Author: Andre Coleman

Destination Marketing

This report provides an analysis and evaluation of the Barcelona’s current marketing provision and market position. Secondary research has been conducted on the marketing provisions, marketing campaign and their delivery methods of their promotions. Research has shown that Social media, destination websites and Television have been the medium of choices. The report shows the number of consumers attracted and how effective social media is in this current generation. However, the report also notes the issues facing Barcelona concerning the over excessive tourist numbers that are impacting the destination negatively. The recommendations discussed include; introducing premium pricing, negative advertising to reduce mass tourism, promoting niche tourism and increase daily expenditure per tourist

Barcelona is the capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia, with a population of 1.6 million inhabitants and approximately 32 million visitors just last year (LaGrave, 2017). It is the 5^th most visited city in Europe after London, Paris, Berlin and Rome, and ranks within the top ten most visited cities of the world Hosteltur Special WTM 2011). The purpose of this report is to critically evaluate Barcelona’s marketing provision and market position; linking to generic and destination-specific marketing theories. Firstly, the report will define the role of a DMO and the concept of destination marketing. The report will then explain the market provisions in Barcelona including analyzing the marketing campaign currently in use, as well as the target market and motivations. The report will address the issues currently facing Barcelona, which include the increasing tourist numbers caused by the all-inclusive package holidays or mass tourism. Finally, recommendations in the different strategies that suit the destinations current environment.

Destination management Organizations (DMOs)

Buhalis defined destination as an ‘amalgam of tourism products offering an integrated experience to consumers’ (2000). Destinations play a key role in any modelling of the tourist system, a place consumers travel to temporarily, from tourist generating regions to the destination region, creating a tourism flow (Pike and Page, 2014) as illustrated in Leiper’s (1979) model (Appendix 1). DMO’s are ‘organisations responsible for the marketing of an identifiable destination at any level’ (Pike, 2004). Most DMOs have no direct control of the tourism products they promote or the results achieved, however they do have influence over tourism marketing.

Destination marketing

The first definition of tourism destination marketing is “the management process through which the National Tourist Organisations and/or tourist enterprises identify their target market and communicate with them to determine and influence their needs and motivations; in order to formulate and adapt their tourist products accordingly in view of achieving optimal tourist satisfaction” (Wahab, Crampon and Rothfield, 1976, cited in Pike & Page, 2014: 204). In this current increasingly globalized and competitive market, destination marketing is recognized as a pillar of growth and sustainability of tourist destinations (UNWTO, 2011). Destination marketing is related to activities associated with distribution of products to potential target markets by focusing on responding to consumer demands and competitive positioning (UNWTO, 2004).

Destination – Barcelona

Barcelona is among the world’s main urban tourist destinations (TurismeBcn, 2015), an unexpected success which continues to break records in spite of the economic crises (TurismeBcn, 2015). In 1992 Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games which resulted in a steady growth in tourist numbers and the development of the citizen based city model. The 90’s Games enabled resources to be raised to turn the model into reality, while providing the city with the best global publicity campaigns (TurismeBcn, 2015). In October 2008, Barcelona City Council drew up a Municipal Action Programme (MAP) for the period of 2008-2011 with the mission to strengthen the cities appeal as a tourist destination and its position worldwide; highlighting the features that set the destination apart and boosting tourism quality (TurismeBcn, 2015).

Marketing Provisions

The current marketing provisions for Barcelona include various methods of tourism destination advertising, online personal selling, public relationships, direct marketing, sponsoring events and/or sales promotional activities. Tourism destination advertising is considered one of the most visible and significant marketing practices used to attract tourists to a destination (Choe, Stienmetz and Fesenmaier, 2017). Barcelona has been using promotional campaigns for advertising via Television adverts, social media and YouTube to reach a wider audience.

Marketing Mix

Authors Kotler and Keller defined marketing an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders” (Kotler & Keller, 2009). McCarthy elaborated on the most well-known marketing implementation tool in 1960, the marketing mix consisting of the four P’s (Appendix 2). The marketing mix tool is implemented in marketing of the majority of various sized business. Due to the progressive broadening of the marketing concept, marketing has been applied to geographical entities arising the concept of destination marketing (Balaencourt and Zafra, 2012). In destination marketing ‘the product’ is a service which consists of five specific characteristics intangibility, perishability, variability, inseparability and lack of ownership (Cowell, 1984 Appendix 3). According to Pike (2004) DMO’s have no control over pricing and place, however they institute measures to monitor perceptions of value held by the target market.

Promotional mix
Marketing campaign

Turespana launched the current new digital media campaign “Spain Addict” in 2010; merely part of the larger campaign “I Need Spain” (Hosteltur Special WTM 2011). I Need Spain was launched within the framework of Turespana’s global marketing strategy campaign, whose main objective is to reposition the Spain tourism brand and make it a unique, aspirational, experiential, global and premium leading destination.

The campaign reinforces the Spain tourism brand in international markets by encouraging visitors who have visited the country to advertise their experiences of their vacations themselves, user’s contributions. The campaign was launched in the press and on television and according to Hosteltur Special WTM (2011) viewed by 470 million people. “Spain’s World Cup victory 2010 was very positive for tourism,” the executive director of the Madrid-based United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) (Eturbonews.com, 2017). The win reinforced the positive image of Spain and the campaign.

Social media

Barcelona’s social media presence has enhanced since the campaign launched. The launch was conducted in two stages with the aim of Consolidating traditional markets and attracting others (Hosteltur Special WTM 2011). They concentrated on emerging marketing such as Russia, China and Japan, where the motivation index for travelling to Spain is around 99%, 98% and 90% (Hosteltur Special WTM 2011). That is why the video ad is represented in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Russian and Asian languages (Hosteltur Special WTM 2011). The social media promotion also became a Word Of Mouth (WOM) advertising which was reached millions of people and cost nothing for the DMO by making the tourists who visit Spain WOM or PC-to-PC promoters. In this media lead society, this media campaign surpassed mature markets such as the UK, France, Germany and Italy resulting in boosted levels of motivation for visiting Barcelona. (Hosteltur Special WTM 2011)The campaign is linked to the Turespana’s website, spain.info, a site with over eight million annual visitors and other social media sites. The use of Social media was the mote effective way to promote barcelona because the internet and social reaches a wider range of consumers. Consumers actively social media to talk about good and bad travel experiences. For most airlines Twitter has become a crucial communication channel. The TV ads also used for the campaign where effective because it is the easiest way to reach a large number of customers, but is the most expensive medium. Finally, the destination websites used as part of the promotional mix are relatively cheap and interactive. However, the issues with websites is that they are difficult to draw or attract customers.

Social Media sites

Followers/ Subscribers & Views

Facebook(Facebook.com, 2017)

Twitter (Twitter.com, 2017)

YouTube (YouTube, 2017)

Instagram (Instagram.com, 2017)

Catalunya Experience

94,253

54,000

11,883 & 6,925,673 Views

77.9K

Target Market

Identifying target markets is the first step in developing profitable customer relationships (Pike, 2004). One of Barcelona’s prominent traits is the diversification of markets. The destination is characterized for attracting different visitor segments in relation to country of origin and reasons for travelling. According to Ajuntament de Barcelona (2014) the prominent markets related to tourism typology are cultural, professional, medical, incentive, educational, LGBT, sport, business, luxury, gastronomy, cruise ship tourism etc. However, Barcelona’s cheap all-inclusive package holidays promote mass tourism and attract the type of tourist mentioned in Cohen’s (1972) and Plog (1974) Tourist typology (Appendix 4) The authors linked their concepts to Butlers (1980) evolution of a destination lifecycle (Appendix 5). Butler assumes that as a tourist area evolves, the range of tourist types present will change according to changes to the tourism area (Ho and McKercher, 2015). Plog and Butlers models provide identifiers of tourist alignment changes in destinations suggesting that various stages in its life cycle appealing to different types of tourists (Ho and McKercher, 2015).

Motivations

According to Ritchie (1996) tourism motivations theories are theoretical rather that pragmatic. One theory linked to Barcelona and related to tourism motivation is Maslow’s (1943) theory of motivations. Mill and Morrison (1992) suggested recognizing travel as need and want satisfiers was the key to understanding tourism motivations (Pike, 2004 Barcelona’s tourist demand is encompassed of diverse geographic and motivational markets, a fact that contributes to the vibrancy of an industry that must continuously adapt and reinvent itself in order to satisfy visitors (Horwath HTL, 2015). In terms is demand, Barcelona is Multi-motivational due to diversity of segments and a combination of interests and motivations. The behavior of tourism demand in Barcelona is generally de-seasonalised even if during the peak seasons when tourist activity grows by a significant amount. This can be explained by the diversity of motivations and origins of the tourists who visit Barcelona for cultural, pleasure, business, professional, medical and educational reasons, among many others. According to research conducted by Ajuntament de Barcelona (Barcelona’s tourism activity: development and management) in 2013, 50.6% of tourists travelled to Barcelona for holiday, 30.8% stated their main motivation was business, and 10.1% came for trade fairs and congresses. This shows that professional motives are especially important with the growing role of the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) segment in the tourism industry of Barcelona.

Issues

The key issues facing Barcelona as a result of their marketing provisions is was ‘too successful’. Their marketing campaign was accepted through the world aimed at different markets. This ensured success, however the main problem now is that there are too many visitors in Barcelona. According to the director general of the Barcelona Hotel Association, “Of the 32 million people who visited Barcelona last year, only eight million stayed in hotels” (LaGrave, 2017) The sudden growth in the industry also attributed by the weak Euro, attracting more tourisits. However, the increase in tourist has a negative social impact on the city and many local feel that the social impacts outweigh the financial benefits of tourism. (McClain, 2015).

Strategic marketing planning is a proactive attempt to shape a positive future by establishing a meaningful and accurate position in the minds of the target market (Pike, 2004). When developing a strategic marketing plan, the first step is the situation analysis, which consists of several methods of analysis, one of which is a SWOT analysis or matrix (Appendix ..). Then there is the environmental scanning which analysis the key issues, trends and drivers that affect tourism using STEEPL analysis tool. Then there is the destination’s goals and objectives, general statements of intent that relate to the destinations mission and brand (Johnson & Scholes, 2002). The objects have to be SMART quantifiable targets of the goals (Tribe, 1997). Then there is the strategy formulation, followed by the marketing positioning and defining the marketing mix. Finally, there will be the implementation and monitoring phase. The most common method of monitoring visitor metrics is visitor monitor programs.

Tourist Statistics

Turisme de Barcelona, Barcelona City Council and Diputacio de Barcelona (Barcelona Provincial Council) have been publishing statistical date on tourist activity in Barcelona since 1989. The most recent publications states that in 2015, the total number of tourists in Barcelona is 8,988,038, a 6.4% increase since 2014 (Designer, 2017). According to tourism review, tourist numbers in Barcelona have increased by 12% in a city of 1.6 million inhabitants (Moor, 2016).

Vision

Focused on Sustainable Growth and Community Participation. (Rtd7.org, 2013)

ValuesResponsible tourism based on the definition of responsible tourism in the Cape Town Declaration (2002) and the Barcelona Charter on Responsible Tourism (2010) (Rtd7.org, 2013)
Respect the development of Barcelona and Catalonia(Rtd7.org, 2013)
Balances the relationship between residents and visitors(Rtd7.org, 2013)
Prioritises the realisation of economic, sociocultural and environmental sustainability (Rtd7.org, 2013)

Mission

Worldwide leading tourist destination, aims to become a benchmark in responsible and sustainable tourism.

Promote the importance of local traditions and cultures as a product differentiator to what makes Barcelona unique such as the Catalan language, its status as regional capital, unique architectural heritage and Catalan cuisine (Turismebcn, 2015).
To promote a tourism model which will strengthen the balance between local residents and tourists, while preserving the identity values of the city (Turismebcn, 2015).
We will promote tourism that includes civic-minded attitudes as a value for coexistence (Turismebcn, 2015).

The recommended strategy for Barcelona is a de-marketing strategy, Beeton (2001) argued that to achieve greater management efficiency and sustainability, de-marketing strategies have to be incorporated into the marketing mix. Venice is a good example of a destination that implemented de-marketing strategies by introducing premium pricing and negative advertising to reduce mass tourism(Pike,2004). The sudden growth in the industry is attributed by the weak Euro, attracting more tourisits. However, the increase in tourist has a negative social impact on the city and many local feel that the social impacts outweigh the financial benefits of tourism. (McClain, 2015). Barcelona’s policy makers are considering implementing a new tourist tax to charge visitors who spend less than 24 hours and those in town on a cruise (LaGrave, 2017). This tourist tax is a de-marketing strategy that is recommended and will restrict tourist numbers. Another de-marketing strategy currently in place is a moratorium on licenses for rentals like Airbnbs and restrictions on building new hotels rooms building new hotels in the efforts of restrict tourist numbers (LaGrave, 2017). Benfield and Beeton (in Beeton,2001) mentioned the strategies below being adopted (Pike, 2004):

Increasing Prices
Increasing advertising that warns of capacity limitations
Reducing promotion expenditure
Reducing sales reps’ selling time
Curtailing advertising spend
Eliminating trade discounts
Adding to the time and expense of the purchaser
Suggested marketing Positioning and Marketing Mix
Product Analysis

Destinations are made up of both tangible and intangible assets (Qu 2011 in Schaar, 2013). The tangible assets include geographical features and the intangible assets include culture, customs, and history. Barcelona is an urban territory in Catalan that offer experiences all year round with a strong modern, cosmopolitan component.

Price

According to a report on Mintel all-inclusive package holiday growth has surpassed far independently booked holidays over the past holidays. This encourages mass tourism and that is the last thing Barcelona need going forwards. It is recommended to increase prices of package holidays or reduce the package holidays and introduced more high end products to target high spending target groups and brands and international markets. Another strategy is to promote niche tourism and increase daily expenditure per tourist

Promotional Mix (Appendix 6)

The recommended promotional mix for Barcelona include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and public relations. The most effective and recommend is however is websites and social media. Websites are relatively cheap and do not draw an excessive amount to customers. Which works well into the demarking strategy. Social media is cheaper, almost free and can reach a wider range of customers. It allows personal selling, direct marketing, adverting and public relations online via Social Networking Sites, Picture Sites, Video Sites, Forums/Message Boards and Blogs/Microblogs for free. It allows interpersonal communication to broadcasting, and if the chosen destination message is funny, controversial or information that people want to share then there is a chance it will go viral and spreads on the web through sharing.

In conclusion, Barcelona current marketing provisions for include various methods of destination marketing mix including advertising, online personal selling, public relationships, direct marketing, sponsoring events and/or sales promotional activities. Barcelona has been using promotional campaigns for advertising via Television adverts, social media and YouTube to reach a wider audience. As a result, their tourist numbers have increased to the point of excessive. The marketing strategy recommended for Barcelona is a de-marketing strategy which should be incorporated into the marketing mix to achieve greater tourist management efficiency and sustainability.

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Market Analysis: Industry and Competition
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Businesses fail to define satisfaction in the same way that customers do. Customer relationship satisfaction is measured by repeat business and recommendation of the store to others (Thompson 2004, p. 104). While customers can agree to these behaviours only “60% of customers who named a business they were loyal to, said they would also shop at the competition” (Donogh 2000, p. 1). How consumers perceive a company or product depends upon varying factors different for each individual (Whelan 2004). It is part of the job of the e-marketing analyst to disseminate how their client will gain market share and competitive advantage through marketing schemes. With regard to the tourism industry and creating customer relations, it is important to remain unique and as individual as every customer. How does one do this with limited time and funding? Customization of a web site is key to advantage but also creating a unique experience on the web site and at the destination is part of niche marketing and a main cornerstone to any tactic.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

It is of utmost importance to carry out an analysis of the industry per business operations and define the competition. As part of this presentation, a market analyst should keep in mind different models in which to decipher the current state of the market and where to gauge an organisation’s advantage. For the purpose of this presentation and understanding the tourism industry, four models chosen for this analysis are: (1) SWOT analysis, (2) PESTEL analysis, (3) Michael Porter’s Five Forces and (4) Boston Matrix. By comparing and contrasting the Althorn web site with the competition of other stately English homes, one can better assess the marketing plan and continue to make appropriate changes. The web sites chosen for review with Althopr.com are as follows: (1) Balmoralcastle.com and (2) Muscottmillfarm.co.uk.

MARKET INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: SWOT Analysis

The Historic Monument Travel Industry

Strengths and Weaknesses are considered internal factors while Opportunities and Threats are external to company (‘SWOT Analysis’ 2005). It is important to note the analysis using this tool is very subjective in nature. When it comes to niche travel, England’s stately homes, castles and historic monuments fall into a very distinctive category that surprisingly appeals to many travellers’ sense of history. What makes the online presence special is being about to capture history while maintaining a certain level of current events, even celebrity about staying somewhere unique.

(S)trengths: Places like Althorp and Balmoral have the essence of royalty engrained into the image and experience. These places have been witness to infamous times in history and famous people as well.

(W)eaknesses: Historical travel destinations may also have an air of affluence about them, which could limit their target audience potential. This feeling of being beyond reproach may send mixed signals to the common man.

(O)pportunities: Because places like Althorp and Balmoral are well known to the public because of their relationships to royalty, this propels them into the spotlight more than other less known sites like Muscott Mill. These places like Balmoral have history but also many opportunities that a smaller place cannot take advantage of. Places like Balmoral and Althorp also have a following where product sales with branding becomes key to continued image and public awareness. This allows them more interaction and further investment into different ways to capture the audience such as private rentals and entertainment events like golf and concerts.

(T)hreats: Consumers may be afraid to travel because of the war in Iraq and threats of terrorism, increased security being time consuming. Also times are tight for a lot of people due to increasing energy costs and lack increased spending power. Many people have chosen to stay home or vacation close to home. Places like Althorp need focus on local tourism.

ALTHORP.COM: CURRENT AND POTENTIAL MARKETS
PESTEL Analysis

This strategy analysis takes into account external forces, which may have influence on the organisation’s success (‘PESTEL Analysis’ 2005).

(P)olitical: The political force that may influence Althorp is its relationships with the surrounding local community. Many do not want to see their ‘neighbourhood’ tarnished or changed by the tourist traffic or see Althorp take advantage of their royal status. Environmental: This is a very trendy topic, the notion of ‘going green’ but needless to say something to consider adopting as part of the new image tactic. Also Althorp should consider the fuel demands of travellers and maybe run a promotion with a local hotel or petrol station.

(S)ocial: Social forces at work externally could be a fear of flying or travel. Also in times of trouble, people band together, become closer within their communities. Althorp should consider looking closer to home and cultivating a relationship with locals. They should use the Internet as a tool to focus globally.

(T)echnological: Obviously the web site is classy and reflects the overall image of Althorp as a stately home with beautiful grounds. The web site should using appropriate e-tools to continue consumer interaction. These e-tools vary from pod casting to blogging but also create a more intimate interaction with the public, which also reflects another image of Althorp being a special place for Princess Dianna. Continued evolution of the web site can bring a feeling of closeness to the site it lacks currently. This may involve further investment to update software and hire a Web master or graphic designer.

(E)cological forces at work for Althorp include once again the price of fuel or energy source and its prolonged use at the site, the affect it has on the environment. Has Althorp considered what affect it may have on the global warming? It would environmentally sound for the company to research ways to conserve and protect the environment maybe through a conservation project in conjunction with another site.

(L)egal forces or changes in the laws that govern travel are constantly in issue. Also Althorp must keep in mind a lot of times people are not culturally aware of differing laws that apply when travelling. It is important that not only the house watch for the risk legal issues cause but also look out for its employees giving the correct information to customers.

THE COMPETITION: BALMORAL AND MUSCOTT MILL FARM
BALMORALCASTLE.COM

PORTER’S FIVE FORCES

Customer Bargaining Power – High

Today’s Internet savvy consumer is educated when it comes to their travel plans. This gives the consumer power over places like Balmoral to match their need for a web site that will understand their intelligence. They know what they want and at what price they want it. They may chose a different destination if they don’t like the web site.

Threat of Substitute Products and Services – Emerging

This is where diversification of services at Balmoral becomes important and an asset. The future of these places depends on presentation of different formats and product specialty to keep the customer’s attention. These niche locations like Balmorals will meet consumer demand of specific needs.

Supplier Bargaining Power–Medium

The bargaining power of Balmoral is relatively medium because of the nature of the product. Balmoral must remain at above industry standard while maintaining the sense of class found and that level of services.

Threat of New Entrants – Emerging

New entries into the market, one would think should be low because of the designation of this being a niche destination as historical but the truth is places like Balmoral must compete outside their niche for capture of customers. They compete with theme parks and adventure vacations of the like. Many tourists because the information from the Internet is so vast are looking for something beyond the regular vacation.

The Overall Level of Rivalry – Moderate

There is a perception that the more densely populated the area becomes the higher the competition with the company struggling for market participation. This is an incorrect assumption because most of niche travel locations are operating online mainly suppliers to manufacturers or to the public. This results in less advertising and an environment where the competitive spirit is unvoiced.

MUSCOTTMILLFARM.CO.UK

Boston Matrix Analysis

There are four areas that divide the matrix so that a place like Muscott Mill Farm can be differentiated from other stately English homes or working historic monuments. The place falls into one of these areas. The four areas are as follows: (1) Stars, (2) Cash Cows, (3) Question Marks and (4) Dogs (‘Boston Matrix’ 2005).

Stars are tourist sites like Balmoral or Althorp that have a strong presence in the market and they are able to keep up, even be ahead of the competition. Balmoral, while stoically regal also maintains a global image because of it being the Queen’s summer residence. Cash Cows are smaller places of interest like Muscott Mill that are not in the spotlight and may be hidden from the average tourist’s mind (‘Boston Matrix’ 2005). Many smaller historical sites are becoming cash cows because of operating cost increases but also the aftermath of 9/11 remains. People are not as eager to travel and the price of airfare keeps people closer to home. Muscott Mill would be better off focusing on local markets for shorter weekend holidays. Question Marks are companies that have potential to make money if they are run properly (‘Boston Matrix’ 2005). A good example of a Question Mark in the industry would be smaller B&B type places but not at the level of Muscott Mill. They are constantly facing challenges with their operations management and particularly labour disputes. Dogs are companies that are just terrible, have no potential and should be out of business but continue to struggle (‘Boston Matrix’ 2005). Euro Disney is the prominent example. It has never lived up to the hype. Muscott Mill Farm remains at the bottom of the chain of advantage because it is not well known by the public as a destination. Its web site is quaint at best and not at all interactive but yet one can see the purpose it serves to at least introduction someone to its existence.

EVALUATION OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION AND CRM

A company’s marketing and recognition begins with its name. Because the business of tourism is greatly service oriented, it is of utmost importance that the company’s name has integrity. With time, as the organisation further establishes itself, the two will become interchangeable. The organisation has a reputation to uphold where market share remains wide-open and competitive advantage strong. Recently the house’s name and intellectual property in the forms of trademarks and brand has been at the forefront, in constant view thanks to e-business.

John M.T. Balmer surmises that much of the problem with establishing a marketing framework for organisations is built on the concept that the notion of identity is vague to the corporation and therefore the consumer. Defining identity and therefore CRM becomes a challenge now especially as business practices change and shift to encompass all areas of focus and strategy. Balmer’s (2001) research writes of, “identity was a pressing issue for many institutions and that the question of identity, or of what the organisation is or stands for, cuts across and unifies many different organisational goals and concerns” (p. 250). Hence the confusion and challenge of figuring out exactly what identity is for a particular organisation because it is different for each.

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this presentation was to demonstrate different market strategy models that allow one to analyse not only the particular industry but also the competition. The niche travel destination market has its strengths and weaknesses but also these are areas that Althorp can use to make its marketing scheme better. The competition for the United Kingdom is vast but Althorp has many elements on its side as a special location for travellers. The main focus of any marketing scheme should be to know how to capture the mindset of the individual to reach a higher state of competitive advantage and this begins and ends with conveying the correct brand image.

REFERENCES

Allen, G 1999, Introduction to Marketing, Mountain View College, Mountain View, California.

‘Althorp’, Althorp.com, viewed 5 Aug. 2008,

Balmer, J M T, Fukukawa, K & Gray E R 2001, The Nature and Management of Ethical Corporate Identity: Discussion Paper on Corporate Identity, Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics, Bradford School of Management, England.

Balmer, J M T 2001, ‘Corporate identity, corporate branding and corporate marketing seeing through the fog’, European Journal of Marketing vol. 35, 3/4, p. 248-291.

‘Balmoral Castle’, Balmoralcastle.com, viewed 7 Aug. 2008, .

‘Boston Matrix or Boston Consulting Group Box “BCG” Box’, viewed 5 Aug. 2008, .

Donogh, J 2008, ‘Customer Loyalty—From the Customer’s Perspective’, viewed 3 Aug. 2008 http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemid=1074451452>

Peters, T 2003, ‘Helping Small Firms Put the ‘e’ in Trade’, International Trade Forum, 1 July.

Pitturo, M 1999, ‘Get into the e-Commerce Without Betting the Store’, Journal of Accountancy, 1 May.

Porter, M E 1999, Strategy and the Internet, Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

Porter, M E 1985, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. The Free Press, New York.

‘SWOT Analysis’, viewed 5 Aug 2008, .

Thompson, H 2004, What They Want: Ten Myths About Your Customers, Prentice-Hall, Clifford Falls, New Jersey, p. 103-112.

Whelan, D 2004, ‘Build It and They Will Come’, Forbes, 27 Dec 2004.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

SAMPLE POSSIBLE QUESTIONNAIRE

1. How do you rate Althorp’s web site overall ease of use? (1=very easy; 5=very difficult)

2. Having Althorp’s picture of the web sites you visited (1: strongly agree; 5=strongly disagree; 6=no opinion)

a. Reflects how you think about the web.

b. Gives you more confidence in exploring the web.

c. Slows down the computer too much.

d. Helps you feel more adventurous.

e. Lets you know where you are in the web.

f. Takes too much time to use.

g. Helps you move around in the web.

h. Makes me feel like I’m travelling throughout the web.

i. Takes up too much space on the screen.

j. Makes web organisation clearer.

3. Please rate how you think Althorp would be for the following functions (very useful, useful, not useful, don’t know):

a. Pure Entertainment (games, chat, humor)

b. Personal uses (hobbies, health, recipes, travel)

c. Business (buy and sell, product info, banking)

d. Academic (exchange data and results, communicate with colleagues, grad info).

4. I feel that looking for information on the World Wide Web using Althorp.com is: (Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral,

Disagree, Strongly disagree, Don’t Know):

Easy; entertaining; confusing; complicated; intimidating; hard; boring; straightforward; simple; frustrating.

This module introduces the basic concepts of hotel operations. It will help students to acquire the basic knowledge about the hotel business and its operations prior to acquiring more knowledge in the field The learner should read the ATHE resources, study the recommended text book on this unit and also do their own research.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Centres are free to offer this the qualifications using any mode of delivery that meets the needs of their learners. This may be through traditional classroom teaching, open learning, distance learning or a combination of these. Whatever mode of delivery is used, centres must ensure that learners have appropriate access to the resources identified in the specifications and to the subject specialists delivering

the units. This is particularly important for learners studying for the qualification through open

or distance learning. The lecture and seminar notes provided below are for guidance and it is up to the centre whether they use these or alternative ones. The questions at the end of each unit will form the evidence of understanding.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

1. Understand how to categorise the different levels of management.

1.1 Explain how the first line management level differs from middle management level.

1.2 Differentiate the variety of functions of someone who works at top management level.

2. Understand management structures and the way in which the hotel is organised.

2.1 Explain the nature and necessity of management structure in a large hotel.

2.2 Describe and illustrate an organisational structure suitable for a medium sized hotel in a city centre.

3. Understand the importance of maintaining different types of food services within a hotel.

3.1 Examine the different types of room service available for food and beverage.

3.2 Analyse the management of food service in a large hotel.

4. Understand how to appraise the various control systems within a major international hotel.

4.1 Formulate different ways of creating and storing information in a hotel.

4.2 Understand the various ways of financial control systems in a specific hotel.

Introduction to Hotel Management – Suggested Lesson Plan

1. Understand how to categorise the different levels of management.

1.1 Explain how the first line management level differs from middle management level.

Seminar

In this seminar the lecturer should discuss with the students about two different line managers as an example quality of first line management and middle line management

Lecture

This lecture should focus on front line staff should be highly skilled.

Group discussion

The lecturer should ask the students to pick the work schedule of a Laundry Manager, where teamwork was working and was disrupted by different factors, then facilitate a discussion around this.

1.2 Differentiate the variety of functions of someone who works at top management level.
Lecture

Explain the variety of functions in a large hotel and identify the top management ones.

Seminar: Discuss the paragraph below

A manager may be responsible for one functional area, but the general manager is responsible for all areas. Most commonly, the term general manager refers to any executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company’s income statement. This is often referred to as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. This means that a general manager usually oversees most or all of the hotel’s marketing and sales functions as well as the day-to-day operations of the hotel. Frequently, the general manager is also responsible for leading or coordinating the strategic planning functions of the company.

In many cases, the general manager of a hotel is given a different formal title or titles. Most corporate managers holding the titles of chief executive officer (CEO) or president, for example, are the general managers of their respective businesses

Seminar

Discuss the duties of a general manager

In hotels, the General Manager is the executive manager responsible for the overall operation of a hotel establishment. The General Manager holds ultimate authority over the hotel operation and usually reports directly to a corporate office or hotel owner. Common duties of a General Manager include hiring and management of a management team, overall management of hotel staff, budgeting and financial management, creating and enforcing business objectives and goals, managing projects and renovations, management of emergencies and other major issues involving guests, employees, or the facility, public relations with the media, local governments, and other businesses, and many additional duties. The extent of duties of a hotel General Manager vary significantly depending on the size of the hotel and company; for example, General Managers of smaller hotels may have additional duties such as accounting, human resources, payroll, purchasing, and other duties that would usually be handled by other managers or departments in a larger hotel.

Group Discussion

Discuss issues brought up at the lecture and how will this differ with smaller hotels.

2. Understand management structures and the way in which the hotel is organised.
2.1 Explain the nature and necessity of management structure in a large hotel
Lecture

Lecturer will use the following structure and explain to students.

A typical organizational chart for a mid-scale to large hotel:

General Manager

Assistant Manager or Operations Manager

Director of Room Operations

Front Office Manager

Guest Relations Manager(s)

Concierge Manager

Front Desk Manager

PBX Supervisor

Reservations Manager

Bell Services Manager

Executive Housekeeper

Housekeeping Manager(s)

Director of Sales & Marketing

Senior Sales Manager

Sales Manager(s)

Sales Coordinator

Catering Manager

Revenue Manager

Convention Services Manager(s)

Director of Food & Beverage

Restaurant Manager(s)

Room Service Manager

Bar Manager

Banquet Manager

Chief Engineer

Director of Human Resources

Director of Security

Spa & Recreation Manager

Accounting Manager / Controller

Group Discussion

Discuss issues brought up at the lecture and how this structure will differ with smaller hotels.

2.2 Describe and illustrate an organisational structure suitable for a medium sized hotel in a city centre
Seminar

Students will use the organisational chart shown above and then design a flow chart for a smaller hotel.

3. Understand the importance of maintaining different types of food services within a hotel.
3.1 Examine the different types of food service available for food and beverage.
Lecture

Teacher should explain the different types of food services available and students should then write down examples and the type of person who uses them, e.g. business lunch or quick snack. Students can use notes below.

There are various types of food services. Restaurants fall into several industry classification based upon menu style, preparation methods and pricing. Additionally, how the food is served to the customer helps to determine the classification.

Historically, restaurant referred only to places that provided tables where one sat down to eat the meal, typically served by a waiter. Following the rise of fast food and take-out restaurants, a retronym for the older “standard” restaurant was created, sit-down restaurant. Most commonly, “sit-down restaurant” refers to a casual dining restaurant with table service rather than a fast-food restaurant where one orders food at a counter. Sit-down restaurants are often further categorized as “family-style” or “formal”.

In British English, the term restaurant almost always means an eating establishment with table service, so the “sit-down” qualification is not usually necessary. Fast food and takeaway (takeout) outlets with counter service are not normally referred to as restaurants. Outside of North-America the terms Fast casual-dining restaurants, Family style, and Casual dining are not used. Junk food establishments would also not often be referred to as a ‘restaurant’.

Group discussion

After both the Seminar and Lecture the tutor/lecturer should ask the students to write down any questions they have and partake in researching those questions. The students should then bring those questions and research they have undertaken to a smaller group where debate and questioning should be encouraged

3.2 Analyse the function of food and beverage service in a large hotel.
Lecture

Examine the roles of the Food and Beverage department for a hotel business.

The Food and Beverage (“F&B”) department in a hotel is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the dining rooms, restaurants. room service (if available), and the needs of any other function such as a meeting or party that might desire food and beverages.

SeminarWhat is the difference in the management of food and beverage services offered by a large hotel compared to a budget hotel.

4. Understand how to appraise the various control systems within a major international hotel.
4.1 Formulate different ways of creating and storing information in a hotel.
Seminar

Discuss how the information hotels get from guests including personal and bank cards and how they are stored in a secure way

4.2 Understand the various ways of management control systems in a specific hotel.

Lecture 2 The lecture can be based on definition and examples of management control.

Management controls, in the broadest sense, include the plan of organization, methods and procedures adopted by management to ensure that its goals are met. Management controls include processes for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling programme operations. A subset of management controls are the internal controls used to assure that there is prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the entity’s assets.Simons (1994) defined MCS as “the formal, information-based routines and procedures managers use to maintain or alter patterns in organizational activities”.

Seminar

In this seminar the lecturer should discuss with the students utensils Inventory control of every department.

Unit 2-Hotel staff Management

This unit is to help students understand the importance of staffing in a hotel.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Importance of briefing of hotel staff

Regular coaching gives staff development

Appraisal and training gives motivation to staff

Staff co-ordination keeps good team work within the industry

Hotel staff require speaking skills

Explain GM’s working process of a hotel

Explain all departmental heads duty rosta

1. Understand effective methods of communication for hotel managers when managing staff.

1.1 Examine the different methods of communicating with staff in a large hotel.

1.2 Analyse the importance of the management of staff coordination within a large hotel.

2. Understand hotel organisational charts

2.3 Explain why lines of authority are particularly important in a large metropolitan hotel.

2.4 Evaluate the importance of two organisational rules and regulations.

3. Understand how to review and comment on the management organisational structure of different types of hotels.

3.1 Illustrate the chain of command in a small hotel by using a Management Organisational Chart.

3.2 Explain the nature and necessity of a complex structure in a large hotel.

4. Understand progression opportunities within the hotel industry.

4.1 Analyse the career path within one department of a large hotel.

4.2 Illustrate using a diagram the place of the hotel industry as one of the components of the Tourist industry.

Hotel Staff Management-Suggested lesson plan
1. Understand effective methods of communication for hotel managers when managing staff.
1.1 Examine the different methods of communicating with staff in a large hotel.
Lecture

The lecturer should select a large hotel and discuss the different methods of communication available for both guests and staff. This would depend on the size of the hotel. The students should then be given an assignment where they would imagine a large hotel in a city where many of the staff and guests have lesser knowledge of English and how to communicate messages.

Group discussion

Continue from lecture and discuss.

1.2 Analyse the importance of the management of staff within a large hotel.

Lecture can be based on following notes

Small- and medium-sized firms’ employers realise the value of their staff in driving forward business success according to a recent survey based on a telephone interviews with 500 SMEs. However, too few SMEs focus on the need to motivate staff other than by financial incentives.83% of the SME directors/senior managers surveyed see employees as their business’s most important asset, while 63% believe that attracting and retaining staff is as important to an enterprise’s success as providing good customer service.However, the report, People Management in Growing Companies, commissioned from MORI by gusinessHR, a SME human resource advisory specialist, also examines SMEs behaviour in terms of expenditure and policies in the light of these opinions. It reveals that SMEs are not necessarily reflecting their views in their actions.A key finding is that SMEs are concerned with their employees’ job satisfaction and staff motivation, but as many as 86% feel that financial incentives – salary and benefits – will do the trick in attracting and retaining staff. Only 28% cited good training and development opportunities for employees as important, with just 25% viewing achieving a good balance between work and home life as significant. An overview of SME human resource policies illustrated that they tended more towards protecting the employer than nurturing the employee. 96% have formal employment contracts, 93% have disciplinary/dismissal procedures, and 88% have health and safety assessment audits and grievance procedures. Only about three-quarters have staff training and development plans and less than two-thirds have a formal appraisal system in place.Businesshr managing director Ian Stobie commented, “Skills shortages and the rising costs of recruiting staff mean that it is vital for SMEs to retain key staff if companies wish to grow.

Throwing money at someone who is bored will not buy their commitment or ensure consistent, outstanding performance.”

Interestingly, the larger SMEs (those with over 100 employees) tended to be more concerned about motivating and retaining staff, and their productivity, and placed more value than smaller companies on training and self-development, as well as having more systems and policies in place which motivate and support employees. 91% of larger SMEs have staff handbooks, 85% training and development plans and 80% have an appraisal system.Manager of Advisory Services at businesshr, Tom O’Reilly, explained, “you can think like a corporate but on a smaller scale. SMEs need to get to the root of the issues that affect their employees [rather than just increasing their salaries, for example].”There are a variety of sources to tap about human resources issues, but a useful starting point for smaller businesses, is the Small Business Advice Service, managed by the Department of Trade and Industry. Its website is at www.businessonline.org .

For a copy of the report, visit www.businesshr.net/businesshr_27cApril.pdf .With thanks to Lloyds TSB Success4Business. For more news and information visit www.success4business.com© 2010 Association of Tourism & Hospitality Executives

Group discussion

Discuss and answer questions on case study.

2.Understand hotel organisational charts
2.1 Explain why lines of authority are particularly important in a large metropolitan hotel.
Lecture

Organizational structure involves, in addition to task organizational boundary considerations, the designation of jobs within an organization and the relationships among those jobs. There are numerous ways to structure jobs within an organization, but two of the most basic forms include simple line structures and line-and-staff structures.

In a line organization, top management has complete control, and the chain of command is clear and simple. Examples of line organizations are small businesses in which the top manager, often the owner, is positioned at the top of the organizational structure and has clear “lines” of distinction between him and his subordinates.

The line-and-staff organization combines the line organization with staff departments that support and advise line departments. Most medium and large-sized firms exhibit line-and-staff organizational structures. The distinguishing characteristic between simple line organizations and line-and-staff organizations is the multiple layers of management within line-and-staff organizations. The following sections refer primarily to line-and-staff structures, although the advantages and disadvantages discussed apply to both types of organizational structures.

Several advantages and disadvantages are present within a line-and-staff organization. An advantage of a line-and-staff organization is the availability of technical specialists. Staff experts in specific areas are incorporated into the formal chain of command. A disadvantage of a line-and-staff organization is conflict between line and staff personnel.

Group discussion

Questions and discussion relating to case study.

2.2 Evaluate the importance of two organisational rules and regulations.

Seminar In this seminar the lecturer should discuss different organisational rules and regulations.

Group discussion After both the Seminar and Lecture the tutor/lecturer should ask the students to write down any questions they have and partake in researching those questions. The students should then bring those questions and research they have undertaken to a smaller group where debate and questioning should be encouraged

3. Understand how to review and comment on the management organisational structure of different types of hotels.
3.1 Illustrate the chain of command in a small hotel by using a Management Organisational Chart.
Lecture

This lecture should focus on General Manager’s working process of a hotel increase business

Seminar

In this seminar the lecturer should discuss about duty rosta of departmental heads

3.2 Explain the nature and necessity of a complex structure in a large hotel.
Lecture

This lecture should focus on explain types of chain association and classify types of chain association

Seminar

In this seminar the lecturer should discuss explain the management contract in a large hotel.

4 Understand progression opportunities within the hotel industry.
4.1 Analyse the career path within one department of a large hotel
Lecture

This can be based as below.

Career in the Hotel Industry
Overview

There are numerous job opportunities available within the hotel industry due to the many different departments that contribute to the smooth running of an establishment. These include both front and back of house operations such as housekeeping, maintenance, reception, and food and beverage. Additionally, all hotels need a manager and some have individual department managers reporting to a general manager, thus providing opportunities for promotion. Also, the larger chains will often employ area managers who are responsible for the management of a network of hotels.

No matter what position you undertake within a hotel, the primary focus of the role will be to ensure that optimum service standards are delivered to guests and visitors to the premises. On the reception desk, you are the first point of contact for guests checking in and out of the hotel, and will therefore have to deal with enquiries and complaints on a daily basis. In the restaurant and bar areas, you are responsible for the quality of food and beverages served to the guests. As a housekeeper, you are accountable for the condition of the bedrooms and the public areas of the hotel. Hotel managers are accountable for all hotel functions as well as the administrative and accounting duties associated with the management of the premises. Additionally, hotels with bars must be compliant with statutory licensing regulations and it is the responsibility of the manager to ensure that this is maintained.

Due to the nature of the business, working in a hotel involves unsociable hours with many hotels often busier at weekends and on public holidays. It is essential to be passionate about customer service and all customer-facing roles require excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Hotel managers need to have strong business acumen and the ability to implement effective marketing strategies to enable the hotel to remain profitable in what is a highly competitive industry sector. There will always be complaints received from guests and customers so a professional approach is important as is the ability to deal diplomatically and tactfully with any incidents that occur.

Entry requirements

The hotel industry is one that benefits more from the personality traits of its staff rather than their standard of education, although for progression to management level it is possible to undertake HNC, HND and degree qualifications in Hotel and Hospitality Management. Most of the larger hotel chains, including Marriott, Travelodge, Ramada and Best Western, offer training courses leading to the achievement of NVQs or SVQs in Hospitality Service, Hospitality Supervision and Hospitality Management.

Progression opportunities

At entry level, the hotel industry is not necessarily one that pays particularly well although this does improve with progression to management level. Some of the larger hotel chains also have establishments in other countries so if you have a desire to work overseas, the hotel industry can offer excellent opportunities to those willing to learn a foreign language.

Seminar

In this seminar the lecturer should discuss a career in a specific department e.g. housekeeping.

4.2 Illustrate, using a diagram, the place of the hotel industry as one of the components of the Tourist industry.
Lecture

This can be based on following case study In the modern times, the way people spend their vacations has undergone a great change. People like to spend good times with family and friend while at the same time exploring various tourist places across the globe. As a result the tourism industry across the globe has seen an unprecedented growth which in turn has also resulted in tremendous growth in the hotel and accommodation facilities.

Comfortable hotels and accommodation facilities play a very important role in popularizing any tourist destination. If a person, who is quite far away from home, gets to enjoy the same facilities and comforts as he enjoys at his home, then he is bound to become attached to the place. On the other hand if the tourist ends up at a place where the hotels and accommodation facilities are not satisfactory, it is quite likely that he might never return to that place.

Perhaps that is why, hotels and accommodation facilities being made available at different tourists spots, have shifted the focus to providing maximum comfort to tourists at reasonable rates. It is also vital to provide comfortable accommodation to people from diverse economical backgrounds. While five star hotels can cater to the needs of affluent visitors, small and medium range hotels and lodging houses are available for use by a middle class traveler.

Blog reviews are also vital in that information about all the hotels and accommodation facilities available in a particular tourism spot are available to people quite easily. For this there can be no better option than internet, as most tourist gain information about the hotels and accommodation facilities through this medium only. The other ways are by making booklets containing information about the hotels and accommodation facilities available at train and bus stations.

The information provided to the tourists should be detailed and correct. It should contain the information related to room rentals, types of rooms, catering services, check out times, pick and drop facilities etc. Additional information about the significant tourist spots in the area can also be provided both on the net as well as the booklets, to promote not only the hotel but the tourist spot as well.

There are many websites available on the internet which are based on travel and tourism. You can get information regarding hotel accommodations, tourists place, and business blog reviews sight scenes. You should search these websites to make your travel easy and plan things accordingly. Through blog reviews you can get the link of such websites that are truly genuine and will provide you with travel packages into many countries. Read these blog reviews and you will know better.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Suman_Ahliya

Seminar

In this seminar the lecturer should discuss relation between hotel and tourism and how hotels are an integral part of the tourism industry.

Unit 3-Marketing of Accommodation
Explain pricing strategy
Understanding Client behaviour
Knowledge of Market Research and Planning
Marketing to organize
Manage the retail marketing mix
Analyse SWOT

1. Understand how marketing principles apply to different types of hotels.

1.1 Examine the components of the marketing mix as applied to the hotel industry.

1.2 Analyse the benefits of segmentation for a large hotel.

2. Understand the marketing strategies and communication strategies of hotels.

2.1 Analyse the advantages of branding in relation the hotel industry.

2.2 Prepare a detailed SWOT analysis for a large chain of hotels.

3. Understand how two sales promotion packages are used to promote hotel services.

3.1 Evaluate two external influences which may affect the promotion of hotels.

3.2 Analyse three marketing objectives to be used in the planning of a promotional campaign.

4. Understand the part which market research has in the selling of accommodation and services

4.1Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of both primary and secondary research.

4.2 Illustrate how two internal and two external sources of information can be used by a hotel when promoting holidays.

Marketing of Accommodation-suggested lesson plan

Do the case study on Riverview and ask questions.

1. Understand how marketing principles apply to different types of hotels.
1.1 Examine the components of the marketing mix as applied to the hotel industry.

Lecture: Explain how the marketing mix is directly responsible for maximizing room sales and revenues in a hotel.

Seminar

In this seminar the lecturer should explain pricing strategy

1.2 Analyse the benefits of segmentation for a large hotel.

The tutor will need to explain what segmentation is and then discuss the list below and whether all of these would apply to a hotel marketing.

Companies who segment their markets match their strengths and offerings to the groups of customers most likely to respond to them. Points for discussion.

aˆ? Differentiate products and services to meet customer needs and desires.

aˆ? Design or redesign new products and services to meet market needs.

aˆ? Find hidden needs and make improvements to existing products.

aˆ? By selecting and focusing on the most responsive segments to the exclusion of others, marketing can be created to more effectively fit consumers needs. Finding, understanding and focusing on the needs of the best customers can make a market leader.

aˆ? Target marketing mix to the customers most likely to want the products or services

aˆ? Identify behaviours and buying motives for products.

aˆ? Identify most and least profitable customers.

aˆ? Help.

aˆ? Avoid unprofitable markets.

aˆ? Increase brand loyalty and decrease brand switching.

2. Understand the marketing strategies and communication strategies of hotels.
2.1 Analyse the advantages of branding in relation the hotel industry.
Lecture

In this lecture the lecturer should discuss with the students branding systems in International Marketing

Group discussion

Srudents should have had photographic evidence of branding of major hotel chains and discuss usefulness in marketing on a global scale.

2.2 Prepare a detailed SWOT analysis for a large chain of hotels.
Lecture

Provide an explanation of the case study below and advise the students on what they should do.

Case study

Riverview Hotel

The Hotel

The Riverview Hotel, Notown USA, is representative of the five star brand within the ‘Exclusive Business Hotels of the World’ group. All Riverview Hotels are boutique properties, offering between 25 and 35 exclusive rooms.

Mission

The Riverview Hotel is dedicated to providing its guests with the highest quality of service and standards. We seek to deliver on our promise of value and quality above all else. We value our place in the community and will work to develop those relationships and to respect and protect our environment.

We will continue to strive to create value for both owners and shareholders whilst honoring our brand values and encouraging our personnel to develop themselves in an environment of trust, loyalty and encouragement.

Service Offering

Service: high-quality facilities accompanied by exemplary personal service, differentiated from competition in line with the overall brand strategy, has proven to be a successful approach generating high levels of repeat business.

Positioning

The Riverview Hotel is positioned as a five star plus, business travellers hotel, strategically located and offering a high level of personal service. Our focus is on offe

Q1-What is the mission of Etihad Airways?

The mission of the airline is to maximize profitability by implementing effectual business methods for optimal yield, minimum transit times, maximum load-factors, seamless and immediate information to the airline community, administration and increase customer service.

Q2-What is wrong with this mission?

In the mission stated above, few of the major issues that are missing:

aˆ? Increasing the strength of aircrafts in the airlines

aˆ? Implementing software solutions to enlace quality of service

aˆ? Creating new partnerships

aˆ? Expanding with overtaking

aˆ? Advancement in hospitality standards

Q3-What is the vision of Etihad Airways?

“As the nationalized Airline of the UAE (United Arab Emirates), the company seek to imitate the best of national hospitality – warm , cultured, considerate and generous – in addition to improve the status of Abu Dhabi as a focus of hospitality connecting East and West”.

Q4- EXPLAINS Porter’s Five Forces of Etihad Airways.
The threat of substitute competitors:

In the recent years the threat due to its substitute competitors was almost nullified. They stood nowhere in front of Etihad. The other substitutes kept on declining and the company Etihad kept on improving talking in terms of profit in the market. The other companies could not offer such a low fares as compared to Etihad whose fares were remarkable.

The threat of the entry of new competitors

There had been a constant threat from the upcoming new competitors. Every now and then many new companies were launched along with the existing ones. They all tried to match up to the level of Etihad but ultimately failed to continue on a long run. They met with huge loss and ultimately ended up in increasing the cost. All these competitors tried to copy Etihad based on service it provides, but they failed to regulate them on a regular basis based on public satisfaction and demand.

The intensity of competitive rivalry

Though Etihad continued to dominate the market in the recent years, it had not been an easy job. It always had to keep itself alert and changing. Though the new competitors were not enough to challenge Etihad, there was still some kind of threat because the numbers of such competitors were increasing day by day. Etihad had to keep a survey of the prevailing market conditions and take safe decisions to keep going. Marketing aspect of the company became crucial in maintaining the market position.

The bargaining power of customers

Considering the bargaining power in case of Etihad is a mere thing if we compare it with the facilities it provides and the lack of able competitors. People were not much into bargaining because Etihad had been the best available among all the others. However, in times of strong competition by some new rivals there had been some kind of bargaining by the customers, which was gracefully accepted for that period.

The bargaining power of suppliers

Suppliers in this case refer to the stock holders of the company. They also got a huge discount on available stocks. Also the amount of available public stocks was considerably increased. They also get a good amount of annual dividend. Also due to expansion of their business the stock holders made a huge profit.

Q5- PEST Analysis: What are the political, Economic, Social, Technological Factors of Etihad Airways?

Political: Etihad Airways, like other aviation firms, has to follow strict government regulations.

Economical: The Company also has some social responsibilities to follow. The reason is as Aviation co-exists with country’s hospitality industry, it has to make sure that hospitality industry does not get suffered.

Social: As the company’s staff and passengers both come from the society, there is a social obligation in the company to work for the welfare of the public.

Technological: As the technology changes, the employees who can deal with new technology are needed in every aspects of work.

Ethical: There are some Ethical constraints like cannot limit on work hour etc.

Legal: Aviation laws, labor laws, governments rules form the legal periphery for Etihad Airways.

Q6- SWOT Analysis of Etihad Airways
Strengths:

Considering the case of Etihad, the low cost fare plays a crucial role in gaining the public interest. The low cost carriers are so effective that they helped Etihad win Merit Award for CAPA Low Cost Airline of the Year 2006 and the World Airline Award for Best Low-Cost Airline in the Middle East in 2007.

The reason for Etihad being so popular among all the regions of the world is its award winning strategies. These awards add a great deal in their marketing strategy which helps to bag future success.

Etihad has been able to advertise its business in the following ways:

Travel agency commissions stopped

Removal of interline, code-share relationships

Usage of secondary or alternate city airports

Weakness:

The greatest weakness that most of the airlines companies are facing nowadays is that they have not been able to live up to their expectations. On many occasions, Etihad has agreed on certain flying to certain destinations but it has not lived up to it.

Some of the major accessories as expected by the passengers in Etihad in spite of its low cost are as follows:

Amenity Kits

Air Sickness Bags

In-flight socks

Eye shades

Blankets

Headsets

Opportunities:

High GDP Growth Rates: Petroleum extraction and refining operations have been on an all time high in the UAE in the past few years. This has helped in the boost of the economy of UAE. Etihad can take advantage of this fact and can help make the use of its low cost carriers more prominent.

Strong Tourism: The energy and entrepreneurial spirit of the middle-east region is attracting tourism and business traffic in its own right. Advertisement can be done with all the tourism companies so as to make the tour highly affordable for the tourists.

Threats:

The biggest threat that Etihad has is from its competitors. The reason for the same is that once a company gets a remark of dissatisfying its customers by not doing as advertised, the competitors take advantage.

Q7- The Value Chain of Etihad Airways.

As per the description of value chain, the inbound logistics is contributed by internal movement of logistics like suppliers who look forward for inventories in the airlines. The operations of the company are determined by cargo and flights operations at airports. In marketing and sales terms, the company relies heavily on promotions through newspapers and TV ads. The services of the company comprise of passenger flights and cargo flights over 40 destinations.

Q8- How Porter’s Five Forces and PEST could be applied in external environment

Porter’s five forces show the impact of external agencies or environment on the company. Talking about Etihad airlines, the bargaining power of suppliers can be considered as that of its co-service providers like hospitality partners etc. The bargaining power of customers refers to that of its passengers. Threat of substitute service is nothing but the new services launched by its competitors. The threat of new entrant is the possibility of new airline in the market.

Talking about the PEST analysis, political factors comprise of government regulations. Economical factors comprise of investor, social factors can be the company’s constraint towards maintaining the hospitality and image of the country and technological factors can be constantly developing technologies and increase use of technology in the industry.

Q9- How can Value Chain applied in internal environment

Value chain in internal environment can be applied by developing Human resource management, better infrastructure, and use of efficient technology and by using procurement policies.

2.1 Introduction

Growing interest in culture and heritage by tourists has led to such an increase in the number of visits to cultural heritage destinations in the world that cultural tourism has become one of the fastest-growing market segments in tourism. The preservation of cultural heritage through tourism receives more and more recognition and at the same time, collaboration and stakeholder involvement are increasingly used in the tourism development process (Aas, Ladkin and Fletcher, 1999, p. 29). Bramwell and Lane (2000) add that “collaboration and partnerships have come of age in the field of tourism”. Although it is understood that in order for conservation efforts to be sustainable, there is a need to work closely together with the local communities, site managers and other stakeholders (IMPACT, 2004), practice still shows that heritage management often does not involve any of the local counterparts (Imon, DiStefano & Yin, 2006; Taylor, 2006).

This chapter offers a literature review of the most important concepts related to the topic of the research upon the management of world heritage site. Firstly, some definitions of the basic terms used, such as cultural and heritage tourism. Then, it examines heritage management in depth, the main elements of the management and the challenges that managers have to face. Finally, the link between the management of built heritage and natural attractions and the key issues of this management is established. Within these issues conservation and protection by different bodies such as UNESCO, Local Community and stakeholders and also an empirical review management of another heritage site, are covered.

2.2 Heritage tourism

With growing economy, tourism is one of the biggest phenomena that the world is experiencing today. Heritage tourism is one of the significant commodities and a great marketing tool that has the power to influence all forms of tourism. Heritage tourism helps to understand and appreciate the past of a country. According to the World Heritage Council of 1996, they have put forward this definition for the word heritage, “heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live today and what we pass on to the future generations”. Swanbrooke( 1994:222) state that tourism is based on heritage, where heritage is the core product that is offered , and heritage is the main motivating factor consumers.

A review of approaches to defining heritage tourism shows that this concept is extremely complex. Academic world has not yet found agreement over the issue of understanding the nature of Heritage tourism in a unified and specific way. Some studies have define Heritage tourism as leisure trip with the primary purpose of visiting historic, cultural, natural, recreational and scenic attractions to learn more about the past in an enjoyable way

Understanding of heritage can be all encompassing and features many viewpoints, such as visitor experience (Poria et al., 2001, 2003); supply and demand (Apostolopoulos and Gayle, 2002); and the perception of social, natural and cultural history (Christou, 2005). Some authors emphasize the importance of motivations of heritage tourists, who act in accordance with their perceptions of their own heritage (Poria et al., 2001). Heritage tourism is also described in terms of tangible objects and resources (Garrod and Fyall, 2001) and intangible experiences and elements of the culture of a social group or nation (Timothy and Boyd, 2002).

2.3 Cultural Heritage Tourism

During the 1990’s, cultural tourism was identified as one of the major future growth areas in tourism industry (Zeppel and Hall, 1992). This fast-growing segment of the industry attracts visitors who tend to stay longer, spend more, and travel in the off-season (Calhoun, 2000, p. 92). The growing proportion of cultural tourism within tourism, according to Richards (2001) is due to the fact that “more and more tourist attractions are now being defined as cultural”. Thus, it is hard to define the concepts of cultural tourism and cultural tourist since they have a broad sense.

Cultural Heritage tourism is commonly regarded as tourism with the main purpose of viewing tangible representations such as historic and cultural elements of the built environment (e.g. colonial architecture, monuments, houses of worship) and the physical landscape, but also includes intangible components including myths, folksongs and value systems, for example (Halewood & Hannam, 2001: 566; Prentice, 1993: 8; Smith, 1989: 5; Timothy & Boyd, 2003: 4).

The term of cultural tourism is so broad that it covers concepts such as heritage, arts, creativity, urban, culture, rural culture, indigenous culture and popular culture. Attention will be paid to the heritage aspect of cultural tourism. After investigating cultural tourism, the subject will be narrowed down to concentrate on built heritage. Given the large variety of forms that cultural tourism can have, it is unrealistic to provide only one definition, as broad as it could be.

However, Richards (2001, p. 7) suggests that cultural tourism covers “not only the consumption of the cultural products of the past, but also of contemporary culture or the way of life of a people or a region. Cultural tourism therefore covers “heritage tourism” (related to artefacts of the past)”. Heritage tourism is widely concerned with the representation of the past.

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2.4 World Heritage Site

UNESCO adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972. The purpose of the convention is to ensure the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of cultural and natural heritage of outstanding universal value. The outstanding universal value is translated into ten criteria for evaluating sites nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List. The Convention states that the World Heritage Committee (WHC) should coordinate the process of designating the sites through a system known as inscription, which includes an evaluation of the resources by experts against a set of known criteria. The aim of the inscription is to encourage conservation of the resources within designated sites and surrounding buffer zones on a local level and also to foster a sense of collective global responsibility via international 25 cooperation, exchange and support (Leask 2006). As of April 1, 2009, 186 countries are party to the Convention; 878 properties are inscribed on the list – 679 of which are cultural, 174 natural and 25 mixed (Engelhardt 2009).

Moreover, WHS are the testimony to the natural wealth of the earth and the cultural excellence of human kind. They represent the best and most important examples of our cultural and natural heritage. Hall and Piggin (2002: 402) stated that the bestowing of WHS status on a Heritage attraction is a ‘significant factor on the basis of the inherent qualities of the property’. Throughout the world there are natural and man-made heritage sites that are considered to have a very great importance to the humanity. By giving those sites an importance, we are protecting our most valuable heritage. According to the operational guidelines for the implementation of the World heritage convention, WHS can be classified as natural or man-made.

2.4.1 Natural Heritage site

“Natural Heritage” designates outstanding physical, biological and geological features; habitats of threatened plants or animal species and areas of value on scientific or aesthetic grounds or from a conservation perspective.

Types of natural heritage

Physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, which are of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view.

Geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas which constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

Natural sites or precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty.

2.4.2 Cultural Heritage Site

“Cultural Heritage” designates a monument, group of buildings or site of historical, aesthetic, archaeological, scientific, ethnological or anthropological value.

Types of Cultural Heritage:

Monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;

Groups of buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;

Sites: works of man or the combined works of nature and man, and areas including archaeological sites which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view.

2.5 Impact of tourism on WHS

There has been an increasing interest in the impact of tourism on World Heritage Sites (WHSs) over the past 20 years. This is motivated in part by the commonly held view that World Heritage Listing increases visitor numbers. While the reality of this view is still subject to debate (Buckley, 2005), an expectation of substantial growth in tourist interest has been noted as a driving factor in recentWorld Heritage nominations (Jones & Munday, 2001; Rodwell, 2002).Impact is a change (whether environmental, economic or social change) in a given state over time as the result of external stimulus (Hall and Lew 2009). Tourism impacts, according to Ritchie and Goeldner (1994) and Mason (2003), include economic, social, and environmental impacts. In tourism, the impact of tourism is experienced in all elements of “tourism system”. Tourism system refers to various sectors involved in facilitating travel to and from a destination, and the inter-relationships between these sectors (Hall 2008). There are several approaches to analyzing tourism system. Tourism system from a geographical point of view includes four elements, i.e. generating region (the source region of the tourists); transit region or route (the region the tourist must travel through to reach their destination); destination region (the region that the tourist chooses to visit and where the most obvious impact of tourism occur); and the environment (encompassing the overall travel flows and with which the tourist interacts) (Hall 2008). There are two more approaches to tourism systems, one focuses on the supply and demand dimension of tourism, whereas the other one emphasizes the system’s functioning for particular stakeholder groups (ibid.). This particular study focuses on tourism impact occurring in the destination region.

According to Frechtling (1994), studying the economic impact of tourism means analyzing travel’s activity impact on resident wealth or income in a defined area. Stynes (1997), on the other hand, said that economic impact analysis of tourism traces the flows of spending associated with tourism activity in a region to identify changes in sales, tax, revenues, income and jobs due to tourism activity. Frechtling (1994) acknowledged that many studies of tourism’s economic impact emphasize on travel spending, similar to Stynes’ view above. However, Frechtling stresses that travel expenditure studies tend to obscure the impact on residents’ income and wealth because tourists’ spending sometimes has little to do with resident earnings and employment. Therefore, travel expenditures are best viewed as merely the initial monetary activity that stimulates the production process and initiates economic impact (ibid.)

2.6 The Management strategies of WHS

The management of WHSs was first addressed as a specific field of interest in 1993 by Fielden and Jokilehto in the Management Guidelines for World Cultural Heritage Sites. Reference is made in the Management Guidelines to giving heritage a function in the life of the community, discussing objectives with local authorities and tourism boards and the need for a comprehensive tourism development strategy for individual sites (Fielden & Jokilehto, 1998). However, given that the primary aim of the World Heritage Convention is to ensure “. . . the identification, protection, conservation, presentation and transmission to future generations of cultural and natural heritage” (UNESCO, 1972, Article 4), it is not surprising that the emphasis of the Management Guidelines at that time was on the conservation of tangible heritage rather than the management of intangible heritage and visitor activity (Rodwell, 2002; Wilson & Boyle, 2006).

Moreover, according to the Article 5 of World heritage convention which states that “to adopt a general policy which aims to give the cultural and natural heritage a function in the life of the community and to integrate the protection of that heritage into comprehensive planning programmes” This approach changed in 1997 when a standardised format for the nomination of sites for inscription on the World Heritage List was adopted. A management plan became a pre-requisite for all new nominations and sites inscribed before then were required to submit plans by 2005. Since 1997, the requirements for a formal planning approach and stakeholder participation have been further developed in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (UNESCO, 2005). The Operational Guidelines suggesting an effective system of management should include a continuous cycle of planning, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and feedback, together with the active involvement of stakeholders in the planning process (UNESCO, 2005, Article 111). The expectation of a holistic and integrated approach to achieving “. . . an appropriate and equitable balance between conservation, sustainability and development”, and ensuring “. . . the active involvement of [. . .] Local communities” is further accentuated in the Budapest Declaration on World Heritage (World Heritage Committee, 2002). However,in keeping with the preceding discussion, little guidance or advice is provided on how to achieve this in practice (Wilson & Boyle, 2006).

2.6.1 Preservation and Conservation

“The object of conservation is to prolong the life of cultural property and, if possible, to clarify the historic and artistic messages therein without loss of authenticity”. This is the definition given by the Organisation of World Heritage Cities (www.ovmp.org) of conservation. Heritage attractions are considered historic documents, suppliers of architectural, social and economical historic information about the past that is not available from any other source, and this makes conservation even more important. Another definition similar to the previous one, but that emphasizes the ultimate effort of conservation was given by Cunliffe (1997), arguing that conservation has to ensure that the important aspects of a site are understood if it is to be retained in the context of future change or development. Conservation of these site are very important in case of eventual change or development that may occur in the future.

Historic building differ from new one as they are expected to last forever in other words as long as it is wanted. Worthing and Dann (2009) stated that in an historic context, the terms maintenance and repair cannot be exchangeable as they might be for other building types. Moreover, cost of maintaining and repairing an historic feature is not usually huge however when cost arises it is usually due to a poor management.

Pearson and Sullivan ( 1995, P.11) outline the aims of conservation management as the explanation of all the values of heritage places, the development long-term preservation and the implementation of management practices that safeguard the fundamental nature and physical form of the place. Conservation is, without doubt, one of the most important tools in heritage management. According to Millar (1989) it is the first stage in heritage management; she considered that conservation is the critical issue in world heritage site management long-term planning (Millar, 1989:10) now that heritage tourism is in its greatest growth. Other authors, such as Shuhaimi, agree with her statement arguing that realizing that tourists will bring about substantial negative impact on heritage sites, the management of these sites must have a master plan that will emphasize on conservation (Shuhaimi, 1997: 127).

To implement the right management policy, Du Cros (2001) argued that the priority between the two basic elements involve must be clear. One of those elements is conservation, while the other is commodification and promotion of the site. The author stressed that this management priority should be used as a guide for converting, in the appropriate way, places into heritage attractions. This statement shows again the importance given by professionals to the conservation issue. Conservation is, probably, the heritage management issue more in conflict with tourism since its objective is to preserve and to protect heritage, while tourism interests want to market sites and generate economic benefits by attracting as many visitors as possible. However, tourism is also one of the basic issues if not the basic one.

2.6.2 Visitor management

Visitor management is becoming an increasingly important issue in world heritage site for those responsible for heritage sites, particularly those that have achieved WHS status. Shackley (2006) states that the number of visitors have been increasing due to the accessibility to facilities by the society such as reduced travel costs, extensive media publicity given to sites. On the one hand, visitors bring is not only source of revenue, through admission fees, but also these sites provide them both educational and recreational opportunities. However, those visiting the site brings in the risk of harmful impacts upon the site and other artefacts found there ( Shackley,1998; Garrod, 2008). Encouraging more visitors may be at the same time a blessing as well as a curse for a typical heritage site.

While some sites are relatively robust and can withstand increased levels of visitation, others will be more susceptible to damage. It is important, therefore, for those responsible for the heritage site to undertake visitor impact balance and design strategies that will be appropriate for the site. The visitor management is mostly important to sites that inscribed on the World Heritage list, enabling them to result in greater awareness on the part of prospective visitors and for higher visitation levels to result (shackley, 1998; Fyall and Rakic, 2006).

Visitor management strategies are designed in such a way to contrl the number of visitors as well as their flow on the site. In order, to minimize the the management should restrict the visitors access to certain areas by establishing pathways, controlling the time of visits and by limiting the size of group of groups ( WTO, 1997)

2.6.3 Buffer zone

The concept of “buffer zone” has been treatedin every version of the Operational Guidelines from the first version produced in 1977, forward to the present. The initial concept, then defined as one which “may be applied”, appears as an optional inscription

requirement, and one without a clear purpose. The Operational Guidelines 1977 state:

“26. When setting the boundary of a property to be nominated to the List, the concept of a buffer zone around the property may be applied where appropriate. In such instances the nominations would include:

a) a precise definition of the surface area of the property itself, including the sub-surface area where necessary

b) an indication of the buffer zone around the property itself (i.e. the natural or man-made surroundings that influence the physical state of the property or the way in the property is perceived). Such buffer zones will be determined in each case through technical studies and provided with adequate protection.”

2.7 Organisation involved in the management of WHS

Heritage management has been described as ‘the process by which heritage managers attempt to make sense of the complex web of relationships surrounding heritage in a manner which meets the values and interests of many of the key stakeholders’ (Hall and McArthur 1996: 19). This raises questions, however, as to what occurs in situations where the management of heritage sites is shared by various organizing bodies with different functions and status and where there is no single coordinating body to bring these organizations together.

Contrary to broad expectations, the UNESCO designation does not involve an overarching control of the management of sites (Bianchi 2002; Bianchi and Boniface 2002; Evans 2002). Rather, World Heritage Site status inevitably exposes designated areas to a complex web of national and regional policies and regulations (Hall 2006). These policies tend to arise from a discourse of heritage as having primarily a cultural tourism purpose, thus necessitating that the heritage sites be conserved and presented appropriately for international tourist consumption. Leask (2006: 13) argues that ‘the key dilemma here is that it is difficult to balance tourism activity with the conservation role, often creating a tension or conflict between the usually large numbers of stakeholders involved’. In particular, this emphasis on conservation and presentation to cultural tourists often means that less heed is paid to local community issues, including local community contemporary use and practice relating to the site (Garrod and Fyall 2000).

3. World heritage Site in Mauritius
3.1 Le Morne Brabant

Le Morne Cultural Landscape, a rugged mountain that juts into the Indian Ocean in the southwest of Mauritius was used as a shelter by runaway slaves, maroons, through the 18th and early years of the 19th centuries. Protected by the mountain’s isolated, wooded and almost inaccessible cliffs, the escaped slaves formed small settlements in the caves and on the summit of Le Morne. The oral traditions associated with the maroons, have made Le Morne a symbol of the slaves’ fight for freedom, their suffering, and their sacrifice, all of which have relevance to the countries from which the slaves came – the African mainland, Madagascar, India, and South-east Asia. Indeed, Mauritius, an important stopover in the eastern slave trade, also came to be known as the “Maroon republic” because of the large number of escaped slaves who lived on Le Morne Mountain.

It is a symbol of slaves’ fight for freedom, their suffering, and their sacrifice, all of which have relevance beyond its geographical location, to the countries from which the slaves came – in particular the African mainland, Madagascar, India, and South-east Asia- and represented by the Creole people of Mauritius and their shared memories and oral traditions.

Management of the Landscape

At present there are two heritage legislations which govern the management of the Le Morne Cultural Landscape; The Le Morne Heritage Trust Fund Act of 2004 and the National Heritage Act of 2003. Copies of these legislations may be obtained at the seat of these two institutions and they may be contacted for any queries regarding management issues related to the landscape.

The vision of the Fund for the cultural landscape is as follows:

“aˆ¦to serve as a focal point for current and future generations to celebrate resistance against oppression anywhere in the world as well as commemorate the suffering of humans through slavery and other systems of exploitation. It should be a living example of oppressed people achieving freedom, independence, dignity and respect for their values and cultures. It will do so by becoming a centre of excellence in terms of research, in particular the history of maroons in the wider context of slavery, and by playing a prominent role in unlocking cultural and economic opportunities for those who have suffered most under the system of slavery.”

The Mission

To preserve and manage the cultural landscape of Le Morne so that it can be used in a wise and sustainable manner without compromising its authenticity and integrity.

To develop Le Morne as a focal for celebrating resistance to slavery by furthering high quality research on slavery in general that will not only be made available to the public but in which the latetr can also participate;

To utilize Le Morne as a tool for local economic development and capacity building so that it will play an important role in opening up opportunities for those who have been left behind in terms of economic development.

To cherish Le Morne as a symbol of reconciliation and forgiveness, not only nationally but also on a global scale, so that humanity will combine forces to resist exploitation of one human by another; and

To rally around Le Morne in support of those who continue to be oppressed and exploited by other human beings, so that it is not only a symbol of the past but a living reminder of the present.

3.2 Aapravasi Ghat

Aapravasi Ghat is the site through which 450,000 indentured labourers from India first set foot in Mauritius between 1830s and the 1920s, marking one of the great waves of migration in recorded history. Set on the bay of Trou Fanfaron, in the capital Saint Louis, Aapravasi Ghat is the remains of a cluster of three stone buildings dating from the 1860s, built on the site of an earlier immigration depot. The remaining buildings represent less than half of what existed in the 1860s. The nominated site is tightly drawn around the buildings and covers 1640 sq metres. It is surrounded by a buffer zone which is part of the heart of the rapidly expanding city and a busy harbor.

The island of Mauritius was chosen as the site for the first recipient of this new indenture system in 1834 (year of the post-abolished of slavery occurs), as it was perceived to be an expanding plantation economy unlike the “exhausted” West Indian sugar producers, and also because of its proximity to India. In Mauritius, most indentured workers were recruited from North India, especially Bihar and the Northwest Provinces such as Uttar Pradesh, although smaller numbers came from the Tamil and Telugu districts of South India. In the almost 90 years that the system was in operation, the British authorities in India handled around 1.2 million indentured labourers through emigration depots.

Protection and Management
Legal provision:

The Aapravasi ghat site is owned by the Ministry of Arts and Culture. The core area is protected as a national monument in terms of the National Heritage Fund Act of 2003 and earlier legislation. This provides for the consent of the National Heritage Fund to be sought for any work done on the site.

The Buffer zones are regulated by the Municipal Council of Port Louis as part of their overall regulation of their area under the Local Government Act.

Management structure:

The day-to-day management of the site is the responsibility of the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund. The Board of the Trust consists of representatives of key member institutions such as national Heritage fund, and the Ministries of Arts and Culture, Tourism and Finance. A technical team drawn from the Board reviews all site work.

On 15th February 2006 a more detailed Draft Management Plan was submitted by the State Party on 15th February 2006. The Plan details what needs to be addressed in terms of management structure, and legal protection. Currently there is no national policy on World Heritage sites which impact on decisions by local authorities.

4. Methodology
4.1 Introduction

This chapter deals with the different methods and instrument that were used in order to conduct this survey and also elaborate upon the methods chosen. It evaluates the management strategies which were being used to manage those WHS, Le Morne and Aapravasi Ghat. The objective is to show the different methods used to collect information and the reason why they have been used. Consequently, the research aim is to recalled and the objectives are shown so that the research framework is established.

The survey was conducted at National Trust Fund, Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund, Le Morne Trust Fund and Ministry of Arts & Culture with the members responsible for managing both sites. Moreover, this chapter is devoted on the limitations of the methods used and the general limitation encountered during the gathering and analyzing data.

4.2 Sources of data

Once the objectives were identified, a research plan was developed to gather the information. For this study, both primary and secondary data were used in order to gather information for analysis.

Primary data: new information collected for the specific purpose of a particular research project.

Secondary data: data that already exist and which have been collected to fit the purpose of other studies.

First of all, Primary data are new data collected specially for the current study. Such data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. On the other hand, secondary data was useful in finding out what have been done in previous research and theoretical information to grasp the real meaning of subject. The information gathered for this particular study was mainly done on the management strategies being used by the different bodies responsible Le Morne and Aapravasi Ghat.

4.2.1 Primary Data

Primary data as stated before is a set of new data collected from the survey itself for purpose for the research. There are two approaches of primary data; the quantitative ad the qualitve approach. The first approach is mostly scientific method, while the second is more flexible, while the second is more flexible.

Both, qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to conduct the survey. Qualitative approach was much more appropriate for the investigating into the problem. Moreover, Finn et al,2008, states that, qualitative approach tends to examine ‘reality’ in all its complexity because they are free to ask question a qualitative researcher cannot easily pursue. This approach enable to gather rich information about small number of subjects from a small number of people can be collected ( Veal,1997).

To investigate more the research, quantitative approach was also needed. This was used in order to gather information from workers of the different parastatal bodies.

4.2.2 Secondary Data

A vital step, in any research process begins, is the review of previous research on which the topic was chosen. Secondary data was essential for the topic chosen. It is useful in finding out what have been done in previous research and theoretical information to grasp the real meaning of the subject. In fact, an important part of nearly all research is a review of the literature review ( Veal, 1997: 96).

Information gathered was about the management of heritage site especially world heritage site as conservation and preservation, management strategies and visitor management. Thus, in this project, secondary data was mainly used in order to develop the research idea and to get information required to answer to the main question.

Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire used for this survey comprises of 27 questions divide in four sections namely; section A the respondent profile, section B based on attributes of the WHS, secti

The objectives in this section will reveal on what does the purposes of this research project served. Firstly, this project will briefly discuss about PESTE (Political, Economic, Sociocultural, Technology, and Ecological) analysis on Malaysia. The discussion will go on into the literature part whereby it will firstly discuss various type of definitions of tourism. Then it will discuss about the tourism planning five approaches which will be Boosterism, Economic, Physical/Spatial, Community and Sustainable that has been utilized by Malaysia government.

1.2.1 Politic

Malaya, which is now known as the peninsular Malaysia, became independent on August 31, 1957. In year 1963, Malaya merged with Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak to formed Malaysia. But after two years, Singapore has become an independent country on 9 August 1965. Now, Malaysia consists of 13 states whereby 11 of its are on Malay Peninsula and the other two, Sabah and Sarawak are on the island of Borneo. It has three federal territories which is Kuala Lumpur, Labuan island, and Putrajaya federal administrative territory. Each state has an assembly and government which are headed by a chief minister. Among 13 of these states, 9 of the states have hereditary rulers which are usually titled as “sultans” while the rest of the four states have appointed governors in counterpart positions.

Although Malaysia is known for its strict rules but tourist who are visiting Malaysia not more than one month does not require visa from the Malaysian Immigration Department. It is also important that foreigners follow the conditions and laws of Malaysia.

1.2.2 Economy

After 1957 where Malaysia became independent, the economy of the country was mainly based on rubber and tin. Since then, economy was growing and become a more industrialized market. In the 1997-1998 East Asian crises, Malaysia was one of the countries that involved in the Asian crisis but did not involve the International Monetary Fund (Sundaram, 2006). But it recovered from the recession very fast and since then, the economic was very stable with a GDP rate of RM679,687 million in year 2009 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2010). The government has spend an amount of RM 40.1 billion in subsidizing petrol, natural gas, food and road tolls in year 2007. Malaysia also does have a lower percentage in unemployment rate which is 3.3% recorded in July 2010 and 3.1% in August 2010 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2010).

1.2.3 Socio-cultural

According to the Official Website of Department of Statistics Malaysia which was updated on 02 July 2010, it is stated that Malaysia currently has 28.25 millions people. It is well known that Malaysia is a multicultural country which consists of a mixture different ethnic which are Chinese, Indian, Malay, and also indigenous and others. Malays makes up almost half of the Malaysia and then follows by Chinese and Indian. Most of the Malays are Islam while others may belong to Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism or other/none. Malaysia was recorded an annual rate of growth of 2.0%.

The official language used in Malaysia was Bahasa Melayu, then followed by other language such as Chinese which comes with various dialects, English, Tamil and others. This makes Malaysia a perfect country for tourist to visit because there will be no language barriers for them as long as they can speak either one of them.

1.2.4 Technology

Malaysia has a very good national and international telephone lines. It is because Peninsular Malaysia are using microwave radio relay and it provide a good connectivity between cities. It also have two international earth stations and also two Intelsat which are located at Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Thus, tourists who are travelling to Malaysia will have no connectivity problem. By now, Malaysia has a total of nine Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Some of them are P1 WIMAX, Maxis Broadband, Streamyx, Jaring, Celcom Broadband and so on. On the other hand, Malaysia also have a good range of radio and television stations. It has 19 radio stations that are owned by private sector while 34 stations are owned by government. Furthermore, Malaysia has 58 airports. 36 of them are on East Malaysia while the rest, 22 are on Peninsular Malaysia. Hence, these technologies that available in this country will definitely make life easier for tourists.

1.2.5 Ecological

Malaysia is full of biodiverse range of flora and fauna which can be found around the country. It is because the tropical rainforests comprises to almost 70% of Malaysia total land area. Malaysia has been recorded that it has the world’s fifth largest of mangrove forest whereby the world largest mangrove forest area is in Sundarban, Bangladesh. Ever since Malaysia has been filled with a lot of natural resources and environment, the government has also take part in preserving the environment to prevent further damage being caused to it.

The government has put a lot of effort in preserving this environment by firstly introducing the Air Pollutant Index (API). The API is an indicator of air quality and was developed based on scientific assessment to indicate in an easily understood manner (Department of Environment, 2007). Besides, the Department of Environment (DOE) also conducted the National Ambient Noise Monitoring Programme to determine the Malaysian ambience status in year 2006 (Department of Environment, 2007). For the river water quality control, the DOE has started to monitoring the river since 1978 (Department of Environment, 2007).

2. Literature Review

2.1.1 Definitions of tourism

There is no single definition of tourism to which everyone adheres. Many definitions have been used over the years, some of which are universal and can be applied to any situation, while others fulfill a specific purpose (Weaver and Lawton, 2010).

But a more recent definition from WTO (1991 cited in Mason, 2003, p. 5) defined tourism as the activities of a person traveling outside his or her usual environment for less than a specified period of time whose main purpose of travel is other than for exercise of an activity remunerated from the place visited.

However, none of these two definitions makes any connection to the impacts of tourism whereby impacts are the key to any discussion of the planning and management of tourism (Mason 2003, p. 5). But Jafari (1981, p. 3 cited in Mason, 2003, p.5) stated that tourism is a study of man (sic) away from his usual habitat, of the industry which responds to his needs and the impacts that both he and the industry have for the socio-cultural, economic and physical environments.

2.2 Tourism Planning Approaches

2.2.1 Boosterism

Boosterism has long existed ever since tourism started. Boosterism can also be defined as the act of boosting a travel destination or a city which are done usually by the people in the area affected. Hall (2000) comment that boosterism has long been the dominant tradition towards tourism since mass tourism began. Hence, sorts of effective method are being exploited in order to boost a place. A place which is full of resources such as cultural and natural can be taken as an example. Malaysia is a good set of example for cultural and nature tourism with its existing rich resources.

Although boosterism has been active for a long period but it was only discovered by people when big event such as Commonwealth games and Formula 1a„? racing event are being held in different countries (Hall, 2000). The changes in tourist arrival and room supply by hotel can be noticed easily when these huge event are being held.

It can be seen that Malaysia has been trying hard to promote the country by using different type of promotion to attract different type of tourist. For example, there is one event called Malaysia Year End Sale (YES) that is ongoing from 20 November 2010 to 2 January 2011 (Tourism Malaysia, 2010). The event purpose is to attract shopping tourist to Malaysia because at that time, all shop around Malaysia will be having alot of discount which can never be seen during other period.

Another side of boosterism by Malaysia is advertising. The Minister of Tourism Malaysia has launched an advertising campaign called ZOOM! Malaysia for SMRT trains, busses, and taxis in Singapore (Tourism Malaysia, 2008). This advertising campaign specifically targets the public transport because it was popular among the locals and foreign tourists (Tourism Malaysia, 2008).

From another side we can also see that Malaysia has successfully in promoting Malaysia in September 2006 whereby Tourism Malaysia has signed a ?2 million deal with Manchester United to promote Visit Malaysia Year 2007. This has also directly make Tourism Malaysia as one of the official sponsors of Manchester United Football Club (MANUTD, 2010).

2.2.2 Economic

When tourism emerged as a part of economic sector in the decades following World War II, most researchers and government administrators assumed its growth to be a positive and desirable process (Lawton, 2010). Ever since then, many countries have used this as an opportunity to promote their country to other world as a tourist attraction. Countries with natural resources such as cultural and heritage area, historical place that are left behind after the impact of war will be a great benefit to the particular country in promoting tourism. Actually what can tourism contributes to a country’s economic status? The contribution can usually be measured at either a national level or at the local or regional scale. The impacts of tourism to economy are as follow:

foreign exchange earnings;

government revenues;

generation of employment;

regional development.

One of the main characteristics of the economic approach is the use of marketing and promotion to attract the type of visitor who will provide the greatest economic benefit to the destination given the destination’s specific tourist resources (Hall, 2000). For example, the Malaysia Year End Sale promotion that will be launching soon. Although the promotion will be all around Malaysia but it will be more focus on Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia because tourist will normally more focus in capital city. With the plenty of resources available in capital city such as high-end shopping malls, the promotion can be executed flawlessly with its aim achieved.

2.2.3 Physical/Spatial

In the last decade of the twentieth century, it was noted that tourism depends ultimately upon the environment, as it is a major tourism attraction itself, or is the context in which tourism activity takes place (Holden, 2000). However, Lawton and Weaver (2010) argued that problems can occur if a destination becomes too dependent on tourism, or if the sector is controlled (or is perceived to be controlled) by outside interests. It is indeed a fact that tourism can cause both invisible and visible impacts to the environment. Therefore in order to minimise the impact that tourism can caused to the environment, Hall (2000) suggests that visitor managers should seek to manipulate travel patterns by concentrating or dispersing tourists in sensitive areas. For example, many national park limits a certain number of visitors per day to ensure minimal impact that can be caused to the area.

Malaysia is indeed a most fortunate country that are blessed with a wide range of natural and cultural assets. Since it is blessed with so many assets, people who lived in the country each has their own responsibilities to take care of the environment. Therefore, the Malaysia government has come up with a campaign called “1MALAYSIA GREEN TOURISM, 1MALAYSIA CLEAN”. The reason for launching this event was to built up the passion of people in keeping clean the environment, especially tourist attraction destinations. This campaign was also based on the tagline “Think Tourism. Act Tourism” by Minister of Tourism, YB Dato’ Sri Dr, Ng Yen Yen (1Malaysia Green & Clean).

2.2.4 Community

2.2.5 Sustainable

2.3 The Butler’s theory

Time
Number of tourists
Exploration
Involvement
Development
Consolidation
Stagnation
(Rejuvenation)
(Continued stagnation)
(Decline)

Critical carrying capacity threshold

Source: Adapted from Butler 1980.

2.3.1 Exploration

An explanation from oxford dictionary described exploration as the action of searching an area for natural resources. This can also be explained as a tourist tried to explore a destination (tourist destination) for leisure or relaxation. According to Butler, the exploration stage is characterised by very small numbers of visitors who are dispersed throughout the destnation and remain for an extended period of time ( Lawton and Weaver, 2010).

In brief, exploration can also be described as the ‘pre-tourism’ or the starting of a tourist attraction destination where not many people are there yet and most of the people does not know about it. Visitors that went to the place will experienced the most rural kind of services whereby improvement have not been done yet. Most of the exploration usually started from urban area. Malaysia first exploration started in the 13th century when Malacca was founded by a Sumatran prince. The place later became the most influential port city in the Southeast Asia during that time. That is the place where traders from all part of the world gathered and that was the time Malaysia was exposed to other countries’ visitors. But after Malaysia being exposed, a lot of countries tried to conquer Malaysia due to its rich resources. After 138 years, Malaysia finally gained its independence in 1957and since then Malaysia has undergone a tremendous growth and prosperity since 1957.

2.3.2 Involvement

The involvement in here means that the involvement parties which may include visitors, government, or entrepreneurs. Local entrepreneurs will begin to provide a limited amount of specialised services and facilities in response to the appearance of tourists, thereby inaugurating an incipient tourism industry (Lawton and Weaver, 2010). Specialised services such as small eating places, inn, and maybe small transportation services might also be available. With these services, visitors might also be increasing but in a slow phase because things are still undeveloped.

The role of advertising will also started in this phase as it will induces a definable pattern of seasonal variation. The place will started to get mentioned in articles and brochures but the affected part are still considered a small area. Word-of-mouth start to spread in a slow manner.

2.3.3 Development

2.3.4 Consolidation

2.3.5 Stagnation

2.3.6 Rejuvenation or Decline

Rejuvenation

Decline

3. Methodology

The method that was used in completing this assignment includes web browsing. Several web search engine are being used frequently are Google, Yahoo and Wikipedia. These web search engine are only being used as a bridge to the information that we needed. Besides, government website are also being used frequently to acquire important facts and figures about the country. Website such as Malaysia Tourism Board, Department of Statistics Malaysia, and Malaysia Government Portal are where some of the facts and figures being collected.

Other than websites, the information was also collected from books that are available daily in our institute. Several books have been lent in order to complete this assignment. Books such as Tourism Management, Tourism Planning: Policies, Processes and Relationships, and Tourism Impacts: Planning and Management are noticeable throughout the assignment as citations are mostly quoted from these books. E-journal has also contributed quite some figure in this assignment whereby most of them are acquire through the institute research databases which are the MDIS EBSCOhost research databases.

4. Analysis and Discussions

Delhi has a rich history because in the past it has been ruled by some of the most powerful kings. The city’s history began with the creation of Indraprastha by the Panadavas. It has been said that this place was nothing more than a barren land, and it was turned into an excellent city by the Panadavas. As many other kings came into power, there was creation of some other cities like “Lal Kot, Siri, Dinpanah, Quila Rai Pithora, Ferozabad, Jahanpanah, Tughlakabad and Shahjahanabad. Over a period of time, these cities merged into one city, which came to be known as Delhi (Delhi City Guide, 2005, p.10).” Back then, the city became famous for overthrowing the rulers, who ruled it. After the Mughals rule ended, the Britishers started ruling the city. Edwin Lutyens, a famous Britisher was responsible for creating a new majestic city in 1911, which later came to be known as New Delhi (Singh, 2010, p. 4). Subsequently, the Britishers shifted their capital from Calcutta to New Delhi. It was made the centre of Government of India, after India got its Independence in 1947, and till date it serves as the Centre of Government. Over a period of years, the city has seen good economic growth. Taking advantage of this, many multinational corporations have set up their call centres in New Delhi and its neighbouring areas. This has transformed the city into a global city (u of t book source). Today, the “soaring skyscrapers, posh residential colonies and bustling commercial complexes add to the city’s metropolitan characteristic (Delhi City Guide, 2005, p.10).”

The first and foremost thing that the games have done is helped New Delhi develop; improve its sports and urban infrastructure. In preparation for the games, New Delhi had to ensure that the facilities for the visiting athletes were state of the art. Keeping this in mind, many of the existing sport venues were renovated and some were newly built. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, was completely renovated to ensure world class facilities were there for the games. After renovation, the stadium was covered with a roof top and its seating capacity was increased to 78000 people (DelhiCommonwealth, 2010). The Indira Gandhi Stadium, which hosted wrestling and cycling games, was equipped with costly HD (high definition) screens so that the people around the world can follow the action in high definition. The Thyagaraj Sports Complex was the newly constructed stadium for the Netball games, with a seating capacity of around 5000 people (DelhiCommonwealth, 2010). In addition to the sports infrastructure, transportation infrastructure also improved significantly. Before the games, the traffic jams on the roads and highways, was a common sight and a cause of worry. However, that was solved by building 25 new flyovers, and by widening the existing roads. An underground tunnel was also constructed so that athletes can reach the stadium easily. The tunnel connected the “Athletes Village” (place where the athletes were staying) to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The main roads of the city also underwent major changes. Important roads leading to the airport such as Ring Road, Mehrauli-Mahipalpur and Mehrauli-Badarpur, were given a complete makeover (Uppal, 2009, p. 17). The airport of Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport was revamped, and one of Asia’s longest runway, was also constructed (Malhotra, 2009). Additionally, the metro network of the city was expanded, and it was termed the Phase II construction. Under the Phase II construction, the main areas of Delhi were linked to venues used for CWG games. Furthermore; the historical monuments and ancient buildings of New Delhi were overhauled to give the city an international look. India spent a large amount of money (approx. US$1.6 Billion) on the infrastructure, making this event the most expensive in the history of Commonwealth games (DelhiCommonwealth, 2010). The building of infrastructure for the Commonwealth games have come at a cost of destruction of slums. As Mike Davis (2006) points out in his article Planet of Slums, “The Indian capital offers brutal confirmation that the word ‘infrastructure’ is the new code word for unceremonious clearance of the fragile shelters of the poor” (p. 100). The slums located on the banks of river Yamuna such as Yamuna Pushtha were completely demolished to build the Athletes Village. The work on clearing the slums started in 2004, and lasted until June of 2010 (Housing and land rights network, 2010).

Secondly, the games have helped New Delhi in solving unemployment problems significantly. The plans were “formulated in such a way that more and more employment opportunities were created for jobless people with small capital (Maurya, 1989, p.68).” Around two million jobs were created due to the games in both private as well as public sector. The jobs ranged from “village development staff to support staff, from security to waste management, and from catering to accommodation. Also, the government departments of Delhi like Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC), Delhi Jal Board (DJB), and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (DMRC) started hiring people in large numbers, and contributed vastly in generating employment (Hudson, 2010, p. 5).” Even though the games benefitted most people by offering them employment, some were at the receiving end. The people like street vendors, who worked on the streets, lost their livelihoods as they were totally removed from the streets (Shah, 2010). This was done in order to show a clean image of New Delhi to the world. Moreover, some of the jobs offered to the poor workers who migrated from other states, were only temporary. As soon as the games got over, their jobs were lost and they were left in the lurch (Jackson, 2009).

Thirdly, New Delhi was able to address some of its environmental problems by hosting the ‘green’ Commonwealth games. New Delhi which was not considered clean some time ago is now a much clean and a green city, thanks to the government of Delhi and organizers of CWG. The organizers worked closely with UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) and the government of Delhi, to implement various ecological codes, which not only made the games green, but also helped the city in becoming cleaner than before (Sriparna, 2010, p.87). The air pollution was significantly reduced by the introduction of buses that ran on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The CNG being the cleanest of all fuels reduced carbon emissions as well as guaranteed sustainable transportation (Sriparna, 2010, p. 87). The city was also able to reduce its water pollution through the cleaning of river Yamuna. Many sewage treatments plants were built so that the water flowing to river Yamuna could be treated and cleaned beforehand (IANS, 2009). The management of municipal solid waste was a big environmental issue before the games (Hust & Mann, 2005, p. 41). However, the government established number of schemes (Bhagidari being one), which helped the city effectively, regulate the solid waste. Most importantly, India built its first environmental friendly stadium, the Thyagaraj. During the construction of this stadium, all the environmental considerations were kept in mind. The considerations ranged from using eco- friendly fly ash bricks to conserving water through recycling (Sriparna, 2010, p.87). In some scenarios, the environmental concerns were also raised. The chances of city experiencing the floods increased dramatically because of the demolition of floodplains (piece of land controlling floods) of river Yamuna (Sharma, 2010). In addition to this, many trees were cut down (deforestation), which also caused irreparable damage to the environment (Singh, 2008).

Last but not the least; New Delhi’s economy received a major boost due to games as many tourists came to the city. New Delhi received “2 million foreign tourists and 3.5 million tourists from different parts of India (Arzoo, 2010).” The biggest beneficiary of rise in tourism was the hospitality industry. Large numbers of hotels were built in the city to accommodate incoming tourists, and that helped in generating significant amount of revenue, thus contributing vastly to the city’s economy (Awasthi, 2005).

In conclusion, it can be said that the games left behind their legacy in terms of infrastructure, and also played an important role in generating thousands of jobs. New Delhi will retain its status of global city if it keeps on building and developing the infrastructure. The government has already proposed some of the future projects. The city’s metro, which is now considered to be its lifeline, is set to expand in the coming decades. The Phase III and Phase IV construction projects are planned to be completed by 2025. After the conclusion of Commonwealth games, the tourism industry of New Delhi is set to grow by 5-10% approximately in future. Currently, the economy of New Delhi is booming, and it is predicted that this growth rate will continue in the next few decades (Singh, 2010). On the other hand; the population of national capital is growing day by day, and is expected to touch the 28.6 million mark by 2025 (WUP, 2009). In view of the increasing population, many new vehicles will be introduced. New Delhi is already one of the most polluted cities of India, and with its current patterns of urbanization, the pollution problem will only get worse in future. New Delhi will also see high levels of inflation in future, because with rapid increase in population, the resources will deplete and it will be hard to meet the increasing demands of people.

1.Get Sponsored to Travel!

Getting sponsored is an innovative and new way to travel around the world. By using fundraising sites such as Kickstarter, GoGetFunding, and FundRazr, you can raise all of your travel and expense costs to travel the world for free – all you have to do is to have an idea and to develop a proposal.

Crowd funding means using the resources of the crowd (that means you, me, and the billions of other users on the net) to finance your project. All it takes is for everyone to sponsor or donate a dollar, and before long, you can have thousands of dollars to fulfill your dreams!

When you upload your proposal, you can set the time span that you want it to run for, usually somewhere around 1–3 months. During this time of marketing your idea, you will receive steady bids and sponsors, with people offering to pledge as little as 5 dollars or as much as $500!

When you set up your proposal, you get to describe the different funding options. These are usually organized into levels, with different bonuses or advantages to each level. You might set the lowest option at $10 and the highest at $1500!

Each funding level should have a perk or advantage for the patron. Perhaps, you want to offer them a personalized guide brochure or limited-release prints or pictures of your travels. Some inventive proposals even offer T-shirts courtesy of CafePress, key rings, or mugs courtesy of Zazzle.com. Be inventive! The better the prize, the more likely you are to get funded!

2.Write a Travel Guide

Why not get paid to travel around the world? One of the ways that you can do this is by writing travel guides, for which you either will have your transport fees paid for you or will be paid in retrospect.

If you have ever heard of the Lonely Planet guide series, then you will know just how popular and successful travel writing is. In today’s world, there are now many more opportunities to become a travel blogger, or someone who writes articles and short journal pieces about where they are and what is happening to them for travel and adventure websites.

If you manage to land a major gig like working with Lonely Planet, then they will often pay your travel costs for you to locations that they need updated books for.

3.Review Hotels

An increasingly popular way to travel or more accurately to get paid to travel is to review travel locations. The theory is simple; hotels, hostels, and BnBs are always looking for positive reviews, so much so that they will ask online copywriters to write fake adverts for them if they are forced to! Remember that a negative review – just one – on an online travel site can sink or seriously damage hotels’ profits that season, so they need a constant stream of positive reviews from travelers just like yourself.

If wine reviewers and restaurant critiques get paid to write professional reviews, then why shouldn’t you do too, as a professional world traveler? The first thing you have to do is to start an online blog or review site, talking about your experiences around the world.

If you run an attractive, professional-looking blog with complimentary pictures, true stories offering well-sourced information, and links, then the chances are that you are already offering just the sort of service that a hotel needs.

What makes your proposition even more attractive is if you have an engaged readership and an established presence on social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Google, or Pinterest.

One of the most important things that you can do to achieve your goal is to research your destination. If you are going to travel to any of the world’s major cities, then you will be looking at hotels, holiday apartments, and studios, most of which will have websites. More rural locations will probably mean BnBs, resorts, or estate houses. Always go direct to the website or hotel itself rather than through a third party. The closer you get to the owner, the better chance you are likely to have of making an impression!

Remember to only target places to stay that you actually want to stay in! There’s no point settling for accommodation that you know you might hate, and thus, you and they have a bad experience! A part of this is also selecting places that suit your travel style – whether adventurous, luxurious, self-catered, and family.

Choose accommodation that already has some sort of social media presence, even if it is only a website and a Twitter. These are the ones who are actively going to be aware and familiar of travel blogging. Medium to large hotels and resorts are more likely going to have spare rooms that need filling than small, family-run BnBs. To put it bluntly, the small, family-run business probably depends on every individual visitor’s income!

4.Free Transport Abroad

Now that you are abroad on your free holiday, something to think about is how you plan to travel from one place to another. If you didn’t bring your own vehicle as a form of community taxi or car delivery, you’ll have to find ways to get about which isn’t going to burn a hole in your pocket!

How to Travel Abroad on the Cheap!

Hitching: Hitching is still the number one resort for groups of travelers, but not generally advisable for single travelers. If you are traveling as a couple or as part of a group, then I would certainly recommend it. If you are staying at a hostel or on a farm, you will probably find that there are others there who are willing to hitch, and you should soon get a lift to where you want to go. You will probably find that the further into the developing world that you travel, the more that hitching becomes a natural mode of travel, as many people cannot afford to own or run cars and instead operate them collectively and expect to give hitchhikers a lift. As ever, you should always keep your wits about you and keep your money secure in a money purse when traveling.

Walk or Cycle: Remember that the cheapest and easiest way to see the world is under your own steam! Many European cities now offer bike rental schemes, where you can unlock a free bike at just the cost of a pound or token, which you will get back as soon as you finish with your bike. There is always walking too – the best way to see a city!

5.Where to go for free?

While the travel, flights, and the accommodation are usually the biggest obstacles to your goal of traveling for free, the next most important concern is how you are going to survive and what you are going to do while you are out there. If you are already using one of the schemes like WWOOFing or hosting, then the chances are you already have got access to meals and a kitchen or indeed are even getting paid! It is worth, however, taking advantage of these other free opportunities.

Remember to Find the Free Days: Most of the world’s biggest attractions such as the Guggenheim or the Louvre have free days. This is usually part of their civic requirement for their own state- or government-level funding, so why not take advantage of this? By looking through the museum or attractions’ own website (sometimes only by signing up for a newsletter), you will be told when the free days, nights, or mornings are. There is almost always once a month and more around Christmas time!

Special Promotions: Remember that most attractions bring in not only tourists from abroad but also visitors from their host city and have to market to their host city. Remember to check local newspapers (i.e., if you can read the language) and the notice boards for special promotions, free meal tickets, and discounts. Most of these kinds of offers are coupon deals, so all that you have to do is cut out the coupon and offer it at the desk of where you are going!

Budget hotels was firstly born in the United States in the 1960s and introduced in United Kingdom in the mid 1980s with the opening of the first Little Chef Travel Lodge and the Ibis (Senior and Akehurst, 1991; McCaskey and Symes, 2004). Since then it has become the most developed and beneficial hospitality area to investors (Senior and Akehurst, 1991). Budget hotels normally have 50 to 80 rooms (Lincoln and Pettigrew, 1997) are called as medium-sized hotels with the popular names of Lodges, Motels, Inns or by more specific product names like Arcade (Lawson, 1995). Sometimes, the number of rooms of medium-sized hotels could be up to 120 rooms with an independent restaurant (Lawson, 1995).

According to the latest report of Mintel (2009), in the UK market alone, the budget hotel segment is worth over 1 billion pound with no less than 90,000 economy rooms. Moreover, Mintel (2009) also estimated that about 54% of the domestic traveller has stayed in budget hotel and with over 31 million overseas tourists visiting to UK per year, making this segment is very potential for investing.

Budget hotels is wanted by people because suppliers offer a good deal letting guests can get the facilities is equivalent to two-three star hotels, and the locations are safe and always in or near city centre (Imrie and Fyall, 2001). Therefore, it is easily seen that the budget hotel segment will become the stronger and more developed segment in the hospitality industry in the future.

As the table below shows, the increase in the number of rooms between 2001 and 2009 of the four leading budget hotels in UK. There is a remarkable rise in the number of both hotels and rooms of branded budget hotels in spite of the economic recession started in 2008, such as the leading budget hotel, Premier Inn has had increased from 23,300 rooms in 2001 to 40,000 in 2009, almost double times.

Table 1:

Source: Caterersearch.com (figures up to 31 August 2009)

Additionally, with 31% of fans who are interested in staying budget hotels and up to 37% customers who can stay wherever (Mintel, 2009).

Graph 1:

Source: Mintel, 2009

However, the high percentage of people who can stay any place makes budget hotel managers need to carefully consider into their marketing strategy to answer the question of how to pull customers back or in other words, how to remain the stable number of customers and probably turn them into loyal customers.

Marketing strategy of the main UK leading budget hotels

In term of marketing, the showed warranty helps new customers make decision with less worry and enriches existing customers’ loyalty (McCaskey and Symes, 2004). It is believed that doing marketing for small-medium sized hotels is more complicated and difficult than the bigger sized hotels (Moriarty et al., 2008).

However, the stronger growth shows that the UK budget hotels are on the right track of attracting customers, especially the leading budget hotels such as: Premier Inn (the leader of budget hotel), Travelodge, Express by Holiday Inn, and Ibis. Because of the unique characteristics of budget hotels, the typical marketing plan could not be applied. Budget hotel owners lure customers by showing improved facilities, competitive prices, and promotional campaigns (Mintel, 2009; Imrie and Fyall, 2001; McCaskey and Symes, 2004).

As Mintel (2009) reported that in the mid-2009, the tourism season, Premier Inn offer ?29 for two nights in conjunction with “800 top family attractions” which offered kids stay free and two for one treats.

Travelodge, in the early 2009, introduced a free iPhone application known as iBooker to make customers feel easier and more comfortable with the booking service of the hotel. Besides, the hotels gave out a business account card which contains an eight-week credit facility for repeated customers.

Ibis and Express by Holiday Inn also made some moves to attract new customers and keep existing guests. Express by Holiday Inn is the first budget hotel in UK offered free breakfasts for sleepers, called “Breakfast Express”. While Ibis advertised for their improved facilities: a new bed designed by Simmons Company and toiletries from Ecolable, known as with the slogan of “I care, Ibis cares”. Additionally, Ibis opened games to endorse its room rate sales.

All marketing campaigns have tried to impress consumers with competitive price and promotion but they still can get comfortable facilities.

Aims and objectives

It is recognised that the budget hotel segment in general and the UK budget hotel segment in particular is becoming the bigger and bigger hotel industry and getting more and more profit than any other industries.

The target markets they choose are businessman of nearby firms and/or SMEs. Besides, guests are all kinds of leisure tourists coming to UK such as youth tourists, travellers, non-organised tourists, and budget or economy tourists (Nash et al., 2006), which are mostly price-sensitive travellers with aged range from 15 to 60.

Despite the fact that the budget sector has developed remarkably so far and the amount of target market is quite huge and potential, the studies involving in service quality management, customer satisfaction, and customer repurchasing behaviour after experiencing in budget hotels are limited. Moreover, most of people think that choosing budget hotels just because of the best price they offer customers and/or are an option of budget-conscious travellers. People do not think that budget hotels could give them a good quality services. The budget hotels are believed that cheap price does not go with good service quality. So what is the reason making the UK budget hotel sector has developed like today? What is the attributes encourage customers to become budget hotel’s fans?

Reasons why the study is conducted to find out:

Realizing the key driver for the customers’ choice to budget hotels

After experiencing, what factors customers highly appreciate and feel satisfied most, price, facilities, location, or service encounters?

Most importantly, to identify the close relationship between customers’ experience and customer repeat purchasing behaviour. Making guests satisfied whether or not is enough to retain them?

Normally, these previous studies were conducted to measure and investigate the service quality and customer satisfaction depending on a comparison between customer expectation and customer experience. Customer will be satisfied only when their experience is at least similar to what they expect before. Additionally, most these studies largely focus on service quality in high-end hotel industry. There are few studies on deeply investigating on budget hotel segment. If there is, researchers mostly concentrate on the development of budget hotel sector: reasons and potential growth plan. Service quality, customer satisfaction, and post-purchase in budget hotel sector have had little attention from professional experts.

Hence, this study wants to know what customers feel satisfied after using the budget hotels through technical and functional outcomes. Besides, the study tried to investigate that what the key driver for customer when they choose to stay in budget hotel: cheap price or facilities or other factors? In addition, when they have a good experience whether or not they will come back to stay in that hotel? That is the big question the study wants to answer and link this to the future development in the UK budget hotel segment.

The important of the study

Since budget hotel segment was introduced into UK in mid-1980s and has reached about 50,000 rooms in 2001 and up to 104,180 rooms in 2009 (Mintel, 2009; McCaskey and Symes, 2004; Frewin, 2008). The incredible increase is resulted from the rise in cost-conscious traveller when the cheap airlines were born as a formula. Consequently, they can enjoy a flight travel with low-cost why they cannot enjoy an accommodation having both conformable facilities and affordable price. Furthermore, businessman, especially in SMEs, have paid more attention to and been aware of the travelling price than before.

With over 31 million overseas tourists visiting to UK including 6,532 thousand people for business travel purpose. For this reason, the UK budget hotel segment turns out to be the potential and beneficial investment area with the huge target market.

Graph 2: Value of budget hotel market, 2002-2012

Source: Mintel, 2009/ Market re-forecast- Leisure Travel-UK

The above graph shows the remarkably increasing value of budget hotel segment in UK so it is really meaningful to investigate how to remain the existing customers and attract the new ones with the aim of making this value keep rising even higher.

Chapter 2: Literature review
Background of the budget hotel segment

Comparing to other products, budget hotels are quite new product so they don’t have a fully comprehensive ‘budget hotel’ definition. There was a simple definition of budget hotels that are often small properties with basic and limited facilities served with standard low prices (Roper and Carmouche, 1989). Only one year later, in 1984, Lee added that budget accommodation was one of the fastest- growing segments of the industry which offers tidy, basic room, and a restaurant coffee shop is in most cases located nearby. Some years later, budget hotels was said to be a lodging with limited services offering the benefit of good value for money in standardised modern accommodation: their quality is as good as three or four star hotels and rates are 25% to 30% cheaper (Gilbert and Arnold, 1989).

In general, most of the researchers’ definitions have been quite similar that budget hotels offer minimal restaurant, no costly amenities like food and beverage services, meeting-room facilities, fitness centres, or other recreational areas but accommodation standards are good. Thef important thing budget hotels say to budget-conscious travellers is that although they provide the basics: no-frill hotels, it only costs very small amount of money and consumers still enjoy their sleep. Like the budget hotel model (appendix 1) showed budget hotel owners try to cut cost effectively and reasonably as much as they can. For example, like food and beverage segment they try to use vending machines or in-house bar that mean they still satisfy customers’ demand and keep the cost low. Budget hotels usually charge on per room, not on per person and no breakfast involving in room rate.

Budget hotels are known as medium-sized hotels and normally have minimum of 50 rooms, which offer reasonable and affordable price to most kinds of travellers (Jones, 2002; Mintel, 2007). Budget hotel segment is considered as a brand new hospitality product and its growth is mainly depended on three factors: branded product notion, service reliability, and value for money (Brotherton, 2004).

This sector has many different calls but people mostly know with the names of lodges, Inns, and motels (Brotherton, 2004; Mintel, 2007). However, it’s all understood that this kind of accommodation offers limited services and economy accommodation with low prices.

Its locations also range from beside main roads and/ or high- traffic sites to city centres where gathers a lot of office buildings and tourist attraction sites (Mintel, 2007). These locations are aimed at luring guests of businessman and tourists.

That’s why the budget hotels have got a fast growth after their appearance since 1970s. For example, alone American market, with 20,00 rooms the budget hotels accounted for 30% in 1970, then got an incredible rise in 1990, after two decades, this segment had 520,000 rooms (Fiorentino, 1995). UK market started later than USA, from 1985, but since then the segment has become the most dynamic and fastest growth rate among hotel groups.

Background of the UK budget hotel segment

The UK budget hotel sector has been considered as one of the biggest success sector in the hospitality industry in UK market over the last two decades, and expected to be continue that success (Brotherton, 2004; Frewin, 2008; Mintel, 2009). Today, the economy accommodation provision has become one of the indispensable segments of the hospitality market in general and the UK hospitality market in particular (Mintel, 2007; Mintel, 2009).

In the UK, budget hotel sector was introduced in 1980s with the first opening of the Ibis at Heathrow and the first Little Chef Travel Lodge (Fiorentino, 1995; Brotherton, 2004; Mintel, 2007; Nash et al., 2006). Since then it has been the most dynamic segment with the continuous increase in the amount of operated rooms. According to Brotherton & Shaw (1996), and Brotherton et al. (2002), budget hotel sector in the UK hospitality industry was the fastest growing hotel sector with an obvious evidence of the incredible increase in room number within about 10 years. UK budget hotel sector in 1992 only had 193 hotels with 7,326 rooms, in 2000 it raised up to 745 hotels with 40,375 rooms, an over triple-time increase (Brotherton et al., 2002). Moreover, according to UK Budget Hotel Survey showed that at the end of 2001, the budget hotel sector saw 847 brands of budget hotels expanded to 51,900 rooms with the promise of increasing the number of rooms to 86,080 in 2005, and they estimated that in 2003 the sector gained over ?870 million revenue (Brotherton, 2004). In fact, nowadays, this sector has gained over 1 billion per year for the UK economy (Mintel, 2009).

According to the latest report of Mintel (2009), there are four leading brand hotels: Premier Inn, Travelodge, Express by Holiday Inn, and Ibis with the number of hotels in 2009 are 577, 372, 105, and 51 respectively. Such an amazing growth in the budget hotel sector in the UK hotel industry but relative researches have been limitedly conducted so far. So far, budget hotels are thought to be a choice of people who are price-sensitive tourists or people who can stay wherever (Nash et al., 2006)

During the last decade, against a background of economic recession, budget hotels have been one of the most successful phenomena in the European hotel industry. In recent articles, they are often mentioned as a ‘boom’ or as representing one of the most significant trends in the international hospitality industry. However, many researchers said that comparing budget accommodation to other up-market segments, budget hotels are considered as only minor accommodation. Thus, few budget hotels are investigated and conducted surveys to enhance the customer satisfaction and improve its service quality.

Generally, it is not actually an insignificant hotel product, but it represents a new concept of hospitality provision which relies on specific key factors and that is increasingly affecting the industry on both sides, of provision and demand. There will have been a potential and great development for budget hotel sector in the future despite of the unstable economy.

Target groups of the UK budget hotel segment

There are two main kinds of target groups of the UK budget hotel segment which are businessman and tourists/ travellers, especially price-sensitive travellers are the main target of budget hotel sector in the UK market.

In Britain, it is estimated that about 31 millions of overseas tourists visiting to UK per year (UK Transport travel and tourism, 2009). Besides, each year there are over 100 million trips, including business, visit friends and/or relatives, and travelling, taken by the domestic tourists (The UK Tourist Statistics, 2009). In 2009 alone, it was reported that 126 million trips taken by UK residents, standing for 399 million bed nights (The UK Tourist Statistics, 2009). Hence, if these medium-sized hotels mainly target both foreign and domestic tourist travellers they can gain a lot of benefits from such the huge and potential market.

Senior and Morphew (1990) also did a research in the UK market and found out that budget hotel segment had been more and more popular with businessman. These people before only chose to stay in full-service, up-market hotels like three – four star hotels and now they have chosen to experience in budget hotels offering standard services costing lower price. This is the fact that budget hotel owners have not expected and this also showed that consumers who are both tourists and businessman are changing their habits for staying.

Looking at annual reports of the leading brands of UK budget hotels such as Premier Inn (Whitbread Group), Express by Holiday Inn (InterContinental Hotels Group), Travelodge (Dubai International Capital), and Ibis (Accor), it is easy to see the markets these leading budget hotels target to both budget travellers and businessman.

Like to be said in Mintel’s UK budget hotels report (2009), Mintel did interviews to find out customers’ attitude when choosing budget hotels and found out that there are four target groups. The group has the highest percentage (37%) is ‘wherever’ group who don’t care much about the accommodation, followed behind this is ‘fans’ group (31%) who, for some reasons, love to stay in budget hotels, and the two last groups are ‘one night only’ (19%) and ‘price is wrong’ group (13%) (Appendix 4). It showed that investment in the UK budget hotel segment has been still huge and potential with 31% of ‘fans’ group whose age is from 16 years old up to.

To businessman, there are more and more small enterprises but their network expanded far outside their location, which require their staff travel much more than before. Moreover, because of the small-sized business, so such business travel should be saved as much as they can to gain more profit for companies. To travellers, the new travelling generation is much younger, more curious, and keen on discovering so they prefer cheaper accommodation but still meet basic standards. This lodging helps them to be able to travel more places, aware of many new local things, and be close with the local life. As a result, the market of the UK budget hotel segment will be wider and more beneficial year by year.

Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is said to be one of the most important factors in service delivery and plays an indispensable role in the success of hotels (Barsky, 1992; Chitty et al., 2007). Customer satisfaction directly affects on increase in market share from repeat purchase and referrals. Moreover, investing in a plan to attract new customers could cost much more than keeping existing customers (Chitty et al., 2007).

Customer satisfaction is defined as a comment or judgment to service providing a pleasurable level of consumption (Nash et al., 2006). Evans et al. (2006) said customer satisfaction is an opinion or a feeling of a consumer toward a service or a product after they have used them.

Normally, customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction will be measured through the discrepancy between customer expectation and customer experience (Choi and Chu, 2001; Nahs et al., 2006; Gronroos, 2007; Chitty et al., 2007). However, this study only wants to focus on the satisfaction level of guests when they experienced in budget hotels without assessing customers expectation. Features of budget hotels is quite different from other hotels, particularly in up-market hotels, budget hotels only provide basics, not offering breakfast or any kind of entertainment facilities so customers should not evaluate the satisfaction level in budget hotels base on their expectation.

Gronross (1983) divides the elements of satisfaction into two components of quality: technical and functional quality, while Reuland et al. (1985) separates into three levels of satisfaction involving in service features, staff performance and environment. There are quite a lot of ways to evaluate the satisfaction of experienced customers but the paper only focuses on functional, technical and price to identify what features make guests feel satisfied most.

According to Choi and Chu (2001) suggested that hotel quality such as cleanliness, location, room rate, security, and reputation are considered as important factors used by sleepers to assess hotel attributes of performance. In other situation, like a previous survey conducted by Lewis (1985) with 66 hotels, she found out that determinants guests took a serious consideration are hotel’s location and price. In 1988, Atkinson showed another order of determinants in choosing accommodation which are cleanliness, security, value for money, courtesy, and willingness of staff respectively.

Chitty et al. (2007) said that from four dimensions: Functional, technical, and price will identify the perceived value customer receive and then decide customers are satisfied or not (see appendix 3). After all, customer satisfaction would lead to repeat purchasing behaviour and then becoming into customer loyalty that would be a very important factor to any kind of enterprises.

Also, Gilmore (2003) presented service dimensions of hotels which show services hotels offer guests (see appendix 6). There are seven dimensions which are location, physical facilities, service products, price, hotel image, staff appearance, and staff manners. Therefore, customer satisfaction could be a feeling of customer affected by the seven elements hotels offer them.

With unique characteristics of budget hotels, offering limited service and small properties with low price so to appraise a satisfaction level of staying guests, it is suggested to rely on four factors: location, price, facilities, and service encounters.

Location

The location of hotel is to show the market this hotel targets, for instance if a hotel locates in city centre where has abundant office building and tourist attraction sites, this hotel should focus on businessman and general tourists (Gilmore, 2003).

Additionally, the location of a hotel must be easy to find when customers travel to the hotel. The convenience of finding a hotel’s location, the ease of parking facilities, the helpfulness and visibility instructions on the way leading to this hotel, and a wide range of kinds of transports go to the hotel’s location (Gilmore, 2003). They are all important factors influencing customers’ feeling when evaluating their satisfaction level.

In term of budget hotels, before the typical locations are known to be near main roads, motorway service areas, and/or high-traffic locations. Over the past ten years, the target market of budget hotels has expanded and changed, as a result, there are some hotels locate in city centre and tourist destinations (Mintel, 2007; Lawson, 1995). Features of these locations are aimed at meeting customers’ basic and vital demands so that hotels can lure more customers.

Price

The role of price in hotels is to catch the value of the services they offer in the guests’ minds. Through a price of services, customers will image and get a picture of what they probably receive later. Hence, hotel managers must set a appropriate price so they can not only cover the original cost and get a profit, but also be aware of what customer wait for with that price (Gilmore, 2003; Imrie and Fyall, 2001).

Price is considered as one of the strongest aspects to compete with other kinds of hotels. According to Fiorentino (1995), the price of budget hotel has to follow key rules:

The room rate is fixed,

Charging per room not per person (no breakfast included),

Frequently offering discount and/ or corporate rates

Through many survey conducted by Mintel during the past few years showed that price is one of the main motivations when customers choose a budget hotel, with 49% of 1,100 adults were interviewed (Mintel, 2007). All of these things illustrate the importance of price contributing to the development of budget hotels.

Physical facilities

A hotel provides guests a room and a bed to sleep in or all tangible objects are called as physical facilities (Gronross, 2000). Tangibles refer to physical facilities, equipments, appearance of staff, and courtesy of personnel are all things customers can see before they purchase services.

In the case of guests, technical dimensions what they receive from the hotels after they checked in. They are physical facilities such as parking, clean and comfortable room, TV room, laundry, and restaurant (Gronross, 2004). These facilities represent for the standard of that hotel and the cost customer has already paid.

However, facilities in budget hotels are completely different from other hotel sectors such as boutique hotels, up-market hotels and resorts, and casino hotels. When evaluating service quality in economy hotels, the paper only can refer to basics like bed, bathroom, TV room, laundry, and kitchen areas. Thus, customer satisfaction could depend on budget hotels’ characteristic.

For example, consumers staying in luxury hotels, it is definitely understood that this hotel has to offer all kinds of facilities for them ranging from food and beverage, full-furnished room to spa relaxing areas. Conversely, according to Fiorentino (1995), budget hotels just need to provide guests a smoking/non-smoking room with a bed, radio-TV, air condition, and a telephone, which is called as en-suite room. About food and beverage, hotels only need to offer vending machine or restaurants are close to its location. These things make customer quite satisfied (Nash et al., 2006).

Service encounters

Researchers have been conducted many studies to answer the question of ‘how has service quality been perceived?’ for almost two decades. According to Gronroos (2000), quality of any goods or service is what customers perceive and feel. It happens when interactions between consumers and service providers, which are called service encounters or functional dimension in a wider context (Gronroos, 2007). Functional dimension, or in other word is service process, is to show how a process of producing and consuming of services occurs

Unlike the technical dimension, this dimension, customers only can see after they purchase and use them such as the willingness to help and provide prompt service of employees, caring, and individual attention provided to customers, and reliability (Antony, et al., 2004). Parasuraman et al. (1985), and Suprenant and Solomon (1987) said that functional dimension including important components contributing to increase customer satisfaction.

Gronross (2007) said that service quality includes its outcome, process, and image dimensions customers experienced in hotels. He added that to evaluating perceived service quality is good or not, it is normally based on seven criteria:

Knowledge and skills of service provider,

Attitudes of service staff,

Distribution of the property,

Reliability,

Service improvement,

Servicescape, and

Credibility.

In other words, Chitty et al. (2007) divided them into the two main parts which are technical dimension (e.g.: distribution of the property, reliability, and price), and functional dimension (e.g.: knowledge and skills of service providers, appearance of staff, and service encounters).

Besides, there is a popular method for measuring customers’ experienced service quality called SERVPERF model. The model studies the link among service quality, customer satisfaction and purchase intentions (Baggs and Kleiner, 1996). It works by considering service quality as service performance and just simply interviewing consumers about their evaluation of the performance of the business process to collect primary data (Baggs and Kleiner, 1996). SERVPERF model uses 22 items to evaluate experienced service quality such as up-to-date equipment, should do as promised, appealing physical facilities, and prompt service to customers. However, the paper investigates the level of customers experiencing in budget hotels in UK market so the measurement method could be different.

Like the two studies of customer satisfaction levels in the budget accommodation sector of Nash et al. (2006) and Chitty et al. (2007) used totally new ways to approach customers’ experience. Nash et al. (2006) measure the level of customer satisfaction by designing a questionnaire based on seven main sections:

Length of holiday

Reason for holiday

Transportation

Accommodation

Spending

Information sources

Demographics

The result showed that after staying in these budget hotels, guests decided the elements of importance and satisfaction to them that are cleanliness of accommodation, value for money, and the presence of self-catering facilities.

While Chitty et al. (2007) applied the ECSI model to predict the level of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in budget hotel segment. This study based on four dimensions like technical, functional, image, and price of service to assess customer satisfaction. Its findings suggested that brand image is a predictor of satisfaction with budget hotels, while perceived value indicates a degree of loyalty for the whole hospitality industry.

There are a lot of elements customers use to evaluate hotel service quality ranging from tangible to intangible objects. The study will use secondary information and combine with information collected from surveying travellers to analyse what the key attributes travellers appreciate when staying in budget hotels. Then, from these result makes a conclusion

Consequences of customer satisfaction

If customers experience well and have a good impression of hotels, they will help hotels in word-of-mouth advertising at no cost and repeat patronage (Evans et al., 2006). Moreover, the result of satisfaction may enhance a guests’ choice to use a particular brand of service on a given occasion.

There are quite a lot of research proved that most consumers choose to stay in economy accommodation just because they try to save their pocket. However, behind that choice, there are many reasons ranging from different culture, different aged, different class, and so on (Nash et al., 2006). Especially, recent surveys and studies showed that the higher the level of customer satisfaction is the more customers will repeat their purchase (Chitty et al., 2007; Nash et al., 2006; Antony et al., 2004; and McCaskey and Symes, 2004).

According to McCaskey and Symes (2004), Travel Inn (Travelodge owned by Whitbread) conducted many strategies like marketing plans, promotion programs, and upgrading facilities. As a result, in 2004, in UK market alone, the hotel recognised many progresses:

19,000 regular ‘loyal customers’ per year,

decrease 13% in guests having troubles,

the percentage of customer-staff encounter increased from 30% to 50%, which means customers feel its employees more helpful,

Customer satisfaction rate increased to 44% from 26%.

The hotel could be seen as the real typical example of using customer satisfaction to increase the number of guests, both in remaining old guests and attracting new ones.

The major players in the Indian hotel industry can be broadly classified into private players and public players. The major private players include Indian Hotels Company limited, East India Hotels Limited (The Oberoi group), Asian Hotels and ITC Hotels. ITDC and Hotel Corporation of India are the major public sector players.

Sector Outlook

Hotel industry depends largely upon the foreign tourist arrivals further classified into business travelers (around 65% of the total foreign tourists) and leisure travelers. The following figures show that business as well as the leisure travelers (both domestic and international) formed major clientele for hotels in 2004.

Over the last two years, the hotel industry has seen higher growth rates due to greater number of tourist arrivals, higher occupancy rate (being around 75% in FY’06) and significant increase in average room rate (ARR). The major factors contributing to this growth include stable economic and political conditions, booming service industry, FDI inflow, infrastructure development, emphasis on tourism by the central as well as state governments and tax rationalization initiatives to bring down the tax rates in line with the international levels.

Some of the main features of the Indian hotel industry include the following:

· The industry is more dependent on metropolitan cities as they account for 75% to 80% of the revenues, with Delhi and Mumbai being on top.

· The average room rate (ARR) and occupancy rate (OC) are the two most critical factors that determine profitability. ARR depends on location, brand image, star rating, quality of facilities and services offered. The occupancy rate depends on other seasonal factors.

· India is an ideal destination for tourists. Approximately 4.4 million tourists visit India every year. Thus the growth prospects are very high.

· In the hotel sector, a number of multinationals have strengthened their presence. Players like Four Seasons are also likely to enter the Indian market in the near future. Moreover, Indian hotel chains are also expanding internationally. A combination of all these factors could result in a strong emergence of budget hotels, which could potentially lower the cost of travel and related costs.

The industry can be classified into four segments:

· 5 Star and 5 Star Deluxe. These are mainly situated in the business districts of metro cities and cater to business travelers and foreign tourists. These are considered to be very expensive. These account for about 30% of the industry.

· Heritage Hotels. These are characterized by less capital expenditure and greater affordability and include running hotels in palaces, castles, forts, hunting lodges, etc.

· Budget Hotels: Budget hotels cater mainly to domestic travelers who favor reasonably priced accommodations with limited luxury. These are characterized by special seasonal offers and good services.

· Unclassified: These are low-priced motels spread throughout the country. A low-pricing policy is their only selling point. This segment accounts for about 19 % of the industry.

Trends In Hospitality Sector

Trends that will shape the future of hospitality sector are:

1. Low Cost Carriers

2. Budget Hotels

3. Service Apartments

4. Technology

5. Loyalty Travel

1. Low cost carriers: Travelers in general are more price sensitive to airfare than they are to hotel room rates. Often a low airfare will stimulate demand for travel even if hotel prices are increasing. LCCs are a good option for business travelers, as they have advantages like low costs, more options and connectivity.

2. Budget hotels: More than 50 per cent of occupancy of a majority of hotels comes from the business travel segment. The average room rate (ARR) realized from business travelers is normally higher than from leisure travelers. Heightened demand and the healthy occupancy rates have resulted in an increase in the number of budget hotels. Some of the new players entering into this category of hotels include Hometel, Kamfotel, Courtyard by Marriott, Country Inns & Suites, Ibis and Fairfield Inn.

3. Service apartments: The concept of service apartments, though a recent phenomenon in India, is an established global concept. Villas in Spain, flats in the UK and apartment complexes in the US have all created a viable market for those who want more than just a room in a hotel. Service apartments are the latest trend in accommodation, offering the comfort and convenience of a home without the hassles of having to maintain or look after it. Ideally suited for medium-to-long staying guests, service apartments are a natural choice for corporate employees or expatriates relocating to a particular city, non-resident Indians visiting the country for long spells and foreigners visiting the city for long durations.

4. Technology: Travel and technology have become inseparable. Technology is making its own advances with high-tech video conferencing facilities, web cameras and virtual reality mode of conferencing. On-line bookings, e-ticketing, Wi-Fi Internet connectivity, easy access to information, etc. are just a few areas where technology has completely changed the the way we travel.

5. Loyalty travel:Today, airline-credit card company tie-ups have brought a whole range of benefits to the travelers. These include insurance cover, upgrades, free tickets, access to executive lounges, and a host of other goodies.

ITC Hotels Limited
ITC Hotels:

· ITC Hotel Maurya Sheraton & Towers, New Delhi

· ITC Hotel Grand Maratha Sheraton & Towers, Mumbai

· ITC Hotel Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers,Kolkata

· WelcomHotel Mughal Sheraton, Agra

· WelcomHeritage ( These hotels are spread over all over india and are currently operating in Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Karnataka.)

MARKET CAPITALIZATION

Month

High

Low

Average

July 2006

69470.81

61622.49

65132.68

August 2006

71935.59

63162.11

66907.27

September 2006

71616.29

68235.51

69865.82

October 2006

73136.79

69172.79

70595.60

November 2006

71870.11

66984.82

69353.40

December 2006

71557.75

63306.15

67001.52

Key Stats & Ratios

Quarterly

Annual

(2006)

Annual

(TTM)

Net Profit Margin

–

21.70%

–

Operating Margin

–

31.32%

–

EBITD Margin

–

34.70%

–

Return on Average Assets

–

18.35%

–

Return on Average Equity

–

26.75%

–
RECRUITMENT POLICY:

The potential candidates who are looking forward to build their career in ITC Hotels should possess several qualities like integrity, intellectual rigor, a ‘will do’ attitude, team skills, ability to think strategically, high energy, creativity and leadership.

For entry level, ITC relies on campus recruitments and visits various management and engineering institutes. Some of the institutes include IITs, IIMs, FMS, XLRI, etc.

ITC also provides summer internships. The internships are for a total of 8 weeks during April – July every year. For middle level opportunities, advertisements are placed on the company website and the interested and eligible candidates are invited to apply on-line. The middle management level provides opportunities in Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Logistics and many more.

Indian Hotels Company

The Indian Hotels Company (IHC) is the parent company of Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces. It was founded by Jamsetji N. Tata on December16, 1903. Currently the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces comprises 57 hotels at 40 locations across India. Additional 18 hotels are also being operated around the globe. During fiscal year 2006, the total number of hotels owned or managed by the Company was 75.

The Taj hotels are categorized as luxury, leisure and business hotels. The Taj Luxury Hotels offer a wide range of luxurious suites with modern fitness centres, rejuvenating spas, and well-equipped banquet and meeting facilities. The Taj Leisure Hotels offer a complete holiday package that can be enjoyed with the whole family.

It provides exciting activities ranging from sports, culture, environment, adventure, music, and entertainment. The Taj Business Hotels provide the finest standards of hospitality, which helps the business trips to be productive. They offer well-appointed rooms, telecommunication facilities, efficient service, specialty restaurants and lively bars, well-equipped business centres, and other conference facilities.

Management:

Chairman: Mr. Ratan N Tata

Managing Director & CEO: Mr. Raymond Bickson

Chief Operating Officer, Leisure Hotels: Ms. Jyoti Narang

Chief Operating Officer, Luxury Hotels: Mr. Abhijit Mukerji

Chief Operating Officer, Business Hotels: Mr. Jamshed S. Daboo

Vice President-Legal & Company secretary: Dev Bajpai

Chief Financial Officer: Mr. Anil P Goel

Financial Data
Key Stats & Ratios

Quarterly

(Mar ’04)

Annual

(2006)

Annual

(TTM)

Net Profit Margin

4.86%

11.93%

5.03%

Operating Margin

8.24%

16.75%

7.77%

EBITD Margin

–

29.11%

23.33%

Return on Average Assets

–

5.32%

–

Return on Average Equity

–

15.48%

–

Market Capitalization in last 6 months (Rs.crores)

Month

High

Low

Average

July 2006

6983.18

5883.71

6640.63

August 2006

7536.56

6745.18

7229.90

September 2006

8093.45

7482.83

7835.64

October 2006

8576.75

7911.81

8146.62

November 2006

9046.91

8080.31

8681.29

December 2006

9444.76

8400.55

9001.56

Four new hotels in Bangalore: Taj Group invests Rs.1,000 crore

The Taj Group of Hotels will invest about Rs 1,000 crore for constructing four new hotels in Bangalore. It has submitted an Expression of Interest to Delhi Airport International Limited (DAIL). The company has also submitted an Expression of Interest for building a top-class hotel in the airport vicinity. Besides the company has been allocated a site at Greater Noida for building a hotel, while it is keen on entering into a management contract for a hotel in Gurgaon. The Group was also eyeing to enter hotel business overseas like Maldives, Mauritius, Colombo, Boston and Sydney. The Group is also planning to explore seven more locations in Mumbai and increase its total room capacity to 2,000 in the commercial capital in the next five years.

This expansion of its budget hotels will generate numerous jobs in the industry. The group has also taken up the renovation and management of Rail Yatri Niwas, the well-known Delhi budget hotel owned by the railways, on a 15-year lease. As part of the deal with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which currently runs it, the Taj group will renovate the Yatri Niwas and add food courts within the complex. The makeover will be done on a redesign-operate-manage-transfer basis. The hotel will be run under the Taj group’s budget hotel brand, Ginger, which has hotels in Mysore, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Haridwar and Bhubaneshwar. Taj group of hotels will upgrade all four Rail Yatri Niwas hotels located in Delhi, Howrah, Ranchi and Puri.

The Oberoi Group (EIH)

The Oberoi Group was founded in 1934 by Late Rai Bahadur M S Oberoi. The group owns and/or manages 32 hotels with 3,193 rooms under names of “Oberoi Hotels & Resorts” and “Trident Hilton”, a luxury backwater cruiser in Kerala and Oberoi Flight Services, a division of EIH that provides commercial in-flight catering and operates airport lounges and restaurants. It has branches in five countries, situated in two continents (Asia and Africa).

The chain operates the following hotels and resorts in India:

The Oberoi, New Delhi

Oberoi, Mumbai, Maharashtra

The Oberoi, Banglore, Karnataka

The Oberoi Amarvilas, Uttar Pradesh

The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata, West Bengal

The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, Rajasthan

The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan

Wildflower Hall, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

The Oberoi Cecil, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

The Oberoi Motor Vessel Vrinda, Kerela.

The other businesses of EIH include:

· Mercury Car Rentals

· Corporate Air Charters

· EIH Press

· Mercury Travels

· Flight Catering

MARKET CAPITALIZATION
Key Stats & Ratios

Annual

(2006)

Net Profit Margin

22.32%

Operating Margin

30.45%

EBITD Margin

48.13%

Return on Average Assets

8.81%

Return on Average Equity

21.09%

The market capitalization of EIH as on march 21, 2007 was Rs. 3,748.74 cr.

Oberoi Group ventures into Middle East hospitality industry

Oberoi Group will run two hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to tap the growing Middle East tourism market. Oberoi will manage a city hotel as well as one resort property in the UAE capital. The company has also signed an agreement for a hotel in Dubai, which is part of a 800- million-dirham property project being developed by Rani International. The company’s development plans are focused on the Middle East and Asia. It has 32 hotels in five countries and is planning to open new properties in several locations, including Marrakesh, Muscat, Maldives, Cambodia and Thailand.

It is also planning to launch its luxury cruiser on the Nile, The Oberoi Zahra, in October this year with an idea to redefine the paradigm of luxury on Nile. The Oberoi Zahra, Luxury Nile Cruiser comes with 25 luxury suites and two Grand suites. The Grand suites have their own private decks and outdoor Jacuzzis. With the Indian economy growing fast, Oberoi is also looking at a number of new sites in India cities, including Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai. It currently has 11 brand hotels in India. Oberoi was also ranked ninth among the top 10 leading chains, hotels, resorts and spas across the world, according to the 2007/2008 World’s Top Hotels, Resorts and Spas survey report released by Zagat Surveys.

Radisson Hotels & Resorts

Radisson Hotels & Resorts: Radisson hotels are a worldwide chain of 435 hotels with a total of 102,000 guest rooms, in 61 countries. The first Radisson Hotel was built in 1909 and was purchased by Curt Carlson in 1962 and is still owned by his Carlson Companies. Radisson Hotels International is a fully owned subsidiary of the Carlson Hospitality Worldwide, which is one of the major operating groups of Carlson Companies Inc.Carlson Hospitality brands include – Regent International Hotels, Radisson Hotels Worldwide, Country Inns and Suites by Carlson, Park Hospitality, Carlson Vacation Ownership, and Carlson Lifestyle Living. Carlson companies also include the Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Carlson Leisure Group, Carlson Marketing Group and a worldwide marketing services company.

With more than 1520 hotel, resort, restaurant and cruise ship operations in 79 countries, Carlson Companies provide employment to 190,000 people in more than 140 countries.

Scope Of Hospitality Sector

In 2003-04 the hospitality industry contributed only 2% of the GDP. However, it is projected to grow at a rate of 8.8% between 2007-16, which would place India as the second-fastest growing tourism market in the world. This year the number of tourists visiting India is estimated to have touched the figure of 4.4 million. With this huge figure, India is becoming the hottest tourist destination. The arrival of foreign tourists has shown a compounded annual growth of 6 per cent over the past 10 years. Besides, travel and tourism is the second highest foreign exchange earner for India. Moreover, it is also estimated that the tourism sector will account for nearly 5.3 per cent of GDP and 5.4 per cent of total employment.

GDP

Employment

Visitor Export

Personal T&T

Capital Investment

Govt. Expenditure

Outlook for 2006

7.80%

1.40%

10.90%

6.90 %

8.30%

7.70%

Outlook for 2007-2016

6.60%

1.00%

7.80%

6.70%

7.80%

6.60%

Future of hospitality sector:

To boost up the growth of tourism in India, the government has proposed to invest Rs. 520 crore in 2007-2008. Tourism in expected to grow further over the next few years due to the changes taking place on the demand and supply sides. The factors that will account for the further growth of tourism will include the following:

· Change in standards of living

· More disposable income

· Better education

· Long leisure time

· Aging population

Owing to growth of tourism sector, infrastructure will improve, competition will increase, new products will come into markets and better services will be provided. Due to the rapid growth in tourism, the hotel industry is also booming. Many international players like Le Meridien and Accor are heading towards Indian markets to expand their business. With government’s full support in developing infrastructure, increase in demand, open sky policies and increased competition, the hospitality industry is getting consolidated and has many more opportunities to grow further.

Challenges For Hospitality Industry

1.Shortage of skilled employees:One of the greatest challenges plaguing the hospitality industry is the unavailability of quality workforce in different skill levels. The hospitality industry has failed to retain good professionals.

2.Retaining quality workforce:Retention of the workforce through training and development in the hotel industry is a problem and attrition levels are too high. One of the reasons for this is unattractive wage packages. Though there is boom in the service sector, most of the hotel management graduates are joining other sectors like retail and aviation.

3. Shortage of rooms: The hotel industry is facing heavy shortage of rooms. It is estimated that the current requirement is of 1,50,000 rooms. Though the new investment plan would add 53,000 rooms by 2011, the shortage will still persist.

4. Intense competition and image of India: The industry is witnessing heightened competition with the arrival of new players, new products and new systems. The competition from neighboring countries and negative perceptions about Indian tourism product constrains the growth of tourism. The image of India as a country overrun by poverty, political instability, safety concerns and diseases also harms the tourism industry.

5. Customer expectations: As India is emerging as a destination on the global travel map, expectations of customers are rising. The companies have to focus on customer loyalty and repeat purchases.

6. Manual back-end: Though most reputed chains have IT enabled systems for property management, reservations, etc., almost all the data which actually make the company work are filled in manual log books or are simply not tracked.

7. Human resource development: Some of the services required in the tourism and hotel industries are highly personalized, and no amount of automation can substitute for personal service providers. India is focusing more on white collar jobs than blue collar jobs. The shortage of blue collar employees will pose various threats to the industry.