Author: Andre Coleman

The airline industry exemplifies the effectiveness of e-commerce and the way technology can re-create the industrial structure. Today a traveler from New York can book a round trip from New York to London, rent a car, and book a hotel room online. The same traveler upon reaching the airport can get his boarding pass, confirmation to his car, and his hotel room number from the automated ticket machine of the airline. If the traveler is a non-smoker and prefers a room on the non-smoking floor, the system would have his preference saved and would book the room accordingly. If any changes have to be made in the travel itinerary at any point in his journey, it can be seamlessly made by calling the respective customer service department. All this is possible, without any human interaction, through the development of information technology and the Internet (Doganis, 2006). Research shows that business travelers are almost twice as likely to use internet travel agencies to book their tickets as the conventional model because it is faster and more convenient (Travel Weekly, 2005). This forms only a part of the overall e-commerce model, which is not restricted solely to making reservations. It encompasses the whole process of doing business, interaction between the firm and its suppliers, partners, and customers.

The Internet and IT provide immense possibilities for growth for the airlines, and a plethora of information for the buyers so that they can grab the best available offers. The airline reservation system is a sophisticated computerized system that can predict and determine the demand for tickets over time and set the price accordingly (Economist, 2001). Therefore, e-commerce becomes the interface for doing business between all the service providers and receivers.

The airlines industry was one of the early adopters of IT and it has helped in changing the whole structure of the industry. Using IT they have successfully reduced their operating costs, marketing and distribution cost. As estimated by the Economist, the management information systems and the Internet together has saved the airlines “commissions of up to 5% on ticket sales” and “cost of printing and sending out tickets and the fees (around $11 per ticket) for the computerized reservation services” (Economist, 2001, p. 20). Companies like Southwest, Easy Jet, and Ryanair have reported that almost 90 percent of their tickets were sold online (Economist, 2001). There has been significant growth in the e-booking industry in America and it is not only limited to passenger e-bookings, but also to cargo bookings. In 2005, 14 percent cargo shipping through airlines was booked online (McKenna, 2005). The advantage of e-commerce is not restricted solely to cost reduction and provides opportunity towards improving their operations and customer services. This paper traces the history of integration of IT and the Internet in the business models of airlines and studies how this has changed the face of the industry. The paper will also discuss the technologies used by the airlines presently, and the future trend of the industry.

HISTORY OF THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY AND E-COMMERCE

Today the airline industry can be called one of the best adopters of IT. An interest, therefore lingers to understand the way in which the internet and IT have changed the interface of the airline industry. The beginnings of the innovation and change in the airlines industry to adopt new technology began in the 1940s with American and United Airlines trying to adopt an electronic reservation system to reduce clerical costs (Copeland & McKenney, 1988). However, this soon led to the need to keep a track of the customer ticket numbers and other personal details important to control operations, which in turn led to this information being utilized for seat allocation, baggage, food, and other operational and service issues. This in turn led to the utilization of the data being collected for the airline’s retail distribution channels for better marketing. This section will provide a brief history of the development of the airline reservation system and development of e-commerce for airlines industry.

The initial years of the adoption of the automated reservation call system were dubbed the “experimental years” (Copeland & McKenney, 1988). The first automation was brought forth in the 1940s with the most advanced electromechanical engineering technology available at that time. During the manual era, all the flight reservation, seat allocation, operations work, was done by reservation clerks who gathered customer information manually. Huge resource availability boards placed in all reservation counters that displayed the number of seats available on particular flights which were used to make the booking arrangements. In 1950s, this was replaced by magnetic drum memories that captured the inventories of seats available so that they could be displayed in reservation offices (Copeland & McKenney, 1988). In order to know the number of seat available, reservation clerks inserted plates at their desks for the required flight which would then display the number of seats available. The cancelations or change in itinerary were done on the on the plates as well. This system was good for inventory management, but failed to capture passenger seat records. It was not until 1958, through a joint effort of IBM and American Airlines, that an automated system was created that would associate the passenger name to her reservation (Copeland & McKenney, 1988).

The initial stage of the project was installed under the name SABER (Semi-Automatic Business Environment Research) in 1961. SABER comprised of two 7090 mainframe systems by IBM. One was provisioned for the purpose of real time processing and the other for the purposes of data backup and low-priority batch jobs. For real time data transfer capability, IBM specifically designed the 7286 Real Time Channels that would allow controlling, scheduling, and assembling of data between the “7090 and the magnetic drums, disk files, and communication lines” (Copeland & McKenney, 1988, p. 355). Though SABER had some unique capabilities and was a revolutionizing technological innovation in the sixties, IBM’s previous experience in the area was not sufficient to implement a complex teleprocessing system for commercial purposes (Copeland & McKenney, 1988). It took IBM and American Airlines until 1965, when they completed installation of the SABER system to prove that the core problems with passenger reservations for the airlines could be solved (Copeland & McKenney, 1988). In turn, SABRE became the first global distribution system (GDS) available to the airlines industry.

IMPACT OF GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

In 1964, IBM announced its System/360 that made their software compatible with any kind of hardware configurations. This change, along with its experience in the SABER project, allowed IBM to develop the Programmed Airline Reservations System (PARS). This allowed airlines to utilize standardized System/360’s for their reservation systems and helped the airline operators to reduce their cost of developing customized reservation systems (Copeland & McKenney, 1988). PARS was targeted to the mid-sized airlines, and allowed them to store passenger information along with reservation information, and a specialized operating system called ACP (Airline Control Program). Copeland & McKenney (1988, p. 356) states “ACP was designed to handle a large volume of inputs that, although unpredictable, required limited computational functions and flexibility. The software objective was to achieve optimal terminal response, system availability, reliability, and recoverability.” This in turn allowed Eastern Airways, TWA, and American Airlines to come together to cooperate in screening the names and information of their passengers for better understanding of their customer profiles. By the 1970s, all the airlines were using information systems to operate their businesses. Information systems were not however a differentiating factor in their businesses because the industry as a whole was regulated by the Federal government which made it impossible for them to offer discounted fares or compete on price differentiation. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 changed the landscape for the entire industry, and every competitive advantage was suddenly very important. The major airlines also started facing competition from low cost airlines which added another dimension to the competitive landscape.

Airlines started using their information systems to create yield management models in order to track scheduled reservations, and selectively adjust fares on individual seats. Yield management is the science using of operational research models to save seats for late bookings that yield higher revenue from customers (Belobaba, 1987). Thus, utilizing information systems, airlines could provide tickets at low costs early on, without increasing the risk of foregoing higher revenue closer to the time of flight. This allowed the airlines to target both the price sensitive customers with their low price offerings as well as high-revenue business customers who provided high revenue to the airlines. This yield management technology adopted by the US airlines allowed them to gain much higher revenue than those who did not use them. Therefore, the low cost airlines brought in a trend of discounted tickets, which was soon followed by bigger full-service airlines like American Airlines in order to fill their otherwise empty seats through heavily discounted tickets. In 1974, an effort was made to integrate and automate all the travel agents, which was called the Joint Industry Computer Reservation System (JICRS). The joint effort was aimed at making a booking system for all the travel agents who could book tickets using a single system for all the airlines. This was the first effort to establish an e-marketing system in the airlines industry. However, the plan was cancelled when United Airlines announced the launch of Apollo, its own customized system, for the travel agents. According to Copeland & McKenney (1988) the reason for the dislodge was as follows – “During the latter half of 1975, United concluded that the JICRS proposal was going to result in United paying dearly for the industry solution, which would serve only to reduce their advantage by making all airlines equal in their reservations processing capacity” (p. 359).

This caused all the other airlines that have their own systems to expand their capabilities and install them at the offices of the travel agents. These customized systems allowed travel agents to provide flight information that was biased towards their particular airline. Airline agents demanded access to all the different systems from a single console, which resulted in consolidation of the individual systems and cross system access using a common distribution language. Therefore, GDS was utilized to “identify potential itineraries, consider schedule convenience (proximity to desired departure time, number of stops, elapsed time) as well as the carrier(s) providing the service” (Smith, Gunther, Rao, & Ratliff, 2001, p. 41). The airlines that had the GDS were listed higher up in order of the customer’s itinerary (Smith, Gunther, Rao, & Ratliff, 2001). The first list that appeared in the travel agent’s screen had an impact on the customer’s decision. As cited by Smith et al. (2001), seventy percent of the bookings done through travel agents were displayed on the first screen display of the agent. This display bias led to an increase in the revenue of American Airlines by an estimated $100 million per year (cited in Smith et al., 2001).

Therefore, GDS became the interface between the travel agent and the airline. It provided the agents with all possible information regarding the scheduled flights and their fares for all the available airlines. Initially the bias in the display system was used by many airlines for their own profit. However, it was regulated by the Department of Transportation in 1984 to remove the bias in order to encourage fair competition.

IMPACT OF THE INTERNET ON THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY

Before the Internet arrived on the scene, airlines, GDS, and customers interacted through a private network established for the travel agents. With the Internet, the network was open to everyone, and already built out, which for the airline industry which was highly cost sensitive proved to be a win/win situation because they no longer had to invest in complex and expensive private networks. This resulted in the communication between the travel agents, GDS, and the airlines becoming simpler especially because the airlines already had extensive experience with data distribution via a common distribution language. Initially the Internet bookings were restricted to tickets reservations and payment transactions. On completion of the booking procedure, paper tickets were mailed to the customer. This made the process complex, as the customers had to purchase the tickets in advance if they wanted the tickets to reach them on time. Once electronic tickets were introduced, this problem was solved, as paper tickets were completely eliminated, thereby “reducing the lead time and cost associated with online purchases” (Smith et al., 2001, p. 41). This led to a widespread growth of e-ticketing for bookings through the Internet. As cited in Smith et al. (2001) a research conducted by Forester Research in 1999 demonstrated that 9 million households in the US booked their flight tickets through the Internet. In 2003, the number increased to 64 million who used the Internet to gather information or book tickets. (Werthner & Ricci, 2004).

The Internet has increased sales volumes for the airlines industry and has helped it in reaching their customers more efficiently. The primary reason is an efficient distribution system, which is individually customized to meet each traveller’s requirements. Three forms of distribution are employed by the airlines – online travel agents (Business to business), direct access to the customers (business to customers), and auction and reverse auction outlets (Smith, Gunther, Rao, & Ratliff, 2001). The first model provides direct access to GDS by the customers, wherein the travel agents are portals like Travelocity, Expedia, and Orbitz. The customers utilize the system to compare prices and airlines available on their chosen route of travel.

As stated by Smith et al. (2001) “the Internet aˆ¦ has also revived the airline sales agent in electronic form” (p. 42). The Internet has allowed many airlines to provide extra services and information to their customers and manage customer loyalty programs. Further, it also allows airlines to provide combined vacation packages to their customers. In this model the Internet is used as both a distribution as well as a marketing tool. It is used to promote low fares, special packages, and other offers to potential travelers. Further airlines often use their websites or the online travel agent’s website to promote their frequent flier miles programs, promotional offers, etc. one such example is that of Delta airlines which provides the “more for your mile” auctions through which the frequent flier club’s members can redeem their mileage for vacation packages (Smith, Gunther, Rao, & Ratliff, 2001). Further, the airline booking systems have extended their offerings beyond just airline ticket booking to car rental, reservation for hotels, etc. therefore the Internet has been used to optimize the design of the GDS to predict the nature of travel and other cross-selling opportunities to the customers (Smith, Gunther, Rao, & Ratliff, 2001). In addition, the airline website also helps in capturing the customer’s navigational path on the web in order to utilize this data to frame promotional campaigns.

The Internet is also used to reduce the distribution cost. For example, the Economist has reported that the average reduction in the cost of tickets is around $11 per ticket due to the change in mode of distribution systems (Economist, 2001). Further online travel agents like Travelocity save 19 to 65 percent in transaction costs (Harris, 2010). In 2001, 4% of all airline tickets were sold through the Internet. In 2009, almost 70 percent of the air ticket bookings are done online in the US (Harris, 2010).

The Internet has created new opportunities for air travel for customers and increased business opportunities for the airlines. Internet booking systems for the airlines are not restricted to being ticket providers, but rather allow travelers to plan their entire itinerary from air travel to hotel stay. The corporate websites also provide opportunities for additional customer services through unique customer web activity tracking mechanisms that can be utilized for customized offerings based on individual customers. Therefore, e-commerce has changed the way airlines do business and created additional opportunities for growth.

CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES INVOLVED IN THE AIRLINE RESERVATION SYSTEM

Airlines have adopted new technologies to improve operations, lower costs, increase profits, and to provide better customer service through systems integration and improved data mining tools from all their points of interaction. “Branding and communication of principles are also critical for airlines at the strategic level. Managing communications with all stakeholders, including investors, press, employees and customers, is of paramount importance. ICTs [Integrated Communication Tools] -enabled communications assist airlines to interact with all their stakeholders and to update them with regards to their initiatives and developments.” (Buhalis, 2004, p. 812) Further, the ICT helps in airline operations like check-in tracking, seat allocation, flight status, and also generating reports regarding flight path, weather, etc. In addition, it will aid in inventory planning, and reservation management systems.

THE CURRENT STATE OF E-COMMERCE IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

Currently a lot of money is being spent by the airline industry in order to develop better information gathering tools, especially about their customers in order to customize their offerings and to provide tailored information. In addition customer convenience is another area that is a major focus for the airlines. For this reason, airlines have rolled out automated ticketing machines that allow customers to avoid long queues and do their check-in formality using unmanned kiosks at the airports (Schrage, 2005). These machines allow travellers to swipe their frequent flier card or credit card to pull up the customer’s travel itinerary and process their check in requests. Check-in can also be done over the phone or the web prior to arriving at the airport if the passenger believes that they will be late for the flight. This system is also being used to upsell passengers for additional services as a part of the check in process, as well as to collect any necessary fees for baggage, etc.

THE FUTURE OF E-COMMERCE IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

As consumers become more technically savvy, additional technologies are offered to them in order to provide a better customer service experience. Consumers are also becoming more demanding while travelling. They are looking for additional services at every point in their trip, including additional details about every aspect of their travel, such as travel time, weather information, flight status, online access etc. The next generation technology in the airline industry will aim at better communications, not only with the customers, but also among the internal employees i.e. the ground force, and the airborne crew. Therefore, tools such as the GPS (Global Positioning System) can become even more important than it is today for both technology and in communication. In addition, airlines have plans to go completely wireless in future (Wilson, 2001). Wireless and mobile technology is being integrated into every aspect of airline operations to improve communication as well as allowing remote ticketing and baggage check-in through wireless devices (Wilson, 2001).

The airlines are trying to increase their customer focus by reducing the hassles faced by travellers at the airport and during air travel. According to research conducted by IBM, most of the delays in air travel worldwide after flight delays in 2008 occurred due to baggage mishandling (49 percent), failure to load the luggage(16 percent), and ticketing error or security (14 percent), and other issues (21 percent)(IBM, 2010). Therefore, the airlines have to focus on trying to reduce these issues by utilizing technologies like RFID and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) in order eliminate the causes associated with these problems.

The airline industry is trying to expand the e-ticketing concept to make the other everyday passenger interactions easy. For instance, US airports now allow anyone with e-tickets to check in without seeing a ticketing agent. They also allow the traveler to check in their baggage using a similar process. The one major limiting factor is security, and once the airlines solve the issue of identity, I am certain that other services will be offered on a self-help basis to the traveller who chooses to do it themselves.

The next big e-commerce opportunity for the airlines is to exploit the possibility of mobile e-commerce (Wilson, 2001). Others opportunities that are being explored include trying to use Bluetooth or RF that allows transmitting of data for short distances to transmit flight related information to the customer in the waiting area (Wilson, 2001). They are also trying to understand how this technology can be used to market to their captive customers who have little choice but to wait in the designated waiting areas in airports, and perhaps even onboard the aircrafts.

In short, the use of e-commerce has only exposed a small tip of the overall airline industry, and they have been on this journey for more than eight decades. It is however very clear that the future success of the industry is very much dependent on the successful deployment of additional e-commerce opportunities for their customers and partners.

Tourism is a combination of services, activities and companies that provides you traveling experience with transportation, accommodation, food, entertainment, activity facilities and other hospitality services (Mathieson and Wall, 1982).

Hospitality is how well the community accepts you and their attitude towards you which make you feel safe and welcome. It is the interaction between the host and the guest associated with protection, etiquettes and respect. The extent to which the community shows hospitality varies with the culture and subculture of different societies (Lankford S.V, 1994). Tourism and hospitality is claimed to be the world’s largest industry by World Tourism Organization (WTO) with turnover of $3 trillion dollars.

Sri Lanka is famous for its tourism, mainly because of its beautiful islands beaches, old heritage and world’s best resorts in mountains. Tourist comes from all over the world for facilitating themselves and for this purpose the main tourism organization working is Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority. This Organization is working in developing Sri Lanka to be the Asia’s most preferable tourist destination. It uses its products creatively while promising effective and efficient use of resources. They are working hard to identify unique services, formulating as well as implementing new strategies for tourism development.

Structure

This assignment is divided into five different sections from section A to section E. Section A would discuss the brief introduction about tourism/hospitality and the tourism organization selected, section B would define the different services and product offering offered by tourism organizations in order to promote growth, section C would discuss about the global demand issues that drive the constant need for updating tourism services. Whereas section D will focus on innovative strategies and activities followed by tourism organization to satisfy these changes in demand. Section E would discuss the services provided by SLTDA.

B) Different Product/Services by Tourism Organizations:

The basic services that the every tourist expects to receive are:

Accommodation: Varies according to your packages from motels, private small hotels, 5 stars hotels and resorts.

Food Facilities: Tourist experience depends a lot on the food quality he is available to as most often people travel for exploring the beautiful locations and for enjoying the different kind of food of that country.

Time and Money: Tourism Development depends a lot on the access and ease the tourist gets after enjoying his vacations and for that it is important that he does not faces such issues relating to time and money specially.

Accommodation, Tours, Sight-seeing, Cruises, Car rentals, Best Air fare rates, Transportation, Tour Guides, Entertainment are some of the basic facilities provided to you by tourism organizations depending about your package. Whether you want to have a luxurious vacation with all the facilities at its best or a simple economical holiday, this tourism organization has packages according to your budgets and demands (David Weaver, 2005).

Tourism organization has to work on constant basis for developing there product portfolio in order to maintain their demand and to stimulate growth because once you have plan to go on a vacation, at first you select the best possible place depending on your affordability and after you have shortlisted two to three places you start listing them according to their product/services offering. The best tourism package offered with all the preferable facilities and the one which is within your range as well (David Weaver, 2005)

B.1) Different Value Added Facilities Provided By Tourism Organization:

Bucket shop: Bucket shops are retail outlets which offer discount rates in airfares in commission with tourism organizations.

Charter airlines: These airlines facilitate the movement of tourists on ‘packages tours’ or ‘seat-only package’. They offer low cost transportation services to holiday destinations, for this the customer however has to make compromises by traveling at inconvenient hours or by providing just elementary services.

Computerized Reservation System (CRS): Access to airfares, schedules, packages, availability of seats and reservation beforehand become possible by this system.

C) Global Demand Issues in Tourism

C.1) Background

Diversification is important in tourism. It refers the addition of new product to the already developed products portfolio; it is a process by which new products are added to the product portfolio of a tourism business or destination in order to avoid over-dependence on a few, often highly competitive, products. Tourism has changed in the last 30 years with the rise of the jet aircraft; it has now emerged as a global phenomenon. It is today one of the most important global industry. 593 million tourist travelled abroad in the year 1996 while in 2003, 694 million tourists travelled worldwide (Long, P. T, 2000)

Before it was difficult to analyze the accurate data but after the development of Tourism Satellite Account(TSAs) it became easier as TSAs informs you about the accurate, reliable and comparable data which is collected by individual nation. However it was also came in notice that economic crisis like Gulf War, effect of 9/11, oil crisis in 1970’s effect tourism and tourism organization economically as it is a global risk for tourists to travel in such conditions (Stephen J Page, 2005).

C.2) Consumer and the changing world

The economical as well as geo-political situation demands for new strategies day by day. Variation in technology, demographics, political and world scenario changes the outlook of world as well as of customer. There are two perspectives in this new demand factor. Demand is influenced by factors such as traveling motivation and the ability to travel and on the other hand we have behavioral changes like destination preferences, ease at traveling, quality of experience but all these demands vary upon the intention of traveling. The person who has been traveling a lot and is experienced will adjust to the surrounding even if it is not according to his demands (Martin Lohman, 2004)

The other influencing factors in the tourism demand are divided into different categories for better understanding that is economy, politics, crisis and threats, demographic change and technology and all these factors are inter linked with each other. These factors have impact as holiday demand is driven by the need, motivation and realization depending on the economical situation of the individual and freedom to travel. External factor has an impact by effecting the ability to travel that is freedom, money, time, physical ability) while consumer behavior does not depend on any single factor but is actually the reaction caused by the external factors and is also backed by the internal factors such as motivation, strong desire (Martin Lohman, 2004).

Moreover there are several emerging factors having its impact on the demand and creating this dynamic nature of tourism which is known to all however bringing an overnight change is not possible, similarly these trends will also not change the world tourism.

C.3) Demographic Changes:

Although it was a constant process but in recent years it is showing changes more often now and is considered to be the most important in the European countries. These demographic trends have an impact on tourism plan of countries. Previous researches has shown that people in European countries doesn’t change their traveling pattern due to their increasing age or retirement but it is now observed that the generation when will reach the age of 60’s would not follow the same pattern. The senior citizen today are more active and enjoy all these tourism activities but the senior lot in next 15 years will be dull and less active comparatively. Similarly the declining rate in number of children is also showing some changes but this rate is really slow to bring in notice therefore one does not expect tourism organizations to change or re-orient their strategies (Lohmann and Denielsson, 2001).

C.4) Standardization vs. Unique Offering:

Technology is changing, with this new era of changing trend it is expected that the customers will demand for high quality product offering and will thrive for change but it is also stated that a little bit of standardization is a must for tourism product portfolio. But too much standardization will be a bigger risk for organizations because there will be no variety offering matching to the rapid demand of exclusivity. The customer today wants both quality and uniqueness. This means that the industry has a new challenge because it has to maintain a balance between standardization and exclusivity (Lohman, 2004)

Moreover considering the ongoing demand it is not necessary that the tourism product offered is good or not similarly whether the product is considered good by the consumer is also not important, the important thing is that it should be considerably in the list of priority high lightened by the tourist and should be considered the best in the specific list. Same goes for the tourism organization which include travel agencies, operators, hotel management and transportation in-charge by offering convinces and guidelines to help the consumers (Lohman, 2004).

Currently there is no major changes to be predicted but that doesn’t mean that we take it as a smooth path because one cannot predict future and it is always expected to show unexpected event for example any political change, any natural disaster, epidemic disease, war) therefore it is necessary and also possible that the tourism organizations prepare for the changing trend which can be identified by keeping a close eye on current situation. Demand is high but that will not make you able to sell anything to experienced tourists (Taylor, 2001).

All these above global issues make it necessary for the tourism and hospitality organization to constantly develop their products to meet the constant demand.

D) Strategies and Different Activities Employed By Tourism Organizations:

Strategic planning consists of several steps. The first step is to formalize a proper organization which controls all the necessary details. Then a vision must be developed about how you actually want to shape out everything followed by other details including infrastructure and investment issues.

D.1) Competition:

As time is changing the world is also in constant demand of change which is resulting in competition among different countries thriving for economic growth, development better than the other country. Similarly the world tourism is also emerging day by day and countries are trying to benefit themselves by developing their country into a proper tourist spot in return generating huge revenue (Fainstein & Gladstone, 1999). This will also benefit the country in prospering as developing the country will make the government work on infrastructure and surrounding quality along with that it will help making the relation stronger of the host country with the other countries whose tourists are welcomed with immense hospitality. Moreover for handling tourism more employment is needed which is good for the localities and it is also noticed that those countries which are not developing themselves for betterment and tourism may left behind in such a competitive environment where every other nation is fighting for a standalone position in the planet (Fainstein & Gladstone, 1999).

Not just internationally it is expected among the cities as well within the same countries to work for their own betterment competing with the other city of the same nation. Every city mayor should work for the development of its own city which may eventually result making the city a place for tourism destination (Holcomb, 1999)

D.2) Strategies Development:

Countries that strive to be competitive must develop a long term strategy and start working on it because without a plan you cannot achieve your goal. It’s a long term process because developing a country in a preferable tourism destination and above all developing the sense of hospitality among the local community is not an easy job. Therefore for achieving this difficult task you need to first develop a strategy which is a set of policies intended to achieve your goal and mission (Getz, 1997).

D.3) Innovation:

Further more once the mission is achieved one must not take it for granted and should work to improve it day by day as tourism industry can never settle on one standardize procedure, it must keep brining innovation depending on the current trend and demands on its consumer (Van den Berg et al, 1995).

D.4) 3 A’s of Tourism:

There are 3 A’s of tourism which must be kept in mind all the time because it has the core importance

Access: Transportation must be provided to the tourist easily so that they can easily access their desirable tourist spots.

Attraction: Tourists must find variety of attractive places to visit and explore. They must have different choices to make so that they can enjoy their trip completely instead of sitting at home even on vacations.

Amenities: The facilities available to the tourist on the particular location or destination they plan to visit.

However the most important A in this category is the second one Attraction as tourism is all about exploring and visiting different locations (Dieke and Karamustafa, 2000).

D.5) Events:

People are getting involved into different kinds of events and therefore chose holiday destination considering the upcoming possible event, so that they can enjoy their holiday break completely. Therefore the event business is also a profitable business these days. It is also noticed that sometime events make the tourist visit a specific location for example Dubai festivals or fashion shows make people visit Dubai, which often doesn’t hold a desire for exploring Dubai but those events (Getz, 2004).

This helps a lot in off seasons when tourism is at a low level encouraging the tourists to visit helping the tourism organization in maintain their profits. Besides that it also help in developing an image of the host country in a favorable position making the country as a favorite holiday destination for people from all over the world. (Mossberg, 2000)

As events are important part of tourism, one should work for its marketing in a proper way. Promotions through blogs, brochures, press release are some common way for marketing the events. Different marketing channels should be adopted for promoting the events so that everyone comes to know about it and it should be done giving enough time to the travelers so that they can plan a trip conveniently.

D.6) Culture and Roots:

The host country should emphasize on its culture greatly because the tourist find it attractive as it gives them something different to explore. Ancient heritage, monuments is of keen interest for the tourists and in this way one can make its own culture known to the people worldwide as well (Mossberg, 2000).

E) Sri Lankan Tourist Development Authority:

E.1) Tourism In Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka’s main business comes from its tourism. It has ancient heritage, beaches, beautiful mountains, lush green resorts making it a perfect spot for holidays. Tourists comes from every part of the world to visit Sri Lanka as it has a really good tourism development organizations working for the betterment of industry and bringing diversification in there product offering.

Visa policy for Sri Lanka is comparatively easy to get. Usually they give a tourist visa for 30 days but it can also get extended. Your visa can extend up to three months by paying some amount and it can further increase for three months giving extension fees along with additional Rs.10,000 however extension more than this depends upon the concerned authority ((Sri Lanka Development Tourist Authority Online)

E.2) Different Exclusive Offering By SLTDA:

Sri Lankan Tourist Development Authority offers different exclusive services in order to satisfy their customers and confirming a great experience depending on their affordability

Heritage: Sri Lanka is rich in ancient heritage. It has preserved Asian monuments which are an attraction for people all around from the world especially for tourists who are fond of ancient culture and tradition specially visits Sri Lanka for enjoying these cultural, belief and traditional way of living that is held in reserve in the roots of Sri Lanka. UNESCO world heritage, Adam’s Peak are some of the must visit in Sri Lanka.(Sri Lanka Tourism Guide)

SPA and Ayuerveda Treatment: They just not revive your mind and body but also try to sooth your soul by providing you with the most popular method AYUERVEDA for relaxing your body and mind and healing spiritual and physical problems by herbal treatments, various relaxing bath and body massages along with physical exercises such as yoga, aerobics and particular diets which help one feel relaxing and completely enjoying this lavishness of life which you usually do not cherish in your daily routine (Sri Lanka Tourism Guide).

Shopping Destinations: Apart from beautiful and lavish shopping malls in Colombo and other larger cities, one can also enjoy traditional villager shopping in small villages and handcraft material from local vendor on a very cheap price, while brass work of Sri Lanka is also very famous due to its finesse. Another purchase f Sri Lanka are its silverware that is also given as a souvenir at times but the most famous of all are the widest variety of stone found in Sri Lanka because of which Sri Lanka is considered among the largest gem producer country therefore you can also facilitate yourself by getting yourself these stones on your visit (Sri Lanka Tourism Guide).

Adventures Sports: Sri Lanka offers the chances of indulging in all kinds of sports specially adventures involving waters as it has more than 100 beaches which facilitate you to go for water skiing, water surfing, scuba diving, boating, Speed boating. Moreover these sports are run under the supervision of professionals and when you are thorough professionals you can also try killer fall, head chopper and drop. Apart from water adventure one can also enjoy wildlife, forest exploration, mountain climbing for being able to witness the world’s most beautiful scenery ahead. Beautiful waterfalls are also one of the desirable scenes to watch in Sri Lanka.

Safari which happens to be the national park of Sri Lanka has variety of animals including different kinds of mammals, elephant, hog, porcupine, ant eater and variety of monkeys as well. Islands have different kinds of reptile (snakes, crocodiles as well) making it dangerous to wander carelessly as it is said that out of all these hundreds of reptile kinds 5 of snake found are deadly.(Sri Lanka Tourism Guide)

Festivals: Sri Lanka is a city of on going entertainment and therefore every season you will witness some kind of celebration going on. Cultural festivals, Harvest festivals or some regional ceremonies are always taking place.

All these are the exclusive offering which is given by the Sri Lankan tourism organization to its tourists depending on their affordability level. Apart from those basic facilities like accommodation, transport, breakfast benefits are usually included in the tourism package.

CONCLUSION: In the end it is concluded that tourism organization faces extreme global issues and if they want to be ahead of others they must constantly bring innovation intro their product portfolio. Strategies should be made and tourism organizations must follow them step by step.

REFRENCES:

David Weaver. 2005. “The Ecotourism concept and tourism conservation symbiosis”. Journal of sustainable tourism 13 (4): 376-389.

Fainstein, S.S. and Gladstone, D. (1999) ‘Evaluating urban tourism’, in D.R. Judd and S.S. Fainstein (eds) The Tourist City, New Haven: Yale University Press.

Getz, D. (1997). Event Management & Event Tourism. Cognizant Communication Corporation

Lankford, S. V. (1994). “Attitudes and perceptions toward tourism andrural regional development. Journal of Travel Research, 31(3), 35-43.

Lohmann, Martin (2004): The 31st Reiseanalyse – RA 2001. Tourism; Vol. 49, N° 1 / 2001; pp 65 – 67, Zagreb.

Lohmann, M. & Danielsson, J. (2001): Predicting Travel Patterns of Senior Citizens: How the Past May Provide a Key to the Future. Journ.of vacation marketing, Vol. 7, N° 4, pp. 357 – 366

Long, P. T (1990). Rural resident tourismperceptions and attitudes by community level of tourism. Journal of TravelResearch, 28(3), 3-9.

Mathieson and Wall, 1982, Tourism; economic, physical and social impacts, Longman House groups in tourism centers. Journal of Travel Research, 21 (3), 8-12.

Morrison(1998). Convention and visitor bureaus in the USA: a profile of bureaus: bureau executives and budgets. Journal of Travel and Tourism marketing, 7, 1-19.

Mossberg, L. (Ed) (2000). Evaluation of Events: Scandinavian Experiences. The United States of America: Cognizant Communication Corporation.

INTRODUCTION

Event manager is a person of vision, energy, and commitment in a position of responsibility and authority. An event manager plays myriad professional roles. Event managers and their teams are often behind-the-scenes running the event. Event managers may also be involved in more than just the planning and execution of the event, but also brand building, marketing and communication strategy. The event manager is experts at the creative, technical and logistical elements that help an event succeed. This includes event design, audio-visual production, scriptwriting, logistics, budgeting, and negotiation and, of course, client service. It is a multi-dimensional profession. So now let us see some of his duties and responsibilities.

An event manager is a, Project director: Set and define goals; schedule and assign tasks, Personnel supervisor: Choose, motivate, and evaluate staffs, Art director: Design theme, decorations and printed materials, Executive: evaluate long term results and make decisions, Accountant: plan budgets and balance the books, Facilities experts: find and use a site to its fullest potential, Public relations practitioners: target audience and develop publicity campaigns.

Salesperson: sell the event to the organization, financial sponsors, and the public, Box office consultants: ticket sales and registration process. Program administrator: develop and schedule programming. Caterer: create nutritious menus and oversee food preparation. Captain: choose and implement food service system.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AN EVENT MANAGER

They will also attend the event to ensure everything goes to plan. Event managers supply to all types of services relating to the events industry a take on the responsibility of coordinating all the logistics involved in making the event work to the clientaˆ™s satisfaction. They are follows:

Personality

An event manager should be able to present a calm, friendly, and courteous manner at all times. The five essential characteristics of successful event managers can be listed as:

Detail- oriented

Organized

Full of energy, both physical and emotional

Nurturing

Flexible. Having a good sense of humor is a key apart from the above qualities.

Motivation

The job of event manager requires hard work and a service orientation; it is not a good position for a glory seeker. The person who wants to sit at the head table, give orders, and look important has the wrong idea of an event manageraˆ™s functions.

Safety meetings and inspections

During the risk assessment meeting the event manager needs to elicit all possible health or safety hazards associated with the goods, services and personnel to be used to produce the events. Specifically ask all vendors and suppliers to identify potential physical hazards and the safeguards necessary to prevent exposure to illness or injuries. Use this opportunities to communicate a commitment to safety in all aspects of the event.

During preliminary site inspections the event manager should look for any event element or aspect of the event site that might have the potential for injury, scanning sanitary supplies and disposable diapers/ nappies, is sometimes considered a form of hazardous material, may be generated by first aid stations and must be disposed of accordingly.

Particularly for outdoor sites, pest control may be important, perhaps requiring clearing and cleaning out of infested areas, spraying for insects. The event manager should determine if vector borne diseases are possible and work with public health authorities to control the vector.

Sanitation and hygiene

Cleanliness and hygienic conditions are imperative for many reasons, including health and safety from injuries or illness, but also for the comfort and the welfare of the event audience, participants, and personnel. Water is a critical component of health and hygiene. The quality and the quantity of the water must be accessed, particularly for outdoor events and temporary event sites, including the potential for water supply sabotage and the location and logistics of getting emergency water supplies. Free and freely accessible drinking water must be provided at all the events. Potable water must also be provided for cleansing needs and non potable water may be needed for dust abatement.

Sanitary facilities must be in sufficient numbers to accommodate the expected numbers and types of users for the expected duration of the events. They must be positioned appropriately to serve the various event populations.

Occupational safety is also a consideration. The catering operations must guard against such hazards as burns from cooking and serving equipments, cuts from knives or broken glasses, slips and trips on spilled liquids or electrical cords, falls, fire and fumes.

Preparing an event record

The event records mainly include:

Timeline/ schedules

Initial proposal

Contacts

Committees

Correspondence

Budget

Site

Marketing and promotion

Promotional materials

Registration

Theme and program

Audiovisual

On the day of the event

During the event, a manager should greet guest, visit at tables during the meal, discuss the sessions with seminar leaders, and generally see to it that everyone has the best possible time. Ideally, a manager will have delegated well enough to be able to do nothing but transverse the site, checking upon people and activities and chatting with guests to find out how the event is perceived. At outdoor sites and large events, event managers sometimes distribute walkie- talkies or wears beepers.

Keeping the events on track

The following steps are taken by the event managers to keep the events on track:

Select volunteers; form committees

Decide goals and themes

Research audience

Create event names and logo

Choose evaluation methods

Outline budget

Contact potential sponsors

Visit and select sites

Diagram sites

Make signs

Plan publicity campaigns

Contact media

Design registration

Audition and select performers

Schedule rehearsals

Draft menu

Negotiate with caterers

Choose serving style

Shop for supplies

Prepare food

The big day

Clean up and close

Meet for evaluations

Send thankyous

Write and file reports

Selecting an event

The choice of a specific event will rest on three supports:

Purpose ( fund raising, recruitment etc)

Audience (need and characteristics)

Organization (success lies in using the strongest resources)

Special events held by organizations and clubs can center on such elements as:

Food (bake sales, potlucks, award banquets, cooking seminars)

Entertainment (talent shows, concerts, theaters parties, gospel sings)

Merchandise

Athletic endeavors

Education

Games

Potpourris

Choosing a theme

A theme should be developed by the event manager for the event. Hobbies and careers, holidays, seasons, games, activities, history, costumes, ethnic culture, geography, colors, flowers, jewels, literature, and weddings can all form the bases of the special events.

The date itself may suggest a theme.

The site of an event may contribute to theme ideas.

Names and logos should be selected with great care. Use a memorable name that clearly explains and identifies the event.

One of the manageraˆ™s tasks is to maintain the atmosphere of the event.

Clever lighting can help spotlight a performer or speaker, encourage intimate conversation, or display artwork to advantage.

Goal settings for special events and Conferences

Raise funds for a specific cause, person, or place

Build spirit among long term members ( heal a breach, solve a political problem, launch a new program)

Facilitate information distribution/ exchange especially for large audience

Recruit new members (specific or group of people)

Celebrate, give awards, recognize volunteer efforts

Attract publicity, reach new audience, heighten public awareness

CONCLUSION

Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of festivals, events and conferences. Event management involves studying the intricacies of the brand, identifying the target audience, devising the event concept, planning the logistics and coordinating the technical aspects before actually executing the modalities of the proposed event. Post-event analysis and ensuring a return on investment have become significant drivers for the event industry. For event management we should have proper communication skill and hard work for it. And we should be ready for work in out the event, only then we can become an Event Manger.

Rajasthan is one of the most important tourist destinations in India and South-East Asia. Domestic tourism is believed to represent a vehicle for retaining hard currency that might otherwise leave the country in the form of outbound travel expenditures in foreign destinations. As domestic tourism quantifies nearly five times the size of international tourism of any average country but the adequate importance has not yet been given to it or we can say not yet taken the organized form in our country i.e. India. In the present article, a review of the sector’s competitive strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats indicates that it has considerable growth potential. A separate SWOT analysis after examining the available resources could prove beneficial and is necessary to chalk out the target market groups, their strengths, weakness, threats & opportunities. It helps in designing marketing strategies to promote domestic tourism in Rajasthan. As a conclusion of this article, although tourism is a fickle industry, subjects to consumer whims and fancies beyond the industry’s control, it is also a dynamic and exciting industry. In the end, few of the major suggestions are also presented to envisage the broad spectrum of this dynamite.

Introduction:

Domestic tourism is believed to represent a vehicle for retaining hard currency that might otherwise leave the country in the form of outbound travel expenditures in foreign destinations. By encouraging spending by affluent local populations in domestic locations, foreign exchange is saved without implementing potentially regressive deterrents to outbound travel.

As domestic tourism quantifies nearly five times the size of international tourism of any average country but the adequate importance has not yet been given to it or we can say not yet taken the organized form in our country i.e. India.

Being dynamic in nature domestic tourism is the only one which forms base for international tourism. Considering the volume and its reliability in terms of seasonality greater emphasis is now laid on domestic tourism in the interest of coordinated economic development and giving or providing the citizens the chance and facilities to enjoy the bounties of God and man-made creations of Tourism. It has well been observed that domestic tourism provides an opportunity in terms of better utilization of tourism infrastructure and improves their returns, as well as shows great support in lean season and international strife’s and turmoil’s.

Traditionally the domestic tourist has never been given the importance that he deserves because of certain prejudices and preconceived notions that are chiefly based on the assumption that the domestic tourist can not become a major source of the generation of revenues in comparison to the international tourists.

However this approach has been one of the biggest and yet unnoticed deterrent in the growth of tourism in India as a whole. Without creating a strong environment for domestic tourism the success in international tourism will remain illusive. One of the major drawbacks of ignoring the domestic tourism sector is that it closes out the possibilities of the exploitation of available resources and the vast potential of the domestic tourist, which when properly utilized, may give a major boost to the economy of tourism and that of the entire country.

The assumption that the domestic tourists do not have a big paying capacity and therefore, any significant attention towards the sector may not prove to be fruitful. The experience of post-independence tourism in India has proved that the entire sector of tourism lives under a constant threat of the political churnings within the nation and on the International level.

Rajasthan is one of the most important tourist destinations in India and south-east Asia. Its desert dotted with rugged forts and beautiful palaces, lakes, wildlife and bird sanctuaries, charming cities, fairs and festivals and colorful culture form the most fascinating and unique basket of attractions for any tourist.

Table: Domestic Tourism in Rajasthan
Year
Domestic Tourists
Change in Tourists Traffic (In Percentage)

2001

7757217

5.19

2002

8300190

6.99

2003

12545135

51.14

2004

16033896

27.81

2005

18787298

17.17

2006

23483287

25.00

2007

25920529

10.38

2008

28358918

9.41

2009

25558691

-9.87

2010

25543877

-0.06

Source: Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Jaipur.

As far as Rajasthan is considered vast potential and resources are there but the need to pay heed is required. Rajasthan’s rich culture, history and heritage have always been a centre of attraction to all masses, not only for the international tourists but the domestic tourists as well. Along with international tourists the need of an hour is to look at our own people, experience the share of our rich cultures and mingle inter-stately in all spheres thus multiplying our income and integrity on whole.

Rajasthan has been recognized as a destination to offer all the dreams comes true for everyone but has emphasized more on international tourists. Why do we neglect this major sector when we can really generate the source from them? What message do we give to them when they visit us or do they really carry a lifetime experience and desire to come back? There are lot many questions to ask and who is accountable to answer.

Domestic tourism is accorded as the base for international tourism and has bigger share and more potential than international tourism in terms of volume and receipts but being the neglected sector has remained disorganized.

There is a need for a framework to be evolved which is Government – led, private sector driven and community – welfare oriented. Government will have to provide a legislative framework to regulate tourism trade and industry, ensure safety and security of the tourists and create basic infrastructure and health care facilities. The private sector has to act as a main spring of the activities and impart dynamism and speed to the process of development as well as conservation. Both governments and the private sector would be required to safeguard the stability and also the social and economic advancement of the local communities. Moreover, effective linkages and close coordination should be established with such departments as Civil Aviation, Environment, Forest, Railways and Home etc.

Domestic Tourism in Rajasthan – SWOT Analysis:

A review of the sector’s competitive strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats indicates that it has considerable growth potential. A separate SWOT analysis after examining the available resources could prove beneficial and is necessary to chalk out the target market groups, their strengths, weakness, threats & opportunities. It helps in designing marketing strategies to promote tourism.

Strengths

Domestic tourism has the potential to increase the productivity of Rajasthan’s natural, human, cultural and technical resources.

It is labor intensive industry, providing employment and contributing in better quality of life.

It is capable of being primarily focused on rural areas with appropriate and relatively low cost programs.

Domestic tourism has extensive forward and backward economic linkages that build overall income, employment, investment and raise central, state, local government revenues.

Tourism on the whole has the ability to promote understanding, peace, and contribute to national unity and regional stability.

The rich natural and rural landscape of Rajasthan is punctuated with the built heritage of its ancient past and more modern structures of present and its hopes for the future. Rajasthan’s grandeur is reflected in the rich cultural diversity of its people through its languages, cuisines, traditions, customs, music, dance, religious practices and festival, its holistic healing traditions, art and craft.

Weaknesses

One of the major drawbacks is the low priority given by the government which reflects in the limited budgets, limited cooperation and coordination capabilities and the inability to implement strategic initiatives and projects.

The other main constraints are undue importance on international market at the expense of domestic tourism, the security scenario which affects the perception of Rajasthan as safe, the quality of facilities and services at attractions, the quantity and quality of transportation services, the related infrastructure, limited availability of tourist information in source markets and at destination, insufficient marketing, and limited and poor facilities and services outside the major cities, especially in rural areas.

Opportunities

The major opportunities are leverage the huge potential of India’s domestic urban population to develop pilgrim tourism, rural tourism, cultural tourism and heritage tourism.

Leverage its strength as major cities are enlisted in the list of heritage cities of UNESCO and its rich and diverse natural heritage can increase its share in the huge domestic market.

Leverage its strength as one of the fast growing state of India in terms of tourism, investment, technology and entertainment.

Leverage its strength by welcoming investors with its friendly and liberal investment policy.

Threats

The main internal threats to the development domestic tourism sector are failing to effectively resolve the constraints mentioned in the weaknesses. They are security, safety, health and sanitation; failing to involve communities in the decision making process for the development of tourism; failure to adopt and implement sustainable development and management practices at the sites, especially in the rural and natural areas of the country.

From an external point of view, the main threats are not effectively approaching the fierce and ever- increasing competition from competing states like Kerala, Uttranchal etc., over- reliance on a few well known international and domestic travel markets like Gujarat and Bengal.

For tourism destination planning, the following are probably some of the important factors which may foster development.

The availability of natural resources & attractions.

The availability of investment funds.

A skilled human resource base

Government policy

The economic, socio cultural and environmental effects of planned tourism activity.

Local population opinion

The degree to which an entrepreneurial climate exists.

Destination accessibility.

The presence of complementary services and facilities such as infrastructure and superstructure.

Rajasthan possesses a rich and diverse range of unique tangible and intangible cultural, natural and man – made tourism resources, many of which are world class in quality, and most of which are located in rural areas. The tourism resources of the state have the potential to attract significantly higher levels of markets demand from the domestic and international markets provided that sustainable site management practices and principles are adopted and applied, and the other constraints identified above are effectively resolved. Provided that the identified constraints and opportunities are addressed and appropriate plans prepared to handle the internal and external threats, then it is considered that Rajasthan Tourism focus should be to: Substantially increase the proportion of the urban resident leisure and pilgrimage tourism to rural areas not just in terms of volume but also in terms of length of stay and expenditure.

Conclusion & Suggestions:

As we can conclude that, although tourism is a fickle industry, subjects to consumer whim and forces beyond the industry’s control, it is also a dynamic and exciting industry. The benefits are easily replicated by any other types of product or service. Major Suggestions of this article are given as follows:

Successful tourism development depends not only on the hotels and travel agencies but on the provision of adequate infrastructure including transport and communication, power, water and good standers of hygiene and medical facilities.

Appropriate infrastructure like transport, accommodation should meet the demands of tourists as they generally feel that they are the neglecting sector in comparison to international tourists.

Advertising and what is lacking in terms of domestic tourism products is the availability of “interest – oriented packages” similar to those which are developed for the overseas visitor.

Involving consultants with wide knowledge and having ample of resources in preparing policies and strategies for the future tourism.

The government should administer law and order, should have vigilant tourism police, rectification of complaints on time, frame rules and regulations for tourism industry.

Steps should be taken to avoid any harassment by private operators and touts.

Facilities consisting of good communication and transport connections to nearest rail, road, and air heads.

Brochure, mouth publicity, email, websites, newspapers, all types of electronic and print media are the modes of communication to reach all centers of tourists so they should be updated and presented in the manner which highlights the attractions of the destination and the state on the whole.

To strengthen domestic tourism, one of the important aspects is to listen and rectify the problems of domestic tourists which are virtually neglected.

Domestic tourism is not only a revenue generating sector, but also act as a tool for conservation of historical sites and monuments which helps in promoting international tourism by the means of mouth publicity from the outbound tourists of India.

Travel agencies and Hoteliers should take steps to develop confidence in host community to have friendly relationships with tourists.

The itinerary of tourist should be enriched with right kind of information about domestic places and the amenities available or offered to him.

Quality of food, beverages should meet the demands, and the cuisine of Rajasthan should be promoted in the form of food-marts and especially during fairs and festivals which give access to a huge number of tourists at the same time.

Food availability at eleventh hour at food joints for the late arrivals in all the major tourist cities of Rajasthan should be administered.

General Hygiene and cleanliness is to be maintained at the low budgetary hotels also as cleanliness is next to god, and it will help in inculcating divine atmosphere for domestic tourists.

Motivation is a driving force that gives an individual the zeal to undertake a task. Taiwan has experienced success in managing its technological and other traditional sectors due to the motivation that it gives to employees. Managers are aware that the control system of running business is non-motivating to the employees (Fulton, & Maddock, 1998). They believe in giving individual responsibility for them to utilize their ability. According to Herzberg, work achievements, recognition, responsibility, and growth are motivating factors to employees. The theory is not limited to any form of culture and does not consider any. The theory of Herzberg is much applicable in Taiwan since they believe in giving individuals responsiveness (Silverstein, 2007). Taiwan believe in giving individuals the chance make use of their knowledge to explore their capability and ability. Employees have the chance to advance and grow in Herzberg hygiene theory. According to Herzberg, if the hygiene factor is taken into consideration it could help in eliminating people’s dissatisfactions. Herzberg believes that employees get responsibility based on their level of ability, which is the same principle that managers in Taiwan use. They give employees responsibility based on an employee’s level of skill and knowledge (Pophal, 2002).

Herzberg’s theory is based on the satisfying factors, which is the motivation, and the dissatisfaction factor that is the hygiene. According to Herzberg, the hygiene factor help in dealing with dissatisfactions on the side of employees or the employers. The theory states that various factors may cause dissatisfaction to the employees, which eventually may lead to poor performance. Herzberg believes that the hygiene factors that cause dissatisfaction are strict work supervision and tight company policies (Herzberg, Frederick Herzberg (Author)

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Mausner, & Snyderman, 1993). Most of the employees are unable to perform well under such conditions. They feel suppressed and unmotivated to use their skills. Managers in Taiwan are aware of the facts that employees need space to use their skills without strict supervision and need to be trusted to make decision on behalf of the company. Just like Herzberg states, that company policy may be dissatisfying, Taiwanese give their employees the chance and the stake in policymaking (Silverstein, 2007).

Herzberg hygiene theory poses challenging tasks to employees as a way of increasing their capability in utilizing their knowledge, which is a tactic used by managers in Taiwan. The managers believe in employees’ full ability utilization therefore, they give them challenging tasks so that they can use their knowledge and learn more. Additionally, Herzberg believes that appreciation is an employee motivation that helps in utilizing his ideas and skill fully. Taiwan is a soaring country as rated for it high performance. Employees in Taiwan are highly rewarded for their job improvement and excellent work performance. They get bonuses as incentives in work places, which are powerful motivators (HerzbergFrederick Herzberg (Author)

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, Mausner & Snyderman, 1993). To some extent, the hygiene factor is rough to employees that are not able to utilize their full ability. This is because Herzberg suggests that employees who are unable to utilize their skills to the fullest should be replaced. In Taiwan, most of the employees are aware of replacement facts for failure of skill and knowledge utilization therefore, go extra miles in whatever tasks they take.

On the other side, Herzberg hygiene factor recommend promotion to employees for their well performance as a way of motivation. This factor is similar to that of Taiwanese because promotion is based on the performance of an individual employee. The fact that they get promotion for their improvement and performance, employees in Taiwan are so eager to learn and acquire knowledge and skills. It is a fact that most of the employees learn through the e-learning program at their work places. To them promotion is a motivating factor that make them be always at their best. Employees in Taiwan compete among themselves to produce good results and give the best services since they know there are rewards. Personal growth and achievement according to Herzberg is important and employees in Taiwan work towards that for the short-term and long-term rewards (HerzbergFrederick Herzberg (Author)

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, Mausner, & Snyderman, 1993).

Motivation is an important aspect of work performance and result satisfaction for the organization. Therefore, it is worth studying and putting into considerations. Managers and employers should learn the behaviors of their employees and understand the motivating factor of each. According to Herzberg, motivated employees have the energy and will to be productive which, eventually help in organizational survival (Pophal, 2002). Taiwan managers are keen on the role that their employees perform so that they can motivate them. Managers understand that motivated employees perform well. The managers are aware of the fact that an increased income makes money a lesser motivator. This means that work that interest them is more of a motivator (Bruce, Formisano, & Anne Bruce (Author)

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Pepitone, 1998).

Motivation helps in eliminating tension in the work place. Managers and employees are well able to communicate and make decisions together with a clear focus. Additionally, motivation encourages employees to learn more and acquire knowledge and skill. These employees are able to stand any challenges that arise thus being competitive. Taiwan has a cross cultural in its work environment which is a very important issue of consideration because of the adjustments. This means that globally the managers should study what motivate employees across different cultures. On the other side, managers learn the best econometric models that can impart cross-cultural environments and bring satisfactions to the employees (Bruce, Formisano & Anne Bruce (Author)

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Pepitone, 1998). The motivating factor in on culture is different from another. Once companies study the motivating factors, they are able to adopt open system of management that gives employees greater autonomy.

Herzberg motivation-hygiene factors are considered over other motivation theories because it pinpoints the dissatisfying needs. The lower categories of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are similar to Herzberg hygiene factor. The difference is that the hygiene factors lead to dissatisfaction for their non-fulfillment. Two companies were tested from Taiwan and outside. Shih and Chinerawat developed an econometric model to test the two-factor theory of Herzberg. There was sufficient satisfaction from the model, which also reviewed that, the application of hygiene factor different cross cultures (Chinerawat, 2009). Herzberg hygiene factor was reviewed to impact considerable satisfaction in the cross-cultural work setting in the companies of test. Finally, the question of what would be the impact of the hygiene factor on the Taiwan industries is crucial. This is because different cultures have different motivating factors. Employees from Taiwan and those working in Taiwan but different cultures act differently. Herzberg hygiene factor caters for all cultures because it deals with the issue of work satisfaction. These help managers to understand different cultures and appreciate them with the aim of improving the competitiveness of different employees (Chinerawat, 2009).

In conclusion, Herzberg states that hygiene factor is not directly proportional to work. That is because if bad working conditions lead to unsatisfied workers. Managers ought to understand that every individual employee is unique and is motivated differently. Taiwanese managers have learnt that money is not always a motivating factor and have sought other factors. This has led to their enormous success in the electronic fields compared to other countries. The managers have borrowed a leaf of Herzberg Hygiene factor to know what motivates and satisfy their employees. Taiwanese understand that a self-fulfilling factor increase productivity and improves performance (Chinerawat, 2009).

Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user, using direct means, or using indirect means with intermediaries.

Airline Reservation System is one of the intermediaries of the distribution channel in the aviation industry. An airline reservation system is part of the so-called passenger service systems (PSS), which are applications supporting the direct contact with the passenger.

Airline reservations systems contain airline schedules, fare tariffs, passenger reservations and ticket records. An airline’s direct distribution works within their own reservation system, as well as pushing out information to the GDS. A second type of direct distribution channel is consumers who use the internet or mobile applications to make their own reservations. Travel agencies and other indirect distribution channels access the same GDS as those accessed by the airlines’ reservation systems, and all messaging is transmitted by a standardized messaging system that functions on two types of messaging that transmit on SITA’s HLN [high level network]. These message types are called Type B [TTY] for remarks-like communications and Type A [EDIFACT] for secured information. Message construction standards are set by IATA and ICAO, are global, and apply to more than air transportation. Since airline reservation systems are business critical applications, and their functionally quite complex, the operation of an in-house airline reservation system is relatively expensive.

Prior to deregulation, airlines owned their own reservation systems with travel agents subscribing to them. Today, the GDS are run by independent companies with airlines and travel agencies as major subscribers.

As of February 2009, there are only three major GDS providers in the market space: Amadeus, Travel port (the merged World span and Galileo systems), Sabre and Shares. There is one major Regional GDS, Abacus, serving the Asian marketplace and a number of regional players serving single countries, including Travel sky (China), Infini and Axess (both Japan) and Topas (South Korea).

Inventory management

An airline’s inventory contains all flights with their available seats. The inventory of an airline is generally divided into service classes (e.g. first, business or economy class) and up to 26 booking classes, for which different prices and booking conditions apply.

Inventory data is imported and maintained through a schedule distribution system over standardized interfaces. One of the core functions of the inventory management is the inventory control. Inventory control steers how many seats are available in the different booking classes, by opening and closing individual booking classes for sale. In combination with the fares and booking conditions stored in the Fare Quote System the price for each sold seat is determined.

In most cases inventory control has a real time interface to an airline’s Yield management system to support a permanent optimization of the offered booking classes in response to changes in demand or pricing strategies of a competitor.

Availability display and reservation (PNR)

Users access an airline’s inventory through an availability display. It contains all offered flights for a particular city-pair with their available seats in the different booking classes. This display contains flights which are operated by the airline itself as well as code share flights which are operated in co-operation with another airline. If the city pair is not one on which the airline offers service it may display a connection using its own flights or display the flights of other airlines.

The availability of seats of other airlines is updated through standard industry interfaces. Depending on the type of co-operation it supports access to the last seat (last seat availability) in real-time. Reservations for individual passengers or groups are stored in a so-called passenger name record (PNR). Among other data, the PNR contains personal information such as name, contact information or special services requests (SSRs) e.g. for a vegetarian meal, as well as the flights (segments) and issued tickets. Some reservation systems also allow storing customer data in profiles to avoid data re-entry each time a new reservation is made for a known passenger. In addition most systems have interfaces to CRM systems or customer loyalty applications (aka frequent traveler systems).

Before a flight departs the so-called passenger name list (PNL) is handed over to the departure control system that is used to check-in passengers and baggage. Reservation data such as the number of booked passengers and special service requests is also transferred to flight operations systems, crew management and catering systems. Once a flight has departed the reservation system is updated with a list of the checked-in passengers (e.g. passengers who had a reservation but did not check in (no shows) and passengers who checked in, but didn’t have a reservation (go shows)). Finally data needed for revenue accounting and reporting is handed over to administrative systems.

Fare quote and ticketing

The Fares data store contains fare tariffs, rule sets, routing maps, class of service tables, and some tax information that construct the price – “the fare”. Rules like booking conditions (e.g. minimum stay, advance purchase, etc.) are tailored differently between different city pairs or zones, and assigned a class of service corresponding to its appropriate inventory bucket. Inventory control can also be manipulated manually through the availability feeds, dynamically controlling how many seats are offered for a particular price by opening and closing particular classes.

The role of the ticketing complex is to issue and store electronic ticket records and the very small number of paper tickets that are still issued. Miscellaneous charges order (MCO) is still a paper document; IATA has working groups defining the replacement document the electronic multipurpose document (EMD) as at 2010. The electronic ticket information is stored in a database containing the data that historically was printed on a paper ticket including items such as the ticket number, the fare and tax components of the ticket price or exchange rate information. In the past airlines issued paper tickets; since 2008 IATA has been supporting a resolution to move to 100% electronic ticketing. So far, the industry has not been able to comply due to various technological and international limitations. The industry is at 98% electronic ticket issuance today although electronic processing for MCOs was not available in time for the IATA mandate.

KEY ISSUES & CURRENT TRENDS

India is set to experience a transformational growth profile.

The challenges are becoming much greater as the size of the industry increases.

2000aˆ?2010: Indian aviation had to cope with an additional 84m pax,at times, this truly stretched the system;

2010aˆ?2020: Indian aviation may have to handle an incremental 300aˆ?320m pax;

In absolute terms the challenge ahead will dwarf recent history.

Long term planning in line with a clear vision is imperative. We require imagination, strong commitment, a clear and robust regulatory framework and capital.

Is Indian aviation ready to meet this challenge?

How do we create the appropriate framework for the long term?

What kind of regulation do we want -government as regulator or independent regulator?

Independent regulation requires that government does not have stakes in airlines/airports.

Is the industry ready for complete deregulation as in the UK/EU?

Do we want rapid or gradual change?

After reaching agreement on these issues, the roadmap for regulation must be documented.

CAPA believes that India has a cleanaˆ?sheet opportunity to create an effective new frame work, that supports industry viability and is focused on security, safety, skills and sustainability.

Key Success Factors for the Next Decade

1. National Agenda: A long term, structured national plan (as part of a broader transportation plan) with an appropriate policy framework is necessary to attract capital.

2. Regulator: A modern, unified, professional regulator, with enhanced expertise.

3. PSUs: Air India and the AAI need to be gradually privatized, while corporatization of air navigation services is essential.

4. HR & Training: World class education & training infrastructure is essential for safe and efficient aviation.

5. Safety: Implementation of safety systems and culture which are comprehensive, enforced and collaborative.

6. Liberalisation: Market access should be liberalized but there must be a level playing field for Indian operators.

7. Taxation: A less punitive fiscal regime -particularly sales tax on fuel -which recognizes that airlines must be viable, is imperative.

8. Investment: Private sector capital should be encouraged in airport development.

9. Profile: Enhanced profile and recognition of aviation within government. And state governments must be educated on the role that aviation plays economic competitiveness

10. Vision: Ministry to concentrate on policy and providing strategic leadership.

PEST ANALYSIS
OVERVIEW:

Air travel has grown in the past decade. Travel grew strongly for both Leisure and business purposes. India will have nearly 800 to 1000 airplanes by2023, it was estimated by Airbus. In spite of growth between 30 to 50 per cent in Indian aviation industry, losses of approximately 2200 core is estimated for the current year.

During 1991-1992, Modiluft, East West and Damania went bankrupt. Air Sahara and Jet Airways survived along with government own Indian Airlines because they had the capability to bear losses. Globalization and privatization had a major impact on aviation industry. Indian aviation industry was deregulated by the government in 1990s. As a result now 14 airlines are operating today in Indian sky. Now, collaboration with international organization and foreign direct investment are welcome to improve infrastructure and technology. Today people who cannot afford high prices of Full Service Carriers (FSC) can travel by Low Cost Carriers (LCC) or budget airlines. Air Deccan was India’s first LCC started in 2003. It flies to several metro and non-metro destinations. All airlines have three major fixed costs i.e. fuel costs, financing or aircraft lease and labour cost. But LCC costs are 10 to 15per cent lower than FSC. This is because of three reasons. Firstly, saving on distribution cost as passenger’s book tickets on the internet. Secondly, no frills are offered on board. Thirdly, to accommodate additional seats, catering and cabin crew space in these aircraft has been used. So these aircraft have 40 seats more than the FSC.

INDUSTRY ANALYTICS:

PEST analysis of any industry sector investigates the important factors that are affecting the industry and influencing the companies operating in that sector. PEST is an acronym for political, economic, social and technological analysis. Political factors include government policies relating to the industry, tax policies, laws and regulations, trade restrictions and tariffs etc. The economic factors relate to changes in the wider economy such as economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate, etc. Social factors often look at the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, changes in tastes and buying patterns, etc. The technological factors relate to the application of new inventions and ideas such as R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. The PEST Analysis is a perfect tool for managers and policy makers; helping them in analyzing the forces that are driving their industry and how these factors will influence their businesses and the whole industry in general. Our product also presents a brief profile of the industry comprising of current market, competition in it and future prospects of that sector.

POLITICAL FACTORS:

In India, one can never over-look the political factors which influence each and every industry existing in the country. Like it or not, the political interference has to be present everywhere. Given below are a few of the political factors with respect to the airline industry:

1. The airline industry is very susceptible to changes in the political environment as it has a great bearing on the travel habits of its customers. An unstable political environment causes uncertainty in the minds of the air travelers, regarding traveling to a particular country.

2. Overall India’s recent political environment has been largely unstable due to international events & continued tension with Pakistan.

3. The government’s inability to control the unbalanced internal situations like the Gujarat riots have also led to an increase in the instability of the political arena.

4. The most significant political event however has been September 11. The events occurring on September had special significance for the airline industry since airplanes were involved. The immediate results were a huge drop in air traffic due to safety & security concerns of the people.

5. International airlines are greatly affected by trade relations that their country has with others. Unless governments of the two countries trade with each other, there could be restrictions of flying into particular area leading to greater loss of potential air traffic (e.g. Pakistan and India)

6. The development of freedom of movement and trade in the European Union has led to greater levels of competition on European routes coupled with increased movement of people.

7. With the liberalization of the Indian aviation sector, the aviation industry in India has undergone a rapid transformation. From being primarily a government-owned industry, the Indian aviation industry is now dominated by privately owned full-service airlines and low-cost carriers. Private airlines account for around 75 per cent share of the domestic aviation market. Indian carriers currently have a fleet size of 310 aircrafts, but have 480 aircrafts on order, scheduled for delivery by 2012. Increasing liberalization and deregulation has led to an increase in the number of private players.

8. Price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) crashed drastically in December 2008, hitting US$ 0.665- US$ 0.789, which is its lowest level since the last four to five years. With this move, airlines are likely to prune their airfares considerably. Jet Airways, the country’s largest private carrier, has slashed domestic fares by 40per cent and national carrier Air India has announced that it will cut basic fares anywhere between 45 per cent and 60 per cent in February 2009 following a drop in ATF prices.

9. Modernization of Airports: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to modernize and upgrade 35 non – metro airports across India. Leading airport developers are readying to participate in bids to win the right to construct and operate commercial property at these airports. Apart from this, the government is also planning to build Greenfield airports at Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra),Kunnur (Kerala), Hassan and Gulbarga (Karnataka), Ludhiana (Punjab), GreaterNoida ( NCR), Paykong (Sikkim), Cheithu (Nagaland) and Chakan (near Pune,Maharashtra).

10. Entry Barriers for New Players: Stung by the competition unleashed by lowcostplayers like Air Deccan and Spice Jet, bigwigs of the Indian aviation industry have unleashed a hushed campaign for introduction of stiff entry barriers which will prevent competition from intensifying. The current demand is to increase the minimum investment level for scheduled airlines to Rs 250 crore as compared to the current Rs 30 crore. The ministry has also been urged to increase the minimum fleet strength to 10 instead of the current five.

SOCIAL FACTORS:

Social factors relate to pattern of behavior, tastes, and lifestyles. A major component of this is a change in consumer behavior resulting from changes in fashions and styles. The age structure of the population also alters over time (currently we have an ageing population). An understanding of social change gives business a better feel for the future market situation. Increased popularity of foreign travel leading to a boom in demand for air travel. However, this has been adversely affected by international terrorism.

1. For many years in India air travel was perceived to be an elitist activity. This view Arose from the aˆ•Maharajahaˆ- syndrome where, due to the prohibitive cost of air travel, the only people who could afford it were the rich and powerful. Indecent years, however, this image of Civil Aviation has undergone a change and aviation is now viewed in a different light – as an essential link not only for international travel and trade but also for providing connectivity to different parts of the country.

Aviation is, by its very nature, a critical part of the infrastructure of the country and has important ramifications for the development of tourism and trade, the opening up of inaccessible areas of the country and for providing stimulus to business activity and economic growth.

2. India witnessed record 9.4% GDP growth in FY07, and has continued the strong growth by recording 9.3% growth in Q1FY08, characterized mainly by strong performance in industry and service sectors. Explosive growth in wages during this period has led to significantly higher disposable income, bringing about a distinct change in the life style of the middle and upper class population, which essentially is the target market of aviation sector. Over the years, airline passenger revenue, as a percentage of private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) on transport services, has grown from about 7.8% in FY03to about 9.8% in FY06. There is an expectation for this to increase to 12% byFY10.

3. Employment Opportunities: India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) manages total of127 airports in the country, which include 13 international airports, 7 custom airports, 80 domestic airports and 28 civil enclaves. There are over 450 airports and 1091 registered aircrafts in the country. This huge and very fast growing sector provides large number of employment opportunities

4. Globally aviation industry is under the scanner because it is the fastest growing cause for global warning; and EU aircraft emissions alone have risen by87% since 1990. The amount of carbon dioxide emitted by air travel doubled between 1990 and 2004; and with huge expansion in air traffic forecasted in both Asia and Europe, predominantly driven by low cost leisure travel, the trend is expected to continue. It is also pertinent to note the high altitude nature of carbon and other airline emission make air travel potentially more damaging than most other forms of transport

It is a phase of rapid growth in the industry with estimated growth of domestic passenger segment at 50% per annum. This has led to intense price competition due to which full service carriers like Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Air Sahara are giving discounts of up to 60-70% for certain routes to match the new entrants’ ticket prices. The customer has thus gained enormously as a result of liberalization of the sector.

ECONOMIC FACTOR:

Economic factors include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. These factors have major impacts on how businesses operate and make decisions.

1. Investments in the Sector: The government estimates that the country will need US$400m in private investment in these 35 non – metro airports, while the state – run Airports Authority of India will also have to spend an equal amount. Demand for air travel is growing in India as a result of economic development, globalization, and regulatory liberalization and declining passenger fares. We expect air travel to grow 16% CAGR (14.7% for domestic and 16.5% for international passengers) over the next four years until FY10. This growth in passenger traffic will drive a far larger growth of 20% in airline revenues. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel today said the government was considering foreign direct investment (FDI) of up to 25 per cent in Indian carriers by foreign airlines. (Business standard January 14 2009.

2. Rising GDP and increasing per capita income is positively impacting the airlines industry. Another major driver is the booming tourism industry in India. However, the low cost airline segment is facing challenges of increasing competition, rising fuel prices and inadequate infrastructure.

3. Global economic slowdown reflects the impression of hard time in airline sectors of India too. The most popular airlines (Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines) which providing their operations in India are facing a tough time in festive seasons. The situation had become so worse that the management of various airlines services was forced to begin sacking of their employees as the aviation industry facing big loss. The whole world witnessed the dramatic scene of firing of 1900 employees of Jet Airways those were taken back under the political pressure. Kingfisher Airlines which is principal rival of Jet Airways also declared some deduction in their number of employees. The situation forced to sign an operational alliance between these two airline flights Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines. Just a few days ago all things were going well. Kingfisher Airlines had demanded for new air crafts also a few days ago but all of sudden the whole scene is changed and the airline postponed their decision of including new air crafts in the airline. The various airlines blame the high cost of air fuel in this year in India as compared to the rest of the market for this.

4. Lower interest rates have meant that people have more disposable income to spend on luxuries like long distance air travel.

5. Privatization of International Airports is in offing through Joint Venture route. Three Greenfield airports are getting developed at Kochi, Hyderabad and Bangalore with major shareholding of private sector. The work on Bangalore and Hyderabad airports are already done. Few selected non-metro airports are likely to be privatized. 100% foreign equity has also been allowed in construction and maintenance of airports with selective approval from Foreign Investment Promotion Board. In the context of a multiplicity of airlines, airport operators (including private sector), and the possibility of oligopolistic practices, there is a need for an autonomous regulatory authority which could work as a watchdog, as well as a facilitator for the sector, prescribe and enforce minimum standards for all agencies, settle disputes with regard to abuse of monopoly and ensure level playing field for all agencies.

The CAA was commissioned to maintain a competitive civil aviation environment which ensures safety and security in accordance with international standards, promotes efficient, cost-effective and orderly growth of air transport and contributes to social and economic development of the country.

6. Low-cost Airlines Raise Demand for Aircraft Manufacturing: The entry of several low cost carriers like Air Deccan, Spice Jet etc is increasing the demand for aircraft manufacturing. The demand for helicopters is also likelyto increase with more emphasis on heli-tourism, adventure sports etc.

TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS:

Over the years, airlines have been straddled with legacy business processes with hardly any effort at re-engineering innovative solutions. With IT industry providing a commendable backbone, airlines can now emerge from the inefficiency they have been restrained with. Innovative strategies and new technologies may well offer cost savings, but at the same time they can be hard to implement given the cost.

1. Modern aircraft are safer and more economic to run than in the past making possible cheap air travel.

2. Growth of Electronic Ticketing: while industry is reducing its exposure to brokers/ travel agents, online ticketing and direct bookings are of late witnessing an increase trend as is clear from the below chart

3. Technical Cooperation with EU: In 2004, India and the EU upgraded their already strong overall relationship into a strategic partnership. This strategic partnership is underpinned by an agreed Joint Action Plan in which civil aviation plays a key enabling role. Since the adoption of the Joint Action Plain September 2005, co-operation in the area of civil aviation has been given new impetus. As a first significant step, the two sides agreed to restore legal certainty to all the bilateral air services agreements between India and EU Member States.

Therefore, it was agreed that a aˆ•horizontal agreement will be finalized as a matter of priority. The aim of the “horizontal agreement” will be to amend certain provisions in the bilateral agreements thereby bringing these into conformity with Community law thus restoring legal certainty to these agreements and the operators flying under them. Secondly, building on the very successful results achieved under the1999-2006 aˆ•EU-India Civil Aviation Co-operation Projectaˆ-, Messrs. Prepared a Joint Action Plan that will set out the key priorities for strengthening future technical and technological co-operation.

The Joint Action Plan will identify the main priority areas for future technical cooperation which will cover aviation safety (including strengthening the cooperation with the European Air Safety Agency (EASA)), security, airport infrastructure, air traffic management, environmental policy, economic regulation, training and industrial cooperation. At the EU-India Aviation Summit, India was also invited to become associated in major EU technological programs such as GALILEO, the satellite navigation program, and SESAR, the air traffic management project.

THE RUNWAY AHEAD

According to recent estimates by The International Air Transport Association (IATA), India is likely to be a significant player in the global civil aviation business, which was estimated at US$ 5.6 billion in 2008.The Indian Civil Aviation market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 percent, and was worth US$ 5.6 billion in 2008. The government is planning to upgrade 45 big and small airports across India. For Greenfield airports, foreign equity up to 100 percent is allowed through automatic approvals. For upgrading present airports, foreign equity up to 74percent is allowed through automatic approvals and 100 percent through special permission (from FIPB).

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation(CAPA) has forecast that domestic traffic will increase by 25 percent to 30 percent till 2010 and international traffic growth by 15 percent, taking the total market to more than 100 million passengers by 2010. India’s civil aviation passenger growth, presently at 20percent, is one of the highest in the world, and is expected to surpass countries like China, France and Australia. By 2020, 400 million Indian passengers are likely to be airborne. By 2020, Indian airports are expected to handle more than100 million passengers including 60 million domestic passengers and around3.4 million tonnes of cargo per annum.

Domestic air traffic is likely to more than double and touch 86.1 million passengers by 2010, up from 32.2 million passengers in 2007, states the market research firm PhoCus.Moreover, significant measures to propel growth in the civil aviation sector are on the anvil. The government plans to invest US$ 9 billion to modernize existing airports by 2010. The government is also planning to develop around300 unused airstrips, and subsequently, Boeing and Airbus, along with Embraer(Brazil), Bombardier(Canada), Sukhoi(Russia), ATR(France) and BAESystem (UK) are now looking at foraying into the Indian jet market.

CLEAR SKIES AHEAD: The Indian aviation sector is likely to see clear skies ahead in the years to come. Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has called on India to give direction to the efforts in shaping future aviation policies, including environment and commercial freedoms. “In a few years, Asia Pacific will be the largest single aviation market. India is a key driver of that growth. India’s enormous size makes it an important market.” With a growth rate of 18 percent per annum, the industry will see rapid expansion in terms of players as well as the number of aircrafts. The strength of the Indian fleet is projected to be 500-550 by 2010.

aˆ? Cargo transportation is likely to touch 3.4 million tonnes in 2010.

aˆ? 480 aircrafts will be delivered by 2012.

aˆ? The number of passengers to touch 400 million by 2020.

Advances in technology combined with its more effective use are generally assumed to be a good trend for the global expansion of trade and commerce. Technological advances are commonly believed to quicken the globalization process with improved economic growth and business profitability is consequently assumed to be the beneficial results. Globalization and the use of improved technology increase the potential for increasing efficiency as the electronic and digital transfer of information and financial transactions means that customers can be gained on a global, regional, or national level. Like most other industries or economic sectors, the hospitality and tourism industries have been affected by the use of and improvements in technology in recent years. Hospitality as will be argued, is an industry like any other that can potentially increase its distribution channel efficiency through more widespread or more effective use of technology. Traditionally the use of technology was confined to improvements in the mode of transport available to travellers. Hotels and places of hospitality have been strategically placed for the benefit of travellers. For instance the development of trains, cars, ships, and planes all helped to expand the tourism and hospitality industries as people found it easier, quicker, and more cost-effective to travel further distances. However, it is the use of technology such as television advertising, personal and business computers, and the Internet that arguably has the potential to increase the distribution channel efficiency in hospitality. For the purpose of this essay it would be sensible to remember that the hospitality industry deals with two main types of customer, tourists or holiday -makers alongside business travellers. Whatever motivates people to travel is not as important as the factors that makes pick a place to stay and possibly tempts them to stay there again and again. As will be discussed the use of technology is not the sole factor in distribution channel efficiency in the hospitality industry, yet it can be the decisive factor.

To begin with the hospitality industry has always been reliant upon the transport infrastructure available at any given time, the less developed that infrastructure the less likely people are willing to travel great distances or so often. Prior to the onset of improvements in transport and communications technology during the 19^th century there were little pressures for the hospitality industry to have Distribution Channel Efficiency. Poor roads and sail powered ships meant that most travellers only went short distances. Only the very wealthy could afford the time and the expense of travelling widely. Luxury hotels existed in small numbers to cater for their needs. More generally hospitality was confined to small hotels and inns, often located on main roads. Without the development of the railways, steam powered ships, and later the car, the modern hospitality industry would not have evolved. The railways made short breaks and day trips affordable for the masses, whilst steam ships reduced the sea voyages from weeks to days (Cooper, Fletcher et al, 1998 p. 395). Transport costs are still a vital consideration for the hospitality industry to consider. For instance the greater availability of charter flights made package holidays more affordable from the 1960s (Vellas & Becherel, 1995, p.79). For instance, for a time after the 9/11 attacks higher insurance costs as well as safety concerns reduced the number of travellers (Higley, 2004). The expansion of newspaper sales combined with the invention of the telegram and the telephone made international and national communications quicker and more effective. Such developments meant that hospitality was able to develop marketing and advertising strategies on a national and sometimes an international basis. The need for Distribution Channel Efficiency in hospitality developed in conjunction with the expanded opportunities that resulted from improving technology (Cooper et al, 1998, p.424). Income levels also have an impact upon the hospitality industry; people who cannot afford to travel will not be effected by Distribution Channel Efficiency (Vellas & Becherel, 1995, p.91).

The appropriate use of modern information technology equipment can certainly help improve Distribution Channel Efficiency in hospitality although it does not guarantee commercial success. Individual travellers and hotels can use computers systems and databases to make travel and accommodation arrangements with increasing ease (Outhart, Taylor et al, 2000 p. 16). The use of automated booking and payment arrangements means that customers no longer have to make travel and accommodation arrangements in person or via correspondence. As long as hotels are linked to national and international databases and network bookings can be made at any travel agency, booking office and even online. The automation of the payment process began once the use of credit cards became more widespread, especially in North America, Japan and Western Europe. Credit cards, debit cards, and the use of automated credit transfers allowed transactions to take place anywhere in the world at any time of day. Travel agencies, transport companies, and hotels have developed booking systems that allow tourists and business travellers to arrange their travel and accommodation more effectively (Killingworth-Baird and Carter, 1996 p. 12). The expansion of automated payment systems has had the greatest impact on hotel reservations, with hotels and booking agencies using computer databases to know the level of vacancies and reservations at every hotel within a local area network or now across the globe. As with other areas of commerce the efficiency and speed of those systems has improved markedly with adaptation of Internet technology (www.gcis.ca).

It was developments in the United States that led to the modernisation and expansion of hospitality industry through the invention of computer reservation systems. The computer reservation systems are usually referred to as global distribution system or GDS. The most widely used GDS systems are Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus, and Worldspan. Once compatibility problems were resolved these systems have proved invaluable for the global hospitality industry. For travellers the main benefit of GDS is that it gives them the ability to make their arrangements in advance, provides a good level of customer service and it means that holidays or business trips are efficiently planned. For the parts of the hospitality industry that have fully automated bookings and payment procedures the ability to make bookings in advance is a great help for the achievement of Distribution Channel Efficiency. The companies that pioneered GDS such as Thomson used it to expand rapidly (Outhart, Taylor et al, 2000 p. 16). The taking of advanced bookings means that hotels can budget for a known amount of income coming in at any given time and set staffing levels accordingly. Hotels have more time to attract more visitors if they know that the hotel will have a higher number of vacancies and therefore offer discounted stays at short notice to hire out as many rooms as possible. Logically the more accurate information that hotels have about the number of bookings already made and the amount of bookings still available then they can make suitable arrangements for extra marketing, discounted room hire and the holding of special events. The development of GDS when combined with the increase in charter flights and package holidays meant the rapid growth of the hospitality industry on a greater scale and fashionable new destinations such as Benidorm in Spain (Outhart, Taylor et al, 2000 p. 149).

The hospitality industry had already began to make use of improved Distribution Channel Efficiency before the internet became widely available and dramatically altered the prospects for commerce and marketing. For the hospitality industry the use of the internet has made it possible for hotels to advertise their vacancies and their locations on a global basis. Individual hotels and international hotel chains were quick to realise how the internet could increase the chances of improving Distribution Channel Efficiency through the effective use of technology. The internet allows the opportunity for hotels to advertise and make bookings online, as well as gaining bookings through travel agents as well as being in brochures and tourist information offices. Many customers now prefer to make their own travel and accommodation arrangements online so the hotels have their own websites or can be booked through other websites have a stronger opportunity to increase their sales compared to those hotels that cannot be booked online. The internet provides the chance to book hotel rooms as customers can view what the hotel is like without going there in person. Customers can learn about a hotels precise location, transport links to the hotel, and the closeness of tourist attractions or important business sites that could be nearby (www.gcis.ca). The internet is also a great media for showing other features of the hospitality and leisure facilities available at hotels. For instance, hotels no longer just provide somewhere to sleep and eat. Facilities, which can be attractive to customers, include gyms, swimming pools, bars, and restaurants. Customers’ expectations of what hotels should provide them with have also altered due to changes in technology. Whereas travellers would have once been happy with a bed, tea- making facilities with en-suite bathroom, now they would like televisions, mini bars and phone sockets so they can access the internet via their laptops (Outhart, Taylor et al, 2000 p. 17).

For larger hotels and hotel chains the hospitality they provide has certainly changed for the reasons mentioned above. Hotels are no longer about having a bed for the night; they are about having an enjoyable experience, which means the customer will wish to use the hotel company again. It could be argued that providing such services and facilities make the hospitality industry more expensive to run, yet such expenditure could be justified if hotels are able to increase the number of happy guests and keep the loyalty of their customers. The Distribution Channel Efficiency of technology will, if used effectively, prove more profitable to the companies that are prepared to implement changes as soon as they become possible. Keeping pace with technological changes allows hotels and other hospitality providers to improve and maintain their standards of customer service. Hotels are not able to provide their guests and customers with a higher level of service when it comes to providing information about travel and the leisure activities available at the hotel itself or within the surrounding areas of it. It is possible if the hotel or hospitality provider is linked with travel and leisure companies that customers can arrange to pay for all other services not provided by the hotel when they make their hotel bookings. Smaller hotels and hospitality providers might not be able to match all the services provided by a larger or chain of hotels, yet they can still provide their customers with a higher level service than they did before the internet became widely available (Higley, 2004).

Improvements in technology do not automatically equate to a better Distribution Channel Efficiency for hotels and other hospitality providers. There are certainly actual and potential drawbacks to the greater use of technology within the hospitality industry. Staff and managers have to have enough training to use new technology properly, whilst not all customers may be able to use new technology and will need to make their hospitality arrangements by more traditional means such as going to a travel agent, booking by telephone, or even by letter. For smaller companies and hospitality providers it might not be cost effective to use every piece of new technology as their income and resources would not be increased by as much as the cost of upgrading their equipment. Smaller hospitality providers have tended to avoid such drawbacks by forming links with the larger companies such as Thomson. The use of GDS suits small operators as the larger companies fill up their rooms, whilst the arrangements suit the large companies as it increases the number of bookings from customers that they can meet (Outhart, Taylor et al, 2000 p. 16). For smaller hospitality providers there is another potential drawback that new technology becomes obsolete too frequently. Once again strong links with the larger tour operators can mean that even with older technology that the smaller hospitality providers can still stay connected to global databases or booking systems such as GDS. It also means that the efficiency of the payments they send and receive is increased (www.gcis.ca).

Another drawback that could provide problems for the hospitality industry when it is seeking Distribution Channel Efficiency is that when tour operators and smaller hospitality providers are so busy meeting current demands that they do not plan adequately for the expansion or contraction of tourist destinations. When growth levels in certain resorts are very strong hospitality providers have found it difficult to match demand with actual capacity. Tourism booms that in some holiday resorts may seem destined to last for a long period yet such resorts are prey to the changing tastes or budgets of tourists. Unplanned or too rapid an expansion of holiday resorts could lead to the areas becoming spoilt and burdened with declining popularity and profits. Experience has shown that the decline of popularity in some holiday resorts can be as rapid as previously high levels of tourists staying. Perhaps the classic example of a tourist resort expanding rapidly and suddenly declining in popularity is Benidorm. For the best part of two decades the demand for bookings was barely met as new hotel construction only just stayed ahead of demand. Rapid expansion had spoilt the original character and attractiveness of the area for tourists and the level of hospitality provided varied greatly across the resort. The popularity of Benidorm fell sharply at the end of the 1980s with bookings down by a third. Expansion is never infinite and the consistent adoption of technology to Distribution Channel Efficiency cannot make people go to certain destinations (Outhart, Taylor et al, 2000 p. 149). The popularity of hospitality providers and holiday resorts can be affected by factors outside of their control such as poor weather, changes in tastes and income, or especially relevant after the 9/11 attacks on the United States by security concerns. Regional conflicts can have detrimental affects on tourism and hospitality as people are unwilling to travel near war zones (Outhart, Taylor et al, 2000 p. 196). American hotels frequently responded to the downturn in business after 9/11 by shelving or reducing company training programmes which arguably affected efficiency and certainly lowered customer services standards. To some extent the availability of online training has addressed some of those training needs (Higley, 2004).

To some extent the Internet provides an alternative way of making hotel and travel arrangements. People that use the Internet are in a position to make their own plans, as they are able to bypass travel agents and make bookings directly from travel and hospitality providers themselves. People that want to arrange things independently of other people are using the technology developed by the hospitality providers to do so. The main alternative to the evolving electronic booking and payments systems would be to use older less efficient offline versions although they would still work they would not be as fast or as accurate (www.gcis.ca).

Therefore the use of technology can greatly assist the Distribution Channel Efficiency of the hospitality industry. However technology alone does not make or break hospitality operators. A combination of information technology, plus advances in transport, changes in consumer tastes, and effective marketing can make all the difference between success and failure. Technological advances since the 1960s have radically altered the ways in which hospitality is provided, booked, and paid for. The expansion of charter flights and the development of GDS allowed large international travel and hospitality companies like Thomson to flourish and to form links with hotels, airlines, and other transport providers to offer complete travel packages that could be booked and paid for at the same time. Perhaps the most single important technological advance that affects Distribution Channel Efficiency in the hospitality industry is the Internet. On the Internet customers can make their own travel and accommodation arrangements by assessing operators deals and taking advantage of the payment and GDS that are part of websites and hospitality networks.

Bibliography

Cooper C, Fletcher J, Gilbert D, & Wanhill S, (1998) Tourism – Principles and Practice, 2^nd edition, Longman, London and New York

Higley J, Hoteliers need to rediscover training benefits, Hotel & Motel Management Sep. 6 2004

Outhart T, Taylor L, Barker R, & Marvell A, (2000) Advanced Vocational Travel and Tourism, Collins, London

The General Center for Internet Services Inc, The Internet has greatly helped to increase the efficiency of transactions, July 15, 2002 from www.gcis.ca

Vellas F & Becherel L, (1995) International Tourism – An Economic Perspective, MacMillan Business, Basingstoke

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION1.1 Background

Wedding is once-a-life event in people’s life. For most of families, they are willing to spend a considerable amount of money to ensure the wedding is organized as perfect as possible. According to Howard (2006), wedding today is a $70 billion business in U.S., and the average cost of wedding is $26,000 per couples. As a spinoff the larger discipline of event management, the business of wedding planning will provide business to a broad array of supporting industries, such as hotels, retails, and catering service.

Comparing with the other personal events, such as birthday, anniversaries, wedding is more complicated, because it involves friends and families and a range of related service activities covering from catering to entertainments (Shone & Parry, 2004). In order to make sure everything goes smoothly in the wedding day, most of the prospective couples would like to plan the wedding in sometimes year in advance. Both brides and grooms put much effort into the wedding preparation including the venue selection, honeymoon booking and dress design etc. However, not all of them have enough time and energy and knowledge in wedding planning to arrange everything themselves. They need someone to assist them in wedding planning, budget preparation, planning detail checklists, venue arrangement as well as onsite supervision and coordination on the wedding day. Wedding planners, the professional dealing with all the details of wedding, provide a one-stop service to potential couples by charging some considerable consultant fee (Wikipedia org, 2009). The role of the wedding planners is to save time, look after details, make couples’ dream come true, stay on the budget and save money. Wedding planners have become one of the outsourced labours in modern society (Blakely, 2007).

With the rapid development of the society in the last decade, more and more couples prefer to go to college and start their own careers after graduation. Marriage is happening later in brides and grooms’ life (Mayling, 2002). This means couples have more disposable income to afford the wedding expenses; and they are more likely to look for some special unique wedding styles, such as theme wedding, green wedding etc., which probably involves different elements, such as ethic, religious custom, family tradition, class identity, regional practice and individual tastes and preference (Howard, 2006). As a result, wedding planners, who are providing professional advices and assistance to the couples from the moment of distributing the invitations, arranging the style of cake ceremony, table setting, and setting for banquet, are necessarily needed and developed dramatically (Markby, 2006).

1.2 Wedding in China

In traditional Chinese culture, marriage was creating alliances between families. Therefore, it was strictly arranged by parents or elder people in families. Wedding should be planned strictly according to the customs. For example, people should choose a good year, a good month, a good day as well as a good time for wedding ceremony; and use “red” in the declaration for everything with the purpose of auspicious. Wedding is also one of the ways for Chinese families to present their social classes therefore the families are willing to spend a large mount of money on wedding, and much of which were supported by parents or relatives.

Because of the reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s, nowadays, the living standards in China have been dramatically increased. According to the China Statistic Yearbook – 2008 (2009), the GDP per capita in Mainland China is increasing steadily and has reached 18,934 RMB in 2007. At the mean time, the social culture is becoming diversified. More and more Chinese people, especially the younger generation who have better education, began to accept the western culture. Most of the prospective couples would like to experience different types of weddings that can make their special day more measurable. For example, some people choose “white” wedding instead of traditional Chinese “red” wedding; some may prefer destination wedding instead of having wedding at home, which may require more time and professional planning and organizing throughout the wedding preparation. Therefore, wedding planners, as a new business in China, has developed rapidly during the last decade. According to the ministry of commerce of the PRC (2008), wedding service today has become a big business in China covering about 76 industries, such as matchmaking business, wedding planning as well as banquets, tourism industries etc. where the photographer has the highest profit that is above 30% while the wedding planner is 15%. The average expenditure for more than 3.7 million new Chinese couples in 2006 was about 126,600 RMB. Based on the statistics of Ministry of Civil Affairs of the PRC (2009), about 11 million couples got married in 2008 with the growth of 10.8% than 2007. All the statistics above show that wedding business in China has a huge market and potential.

This research will focus on Pearl River Delta, the most economically dynamic region in southern part of China. PRD covers nine prefectures of Guangdong province including Guangzhou, Shenzhe, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing; and has become one of the leading economic regions and a major manufacturing center of China, which accounted for 10.2% of China’s GDP. People in PRD have more purchasing power than the other region. The per capita GDP in PRD ranges from 35,700 to 79,600 RMB which is much higher than the national per capita GDP (HKTDC, 2008). Because of the advantages of its location and open-door policy, PRD became the first region in China which allowed the foreign investments. Thus, apart from the economic strength, people in PRD were influenced by the western cultures earlier than the other places of China.

1.3 Research problem statements

Due to the low entry cost in the wedding planning business, the number of wedding planners has increased rapidly in China in the last decade. Generally, two to three persons having relevant planning experience can establish a wedding planning company with around 100,000 RMB investments in China. They just need an office for meeting with clients and an official blog or website for promotion. Despite of the rapid development of the wedding business, the service/product offered by the wedding planners is similar. Comparing with the wedding photo service business, there is a lack of leading brand in the wedding planning business. With the growth of income level and education level, the couples in China are becoming more and more demanding towards the wedding service/products and face a problem that how to choose a suitable wedding planners who can provide excellent service/product. Thus, from the supply side, identifying and satisfying the important and unfulfilled needs of prospective couples is one of the ways for wedding planners to differentiate their products from the competitors, and make success in the competition.

However, there is few studies indentifying prospective couples’ needs or attitudes toward products or service of wedding planner in Pearl River Delta even though in Chinese mainland, nor research about how well the wedding planners in China is meeting the needs of prospective couples.

Therefore, this study will focus on the following questions to find out the needs of prospective couples (demand side) towards the wedding planners in PRD

What’s the reason for couples hiring wedding planners?
What’s the factors affecting the selection of wedding planners? Reputation? Price? Or other?
Do the needs of prospective couples toward wedding planners in Pearl River Delta vary according to the different demographical characteristics?
1.4 Research objectives:
To find out the needs of prospective couples’ when hiring the wedding planners in the Pearl River Delta;
To investigate the relationship between the needs for prospective couples and the choice of product/service offered by wedding planners in Pearl River Delta Region;
To investigate how the needs of potential couples are influenced by their demographic profiles;
To make recommendations to the wedding planners in Pearl River Delta.
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the previous studies related to wedding, wedding planners as well as the consumer purchase behavior will be reviewed.

2.1 Nature of wedding

From the view of sociology, Edward (1987) defined that weddings are rites of passage, which belong to the class of rituals that everywhere mark the transition of a person or persons from one status to another. Wedding therefore becomes a private and highly-personalized event in people’s life. Event is held for a purpose that brings people together to share an experience and produce a measurable outcome no matter public or private, commercial or charitable, celebratory or commemorative (Silvers, 2003). Shone and Parry (2004) defined the wedding, together with the other personal events (e.g. birthday or anniversaries), as a type of special events. Their phenomenon arise from leisure, cultural, personal or organizational objectives which are set apart from the normal activity of daily life and their purpose is to enlighten, celebrate, entertain or challenge the experience of a group of people. The characteristics of special events include personal interactions, ritual or ceremony, intangible, fixed timescale, labor intensive, ambience and service, perishability as well as uniqueness. Getz (2007) also defined wedding as a form of planned events because it is held in venues that cater to individual and small-group clients which may require professionals or be entirely arranged by the participants. From this point of view, Getz (2007) believed that the wedding is a multi-meaning experience in both personal and social aspects, and it is can be considered as celebrations in which a theme and emotional stimulation are essential.

Although, wedding is usually defined as a type of small or personal events, it is still an area lack of study and research compared with meeting, exhibition, incentives or other events. There is quite a few academic book or journal devoted to the planning and design of weddings, parties or other private functions.

2.2 Wedding planners
2.21 The nature of wedding planner

Arranging an event is complicated as it involves different elements such as the specialist sets, props, customers for participants or guests, and all the range of support requirements from special effects and lighting to music and entertainment. Event management companies are increasingly common in the events business in the last decades, which have specialized in providing of the complete event by careful planning and management. People can enjoy a number of benefits of having an EMC including the expertise, ideas and experience they can draw on (Shone & Parry, 2004). Shone and Parry (2004) found that although there are some major companies in the event business, there are a wide range of smaller organizations and individuals that are willing to provide events-related service particular for the personal event market, which include the organization of parties, celebrations, weddings, anniversaries and many of similar events. Professional party planners or event organizers are those professional who deal with the nitty-gritty details of planning, organizing, operating and managing an event to ensure everything goes smoothly.

According to Wikipedia (2009), wedding planners are the professionals who deal with all the details of the wedding, which includes planning, organizing, operating and management, to ensure everything goes smoothly and correctly. Ellis-Christensen (2008) defined that wedding planner as an event professional whose responsibility is not only to plan a memorable wedding, but also to give some professional advices to the couples including the venue selection, equipments preparation etc. They usually act as a wedding advisor, coordinator, supervisor, financial planner and mediator during the wedding (Brush Creek Weddings, 2008). Peters (2007) also stated that the range of service offered by wedding planner is widely. Some may prefer to offer consulting service only while some may prefer to provide comprehensive wedding package. At the meantime, Peters (2007) also pointed out that the global trend of the wedding business has been toward offering total coordination of the entire blessed event from the beginning to the end, which includes identifying the needs of new couples, budget preparation, planning detailed checklist, venue arrangement, identifying the professionals (e.g. florists, photographers etc.) as well as on-site supervision and coordination on the wedding day. The consultant fee varies widely depending on different locations or different packages. The consultant fee may be higher in larger cities where disposable income of couples is higher than the other places.

2.22 The requirements of a wedding planner

Having a strong organizational skills as well as an eye for details are necessary and basic requirements for a successful professional meeting planner because meeting process is both comprehensive and meticulous. Moreover, meeting planners must have the ability to work successful under pressure, to react calmly to constant change, and to make quick decisions (O’Brien & Shaw, 2002).

Howard (2006) stressed that wedding planning is highly customer oriented as most of the couples are looking for special, unique and memorable wedding. Ethic and religious custom, family tradition, class identity, regional practice, and individual tastes and preferences certainly all played a role in shaping wedding consumption. Peters (2007) suggested that good communication skills, good organizational skills as well as good interpersonal skills are very essential for being a successful wedding planner, because wedding planners act as a middle person who deals with both clients and suppliers.

The appearance of the professional wedding organization was an important benchmark in the rise of wedding planner business, indicating that wedding planning service today are more and more professional. These professional organizations help wedding planners naturalize particular customs and practices on a potentially national scale by sharing etiquette and customs. They provide some training course for wedding planners. Getting a certificate from professional organization has became one of the evidences for professional and made the customer confident with the service quality. Additionally, the organization also centralized and rationalized a consultants’ business, providing important resources and information regarding the markets as well as the trend (Howard, 2006).

2.23 Demand of wedding planners

Wedding is an important event in people’s life that many people are willing to organize by themselves on the small and more intimate scale. However, not all of them have the time and wish to expend the effort on doing so and happier to pay a professional to come along and deal with all the details of planning, organizing, operating and managing to ensure everything goes smoothly (Shone & Parry, 2006).

According to Blakely (2007), the supply of commercial service increases dramatically along with the growth of demands for family jobs. Wedding planners are a form of outsourced labor in the modern society. These jobs which are transported from home to the public marketplace are responding to the time crunch produced by work-family conflict. From this point of view, Blakely defined wedding planners as commercial substitutes.

Besides, Edwards (1987) conducted a research to examine the relationship between the wedding’s commercial development and its nature as a rite of passage. He found that the reason of the success of the wedding business was the convenience offered by the wedding planners and the demand from consumers for larger and more sumptuous celebrations. Consumers were looking for a wide range of wedding-related service (one-stop service) through a single organization.

2.4 The trend

Firstly, the wedding today tends to be more customized than before. According to Hensdill (1996), because of the cultural exchange among the global village, traditional wedding customs are giving way to the trends of Western societies. Some new styles of wedding exist, such as theme wedding, destination wedding and green wedding, because more and more couples are looking for unique wedding.

Destination wedding is a new wedding style that a couple decides to hold their wedding in a location where neither one of them resides (Daniels & Loveless, 2007). There are several top destinations for wedding in the world, such as Caribbean, Las Vegas, Hawaii as well as Maldives. Generally, some special theme may be adopted into the destination wedding. For example, hotel in Las Vegas has organized Italian-style wedding for wedding couples (Stratton, 2001). Moreover, the destination wedding often merges into the honeymoon (Daniels & Loveless, 2007).

Secondly, the internet and e-commerce has shaped the modern wedding consumption and gave it a new immediacy and flexibility. As a result, the wedding planners can target different segments of the bridal markets through developing website that advertised their goods and services and allowed consumers to make agreement or shop directly through their online site (Howard, 2006).

2.2 Consumer purchase behaviors toward wedding

“Consumer behavior is defined as the behavior that consumers display in searching form, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. It focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their available resources” (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007).

2.32 Factors affecting consumer purchases

As people are willing to devote time and effort to the ritual occasions like Christmas and Thanksgiving, some researches regarding the types of purchases associated with ritual occasions have been conducted by researchers in consumer behavior (Lowery, 1994). According to some market analysis, consumer purchase behavior is strongly influenced by social, cultural and individual characteristics.

a) Social factors

According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2007), consumer behavior is influenced by two major groups, namely the reference group and families.

“A reference group that is perceived as credible, attractive, or powerful can induce consumer attitude and behavior change” (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007)

Based on the traditional family life cycle, the prospective couples belong to the stage II, honeymooners, who have available a combined income that often permits a lifestyle that provides them with the opportunities of more indulgent purchasing of professions, which means that the honeymooners are happy to accept the professional products and service and willing to pay more money for them as they pursuit high quality of life. The reason hidden behind may be because they have more disposable income and more free time for themselves before the born of young children. Additionally, for the newlyweds, the advice and experience of other married couples (e.g. parents or friends) are likely to be important when they start-up their expenses to establish a new home (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007).

“For many consumers their family is their primary reference group for many attitudes and behaviors. The members of a family assume specific roles in their everyday functioning; such roles or tasks extend to the realm of consumer purchase decisions. Key consumer-related roles of family members include influencers, gatekeepers, deciders, buyers, preparers, users, maintainers, and disposers. A family’s decision-making style is influenced by its lifestyle, roles, and cultural factors.” (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007).

Different social classes have different preferences in clothing, home decoration and leisure activities as well as saving, spending and credit habits. Based on the market study by Bride’s magazine, 20% of the buyers of the wedding products identified themselves as buyers of Bride’s magazine who were mainly middle class women employed in white-collar, professional and technical fields and had higher medium annual income, when combined with their future husband’s. This means that the bride had more control over future consumer decisions that the couple would make (Howard, 2006).

Another research about the division of wedding labor and its meaning for couples by Sniezek (2005) indicated that women complete the a disproportionate amount of wedding work just as women do more of kin-work, housework, childcare and managerial family work. He also pointed out that couples were not likely to label the unequal division of labor as unfair which may potentially put the relationship in a state of conflict. From this point of view, his statement highly support Blakely’s study (2007) which stated that the wedding planning business’s targeted market is modern career women. Blakely also used the case study of wedding planning to confirm Hochschild’s thesis (2003) that feminism plays and important ideological role in the expansion of the commodity frontier.

However, after comparison of the emphases that brides and grooms place on artifacts selected for use in their weddings and reception, Lowery (1994) found out that the brides participating in the focus group had no difficulty describing artifacts that were important to them; while grooms had greater difficulty. They also suggest that the emergence of traditional or modern gender roles in wedding planning is partially determined by the attitudes of the bride and groom toward these roles. This is also proved by Schiffman & Kanuk (2007) that wedding purchase is a joint-decision in the family where the couples may play different roles in the decision making procedure.

b) Cultural factors

“Culture is the sum total of learned beliefs, values, and customs that serve to regulate the consumer behavior of member of a particular society.” (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2007)

When explaining how culture affects the consumer behavior, Schiffman and Kanuk (2007) indicated that all phases of human problem solving are directed and guided by culture, which includes various ritualized experiences and behaviors. For instance, in practice, rituals accompany with people throughout the human life cycle form birth to death, including a host of intermediate events such as confirmation, graduations and marriage. Besides the culture, subculture also plays an important in consumer’s behavior which includes nationality, religion, geographic, location, race, age and sex. For example, when comparing the husband-wife decision making between United States and China, Schiffman and Kanuk (2007) found out that there were substantially fewer “joint” decisions and more “husband-dominated” decisions for many household purchases in China. Even in the same country, another research showed that in larger city like Beijing, couples were more likely than rural couples to share equally in purchase decisions.

c) Individual factors

Apart from the social and cultural factors which affecting the consumer behavior, individual factors play an important role when people make decision (Dholakia, 1979). Schiffman & Kanuk (2005) explained the influences of the individual factors through several categories: motivation, personality, perception, learning as well as attitudes. As a driving force within individuals that force them to take actions, motivation is produced by a state of uncomfortable tension – unsatisfied needs. Liking to our topic, hiring the wedding planner may be motivated by the needs of couples, such as lack of time for preparation, looking for professional service etc. Personality determines and reflects how a person responds to his or her environment. Generally, people are looking for the balance between the perceived self-image and their behavior including the purchasing products or service. Some may prefer innovative wedding style (e.g. destination wedding, green wedding) while the other may choose traditional wedding. Moreover, each individual has its own process when he or she selects, organizes and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. This process is highly subjective and is based on what the consumer expect to see. There are several factors that can influence the perception including physical appearance, stereotypes, halo effects, irrelevant cues, first impressions, and the tendency to jump to conclusions.

2.3 Theoretical foundation- Consumer decision making process

This research is based on consumer decision making process, which is one of the theories of consumer behavior. Decisions are about the selection of an option from two or more alternative choices. According to Kotler, Bowen and Makens (2006), consumer decision process consists of five essential stages:

2.31 Need recognition

From the moment that the consumer recognizes a problem or need, the consumer buying process starts. The consumers’ needs can be stimulated by both internal and external factors. Advertisements, word-of-mouth, social cues from families, friends and anyone within the families can influence the customers’ need recognition. In the case of wedding planner, potential couples, their internal stimuli probably is lacking of time for preparation, looking for some unique and special wedding while the external stimuli may be the advertisement in the internet, the promotional events held by wedding planners, especially by the friends or families who have previous experience.

2.32 Information search

Searching information about their needs or problems is the second step of buying process. How much information a consumer looks for will depend on the strength of the drive, and the amount of initial information, the value placed on additional information. Linking to the wedding planners, couples will take some time for information searching. This is a stage that couples can decide if they would like to hire a wedding planners or if the products/service offered by wedding planner can satisfy their needs.

2.33 Evaluation of alternatives

After searching the relevant information, customers will use the information to arrive at a set of final brand choices. At this stage, potential couples may set up a personal comparison system through different attributes such as reputation, price, theme etc., in order to identify which would be the most ideal brand.

2.34 Purchase decision

Subsequently, consumer will buy the most preferred brand based on their evaluation in the previous stage. This is the stage that potential couples choose which brand, what kind of services and check if the product/service is available. This is also the stage that potential couples decide if they would like to hire a wedding planner or not.

2.35 Post-purchase behavior

Based on the performance of the service/products, the final stage determines whether the consumer satisfy the service/products or not.

2.4 Summary

After reviewing the previous studies related to wedding and wedding planners, we can find out that most of the studies were conducted in the developed countries such as U.S or United Kingdom, while there is a blank area regarding this field in China. Moreover, there is little study regarding the consumer purchase behavior towards the wedding planners conducted before. This research will based on the theories of consumer behavior to conduct three in-depth interviews to find out the reasons for potential couples hiring wedding planners; and the factors affecting their decision. Then, a quantitative research will be conducted to express the findings in statistical terms.

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This research will be designed as an exploratory, quantitative, cross-sectional investigation of prospective couples’ needs towards the service/products offered by wedding planners in Pearl River Delta.

3.1 Research Design

The advantage of semi-structure interviews is that it can allow issues to be explored deeply while questionnaire survey is that it can collect information from a large number of people and express the findings in statistical terms (Jennings, 2001). As limited study regarding the needs of potential couples towards the wedding service has been conduced in China so far, for this research, the important variables are not clear and still need to be defined. In order to develop a more reliable questionnaire to conduct quantitative research at the second stage, the first stage is to explore the important variables through a qualitative research. In-depth interviews with three potential couples will be conducted, which will facilitate the identifying the different requirements made by potential couples when selecting the wedding planners. These in-depth interviews are critical for the whole research because the finding of these interviews will be used to develop the questionnaire.

3.2 Questionnaire design

There will be four main parts in the questionnaire. The first part will be the screening questions with the purpose of screening the invalid sample through some questions. Then, the second part will include some questions regarding the prospective couple’s attitudes towards the service/products offered by wedding planners in Pearl River Delta. Respondents’ are required to indicate their personal opinions on each statement on a five-point Likert type scale: 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. In the third part, open-end questions will be included in order to examine the personal experience and intention of hiring a wedding planner. Finally, there will be a set of questions regarding the demographic characteristics of the respondents, which will include gender, age, income level, marriage status, and education level.

In order to explain the purpose of the research to the respondents, a covering letter will be attached to the questionnaire. The covering letter will include the information that how the sample was selected, the time will take to complete the survey, contact person for questions and assuring the response would be kept confidential and only used for statistical purposes.

3.3 Samp

The tourism industry is a major contributor to the gross state product of many countries (Reige and Perry, 2000) and in the last 50 years, tourism has developed into one of the world’s most powerful, yet provocative, socio-economic forces (Sharpley and Telfer 2008). Travel & Tourism industry has become one of the world’s most important and fastest growing economic sectors, generating quality jobs and substantial wealth for economies around the globe (WTTC, 2007). The recent global recession has not caused the tourism industry to grind to a complete halt, and the World Tourism Barometer indicated that the recession only caused a 4% decline in global tourism from 2008-2010 (UNWTO, 2011b) and now it is expected to grow again. WTTC President and CEO, David Scowsill (2011) says “Over the next ten years, its total contribution to GDP will rise by 4.2% per annum to US$9.2 trillion, bringing with it 65 million new jobs, but for that growth to be achievable and sustainable, governments must work together with the industry towards smarter policies and legislation that will help Travel & Tourism to thrive.” In Third world countries, governments encourage tourism investment because of the assumption that it will contribute to economic development of their countries (Hall, 1995). Third world nations and developing nations always seeks the potential benefits of tourism such as increased income, foreign exchange, employments and economic diversification (Sharpley and Telfer, 2008). According to Ferguson (2007) “The tourism industry directly provides around 3 per cent of global employment, or 192 million jobs – the equivalent to one in every twelve jobs in the formal sector”. As with other industrial sectors and fields of academic study, tourism has also developed over the decades and has been influenced by a multitude of internal and external factors. It is not surprising that many aspects of tourism are totally different than they used to be before because of the vast rate of technological change along with social, economic and environmental changes.

Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely populated countries, with its people packed into a delta of rivers that empties into the Bay of Bengal [BBC] (2011). It’s implementing its developing plans for a long time. They are not only trying to secure their economic growth but also trying to improve their social living standards. In Bangladesh, tourism was almost non-existent at the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971. More recently tourism has seen as a means of the contributing to their attainment. Tourism contributes 4.8 % to Bangladesh’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and employs over 1509100 which contribute 1.9% of direct employments (WTTC, 2011). According to Bhatia (1986 in Jenkins and Tosun, 1998), many countries in the third world do not know the importance of tourism and the impacts that it can have, and Bangladesh is one of those countries. Essentially Jenkins and Tosun (1998) argue that, “tourism development took place in most of the places of this world as an unplanned activity” (p 102). “Like sustainable development sounds attractive” (Butler, 1992: 64), the phrase of sustainable tourism accepted immediately by this country even the meaning of this term is not understood fully. “Though “sustainable tourism” is the in thing across the world, Bangladesh, in spite of being endowed with nature’s bounties and beauty, still struggles with the concept” (Mahmud, 2010). Several destinations in Bangladesh such as Chittagong hill tracts, the Sundarbans, Saint Martin coral island, Nijhum Island, Srimanagol Lawachera rain forest, Tangua Hoar and Cox’s Bazar, which could be used as sustainable tourist spots (Mahmud, 2010).

Cox’s Bazar is the tourist capital of Bangladesh. By popular choice, Cox’s Bazar has recently been ranked as one of the ‘New Seven Wonders of the World'(Zamir, 2009), located conveniently on the east-west air-corridor making it a gateway to the Far East. It is endowed with resources and the potential for a tourism industry. In the southern edge of the country has a 125 km (77.6 miles) long beach of soft silvery sand, the world’s longest (Qadir, 2003) and a chain of hills that run parallel to the sea for almost the entire length, towering cliffs, colourful, ancient pagodas and Hindu temples (Anonymous, 2007), in a Riviera-like setting with crescent-shaped low hills overlooking the Bay of Bengal, and most visited tourist destinations in Bangladesh. The range of the hills covered in luxurious green groves is precious locations for tourists. Cox’s Bazar is located at the head of this terrain. Cox’s Bazar is also known as “Panowa”, literature meaning yellow flower. “Palonkee” was its other name.

The daughter of the sea Bangladesh is a beautiful surprise for the tourist. Since the tourism is reported as a relatively easy way to earn foreign exchange, many countries are eager to enter international markets as fast as they can (Jafari, 1974) and Bangladesh is one of them. According to Jafari (1974), tourists and news media of a developed countries come to be a kind of promotional agents for a developing country or for a under developing country. Though Hasan in his book “development tourism in Bangladesh” blames the international news media for representing a wrong appearance of the country and news media carefully avoid telling the world of the brighter side of Bangladesh than the rough side of it (Khairuzzaman, 2008) still there are some positive approaches from the international media. Lonely planet is one of them. The world leader in publishing travel guides and guidebooks ‘Lonely planet’ recommended Bangladesh as one of the top ten interesting travel destination in 2009 (Thomsen, 2009). This UK based publication ‘Bradt Travel guide’ is known as a “pioneer in tackling ‘unusual’ destinations, for championing the causes of sustainable travel and for the high quality of writing” (Thomsen, 2009). The first guide on Bangladesh published in 2009 and the back cover text states: “Bangladesh has a reputation for being poor and beset by flooding, but this ‘republic of rivers’ rewards those willing to look beyond the headlines. Leave luxuries behind and embark on the richest of travel experiences among some of the sub-continent’s friendliest people” (Thomsen, 2009). This kind of positive focus on Bangladesh is not possible to buy for money. Lack of consistent strategy on cooperation, appropriate knowledge and sustainability; are the great barrier to a positive development of Bangladesh tourism sector.

Environmental resources are an important asset not only in Cox’s Bazar but to other tourism destinations in all other third world countries. The tourism in Bangladesh is especially popular due to its coastal areas of Cox’s Bazar. If environmental resources are important economic assets in Bangladesh, the immediate action that need is that of sustainable utilisation of resources to benefit for present and future generations (Mbaiwa, 2005). It is well established that the presence of tourism in destination always brings with it environmental, socio-culture and economic benefit and this is why it is an effective development tool in any under developing countries and in the case of Bangladesh, A sustainable tourism strategy will have a major positive impact (Thomsen, 2009).

When carrying out a broad research on any substance, it is essential to become acquainted with contextual of that topic, by using relevant literatures. For this dissertation, it is most significant to obtain information in a number of different sources. Academic books, journals, newspapers, where available, will be used in the gathering of information for this dissertation. Here in this project, I will outline the history of sustainable tourism development first which will provide the context of how it is developing and will answer either it exists in the Bangladesh, particularly in Cox’s bazar. In order to gain this knowledge I will look at different publications related to research issue will be collected from academic books, daily newspaper, projects, related archives and tremendously up to date journals. For this purpose it will be extremely useful to look at relevant internet websites such as the websites of different ministry of Bangladesh and tourism industry based websites. Internet websites will be an important source to fill in the gap by providing useful information where books and periodicals are not so unequivocal.

2.0: Literature review

All tourism includes some travel but not all travel is tourism (Page, 2007). Tourism used to be recognised as an activity undertaken by those who travelled away from home for holidays, to visit relatives or to carry out professional business, in the past. Tourism is a composite of activities, services and industries that deliver a travel experience: transportation, accommodations, eating and drinking establishments, shops entertainment, activity facilities and other hospitality services available for individuals and groups that are travelling away from home (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2009). Therefore it encompasses a wide variety of purposes. The officially accepted definition by UNWTO (1993) is: “Tourism comprises the activities of person travelling to and staying places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, businesses and other purposes”. This definition challenges the commonly held perception that tourism is purely concerned with recreation and having fun (Holden, 2008). But according to Gunn (1994) the best working definition of tourism is that of by Mathieson and Wall (1982 in Gunn, 1994): “Tourism is the temporary movement of people to destinations outsides their normal places of work and residence, the activities undertaken during their stay in those destinations, and the facilities created to cater to their needs”. At the present time, tourism is even more far reaching with wider implications. Specialists have illustrious between ‘mass tourism’, which involves those features just mentioned, and ‘alternative tourism’, which can include cultural, educational, social, environmental, agricultural and political tourism (Wearing and Neil, 2009). Tourism promotes better cross culture understanding. For any third world and developing countries, tourism is seen as an important tool of their regional development, culture, environmental and in most cases; the tourism portfolio is attached to Economy. This provides us with an initial insight into the impact of tourism within all countries it has.

In addition to social, political and economic concerns, tourism has become a vastly important and global feature of environmental argument. Tourism development which consistently ignores environmental concerns is unlikely to remain viable in the longer term (Pigram, 1990). High volume of tourism can cause environmental including water, air and noise pollution which are extremely destructive to a location’s sustainable well-being. It is as a significance of the growing awareness of the harmful effect that tourism has on the environment, as well as a general heightened understanding of how global warming is affecting our planet, that tourism has been given an environmental focus. Indeed, sustainable tourism is now a widely known outlet of tourism, with the state of the environment being given more and more consideration. The term ‘Sustainable Tourism’ has been introduced in the context of wider debate about environmental sustainability and logically implies a form and level of tourism which maintains a total stock of natural resources (Sinclair, 1998). The growing awareness of environmental damage in this modern technological world is the reason to address this term. Getz (1986) says that when tourism planning was first developed in the 1960s, the discipline’s main focus came, “almost totally from the perspective of maximizing economic growth” (p. 21). Over the decades, the focus has shifted and is now, “more sensitive to non-economic issues” (p. 32). Murphy (1985) argues that it is the responsibility of the tourism industry to, “develop and protect its attractions, whether they are natural or man-made, and become a hospitality industry to make visitor experiences as enjoyable as possible” (p. 10). Though it is argued that too much emphasis is placed on relatively short term economic impacts at the cost of considering the long term social and environmental impacts of tourism, thereby encourages in a better awareness of the problems that the industry creates (Holloway et al., 2009). The importance of sustainable development is to carry growing successes into the future in such a way that future generations are not troubled (Pearce et al., 1990).

Sustainability, sustainable tourism and sustainable development are all well-established terms (Liu, 2003). There are two components in the definition of sustainable development. The meaning of development and the condition necessary for sustainability are those two components (Miltin, 1992). Croall (1995) compares sustainability to the “link between development and conservation”, which should not conflict to each other. According to Bartelmus (1986 in Tosun, 2001), “development implies a process that makes an effort to improve the living conditions of people”. To meet human needs and wants is the main objective of development (WCED, 1987) which involves wider apprehensions with the quality of life (Pearce et al., 1990). When applied to tourism, as Godfrey (1996 in Gunn, 1994)) points out the concept of sustainable development relates to a form of environmentally friendly tourism. Aside, Rees (Gunn, 1994 p.85) define “sustainable tourism development as a positive socio-economic change that does not undermine the cultural, ecological and social systems upon which local communities and societies are depended”.

The concept of sustainability first appeared on the public sense in the report by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987. The outline of sustainable development is that the economic growth and the environmental conservation are not only friendly but they are partners and one cannot survive without than other. The Brundtland Commission Report defines sustainable development as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (WCED, 1987). The Commission highlighted that sustainable development is not a fixed national agreement, but an active process of changes which ‘are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations’ (WCED, 1987: 46). A general weakness in the concept of the sustainable tourism development is that its principles and objectives have tended to manifest themselves in sets of guidelines that based on managing the limits of acceptable environmental and social change, which is unable to account for the almost infinite diversity of tourism development contexts (Sharpley and Telfer, 2008). In a research Liu (2003) found that sustainability is praised by Bramwell and Lane (1993 in Liu, 2003) and according to them “it is a positive approach intended to reduce the tensions and friction created by the complex interactions between the tourism industry, tourists, environment and the host communities to maintain the long term capacity and quality of both natural and human resources”.

“Miles of golden sands, towering cliffs, surfing waves, rare conch shells, colourful Pagodas, Buddhist Temples and delightful sea-food – all this makes what Cox’s Bazar is today , the tourist capital of Bangladesh” (NTO). Cox’s Bazar is one of the most attractive tourist spots, not only in the Bangladesh but also in the world. “The warm, shark free waters are good for bathing and swimming & while the sandy beaches offer opportunities for sun-bathing” (NTO). The tourist capital of Bangladesh includes conch shell market, tribal handicraft, and salt and prawn cultivation. According to a census of aquatic birds, a total of 15933 birds of 52 species have been spotted in Cox’s Bazar (The Daily Star, 2009) can be seen as other attraction. “Aggmeda Khyang, a Buddhist monastery at the hills, Himchari picnic spot, just about 8 km from Cox’s Bazar, Innani Beach 32 km away from the city, is one of the most spectacular sea beaches in Bangladesh which is very close to the world’s longest sandy beach in Cox’s Bazaar and it is situated within the Inani protected forest; Sonadia island with very little human visitation, Teknaf peninsula, some 80 km from town and picturesque St. Martin Island to the south at 13 km distance from mainland” are the around attraction of Cox’s Bazar (Ahammed, 2010). All these places are located around Cox’s Bazar and easily accessible by road and water sides what makes this place hub of tourism.

As an international destination, Bangladesh has a mixed image. Tourists from abroad perceive a negative awareness of Bangladesh from news media. People from outside perceive as place where the population is living in poverty, corruption and in natural disasters. Though the new seven natural wonders search 2009 have made the country attractive for tourism and is also charted as one of the top ten interesting destinations by new travel books (Quader, 2010). Bangladesh is still one of the countries in South Asia with the fewest arrivals and the lowest revenue earned from the tourism industry. WTTC (2011) predicts that the contribution from travel and tourism will increase 6.3% per annum till 2021. According to Bari (FE, 2010), “At present, around 0.50 million international tourists visit Bangladesh each year, It employs one million people”. Most of the tourists visited the country for business purpose, and “their stay in the country was brief as they had not been offered to explore the hills, seas and forests of the country brimming with natural beauty” (Mahmud, 2010). The only cause for this is the lack of awareness and proper arrangements. Though the economic contribution of tourism and the share of Cox’s Bazar to the national economy are not studied with reliable statistics (Ahammed, 2010) still the tourism industry leaders said in Financial Express (FE, 2010) that Bangladesh can earn US$2.0 billion in annual revenue from the tourism sector if it can attract two million international tourists. According to the general manager of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, revenue earning from the tourism sector is experiencing a downward trend and the revenue from tourism sector was approximately ?51 million in 2008, which came down to ?47 million in 2009. Till June 2010, the revenue was ?26 million (FE, 2010).

Tourism in Bangladesh is managed by Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and tourism. There is no doubt that tourism is an effective development tool, helps economy to generate revenue, country gets benefited as well as the private sector and local community, Consciousness on preservation of nature and protection of environment tends to increase. Though Cox’s Bazar is easily accessible by road, still there is no rail links in this city. The government spending huge amount of money to get Cox’s Bazar rail linked within 2 years. Government’s infrastructure development planning includes the work on the upgraded submarine cable connection of Cox’s Bazar Landing Station to increase the bandwidth (Unb, 2011). Development of major infrastructure to serve resorts should be coordinated to meet the demands of the industry with boarder economic and social needs (Brohman, 1996). The presence of tourism in any destination always brings environmental, socio- culture and economic impacts. Less developed destinations like Cox’s Bazar are more susceptible. Development of tourism in Cox’s bazar brings external money flow which drives the living standard of the locals to higher level. Development of tourism in Cox’s Bazar on a long-term basis is to give due importance to the above impacts for its sustainability. It needs a long term planning, continuous development work, avoid the negative impacts and investment timing have to be predetermined (Quader, 2010). The current growth in tourist numbers to Cox’s bazar has led to the recognition that consideration needs to be given to a sustainable tourism development strategy if the site is to be maintained for future generations.

3.0 Aims and objectives

In undertaking this investigation, this dissertation has number of aims and objectives. As sustainable tourism is a very well established term in modern tourism industry due to a heightened environmental awareness, it is important to understand how it functions and whom it targets. The goal of environmentally sustainability is a maximum level of desired outcome such as economic profit, quality of life what will maintain in a steady way, subject to constraints imposed by environment. Basis on this concept it can be said that environmentally sustainable tourism implies a key importance on maintaining a certain level of environmental quality. This is highlighting that, a sustainable environment and a viable tourism industry are essential elements to make an environmentally sustainable tourism (Johnston & Tyrrell, 2007). In order to do understand the term and the function of environmentally sustainable tourism, it will first be necessary to outline the basics of the tourism industry in less developed country like Bangladesh and how it has changed over the years. By doing this it will be possible to better understand how the sustainable tourism industry fits into Cox’s Bazar.

3.1: Aims

The core aim of the social and economic perspectives of tourism is to inspire more international and domestic tourists to promote the growth of tourist value which focus on creating employment, achieving revenue, developing local engagement (Gilmore et al., 2007) and enable some members of the population to move from the informal sector to higher paid jobs in the formal sector (Sinclair, 1998). The environmental aim is often conflict between the economic and social perceptions which is to protect and to conserve both culture and the environment (Gilmore et al., 2007). The host population is itself a part of the tourism product. The rapid growth of tourism in any less developed countries and destinations raises questions of sustainable tourism development, particularly the access and economic benefits to local economies. For this dissertation, it is most important to know the various facets of the relationship between host population and tourism industry of Cox’s Bazar of Bangladesh. The locals are subjects to be viewed and interacted with, or settings for tourist activities, and their attitudes and behaviour constitute the ‘hospitality’ resource of a destination (Smith, 1994). According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) (1993), tourism is sustainable when it “improves the quality of life of the host community; provides a high quality of experience for the visitor; and maintains the quality of the environment on which both the host community and the visitor depend”. Cox’s Bazar have limited opportunities and resources for agriculture or industrial development and are turning to tourism to create the major source of economy though a huge part of population are still involved in fishing, collecting sea foods and sea products for their livelihood. Traditionally, it is a conservative society and socio-culture, economy and the “quality of life” is still below than national average (Ahammed, 2010). The aim of this project is to critically assess whether Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh can be developed in a sustainable way.

3.2: Objectives

Finally, having completed a thorough investigation and after evaluation of the data collected will leads up to the current prevalence of the sustainable tourism in Cox’s Bazar, it will then be possible to imagine how the industry may develop in future.

Objectives are

?? To evaluate and define sustainable tourism development in term of environment, economic and culture.

?? To investigate and find the specific requirement for sustainable tourism development in Cox’s Bazar.

?? Critically discuss whether the people of tourism industry in Bangladesh really know the meaning of sustainable development?

?? To illustrate useful conclusions and make effective recommendations on sustainable tourism development for Cox’s Bazar that can be implemented by the tourism authority of Bangladesh.

4.0: Methodology and Method

The following section of this dissertation shall outline the methodology and the method that shall be employed for the primary research section of this dissertation.

4.1: Methodology

In tourism research there is an on-going need for statistical insights but qualitative research offers a great deal of understanding at social life from in a different way (Phillimore and Goodson, 2004). Phillimore and Goodson (2004) argue that tourism researchers are not bound to adopt a simple set of methods, and are therefore free to combine a wide range of approaches with a more sophisticated attitude to use qualitative research.

This project used both primary and secondary data resources. In terms of primary data sources, this dissertation relied on the research work that I have carried out on sustainable tourism development in Cox’s Bazar. Priority was given to the semi structured interviews I took in April 2011 which resulted in to develop conclusions and recommendations based on the findings that could be implemented in Cox’s Bazar.

In order to give concrete load to the primary research conducted this research will also contain some secondary research. Collecting data from people who are involved with the tourism industry in Bangladesh will give considerable ideas that will have been formed by looking at secondary literature. It will also provide the dissertation with a personal insight which cannot be gained from conducting qualitative research alone.

4.1.1: Primary Research

From the outset, I decided that my research objectives more easily lend themselves to more qualitative forms of analysis. This study is essentially attempting to determine how a number of complex concepts impact and relate to one another. It requires the subject area to be looked at from a number of different perspectives and for links between these separate perspectives to be determined. Britten et al (1995) suggest that employing qualitative methodology allows for the researcher to, “Address research questions of immediate relevance which are otherwise difficult to investigate” (p. 105). Flick et al (2004) go on to point out that the use of qualitative methodology can aide in, “the understanding of complex relationships rather than explanation by isolation of a single relationship, such as ’cause’ and ‘effect’” (p. 8). Sofaer (1999) further argues that this can result in, “rich descriptions of phenomenaaˆ¦it not only serves the desire to describe; it also helps move the enquiry towards more meaningful explanations” (p. 1102). It is for these reasons that this study will approach the research objectives from a qualitative, rather than giving practical weight to quantitative, approach.

4.1.2: Secondary Research

Secondary analysis has a well-established pedigree. This will provide the useful information in order to understand the background of the subject. Hakim (1982) state that, “secondary data analysis is any further analysis of an existing dataset which presents interpretations, conclusions or knowledge additional to, or different from, those produced in the first report on the inquiry as a whole and its main results”(p 1). Secondary data can embrace a whole range of experimental forms; it can include the data generated through systematic reviews, through documentary analysis as well as the results from government sponsored surveys (Smith, 2008). Secondary literature provides a considerable source for appreciative which is necessary when making decisions regarding any topic and placing advance theories to develop situations.

4.2: Method

The first method that was considered was focus groups. MacNaghten and Myers (2004) suggest that this method is most useful for researchers who perhaps, “are not entirely sure what categories, links and perspectives are relevant” (p. 65). However, this method can yield data that can be difficult to understand and interpret. For an inexperienced researcher this could present a problem and could lead to data that is perhaps not as rich as it could be.

I finally chose semi-structured interviews as my primary research method. Kvale (1983) states that the use of this method presents the researcher with the opportunity to, “gather the life-world of the interviewee with respect to interpretation of the meaning of the described phenomena” (p. 174). It is this real world experience that will give my data real depth and will hopefully help me to understand some of the complex problems faced by my respondents. Another advantage of this method is outlined by Blee and Taylor (1995) who argue that semi-structured interviews places human agency, “at the centre of the movement analysis. Qualitative interviews are a window into the everyday world of activists, and they generate representations that embody the subjects’ voices, minimizing, at least as much as possible, the voice of the researcher” (p. 96).

I had hoped to be able to conduct this research in Cox’s Bazar. However, it became clear to me early in my research that this was not likely to be popular. Instead, I chose to focus my research on travel agencies in the UK who offer holidays to Cox’s Bazar and other parts of Bangladesh. I chose to draw my sample group from agencies located in Bangladeshi communities. Tower Hamlets, Manchester and Oldham have arguably the highest concentration of Bangladeshi’s in the country, so I chose to target travel agents here. As people working in the industry are answering my questionnaires, I assured them that they will remain anonymous to make them feel more confident to give honest answer.

I phoned round several agencies and managed to secure interviews with 5 travel agents. A few days before the interviews, these respondents were sent an outline of my study so that they could perhaps begin to prepare their responses. This would hopefully yield richer data for me to use. These interviews were mostly conducted face to face, although two was conducted over the phone and Skype. I recorded the interviews and took extensive notes during them. I was conscious of the fact that, “in semi-structured interviewing, analysis and interpretation are on-going processes” (Blee and Taylor, 2002: 110). Unlike in quantitative data collection where one waits until all the data is collected before starting the analysis process, with qualitative data collection, the analysis is an on-going process. In the analysis of the data, I employed a fairly liberal interpretation of the grounded theory method. Stern (1994) suggests that this method is most helpful for researchers exploring new subject areas or who simply want to gain a fresh perspective on a familiar situation (p. 30). The use of this method demands that the researcher constantly re-evaluates the data collected and then categorizes and codes it. I decided that my codes would be the objectives set at the start of this dissertation. I re-listened to my interviews to my interviews a number of times to find parts of the data that best met my objectives.

The following section of this dissertation will present the findings from the primary research and discuss these in light of the findings from the literature search. The objectives of the study (see 3.2) were used as markers in the interviews. Although the respondents were allowed to ‘veer off track’, I always tried to bring the discussion back to the four main objectives guiding this research.

Notes: I did not add references cause of the word limits. Once I finalised this work I will go through Gold proofread again.

Along the Southern Gulf Coast of the United States the business is tourism. Every year, Getting back to business after these disasters depends on how well a business has prepared and planned. Business owners invest a large amount of time, resources and money to make their enterprise successful. For these businesses, being prepared can mean staying in business following a disaster. An estimated 25 percent of businesses do not reopen following a major disaster, according to the Institute for Business and Home Safety.

Disasters can be separated in two categories, natural and man made. The first is natural disasters such as hurricanes, forest fires, floods, or earthquakes. While preventing a natural disaster is nearly impossible, actions such as good planning can help reduce or avoid losses. The second category is man made disasters, such as chemical leaks and oil spills. In these cases mitigation planning efforts are priceless towards avoiding or lessening losses from these events.

In recent years the tourism industry has experienced many serious crises and disasters including terrorist attacks, political instability, economic recession, bio security threats and natural disasters (Boniface & Cooper, 2005). Along Gulf Coast of the United States, there has been both natural and man made disasters. First is when Hurricane Katrina and Rita, in 2005, wiped out much of the area from New Orleans, Louisiana to Mobile, Alabama. Hurricane Katrina was one of the most destructive natural disasters to occur in the United States. Mississippi’s gambling industry was hard-hit, with the state’s 13 floating casinos either heavily damaged or destroyed. In 2004, tourists spent $5 billion in New Orleans, which represented half of the state of Louisiana’s tourism income. The hurricane caused tourists to visit other destinations, and business conventions to be relocated to other cities that can accommodate the groups. Many companies and governments were not prepared for the loss of all business assets and all financial records. In New Orleans, many people will not return to the area, which means local businesses will have difficulty finding skilled workers.

The second disaster, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, is still affecting the region. The Gulf oil spill has presented an incredible disaster planning challenge for companies along the coast because it was caused by a mechanical failure and not what insurers a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, earthquake, or flood. Therefore, insurance will not recoup losses. Communities and businesses along the coast have enacted disaster management plans to mitigate the damage and salvage the remainder of the summer tourist season.

Process of Disaster Management

One of the main goals of disaster management is the support of a maintainable income and the protection and recovery during disasters. Disaster management focuses on the attainment of three goals; to reduce or avoid the potential losses from hazards, assure prompt and proper assistance to victims of disaster, and achieve rapid and effective recovery. These goals are achieved through the four steps of the disaster management process: Prevention-Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.

Mitigation

Through the mitigation process, businesses attempt to eliminate or decrease the likelihood of disaster occurrences, or lessen the effects of disasters. Through proper mitigation preparations, those affected by the disaster will be greatly reduced. Mitigation takes many form, such as, building codes; land and zoning management; building regulations and safety codes; and proper education. Mitigation is the most cost-efficient method for reducing the impact of hazards.

During Hurricane Katrina and Rita and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the Gulf States launched media campaign to mitigate oil spill’s damage to tourism industry. There are measures that the tourism industry can take to help mitigate the loss. Travelers tend to be most concerned with their personal safety and their finances related to the trip. Most travelers felt they would be significantly more likely to travel with precautions in place, such as the ability to receive refunds, no change penalties on accommodations, and significantly discounted prices according to a study by Cunningham Research Group.

Preparedness

Disaster preparation is defined as an ongoing process of developing organizational capabilities to prevent, contain and recover from crises, and to learn from experience Kovoor – Misra (1995). That is, the continuous cycle of planning, training and improvement to ensure an effective response and recovery from any disaster. According to R. Wayne Mondy when disaster strikes a business, there are always significant human resource issues to address. Being prepared requires focus on how the company will respond when employees who are crucial to operations processes are unavailable or unable to work. It is critical that employees have proper training to identify what needs to be done, key responsibilities and who performs the tasks. There should be much time allocated for training personnel and staff what to do in case of disaster When disaster strikes, the best protection is understanding what to do.

Response

The response to a disaster is the actions that are taken to save livelihoods and prevent further devastation during disaster situation. The response is the implementation of the preparedness plans. As the disaster is brought under control, the affected businesses and community are able to take on the growing number of activities designed to restore their lives and the infrastructure that supports them. There tend to be many opportunities during the recovery period to improve prevention and increase preparedness, thus reducing vulnerability.

Recovery

The aim of recovery is to restore the affected area to normal following a disaster. This is done by rebuilding the destroyed property, re-employment of citizens and repairing the damaged community infrastructure. According to William Clinton, former UN Secretary General, efforts should be made to “build back better”, with a focus to reduce the pre-disaster risks in the community and infrastructure. The recovery process will continue until the community and business are returned to original condition or better. As recovery starts to take place, the focus will shift to the encouragement of people to continue to travel to the areas that have been rebuilt.

Conclusion

Tourism is the single largest non-government economic segment in the world and the most important economic activity for several local economies across the country. It is also a delicate industry in that demand for travel is highly vulnerable to numerous disasters. Natural and human induced disasters alike are neither entirely predictable nor avoidable. When you also consider that the number of declared major disasters nearly doubled in the 1990’s compared to the previous decade, preparedness becomes an even more critical issue. Tourism organizations can devise means for minimizing the damage of, and accelerating the recovering from, such events through the development of disaster management strategies. By studying past events, the responses of those affected and the recovery measures adopted, and with the benefit of hindsight evaluating the effectiveness of these responses, we can develop strategies for coping with similar events in the future. Though each situation is unique, any organization can be better prepared if it plans carefully, puts emergency procedures in place, and practices for emergencies of all kinds. Every business should have a disaster plan. It can save lives, company assets, and the business as a whole.