Author: Andre Coleman

The “top-down” model is a management strategy where scientific investigation leads the process of identifying and designating specific areas (Kelsey et al., 1995 in MPA connections, 2004). This model is an approach to planning that usually involves a centralized government imposing regulations or laws on resource users (MPA connections, 2004). This model can be very controversial and give rise to opposition as it fails to adequately take into consideration and represent the concerns of stakeholders in the MPA designation process which can result in a community with little understanding of, or support for an MPA site proposal or its management plan (Brody, 1998). This top-down management strategy tends to produce ‘paper-parks’ in which natural resources continue to be degraded due to ineffective enforcement measures and little compliance with rules and regulations (Brody, 1998). This seems to be evident with regards to Buccoo Reef, where decisions about the BRMP are largely made by government officials or management authorities without considering the contributions of many stakeholders. The local community especially those indigenous to the Buccoo Village region, feels disrespected by the lack of communication, and feels that their opinions should be taken into consideration. This lack of communication and support of community involvement, had led to a community that is somewhat disenfranchised, rebellious and uninterested in contributing to protection of the resource.

The “bottom-up” management strategy employs the emphasis on acknowledging local values and perspectives as well as adapting designations to prior use patterns (Fiske 1992 in MPA connections, 2004). This model is a planning approach that usually combines scientific knowledge with traditional knowledge of the users in order to understand and accommodate how they rely on the resource (Graham et al., 1992). Protected areas, either terrestrial or marine, are diverse in their specifications and goals, but share a crucial common ingredient: the role of the public (Springer, 2006). It has thus been realized that biodiversity conversation initiatives cannot be thought in isolation of social issues (Mishra et al., 2009) and biodiversity conservation schemes that do not take local people into account not only raise ethical issues, but also run the risk of being self-defeating (Few, 2000) since ignoring the role of local communities will only exacerbate the problems associated with natural resources (Camarago at al., 2009). It is important to note however, that social systems are made of complex components, some of which are inevitably oppositional (Springer, 2006). Nevertheless, these variable roles played by diverse groups of people can contribute to the success of the designated protected area, or in some cases, fracture the entire scenario (Springer, 2006).

Over the past two decades, it has become widely recognized that the management of protected areas should include the cooperation and support of local communities (Wells & Brandon, 1992). There has been a growing realization that the conventional ‘Gun and Guard’ method of conservation is no more effective in dealing with the socio-ecological complexity and political dimensions of biodiversity conservation (Mishra at al., 2009). Dealing with such a multidimensional issue, requires integrated approaches that recognize the interconnectedness of social and ecological systems and attempt to link science, policy and societal goals through interdisciplinary methods of problem solving and multi-stakeholder involvement (Mishra et al., 2009). Failure to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to protected area management and manage protected areas as human ecosystems can compromise the biophysical values for which protection was sought (Stevens, 1986 in Lane, 2001). This realization has encouraged the development of ‘community-based conservation’ (Mehta & Kellert, 1998 cited in Bajracharya et al., 2005), which emphasizes the role of communities in decision making (Adams & Hulme, 2001).

Community Involvement

Community-based conservation approaches to decision-making in the management of protected areas are increasingly being implemented (Bajracharya et al., 2005) and many projects have now been initiated in various countries, most notably in Africa, where implementation of such community-based conservation practices have contributed to decreases in poaching and improved conservation (Wainwright & Wehrmeyer, 1998 cited in Bajracharya et al., 2005). Designation of protected areas can sometimes result in a variety of negative consequences for rural or local communities by means of restriction of access to traditionally used resources, disruption of local cultures and economies by tourists, resulting in social and cultural disruption and possibly enforced poverty (Mishra 1982 in Bajracharya et al., 2006). These issues have heightened concerns and have led to the growing recognition that for protected areas to be effective, local people need to be closely involved in their management (Wells & Brandon, 1992). Several research papers have emphasized that failure to recognize the relationship between nature and people can precipitate local social disruption among other negative impacts (Lane, 2001). The approach of community-based protected area management attempts to influence the thinking and attitudes with the hope that this will eventually lead to changes in behavior, although in some communities, such changes do not always occur (Infield & Namara, 2001 in Bajracharya et al, 2005).

Achieving community-based conservation is very complex. It is very difficult to stipulate a single value or goal onto an entire community of varying stakeholders as that can be restrictive and ultimately ineffective because it does not represent the community as a whole (Springer, 2006). The extent of variation depends on many factors, such as, the size and character of the community in question, the social cohesion of that particular community and the underlying motivation in making unified decisions (Mascia 2004 cited in Springer, 2006). There is no single, definitive framework that can direct diverse communities toward full agreement of any particular issue, thus encouraging communities to come to a decision that represents a broad spectrum of motivations will facilitate the formation and acceptance of alternative and perhaps even more creative solutions (Chrislip, 1994 in Springer, 2006). It is extremely necessary to understand the social dynamics of protected areas as it can have important implications for the implementation of management decisions.

The central idea of community-based management or ‘co-management’ as it is sometimes interchangeably referred, is the idea that if park managers can establish a cooperative relationship with local residents and park users, in which the responsibility is shared, then the task of the professional manager and the nature and importance of local management problems can be significantly changed (Lane, 2001). Establishing a cooperative relationship however depends on how the issue is addressed to stakeholders. Management must determine how best it can interact with the local community to achieve reciprocally acceptable goals (Springer, 2006). As suggested by Springer (2006), the best way to guarantee the accomplishment of these goals is through familiarity of the complex social connections within the community of interest (Springer, 2006). In order to gain an understanding of the intricate social dimensions of any community, it requires a close analysis of that particular community which will call for significant consultation and collaboration with various community members (Chrislip 1994, cited in Springer, 2006). This collaboration between conservation planners and stakeholders is crucial to integrating protected areas into the local socioeconomic fabric of the community, thus overcoming local opposition and behaviors that would otherwise undermine conservation goals while developing effective partnerships between local stakeholders and conservation planners (Lane, 2001). These co-management or community-based arrangements have the potential to provide economic benefits for local peoples (Smyth, 1992 cited in Lane 2001), however the extent of the economic benefit is determined by the nature of the relationship between the community and managers and the willingness of the managers to consider local economic issues (Lane, 2001).

To achieve effective collaboration, approaches are required that effectively engage the local community in management and decision making, and that enable their livelihood needs to be adequately met (Bajracharya et al., 2006). This concept of linking conservation with community development has resulted in a major shift in conservation management, based on the assumption that if local communities derive some benefits from conservation, they will in turn be more likely to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity (Wells & Brandon, 1992). This linkage of conservation ideals with the societal realm of protected areas addresses biological, cultural, economic and political concerns while empowering communities through effective collaboration and integration in conservation efforts (Granek and Brown, 2005).

Before gaining local stakeholder and institutional participation, it is imperative that stakeholder education be a prerequisite to the planning and participation process. Educational programs should be implemented that acknowledge stakeholder concerns and educate stakeholders about the benefits and limitations of implementing a protected area. Granek and Brown (2005) showed in their studies on the Comoros Islands that educating about the natural history to local resource users resulted in greater understanding and appreciation of protecting local resources (Lundquist & Granek, 2005). Education however, should not be limited to only stakeholders, but rather include scientists and managers to be educated on issues that will increase their understanding of the socioeconomic processes that will habitually affect implementation (Lundquist & Granek, 2005). These processes include information on resource industries, political systems, legal frameworks for protection, social systems and consideration of potential socioeconomic impacts of protected area designation.

Education, though fundamental is not the only area in which focus needs to be placed. Of extreme importance as well is the need for the goal of the protected area to be clearly defined. Explicit goals and objectives that are defined early in the design process is important for improving communication and standardizing expectations of stakeholder groups (Lundquist & Granek, 2005) thus allowing stakeholders to be fully aware of the expected outcomes and methods for measuring success consequently encouraging more willing support.

Management examples

Marine protected areas have met limited success in many developing countries and some researchers attribute part of these shortcomings to inadequate attention to the social context of conserving marine resources (Cinner, 2007). Marine protected areas are important in protecting the marine environment, but are also have substantial socio-cultural impacts (Badalamenti et al., 2000). In many MPAs, the success of the protective initiatives often tends to be proportional to the degree of involvement of the local community (West & Brechin, 1991 cited in Badalamenti et al., 2000). Considering the fact that effective execution of community involvement programs is quite multifaceted, one may be curious as to how many programs have actually been implemented and what factors contributed to its success or demise.

Granek and Brown (2005) conducted a 3 year study that analyzed the co-management practices implemented in Moheli Marine Park, Comoros Islands. Their assessments proved that even though the co-management approach had some inevitable weaknesses, the strengths significantly benefited the park. Granek and Brown (2005) showed that co-management that integrated education, use of indigenous local knowledge, capacity building and community commitment provided partial mitigation where there was a lack of resources, weak governmental enforcement and inadequate scientific data. Through this integration, the local empowerment that resulted contributed to the development of a conservation ethic that provided potential for long-term success through local interest (Granek & Brown, 2005). Co-management in the Moheli Marine Park also proved to empower community leaders and therefore evaded traditional hierarchical political structure (Granek & Brown, 2005). Involving the community proved to be of significance because this particular park lacked adequate scientific data, therefore requiring traditional knowledge as a substitute for limited ecological data. This in turn sparked local interest in being active in tracking the park’s success.

Unfortunately however, with these strengths also exists shortcomings of this co-management approach, for example, parks such as these that are based on limited scientific data and rely on traditional knowledge may hinder effectiveness. A lack of baseline data limits the ability of future research to quantitatively measure success (Granek & Brown, 2005). There is also the problem of inadequate government resources that can affect the park success and although there is community involvement in monitoring and policing the park, lack of adequate government enforcement continues to affect its success. Other shortcomings include larger scale political and economic issues such as overpopulation, or lack of available funding which can undermine conservation efforts. However, all in all, the co-management of Moheli Marine Park has been successful thus far and the park has seen a notable increase in ecotourism with an average of 200 visitors per year, and even though the designation and implementation of this park were limited by available science, technical and financial resources and federal personnel, it has been compensated by the strength and interest of the local community (Granek & Brown, 2005).

Successful community-based management has also been observed in the case of Puerto Morelos reef, Mexico. In this MPA, the establishment and maintenance had five stages (a) community leaders who would participate in the project were identified (b) consensus on the need to protect the reef through discussion among stakeholders, NGOs and scientists were generated (c) involvement of government agencies in establishing the status of the MPA (d) take-over of decision-making by centralized government agencies and; (e) continues problem-solving process between the government and stakeholders (Rodriguez-Martinez, 2008). As previously mentioned, education plays an important role and in Puerto Morelos, public education was a main factor in gaining community support for the creation and management of the MPA. General education programs began in the early 1990s with participation of NGOs and scientists and expanded to schools with local teacher researchers, tourist operators and MPA personnel in 2003 (Rodriguez-Martinez, 2008). Permanent educational programs began in 2004 which were designed to teach tourist guides about the values, functions, uses and fragility of coral reefs in order to heighten their interest in coral reef conservation and to provide them with better tools for work (Rodriguez-Martinez, 2008). Visual aids and public awareness materials such as websites, booklets and fliers were also used to educated students and the wider public. The efforts put into community education highly contributed to an increase in the willingness to accept the MPA designation and also allowed all community sectors to be open to participation during and after the creation phase. The ultimate result is that Puerto Morelos reef has a very cohesive management strategy that gives the community a sense of ownership of the process and readiness to comply, resulting in an increase in the development of social capital.

Pollnac et al., (2001) examined the factors that influence the success of community-based marine protected areas in the Visayas, Philippines. The Phillipines is an extreme example where governmental policy, international aid, universities and NGOs have resulted in the establishment of over 400 MPAs (Pollnac et al., 2001). However, only about 20-25 percent of these MPAs in the Phillipines are successful, raising concern that this high failure rate may result in the rejection of the community-based approach. This study was conducted on 45 community-based marine protected areas in the Phillipines to conclude what factors led to the small success rate and whether or not these factors can be used to better the situation of the other 75 percent of MPA designation. At the conclusion of their study, it was indicated that six main factors appeared to be the most important in the overall success of the community-based MPAs on their sample.

Population size was the first observed factor, where the population sizes of the successful MPAs was noted to be relatively small (Pollnac et al., 2001). It was observed that for initial cooperation, a perceived crisis was needed before the project was started, for example reduced fish populations. There was also the need for successful alternative income projects considering the community may not be able to use the resource after protection was designated. A relatively high level of community participation in the decision making process that was high on the democracy scale with, continuing advice from the implementing organization along with inputs from the municipal government were also noted. Though these factors were deemed the most important, it is important to note that they are not the only contributors and even though they worked in these areas the factors may differ in other areas.

Hind et al. (2008) conducted studies in Apo Island, Phillipines in attempt to show the benefits of community involvement (bottom-up approach). This study analyzed the effects of the transition of Apo Island from being rated one of the best community-involved MPAs to changing into a top-down, solely governmental organized MPA. Observations showed that the MPA went from being fully supported by the community to complete community disenchantment. This change in management strategy by governmental take over resulted in the exclusion of the community and stakeholder input, resulting is lack of interest and compliance to regulations.

Considering the complex heterogeneity of the existing community within the Buccoo Reef and Bon Accord region, sole community management may be very difficult to achieve as there will be a plethora of opinions and personal preferences to appease. Considering the aforementioned examples of successful community management of MPAs where the communities involved are somewhat fluid and more dependent on the resource and thus focused on the goal of conservation rather than that of personal gain as the community of Buccoo Reef, leads to another obstacle in achieving effective community management. This therefore lends to the suggestion of a combination of both “top-down” and “bottom-up” strategies to ensure effective management. Recognition is growing for such a combined management strategy as being ideal, as it is an approach that is government-driven but also heavily involves stakeholders (MPA connections). This therefore can lead to an increase in the social capital of the region as involvement in the decision making process can heighten interest in conservation and protection of the MPA.

In the Caribbean there are said to be greater than 285 MPAs (Burke and Maidens, 2004). The management success of these parks highly varies, with some just being ‘paper parks’, and others being successfully managed (see figure 8). In order to obtain this information, Burke and Maidens (2004) analyzed effectiveness of MPAs based on four major criteria: the presence of management activity and to what extent enforcement is executed, the presence of a management plan and the presence of resources. The results obtained showed that as much as 49% of MPAs in the Caribbean region are deemed as being inadequate with only 5% being considered good. Some studies suggest that MPAs are frequently unsuccessful as a reef conservation strategy especially in developing countries, where socio-economic factors such as poverty can drive resource exploitation and the capacity for enforcement is often lacking (McClanahan 1999, in Cinner, 2007).

Tourism and Carrying Capacity

Tourism is the fastest growing sector of the global economy, and in most countries, coastal tourism is the largest sector of this industry (Tourism and Recreation). In many countries, especially developing small island states, tourism contributes a significant and growing portion of GDP and is often the major course of foreign exchange (Tourism and Recreation). In 1998, direct and indirect GDP from travel and tourism in the Caribbean was over US$28 billion, accounting for approximately 25% of the region’s total GDP (WTTC 1999 in Tourism and Recreation). In the Caribbean, tourism is largely coastal or marine in nature and has been built upon the traditional aesthetic appeal of beaches, a marine environment suitable for a range of recreational activities, and warm weather conditions all year round (Tourism and Recreation). Considering the lure of the natural environment, the tourism industry within the Caribbean benefits largely from ‘pristine’ surroundings, and thus, uncontrolled expansion and mismanagement can harm the very resources on which it is based (WTTC et al., 1997 in Tourism and Recreation). Tourism growth rates vary greatly among Caribbean states, with U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico being 15-19% between 1990 and 1994, while that of Grenada, Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago and the Caymans reported as being 33-37% growth, and that of Belize , St. Lucia and Guadeloupe amounting to as much as 50-65% growth for the same time period (Tourism and Recreation).

Marine protected areas are established for the primary purpose of conservation or preservation (Agardy et al., 2003), but their multiple use designation often incorporates a recreation and tourism component (Sorice et al., 2007). Undoubtedly, these use values benefit local and regional economies while also raising awareness and support of coral reef conservation, but unfortunately however, tourism and recreation participation can pose various threats to the marine resources, especially to fragile ecosystems such as coral reefs (Sorice et al., 2007). This illustrates the well-known concept of tourism as a double-edged sword and the tenuous balance between positive and negative impacts (Diedrich, 2007). In the past 20 years, there have been larger increases in visitation to marine protected areas in many parts of the world (Inglis et al., 1999).With this increase, is an associated increase in rates of participation in marine related activities such as snorkeling, scuba diving and reef walking (David and Tisdell, 1995) and thus, MPAs are increasingly challenged to maintain or increase tourism benefits while striving to protect the resource (Sorice at al., 2007).

Tourism has been thought of as a low-impact coral reef use, relative to extractive practices such as harvesting corals and fish for commercial purpose (Talge, 1993 in Zakai and Chadwick-Furman, 2002), however recent evidence has demonstrated that reefs may become degraded as a result of poor planned or intensive tourist use (Jameson et al., in Zakai and Chadwick-Furman, 2002). A number of studies have demonstrated that recreation and tourism activities such as scuba diving and snorkeling are threats to coral reefs because touching, standing, or trampling on reefs can cause serious damage such as coral breakage, abrasion and mortality (Hawkins et al., 1999 in Needham, 2010). Studies conducted on reef flats in Egypt have proven that heavily trampled reef flat areas showed a linear increase of coral damage with increased trampling intensities resulting in reduced coral cover, higher amounts of coral damage, less old dead coral, less obligate corallivorous fishes and more herbivores (Leujak, Ormond, 2007). Considering these findings, it might become necessary to restrict the number of visitors to a site, which raises the question: How much use is too much?

In order to attempt to answer such a question, one must consider looking at the notion of ‘carrying capacity’. Carrying capacity in tourism is a term used often to measure the level of tourism or tourism development an area can accommodate without adverse effects on the resident community, the natural environment, or the quality of visitor experience (UNEP AND WTO, 1992 in Tourism and Recreation). The basic concept of carrying capacity, the need for a limit of threshold in the tourist activity is present in one way or other in the concerns and priorities of local policy makers for sustainable tourism development (Kostopoulou and Kyritsis, 2006). However, to the extent that tourism related pressures on the natural environment create problems on the functioning of protected areas, management agencies need to determine what the various thresholds should be (Kostopoulou and Kyritsis, 2006).

When considering thresholds, research has proposed two distinct carrying capacity concepts. Firstly there is the notion of, “ecological or biological carrying capacity,” defined by Martin and Uysal (1990) as the maximum number of tourists that can be accommodated without causing excessive environmental degradation; and by Hawkins and Roberts (1997) as the amount of use below which an ecosystem can tolerate the amount of disturbance or stress, but above which degradation ensues (Leujak and Ormond, 2008). Secondly, there is the concept of “social carrying capacity,” which is defined as the level of use before a decline in users’ recreation experience ensues (O’Reilly et al., 1986).

Social carrying capacity has been proposed as a management tool for use in coastal tourism, with a decline in attractiveness of a beach location, as detected by a decline in visitor numbers being taken as an indicator of unsustainable resource use (O’Reilly, 1986). Any tourist destination where the environment is important can lose its attractiveness through either deterioration of the environment most likely due to crowding. Several studies have been undertaken to investigate visitor perceptions, mostly in terrestrial settings, with only a few in marine environments (Leujak and Ormond, 2007). However these studies have confirmed crowding as one of the major factors contributing to visitor dissatisfaction (Hoover et al., 1985 in Leujak and Ormond, 2007), with perceptions of crowding depending on different factors such as visitor characteristics and the location where encounters take place (O’ Reilly et al., 1986). Studies have shown that crowding norms appear strongly dependant on expectations, with visitors with greater experience of nature being more sensitive to visitor density (Manning 1985 in Leujak and Ormond, 2007). Intensified recreational use has been shown to reduce recreational enjoyment as negative impacts such as litter, or damage to plants, trees or corals tend to reduce aesthetic appeal and overall experience, although individuals with a lower degree of environmental concern appear to be more accepting of such impacts (Priskin, 2003 in Leujak and Ormond, 2007). Visitor behavior also has an influence on a location’s carrying capacity, as visitors may either simply not be aware of the impact they are having, they may be unable to change their behavior as a result of inexperience (for example inexperienced snorkelers or weak swimmers may be in need of instant rest while being out on a reef), or they may be unaware if existing regulations (Leujak and Ormond, 2007). As such it is important to take visitor perception, awareness and satisfaction into account when accessing any tourist destination, or in this case, a protected area as it can provide essential information for sustainable management (Daily 2000, in Uyarra et al., 2009).

Leujak and Ormond (2007) used this notion of social carrying capacity and administered questionnaires at various park locations in Egypt which addressed activity preference, coral reef knowledge and park regulation awareness. Visitor perception of reef quality and crowding were also taken into consideration. Based on their findings, it was estimated that to achieve a greater than 50% of visitors being satisfied about reef health, average coral cover would need to be around 25 to 30%, whereas a decrease of coral cover to 20% would leave only 40% of visitors satisfied and a reduction to 10% would leave only 25% satisfied (Leujak and Ormond, 2007). Results from this study showed that experienced recreationalists were more susceptible to overcrowding, preferring fewer people, whereas the less experienced showed preference to larger crowds. Various literatures have stated that determining the carrying capacity of a reef system is highly specific and still somewhat not fully understood. However, despite the difficulty of accurately assessing the carrying capacity of coral reefs for recreational use, the concept of carrying capacity remains an important and useful tool for coral reef management (Davis and Tisdell, 1995). Management must develop a concept that establishes the best allowable rate of visitation for the specific park in question as there is no one way to determine this since each site will have varying factors acting on it. It is important to assess these factors in order to allow for sustainable tourism within any protected area. The management plan of BRMP has indicated the need to establish some sort of ‘cap’ on visitation to the reef in order to achieve sustainable usage however no methods to achieving this goal have been mentioned. Sustainable tourism development not only has the potential for longer-term economic benefits for a community, but also can serve to limit environmental degradation (Tourism and Recreation).

Environmental analysis is a very important part of decision making. Managers need to take this aspect of taking decisions very seriously. It has been proved time and time again that decisions that are made from gut feelings or instincts may not work how the manager envisioned it to work out. It is always better for analysis to be done and different scenarios to be worked out to see how a decision can work out. This reduces the risk associated with taking decisions. This process of analyzing the environment is a dynamic process not a static process. The environment in which an organization works in is divided into internal and external environment its respective factors. The following article talks about the tools and techniques which are used in analyzing the factors of the business environment.

Introduction:

Strategic management is also called institutional management. It is the art and science of the creation of strategies and plans, the implementation and evaluation of these strategies and plans which helps an organization to achieve its long-term objectives. In this process the organization’s mission, vision and objectives are discussed and developed. After these objectives are developed, the policies, plans, with respect to projects and programs, are designed, and then resources are allocated or budgeted to implement them and achieve the objectives. (wikipedia n.d.)

Strategic management consists of a set of activities that come under setting goals and over the process of putting together tactics to achieve these goals and objectives. How strategic management is carried out depends on the organizational structure of the company. The Board of Directors, the management team as well as other stake holders of the company can be involved in these activities that fall under strategic management.

Strategy can be defined as “unified, comprehensive and integrated plan that maps the strategic advantages of the organization to the challenges of the environment. It is designed to ensure that the core objectives of the enterprise are achieved through the proper execution by the organization.” (Jauch and Glueck 1988)

Formulating a strategy for achieving an objective or a set of objectives is a combines three main processes which are:

aˆ? By analyzing the situation, evaluating themselves and comparing themselves with their competitors i.e. internal and external as well as micro-environmental and macro-environmental.

aˆ? After this assessment, the objectives are determined. These objectives should be created with respect to a time-line; where some are short-term and others are long-term objectives. This involves creating a vision statement, a mission statement, setting corporate level, strategic business unit level and tactical level objectives.

aˆ? These objectives should be studied along with the results of the situation analysis and a strategic plan can be formulated which will provide details of how to achieve these objectives.

Environmental analysis begins from the identification of environmental factors (internal and external), assessing their nature and the impact of these factors and making various profiles for positioning of the firm. All the decisions taken by the organization and the impact of these decisions depend on the organization’s internal and external environmental factors. These environmental factors should be carefully analyzed before taking any decisions. Environmental analysis is made up of the processes which scan, monitor, analyze, and forecasts the situations which the organization can face and variables of the environment. Scanning is done to get information from the environment. Monitoring is done to test the impact of the environmental factors. Analyzing deals with data collection and the use of tools and techniques to study and measure the environmental factors. Forecasting is a method to find the possibilities of the future based on the historical data and present scenario. (Business Environment Analysis n.d.)

Different tools, methods, and techniques are used for environmental analysis. Some of the major methods of analysis are benchmarking, scenario building and network methods. Scenario building gives an overall picture of the total system with the factors which affect it. Benchmarking is the process of finding the best standards in an industry and comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the firm with these identified standards. The network method is used to assess organizational systems and its external environment to find the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by an organization. (Agarwal n.d.) Few of the techniques of primary information collection are brainstorming, the Delphi technique, conducting surveys, and historical enquiry. The Delphi technique collects independent information from the experts without mixing them. Brainstorming is done with a group of people usually cross-functional which discuss the problem in hand and try to come up with solutions irrespective of whether the solution is feasible or not. Conducting a survey first involves the design of questions and then asking these questions to people who become the participants. The historical enquiry technique is a case analysis of previous time periods. Analysis tools can be descriptive tools such as mean, median, mode, frequency or tools can be statistical such as ANOVA, correlation, regression, factor, cluster, and multiple regression analysis. (BADU 2002)

SWOT analysis:
Figure 2.1

A study of the internal and the external environment is a critical component of the strategic planning process. The firm’s internal environmental factors can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those factors which act as external agents to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). This is called SWOT analysis. (QuickMBA n.d.). This analysis gives information that is useful in matching the organization’s resources and abilities to the environment in which it operates.

2.1 The SWOT Matrix:

A matrix of these factors can be constructed. This matrix will be helpful in developing the strategies for the firm. The SWOT matrix (also known as a TOWS Matrix) is shown in the next page:

SWOT / TOWS Matrix

Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities

S-O strategies

W-O strategies

Threats

S-T strategies

W-T strategies

Table 2.1

S -O strategies – helps to pursue identified opportunities fit well according to strengths of the firm.

W-O strategies – helps to overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities identified.

S-T strategies – identifies ways in which the firm can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats.

W -T strategies – establishes plans to overcome the firm’s weaknesses and less vunerable to external threats.

Environmental analysis or external audit:

The organizations should adapt themselves and their strategy to the external environment which is constantly changing. The external environment is also called macro environment. These forces of the external environment cannot be controlled and can be analyzed using a variety of tools and techniques such as Environmental Scanning and PEST analysis.

3.1 Environmental Scanning

Environmental scanning is defined as the process that seeks information about events and relationships in a firm’s environment, the knowledge of which help top management chart the firm’s future. Environmental scanning is used to gather information from the environment.

In this process, the external environment is divided into sectors or areas such as political, economic, cultural, technological and further analysis such as PEST analysis can be done after scanning the environment. Information is collected by monitoring and forecasting any changes that occur to the variables of the environment that have been identified earlier. This collection of information helps the organizations to find out where they are lacking and what exactly they need which helps them in formulating the strategies. (Acar 1995)

3.2 PEST Analysis

PEST analysis identifies the external forces that affect the organization such as Political, Economic, Social and Technological drivers. It is very useful for the organization when used together with other tools such as the SWOT analysis. (wikipedia n.d.)

Political Factors

These factors may have a direct or an indirect impact on the way the organization operates. Laws made by the government may have a huge impact on the way business is conducted by the organization.

Economic Factors

Economic factors such as the market prices and market cycles which in turn affects the buying power and the behavior of the organization’s customers.

Sociological Factors

Sociological factors include the lifestyles, demography characteristics, and the cultural habits and characteristics of the customers. These factors have a huge sway on the requirements and desires of the customers and also affects the size of potential markets.

Technology Factors

Technological changes have an important role in modeling how organizations operate with the resources that they have. Technology is a factor which is very important to gain a competitive advantage over the closest competition. Technological innovations can also improve the efficiency of production, speed and quality. Evolving technologies will change how organizations operate.

3.3 Porter’s Five Forces Model Analysis:

Michael Porter is credited for his five forces model of competitive strategy. The power of each of these forces varies from industry to industry, but taken together they determine long-term profitability. These five factors will affect the strategies which will be adopted by the organization and hence should be carefully analyzed. To be successful, the organization must respond in an effective manner to the environmental pressures exerted on it. (Kazmi 2002)

The diagram given on the next page shows the five forces of this model.

C:UsershaiDesktopPorter.GIF

Figure 3.1
Internal environmental analysis:

The resources, strengths, behaviors, weakness and distinctive competences are major components of the internal environment of an organization. An organization uses different types of resources which help them achieve their objectives and the way in which they utilize their resources can be the source of their strengths or weaknesses. This can also be defined as organizational capability which is used to develop the strategies and objectives which the organization can achieve and these should not unrealistic according to its capabilities.

Some of the components of the internal environment of an organization are:

4.1 Organizational Resources

These are all the tangible and intangible inputs used in the organization to create the outputs of the organization’s product or services.

4.2 Organizational Behavior

The behavior of an organization demonstrates is the result of forces operating internally which will determine the abilities of the organization or constraints in the usage of resources.

4.3 Competency

Competency of an organization is the ability to do what its competitors cannot do or the ability to do better than what they can do. This concept is used for strategy formulation.

Conclusion:

It can be seen that the analysis of the environment is critical to the success of the decisions that managers have to make which have widespread impact on the functions and processes of the business.

According to international trade body airlines body, International Air Transport Association (IATA), India’s domestic air travel demand grew at 14% in June compared to last year figures, making it the second fastest in the world. India recorded second fastest growth rate after Brazil, which reported a demand expansion of 15.1% in June [1] . The industry recorded a load factor of 78.3%, which is consistent with the global average of 79.4% [2] .

It has been observed that the air ticket prices vary with the passenger load across different time slots in a day and routes (different set of origin-destination (O-D) combinations).

The heavy traffic routes like Delhi-Mumbai have significant passenger volume for most of the time in a day and hence, the number of airlines operating between these routes is greater in number. This results in competitive pricing of tickets on these routes. Similarly, the prices also vary across different times, for example, the morning and evening flights having greater passenger volume. To reap maximum benefits, the airlines explore attractive pricing opportunities. Mostly, the aircrafts employed on these routes are bigger to cater to this heavy demand.

On the other hand, for low traffic routes like Mumbai-Nagpur, very few airlines operate and hence, they set monopolistic prices. The aircrafts employed on these routes are smaller, so to cover the fixed cost of operations, the airlines charge exorbitant prices per ticket on these routes. The airlines set different prices for the same distance on across different routes.

For the same distance, the saturated domestic airline industry in the US shows far more volatility in air ticket prices. The heavy competition in this market results into this kind of trend in pricing behaviour.

This implies that the price of an air ticket is a variable entity dependent on various factors. The objective of the project is to study the ticket pricing behaviour in Indian Airline Industry. Also, we aim to benchmark these on some of the parameters with saturated domestic airline ticket prices in the US.

Research Methodology

For the purpose of this project, a set of air routes catering to tier-1 and tier-2 Indian cities were chosen. To compare and benchmark the outcome of the study, US domestic routes and a low distance international route were chosen. The details of the routes are given below [3] :

Origin-Destination Routes

For the purpose of our study we have taken the following combinations of O-D pairs:

Heavy Traffic domestic routes in India

Delhi-Mumbai

Bangalore-Kolkata

Low Traffic domestic routes in India

Mumbai-Nagpur

Delhi-Indore

Domestic routes in the US

JFK-Los Angeles

JFK-Chicago

JFK-Pittsburgh

Low distance international route from India

Mumbai-Singapore

Bangalore-Singapore

Chennai-Singapore

Data Collection

The price points for the chosen routes were collected on a daily basis. The criteria used for collecting the price points are described below:

The price points collected were for one-way trip only.

Flights offering lowest fare between the selected O-D pairs were chosen.

Days to Fly: Two sets of price points were collected – Date of Journey (DoJ) as July 17th (15 days to DoJ) and August 1st (30 days to DoJ). During the initial phase of the project, the prices were recorded on alternate days. When the ‘days to fly’ were 14-15 days, the price points were recorded on a daily basis.

The price points were collected for different times of the day – morning slot (6 am – 9 am), afternoon slot (12 noon – 3pm) and evening slot (6 pm – 9 pm) for each O-D pair and for each of the ‘Days to fly’ combinations.

Channels for booking of air ticket: Only internet (online) mode for booking of air tickets was used. The price points were collected from airlines’ websites and travel websites (Makemytrip.com and Yatra.com) for Indian domestic and India-Singapore air ticket booking. For studying the US domestic routes, three travel websites were chosen – Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and Orbitz.com.

The price points collected are inclusive of the base fare and all the taxes levied. The flights chosen for the study are non-stops flights as the prices change with the stops (distance increases with diversions).

Data Analysis

The data collected for air ticket pricing was grouped as domestic heavy traffic routes and domestic light traffic routes. The data for routes, Delhi-Mumbai and Bangalore-Kolkata, was grouped as domestic heavy traffic. The data for routes Mumbai-Nagpur and Delhi-Indore was grouped as domestic light traffic. Then, two regressive models where developed based on these data sets with price as dependent variable and distance, time slot, days to fly, mode of booking (airline website and travel websites), and type of airlines as independent variables. The regressive model gave us the basic relationship of price with the independent variable parameters.

A correlation matrix was generated to assess the impact of competition on the prices of air tickets.

The data was analysed to compare the price per km for Indian domestic heavy traffic and Indian domestic light traffic routes.

The concept of price volatility index (PVI) was developed to compare the price fluctuations over days for Indian domestic and US domestic airliners.

Interviews

To understand the pricing mechanisms adopted by different airlines, telephonic interviews were conducted with the marketing and operations executives of MakeMyTrip.com and British Airways. The objective was also to understand the price variations on different travel websites. For example, the rationale for these price variations could be different fee/ commissions charged by travel websites.

Qualitative Results
Heavy Traffic domestic routes in India

Typically, the heavy traffic domestic routes in India are between the metro cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore. These cities are commercial hubs and power centres in the country. Heavy traffic is observed between these pairs of cities in all modes of transport. The airway is no exception to this phenomenon. From the collected data points, it was observed that the price volatility on Delhi-Mumbai and Bangalore-Kolkata routes was not very significant. Also, the price fluctuations between the different times of the day were not significant. The prices for all the airlines flying on these routes were comparable. Mostly, the price increased during the last 3-4 days of departure of the flight. Otherwise, it was mostly constant. The price was more or less constant across various travel websites and airline websites. The main factors responsible for this typical behaviour exhibited in air ticket pricing on these routes are as follows:

Competition: Almost all the domestic airlines fly between these O-D pairs. Also, each player flies 4-5 flights between these O-D pairs. The competition has led to each airline charge its price close to its marginal cost of flying and operations, which explains why the fares of all the airlines are comparable. No airline has the incentive to deviate from their marginal cost covering pricing strategy. They rely on the volumes rather than higher margins on these routes. The reason for the ‘not varying prices’ across different times is the presence of option for leisure travellers to go for other airlines at slightly different time and get a better deal for flying. So, this has led to a constant price across different times. As all the airlines fly on these routes, all of them have tie ups with the all travel agencies and websites. Each of them has a similar discount schemes for each of these travel agencies and hence, the price variations across these websites cannot be observed for these O-D pairs.

Differential Slab-based Pricing Scheme: The air tickets for most of the domestic airlines in India are classified as Business class and Economy class. Business class travel is maximum between the metros and hence, all the airlines offer that at comparable prices. The economy class is further divided into O, P, M, N, etc. slabs. In each slab, there are 7-10 seats and are priced differently. At any given time, the prices indicated on the company or travel websites reflect the lowest fare slab ticket available at that time. If the tickets are booked well in advance, say 25-30 days before of the date of travel, passenger is expected to get a ticket in the lowest fare slab. As time for departure comes by the tickets in the lower fare slab get exhausted and the passenger gets exposed to higher price slab tickets. But on heavy traffic routes like those of Delhi-Mumbai, this effect of slab-based pricing is slightly diluted as the airlines adjust the prices to take into consideration the intense competition and fear of losing their passenger to other airlines. This slab-based effect is prominently observed when there are 3-4 days left for departure and almost all the airlines have sold their low fare slab tickets. At this point of time, it was observed that there was a significant increase in the price of tickets by all airlines across travel websites.

Bulk ticket deal for air travel websites: Many times, it is observed that the air tickets available on air travel websites are cheaper than those of airline website, as is the case with Air India. The reason for this is that these air travel websites go for a bulk deal with the airlines and tickets in the lower fare slab. So, once the tickets in lower slab are sold by the airline to passengers it moves to the higher slab, but the travel websites have tickets in lower slabs available and hence, the passenger benefits by booking the tickets from travel websites rather than from the airline websites.

Travel Distance: The air travel distance also determines the air fare for the metros. The distance between Delhi-Mumbai is less as compared to Bangalore-Kolkata. The ATF requirement is higher for Bangalore-Kolkata route than Delhi-Mumbai route. Also, the operational expense is lesser in Delhi-Mumbai case. As a result of this, the air fare is significantly less on this route as compared to Bangalore-Kolkata route.

The trends highlighted in the above discussion can also be observed graphically.

Figure 1: Price patterns from company website for morning slot flight (Bangalore – Kolkata route)

Figure 2: Price patterns for morning slot flight [data recorded from three different websites] (Bangalore – Kolkata route)

Low Traffic Domestic Routes in India

Typically, these routes are between metros and tier-2 cities like Delhi-Indore, Mumbai-Nagpur, etc. There are few frequent fliers on these routes. Mostly people travel between these routes for business purposes and vacation. Vacation travel forms a bulk of the traffic. These travellers are very price sensitive and mostly look out for the cheapest of the options available. They are willing to travel at later dates and times if they get better deal. Few airlines operate with a direct flight on these routes; most of them have break-journey (one-stop). Mostly, they exhibit a monopolistic behaviour but consider the elastic buying behaviour of the customer while pricing the tickets. There is a difference in the prices of the tickets at different times of the day. The main factors which determine the air ticket prices on these routes are as follows:

Competition: Very few airlines operate on these routes. There are very few players who offer direct flights. The lack of competition gives a monopoly to the operators. They charge the tickets at a higher price for morning flights, but charge them at lower prices during afternoon. The morning flights usually cater to the needs of the people who go to metros for business purposes and are indifferent to prices and hence, are willing to pay higher price. The afternoon flights usually cater to the needs of price sensitive vacation travellers and hence, provide them with lower prices.

Differential pricing slabs: On these routes, the airlines don’t put differential pricing slabs but change the prices purely on demand at given point of the time. They keep the prices low if you book the tickets 25-30 days in advance. Then, based on the demand they increase it. But as the departure date approaches, if they find that there is not enough demand and there is a probability of some seats going vacant due to higher fare, they reduce the fare to make people travelling by train switch to their airlines. The airlines slightly mark-up the ticket prices on Friday evenings and Monday mornings to benefit from the inelastic demand on these routes. The airlines operate on these routes clearly to cater price sensitive crowd and IT employees from tier-2 cities working in metros.

Seasonality: The prices of tickets for these routes are significantly higher during the festive seasons as the airlines predict a heavy demand for the people travelling to their home towns during festivals and switching air travel due to shortage of train and bus tickets during festivals.

Travel Distance: The air travel distance and occupancy per Km determines the price of the air tickets on these routes. The Mumbai-Nagpur distance is greater and also its occupancy per Km is more as compared to Delhi-Indore. Hence, Mumbai-Nagpur air ticket price is higher as compared to Delhi-Indore.

The graphical representation of the trends observed on Delhi – Indore route are shown below.

Figure 3: Price patterns for evening slot flight [data recorded from three different websites]

Figure 4: Price patterns for evening slot flight for the airlines offering non-stop flights

Figure 5: Price patterns for morning and evening flights (Airline: Jetlite)

Pricing of Air Tickets on the US Domestic Routes

As with any airliner, the operators on US domestic routes set price bands for various categories, for example, L, M, N, O, etc., of seats. These prices depend on the flexibility given to a passenger for cancellation, upgrading to next level, refunds, etc. The airlines allocate only a certain number of seats at each fare level for each flight. The number of seats allocated at each fare level depends on many factors, such as the route involved, the time of year, the usual business/leisure passenger breakdown on that route, the time of day, etc. Airlines have inventory control departments to determine how many seats are allocated at each fare on each flight. Since the time span of the project is limited, the analysis may not capture all the parameters that play a role in the pricing of air tickets.

For studying the pricing trends on US domestic routes, three travel websites – Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz – were used for collecting the prices. The routes chosen for the study include New York (JFK International Airport) to Los Angeles (NYC – LA) [flight distance: 3,994 Kms], New York to Chicago (NYC – CHI) [flight distance: 1,149 Kms], and New York to Pittsburgh (NYC – PIT) [flight distance: 4,150 Kms] [4] .

The airlines sell on first-come first-serve basis. Passengers get cheaper fares by booking earlier. The price thus automatically responds to variations in demand. From the data collected, it was observed that the volatility in the prices was higher prior to 12 – 14 days from the date of journey.

Comparing the airfares on three travel websites considered, it was observed that the fares were more or less same on all of them. Some of the websites (for example, Travelocity) also have provision for price comparison functionalities. This indicates that the market in the US is very competitive.

The pricing of air tickets also depends on the route. On the NYC – LA route, the demand is higher compared to NYC – CHI, or NYC – PIT route. Los Angeles being the hub of business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, technology, and education in the US, the demand is much higher. This is the reason for a large number of operators scheduling multiples flights on this route. Because of the high demand, the airfare is usually higher and there is a significant movement in the prices compared to other routes. The flight distance of NYC – PIT route is higher by 161 Km than the NYC – LA route, but the fares are much less than the latter.

Similar kind of argument can be extended for NYC – CHI route. The flight distance of the route is 1,149 Kms, much less than the distance of 4,105 Kms for the NYC – PIT route. However, the prices on both the routes are very similar. There is more number of players offering non-stop flights on NYC – CHI route than the NYC – PIT route. This implies that the pricing on US domestic routes is governed by the demand and the number of flights to compete on the route.

As can be observed from the charts below, higher volatility in price movements is seen 12-14 days prior to the date of travel. This volatility increases during the last 4-5 days depending on the availability of seats. Companies and travel sites charge very high prices for the last few seats.

Figure 6: Price comparison for three time slots for New York (JFK) – Los Angeles route (Delta Airlines)

Figure 7: Price comparison across three travel websites for New York (JFK) – Los Angeles morning flight (Delta Airlines)

Figure 8: Price movement for New York (JFK) – Los Angeles morning flight across airlines

Comparison between Indian and US domestic Routes

The demand for air travel is always higher in the US domestic routes than on the Indian domestic routes, although the latter is increasing at a fast rate. This demand is primarily generated by business travellers.

The price movements on the US domestic routes are more volatile than the Indian routes. It is our understanding that there is deeper categorization of seats based on sub-classes, compared to Indian airlines. Therefore, there are multiple price bands. The price gap among the bands increases as the booking of seats approaches the date of travel. Higher volatility on US domestic routes can be due to higher number of cancellations, which is quite common in case of business travel. Indian consumers show reluctance for cancellations.

Also, since the demand for business travel is very high in the US, the US airlines charge exorbitant prices if the number of seats left is very low. In Indian context, the consumer is very price conscious. Indian customer always takes into consideration the price and time factors before choosing a mode of transportation. If the prices will be very high, Indian customer will choose other mode of transportation such as train or road transportation. Therefore, Indian airline companies can reap benefits of shorter supply only to an extent.

Low Distance International Route from India

In order to study the price volatility on international routes with respect to the chosen Indian domestic airlines, Mumbai – Singapore, Chennai – Singapore and Bangalore – Singapore routes were chosen. Mumbai-Singapore and Chennai-Singapore routes are mature routes with a good amount of competition on these routes with Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Singapore Airlines being the main players. The prices on these routes are more or less constant across the 15 and 30 days time frame with a drastic increase in prices during last 4-5 days before the day of departure. The ticket prices for all the players are almost comparable because there is stiff competition. The players price the tickets so as to cover their marginal cost of flying and operations. Towards the last 4-5 days to the date of departure, the increase in price across all airlines is sharper because they intend to take benefit of the last minute booking by price insensitive business passengers.

Singapore Airlines is only airline which has a direct flight on the Bangalore-Singapore route. Due to its monopoly on this route, the prices of tickets are quite high as compared to a similar distance route of Chennai-Singapore across all time frames. The monopoly on this route helps Singapore Airlines to serve the entire demand and charge very high premium.

Quantitative Analysis

A regression analysis was done for driving a pricing model for the routes. The parameters considered for the analysis were air fare from different travel websites (including company websites), days to fly, time of flight (i.e. morning, afternoon, or evening slot), flight distance, and type of flight (whether a low cost carrier, or not). The variables ‘time of flight’ and ‘type of flight’ were treated as dummy variables.

The regression output for the heavy traffic routes (Delhi-Mumbai and Bangalore-Kolkata) is given below:

Price, P = 7415.83 – 100.28 (Days to Fly) + 1194.05 (Morning) + 1200.53 (Afternoon) – 2.43 (Distance) + 233.09 (company website) + 36.80 (Yatra.com)

Similarly, a regression model was run for the light traffic (Mumbai-Nagpur and Delhi-Indore) route. The regression output is given below:

Price, P = 7550.48 – 64.9 (Days to Fly) + 664 (Morning) + 0 (Afternoon) -7.25 (Distance) + 649.84 (Flight Type) + 1083.266 (company website) + 1124.26 (Yatra.com)

The two regressive models clearly justify our qualitative observations. The R2 values in range of 0.4 for these two regressions make the regressive models reliable tools to show the relationship between the price and various other independent parameters. The negative co-efficient of the independent variable ‘Days to Fly’ explains that as the days to fly come close by, it has a positive impact on the price of the air ticket and hence, result in increasing it. The positive co-efficient of independent variable ‘Morning’ clearly indicates that the price for morning flights is higher. Distance has negative impact on the price; this may be mostly due the fact that the regression data was not sufficient to show the real trend on this parameter. The positive co-efficient for ‘Flight Type’ indicates that the prices for airlines like Indian, Kingfisher and Jet Airways are more as compared to airlines like Indigo, Spice Jet, etc. It also explains the fact that due to bulk dealing many times the travel websites are able to offer the air tickets at a better price than the airline website in India.

Thus, the regressive models are successful in explaining the relationship between price and independent variables in a statistically significant way.

Impact of Competition on price

As we could not capture the impact of competition in the regressive models, we developed a correlation matrix for this. A high value of correlation of -0.7219 between price and competition clearly indicates that price of air tickets decreases with increase in competition on the route, whereas it increases significantly when there is monopoly kind of situation on the route.

Comparison of price per unit km for low and high traffic routes
Days to fly
Price per Km (RS)

Figure 6: Comparison of price per unit Km for low and high traffic routes

It is observed that price per km on Indian domestic heavy traffic routes is more as compared to Indian domestic light traffic routes. The reason for this is that on low traffic routes people tend to travel more by train and road. So as to encourage the people to switch to air travel, the airlines charge the prices low as compared to more matured air routes.

Days to Fly
Impact of timeslot on the average of prices of air tickets
Air fare (Rs)
Time slot

Figure 7: Impact of timeslot on the average of prices of air tickets

On heavy traffic Indian domestic routes, there is demand for air tickets at all the times of the day, so the prices do not vary much across various time slots of the day. On the other hand, for low traffic Indian domestic routes, there is more demand for air tickets during the morning and evening slots and less demand during the afternoon slot. Hence, the prices are higher during morning and evening slots of the day, whereas it is less during afternoon slot.

Price Volatility Index (PVI)

The price volatility index has been defined as the percentage change in price of air ticket today as compared to previous recording day. It is given by the formula:

PVI = (Pt-Pt-1)/ Pt-1

where Pt : Today’s air ticket price

Pt-1: Price of air ticket on previous day

It is observed that the price volatility on US domestic routes is more as compared to Indian domestic routes. The main reason for this is attributed to the real time responding air ticket pricing mechanism which responds immediately to change in demand rates in US as compared to Indian pricing systems which updates prices only at the end of the day.

Figure 8: Price Volatility Index (PVI) across India and US domestic routes

Scope for Further Research

It is advised that a larger time frame is taken for data collection. The ideal situation would be to choose the ‘date of journey’ and start recording the price points from the day bookings are opened. Our time frame for data collection was one month, and the bookings usually open before three months from the date of journey.

Another constraint due to shorter time frame is that not all the parameters (such as vacations, weather, etc.) can be included in the study and hence, their impact cannot be gauged.

References

http://www.yatra.com/

http://www.makemytrip.com/

http://www.travelguru.com/

http://www.dgca.gov.in/

www.cleartrip.com

www.goindigo.in

http://www.bts.gov/xml/atpi/src/index.xml

http://www.iata.org/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/14534885/AIRLINE-INDUSTRY

The Indian Airline Industry in 2008 by Rishikesha.T. Krishnan

www.airindia.in/

http://freeessays.essay-911.com/esay-examples/6197-research-paper-on-finance.html

http://www.ehow.com/list_6853080_factors-influencing-airfare.html

http://www.investopedia.com/features/industryhandbook/airline.asp

http://www.ehow.com/list_6889692_factors-setting-prices-airline-tickets.html

Tourists. They travel for sightseeing, recreation, visiting and non-business activities. They want to learn about the customs, the history and the language of every place they visit. They usually travel in groups. We have to provide them with any information that may need about the area, the transportation, any local events that may take place in the surround area etc. and to make them feel at home. They are looking for recreational facilities, food and beverage services and interior design. That kind of guests are usually very price sensitive.

Families. They usually travel on weekends and they want a short break from their everyday routine. They are looking for a quiet place to relax and enjoy their time. They are looking for recreational facilities, food and beverage services and the hotel should offer baby-sitting facilities, special meals for kids and an animation team.

The elderly. They can’t look after themselves as the years pass, so they are looking for a hotel with pleasant and friendly environment. We have to be kind and patient with them and to look after them without giving them the impression that we behave on them like children.

Business travelers. They are almost the most important travel market for many city hotels and this is the reason why the hotels who target this market have designed specific products and services to cover their needs such as a quiet environment. Most of business travelers do not like to stay in hotels because after a hard day they prefer to stay in a quiet place to rest and to relax rather than a noisy room in a hotel. Another thing that they worry about is their messages and how well the hotel can handle this. We have to offer them facilities such as: meeting space, computer services, internet access etc. Business travelers are usually not very price sensitive and often utilize hotel’s food (especially room service), beverage and recreational facilities. They considered desirable and profitable market and is an important segment because of its steady level of demand at high room rates.

Delegates. Meeting and conventions usually attract hundreds of people and this is the reason why we have to convince the meeting planner to choose our hotel. They are looking for fast service and they don’t like to stay in queues. Meeting and conventions have to do with people who attending seminars, trade association shows etc. The length of stay for meetings ranges from 3 to 5 days. We have to provide them a conference center for the meetings, computers services, internet access and when we have a large group some discounts are necessary because in this way we can attract them to visit again our hotel as leisure travelers. We have also to provide them in house banquet and cocktail receptions.

Describe the importance of welcoming a guest and the techniques that should be used.

Always the first impression plays the most important role when a guest arrives at the hotel and influences the rest of his stay. The receptionists should always be warm and friendly when they checking in the guests to make them feel comfortable like at home. A good greeting can make a guest feel better. A well-spoken receptionist by giving a smile of welcome from a charming succeeds to create a warm and friendly atmosphere also has to be able to recognise the guest’s personality and to adapt in order to satisfy the guest’s expectations. Some techniques that should be used are: keep eye contact and smile, be clear in your speech and use a pleasant tone of voice, avoid speaking too fast or too slow, use the guest’s names, always be polite and kind, always start and end with a positive note, always be: friendly, interested, helpful, never mechanical, never different and never impatient. There is a big possibility that when a guest leaves from the hotel with a good impression he will come back and he will be a good advertiser for our hotel.

Describe the guest registration process and explain its importance.

We have to follow several steps for the registration process. The guest registration process begins with the pre-registration activities which accelerate the registration process, guests can verify personal data and the time of the check-in the guests have only to sign the registration form. When the guests arrive we greeting and welcoming them and after we create the registration record and verify the guest’s identity name, the permanent address and the telephone number, the date of arrival and the departure, number of registered persons, method of payment, passport and signature. After this process we assign the room rate and we establish the method of payment. We continue by issuing the room key and ask the guests for any special requests. When all these finish we escort the guest to his/her room.

The guest registration is important because by completing this form let us know who stays in our hotel, especially during in an emergency situation. With guest registration we can also learn if a guest is a repeater, if he has already visited another hotel of our company. Also with this form we can find some information about the guest needs (in case that he is repeater), such as smoking or non-smoking room, allergies, any special requirements that he use to have.

Explain what guest history files are and why hotels keep them.

Guest history files are files in which the management records important information of all his regular guests and show any special requests and expectations that a guest have in case that the guest has stay once at the hotel. Hotels use to keep guest history files because these files help the management to improve the guest service and also to remind personal data of its repeater guests. These files contains details of credit cards, the date of the first stay, how many times a guest has stay at the hotel and how many nights, how much the guest spent in the different departments, how much he has spent on each stay and the room types that he prefers to stay. Also these files record any special needs (newspapers) and preferences that guests might have.

Explain up-selling and the techniques that can be used

Up-selling is the use of specific words and phrases that will lead the guest to buy something he would not otherwise have bought. We can succeed in up-selling if we think that is a way of helping out the guest by offering him a satisfying solution to cover his needs. Some techniques that we can use when we selling a room are:

Qualify the lead. Asking questions and try to understand exactly what your prospective guest is looking for, keep an eye contact and let him talk without interrupt him. Built a relationship and make your guest feel comfortable. By doing this you create a friendly atmosphere and gives you the advantage for a better sale. Make a presentation of your property. Provide brochures and prospects for what you offer and convince your guest that you know what you sale. You have to know your product inside and out and also to know your market area and your competitor’s rates. Close the sale by asking for the sale. Don’t be in rush for giving any discounts that probably your guest will ask, just focus on value. Follow up the sales visit by sending questionnaires. This is a good way to find out if your guest left satisfied from your hotel and gives an indication that this guest might return in the future and also bring and other guests with him. A satisfied guest is an advertisement for our hotel.

World Tourism Organization defined tourism as the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes.

Tourism Industry is well developed from an insignificant activity to the current world’s largest industry since World War Two. In developed countries, people travelling domestically as well as travelling to less developed countries had increased.

Since tourism industry had increased tremendously, as a result, tourism industry had become one of the industries which strongly influence an economy of a country. Therefore, individual countries had to develop more attractions to sustain tourism.

Hence, key concepts of sustainable development and sustainable tourism, values and ethics of sustainable tourism and the needs of sustainability shall be discussed in this essay.

Sustainable Development is an industry that aims to meet the needs of the people while protecting the environment, meeting the needs not only for the present, but also the ability to meet future generation’s needs.

As mentioned, tourism industry has been increasing over the years as more people are interested to spend their time in nature. As a result, ecotourism has become the one of the fastest growing sector in the tourism industry. Greater numbers of tourist make it more likely that natural attractions and wilderness habitats will be at risk.

Therefore, officials in charge for these areas will have to shoulder a huge responsibility for handling challenges and to decide how tourism development can be sustained over long term. Proper Planning is very important for sustainable development as planners must know the importance that consumers’ resources will creates waste and require certain kinds of infrastructure. It creates an issue over consumption of resources. Private investments take this opportunity to maximize its profits. This multi-faceted nature makes control tough. The challenge of sustainable development faced is to balance these facts and it can only be done only through integrated, cooperative approaches involving all directors and related activities in the area. Ecotourism create opportunities for villages, remote areas and natural resources as long as government aims to increase the numbers of tourist in these attractions and locals do participate in the process.

Values

There are values in Tourism which may allow to sustaining tourism and locals to lead a better future. Therefore, locals and tourist playing a part to sustain tourism are crucial.

Economic sustainability

Economic sustainability is focusing on improving the living standard of the locals and activities is properly maintained in the long term, creating opportunities in tourism, leisure and regeneration.

Ecotourism is usually calculated as the economic value added in relation to its aggregated ecological impact. This idea has been popularized by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) under the following definition: “Eco-efficiency is achieved by the delivery of competitively-priced goods and services that satisfy human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life-cycle to a level at least in line with the earth’s carrying capacity.” (Desimone and Popoff, 1997: 47)

Ecotourism and social sustainability are working closely together to achieve an increase economic sustainability. In the process, both natural and social capitals were used to aim to benefit from a win-win situation.

Social Sustainability

Social sustainability has a focus on understanding human rights and provides equal opportunities in the society, recognizing and respecting individual cultures and avoids exploitation.

Social sustainability shows the relation between a company’s value added and its social impact. These can be either positive or negative. Corporate giving and creation of employment are examples of positive relations and accidents in workplace, mobbing of employees, abusing human rights are negative examples. The types of impact on socio-efficiency either try to minimize negative social impacts or maximize positive social impacts.

Environment Sustainability

Environmental sustainability is the process on conserving and managing resources, especially resources that are non renewable, making sure current processes of interaction with the environment are pursued with the idea of keeping the environment as naturally as possible based on ideal-seeking behavior.

Unsustainable situation occurs when natural resources are used up faster than it replenished. Sustainability requires human’s activities only uses natural resources necessary, at a rate that natural resources can be replenished naturally.

Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable Tourism is an industry which committed to obtain a low impact on the local culture and environment, while helping to boost the economy and decrease the unemployment rate for the locals. Sustainable Tourism is a continual process of improvement, ensuring a positive experience for Travel Agencies, tourists and even locals themselves and also applies in cities, resorts, rural and protected areas. Sustainable Tourism aims to conserve the environment while boosting economy, obtaining environmental benefits and socio-cultural.

Sustainable Tourism not only allows tourist to have a better knowledge about the country they are visiting but also helps locals to learn about tourists’ culture. Sustainable Tourism expects the participations from the locals, which also provide locals an opportunity to improve their living standard. Above all, Sustainable Tourism stresses pointedly upon integrity of the tourist places.

Tourism sector must be planned and managed suitably with the current and increasing numbers of tourist. Sustainable development of tourism is only possible when its follows its guidelines and principles.

Principles of Sustainable Tourism
Minimizing Environmental Impacts

Tourism should know the importance of both local and global environmental issues. Tourism should preserve the visual quality of landscapes and prevent having an impact on the environment by minimizing water, land, pollution of air and generation of waste. Tourism should also seek attention to matters like greenhouse gas emissions and usage of non-renewable resources.

Achieving Conservation Outcomes

Tourism should preserve natural resources like natural areas, habitats, wildlife and even using the profits from these resources to enhance the qualities to attract more tourists visiting the country. Such achievements not just attracting more tourists, but it also an instrument in telling a story and invoke an emotional response from tourists. Tourism and Conservation can be achieved from a mutually beneficial alliance.

Being One of a Kind

One of the keys factor to be a successful and sustainable tourism is to achieve a difference from other competing destinations. It can be obtained by developing and marketing on the strengths and attributes of the Country. Attractions that relevant to the culture, history, lifestyle and natural resources of the Country are most likely to be successful. As it can tell a story about the features of the attraction, as a result, providing a more rewarding experience to tourists while conserving natural resources of the destinations.

Community Values

Tourism is able to reflect community values which means, representing the present, past and future aspirations of the Country community in a living and dynamic way which preserve the past.

In order to obtain a richer tourism experience, adding values to current strengths is crucial, which include sales outlets or dining accommodation, in association with established industries.

Understanding and targeting the market

Understanding the needs, the broad market trends and expectations of specific segments is crucial which involves the development of specialized products based on the inherent attributes of an area.

Ethics Platform towards Tourism

Ethics which also know as moral philosophy is a philosophy which questions about morality, concepts such as good and bad, right and wrong and justice. Ethical are often to be subjective.

World Tourism Organization has published a global code for tourism but we are unable to view ethics on the basis of individual as we all have to understand, every individual have their own perspective.

Pro and Cons

Certainly, we are unable to correct people whom does not practice codes of ethics as they have their own believe, and people hates a third party to correct their believe. There are certain guidelines to allow people to practice good codes of ethics and people who practices good codes of ethics are definitely a role model to follow. Below are some examples of good code ethics and bad code of ethics.

Good codes

Gain commitment of leader in organization and front line workers. Offer clear statement of objectives, expectations, obligation and rules, a continuous flow of information and a resolution system which is transparent. Outline meaningful benefits for participation. State negative repercussions if principles are not complied with.

Bad codes

Not backed by action, lead to deceptive or misleading advertising, bring bad publicity, leading to a loss of consumer trust, discourage competition and encourage collusion, create an uneven playing field and attracts negative attention.

These are cases that people exploiting tourist just because they are unfamiliar with the area, taking advantage of the situation and aim to have an easy income; charging more than the market rate.

Implications

Tourism is one of huge industries that influence the global economy. Above, this essay had shown the importance to achieve sustainability in tourism with good codes of ethics. But in a global context, can it be accomplish? Is achieving sustainability in tourism for the benefits for everyone?

Government in individual country definitely will not allow other governments to take advantage of their own land and every government wants the best out of it. Therefore, if every government tends to have such mindset, it will only bring harm to their people and the economy. “The Horns of the Dilemma” the Dilemma that one cannot solve both crises at once (Sachs’s 1999)

In Burma, Burmese are forced to make way for huge new tourism development from their home. In India, locals have to walk miles to get water just because of hotels build nearby siphon it off from the groundwater for their own excessive uses. “Achieving sustainability may be unethical because it benefits some while the costs are born by others, usually the lower income groups or poorer nations” (Stabler 1997)

Adaptive paradigm

Sustainable tourism must be regarded as an adaptive paradigm that accommodates both weak and strong interpretations of the sustainable development idea. (Hunter 1997)

Weak sustainable tourism strategies which also know as anthropocentric approach, apply to environments like town areas where protection of natural habitat become irrelevant. Hotels, Resorts and Theme parks are modes of tourism which stresses on the word development in Sustainable development and it can be influenced by the Advocacy Platform.

Strong sustainable tourism strategies which also known as biocentric approach, is when even a small movement in tourism-related activity could cause an unacceptable environmental costs. According to Adaptancy platform, any form of action that consequences are unknown, should be avoided. This approach stresses on the word sustainable in Sustainable development and it can be influence by both, Advocacy Platform and Adaptancy Platform.

Conclusion

Tourism industry has now become one of an influential industry to the global economy and it is also the creator of jobs across the globe. To sustain tourism, sustainable developments and sustainable tourism are crucial and have to be well planned and managed, as these two elements play a big role to sustain tourism.

Everybody do also have a part to play to sustain tourism, they must all share a same vision to preserve the natural resources to meets the current and future generation needs. Government should host more programs to allow locals to understand the importance of protecting the resources that they have and not taking them for granted. Inconsiderate behavior should be minimize and practice good ethic behaviors.

Developers should consider for the locals, respecting their human rights when they are planning an investments and not purely ignore them. Locals should invite tourist with a smile in their country, giving them a good experience upon leaving the country, and not having the idea of making easy income. As this will only leaves a bad impression in tourist when leaving, making them thinking twice visiting into the country again.

With all people playing a part to this tourism industry, locals will only improve their living standards and people having a wider knowledge for individual culture and enjoying themselves without any worries even they are at an unfamiliar environment and last but not least, boosting the global economy.

An airport is a building where people from all over the world take flights to travel to any part of the world for their business or holidays. An airport is not only to board the flight today is more than a comfortable zone for the passengers and making their travelling easy. There are loads of shops, eating outlets, toilets and entertainment areas for all passengers. If any passenger has a long stay to board the next flight there are special area for making the passenger comfortable i.e. AIRPORT LOUNGES. At the airport there are loads of different lounges for people of different age’s groups.

My dissertation is on lounges for kids who are travelling all by themselves and are the responsibility of the crew to make them reach to their destiny safely. During their flights kids might have to wait for the next flight so all the unaccompanied kids are in the kids lounges where they can play, eat, make new friends and make themselves comfortable while waiting for their flight.

Everyday many people travel from one place to the other and airport is one such place which never sleeps all year long. Airports are the busiest during any season or any month of the year. People who travel are on a business trip, holiday, students going back to meet their families or people going for their honeymoon be it any reason airports are the busiest and need to be up to mark to make the passengers happy. Over these years kids have become more independent and can travel alone if their parents are busy or can’t take them to meet their families or friends. I realized that these lounges help people to be comfortable when they are away from home. So I decided to do my final project on airport lounges. Since there are loads of different lounges and its a very vast topic I focused myself on lounges for kids. During my graduation I have done my previous graduation final project on a retail outlet and my interest has always been in commercial building so I opted for airport lounges.

My main aim is to build a comfortable and friendly lounge for kids and my design concept will be based on different color full themes, Disney characters because the lounges are for the kids. In the lounge all the basic and luxury facilities will be available for kids such as sleeping area, food hall, playing stations, play area, services to call their homes, baby sisters looking after the kids and giving each and every kid a safe and homely environment.

The kids are travelling alone and they ought to miss their families and they are also scared if they miss their flight and the whole airport is like a huge building for them where people are running from one place to the other. In the lounge the kids will feel secure and will be collected from the aircraft and will be dropped back to the aircraft. It would be the responsibility of the airport staff and care takers to check that each child is safely boarded the flight.

My main aim will be focusing on kids and the facilities that will be offered within lounge and making kids feel at home. The areas that will be focused are play area, food area, entertainment zone, sleeping zone and other services like collecting the kids from the aircraft and dropping them back to the aircraft. My final project is all about interiors and specially what young kids will like and get attracted towards the lounge.The staff of the lounge will be responsible for looking after the kids and their luggage. The kids will be escorted at all times with the airline crew or staff of the lounge. The design concept is designed in such a way keeping the kids in mind.

The important factors that have strong impact on space design for children are:-

Space

Gender

Age

Activity

Size

Color

The planning of a child’s room is shaped by gender. While a girl’s room demands a certain ambience and space allotment, a boy’s room has different set of requirements. Even the size of wardrobe depends or varies with gender. Decorative themes are also dependant on the gender factor. For girl’s pastel colors and floral effects are used whereas for boys, generally sports them is used.

Different age groups involve different space and size considerations. The age group I’ve selected is two to five years. Their activities and social dynamics differ. Space for such children is theme-based. Kid’s room should be filled with color, cartoons and toys but sensibly designed. Storage is of particular importance for the young and space is a challenge because children’s rooms are often “little rooms”.

Innovative solutions involve mobility for furniture or accessories within a structure. Interesting accessory features add color, utility and customization to any space. Children’s spaces must evolve with the child. They must themselves have a life- cycle that resonates with their young and developing dwellers. So a ‘baby’ space is obliged to transform into ‘teen’ space with minimal disruption and expense.

TYPES OF AIRPORT LOUNGES

Airport is one such place which never sleeps all year along. The airport authorities with the help of hotel companies have opened various lounges, eating joints and shops in the airport in order to make travelling easy for all passengers and keep them entertained during their stay at the airport. All year long many passengers travel from one country to another. There are times when a few passengers like kids, disabled, old people. There are different types of lounges for different age groups. These lounges offer a variety of services for passengers.

Different types of Lounges are:-

Lounges for older people

Lounges for disabled

Lounges for unaccompanied minors

Lounges for general people

Lounges for business class people

What services can passengers expect from the lounges?

To be treated like a VIP

Free snacks

Free soft and alcoholic drinks (champagne is extra)

Newspapers

Magazines

Comfortable seats

Business desks

Televisions

Special care for disabled, old age and minors

Cable cars for old age and disabled for travelling inside the airport

These services are all available by paying a very minimum fee to access them during your stay at the lounge. Many passengers have access to these lounges with their respective credit cards of different banks in order to promote the services and attract the public for using the best services on their holiday. Since there are many different kind of airport lounges with different airlines the services available will vary from one lounge to the other. But majority have the same services at different price rates.

The below table shows major airports of United Kingdom have same services for the customers.

NAME

FOOD AND DRINKS

DISABLE ACCESS

WIFI,PHONE AND FAX

TOILETS

FLIGHT INFORMATION

1Birbimghim Airport

2Manchester Airport

3Newcastle Airport

4London Airport

5Liverpool Airport

6Gatwick Airport

HISTORY OF AIRPORT LOUNGES

7A lounge is a lounge which is owned by any airline which is open to its passengers for having a stress free environment while waiting at the airport. The lounges can be accessed by any passenger by paying a minimum fee and getting access to all the best services of the lounge. The lounge offers free drinks and food. The passengers can access to wifi, private meeting rooms, fax, telephone and the lounge has comfortable leather sofas to relax.

8Heathrow is the busiest and largest airport every year it carries over 86 million people. The airport started in 1946 with a group of army with small tents and grass airfield and was privately owned. In 1944 the Air Ministry developed as a transport base for Air Force Royale. Soon there was a need of a large airport and in 1946 one runway was ready to be used. By 1947 three runways were completed ready and the tents were replaced by a building in the start of 1950. Due to the need and demands of the customers terminal-2 was opened in 1955.

Today Heathrow has a well developed terminals and a direct access to underground metro, [9] taxis are available at all terminals and has totally changed its old structure with new structure and services for passengers travelling every year.

Over these years the world has changed into a total new world of high technologies, inventions and every thing has been changed into a higher advanced things. Airports were just a big land where there was only one runway and a small building from where passengers could get their luggage and exit into the country. The airport building was not very well designed and it dint even have any kind of proper services like food stalls, bars, casino, restaurants, or lounges. The airports were very under developed and over these years airports have completely changed and have a new definition of what airports are.

Airports all over the world are serving its passengers with the best facilities and have totally changed and entered a new era of advanced technology. Airport lounges are basically a room or an open space where all passengers can relax themselves during their stay at the airport.

10THE WORLD’S TEN BEST AIRPORT LOUNGES

Since the attack on the twin towers in Unites States has forced the security at the airports to do a tight check on passengers travelling. Even on every domestic flight the security check has increased and the passengers have to stand in long queues for security check. There are business class lounges who cannot afford to miss on their business while waiting at the airport. Over the years the travel and tourism industry has flourished and there are lounges for the general entertainment as well.

Clubhouse Virgin Atlantic, San Francisco International Airport

Terraces Lounge British Airways, JFK International Airport

Silver Kris Singapore Airlines, Singapore Changi Airport

President’s Club Continental Airlines, Ronald Reagan National Airport, Washington D.C.

Smoker’s Lounge Swissair, Zurich International Airport

VIP Lounge LanChile, Santiago International Airport

Golden Lounge Malaysian Airlines, Kuala Lumpur International Airport

SAS Lounge Copenhagen International Airport

Star Alliance Lounge Zurich International Airport

The Wing Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong International Airport

Terraces Lounge British Airways, JFK International Airport

The Wing Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong International Airport

Golden Lounge Malaysian Airlines, Kuala Lumpur International Airport

VIP Lounge LanChile, Santiago International Airport

Silver Kris Singapore Airlines, Singapore Changi Airport

Star Alliance Lounge Zurich International Airport

PSYCHOLOGY OF AIRPORT LOUNGES

A passenger’s point of view a lounge is a small area at the airport where the passengers can access comfortable sofas for relaxing with complimentary refreshments with free wifi, phone and fax services. But behind the scenes psychology is used a lot to define how comfortable the environment and services are and in what manner is it beneficial to the people who need a special attention. Since the lounge is for kids there has to be kept special preference to kind of services kids want. Through my research work I have found the following points need to be used in a lounge.

EASY ACCESS OF SERVICES

The kids who will be using the lounge will be of age 5-12 years old. Kids at this age are not very independent and solely depend on their parents for each and everything. During their stay at the lounge they will be fully dependent on the staff. While designing the lounge it should be designed to access the services at ease by the kids themselves.

EXAMPLE- the height of the furniture should be of standard kid’s size. The toilets also need to be of the same standard size for kids.

HOMELY ENVIRONMENT

Since the kids will be travelling alone for them the airport will be a little big to handle and they might get scared but these lounges will be designed in such a way that the kids feel like they are home safe and sound. They will have their own area where they can play, eat, and enjoy without being scared of being alone.

ATTENTION TO SPECIAL NEEDS

The age of kids vary from 5-12 years and they might be kids with any form of disability so they need special care and attention from the staff. The toilets and the furniture would be different for the disabled. A special kind of facility will be available for kids with special needs to make them feel comfortable with the rest of the kids.

DESIGN CONCEPT

The lounges are for the kids and the design concepts for the kids have to be very colorful and comfortable and lot precautions will have to be taken for the safety of the kids. The color combinations and the outlay for the lounge have to be very colorful and have a more of an open plan rather than having too many doors or partitions which could make the kids feel a bit lost in the lounge. In the lounge no kind of dangerous material can be used like glass which could break easily while the kids play and cause an injury to the kids. The materials like wood, plastic are the best materials to be used in the lounge.

SERVICES AVAILABLE AT THE LOUNGES

Every airport is different all over the world but they all are for the same purpose. It depends in which country the airport is to make it look different from all the other airports in the world. For example an airport in Las Vegas, United States will definitely have a casino at the airport to entertain the people as [11] Las Vegas is known for gambling, fine dinning and shopping. There are many other facilities available at the airport varying from one airport to the other.

12Lounges offer a variety of services for all age group and making every passengers journey stress free.

Every lounge offers the following services to its passengers:-

Complementary refreshments

Free access to wifi

Comfortable sofas

Newspaper and magazines

Alcohol and non alcohol drinks

Variety of buffet

And many lounges for example Emirates Lounge offers facilities like:-

Swimming pool

Personal meeting rooms

Massage rooms

Spas

Gyms

Kids play area

ANTHROPOMETRY

Anthropometrics deals with the measurements of the physical characteristics of human beings particularly shapes and sizes, the range of human dimensions from foot length to shoulder width. It also includes the minimum or optimum dimensions needed for a human being to perform activities.

HEIGHT

Age (years)
Height (inches)
2
33?
3
36?
4
38?
5
40?
REACH
Age (years)
Reach (inches)
2
40?
3
43?
4
45?
5
47?
SITTING POSITION
Age (years)
Space Covered(inches)
2
20? x 20?
3
20? x 20?
4
22? x 22?
5
24? x 24?

SQUATTING POSITION

Age (years)
Space Covered (inches)
2
27? x 30?
3
30? x 30?
4
33? x 33?
5
34? x 34?
STANDING – STRETCHED ARMS
Age (years)
Length (inches)
2
33?
3
36?
4
38?
5
40?
DESIGN CONCEPT OF THE LOUNGE

The lounge is for kids and keeping this mind the design of the lounge will be very unique and attract kids towards the lounge. The lounge is spread on an area of 200?200 square feet forming a shape of a square. The lounge will be having different zones or rooms specially provided for the kids.

Entertainment zone

Food court

Toilets

Play area

Sleeping area

Drink Bar

ENTERTAINMENT ZONE

Area

Walls

Floor

Ceiling

Furniture

Purpose

Theme

This zone is especially for boys who love to play video games and enjoy themselves. This room is like a big open area with very minimum furniture and more of gaming stations so that kids can have fun during their stay at the lounge. The lounge will have proper gaming chairs and sofas only.

FOOD COURT

Area

Type

Walls

Floor

Ceiling

Furniture

Purpose

Theme

The food court is going to be very unique in design and menu concept. There will be all kind of food served such Chinese, continental, Italian, Indian, Mexican and Thai so that kids can get food of their choice even being away from home. There will be a buffet system 24 hours a day. The kids can eat as much they like and when they like. The furniture will be very funky and colorful in design and will be made according to the ergonomics for the kids.

PLAY ZONE

Area

Type

Walls

Floor

Ceiling

Furniture

Purpose

Theme

The play area is for kids under the age if 12years old and the room is an open plan. It’s a big room where there are doll houses, stuff toys, slides, swings. All the games and swings will be in door. Every corner will have a different theme concept like jungle, doll house, sand pit area and teddy bears. Sand pit area will be depicting an area on a beach where kids can play in sand build sand houses. This room is specially for keeping the kids occupied with board games as well like chess, ludo, snakes and ladder and card games.

SLEEPING AREA

Area

Type

Walls

Floor

Ceiling

Furniture

Purpose

Theme

DRINKS BAR

Area

Type

Walls

Floor

Ceiling

Furniture

Purpose

Theme

Entertainment zone will include xbox stations and television for keeping the kids well occupied. The room will have special gaming chairs where kids can play and enjoy themselves in the comfortable chairs. The room is

Food court will serve different variety of cuisines from all over the world.

Sleeping area is for children under the ages of 5years who need cots or beds for sleeping.

A drink bar is making the kids feel they are grown ups and to make it look different a bar will be provided where only soft drinks will be served.

COLOR PSYCHOLOGY

Color adds meaning to life if there were no colors it would make all things dull. In the lounge the colors used will be more bright and vibrant like red, blue, yellow, pink, green, and purple.

Color psychology is about how colors make them feel since different colors reflect different parts of the brain it is very much required while designing any creative space or using for inspiration or to reflect mood.

Reflection of these colors will throw a big impact on the mood of kids therefore it is very important to choose the right colors for the interiors of the lounge.

In this research, I have selected the Lost World of Tambun a theme park of my choice. The Lost World of Tambun is an action-packed, exciting adventure with the most thrilling rides and attractions in Ipoh, Malaysia. Located in the historic town of Ipoh, in the middle of the North-South corridor in Perak, this place is not just a man made water theme park with beautiful Mayan architecture, gargoyles, and water canals, but is surrounded by 400-million-year-old natural limestone hills which offers a unique breathtaking view.

The World of Tambun is built by Sunway Group in 2006 at a cost of RM60 million, this theme park is well-designed with many unique features. It has many different “playgrounds” and is certainly an added attraction to the popular Sunway Lagoon theme park in Kuala Lumpur.

Five main elements that make up this world of adventure are the Water Park, the Amusement Park, Lost World Hot Springs, the Tiger Valley and the Lost World Petting Zoo. It is a perfect escapade for family and city slickers who want to have a short break away from the city and enjoy the outdoor elements from man made beaches, to hot water springs, theme park rides; both wet and dry, a tiger valley where you get to see the wild beast roam freely, and beyond that jungle trekking, caving and tunneling activities.

Answer Water Park

Begin the journey at River & Beach Garden, a landscaped beach with waterfalls surrounded by 20 feet twin waterfalls with two rivers flowing into the pool. For a start, grab a float for a single person or two, and jump into Adventure River, Asia’s longest man-made river ride with a wave generator in the water park section. Besides, refresh with a musical shower at the Musical Body Wash before heading to the Sandy Bay for an intense game of volleyball with friends and family or perhaps, for a relaxing soak in the sun.

Next, get ready for a wet world of fun in the kids-only zone, Explorabay, specifically designed children. Explorabay boasts special smaller slides and a large, wet, interactive play area with giant tipping buckets, water canons, spraying elephants, water curtains and fountains. Designed for more-thrill seeking adults and teenagers, the Cliff Racer injects a boost of adrenaline when your mine cart flies, Indiana Jones style – straight down the speed-coaster at maximum speed! In addition, do not miss going on the Tube Raiders, longest inflatable tube ride in Malaysia!

Amusement Park

Enjoy the scenery while you dry off on the Dragon Flights ride, as you get swung in the air in this thrilling swing-chair ride; before you sail on over to the Stormrider, a pirate boat which will swing you 180 degrees for some knee-knocking, spine-tingling excitement. Besides, get your little ones to cool down after playing explorer at the water park, on the Perak Parade carousel; and go on the Giddy Galleon for a perfect family ride away from the water. In addition, make sure you go on the Adventure Express; where you can sit back and let this ancient locomotive take you and your family on a journey past majestic ruins, surging waters and wild tigers; giving you a quick tour of the Lost World of Tambun’s other attractions.

Lost World Hot Springs & Spa

Afer a day of excitement, immerse yourself in the source of pure relaxation in our Lost World Hot Springs. The 100% natural mineral hot springs is clean and fresh as the water flows through the pool continuously from the main source and is then channeled to the nearby Kopisan River. Containing healthy minerals such as Calcium Carbonate, Sodium, Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulphate, Chloride and Iron, the Hot Springs are heavenly for those looking for a healthy retreat.

This addition includes many elements which are catered for everyone: giving them the ultimate relaxation experience. The elements include Infinity Pool, Lost World Steam Cave, Foot Spa, Crystal Spa, Top of the World Pool, The Geyser of Tambun, Crystal Pool and Saphira’s Bistro.

Infinity Pool

It is specially designed as a true spa and can accommdate up to 300 people at once and is surrounded by the serene and calming sounds of the volcanic waterfall.

Lost World Steam Cave

The Lost World Steam Cave is great for those looking for a respite after long stressful days. The steam cave acts as a sauna promotes the action of sweating where the toxins and waste are expelled through the pores on the epidermis leaving the dermis clean and refreshed. The high temperature also prmotes blood circulation.

Foot Spa

Foot Spa in the Lost World Hot Springs and Spa has reflexology pebbles fitted to the floor. Visitors can walk on the pebbles while enjoying the hot springs water soothing their feet.

Crystal Spa

Crystal Spa is a spa facilities where visitors can enjoy body therapy at a nominal charge. There are three huts located here, named as a Sapphire, Topaz and Amethyst. The spa offers Aromatherapy Massage and Head & Shoulder Massage. Within the privacy and comfort of your own massage hut, you will be pampered and treated to an invigorating massage of your choice and feel rejuvenated from inside out.

Top of the World Pool

Top of the World Pool is a jacuzzi pool that allows a full range of therapeutic hydro-massage for muscles, joints and pressure points. It is advisable for guest who are suffering from muscle, neck, shoulder and back pain. Athletes recovering from sports injuries are encouraged to take a dip in this pool because it could help to speed up the recovery. Besides, the heat from the hot springs water ease joint movement for guest suffering from arthritis.

Saphira’s Bistro

To further enhance the experience in the Lost World Hot Springs & Spa, a swim-up dining outlet known as Saphira’s Bistro has been built to cater for visitors seeking for some bites to whet their appetites. This bistro boasts a healthy selection of food and bevarages such as Salmon Fillet, Chicken Stew, Open Sandwiches, Western Style Curry and Salads Saphira’s Special.

Tiger Valley

Meet Sultan, Raima, Putra, Jazz and Azian; Lost World of TambunaˆYs very own Siberian tigers. One of the unique attractions here is the Tiger Valley where you get to see the wild animals roam freely in their enclosure, and perform stunts during feeding time. There are a total of eight tigers, formerly circus animals abandoned by their owners, when they could not afford to fly them back, and were subsequently adopted by the theme park and now given the best possible care by experienced trainers.

Lost World Petting Zoo

Take walk on the wild side at the Petting Zoo, where you will be able to get personal with just some of the zoo favorites such as Ruby the raccoon, Nia the Python and Wira the Green Macaw. Take some time to walk through the different areas, where you would be able to feed, touch and experience animals in their natural habitats. Besides, the Petting Zoo allows the public to touch, feel, feed and play with the animals; giving those looking for a more personal encounter, a closer perspective. It features a large variety of exotic animals in an environment created as close to nature as possible and apart from being a fun activity that families can do together, it also serves as a nature education platform for schools and tourists. Kids can look forward to having an enjoyable time petting and playing with rabbits, guinea pigs, tortoises, African Dwarf Goats and Deer and adorable primates such as the white-eared marmosets, black-eared marmosets and macaques. In addition, the large aviary houses over 500 birds from 18 species with all-time favourites such as cockatoos, mandarin ducks and peacocks. The Serpentarium features a host of slithering reptiles such as the reticulated pythons, mangrove snake and the Giant Monitor Lizard. To keep the memory for a long time, kids and adults alike can pose for pictures with the ferret, wallaby, Sugar Glider, and Blue-Gold Macaw and the Giant Iguana at the Rock Canopy.

Adventure For The Eco-Enthusiast

Make your way, jungle trekking through the deep limestone hill forests of the Lost World of Tambun. Witness and explore the unique flora and fauna, get up close and personal with wild animals and experience the beauty of its waterfalls and mysterious caves.

Delve deeper into the caves for a one three exploration of the Gua Datok, a cave dating back to 400 million years; with naturist guides as they expose magnificent history and the formations of the stalagmites and stalactites. For the younger thrill seekers who wants a taste of the action there is a smaller cave called Gua Anak Datok, located at near the feet of Gua Datok. Opt for the three-hour cave exploration experience at the Six Mile Tunnel. Eco-enthusiasts are guided by experienced guides through the 700 meter long cave tunnel; walking through knee-deep mud, swimming across a shallow pool, before continuing to walk through chest-deep water inside the tunnel. Stay close to nature and camp overnight. Share adventures with friends and family over a bonfire at any one of the two camping sites at the Lost World of Tambun – the Needle Village, the Riverside Village; where you indulge in bonding activities such as lake kayaking, rafting, teambuilding sessions, as well as themed dinners.

If you are looking for a more relaxed break, hop on board the Tambun River Cruise at a mere RM6 per person. Sit back and take it all in as the cruise sails you through the picturesque bends of the Tambun River. Once you’ve sailed through the Tambun river, take control and take the lead by paddling around in the Lost World of Tambun’s Koi Pond in one of the swan-designed paddle boats. Whether you opt for a partner, or go solo in the paddle boats, be sure to feed the Koi fish following you around!

Food and Beverage

The Ipoh White coffee is love at first sip! Made only from the finest selections of Liberica, Robusta and Arabica quality beans, the coffee is skillfully roasted to perfection by Ipoh’s old, legendary masters.

If coffee is not your cup of tea, try Lost World of Tambun’s Roasted Rice Tea. A traditionally unique cuppa, the Roasted Rice Tea reflects the authentic flavors of a recipe that has been handed down through many ancestral generations.

For those seeking any other reason to sample the Lost World of Tambun’s Roasted Rice Tea, the tea touts a list of health benefits which include soothing sore throats, cooling down body temperatures and alleviating fevers.

The park is opened from Monday to Fridays from 11am to 6pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm, and during school and public holidays from 10am to 6pm. The park is closed every Tuesday except during Malaysian school and public holidays.

The park rates are RM30.00 per adult, RM24.00 for children below 12, and free of charge for children below 90cm in height. Group packages are also available with minimum number of 30 persons – advance booking is required.

The Lost of Tambun is premier tourist destination for the region by the launch of its largest investment project which covers the tourism, real estate, hospitality, entertainment, leisure and retail sectors. The Lost World of Tambun is the best water theme park within the northern region because it offers various elements such as Water Park, Amusement, Hot Springs & Spa, Tiger Valley and Petting Zoo that attract visitors from local and tourists from other countries.

Besides, the Lost World of Tambun is the only water theme park with natural hot spring in Malaysia that can accommodate more than 10,000 people. Key attractions also include the action-packed dry and wet adventure rides as well as a range of eco-adventures. Furthermore, the Lost World of Tambun has received many pretigious awards for its excellent innovation, visual appeal, quality, branding and the uniqueness as a water theme park. For instance, the Lost World of Tambun has been awarded “Winner of the 2008/2009 Innovative Tourist Attraction Award” by Tourism Malaysia. Moreover, it has a large parking place and other park facilities such as prayer rooms, locker, tube & towel hire service, shower and changing rooms including for disabled, fully qualified lifeguards, fully equipped and staffed first aid station, hut areas and seating, bicycle hiring, security guard and ample parking space.

Future expansion to be made for example; expanding the theme for the building of hotels. Besides, monorail system to be introduced for an overall transportation for both visitors and staffs.

The Lost of Tambun can boost their sales and profits by offering family packages and extending their business time. Besides, they can organize party relevant to the theme park. In addition, they can invite international performers as a part of advertisement to attract more people to visit their theme park. A part for that, free water toys can be provided for children and special range to be offered for senior citizen.

One way to promote their business to a global scale is to advertise their business through travel and tours agency by putting what they have in packages. Besides, online promotion also helps them to promote their products and build closer customer relationships. They should also get foreigner investment to let them open a branch in their country. In addition, they can deal with large foreigner companies through international conferences and events.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Lost World of Tambun certainly offers a unique experience beyond the thrills and spills of a theme park, with the opportunity of being in the heart of nature to witness something wonderful and irreplaceable.

Thus, constant facilities upgrade must be performed from time to time. Besides, they need to keep on changing to follow up the current customer needs and wants. In addition, customer should be informed about the latest news and happenings such as the launching of new products in their theme park.

The heart of each business lies in the hands of its customers. Therefore, the company’s ability to establish and maintain a strong and firm customer base is essential for its growth and survival. All customers come into the customer situation with differing needs and wants. Thus, it is very important for a company to understand customer needs and wants to ensure the repeat customer. The one unseen bonus is that it actually costs less to service repeat customers because their expectations levels are established and they know the role they are to play. Final customer needs and wants are always the key to the success in a business.

1. Introduction

The following part of the report will give a general introduction to the site which has been chosen to be added to the list of World Heritage Sites, namely being The Maasai Mara National Reserve. Furthermore the country and the region will be described followed by arguments why particularly this site was chosen and further on naming all the criteria of the World Heritage Committee which the site meets. In addition a concise analysis will be carried out using the Fermata method. This method will help to record all the resources the site has to offer in order to develop a strategy on how to develop tourism within this area. At the end the outcome of this chapter’s research will be summarized in a short conclusion.

General Information on The Maasai Mara National Reserve

The Maasai Mara National Reserve is also known as ”the Mara”. Historically, Maasai Mara obtained its name from the native people of Kenya the Maasai tribe who lived along the Mara River. However, the reserve is only a portion of the Greater Mara Ecosystem, which includes a group ranches for example koiyaki, lemeki ,Ol chorro Saina Maji moto Naakara Ol derkesi and Kiminet. The reserve is topography of open savannah grassland in the midst of clusters and acacia trees along the south-eastern area of the park. The reserve covers an area of 1,510 square kilometres in the south-western Kenya. In the northern part, the reserve is mainly covered with Mara-Serengeti ecosystem this covers 25,000 square kilometres between Tanzania and Kenya and in the south It is bounded by the Serengeti Park.

Climate

The Maasai Mara reserve is located at an altitude between 4,875 and 7,052 feet above sea level giving it a humid climate with moderate temperature. Daytime temperatures run at 85°F (30°C) and night temperatures drop to around 60°F (15°C). The rain falls between March and May and shortly in November and December. Between July and October the weather is dry hence the vegetation is in abundant thus tourism get more active in July and October to see the park’s wildlife.

Tourism

According to www.maasaimara.com, The Maasai Mara type of tourism is ecotourism. The ecosystem holds one of the highest lion densities in world with over two million Wildebeest, Zebra and Thomsons Gazelle that migrate annually. This action is known as “Natures passion play” It occurs between the month of July and august.

Additionally the Mara reserve is also home to the largest concentration of wildlife. These include the “Big Five” (Leopards elephants lions rhinos and buffalo) zebras, antelope, gnus, Oribis, hyenas, giraffes, warthogs, gazelles, hartebeests, hippos, crocodiles to mention a few.

The Maasai culture is yet another major attraction, because of their authentic culture that’s why it is recognised as one of the best-known tribes in world for their bright colored clothes and traditional dances, souvenirs, art and collectibles that explain their unique tradition. Moreover Bird watching is yet another source of tourism. The Maasai Mara boasts over 400 different birds’ species. Therefore it attracts bird lover.

Arguments for the site

In the following, the choice of the “Maasai Mara Natural Reserve” as a potential future World Heritage Site will be justified with the help of UNESCO criteria. The Maasai Mara Reserve is most famous for its unique wildebeest migration which cannot be found anywhere else on planet earth. The occurrence of the “big five” as well as the wintering spot for many endangered species makes the reserve an important area that has to be protected in the future. Below three criteria will be mentioned which can be referred to the Maasai Mara Reserve

Criteria V: to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.

This criterion can be related to the Maasai community living in peace and harmony with the wildlife since a long time. The Maasai community used the land for many years while they kept in mind to conserve the predominant wildlife in a responsible way.

Criteria VII: To contain superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance.

With its annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara Reserve the site fulfills the criterion of “exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance” since there is no comparable natural phenomenon worldwide. Further on, the Maasai Mara National Reserve is equipped with beautiful savanna grasslands and plenty different herbivores and bird species. Moreover, the “big 5” can be found within the reserve what is also very unique.

Criteria X: to contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

Since the reserve is an important wintering spot for many different species the criterion of “significant in-situ conservation” is warranted definitely. Also the occurrence of carnivores such as the lions or the cheetahs are very important for the reserve because they are listed as threatened. Furthermore, they keep the balance of prey numbers what is crucial for the ecosystem.

Analysis using the Fermata method

In order to come up with a good strategy on how to develop tourism within the Mara region, it is of great importance to know what resources are already available at this moment. Therefore the FERMATA method has been chosen, providing four different tables, namely intrinsic and extrinsic values, modifiers and waypoints. These tables categorize everything that can be found in and around the site and can serve tourism purposes.

Intrinsic values

Describing a world heritage site means defining intrinsic and extrinsic values of the site. Intrinsic values are those which originate at the resource itself. Hence, intrinsic values are of natural character. These intrinsic values are for instance: Scale, integrity and aesthetic of the landscape as well as diversity, specialty, conspicuousness, appeal, scope and dynamics of resources.

In terms of the description of the landscape, the Massai Mara Reserve is characterized by the Mara-River which divides the Reserve into two parts. Further on, the variety in altitudinal range between 200 and 1000 meter makes the Massai Mara a diverse area for all different kinds of birds and flora. With a total scope of 1,510 square kilometers the reserve provides habitat for 1,300,000 wildebeest, 360,000 gazelles and 191,000 zebras. Additionally, many carnivores as well as more than 600 bird species can be found in and around the reserve. In terms of human intervention, the reserve is managed by the Narok County Council and the Transmara County Council who set up several rules and regulations concerning behavior within the Massai Mara Reserve. Moreover, the Massai Community lost much of their land because it became a protected area of the reserve. Furthermore, many farms developed in the northern part of the reserve due to its fertile land. Referred to tourism some 45 tented camps are distributed all over the reserve which arouses a lot of damaging actions such as high water consumption or dry-season grass fires caused by tourists. (Appendix: Table 1)

Going further, it is important to take the resources into consideration. Due to its river, the grassland and the evergreen Amazonian forests the Massai Mara Reserve offers a diverse landscape. However, the landscape itself cannot be considered as very special but the migration of the herbivores that grants the reserve a general impression of outstanding beauty. As already mentioned before, the wildebeest migration can be seen as the pull factor of the site since tourists travel around the world to see this unique natural phenomenon. Although this spectacle can be seen as the main attraction of the reserve many tourists come as well to observe the more than 600 different bird species whereof plenty are listed as endangered. Finally, the Mara River is the only dynamic resource which can be found at the reserve since the rest mainly consists of grasslands and savannah. Situated in Kenya, the climate can be defined as tropical with long rainfalls from April to June. (Appendix: Table 2)

Extrinsic values

Generally said extrinsic values can be seen as additional features in the natural site, which also make people come to visit the place apart from the fact that they want to enjoy the outstanding natural resource. These features are made by humans and according to FERMATA Inc. (2002) they can be divided up into the following categories: Social, Cultural, Historical, Recreational and Economic. For a brief description see the appendix XYZ – I

To apply this analysis of the extrinsic values to the Maasai Mara Reserve, it can be said that the reserve gives home to the Maasai people. It is estimated that around 500,000 Maasai live in that area, but due to their fear of governmental intervention into their lifestyle, miscounts often occur. The Maasai belong to those tribes that have not changed a lot in their original culture, rituals and practices regardless of the modern world’s influences they are exposed to. Additionally it should be mentioned that they are mainly in possession of the land and deal with its management, however, lately they have lost a lot of land to parks and reserves, which prohibit them from accessing important sources of water, pastureland and spots where salt can be found. (Masaai Association, 2010) From a cultural point of view the villages of the previously mentioned Maasai tribe can be seen as an attracting attribute, for example due to their houses solemnly built from natural resources or their very simple lifestyle which is perfectly adjusted to their natural environment. Regarding the historical values one will have difficulties finding any in the Maasai Mara reserve, because the Maasai tribes live a nomadic life moving within the reserve depending on the season and therefore certain monuments or special places are not part of their culture. All their requirements for ceremonies and rituals are based on what they can find in nature. (Maasai Association, 2010) Concerning recreational values one can find three different lodges and around thirty campsites to spend the night there. Moreover these lodges or camps offer a number of safaris including jeeped safaris, balloon safaris, horse riding safaris and walking safaris accompanied by a Maasai. (ORD Group, 2010) Finally the economic values of the Maasai Mara National Reserve are that it attracts a lot of tourists and as the number of inhabitants is constantly increasing, but the number of livestock is decreasing in the same time, people depend more and more on other sources for nourishment. Therefore in the northern part of the area they have started to erect extensive fields to grow e.g. soya beans, wheat or sorghum. (UNESCO, 2010)

Modifiers, constraints, limits, qualifying factors

Modifiers: These are constraints that hinder tourism development at the Maasai Mara ReserveEcological: The damage in term of ecology is high, this is due to fact that Maasai Mara is not a national park but rather a national reserve hence it is not managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service. Its welfare is entrusted in the hands of Narok County Council and the Mara Conservancy who attain contract from the Trans Mara County Council. According to Dublin (1991) the lack of proper management leads to poaching, destruction of habitat by constant uncontrolled bush fires and exceptionally heavy influx of elephants hence to a decline in number of animals. Moreover over development of hotels, camps and loges outside the gate of the reserve is growing on a high rate.

A summary of the ecological constrains according to Charles Ndegwa Mundia, Yuji Murayama ( 2009) can be found in the appendix XYZ-II.

Physical: Tracks are established, balloon and helicopters in order to reach the natural and cultural heritages. Visiting the reserve is possible throughout the years. High season is from January to March this is when it is heavily overcrowded by people because it is dry and warm. Also in June and September it is overcrowded because this is the time when wild beasts migrate.

Health and Safety: Masai Mara Reserve is fairly a safe place, however, it is recommended not to get out of track. Concerning the health issues, the Maasai Mara National Reserve lies in a malaria region which foresees to take anti malaria precautions, wearing long-sleeved clothing after dark and applying insect repellent. The water is safe and there is big hospital in Nairobi 100km east of the park in case of an emergency. Feeding animals is not allowed since it might induce danger of boldness and foster aberrant behaviour which might be harmful for the visitors.

Regulatory: There are many rules and regulations mainly for conservation and visitor’s safety and faller to apply; there is a penalty in form of paying a certain amount of money. According to Matt J. Walpole (2003) In the Mara Triangle; not more than five vehicles is allowed around an animal because it disturb the harmony of animals. Secondly Human habitation is forbidden in the National Park only staffs are allowed. Thirdly driving off the road is not allowed. Also Visitors are only allowed on the roads from 06:00 to 19:00. Additionally people are urged to keep the environment clean putting trash at their accommodation not at site. Respect the culture of the local people and lastly no animal feeding by visitors because it dangerous.

Economic: the fee to reach the reserve and cultural resources is moderate since the Kenyan currency value is low, except for the accommodation and guided tours depending on if you sleeping in camp or luxurious hotel. The transit to the park as well as entering the park certain fee is obligated. Adult inhabitant costs 500 Kshs; children inhabitant costs 200 Kshs, adult non local – 30 US dollars and children non local – 10 US dollars.

Time: The reserve can be accessed from Nairobi airport, it’s about 270km that is six hours by car but it can shorter by helicopter. The more suitable time is in June and September when wildlife migration take place Moreover the high season is from January to March when it is warm and dry. In October & December are rainy seasons however it doesn’t hinder game viewing

To conclude the above constrains, it can be said that Mara reserve is facing a lot of challenges mainly regarding the ecology. But they have implemented rules to protect both the animals and the people although the rules are not 100% acted upon because the government left the reserve in the hands of private ownership. However there is evidence that the site has abundant nature and culture sites, unique species and rear landscape hence these fit in UNESCO criteria.

Waypoints: Gateways, Portals, Icons

ME –

Conclusion

Me –

With globalization of economy the world wide communication has increased tremendously along with the touring activities. These touring activities may be for recreation business or any other purpose. A travel agency is an agency that makes the necessary arrangements for travelers (Referenced from, Concise Oxford Dictionary 9th addition Page 1485). The travel agent is supposed to be an expert who can make the knowledge of various destination available to his clients regarding mode of travelling paper work like Passport, Visa and money exchange, Hotel Accommodations for stay like hostels etc, Car rental, connectivity’s and local tour etc. A new aspect of tour agency has developed recently i.e. Internet Traveling Agencies using the internet facilities.

In terms of the business a travel agency can be defined as a retail business selling products and services which are related with the travel activities. A travel agency works on behalf of the suppliers of such facilities like Airlines, Cruise Companies, Car Rental, and Hotels etc. According to the work a travel agency may specialize into holiday package, business tours, educational tours etc. A new dimension of traveling has emerged i.e. Medical tourism related with services provided to a patient.

HISTORY

Cox and kings is supposed to be the pioneer company in the field of modern touring. It started in 1758 as Recreation Company for the wealthy customers of a private bank. Thomas cook followed Cox and Kings with establishment of the chain of agencies in 19th centaury with a partner i.e. mid land railway. They sold their own product to the public as well as other tour packages from different tour companies. Other pioneers travel agencies include polytechnic tourism association, co- operative wholesale society and Dean & Dawson. All these travel agencies are of British origin. In America the pioneers in the field are Brownell Travel. With development of commercial aviation in 1920’s the travel agencies become more and more popular in the public further boom was there in the post-war period with development of mass- market packet holidays specially developed for the working class customers in British owned colonies.

OPERATONS AND FUNCTIONING

A travel agency is mainly an agent which sells products and services relative with the traveling on behalf of the suppliers. They do not have a ready stock in hand unless a customer request for the same. Most of the travel agencies thrive on commissions given to them by the suppliers In uae7% commission is paid by the airlines to the travel agencies. These agencies have direct links with hotel chains cruise lines and airlines for their activities.

RESOURCES AND REVENUE STRUCTURE A travel agency has got two means of revenue earnings i.e. commissions and professional fees.

Commissions: – These are the main source of income for most of the travel agencies. A travel agency is paid commission by the suppliers of the products and services like airlines etc. Usually the commissions are supposed to be given on a fixed ratio basis. However in case of an agency providing higher volume of business to the supplier it may demand a higher percentage for its services. It is called as override. To enhance their business a travel agency may prefer to pass on some part of this commission to its preferred customers in order to fetch more business. This is the reason that some time a ticket of an airlines is available at a higher price when purchase from a open market and at a lesser price with the agency. Travel agencies also help the airlines to fill their empty seats at the last minutes.

Professional fee: – A travel agency may charge professional fee from its client if it is not getting commission from the service provider. This may be a percentage premium of the total cost of tour or may be charged on a flat rate basis.

Other commercial activities: – These include travel insurance, providing travel guiding time tables, car rental and on site Bureau de change services provided by the travel agencies of large chains. A standard fee may be charge for the same.

Promotional Activities:- Travel agencies have to take help of print and electronic media for their promotions. This constitutes a major expenditure. This may include hoardings, advertisements and other professionals advertising Apart from this the other expenditure are usually administrative and liasoning activities. Liasoning activities are supposed to be vital to get business in bulk.

Sales:- There are four stages of sales sequences for a travel agency :-

Enquiring about needs of a customer.

Development of a personal rapport with the customer.

Good presentation of the products and services and their major suppliers.

Actual sales.

ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES A better customer satisfaction may be generated if a travel agency uses adequate technologies to provide instance services to its clients.

CUSTOMER PROTECTION: SURETY BONDS Like all other business travelling too has a risk of commercial failure so majority of the travel agents have the insurance policies against such calamities. These are called surety bounds and are well advertise by the travel agencies if they have this facility. This means that the clients are guaranteed either the refund of the money or an equivalent holiday according to their preference. These bounds are usually provided by IATA (International Air Transport Association), ATOL ( Air Travel Organizers’ Licensing), ABTA (Association of British Travel

Agents and ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents.)

HOLIDAY SUPER MARKET CONCEPT

A new concept known as Holiday Super Market Concept has developed in recent years after low cost no frill airlines started their international operations. This is a mass market package holiday in which the clients choose their holidays from brochures on racks.

TYPES OF TRAVEL AGENCY There may be many classifications of travel agencies as follows:-

According to their specialization.

According to geographical operations.

According to size.

According to specialization

Leisure Travel Agents: – These agencies operate like tourism ambassadors of foreign companies. or example – A company having its head quarter say in Japan might set up various offices around the world to promote tourism to that country. These travel agency will work to promote the business of their mother company in Japan acting as a general sale agent for that company.

Business Travel Agents:- with globalization of the economy a new phenomena of globalization of business has emerged requiring a frequent travelling of higher executives and policy makers of a company to different countries. Their needs may be different from those of holiday tourists. To cater this class of travelers a travel agency will have to specialize in this field so as to guide them to have better deals for their business. Abu Dhabi is a place of interest for both type of travelers due to its world class airport, improved infrastructure, and high connectivity as well as presence of large number of places of tourist interest.

Medical Tourism: – A new dimension called as Medical Tourism has been added to the tourist activities worldwide. This phenomena has emerged because of the fact that there is considerable differences exist between the cost of medical facilities in developed companies and those of so called developing countries. This is also called Medical Tourism, Health Tourism or Global Health Care. A travel agent specialized in medical tourism should have the working knowledge of specialized surgeries like Joint Replacement , Cardiac Surgeries , Psychiatry, Alternative medicines etc. and should be able to guide its client in this regards.

According to Geographical Operations: –

There are two types of travel agencies depending on their areas of geographical operations :-

Out Bound Travel Agency :- These are located in the country of the traveler. These are traditional multi- destination agencies.

In Bound Travel Agency:- These are located in the country of destination or more commonly at a place of certain major events like sports events these are usually independent and cater to a special market (Niche Market) they deliver and expertise on that location only.

Out bound travel agencies are usually much larger than the in bound agencies, the former being a chain of agencies in most of the cases while the letter are usually small individual travel agency Classification according to size In USA these are classified as under :-

Corporate Owned Chains.

National / International Franchises.

National Membership Associassion.

Independent agencies.

Corporate Owned Chains:- These are the large chains and usually owned by the international giants like Cox and Kings etc. They have got a consistent policy about their products and services, commissions, fees and their operations.

National / International Franchises:- They too have a consistent policy of their operation and their prices.

National Membership Association:- These are usually less commissions focused as they rely more on their member ship fee.

Independent agencies :- These usually do not have any brand affiliation their policies and operation may vary according to the needs and means of an individual client .

Other classes

Cargo Travel Agencies:- These travel agencies specialise in shipping cargo from one destination to other.

Freighter travel: This may be considered as special class of travelling. Some of the cargo companies may ferry passengers along with the cargo. The clients of such companies / agencies are usually the budget travelers like retired persons, students etc. Who have got plenty of time.

Internet Travel Agencies

With the development of internet the clients have started planning their own business tours with the help of this facility. These are also called as travel agency this allows the travel agents to let their clients to compare a wide verity of facilities like Hotels, Car Rental Airlines Tickets and need of Paper work according to their destination for example – you may not get entry into Arab Countries if you have got Stamp of Israel on your passport for VISA purpose. There is a palpable threat that the traditional travel agencies may be greatly affected because of the introduction of Internet in the business. However this threat is not real. The use of internet for travelling purpose provides you both facilities i.e. convince of self served booking through Internet and that of taking help of a professional person when you need it. Many travel agencies created their own websites with detailed information of their services like online booking. Examples of major online travel agencies are cheap tickets, Voyages – sncf.com, Hotwire.com, orbitz and travelocityand expedia etc. A system called as GDS or Global Distributed System is also used for computer reservation. It is a subsidiary of travel port which allows these agencies to book or sale airline tickets, hotel booking and car rentals and other services related with traveling. Travel agencies using GDS facilities include Galileo CRS, Sabre, worldspan etc.

While trying online booking with the help of internet travel agency one must keep the following aspects in mind:-

Different airline for entire tour

Different airlines for different parts of the tour

Connectivity and alternative modes of transportation

Hotel accommodation or alternative accommodation available at the destination point

Positioning Flights.

Management of dates of visit with different locations in case of multiple destination tours

Different Airports and their connectivity

Different routing.

Split Ticketing: Consideration of advantages and disadvantages of split ticketing with regard to the period of tour, possible stay time at a particular destination point so as to take maximum advantage of stay.

Loop-holes.: These are the unfair means of business i.e. the gross difference between the advertised facilities in a product and the ones actually provideds on the spot.

Paperwork and formalities A good online travel agency must be capable of advising its clients over all these issues.

A travelogue or travel literature is travel writing with literary value which typically records the experience of its author’s touring a place or geographical area. One must take the help of this type of literature while seeking the advice of a web based travel agency. Travel literature may be a cross cultural or transnational in nature. It may also cover a big geographical region within the same countries or different countries.

The Tourism Industry is diverse and includes many sectors including: accommodation, transportation, food and beverage, attractions, events and conferences, adventure tourism, travel trade, and tourism services.

The Tourism and hospitality industry integrates general management concepts with the professional knowledge that is required by the tourism and hospitality industry.

A typical travel agent acquires knowledge and skills in communication, research and analysis of the travel related problems with their solutions and organizations of tours.

Examples of typical travel agents are:-

Adventure Travel Guide.

Events planner.

Tour guide.

Camp counselor.

Naturalist

Cruise Director.

Travel Planner.

Recreation Director.

All of them are specialist of their field of travel related activity and help the travelers to organize their tours in a most fruitful manner.

Take Over Activities in Travel Business:-

Like all other business take over practice is common in this field. Such activities may be of two types:-

Vertical Integration.

Horizontal Integration.

Vertical Integration:- some travel agencies may have large business and may be able to take over the other travel agencies with low value of business. A vertical integration means taking over of a firm having a different but related business.

For example – A large chain of tour operator may take over an airline with the aim to be benefitted from the lower cost of allocation air travel services to its customers. Sometimes this activity may be very complex and many facts have to be considered before under taking such type of activity.

This means that in vertical integrated system of business one organization should be able to offer a travel package to the customers through its own resources with no help from outside. In this type of integration the business will be able to control its cost of operation in a more effective manner. However problems may arise if the business grows too large to be operated efficiently by the available number managers.

Many tour operators indulge in wrong business practice by branding different part of the whole business differently and giving each part a different name this is supposed to be un- ethical. It is the right of the customer to know whether a relationship persists between the tour operator and the travel agent.

Horizontal Integration:- This is a business activity when an agency of offering one travel product takes over another one which offers the same travel product or service this can be exemplified by taking over of GO by Easy Jet in 2002.

Ethics of Travel Agency:- Being a part of the hospitality industry a travel agency must follow the rules of hospitality ethics which may vary from one geographical area to another.

Contemporary Ethics:- In modern western world, hospitality is not related with protection and survival. It is associated with etiquette and entertainment. However, it still requires showing respect for guests, providing for their needs and treating them fairly. The hospitality to strangers, personnel friends and relatives may vary according to the culture and sub-culture.

South Central Asia:- In south central Asia the hospitality has a strong code of conduct specially in the people called as Pashtu’s. These people have an ancient set of ethics stressing on Milmastiya or Hospitality. The feeling of hospitality is so great in Pakhtunsitan is such that it is also nick named as ‘The Land of Hospitality’ .

Middle East:- In middle east, it is a cultural to take care of foreigners and strangers. These ethics are reflected in many Biblical commands.

Arab World :- In Arab World, there is set of stern obligations for both host and guest. It believes that a bond is formed just by eating salt under one roof. An Arab story tells about the extent of feeling in this regard. It tells us about a thief who tasted something to know if it was suger. He realized that it was salt and thus put back all that he had stolen and left the place.

Greco Roman Ethics:- According to the Greco-Roman philosophy hospitality is a divine thing the host is expected to make sure that the needs of his guest are fulfilled.

Indian Ethics:- The principle of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ or ” The Guest is God ” is the driving force of hospitality for this reason the Indian approach towards guest at home and in all social situations is that of graciousness.

Swot Analysis of Travel Agency of Business

Being a secondary business activity travel agency business is affected by many factors like boom and crisis in other business activities, war and disturbances, natural calamities etc.

Strengths:- The strength of a travel agency lies in its goodwill and a business profile giving distinct market advantage upon which one can capitalize the market plan following is a list of points of strength for a a travel agency:-

A thorough knowledge of history and geography of the area of operation.

Excellent relationship with product suppliers like airlines, hotels and car rental.

Membership with strong association.

Strong reputation in the market.

Well placed location.

Good contact with press and media.

Adequate financial resources.

Excellent customer list with high customer loyalty.

Availability of good destination specialist.

Low customer to employee ratio.

Customer attentive staff with excellent communication skill.

An unique with high end service offering.

Weakness:-

Being a secondary business activity travel agency business can be affected by many factors like calamities, war or economic slump.

Being a comparatively new business activity the exploration of opportunities is still not complete.

Finding good employees with necessary skills and customers centric attitude is a difficult and challenging task.

Offering new and exiting trips at a regular interval and maintaining high quality is also a task which is difficult to achieve.

Many times it is very difficult to find a proper location.

For a new business set up financial aspects are also very important as traveling is a business requiring large volume of money.

Opportunities:- A good working knowledge of international, national, regional and local trends is a must to fetch the fortune from the existing opportunities in travel agency business. One can find a number of opportunities with the help of ever changing social atmosphere of contemporary world. UAE is called the Land of opportunity .Following is a list of possible opportunities for a new travel agency.

It is a growing market that is yet to be adequately explored.

Growing numbers of professionals with boom in latest technology of computer science and internet.

Globalization of economy.

Better Connectivity Abu Dhabi International airport is a well connected transportation hub of the world.It served 9.02 million passengers in 2008 with a growth of 30.2% on 2007.The total number of passengers is expected to reach 50 million as the Abu Dhabi is expected to become a major Transportation hub in Middle East.

Improved public transport system :- Public transport system of Abu Dhabi consists of buses, taxis and airplane. There will be a huge expansion of public transportation with completion of 130 km of metro and 340 km of tramway and bus rapid transit(BRT) routes. This is expected to be completed within the government plan called as Surface Transport master Plan

DEMOGRAPHY: More than 75% population of Abu Dhabi consists of expatriates from different part of world like UK, India, Pakistan & Other countries of South East Asia pacific Asia, Africa and china. This demographical pattern provides an excellent opportunity for travel related business.

Business boom resulting into a positive trend of economy with increased spending capacity of general people.

Financial capabilities of the management to spread over head expenditure in a number of events.

Growing economy after last recession.

Affective use of print and electronic media for mass communication.

Emerging trend of group travelling and budget travelling involving more and more people in traveling activities.

Tax structure of UAE favors business personales

Threats:- Being a secondary business activity travel agency business is affected by many factors like boom and crisis in other business activities, war and disturbances, natural calamities etc.

The travel industry will be affected in a negative way by a slump in the economy.

The terrorist activities in a geographical area will badly affect the travel relative business in that area.

Entrance of other service provider in the area of operation

Low fair no frill cheap airlines are the threat to the travel agency business as they give facilities for the travelers to make their own arrangements for travel

Latest trend of home entertainment like TV watching, etc has a negative impact on travel agency business.

Marketing Plan of a Travel Agency To make a marketing plan for a travel agency the study of following factors is considered to be essential:-

Situation analysis.

Market needs.

Market trends.

Market growth.

Market summary.

Situation Analysis:- The analysis of the basic needs of the traveling market according to the situation is the primary need of a travel agency. It must be realized that the trends in the travel activities are ever changing and their analysis is always necessary to make program according to the situation.

Market Needs:- The market needs in traveling may vary according to the clients. The needs of a wealthy client may be entirely different from those of a budget traveler.

Selection: – The selection of services according to the need of the client is a basic and essential recruitment of travel agency business.

Accessibility:- The services and products of a travel agent must be accessible for its target client.

Customer attention:- Contemporary business ethics follow the principle of customer delight

FEE Structure: With emergence of low cost budget airlines commission of travel agency has been affected badly compelling them to impose fee. The service fee of a travel agency should be such that it should not be taken as a bitter pill by the client.

MARKET TREND IN TRAVEL AGENCY BUSINESS:-

Holiday making is the main reason of travelling worldwide. The second reason of travelling is business tours. For holiday making a traveler usually prefers an inbound tourism while a business tours may be both inbound and outbound according to the need of the business. Emerging medical tourism usually has an outbound dimension. With the growth of economy after last recession tourism is again gaining popularity as a leisure activity globally. Over 922 million international tourist was recorded in 2008 with a growth of 1.8% compared to 2007.However 2009and 2010 have felt a dip due to global slowdown and threat imposed by H1N1 influenza virus. A WTM report in November 2010 has announced a slow recovery of travel industry after the crisis. A report by Euro monitor International, a leading market trend analysis firm gives an insight into the upcoming trend of travelers in near future. There are seven regions of focus in travelling sector.

North America

UK

Europe

Middle East

Africa

Asia

Latin America

NORTH AMERICA: -The trend in North America is called as that of deprivation holidays The clients enroll themselves in boot camps with an aim to improve their health and balance. This trend has a positive impact on growth of spas and camps.

UK: – The trend of travelling in UK is that of Middle East Investment. Many companies from Middle East have shown their interests in Brands of UK including Luxury hotels, private jet operators and travel retailers(travel agency) with London emerging as a Hot spot for the luxury travelers .

EUROPE: – In Europe the business travelers have revolutionalised the tourism business with Smartphone’s based on GPS . It was their need to take help of mobile travel technology to make last minute change of their schedule which compel them to use mobile applications offering such services like flight booking ,travel guide, tourist information etc.

Middle East:- this region is seeing a post Iraq war boom with support by GCC countries . Gulf investors are coming in Iraq with an upward trend in business tourism and revival of travel industry

Africa:- South Africa is fast developing as world hub for world class space technology and astronomy. There is a growth potential for astrotourism attracting all classes of travelers from independent ones to families, amateur astronomers to professional ones creating more and more demand for accommodation to observe clear night sky.

Latin America:- Latin Americas is characterized by poor infrastructure for travelling and lack of tourism services resulting in a slump of travel agency business . Due to vast territory Latin America has countless opportunities for travel agencies for travelers interested in exploring the interiors of this geographically isolated area.

Asia:- Asian countries are characterized by emotional touch in hospitality business creating a special type of brand loyalty. Different hotel locations use different scent s as brands.

MARKET GROWTH;- An average 4% growth of tourism industry has been anticipated by World Tourist Organization(UNWTO) . e- commerce has made the tourism products one of the most traded business items on the internet. New products have also been added to the list of high-tech facilities like space tourism ,airship hotels ,space elevators and hydropolis(underwater hotels).All these have a direct and positive impact on travel agencies.

GROWTH OF TOURISM IN TOP 10 COUNTRIES (Period 2006-2009)

Rank

Country

Regional

Market

International

Tourism

Receipts

(2009)

Tourism

Receipts

(2008)

Tourism

Receipts

(2007)

Tourism

Receipts

(2006)

1

USA

North America

$93.9 bln

$110.0 bln

$97.1 bln

$85.8 bln

2

Spain

Europe

$53.2 bln

$61.6 bln

$57.6 bln

$51.1 bln

3

France

Europe

$49.4 bln

$55.6 bln

$54.3 bln

$46.3 bln

4

Italy

Europe

$40.2 bln

$45.7 bln

$42.7 bln

$38.1 bln

5

China

Asia

$39.7 bln

$40.8 bln

$37.2 bln

$33.9 bln

6

Germany

Europe

$34.7 bln

$40.0 bln

$36.0 bln

$32.8 bln

7

UK

Europe

$30.0 bln

$36.0 bln

$38.6 bln

$34.6 bln

8

Australia

Oceania

$25.6 bln

$24.8 bln

$22.3 bln

$17.8 bln

9

Turkey

Europe

$21.3 bln

$22.0 bln

$18.5 bln

$16.9 bln

10

Austria

Europe

$19.4 bln

$21.6 bln

$18.9 bln

$16.6 bln

Source: The world tourism organization report

**bln : Billion

TOP SPENDER COUNTRIES ON TOURISM
Rank
Country
Regional
Market
International
Tourism
Expenditures
(2009)
International
Tourism
Expenditures
(2008)
International
Tourism
Expenditures
(2007)
International
Tourism
Expenditures
(2006)

1

Germany

Europe

$81.2 bln

$91.0 bln

$83.1 bln

$73.9 bln

2

United States

North America

$73.2 bln

$79.7 bln

$76.4 bln

$72.1 bln

3

United Kingdom

Europe

$50.3 bln

$68.5 bln

$71.4 bln

$63.1 bln

4

China

Asia

$43.7 bln

$36.2 bln

$29.8 bln

$24.3 bln

5

France

Europe

$38.5 bln

$41.4 bln

$36.7 bln

$31.2 bln

6

Italy

Europe

$27.9 bln

$30.8 bln

$27.3 bln

$23.1 bln

7

Japan

Asia

$25.1 bln

$27.9 bln

$26.5 bln

$26.9 bln

8

Canada

North America

$24.2 bln

$27.2 bln

$24.7 bln

$20.6 bln

9

Russia

Europe

$20.8 bln

$23.8 bln

$21.2 bln

$18.1 bln

10

Netherlands

Europe

$20.7 bln

$21.7 bln

$19.1 bln

$17.0 bln

Organizations of travel agencies

For obvious reasons various organizations of travel agencies were formed by their members.

Following is a brief account of impotents associations and organizations of travel agencies:-

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA):- This is a legal organization establis

When in a hotel there are jobs for all levels where the front office manager job and responsibilities,assistant managers jobs and responsibilities, the front desk representatives job and responsibilities, the night auditor job and responsibilities, the cashiers jog and responsibilities. If all the job and responsibilities are done correctly the hotel will be successful in the hotel industry. However if a poor job is done the hotel will face failure and bankruptcy there for it is important for the staff to achieve there job and responsibilities to secure a successful business.

Front Office Manager

The front office manager is in charge of maintaining a high level of efficiency among all the front office staff, to make effective decisions regarding reservations policies and room assignments, and handle guest problems and complaints with courtesy and tact. The manager must also maintain an open communication between all other departments of the hotel. The front office manager must assign duties to all staff members of the front office. He is in charge of preparing weekly work schedules and shift assignments, scheduling regular staff meeting to make sure that staff understand what they have to do and all the hotel policies. The manager must also hire and train all new employers, consistently overview the performance of each the new staff members. The front office manager must also define the reservation policies and set quotas, aiming for maximum room occupancy. The manger must also monitor all arrivals, departures and cancellations. And setting policies for no-shows, early arrivals, and over booking.

Assistant Front Office Manager

The assistant front office manager is there to aid the department manager who is responsible for coordinating front desk personnel, monitoring all guests’ accounts and payments, and authorized checks and credit procedures.

Also the assistant manager may assist the front desk staff during high peak periods. Other duties of an assistant manager are to review reservation for the day and preparing daily room occupancy forecasts. For a manager an front office manager may have have a lot of work to do so as a front office assistant manager he is to help the manager with extra work that needs to be done. Along with helping desk staff if the are to many customers wanting lodgeing. There for needing patience.

Front Desk Representatives.

Front desk representatives are the main for who are always reminded to always show to the personality of the hotel to all the guests, to be a front desk representative you must strong communication skills along with the ability to work with people. Front desk representatives must use diplomacy, courtesy, and warmth in order to successfully make a guest feel welcome. They must also deal with client’s problems and complaints. Also to directly work with clients of the hotel. Working at the front desk they have an important role of assigning rooms and maintain maximum occupancy. The front desk is responsible for verifying reservation information, checking credit card identification and authorization, assigning rooms, and dispensing room keys. Other duties are to provide information about facilities and policies, handling special guest requests, such as photocopies, and gift purchases. A front desk representative must always be polite warm and understanding around customers. Giving there full attention to customers. A customer does not like to be keept waiting. And also must highlight their experience in the hotel.

The night auditor.

A night auditor has two jobs to do where first he must do all the jobs as a front office representative. Secondly he or she must prepare a machine balance report. Typically, a night auditors shifts run from 11 pm until 7 am. When the front desk responsibility slackens usually the night auditor starts to audit or trace the posting of the previous day’s transactions to verify their accuracy. The main point is the night auditor must calculate the total charges owed to the hotel and incurred by guests during the previous day. They must determine the daily balance. To be a night auditor one must be good with numbers along with having all the skills needed to be a front office representatives. A night auditor is one of the most tireing jobs in a hotel. Because work is based at night until early morning. As for most people wont want to work as a night auditor.

Cashiers

The cashiers are responsible for checking out departing clients, posting charges, verifying the guest check, and handling payments. Cashiers may also be required to assist other members of the front desk staff in the performance of their duties. And vice versa. Cashiers are responsible for verifying payments from customers who are about to check out. Also they must calculate the charges and presenting the guest check. They are considered members of the accounting department who answer to the accounting manager. And finally they have other duties, such as sorting mail, handlingguest’s communications, and coordinating room status and reports. A cashier is responsible for handeling all the income for a hotel so its necessary that a cashier is knowledgeable about accounting. And also if asked to help the front office staff with their dutys so there for must have good people skills to be able to communicate sucessufly with a customer.

Being a cashier one must always respecta customer along with getting all your taskes fulfilled.

Reservationist

The reservationist is responsible for handling advance room requests, determining availability, quoting rates, and documenting reservations. Reservation systems range from simple forms that are organized like desk calendars to computer-based systems. A reservationist must have good knowledge of the rooms, rates, and hotel policies. In addition, arithmetic and computer skills may be required. A reservationist is responsible for reciving all reservations and dealing with the accordanly. But mst make sure that all reservations are below 70% because that is the limit that a hotel and reserve for customers. Because if a hotel reserves 100% of the hotel and most the guests don’t come they will lose customers and income. A reservationist must know how to deal with a customer, say when when you can and know how to reject a customer if the hotel has already reserved 70% of rooms in the hotel.

Telephone Operator

A telephone operator is responsible for coordinating the use of the telephone system of a large hotel. An operator answers all incoming telephone calls and directs the callers to the appropriate guest room, department, or staff member. In addition, operators may be required to direct house calls placed from inside the hotel. Operators must have an up to date directory of the guest’s room assignments. This position requires oral communication skills, an efficient telephone technique, and attention to detail. A telephone is required to know how to transfer calls to all rooms in the hotel and know how to make house bound calls from within the hotel. A telephone operator must answer the phone with a smile talk with a gental tone to all guests. It is important that a telephone operatormust have full knowledge on how to do his job.

CONCLUSION

The Work of a hotels front desk staff is important they are responsible of first impressions and must always treat guests like royalty. To do so they must always meet their jobs critiera where a front office manager is responsible for looking out on staff giving a weekly work schedule, high level of efficiency infront of all staff, be able to make decisions, and must always have communications with all deparments of the hotel. A assistant front office manager is to help the manager with tasks needed. Coordanating front desks opperations the assistant front desk manager has the responsibility to train all new employees. The front desk representative are the one who serve guests, they must always be polite and carry a smile at all times. Being a front desk representative you need be to able to communicate with customers successfully. The night auditor is responsible of 2 jobs first he is a front dest representative then when customers stop coming normaly around 1 he must calculate all income from the day. cashiers are the ones who deal with the money that guest pay before check out. The also can assists the front office representative with their work. They are considered as members of the accounting department.working under the supervision of the accounting manager.

Reservationist are basicly the ones who deal with reservations from customers. Determining availability, quoting rates and documenting reservations. The telephone operator is in charge of handeling all calls, and directing the calls to guests rooms, staff members or department. The also may have to direct house calls placed from within the hotel.

QUESTION 2

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

INTRODUCTION

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

When working in a hotel as a front office representative you must have special skills to attract customers. From being able to have a good first impression, giving a smile to customers. Good interpersonal and communication with customers. being able handle stress properly. Having knowledge of phone lines, having knowledge of computers. Being polite and always showing warmth to all customers. Being polite, being courteous, having patience with all troubleing customers. Being helpful to all the customers. When having learned all these skills it will be easy to attract customers to the hotel. Being polite and warm to all customers. When all of these skills are used correctly for sure that all Customers will feel wanted and important by the hotel. Then wanting to come again on holiday. Resulting in a successful hotel. All this is needed for a front office staff.

When working in a hotel customers will want to feel like they are wanted by the hotel. Since customers are paying for their stay they will want the perfect service where all customers want to be able to stay their holiday in peace. To do so the staff must always show that they are wanted.

A good first impression,

A good first impression can go a long way. The way you dress, the way your hair is tied for girls, your hair style for guys, how u say hello to a customer. The way you present your self is important because a customer does not want to be served by someone who looks unpresentable. So dressing correctly and having a decent hairstyle is important to attact customers. Therefor staff members must always have a correct uniform on and is presentable to all customers. First impressions can also be seen from how you greet a customer. A simple hello and a smile would be enough. And must also remember regular customers by name. It makes them feel as if they are all wanted and remembered by the hotel. So making sure that all staff are dressed correctly and know how to greet a customer properly. Good interpersonal and communication with customers. Again all staff must be able to communicate with customers well. Making sure that the customers fully enjoy their stay. Being interpersonal and having good communication with all customers is important to have in a hotel to make it successful.

Being able handle stress properly.

Every staff member of a hotels front office must always remember that they must not show their personal problems inside the hotel. If in a bad mood or if angry when a customer comes they must not show their emotions towards them. As for a argument might escalate. However if one has a personal problem that is hard to control tell your supervisor to let u have a break or the day of. As for personal problems are part of life and cant be helped. But if a small matter they wont. And you will have to hide your emotions inorder to satisfy the customer. And if a troubleing customer comes that might be rude or disrespectful one must always ignore what he/she says just to please the customer. Hold your emotions. Until later when can release them freely. So having control over stress and emotons is important for front office staffs. To ensure that customers are treated correctly and avoid any problems.

Being polite and always showing warmth to all customers.

When working in a hotel as a front office staff it is important to always be polite to all customers, politeness is one of the main things to remember when serving a customer. Being rude will show that the hotel does not care about the customers. Even when the customer is wrong the staff must always respect the customer and remember that the customer is always right. When outside ad out of uniform you can say what you want. But when inside of the hotel or wearing the uniform you must respect all customers and always be polite to all the customers.

Showing warmth to customers is important being able to show the customer that they are wanted. Try void body contact a customers would not think well some some one they don’t know hugging them. A simple thank you or a smile would be enough to show a customer that they are wanted in the hotel.

Being courteous.

Courtsy is a form of politeness saying that you for your stay will show your customer that their business is appreciated in a hotel. Always remember that inside a hotel staff must always show courtsy to all customers even if a customer is rude or abnoixous but they are all customers of the hotel and for a hotel to be a success the hotel must have customers so being courteous is important for a hotel. Every hotel must remember to make sure that their front office staff are show courtsy to all customers.

Having patience with all troubleing customers.

Patience is important for every employee in a hotel. If its being patient with your boss or more importantly being patient around a troubling customer. A customer way be annoying, rude, disrespectful or just an overall pain. But it’s the job of a front desk employee to make sure that the customer enjoys their stay. Patience is the key for success as they say. Every employee must be able to handle a customer, have patience with troubling customers and know how to treat all customers correctly.

This having being said every front office manager must always remember to train all staff in ways to communicate with customers to successfully gain their business. Every employee shold be kind to all customers, talk in a soft tone to each and every customer

And always make sure that the customer is pleased when checking into room and checking out. Make sure that their stay is a plesent one.

CONCLUSION

Every employee must have a special set of skills to make sure that a customers stay is plesent. So a manager must always make sure that the acting supervisor is coorectly training staff to handle customers correctly. By making sure that the employees all know how to communicate with a customer correctly and efficiently.

Making sure that all employees are warm and kind hearted to all current and future customers, enable to sustain current customers and attract potential customers to the hotel. Making sure that customers have no complaints with employees attitude,

A good first impression goes along way where all employees know how to dress correctly and look presentable to all customers for the hotel. Being presentable means having the correct uniform and a decent hairstyle nothing to crazy.

Being able to handle stress is important to for all employees where they must not show their unhappy mood to customers. Customers don’t want to see your attitude.

Being courteous to all customers is something every employee must remember. A customer is the income for a hotel. And the reason you work there. So always show customer courtsy.

Being able to handle troubleing customers is important. Some time customers can be un-understanding, a employee need to be able to handel a troubling customer easily.

Bibliogaphy

http://www.ehow.com/facts_5538984_hotel-office-manager-job-description.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_Duties_and_responsibilities_of_front_office_manager_in_hotel

http://www.paycheck.in/main/work-and-pay/women-paycheck/job-outlook-2/front-office-staff-receptionist-in-hotels-1

http://www.wowjobs.co.za/job/Oops.aspx