, and it is this partner relationship within the Tourist sector which needs to be managed more dynamically, and Tourism organisations need to nurture this relationship in order to provide the services consumers are expecting. A key example of this partner relationship can be witnessed at Heathrow Terminal 1, Paddington station, selected Hilton Hotels, as well as many pubs, as examples of Organisations who have paired up with Wi-Fi service providers, and taking advantage of this Technology.

According to Aramberri (2001), these developments have changed the way Tourism Organisations operate, as these developments have led to consumers demanding more services, and changed the end to end process that restricted the services provided by organisations before the Network Era. In other words new ICT has both facilitated more demanding consumers, but also enabled Operators to heighten the travelling experience. Thus, in order to compete for market share Travel operators need to find new and innovative ways in applying ICT to the services they are offering.

A key example of this can be illustrated with location-based services (LBS) which refers to information services accessible through a mobile handset, based on geographical location. According to Kpper, (2005) Tourism is among the first industries taking advantage of LBS, despite some doubt concerning the compatibility of some devices, with regards to operating systems, data formats, and limitations in user interfaces. In other words at present there is no generic LBS that could run on any device.

In addition with regards to the application of ICT across the industry, it is now faced with a number of challenges. The Internet allows consumers to obtain information concerning their choices, it is still difficult to judge the credibility of this information, and in the absence of sufficient regulation, consumers still are concerned with the risks. Furthermore, there are still some areas in the Tourism industry that are not actively involved in the utilisation of ICT, and one the key developments through the eras identified above has been the complete utilisation of that system across the entire sector, and there is a risk given the pace of technological development that some aspects of the industry may get left behind. This would reduce the competitiveness of the industry and remove one of the key drivers for change within the sector.

In summary ICT, particularly in the form of M-Commerce as a result of Wi-Fi enabled services has had profound implications for the operation of the tourism industry in three main areas.

Firstly it has radically altered the way in which information is transmitted throughout the industry. Hence, it changes and challenges the way in which Tourism services are delivered and requires that Operators find new ways to satisfy tourists’ needs and that the needs are satisfied on demand. Secondly, the use of ICT is driven by the development of complex demands, as well as by the rapid expansion and sophistication of new products, such as the development of LBS, which as a result has enhanced the need for a wider network of Operators to include other businesses which traditionally do not form part of the Tourism sector – such as service providers and mobile handset producers. Finally ICT has gone some way to bridge the distance between consumers and suppliers. It changes the best operational practices in the industry and enables innovative Operators to take advantage of the emerging tools and get closer to consumers.

In conclusion ICT is a strategic tool used to enhance profitability and competitiveness of the Tourism sector and the future destination and competitiveness of the sector depends upon the successful implementation and management of this fifth technological era.

References

Abowd, G. D., et al. (1997): ‘Cyberguide: A mobile context-aware tour guide’, ACM Wireless Networks, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 421-433.

Aramberri, J. (2001): ‘The host should get lost: paradigms in tourism theory’, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 738-761.

Buhalis, D., 2003, eTourism: Information Technology for strategic tourism management, Pearson.

Fesenmaier, D., et al., Eds. (2000): Information and communication technologies in tourism, Springer.

Fodness, D. and B. Murry (1997): ‘Tourist information search’, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 503-523.

Guerley, W. (2000), “Making Sense of the Wireless Web”, Fortune, August 15. Available at: www.fortune.com

Kalakota, R., and Robinson, M. (2001), M-Business: The Race to Mobility. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Keen, P., and Mackintosh, R. (2001), The Freedom Economy: Gaining the M-commerce Edge in the Era of the Wireless Internet. Berkeley, CA: Osborne/McGraw-Hill.

Kpper, A (2005), Location-Based Services: Fundamentals and Operation: Fundamentals and Application. John Wiley and Sons Ltd. 2^nd Edition

Laudon, K., Traver, C., 2002, eCommerce: Business, technology, society, Addison Wesley, Boston.

Moore, K., et al. (1995): ‘Behavioural conceptualization of tourism and leisure’, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 67-85.

Snepenger, D. J., et al. (1990): ‘Information search strategies by destination-naive tourists’, Journal of Travel Research, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 13-16.

Tribe, J. (1999): Economics of Leisure and Tourism, Butterworth-Heinemann, London.

V.K. (2002), Global M-commerce – Business Opportunities for Wireless Data Services; in World Market Series

Rivers based Tourism in Nepal
Introduction

Nepal is rich in water resources so river plays an important role that flows from Himalayas to Terai. In Nepal, rivers are treated as goddess (SAARC Tourism, 2009). Rivers are the ever flowing and also inspiring source of beauty and also people can enjoy the infinite adventure to the fullest (SAARC Tourism, 2009). In Nepal, when the mountain melts then the river flows across the country and this makes the country the choice of more thriller and adventure.

There are more than thousands of river in Nepal so Nepal is the second largest country in water resources after Brazil (prabin, 2010). There are many big as well as small rivers in Nepal so most of the big rivers in Nepal flow from Mountain Region such as Karnali, Arun, Tamakoshi and so on (Khadka, n.d.). These rivers are also called snow fed rivers. Rivers in Nepal are divided into three basic categories they are Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali. Among these Koshi is one of the longest rivers in the country and comprises of different rivers like Arun, Tamakoshi, Indravati, Dudhkoshi, Tamor, Likhu and Sunkoshi (Thamel Dot Com, n.d.).

In Nepal, many tourist visits only for the adventurous purpose. Rafting, kayaking could be one of them. So tourist comes to Nepal for rafting because Nepal is one of the best countries for rafting. Bhotekoshi River is one which is just three to four hour far from Kathmandu which provides some of the most adventurous activities like rafting, kayaking and cannoning and also this river is one of the best rivers for rafting in the world.

Objective of the study

The objectives of the following research are as follows:

To find out the state of river tourism in Nepal
To understand the profile of river based tourist visiting Nepal.
To assess prospects and growths of river based tourism in Nepal.
Hypothesis

Researcher has created some statement according to the result of an experiment.

Hypothesis 1

Most of the foreigners from US, England, Australia and Canada visited Nepal only for adventurous purpose like hiking, rafting, trekking and kayaking.

Hypothesis 2

The tourists of age group from 16-30 years visited Nepal only for adventure.

Hypothesis 3

Most of the foreigners visits Nepal for adventure purpose are male.

Hypothesis 4

Political instability directly affects river based tourism and also in country’s economy.

Problem statement

What is the current situation of river based tourism in Nepal?

Sub-problems
Against which gender and age group do river based tourism attract tourist?
What is the age group of the instructor who will train to raft?
Is the age group from 16-30+ above preferred to go for rafting?
How many foreigners come for rafting or kayaking?
How river based tourism practices in Nepal?
Is there any agent working for river based tourism?
How travel agents promoting river based tourism in other countries?
What are the different promotional activities used by travel agent for river based tourism?
What are the impacts of river based tourism in Nepal?
How government plays their role in the development of river based tourism?
How travel agent provides security while rafting and kayaking to the tourists?
Literature Review

There are many rivers in Nepal which flows from Koshi to Mahakali. Almost all of the rafting company in Nepal favors tourism that cherishes the visitors with providing deep knowledge and conserving the cultures and environment they visit (Himalayan River Operator Nepal, 2014).

According to Nepal Gateway,” Bhotekoshi River is also called White Water River and is one of the best and Short River rafting in Nepal with the intense of thrilling rafting adventure ( Nepal Gateway Trekking, 2014).” Almost all the rivers of Nepal flow from the mountain region and come with the high forces with continuous rapid action and this makes the tourist more adventurous and thrilling. Adventure tourism is not just trekking and mountaineering, now rafting and river based any activities are also counted as the adventure tourism. According to The Ministry of Cultural, Tourism and Civil Aviation,” the statistics shows that there has been the increment of the tourists in Nepal for the purpose of adventurous activities (Binu, 2013).”

According to N. P. Bhandary R. K. Dahal and M. Okamura,” Pokhara is one of the tourist destinations of Nepal where on 5 may, 2012 a devastating debris mixed flood in the downstream of Seti River where many people are killed in that disaster (N.P. Bhandari, n.d.).”

. The tourism statistics by Ministry of culture, Tourism and civil Aviation (MOCTCA, 2012) shows that the numbers of tourists who are in the age group 16-30 years visit the country mainly for adventurous purpose (Binu, 2013).

Nepal’s main asset is water and it is the second highest in the world. According to Pashupati SJB Rana,” if the rivers of Nepal are harnessed, controlled and utilized properly in a sustainable manner then there will be the development in the tourism sector and as well as in the local areas also which simply results in the development of the country (Lohani, 2011).” So this helps in the tourism sector and for those people who gives the interest towards river. If the government does this in time then some of the environmental factors could be controlled like flood, landslide etc. If the tourist comes to Nepal then the country’s economy automatically rises up.

According to (MOCTCA) Ministry of culture, Tourism and civil Aviation,” the countries like England, France, US, Australia, Japan, Canada, Russia visited Nepal for adventurous activities like rafting, trekking, hiking and others (N.P. Bhandari, n.d.).”

“Nepal has no less than 83000 MV hydro potential. But availability of the fund is a major constraint so according to Binod Bhattarai tourism has suffered a setback in recent years because of political instability as well as economical condition and ling draw ethnic conflict (Lohani, 2011).” Climate change can also have a direct effect in river based tourism. In the winter season, the flow of river will be low because melting point of an ice is low so there will be low tourist turnover and by this economy of the country will automatically be low.

Rafting in Nepal

Rivers of Nepal flow rather faster than any of other countries in the world. Bhotekoshi River ranked top 6 in the world in case of rafting ( Himalayan River Operator Nepal, 2014). So many foreigners visit Bhotekoshi River for the main purpose of rafting. There are many agents who are helping foreigners as well as local people for the development of rafting. So rivers of Nepal flow so fast that for the rafter they can enjoy the thriller and adventurous moment.

Another popular destiny for rafting is Trishuli River. Trishuli River is also very popular river for rafting for foreigners and as well as local people. Just 3 to 4 hours it takes from Kathmandu to reach Trishuli River so people can easily go there.

Kayaking

Kayaking is one of the adventurous games done in the excitement of white water kayaking on warm and Friendly River (Himalayan River Operator, 2014). Just with a single boat, a single person with international level experienced instructor, people can enjoy the excitement in the river flowing very forcedly. Kayaking is very popular in Bhotekoshi River and as well as in Trishuli River.

Sightseeing

Rivers are not only for rafting and kayaking but also people can spend hours and hours sitting at the bank of the river. They can relax and can enjoy the flow of the river. The image of the sun reflecting on the river could be the beautiful moment and the people cannot forget that moment and it is very hard to imagine. Rivers of Nepal is one of the nature’s gifts that one can fell like heavenly experience.

Limitation of literature review

Limitation is the certain of limits. This study has some problems and limited as well. Certain limitations are highlighted towards below:

Respondent has not given proper attention due to lack of time and resources.
Study was carried out within Thamel area.
Busy schedule of authorized person led impossible to fetch maximum data.
Some data were on hypothetical assumption because due to the lack of fact knowledge and written statement.
Conclusion: Literature Review

There are many rivers in Nepal among them Bhotekoshi and Trishuli River are the best for rafting and kayaking. These rivers are also called White Water River with thrilling and adventurous activities. The rivers of Nepal come with high forces which flow from mountain region and make the foreigners more adventurous and thrilling.

All the data collected by the researcher shows that there has been the increment of the tourist in Nepal in case of river based tourism. The age group from 16-30 years visits Nepal every year for adventure. Also the foreigners from different countries visited Nepal for rafting, trekking, hiking and others. Nepal is rich in water resources so it ranked second in the world.

The researcher found that rivers are being polluted day by day; this directly affects the economy of the country as well as river based tourism. If the government does not take action about this then river tourism will be diminished slowly.

Methodology

Sample

Minimum hundred of randomly selected persons of equally Nepalese and foreigner will be asked to participate here in the survey. The population of foreigner people found more comparing towards other ordinary people close to Thamel area. Therefore, 65% of the foreigners are interested in tourism activities where as 35% of the Nepalese are involved in tourism activities. However, current surveys explain that flow of foreigner citizens are growing in the coming days. Finally after the long survey, targeted place will be sited at Thamel area so that calculation of international citizen will count easy.

Method

The research use Qualitative methods to collect all the possible data. Hundreds of respondent are participated in this study. Researcher collected all the questionnaire and this questionnaire are asked to the respondent. Qualitative interviewing is done by two ways process which gives the researcher to gather all the data more or less subjective and value overloaded (Healey, 1999-2014 ).

Research tools

The study is done in order to grasp the ideas on what was the current state of River based tourism in Nepal. Certain research tools are required to achieve appropriate data and information certain tools are:

Observation: There are two types of observation which includes participative and non-participative.
Internet/books: The researcher read all the books and as well through online basis to collect the proper and appropriate data.
Interview: Interview simply means the conversation of a person gathering some information from another person. So, the researcher will gather all the possible data through the interview.
Questionnaire: Researcher draws some possible questionnaire to collect the necessary data. The researcher has collected some questions in which respondent will give all the possible answers, by this researcher will get the appropriate data.

The local respondent will be asked according to the questions collected or any information related to the respondents.

Data collection

Researcher will collect the data through online methods. Also the researcher would collect the data through face to face interview so researcher can get highest responses rate in survey research. Furthermore, this allows the researcher to get the appropriate answers. Finally data can be collected through online or face to face interview which saves the time and as well as data or information can be entered directly in the database safely and easily (University of Wisconsin Eau claire, n.d).

Data analysis

Data analysis is the process of the evaluating the data using analytical and logical reasoning to find out each component of the data provided (Dasta Analys, 2014). Data analysis is done by gathering data from various sources, then reviewed and then analyzed to find out the conclusion. The researcher collected all the data from the various source and came to the result.

Timeline of activities

Topics

November

December

1st week

2nd week

3rd week

4th week

1st week

2nd week

3rd week

Topic selection

Literature Review

Proposal written

Proposal Approval

Data collection/ Field Work

Data Analysis

Interpretation

Report write up

Submission

Conclusion

Researcher found that river is one of the most important resources of Nepal and it flows from Himalayan to Terai Region. Many foreigners visit Nepal for the purpose of rafting, cannoning or kayaking. There are many rivers which are suitable for rafting and some of them are Bhotekoshi River and Trishuli River. The pollution is increasing day by day in Kathmandu so the researcher found that the number of tourist is decreasing day by day.

Now the rivers are being polluted day by day so the researcher found that in the near future these types of adventurous activities like rafting, kayaking will be diminished soon. Not only rivers are for rafting or kayaking purpose one can their time by sitting at the bank of the river, relax and can watch the flow of rivers. Due to political instability of Nepal, most of the time there will be strike so this directly affect the economic condition of Nepal and by this many tourist could not come to visit Nepal.

The countries like US, England, Australia, and Canada mostly visit Nepal for the adventurous purpose like rafting or kayaking. The researcher has found that now rafting, kayaking are also categories into adventurous activities.

Appendix
Q.1. Which are the potential river sites where river based tourism is possible?
Q.2. What are the different activities of river based tourism?
Q.3. What are the types of river suitable for river tourism?
Q.4. What are the potential customers of river based tourism?
Q.5. What are the government policies and plans for river based tourism
Reference

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Nepal Gateway Trekking. (2014). Bhote Koshi River Rafting. Retrieved from nepalgatewaytrekking: http://www.nepalgatewaytrekking.com/nepal/rafting-kayaking-package/bhote-koshi-river-rafting.html

Binu. (2013, September 1). Adventure tourism gains popularity. Retrieved from ametreks: http://ametreks.com/blog/2013/09/01/adventure-tourism-gains-popularity/

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