Category: Free Essays

Tourism is becoming the worlds largest industry and it is being recognized that tourism must preserve and protect the environment and natural attractions so that people will continue to travel, and must set use limits so that sites will be truly sustainable [1] . However tourism, as well as bringing improvements in areas such as the economy, also has the power to destroy the environment. Impressive examples of this are hotels and other accommodation establishments, which contribute to almost a quarter of tourism emissions in general (21%) [2] . Recently, tourists have started to become more interested in the environmental impacts of their travels, and thus the tourism and hotel industry has started to pay more attention to the protection of the environment.

2. LITERATURE REVIEWS

Considering the complexity and wideness of the topic, in order to implement a plan to save costs and reduce consumption a good research and documentation about the subject is required. This issue has become an actual problem which is being discussed in many journal and magazine articles. Firstly, it is necessary to find adequate information to quantify in statistics and explain in detail the history of this issue and describe it. For this section 2 university texts were used: Goeldner, C. R. Ritchie, J. R. B. (2009). Tourism Principles, Practices, Philosophies (11th Ed.) New York: Wiley and Sons., Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation in the Tourism Sector Frameworks, tools and practices. An International Seminar focusing on Developing Countries and Small Island States. (April 2008) Oxford, United Kingdom. Moreover, a small research was carried out on the internet using some websites which talk about tips and suggestions adopted in this sector.

3. ECO-FRIENDLY MEASURES

A strategic planning and implementation of policies, that pay attention to the costs, bring benefits not only the environment but also to the hotel itself. By observing methods and techniques of sustainability, immediate economic objectives can be achieved, but the most important thing is that the measures implemented are for the long-term. Consequently, every manager should be familiar of what are the environmental and energy aspects of its business/organization in order to improve upon them and reduce waste and costs. To achieve this goal, a seaside superior hotel needs to change its habits and introduce innovations that use natural resources or transform their systems in low-power systems as seen in some example reported below.

3.1 Natural resources

The use of natural resources is the cheapest measure. Correspondingly, there are a number of systems to minimize emissions which use simple methods that simultaneously may also reduce costs. Firstly, an accommodation should install large sun-facing windows or skylights on facades and celling. In this way, during the day, electricity consumption is minimized because the natural daylight filters throughout the windows, thus reducing the need for artificial lights. Conversely, it is important that this type of glass maintains a cool temperature inside because this could be a problem during the summer period.

Secondly, solar panels can be installed to harness solar energy. Indeed they use the sun’s energy and transform it into useful energy and heat for human activities.

Considering that we need to analyze a hotel on the seaside, the accommodation could also benefit from exploiting the sea with simple structures that support the main goal of becoming an eco-friendly hotel. Some example of how this is possible can be taken from the Hilton hotel in Malta; the only eco-friendly hotel that achieved the European eco-label certification. In the same way a hotel on the seaside could take advantage of this and with a process of desalination in an osmosis system, this type of water can be used as drinking water. In addition, sea water desalinated can be used for cooling (in summer) or heating (in winter) for the hotel. Thus it decreases the need of fossil fuels. Furthermore, this used water could be cleaned in a biological purification plant and together with harvested rainwater be used for toilet flushing and irrigation of the gardens. Although initially these systems can have high costs, in the future they will significantly reduce consumptions and costs of the accommodation.

3.2 Waste disposal

Another fundamental measure in an eco-hotel is waste management and recycling. This is a strategy that reuses waste instead of disposes of it. Recycling avoids the waste of potentially useful materials, reduces the consumption of raw materials, and reduces the use of energy, and therefore the emission of greenhouse gases. This method is very simple to implement. It is important that in each and every place of the hotel (kitchen, restaurants, rooms, offices, public areas etc…) recycling bins are provided. In the office, they can minimize the paper size and replace the normal print ink with soy-based ink which pollutes less. Also plastic laundry bags can be replaced with cloth bags. After this step managers must familiarize staff and guests with this measure by offering products that contain recycled material such as newspaper, magazine and organic bags.

3.4 Maintenance

As stated in the introduction, all this behaviors and systems must be long-lasting and the only way to achieve this objective is maintenance. First of all, all the guestsaa‚¬a„? rooms must be controlled for infiltration of hot and cold air throughout windows and doors. Then air conditioners and heaters need an annual maintenance which checks if there are problems and if the room temperature is acceptable for each season. All the bulbs need to be replaced with energy saving light bulbs that further reduce costs. Subsequently, also office and restaurants must be regularly monitored with zero-cost measures. Some examples could be allowing hot food to cool before storing in refrigerators and freezers, not overloading refrigerators, regularly clean fans, verify if doors fit and close correctly and defrosting freezers frequently since frost build ups reduce efficiency. Those are all zero-cost actions that should reduce environmental problems, costs and consumptions.

3.3 Staff and guest education

At the end, the staff and guests should be educated about these eco-friendly measures. With simple gestures, tourists can limit energy consumption and be more aware of protecting the environment and reducing pollution. For example, tourists can pay attention to reduce the use of water when it is not necessary, can use and heating and A.C. with consideration, pay attention to the waste disposal and always remember to turn off the lights. The last action mentioned can also be supported with sensors, installed by the hotel, that automatically turn off lights and air conditioning once the guest has left his room. On the other hand staff can collaborate for other type of eco-friendly measures. For instance, in restaurants, waitress can reduce emissions levels promoting national wine and food (e.g. seafood) because usually international food is imported by air. In addition , members of the hotel can distribute brochures and allow fieldtrip visits to their back of house to promote this system not only to customers but expand it to all those who are interested in protecting the environment.

4. REASONS

If we examine the causes of the growing interest in eco-tourism, there is a wide range of possible answers. The main reasons are the protection of the environment and saving more money from the hotels. In addition, those who use these systems and achieve these goals are rewarded with international and European certifications such as Ecolabel certification. It is granted only to hotels with systems of environmental excellence that respect ecological and performance criteria established. These criteria are then reviewed and where necessary, improved by providing better environmental quality of services. Moreover, tourists are starting to worry about the consequences that their journey can bring to the environment and in this way as Thomas Tanzilli, director of Federalberghi Rome said “Besides the environmental issue, it has also become a commercial problem.” After that tourists are interesting in this type of tourism for a big numbers of reasons such as:

The presence of local biological food with 0 kilometers

People are tired of conventional tourism and they want to seek new challenges.

international aid and incentives arise to support tourism projects for the purpose of environmental protection

eco-tourism accommodations became more affordable and accessible

There is an increase in travel for educational purposes.

Finally, in thinking people is maturing an increasing awareness that environmental conservation is not the only reason, but it can also bring economic benefits.

5. CONCLUSION

In recent years this great way to reduce environmental pollution through hotels has been promoted in many ways from important tourism organizations such as The World Tourism Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In addition, the habits of tourists who stay in hotels are changing. In fact, with Advertising put aa‚¬aˆ?aa‚¬aˆ?specially in the rooms of the hotel, the guest feels responsible towards helping the environment and working with the whole staff. To conclude, eco-tourism is not simply constructed by systems and environmental measures implemented by the hotel, but it is a set of attitudes that all components of that particular hotel should assume both inside and outside the building.

Tourism is one of many human activities in a community or region, and has the idea as a private and public sector activity and especially as an area of government intervention that requires planning and coordination. On the one hand, tourism is also one many activities in an area that must be considered as part of economic, physical, environmental, and social planning. Thereby, it is very important in ensuring that the tourism industry can thrive and develop by trying to maximize all these valuable aspects and to develop comprehensive tourism planning at a community or region. This discussion paper will be mainly discussing about the different approaches to tourism planning and the tourism planning framework for the development of tourism in the destination region of the Central Highlands of the Island. The overall framework in this paper consists of the appropriate steps to be taken in the planning process and in a way to achieve successful planning and development in the destination region, the guiding principles in the planning, and several issues to be considered in the planning.

2.0 Critical review of approaches to tourism planning

Based on Getz (1987) there are four different approaches of tourism planning at the destination level can be recognized according to the values that support the planning or policy activity include boosterism, economic, physical/spatial, and community-oriented that emphasizes the role the destination community plays in the tourism development and experience. Then to these four approaches, Hall (1998) added an additional approach of sustainable planning. Each of tourism planning approach differs in its underlying assumptions about planning, and their strengths and weakness that play in the tourism development. The following describes the strengths and weaknesses for each approach.

2.1 Boosterism

Boosterism is one of the tourism planning approaches that have attitude towards tourism development which is inherently ‘good’ and will provide benefit to the hosts destination. This approach also characterized as being part of an attitude to the development of ‘growth’ is good and any negative impact of tourism development will be dominated by positive benefits. From this approach perspective the primary planning problem is one of how to attract as many people as possible to a given location or destination. Boosterism approach however, doesn’t take into account or involves their host community in the decision making process, planning and policy process surrounding the tourism developments. Yet it is still being adopted by governments and politicians to promote tourism growth, regional economic diversification and employment creation.

This attitude approach towards tourism development is seen as to give benefits to the host destination and community which can bring higher living standards to a destination and improves quality of life of the people especially in the developing countries. Tourism development could improves quality of life ,as it supports the creation of community facilities and services, through the provision of better or upgraded infrastructure, facilities, services, transport, health, better quality of commodities and food. The indirect benefit of tourism development will also increase job opportunities towards the whole community and at the same time boost up the country’s economy. However on the other hand, since this approach does not involved residents of the tourist destinations in the tourism development plan and policy, and decision making process, thus there will be lack of public or community participation in the local tourism development. The tourism development tend to benefit more on the government instead of the local community because the community has no power to make their own decisions in the tourism planning and therefore it will not encourage them to participate and does not allow them to share tourism benefits with the wider community.

2.2 Economic

The second approach of tourism planning is the economic (industry-oriented approach). It is an approach that aims to promote economic growth and development in a destination, as well apply the use of marketing and promotion to attract visitors. The economic approach emphasizes more on the economic impacts of tourism and the most efficient and effective use of tourism to create income and employment benefits for the regions, communities, and countries as a whole. The main strengths of this planning approach are as it is mainly focuses on the economic impacts of tourism, it believes that tourism development is becomes a key driver of economic growth or will boost the country’s economy through the creation of employment, generation of foreign exchange earnings, contribution of government revenues, stimulation or improvement of infrastructure investment, and the create contribution to the local economy. Yet there are some weaknesses from this approach which it doesn’t take into account environmental concerns and social issues which means there is limited attention is given towards the environmental and social impacts brought about by tourism. Another weakness would be the high satisfaction of tourists result from tourism development and the positive attitudes towards tourists in host communities are unknown.

2.3 Physical/Spatial

The physical/ spatial approach to tourism planning considers tourism as a form of land use to be managed using spatial strategies and regarded as having an ecological base with a resultant need for development to be based upon certain spatial patterns, capacities or thresholds that would minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the physical environment. The key planning approaches from this perspective include carrying capacity, hazard and risk assessment, resource and landscape evaluation, resource appraisal and allocation, decision making and evaluation and the development of appropriate institutional arrangements. While the main point of this approach is to control and maintain the capacities, land use and the number of physical infrastructure being built for tourism, so it won’t exceeds the environmental and social carrying capacities of the destination. As a result, it will help to minimize the negative environmental impacts resulting from tourism development.

Besides, a well planned physical destination with structured design and layout would also attract visitors to visit a destination as it can provide a good and open space for tourists. Other strengths would be the increase protection towards the environment due to the less land being use and it keep the sustainability of tourism. The weakness of this approach is if the number of infrastructure, buildings, and capacities are being controlled, thus economically the destination unable to maximize their profit from the result the inability to fulfill the high demand of tourism to build more attractions. Limited attention is also given to social and cultural attributes of the destination.

2.4 Community

Community tourism planning approach is focuses on the social and political context within which tourism occurs and it advocates greater local community control over the development process. Under this approach, community is considered as the focal point or actor that encourages the development process of the tourism and seeks for public participation in a destination in order to enhance their economic livelihoods while protecting their cultural values, and preserving the natural environment.

Community planning approach which implies a high degree of public participation in tourism planning process, highly involved the community in the decision making and planning process, as well as in the sharing of tourism benefits and in the sharing of tourism profits with the wider community. Therefore, the main strengths of this community based approach in terms of its benefits, will likely to create and increased employment opportunities available to the locals as more community being involved in the process while it also contributes positively in the improvement on household income and general quality of life through the extent of contribution vary from one aspect to another. Moreover, public participation is also to design tourism development in such a way that it is intended to benefit the local community and to encourage them to participate in their own development through mobilizing their own resources, defining their needs and making own decisions about how to meet them. Then if the government is being supportive and let the community to take a large part of the decision making for tourism, there will less conflict arises between the government and community, and if problem arises the community would be able to make decisions and solve it on their own. Bringing educational elements towards the whole community is also one of the strength of community approach. The locals likely to be educated and trained in order to improve their knowledge about tourism and as a results it will help them to recognize and conserve their local culture, natural resource values, and creating a good image about the destination. Tourists who come from different parts of the world will also encourage the locals to interact and provide cultural exchange between hosts and tourists, at the same time it also gives the opportunities for the locals to learn foreign language and lead to a better understanding of cultural differences and build tolerant attitude towards foreigners.

On the other hand, there are weaknesses of this approach in terms of the barriers or the difficulties in implementing a community approach to tourism planning in tourist destination. The major difficulties or barriers to incorporating public participation in tourism planning can include the lack of financial and human resources in the tourism sector especially in the developing country. Resources at the local level may not enough to finance the present scale of tourism development and therefore it will lead to discourage community participation in the tourism planning. Then generally the public may have difficulty in understanding complex and technical planning issues, not always aware the decision making process, and the difficulty in maintaining representativeness in the decision making process due to the lack of knowledge, experiences and possible conflicts that may arise between cultures. In addition, there is also need for the government to be able to manage the involvement of the community that aims to achieve the desired result however it does not give the impression to the community of being control by the government. Power should also be distributed evenly within a community so that some groups or individuals will not have the ability exert greater influence over the planning process than others.

2.5 Sustainable

The sustainable approach towards tourism is an integrative form of tourism planning which brings together economic, environmental (physical/spatial), and socio-cultural (community) planning methods. This approach seeks to provide lasting and secure livelihoods which minimize depletion of resources, environmental degradation, cultural disturbance and social instability. It also concern about both inter and intra-generational equity which in sustainable development it means that we should not only concerned with the maintenance of ‘environmental capital’ (Jacobs, 1991) but also the maintenance and enhancement of social capital (Healey, 1997). The main strengths of sustainable approach are include long term protection of environment resources since it focuses on tourism development which try to avoids damage on the environment, economy, and cultures of a tourist destination as well as provides positive experience for host community tourism industry and the tourist itself. As a result of these, it will also lead to the preservation of essential ecological processes, give beneficial and opportunities for future generation ability to use the resources and enjoy the same situation as now, protection of human heritage and biodiversity, improve economic benefits to support sustainable tourism, and it also benefit the communities by providing more employment opportunities and the improvement of standard of living.

The weaknesses of this sustainable approach are include the overprotecting the resources will result that the tourists unable to enjoy or being satisfied with the overall tourism experiences, for instance tourists might have high expectation when they travel to the tourism site, yet they are not allowed to connect to the environment thus their perception will be lower because it doesn’t meet their high expectation, and become very unsatisfied. Besides, by adopting sustainable tourism approach could also create conflict between public and private sectors in terms of having different views and perspective on sustainable planning. Public sector might want to save and maintain the environment while private sector wants to gain more economic benefit in having less concern on sustainable tourism benefits. Sustainable tourism approach could also be difficult to achieve and has been often criticized for its contradictory goals that never achieved, as it requires cooperation and coordination between industry and the manager of destinations, and the needs to build consumer and producer awareness.

3.0 A review of the main issues or challenges that tourism planners face

As millions more people travel and to seek for personal rewards from their experiences, the massive development of tourism resources is the consequences (Gunn, 2002). The various activities that tourists engage in a tourism destination are important and expanding aspect of the tourist industry in which it creates huge development for tourism in a destination and provides tourism benefits in many ways. Thus, it is now recognized that planning is necessary for tourism to develop, to be managed in a controlled, integrated, and sustainable manner in such a ways that would lead to enhancing the benefits derived from tourism. By using this planned approach to design of all tourism development, it allows tourism to generate economic, social, and environmental benefits to the host community and any negative impacts results from tourism can be minimized.

Moreover, planning for tourism can be a challenge regarding to the several main issues, complication or challenge that tourism planner may face in trying to plan tourism. Besides, due to the rapid growth and complication nature of tourism have made it difficult for planners to apply even the most fundamental of research findings and recommendations for improved tourism. Based on Claire A. Gunn (2004) described the prospects for tourism planning in term of the key issues and concerns in the field of tourism planning in which the issues include the poor understanding of the need for planning, the lack of systems planning, poor organizational integration, and lack of tourism literacy.

The first issue of poor understanding of the need for planning refers to the unclear understanding or different assumptions on tourism planning that seen as the unncecessary interference in market driven development. Investors and developers might seen a opportunity to build various kinds of attractions or tourism related places in the destination to increase tourism development. Then tourism promoters usually belief that all development is positive by bringing better employment and economic benefits and continually to attract tourists. However, this merely a half truth even though tourism development can provide economic benefit but the undestanding on plannning doesn’t take into account that tourism growth also create negative impacts in which it creates more demand for new investment to build more attractions as a result may lead to increased in pollution, and destroyed natural landscape. The high volume of visitor in the destination could also have reduce the local quality of life, and forcing long time residents to move. Hence, these issues requires new plannig techniques and planners must cope with the constantly changing environment results from tourism growth.

The second issue is the lack of system planning. Most tourism planners have modeled the fuctioning tourism system which have two main drivers of tourism consist of a demand and a supply side. The five supply side major components include transportation, attractions, services, information, and promotion. They are all interdependent which subject to travel demand and require planning that relates to market trends as well as to physical characteristics of land and resources. The supply side is influenced greatly by many external factors such as the governmental policies, competition, community involvement, entrepreneurship, labor, finance, cultural and natural resources. This way of viewing tourism is oppose to the mindset of tourism as an industry and mostly on the business sector. Understanding of tourism as a system is relatively important and knowing how each part of tourism depends upon each other.

Poor organizational intgration is another issue in the tourism planning in which there are lack of communication and integration between different and separate organizations (suh as in in the business tourism sector there are the hotel organizations, restaurant, attraction, and airline organizations) developed in tourism in tourism planning,. The lack of organizational mechanism is affect the tourism as entirerly. There is a need for better communication aamong many existing tourist organizations in order to gain mutual benefit and assist better understanding of change. Lastly, is the lack of tourism literacy means within parts of tourism all parties are very well knowledgable about their functions and operations. However, there is still remains a lack of understanding among developers and managers considering the full meaning and importance of tourism to them. Due to the tourism illiteracy, community is not well prepared to plan their localities in the best interest of tourism and to protect local lifestyle. Other issue or complication of tourism planning developed by Gunn (2002) is regarding with the worldwide proliferation ofecotourism, acculturation, and the dramatic evoluationary changes in many aboriginal societies. Native populations (non-industrial foundation) could face the dilemma of introducing tourists to their cultural uniqueness and lead them to move into new industrial societies. Thus, it will be difficult for them to plan for tourism development that might generate economic advantages without facing the great internal stress for protection of their cultural heritage and acculturation.

4.0 The Central Highlands of the Island

The Central Highlands of the Island is the chosen destination region to develop tourism planning to encourage tourism development in the destination. The Central Highlands of the Island is a developing country and known for its tourist destination. Despite having a number of potential tourist attractions, the area still have little development on tourism and facing quite number of problems, based on the facts that the country has experienced a number of environmental problems include water pollution and having limited of human and natural resources of fresh water resources and electricity. It also experienced a depressed economy with limited infrastructure and supply accommodation in the central region area.

Besides, the destination has a unique ethnic groups living in the central highlands region and having the majority population of ‘Islandese’, yet several of these ethnic groups are being isolated who have typically been ignored in most government policy exercises. These people also have limited of education background and low levels of languages which can be one reason that discouraged the community participation in the tourism development or make them difficult to participate. However, by experiencing these various conditions the local government should have promote tourism planning to encourage tourism development in the destination by taking account all the tourism resources, organizations, then economic, environmental, and social aspects of tourism development. The government should also need to get involved the local community in the tourism planning process to help support and encourage the tourism development of the destination at the same time intended to benefit the community as a whole and giving them opportunities to participate in their own development. The next part of this paper will be discussing about overall framework on the Central Highlands of the Island which are emphasizes on the steps in the planning process, the set of guiding principles for planning participants and list of issues to be considered in the planning process..

4.1 Steps in the Planning Process

In the tourism planning process, it takes a proactive role in assisting and promoting the implementation of a good quality of development. A large number of groups or individuals including stakeholders, community, and operator are involves in the tourism planning. They conduct various kinds of planning which are include feasibility, marketing, product development, promotion, forecasting, and strategic planning. The following are main series of steps to be taken in the planning process in terms of the tourism development of the Central Highlands of the Region as a tourist destination.

According to Stynes and O’Halloran (1987), there are six steps in the planning process include define goals and objectives, indentify the tourism system (resources, organizations, markets), generate and evaluate alternatives, select and implement, lastly monitor and evaluate. The first step that the destination need to accomplish is to obtain clear statements of tourism development goals and objectives which should acquire more from general community on how they want to achieve specific tourism development, whether the community wants to serves the broader community goals in seeking for better quality of life and to improve living standard. These objectives could be achieved by working together with various groups and organizations in the community. The appropriate types of goals to be achieve and the degree in which tourism is addressed in planning depends on how long the community has been involved in tourism or the importance of tourism to them. Since the Central Highlands region is still in the early stages of tourism development, goals that may want to achieve involve setting up organizational structures and collecting information to have better understanding on the tourism system in the community. Then later throughout the process, more precise objectives can be created.

The second step involve in identifying tourism as a system by breaking it down into three subsystems; tourism resources, organizations, and market. This will refers to how the community in the destination region coordinates their activities toward common goals and striving to achieve certain objectives by matching available resources and programs with the needs and wants of tourists, and identify the availability to be able to serve the tourists and provide opportunities for tourism development. For instance, for tourism resources in the Central Highlands; natural resources which can be used and available for the tourists are climate, scenery, favorable geographic location for shipping trade and high supply of local food and wine, while for cultural resources could be the unique ethnics’ cultures, cultural heritage, archaeological sites, and the local cuisine. Human resources of having a productive labor force and capital resources include the availability of infrastructure (roads, accommodation, utilities of water and electricity) are quite limited. Moreover, the community also needs to recognize and list all the diverse range of public and private sectors in the destination that manage or coordinate tourism activities, and to make all these groups to work together achieving the same goals. Lastly, is to identify the tourism market segments or types of tourists the destination wish to attract and serve.

Furthermore, after the second step moving on to the generating and evaluating alternatives step in tourism planning process. The generating alternatives development and marketing option to meet the goals requires brainstorming. And there are two parts to evaluation of tourism development and marketing alternatives; feasibility analysis, and impact assessment whether it is possible to be done and understand the impacts both positive and negative associated with tourism development. The last critical steps in a tourism plan are the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. As objectives have been set up for the plan, it needs to be implemented through a set of specific actions that should be adopted and developed by the community with clearly defined responsibilities and timetables. Then implementation is should be monitored and evaluated to find out the success of the plan in meeting its goals and objectives. Plans generally still need to be adjusted over time because of changing goals, changing market conditions, unexpected impacts. Thus the most important of all, successful tourism planning and development should able to serve both tourists and host communities. However, tourism should serve the community first since tourism development is closely coordinated and supported by the local population of the destination.

4.2 Guiding Principles for planning participants

Tourism is very important and as the main key driver of economic growth or development tool for the Central Highlands Region, which its future development should therefore be maintained by tourism developers or planners engaging in the tourism planning process. There are set of guiding principles that can be used to support tourism planning which by providing specific policies that need to be developed to suit the particular area of the Central Highlands of the region. The tourism policies which are include in a plan can aim to maximize the benefits of tourism by ensuring that the development able to reach its potential contribution to tourism in the destination at the same time providing benefits for local community. Then it is also to integrate development with its surroundings in terms of design and layout in the way that the facility or service is able to function properly and in order to avoid unexpected impacts such as disturbance to activities. In preparing such policies it require planners to understand a number of important factors which are include market demand, environmental impact, transport and accessibility, functional link, regeneration benefits, and labor supply which all these can be vary for different tourism developments such as for labor supply, the quality and amount of labor will be different from one area to another. Tourism planning generally seeks to place new development where the need for employment exists and to benefit the local population from the various ranges of job opportunities.

4.3 Issues to be considered

In terms of planning tourism development of the Central Highlands destination region, comprehensive planning is required for successful planning and development which involves systematic approach and series of steps that has been mentioned above. In addition, there are still several issues to be considered regarding to tourism planning for tourism development in the destination especially in terms of the complications and issues that tourism planner may encounters. Refer to the previous Claire A. Gunn descriptions of issues or challenges in the field of tourism planning; the major issues that probably face by the tourism planner in the destination are the lack of system of planning and the dramatic evolutionary changes for aboriginal societies and acculturation.

The lack of system of planning can occur in which there is no enough balance between two main drivers of tourism elements both demand and supply. The limited supply in the destination which are include limited infrastructure, accommodation, natural and human resources, as well as tourist attractions would not enough to fulfill the high tourism demand as both elements are dependent on each other. Besides, due to the majority of the island population are ethnic groups and they seems to be distrustful of strangers it will be difficult for the community to develop tourism plan because it requires them adaptation with the industrial societies and they need to decide which areas of the community that will be shared with the tourists and how the community will capture the benefits. Since they need to have a contact with the tourists, it will also lead to modification of the culture as a result of contact of different culture.

5.0 Conclusion

The Central Highlands of the Island which is the main discussion in this paper, as a tourist destination region, still have a very little development on tourism due to the lack or limited of supply and natural resources (fresh water) that are important to support for tourism activities and development. One way is that the local government needs to encourage tourism planning and get involve the community in the process and decision making, and use different approaches of tourism planning that play important role in the tourism development in the region. Thus, planning is necessary for tourism in the area to develop at the same time it will provide benefits for the communities in terms of economic, social, and environmental aspects of tourism. Besides, comprehensive planning should be also applied by involving series of steps to achieve specific objectives of tourism development and highly coordinated with the local community and regional planning efforts. However, there are also some issues or challenges in the tourism planning that planners might face include the lack system of planning and acculturation in the area since the community has to still maintain and protect their strong and unique cultures.

The tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry is defined, not in terms of the production of special types of goods and services, but in terms of the circumstances at which goods and services are consumed. Hence, the sale of a particular good or service to a tourist is “tourist expenditure”. As a result of this difference in concept, this industry overlaps the usual classification of the industries defined according to the goods or services they produce (Luck & Lancaster, 2003)

This research paper analyzes the tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry basing on the economic analysis tools by Porter, Porter (1980) proposed that firms benefit from the understanding of the forces which drive competition and the profitability in their industry, and he specifies that all firms should explicitly formulate a kind of competitor strategy. (Matthews, 2000) in order to understand the competition, a very competitive analysis should be undertaken. The Porter’s model is also referred to as the five forces competitive analysis.

Generally the tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry has a unique business environment which affects all the competitors. According to Porter, five macro factors that influence the industry can be identified in relation to competition; (1) The bargaining power of the customers (buyers). This force shows the strength in the bargaining position, particularly the price, which the buyers have over their suppliers. (2) The bargaining power of the suppliers. The Suppliers, including the employees, influences the attractiveness and the profitability of the sector by increasing the prices (or the wages) thereby increasing the industrial costs and reducing the profit margins. Powerful suppliers are the organizations which control the supply of goods and services to the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry. (3) The threat from the new entrants. The threat from the new entrants is dependent upon the barriers to entry into the industry. This is based on the ability to generate the economies of scale and experience, the opportunities for the product differentiation, the amount of capital which is required to buy into the industry, and access the distribution channels. In the tourism, Leisure and Hospitality, there are low barriers to the entry in most sectors. (4) The threat of the substitutes. The Substitute industries which provide the competing product with offers that perform the same function. The Continual advancement in the technology keeps on changing the potential threat from the substitute products. For instance, the rapid development of the video-conferencing is a substitute product for the hotel meetings.

Introduction

The Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry is an identifiable and nationally important industry. This industry involves a wide cross section of the component activities which includes the provision of the transportation, accommodation, recreation, food, and the related services .Tourism refers to the provision of the transportation, accommodation, recreation, food, and the related services both for the domestic and the overseas travelers. It involves travelling for all purposes, including recreational and business. Hospitality and tourism are certainly two of the most widely used words in the fields of hotels, restaurants, travel, and related areas.

Leisure is a sector that is growing rapidly, with the regular shows and events hosted regularly. Leisure is recognized as the essential factor which contributes to the demand for the tourism and recreation.( Kotler,& Keller, 2006). Leisure is an important factor which contributes to supply. It is therefore the anticipation of leisure which is the operational demand factor, whereas the use of leisure is a factor of supply. The Leisure time is the fundamental resource that is input and consumed in the tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry. The leisure/entertainment events have created employment for thousands of people in a diverse range of roles. This is a multidimensional sector which provides a variety of services in the areas that include the corporate events such as the product launches, press conferences, corporate meetings and the conferences, the marketing programs; road shows and the grand opening events i.e special corporate hospitality events like the concerts, award ceremonies, film premieres, launch/release parties, the fashion shows, commercial events, private events such as the weddings and other parties. The industry also includes fields such as the exhibitions, conferences and the seminars as well as the live music and the sporting events. This research paper analyzes and links the tourism, leisure and Hospitality industry through the provision of the creative, technical and the logistical insights.

Methodology

This research employed a web based survey in gathering data on the industrial analysis. I analyzed several theories that act as the strategic tools for analysis. The instrument was divided into two parts;

The “Descriptive Analysis”, which describes the tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industrial analysis basing on Porters model of analysis.

The “Critical Analysis”, which assesses the extent to which various factors identified by Porter influence the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry.

The contexts for the study were based on the distinctive nature of the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry. Information was collected in the process of evaluation of the influences of the fundamental factors that determine the profitability: Industry structure, that determines the profitability of the average competitor and sustainable competitive advantage that allows a firm to outperform the average competitor” (Porter, 1979).

Analysis of selected industry

This paper examines the five forces which impact competitiveness within and thus the profitability of a competitor in the Tourism, Leisure and the Hospitality industry. From the guidance provided in the Five Factor Model recommendations are made to enhance and refine this industry.

Porter’s Five Factor Model

The five forces that impact on the competitiveness which are outlined in the Porter’s 1980 work are: the barriers to entry, threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of the buyers and sellers, and the rivalry among existing competitors. In considering these factors in light of the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry, the theory provides the best means for analysis. According to Porter each of the above factors has a difference in relevance or impacts differently on the businesses so they are presented below in order of impact. Porter (1980) indicated that the most important determinant of a marketplace’s profit potential is the intrinsic power of the buyers and the sellers.

Threat of Substitute Goods

In the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry there is usually higher chances to start a new business and progress successfully. The firms appear in all price ranges, with variations in the levels of service and the amenities. The constant challenge will always be to get the customers to choose your services over the competitor. With the technological advancements the internet makes the overall market to be more efficient while expanding the size of the potential market and creating the new substitution threats. Given the potency of this industry a superb strategic plan is vital.

The threat is that another firm chain may erode the customer base with a newly formulated internet approach or the marketing campaign. According to Porter the development of a value chain process analysis, supported by the collaborative event management, the structuring and sharing of the customer focused value chain data, powerfully enhances the performance of the value chains and of the electronic commerce.

Bargaining Power of Buyers

Business persons choosing a firm for business in the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry are the savvy consumers and they are at par with the changes in the ability of their consumers. It has become very simple for the consumers to go online and survey on the best firm that offers great services. They no longer need the assistance from the travel agents, the corporate travel consultants or the middle men of any kind to determine where they will get their services. Porter’s model predicts the ability of the buyers bargaining power to elimination the intermediaries.

The Tourists who are the major consumers in the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry are more and more capable of making use of the technological advancements in the means of communication such as the internet to increase their bargaining power thereby creating the fulfillment of Porter’s model. Due to the increased bargaining power of the consumers, they are finding internet businesses websites which will negotiate or discover the bargains for them. These processes shifts the bargaining power to the end user as it had been predicted by the Porter model and these buyer freedom reduces the cost of switching so that the loyalty to a single firm is a thing of the past unless the particular firm uses its one time opportunity when the customer sticks to the firm it deeply impress other customers with a very unique and valuable differentiator.

The Rivalry among existing competitors

The rivalry amongst the competitors in the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry is fierce. When the potential customers learn about a hotel on line, the internet reduces the differences amongst the competitors. Business people tend to seek the best prices for the best experience and the tendency is to reduce the prices to a competitive level. This industry covers wide area so the market is widened which increases the number of the competitors. For example, someone who wants to spend the day in the historic site can easily choose a tourist firm in the nearby town if the amenities or the prices are low. The Variable and fixed costs can be different in the areas which are more expensive to live.

Barriers to Entry

The initial investments in the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry creates quite a barrier to the entry but certain barriers to entering the tourism market are reduced by the internet. The presence on many efficient communication channels reduces the upstart marketing costs somewhat, and gives the new competitors the access to the potential suppliers and the resources. Even a starter in the industry can use the channels of large chains to understand the key marketing concepts and the lures for the customers.

A vital barrier is the differentiation. A firm that can successfully differential itself by the location, service, amenities or other quality has the greatest potential to attract and keep the clients. Another barrier to entry into business in the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry would be the expertise. Unfortunately, in a mobile society employees can leave one firm chain to work in another and they take that expertise in terms of the training given or the experience with them. It is in the areas of expertise and of differentiation that a firm can make the greatest impacts on its clients and thereby on the bottom line. Many established tourism, leisure and Hospitality companies have the synergies between their established business and business channels.

Bargaining power of the suppliers

This is not a substantial threat in the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry it can have the impacts especially in the area of the suppliers. The employees to the firms are the major suppliers, the bargaining power of the labor supply is higher when there are fewer people to fill service section of the industry, and the firms can attract excellent staff and create a chance for providing excellent and exceptional experiences to their clientele. As part of their strategy all the firm chains should have section employee recruitment. The other supplies that are needed by hotels are also easier to attain through internet channels whether originated by the supplier or by the hotel chain. With their products in the greater demand by greater numbers of the firms the suppliers gain more measure of power by competition for their offerings.

Findings about the industry

All of the firms in the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry can benefit from Porters model of analysis because of the applications that produce greater value in the value chain, the industry is dominated by a few large companies. They have the greatest market shares and in most cases they influence the structure and shaping of the industry. The firm’s planning sector can benefit from analysis. They usually aim at making the profit and are usually commercial companies. When they fail to make a profit over a long period of time they are likely to cease trading. These include the parks, restaurants, tour operators and the travel agents. The Human resources can be managed by the analysis as part of the overall strategy as well as the provision for self service personnel and benefits, Value can be increased by standardizing the firms across multiple locations, forming knowledge directories, and allowing real time access to the resources by the consumers. , every firm could benefit by controlling and forecasting systems with suppliers as explained by Porter. These improvements can also lead to greater profitability (Porter, 1980)

Each type of firm needs to identify its unique strengths and the target market and align its strategy to support their identity, the firms’ chains choose to be low cost, or to command the premium price. Distinguishing a firm from the competition becomes vital. This can easily be enhanced by porter’s model, through the superior inputs, through better training of the staff as part of the supplier or through the better management. Differentiation adds value which makes it hard to maintain the distinctive strategic positions of a firm because it eases change to best practices and it improves the operational effectiveness. These distinctions make the business more profitable.

The firms in the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality industry are fragmented. Therefore there is need for a strategy which makes it easier for consumers from far and wider areas to learn about the firms or to order for the services, the consumers must still access the services. It more likely for the profitability to be there for when process is easy to transact and complete. Porter points out similar examples within the industries. Dealing directly is great for the firms. Other than travel agencies who arranged hotel stays the tourism business has always been a face to face business and this normally sustains the economic value of the transactions. For all of the firms’ chains the porter’s model complements rather than cannibalizing the established ways of doing business. Hence it becomes a link in the value chain.

Conclusion

Whether a firm or its chain is well established or brand new, the underlying forces of competition will include: the threat of substitution, bargaining power of the buyers, the intensity of rivalry among competitors, the barriers to entry for new competitors, and the bargaining power of the suppliers helps to determine the profitability shapes its internet presence. When combined, these factors determine the economic value and even the survival. The porter’s model of industrial analysis provides the opportunities for the companies to communicate and establish the unique or distinctive positions for the businesses. In the case of tourism firms this is crucial.

The Porter’s five factor model helps to understand the rise of new ideas and the business firms in the context of the bargaining power of the Buyers. It helps in the understanding of what factors drives the businesses to differentiate themselves. It also helps in explaining why the labor may have greater bargaining power in the firms under the tourism industry; Porter’s concept of the “Bargaining power of Suppliers” determines the strength of the industry.

In reviewing the strategies of firm chains, differentiation is the key component. Some firms have chosen to differentiate by location and by very luxurious experience. Others have differentiated themselves by standardization means and by the price. The firms’ strategies must align with their business strategy in order to produce the desired profitability; Porter’s model leads the way of outlining the issues and the dangers which are inherent in each force.

In this paper, the recommendations for successful industrial analysis are made based on Porter’s model and the implementation of its suggestions could ensure a greater or continued profitability at the time planning and the structuring. This includes not only the customer interaction but also the applications in a variety of areas such as supply chain, the financial and Human Resources to increase the value chain. For the final analysis, however, Porter makes it clear that the model can add value when it is used in conjunction with other good business strategies.

Sri Lanka is one of the most sorts for tourist destinations in the world. It is advantageously situated between West Asia and South East Asia has been a significant stop on the silk route. To express the richness, beauty and the intensity of affection: the visitors addressed the country as Serendib, Ceylon, Teardrop of India, Resplendent Isle, Island of Dharma, and Pearl of the Orient.(Lanka Facts, 2012).

Today, visitors are welcomed to Sri Lanka to experience the nation’s glittering tapestry of culture, and the rich abundance of nature, so handsomely bestowed, and to give credence to the old adage that good things come in small packages. Its landscape orientation especially the Warm Sun kissed Beaches creates mix of opportunities which lead to the final holiday destination. The diversity of temperatures, vegetation and scenery grab a large sense towards Srilanka. It is a most demanding country for lovers of nature and wild life because tourism offers safaris, Treks, Nature walks and Camping that could be a marvelous experience for them. The entire island is swarming with birds and animals. And the animals like elephants and leopards are not scarce. Though foods are not much expensive: they are tasty and the people of the country are very friendly and helpful.This colourful collection act as an indicator of its richness.

All requirements are equipped in the country and it is to be one of the best tourist destinations with absolute peace, political stability and the climatic changes can be seen through beautiful waterfalls, rivers, sceneries, tea estates and many other attractive places. Sri Lanka is owned for a rich heritage and it has a recorded history of more than 2500 years and archaeological sites over 250,000.There are 8 world heritage sites within the country that was approved by the UNESCO and they are the hill capital kandy, the sacred city of Anuradapura, The Dutch fort of Galle, The ancient city of Polonnaruwa, The rock fortress of Sigiriya, The golden rock temple of Dambulla, the beautiful Horton plains and the Singharaja rain forest (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 2011). So, without a doubt a land like Sri lanka cannot be found because it has something to offer for everyone.

The increase of tourism occurred in 2011 and is expected to climb further in the coming years. Colombo the capital city, the Cultural Triangle (Dambulla, Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura), the cities like Kandy and Galle, and most of the southern beach towns which are equipped with good tourist facilities, the roads connecting many of those destinations are improving. The pro of Sri Lanka as a tourism destination is threefold. Firstly, it is a real tourism destination. Secondly, a tourist can travel the whole compact island within few days because it consists only 65,610 square km.Thirdly, it has unparalleled diversity of tourism product. For the ease of communicating the diversity of Sri Lanka in 2010, 8 different products namely; heritage, beaches, wildlife, mind and body wellness, scenic beauty festivals, Essence and sports and adventure are started to position around the country by the tourism authorities. (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 2011). Art and culture, spices, tea, gems, handy crafts and its people are the unique features of Srilanka which are also known as the essence of the country. From the ancient time the travellers and the traders have attracted to Sri Lanka and it is a languorous tropical island of deep spirituality and serenity. Sri Lanka grabbed the Western imagination as the Tahiti of the East.

5.2.1 Institutional structure of tourism industry in Sri Lanka

Tourism industry is under the Ministry of Tourism. Four sections of it are; Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (formed in 2005 by replacing Sri Lanka Tourist Board which was established in 1966), Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, Sri Lanka Institute of Hotel Management and Sri Lanka Convention Bureau. While Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority is responsible for all the tourism development activities, the responsibility of all the marketing and promotional work goes to the Tourism promotion Bureau.

5. 2.1 History of tourism industry in Sri Lanka

Marco Polo mentioned the Sri Lanka as the finest isle in the whole world as a well-known explorer of the 12th century. For European Travellers it had been a immense tourism destination. (Lanka Facts, 2012). However, the year 1966 was a landmark for international tourism in Sri Lanka, with the enactment of the Ceylon Tourist Board Act No. 10 of 1966. The Act provided permission for the establishment of a public authority known as the Ceylon Tourist Board for encouragement, promotion and development of tourist travel to Sri Lanka (Deheragoda 1980). According to this Act, the Board objectives are numerous: establishment of an institute to control the tourist industry, to encourage people to provide an efficient, attractive and adequate service, the encouraging, promotion and development of the travel trade (Deheragoda 1980; Zoysa 1978). After the establishment of the Ceylon Tourist Board, the Sri Lankan tourist industry has systematically developed drawing much foreign exchange into the country (Handaragama, 2010).

From 1966 onwards, the tourist industry gradually inherited results of many mentioned implemented programs for the development of the industry. In 1977 the tourist industry had full attention and support of the government with the introduction of open economic policies and liberalization of the economy, because it was quite a suitable field for the operationalisation of the open economic policies. The tourist industry is gradually developing and reached a milestone in 1983 with ethnic problem with its manifestations particularly in the forms of conflicts in the North and East and bomb explosions in Colombo, threatening the safety of the tourists (Bandara, 2003).

According to ADB (1998), until the early 1980s 76 percent of tourism accommodation in the country is owned and forced by the Hotel Corporation (a semi-privatized formerly state owned body).During this era (between mid-1960s and early 1980s) as a result of the state investments, the tourism accommodation facilities expanded. However, with the introduction of liberalized economic policies in 1977, significant amounts of national and international investments were made to construct the accommodation of tourism, mainly in Colombo and the Southwest coast which ultimately lead to control the large part of the inbound tourist market by the private sector. (Sri Lanka, Tourist Boar d, 2003).

Growth of the tourism industry got stagnated because of the 30 year long internal conflict and terrorism which caused a negative impact on tourism. With the end of the conflict in 2009, created a lot of opportunities through tourism industry. (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development, 2011). Sri Lanka had an expansion of 46% in tourism arrivals in 2010 just after the end of the war. The tourism arrivals got doubled from 2009 to 2011 with the number of arrivals attaining 855,975 as at end 2011(Figure 5.2). In 2012, Sri Lanka was named as the best valued destination for holidays by the post office worldwide holiday costs barometer.

5.2.2 Present situation of Sri Lankan tourism

United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) lists Sri Lanka with a 50 percent growth in tourist arrivals among 77 countries that have reported international arrivals data. So that, the year 2011 has been a significant year for tourism industry as the arrival target was over 750,000. Sri Lanka recorded 856,000 tourist arrivals with a 30 percent annual growth at the end of 2011and also expects 30 percent growth as well in this year because the country has performed well compared to the world tourism industry. The sector envisaged 30 percent growth for 2011 with revenue of US $ 839 million (Ref). The hotel occupancy rate has increased up to 77 percent and it has created employment for about 125,000 persons. Compared to other industries it has the fastest growth prospects. Though Sri Lanka is predominantly a beach destination, it could offer culture, nature, agro, community, religious and spiritual attractions by now.

Thirty year ethnic conflict of the country has been negatively affected for the growth and the development of the tourism industry (Ganegodage and Rambaldi, 2012). Sri Lankan government is now organizing several events and is in the process of developing the industry in order to make Sri Lanka a top tourism destination in the world. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority will do their best to develop unique, quality and diverse tourism products and services that would globally make Sri Lanka as a unique destination. Identifying and developing tourist specific unique products and services, formulating and implementing Tourism Development Guidelines, facilitating and implementing the legal and administrative process for new product and service development are some activities done by the authority. (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 2011).

Main markets of tourism in Sri Lanka

Table 5.2 and Figure 5.4 shows a detailed account of the source of foreign visitors to the top 10 source nations the top ten source markets for tourism to Sri Lanka within the years 2010 and 2011. Sri Lanka relies greatly on Western European markets, especially the United Kingdom and Germany who rotate between second and third place as key source nations. However, India became the largest single source of arrivals in Sri Lanka. During this period, France, Maldives, Australia, Canada USA, the Netherlands and Russia also have become strong source markets. (Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, 2011).

When tourist arrivals are analyzed by regions, in 2010 and 2011, most of the tourists are from Asia and the Western Europe. Next highest number is coming from Middle East followed by Eastern Europe and North America (Figure 5.4). Thus, these are the important markets of tourism of the country.

Main tourist attractions of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has a large number of tourist attractions for different types of visitors. Bentota, Beruwala, Hikkaduwa, Galle, Negombo and Trincomalee are the dominant beaches in Sri Lanka and they are famous for relaxing, sun bathing and surfing. The living heritage of Sri Lanka of 2500 years was discovered by the culture & heritage. It was founded in the 5th century BC, when the Buddhism was first introduced to the island. Anuradhapura can be recognized as the capital city of Buddhism.

The oldest living tree in documented history is the sacred Bo tree, grown from a sapling of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightment.(Lanka Facts, 2012). Sigiriya the 8th Wonder of the World. “Veddha’s” also known as aborigines of Sri Lanka.They are the Sri Lanka’s indigenous people.Wildlife is a vital assert. Animals such as Elephants, Leopards, Black Bears and many more can meet face to face with Jungle wildlife sanctuaries. Nature Witness the unmatched bio-diversity of Sri Lanka is waterfalls, misty hills, breezy mountains and Sinharaja Rain Forest. Sinharaja is a world heritage named by United Nations. The World Tourism Organization describes that Sri Lanka has the advantage of having 49 sites classified as unique attractions, 91 as rare attractions, and 7 world heritage sites, and 6 of the 300 ancient monuments in the world. (Asia-planet.net, 2012).

Purposes of visiting the country by tourists

The main purpose of visiting the country by tourists is to have pleasure. During vacations, most of the tourists come to the country to engage in various entertaining activities such as visiting beaches for swimming surfing, boating, fishing, jungle tracking for rock climbing, hiking, wild life seeing , bird watching, and so on. Therefore, it is very important to provide facilities for these activities at the best level. However, tourist coming for business, visiting friends and relations, religious and cultural activities are comparatively lower (Table 5.2).

5.2.3 Future development of the sector

There are 2 stages of the future tourism development in Sri Lanka. First stage is to be reached in 2016 and the second is in 2020. The main goal of the first stage is to attract 2.5 Million high spending foreign tourists by the year 2016 (Figure 5.5) and the main target of the second stage is to get 4 million tourists to the country (Figure 5.6).

Tourism targets during 2010-2016

The five year master plan prepared by the Department of National Planning for the period of 2011 – 2016 tackle a range of issues related to Sri Lanka Tourism Strategy including environmental, economic, social, cultural, institutional and promotional aspects together with their mutual relations with the National Development agenda, in order to create a favourable environment to achieve expected tourist proceeds by 2016 (Department of National Planning, 2010).

The key objectives to be achieved by the 5 year strategy are

®Increase tourist arrivals from 650,000 in 2010 to 2.5 Million by 2016.

®Attract USD 3,000 Million with 5 years of time as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the country.

® Tourism related employment increase by125, 000 in 2010 to 500,000 by 2016 and island widely expand tourism based industry and service.

® Integrate tourism to the real economy by distributing the economic benefits of tourism to a larger cross section of the society.

® Increase Foreign exchange earnings from USD 500 Million in 2010 to USD 2.75 Billion by 2016.

®Contribute towards getting better global trade and economic linkages of Sri Lanka.

® Position Sri Lanka as the world’s most precious island for tourism.

(Department of National Planning, 2010)

Tourism targets during 2010-2020

The vision of the government is to change the Sri Lankan tourism sector, by 2020, to be the biggest foreign exchange earner in the economy and to position Sri Lanka as the world’s most treasured and Greenest isle and draw high spending tourists while protecting the cultural values, natural habitats and environment of the country.

Tourism development in the country: provincial level

Provinces are the first level administrative division in Sri Lanka. In 1833, they were firstly established by British rulers of Ceylon. Then in the next century most of the administrative functions were transferred to the second level administrative division which is known as districts. Because of increasing demand for decentralization, in 1987 this change was done. In 1978 Provincial councils were established by the Constitution of Sri Lanka (Mongabay.com, 2012). Presently the nine provinces are named as Central, North Central Eastern, North Western, Northern, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Western Southern (Figure 5).

Ministry of tourism develop and manage tourism activities in each and every province because of the decentralization of the power. In line with the tourism development of the national government, provincial councils have development tourism master plans and implemented them during 2010-2016. Most of the tourism development programs of these provinces are mainly focused on rural tourism and niche markets such as nature tourism, ecotourism, culture tourism, agritourism in a sustainable way. Main aim of these tourism development programs is community empowerment and rural development.

Motivation of local tourists

Government expects to increase demand from domestic tourists, while planning to make additional foreign income to the country by providing facilities for foreign tourists to make additional foreign income to the country. Country’s total population is 21,283,913 (2011 estimated) and 0.934% is its growth rate is (2011 estimated). 14%from the total population is owned by the urban population (2010) and the annual urbanization changing rate is 1.1% (2010-15 estimated). Furthermore, age structure of the country is 0-14 years: 24.9%, 15-64 years: 67.2% and 65 years and over: 7.9% (2011 estimated) (Sri Lanka Demographics Profile, 2012. A positive background will be created in many ways in future because quantitatively and qualitatively local demand for tourism is rising. By using the print and electronic media government is trying to promote the less attractive places and grab the awareness which will help to fulfil the purpose of establishing a good culture among Sri Lankan travellers. (Department of National Planning, 2012).

When focusing the evolution of tourism industry in the country, there had been a flourishing period in the past. But, due to some bad experiences such as few youth unrest situations and revolutions, 1989-1992 a huge tsunami in 2004 and severe ethnic way during 2008-2009: the performance had gone down in the near past. However, recently, it is booming and the national government and the provincial councils have implemented lots of plans to get the optimum benefits of tourism in future.

Situated between China and India lies the small land-locked country of Nepal. Slightly larger than the state of Arkansas, Nepal contains eight of the world’s ten highest mountain peaks making it a popular destination for adventurous tourists. Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world. The country’s population reached more than 21 million in 1994 yet the per capita income is one of the world’s lowest at $160 a year. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for over ninety percent of the population. Nepal is also a producer of cannabis for both the domestic and international markets as well as the transit point for heroin into the West. With the growing number of tourists, however, the Nepalese Government is trying to exploit this resource as well. One Nepalese ecologist says “There are now three religions in Nepal — Hinduism, Buddhism, and tourism.” The influx of tourists has had dramatic effects on the environment and on the local communities who come into contact with the tourists. It is no longer uncommon to find discarded rubbish along the trekking trails. Just as common is the soil erosion during the monsoons as a result of severe deforestation, also caused by tourism. “Tourism is not only the goose that lays golden eggs…it also fouls its own nest,” says a Nepalese scientist.

The Nepalese portion of the Himalayas was “long remote from the main pathways of international tourism.” The first Americans and Europeans did not enter the region until 1950. Up until 1964 only mountaineering expeditions were permitted to visit the area. In 1971, scarcely one thousand visitors came to visit. “A decade later five times that number visited, and by the end of the 1980s tourists numbered more than 8,000 annually.” In 1993, the figure “was closer to 300,000.” The Nepalese Government hopes to attract a million people within the next ten years. More than ninety percent of these tourists are trekkers, coming mostly from the United States and Western Europe, but also from Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

With the steady stream of visitors, at least $60 million in foreign currency has been generated each year. One person who is fearful of what this may do to the local cultures and to the environment is Sir Edmund Hillary, now 75. Hillary believes that explorers have an obligation to protect the very things which they come to marvel.

He was a driving force behind the creation of the Sagarmatha National Park and has established a trust which builds schools, hospitals, clinics, bridges and water systems for the Sherpas, whose culture is threatened the most.

Most tourists come to Nepal to trek through the mountains. Trekking may be arranged by a service and done in a group or on one’s own. Group treks are typically prearranged and paid for abroad or in the capital city of Kathmandu. The other alternative is to trek individually without the services of a trekking company.

Individuals instead rely on the villages along the way for food and lodging.

About one-half of the trekkers who come to Nepal, come with commercial groups. These treks generally last between twenty-two and twenty-five days. A trek for twelve clients will contain a support staff of approximately fifty members. Because these groups pay to make arrangements, little money goes to the local communities. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that “only 20 cents of every $3 spent by an average trekker each day reaches village economies. The rest goes for goods imported from outside, notably

the West.” Individual trekkers, however, rely upon local guides and families. This means that more money is dispersed to the local communities.

Regardless of how one travels, the environment and local communities are affected. Mountain trekking is part of a new type of tourism called “adventure tourism.” Adventure tourism attracts people who desire to see exotic and unknown places, primarily in the developing world. Adventure tourists, the name given to tourists who seek this type of tourism, are searching for “authenticity.” This means that the mountain treks are slow journeys which pass through the landscape, “allowing time to

explore both nature and village life.” The core problem is that the environment and communities begin to change as a result of their newfound popularity. The local cultures become influenced by the presence of the trekkers and become modernized in their own

way. Hence, they are no longer considered “authentic” and new “ever more remote locations” must be found. The idea behind “adventure tourism” is that the more remote a location is, the more it is desirable. This means that unless precautions are taken,

degradation will inevitably occur.

Perhaps the most visible impact of trekkers on the Himalaya is the growing amount of rubbish left behind. Galen Rowell wrote of the Himalayas,

The solitary splendor is dazzling – until I glance down

at my feet. There, frozen into the ice cap of Tharpu

Chuli, lies a miniature garbage dump; discarded candy

wrappers, film cartons, plastic bags, wads of tissue, and

half-empty food cans, all of it left by foreign climbing

groups. It is a familiar and sickening sight to old

Himalaya hands – the growing pollution of a priceless

heritage.

It is estimated that over the past forty years, eighteen tons of garbage, “from tin cans and beer bottles to oxygen tanks…(this does not include such items as abandoned helicopters)” have been dumped on Mount Everest alone. (The helicopters are a new form of tourism, called Sky Treks, for those who do not desire to hike up the mountains. Tourists instead ride helicopters to the top of the mountains, take their pictures, and then return to the bottom again.) Other estimates place the accumulated rubbish at fifty tones which will cost approximately $500,000 to clean up.

A second, and perhaps greater problem than all of the rubbish, is deforestation. Many visitors come to Nepal expecting to see massive forests along the slopes of the Khumba. They do not come expecting to find Western amenities. Often the reverse is true.

Western amenities assault the visitors in the teahouses and guest lodges they find along the trails while the forests are all but gone.

Over the years, the influx of tourists has encouraged changes in the use of forests for fuel wood and construction materials. The forests have typically been used by the Nepali for fuel wood. However, the consumption rates between Nepalis and tourists greatly differs and this is where the problem lies. The demand for fuelwood from tourists has always been a concern for the park planners, administrators, and managers. They consider “fuel-wood use by mountaineering and trekking groups to be one of the main environmental threats” to the parks.

“It has been estimated that four times as much fuel wood is needed to cook a meal for a Western tourist than for a Nepali due largely to differences in diet.” Add to that the fuel wood needed for the daily hot showers and for the bonfires to keep them warm and

“the impact on the forests is devastating.” One trekker alone consumes five to ten times more fuel-wood than one Nepali. In addition to the trekkers who are consuming gross amounts of fuel wood, there are also the estimated “150,000 guides, porters, cooks, and other support staff” who are traveling with the trekkers and who need fuel wood as well.

Massive amounts of fuel wood are needed by the teahouses and guest lodges as well. More and more people are staying in the lodges and the number of lodges has quadrupled since 1976. The lodges and teahouses may use “up to four times as much fuel wood a day” as does a local’s household.” Others have estimated the amount of fuel wood used by one trekker per day to be more firewood than the average Nepali uses in an entire week.

By 1979, the park authorities of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park were beginning to see how extensive the deforestation, as a result of tourism, was becoming. As a result, they banned the use of wood for cooking and bonfires. All expedition and trekking groups now must use kerosene stoves to cook. However, there have been no restrictions on the fuel-wood used by loges and teahouses. This must surely change if the country wants to preserve the forests it still has remaining.

In the Annapurna Conservation Area, a program was created to link conservation and development benefits, through tourism and involving the local people. The program helped the local lodge owners see the benefits of halting deforestation. While the trees did provided needed fuel wood, their elimination would destroy the beauty that many of the visitors came to see. The program “organized lodge owners and all agreed to honor a requirement that trekking expeditions had to bring in their own kerosene.”

As a result of the burgeoning influx of tourists, the Nepalese Government began to establish wildlife reserves, national parks, conservation areas, and hunting reserves in 1976. The first three of these protected areas are recognized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) now the

World Conservation Union.

One of the most famous conservation areas is the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) created in 1986. ACAP “was designed to minimize the negative impact from tourism and promote conservation and the socioeconomic development of the region.”

ACAP is unique in that it calls for the participation and management by the local people.

The project is based on the belief that properly managed tourism can bring benefits both to the land and to the people. “Tourists are regarded as partners in fulfilling the goals of biodiversity conservation, cultural revitalisation and sustainable economic

development.” ACAP managers and developers believe that mountain trekking is a form of education which can be used to benefit the

Annapurna region. In addition, the trekkers provide much needed revenue that can be used for further conservation and development programs.

Most tourists come to Nepal either during the “cool, clear days of October and November or during the secondary peak season that extends from March through early May.”

Tourism has contributed in depletion of forest resources in Nepal. It was estimated in one report that per capita fuel wood consumption per individual tourist and group tourist was 5.5 kg and 18.5 kg respectively.

Economic Data

Industry output was $60 million may be as high as 75% concentration in some areas. “Tourism provides the single largest source of foreign exchange for the country’s development plans and the largest source of employment besides agriculture for Nepali

nationals.” Tourism is also the major source of employment for many residents. Employment from tourism is seasonal as a result of the weather. Most people employed by the tourism industry work only four or five months a year. It also varies from community to community depending on the popularity and location of the village.

For most family members, the income is earned through trekking as guides, leaders, cooks, porters, and kitchen crews. During the expeditions the Nepali’s hired to assist trekkers are fed, lodged, and provided with equipment so they return home with all of their earnings. Employment in trekking has been predominate for men but the number of women earning income from trekking is on the rise.

There has also been an increase in the employment and income generated from the establishment of tea houses along the trekking route. An increasing number of tourists “carry light day packs and eat and sleep in the lodges for just a few dollars a day.”

A frequent complaint among the tourists is the lack of sanitary facilities. Sagarmatha National Park, the park which encompasses Mt. Everest, is getting a bad reputation as a result of all the trash. It is ironic that it is the tourists who are causing these problems, yet they believe that it is up to the park authorities to alleviate them.

The World Wildlife Fund estimates that if present rates of deforestation continue, Nepal’s forests will be gone by the year 2000. This is troublesome not only because of the soil erosion and habitat loss which result, but also because 86 percent of Nepal’s

energy comes from its forests.

CULTURAL IMPACTS

The influx of tourists have had a significant effect on the local communities, especially the Sherpas (a Nepali ethnic group) who live around the trekking routes. The culture of the Sherpas has been changed as well as the structure of the local economies.

When the first trekkers came to Nepal, the Sherpa paid little attention to them. Now that the numbers have increased and the Sherpas’ services are in demand (Sherpas have historically acted as guides, leaders, cooks, porters, etc.), trekking has encouraged a “get-rich-quick” mentality. The result has been a decrease in agricultural production, since it generates less income, and a decrease in school attendance, children dream of becoming guides and drop out of school the moment they get the chance to join an

expedition. The Sherpa see money now when they see a “white face.”

Villages are also becoming more dependent on cash rather than the traditional means of barter and reciprocal labor. This has meant that villages are changing from being self-reliant into beingdependent on “tourist dollars and outside resources to meet their

daily needs.” More and more agricultural fields are left fallow as more men are leaving to seek wealth from tourism. This means that more food must come from outside and that there is less of it, causing higher prices. The higher prices are a hardship on those families who do not have income from tourism. Other traditions are disappearing such as the custom of drinking Tibetan salt-and butter tea. The price of butter makes this drink nearly unaffordable and the supply of tea is uncertain since trade has also been disrupted by the beckoning wealth of tourism employment.

The Sherpas have not saved or invested any of their income generated from tourism. Rather, they have spent it on Western items, further degrading their traditional culture. “Trekking Sherpas,” as they have come to be known as, have discarded their traditional dress for “imported hiking boots, colorful wool sweaters, and down parkas.”

The division of the village into trekking Sherpa and non-trekking Sherpa has resulted in the creation of a new type of class. Whereas there were always class divisions in the past, all of the people dressed and lived in a relatively similar manner. Today donning the Western wear, the trekking Sherpa and his wealth is easy to distinguish from a farmer.

Another affect of tourism is that local crafts are dying out. These crafts can not generated the same amount of income as tourism and the supplies needed are harder to obtain. The Sherpa now have access to cash, hence they are now able to purchase manufactured items rather than make their own. Wool is one item which has become scarce, hence layers of cotton must be bought and worn to keep warm.

Trekking is one of the highest paying employments in Nepal today. The wealth available from this job draws many youngsters out of school and into tourism. Teaching and government jobs, once considered very prestigious, are no longer desirable since they do not provide the same income as trekking. It is ironic that many youngsters are leaving school since one of the qualifications needed today in trekking is knowledge of spoken and written Nepali and English. The youngsters may be even more valuable if they would continue their education rather than leave after a few years. It is also ironic that the Sherpa do not enjoy the trekking. To them, “climbing is simply a high-paying job.”

The trekking Sherpa are also forced to reflect the image projected upon them by the Western visitors. The Sherpa wear masks, having a public side for the world to see and a private side which is true to themselves. It is hard for the Sherpa, who work twenty-four hours a day, to maintain the public mask. Some Sherpa see themselves partly as actors and entertainers. It is only when the trek has ended that they may unveil themselves and “engage in drinking binges and general hell-raising that may go on for

days.”

Finally, there is the disruption to the family life. The men are often away from the home ten months of the year. Many of the trekking Sherpa who are married, keep another woman in the cities where they stay in-between treks. Other Sherpa are enticed by the forward gestures of Western women, who often initiate the affair. “A number of Sherpa women have lost their husbands or fiancaa‚¬A?s to foreign women.”

Perhaps a far greater concern is the loss of life. The decreasing number of young men has meant that many women are burdened with raising the children and with the responsibility of the farm-work. The young unmarried women are also disadvantaged since there are fewer young men. One must begin to wonder if it is justifiable to endanger the lives of the Sherpas so that others may enjoy themselves.

This part of the theoretical discussion gives an overview of Mauritius as a tourist destination. A general introduction to the cultural and geographical background with a description of tourism characteristics, attractions, as well as seasonal aspects is presented.

2.7.1 Mauritius

Mauritius is independent since 1968 and has been a republic since 1992.The population of Mauritius is 1.3 million, shared out in 1860 km2. While the official language is English mainly and French, Creole, a French derived dialect, is spoken by the majority of the population and is considered as the national language. Mauritius multicultural ethnicity made that other ancestral language such as Hindi, Tamil, Chinese, Urdu or Bhojpuri are also spoken. The capital, Port Louis, has population of 150000 citizens. Other important cities are Quatre Bornes (82 000 citizens), Rose Hill (91 500 citizens) and Curepipe (84 000 citizens).

The country has a diversified economy. Historically a sugar cane producer, Mauritius has taken the opportunity to develop itself in three sectors that are, sugar cane, textile and tourism. Tourism is a major industry representing 72% of the total GNP. Mauritius has made himself a luxurious destination for tourist. Mauritius is a tropical island located in the Indian Ocean and is part of the Mascarene Island. Considered to be the twin sister of Reunion Island, it is situated at the east of Madagascar.

Mauritius is encircled by a broken ring of mountain ranges, varying in height from 300 meters to 800 meters above sea level. The land rises from coastal plains to a central plateau where it reaches a height of 670 meters, the highest peak is in the southwest, Piton de la Petite Riviere Noire at 828 meters (2,717 ft).(Gov, 2012) The climate has two clear seasons of 6 month each; winter and summer. In summer time the temperature can rise occasionally to almost 30-35 degrees. On the other hand, it is not rare to have over 10-15 degrees during the winter time. Irregular rains caused by rapid changes in the weather characterize the Mauritius climate.

2.7.2 Tourism in Mauritius

In the past years Mauritius has been the fastest developing country in the African region measured by economic growth, inflation and increase in employment. Among the other industries: financial, agriculture and textile, tourism is a pillar in the Mauritian economy. In 2011 tourism gross receipt was 42 845 million in a year constituting 7% of the Gross Domestic Product of the island (ICCA). Mauritius has earned a reputation for excellent service in the tourism industry. In the past ten years Mauritius has become one of the most luxurious destinations in the world and has been award several times for its beautiful beaches, blue lagoons and its five stars resorts.

The tourism sector employs directly over 27 000 persons while total employment (direct, indirect and induced) stands at around 100 000 or 20% of total employment. Over 98 % of the direct employment is held by Mauritians whereas posts in selected scarcity areas are filled by expatriates. The sector also contributes to nearly 10 % in the GDP of the sector and is a significant contributor of FDI in the country. (AHRIM)

Mauritian governmental strategy in the sector is clear:

“The National Tourism Policy emphasizes low impact, high spending tourism. Selective, up-market, quality tourism is favored, and although such tourism is not the only type, it constitutes the major segment of our tourists who stay in high class hotels.” (MTLEC, 2011)

In parallel with the operation of these luxury hotels, a whole array of services has gradually evolved so as to offer the visitors a tourism product which is in line with the high expectations attributed to the Mauritius brand; Marinas, Spas, Golf courses, adventure and nature activities, shopping malls and restaurants have been set up. Tour-operators in presently in activity (Tourism Authority, 2010), offering a whole range of excursions and activities. A constantly evolving list of water-sports activities, ranging from traditional motorized sports, big-game fishing and deep-sea diving, to more elaborated products such as under-sea walk and sub-marine tours are also available to visitors.

The state of Mauritius has a yearly budget which is allocated to the Ministry of Tourism, Leisure and External Communication, the financial resources allocated to tourism related programs and promotions are increasing each year. Government investment in the tourism industry was 448 millions in 2010 and it is predicted to by around 490 millions in 2012. These investments concern policy making, regulations, controls, branding and sustainable tourism. The biggest proportion goes to the promotion of the Island. Government of Mauritius alongside with MTPA would invest in 2012 a total of 400 million rupees in the promotion of the island and its activities. (http://tourism.gov.mu)

Mauritius has performed well in developing a distinctive form of relatively high-end tourism. Growth in tourist arrivals has outpaced that of many of our competitors. Currently, the aim is to continue that growth with a visitor’s target of two million tourists a year by 2015. To achieve the set target, the number of hotels and room capacity has evolved considerably over the years to cater for the ever-increasing tourist arrivals.

2.7.3 Regulatory Bodies

The Mauritian Tourism sector is under the supervision of the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure. Promotion of the island as a destination is under the responsibility of Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA). MTPA conduct advertisement, participate in fairs, and organize fairs, activities inland and outside the island.

The Tourism Authority (TA) is responsible for licensing, regulating and supervising the activities of tourist enterprises, pleasure crafts, skippers and canvassers. “The Association des Hoteliers ET Restaurateurs de l’ile Maurice (AHRIM) is a non-profitable organization set up in 1973 to represent and promote the interests of hotels and restaurants in Mauritius.”(http://www.mauritiustourism.org/)

2.7.4 Attractions of Mauritius

Mauritius since its early stage in the industry have attracted tourist with it perfect blue lagoons, the sandy beaches, and eternal sun. The three S’ are the island main pull factors.

Almost all the tour operators deliver almost the same services and products according to the MTPA lists, the customers travel to Mauritius are for the attractions or other purposes: (MTPA, 2011)

The core product of Mauritius is the 3 “s” being Seas Sun and Sand

For the wedding and honeymoon.

For the tours to the small islands surrounding Mauritius which can be an adventure or a beautiful memory of their holidays.

For the water sports and other activities.

For the cultural tourism: historical monuments (Apravasi Ghat, Le Morne, Citadelle-Fort Adelaide, Port Louis Market and so on) and museums which contain the historical part of Mauritius when it was first found

For the spa and the relaxation moments.

For the events of different festivals in Mauritius: “Thaipoosum Cavadee& Marche sur le Feu” done by the Tamil communities; “Festival of Printemps” by the Chinese communities; “Maha Shivratree &Holi & Divali” by Hindu communities and so on.

For the multiracial food as the cultures are transferred to the food.

Offer also the IRS Villas which can be rented or bought by the customers who do not wish to live in the hotels which are all almost enclave, thus these villas will give them more liberty and get contact with local people of Mauritius.

For the natural and manmade scenery: “Vanille Crocodile Park, Casela Bird Park&SSR Botanical Garden are manmade attractions; Sept Cascades, Black River Gorges, or Chamarel are natural sightseeing”

2.7.5 Marketing of Mauritius as a destination
2.7.5.1 Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authorities

Mauritius being recognized around the world to be a tourism destination which offers a wonderful range of services including the quality made the acquaintance of the island. It is being promoted mainly by a group of tour operators which are registered at the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA); the official Promotion and Marketing Organization which is being managed by a Board of Directors (Private sector) and acts under the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure (Public sector).

It has branches in nine countries across the world. European country (France, England, Italy, Spain and Switzerland) were the island main target during the last two decades. After the euro crisis MTPA aims the Asian market to sustain the industry. It is present in Russia, India and China. The Asian market is the upcoming leader of outbound tourism (UNWTO, (2012)). MTPA

main marketing tools are Internet, Brochures, Road Shows, Tourist Guides, Conference and presentations.

According to the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority official website, it has some objectives that it must take into consideration: (Source:http://www.tourism-mauritius.mu/mtpa/)

“To promote Mauritius as a tourism destination abroad through:

Conducting advertisement campaigns and participating in tourism fairs.

Organizing, in collaboration with the local tourism industry, promotional campaigns and activities in Mauritius and abroad.

To provide information to tourists on facilities, infrastructures and services available to them in Mauritius.

To initiate such actions as may be necessary to promote cooperation with other tourism agencies.

To conduct research into market trends and market opportunities and disseminate such information and other relevant statistical data on Mauritius.”

2.7.5.2 MTPA Strategies’

Mauritius has developed a tourism industry of worldwide recognition. The image of high class delivery of tourism services and products is stick to the island since the last two decades. (Source:http://www.gov.mu/portal/goc/menv/files/nar2010/Chapter%208_Tourism%20Resources.pdf) It is targeting two million tourists by 2015 and it is interesting to know how it is going to be done.

Below are the following strategies proposed by MTPA: (Tourism Resource, (2010))

– Positioning Mauritius as a cruising destination and during the first quarter of 2009, cruise passenger arrivals grew by 83%.

– Marketing the country as “Maurice sans passport” to attract French tourists to Mauritius up till 30 June 2010.

– The Tourism Sector Strategy Plan (2009-2015) has been prepared recommending ways and means of achieving an environmentally sound, socially acceptable and economically viable tourism development.

– The Mauritius Brand Strategy has been launched in October 2009 to strengthen and enhance the image of the Mauritius destination and to ensure greater visibility of the Mauritian brand worldwide. The objective of this branding exercise is to attract investors for the business opportunities in Mauritius, visitors for its hospitality industry and buyers for its export goods.

– Professional assistance has been given to Small and Medium Enterprises under the Empowerment Program to improve the quality of their products so that they can act as reliable suppliers for the tourism industry.

– Measure will be taken to protect the environment (pollution control, sound environmental management, protection of natural resources, landscaping, etc.)

– Promotion of Sustainable Tourism

– Promoters of new hotel projects are encouraged to use renewable energy and adopt eco-friendly practices and use, as far as practicable, energy saving devices.

– Eco-friendly outboard engines for crafts at sea are now being used to protect the marine environment.

– Low-rise and low density hotel development is encouraged to avoid the disfigurement of the coastal landscapes.

– Hotel projects are monitored to ensure that they conform to the applicable Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) and the activities of tourist enterprises are regulated and monitored to promote sustainable tourism development.

– Permanent mooring buoys have been installed at dive sites to protect the coral from damage caused by anchors.

– Measures have been taken to ensure a safer and more secure environment for tourists.

– All guest houses, tourist residences and hotels must be equipped with burglar alarm systems, and CCTV surveillance cameras. A Tourism Safety Panel has been set up to register security companies which meet the Ministry’s established criteria.

– A Tourism Fund has been set up, which finances the provision of social amenities to locals in areas where tourism projects are being implemented; protection and rehabilitation of scenic landscapes, lagoons, rivers and islets; and control and eradication of pests and other nuisances.

– Measures are taken to protect our local culture:

The Festival International Kreol is organized on a yearly basis with emphasis on the value and beauty of the Creole culture, language, cuisine, art, music and dance. Organization of Regatta competitions have also been undertaken in traditional fishing villages

2.7.5.3 Mauritius Actual inbound Tourism Market

According to the government statistics, Tourist arrival in 2011 reached 964 642 bringing a gross receipt of 42 845 million rupees.

www.gov.mu-portal-goc-cso-ei948-tourism.pdf.png

Graph 2: Comparison of Tourist Arrival by Month in 2010 and 2011 (Source: Mauritius Government, 2011)

Graph 2 compares the number of tourists’ arrival in Mauritius in the period of 2010 and 2011. Mauritius receives it maximum number of tourists during the month of December (around 110000 Tourists) and it minimum during the month of June (approximately 52000 Tourists). In January, February, April, June July, August, October and November, the island had succeeded in increasing it number of tourists’ arrivals. In 2011 during the peak seasons (December mainly), tourists arrivals had decrease compare to 2010. Graph 2 illustrates the seasonality faced by Mauritius Tourism Industry (peak season and low season). Mauritius receives the highest number of tourists in December, January and July. During low season in 2011, such as in February, April, June and August, it is obvious on the graph 2 that Mauritius has managed to increase its number of arrival. The motive being this is the successful marketing strategies adopted by the MTPA to attract the Asian market in substitution of the European market. Compare to 2010, Tourists arrivals had increase of three percent. It is very slow progress but positive one.

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Graph 3: Tourist arrivals by country of residence, 2010 and 2011(Source: Mauritius Government, (2011))

Graph 3 compares the number of tourists’ arrivals by country of residence in 2010 and 2011. Since two decades, European countries such as France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, are Mauritius main tourism customers. Since the euro crisis, MTPA started targeting the Asian tourism market such as India, Republic of China and Russia to sustain its tourism economy. The marketing of Mauritius as a destination for tourist in this zone is still at it early stages, resulting in the disparity shown in graph 3 between European arrival and Asian arrival. France, with more than 300 000 in both year 2010 and 2011, take the biggest proportion in the number of tourist visiting Mauritius. Despite having the highest growth rate (more than 100 pour cent) Republic of China recorded the lowest number of arrival in the island. South African and Reunion tourism markets are the island main targets in the African zone. If this graph is compared to the MTPA’s presence around the world, the relationship between visibility in the target country and tourist arrival is clear. MTPA promote Mauritius in France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, thus resulting in a high number of tourist’s arrivals. Recently based in Asian zone MTPA marketing to attract Chinese, Indian and Russian tourists is as said above at it very early stage.

2.8 Conclusion

In this chapter the theoretical discussion is presented to create the framework for this study. The first section concentrated on definitions of the tourism product and how it is linked to customer’s perceived value and this is followed by a discussion of the concept of destination. These definitions were selected in order to explain the compound nature of the tourism product and destination and how these underpin one another.

The second part focused on consumer behaviour in tourism and presented the decision-making model of Schmoll. This part showed that tourism behaviour is a very complex issue with many internal and external factors influencing it. Due to these reasons some limitations were put in place to bring focus to this part of the theoretical discussion. Travel motivation and tourists’ expectations were discussed more thoroughly.

The third part of the theoretical discussion provided a comprehensive description of the development of Chinese outbound travel. This was done to provide the reader with a general picture of the Chinese outbound market and the special features it has today; mainly that traveling abroad is still strictly government controlled. The purpose of the last part was to give wide-ranging information about Mauritius, focusing on tourism and the attractions of the island. The chapter was concluded by introducing the marketing of Mauritius as a destination.

CHAPTER 4 – FINDINGS
4.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the main findings of the interviews. The findings and factors underpinning them are discussed in relation to theories and information presented in chapter 2. The main findings have been categorized into six groups to build structure for this part of the study. The chapter begins by providing some background information regarding the typical Chinese trip to Mauritius and the basic profile of a Chinese tourist. That is followed by an analysis of the findings regarding Chinese travelers in Mauritius.

4.2 Background Information

First, this chapter presents some information regarding a typical trip to Mauritius and a profile of a Chinese tourist coming to Mauritius to create context for the findings. The following information is based on the researcher’s interviews with tour operators.

The duration of the typical trip to Mauritius is normally seven days and focuses on the costal areas’. Most of the travelers use tour operators. The tours are all- inclusive including transportation, accommodation, meals and activities. According to the tour operators, Chinese tourists visiting Mauritius can be categorized into two groups. The first group comprises business people of whom the major part is men and women can be seen sometimes working as e.g. interpreters. These people are traveling on business purposes with their colleagues and they are invited to Mauritius by a local company or government that is also paying for the costs. The second group is made up of tourists traveling on leisure purposes, as part of a larger Chinese tourist group and paying for the trip themselves. These are mainly honeymooners, retired people and small family groups that have sufficient time and money for traveling. Travel Company is normally spouse, friends or other relatives. In this research no distinction was made between business and leisure travelers.

4.3 Main Findings and Discussion

This section presents the main findings of the interviews with the six operators. The interviews were made up of a total of 14 questions. Main findings are now presented according to the objectives set for the study.

4.3.1 Travel Motivation – the Pull Factors

The first objective of the study concerned travel motivation. This study was limited Mauritian’s pull factors. What attracts Chinese travelers to Mauritius?

The following pull factors were identified from the interviewee.

Firstly, all mentioned that Chinese tourists do not come to Mauritius for the purpose of only traveling to Mauritius. “Look at the world Chinese conference this week, there will be around 500 people travelling from china and Asian zone. Why will they come, certainly not for Mauritius itself but for a special purpose” (Interviewee 2). Same precision were noticed by another tour: “aˆ¦ And on the other hand, Mauritius is creating an image while hosting Chinese Weddings TV Show in Tamassa Resort.” (Interviewee 4)

According to the operators, the base for traveling to Mauritius is accessibility, namely the connections with Air Mauritius to Hong Kong. Air Mauritius ensures an eight hour flight to Hong Kong two times a week. “The other part of china is also connected to Mauritius via transit from Hong Kong ,Singapore or even Madagascar, but not much traveler actually use that option” (Interviewee 1). This finding can be reflected back to the theoretical discussion where different theories emphasize the importance of good accessibility for success of any destination.

In addition another pull factor is our clean nature, sea and sand, our beautiful hotels, and Mauritian paradise image, were mentioned to be reasons for visiting the island. “They come mainly on half board, at 8 o’clock they are out of the resort. Most of them use tours facilities to visit Mauritius” (Interviewee 6). They seek for adventure; they came here to escape from their day to day routine in a stressful and urban environment. They seek for something different and now they have disposable income to get it. Mauritius is seen as a natural paradise and this is a great opportunity for the tourism industry.

4.3.2 Expectations

The second objective of this research is to understand Chinese tourists’ expectations of Mauritius as a travel destination. The Tours operators revealed that when arriving in Mauritius Chinese tourists do not have any or they have very few expectations regarding the destination. Some of the tours put it in words:

“I think they do not have that many expectations but they expect that there is so much to see like in Maldives or Singapore” (Interviewee 1). “Chinese do not know about Mauritius when they come. They do not know what Mauritius is exactly” (Interviewee 2)

This can be due to two reasons; first that there might not have been sufficient information available before taking the trip, the promotion of Mauritius is only at it very beginning stage in China. The second possible reason is that travelers might not have had an interest to search for information in advance. It was also mentioned by the tours that many Chinese visiting Mauritius are having their first trip abroad. Also this result underlies the importance of tour operators as source of information, and in creating image and expectations for customers buying the trip.

On the other hand, it has been perceived by the tour operators that Chinese tourists know Mauritius is a paradise island. Chinese tourists have also heard about tropical aspects, our 3 S’ that are sea, sun and sand. These are the things that create for Chinese people their image of the island. As the other tour operator continues: “When they come to Mauritius they have excursions, discoveries, and shopping in their mind. So, if they come to Mauritius and they do not get thoseaˆ¦they feel disappointed” (Interviewee 4).

One of the tours linked the expectations with shopping. Buying gifts is very important for Chinese people and gifts are always given to relatives, friends and colleagues when returning home from a long journey.

“They would like to buy something typical from Mauritius to their friends,” (Interviewee 3).

According to tour operators Mauritius should concentrate on knowing its new customers then provide the service. “Meeting the customer expectation is the very basic definition of service and we should stick to that first” (Interviewee 1) Image and brand are important for Chinese and they are willing to purchase even very expensive gifts when the product has image strong enough, not even the quality is importance then.

4.3.3 Services in Mauritius

Destination has been defined as the focus of facilities and services designed to meet the needs of the tourist (Cooper et al., 1998). A range of services is offered for tourists in a destination. The third objective of the study was to discover how services offered in Mauritius meet Chinese tourists’ needs. Questions were limited to accommodation, transportation, catering and activities.

4.3.3.1 Accommodation

When asked about the accommodation for Chinese tourists, the tours’ revealed the following aspects. Even if the price was the considered to be quite high compared to prices in China, it was said that Chinese tourists love Mauritian luxurious 5 Stars. Especially the cleanliness of hotel rooms pleased Chinese travelers. A couples of reasons for dissatisfaction were also mentioned which arose from the differences of service standards in China and in Mauritius. Five out of six tours mentioned that the lack of a kettle in hotel rooms is source of dissatisfaction for Chinese tourists because Chinese regularly drink hot water or tea. Only a few hotels in Mauritius have this service available. Also toothbrush is a standard in hotel rooms in China. These two issues were mentioned to be a source of dissatisfaction by Chinese travelers, though both of these could be solved with little cost and effort. Chinese are very satisfied with hotel services but dissatisfaction with these services was mentioned when guides or interpreter are not available as it is hard to communicate with hotel staff. “Almost all hotel employees can manage French and English, some even speak German or Italian, but mandarin is not even on the training list.” (Interviewee 6) It would be important to meet or exceed customers’ expectations because it usually creates a positive attitude towards a hotel’s service quality. “Room quality standards should be maintained based on customers’ expectations.” (Interviewee 2)

4.3.3.2 Transportation

Tours’ answers about transportation services indicate that coach services meet Chinese travelers’ needs. Chinese tourists consider the drivers to be trustworthy and professional, and special mention was given to the time concept – tours excursions drivers are very punctual. Most of them book tours buses, and few of them would rent cars. “Chinese Tourists speak very few English and no French at all, we are the only one who provide them a mandarin speaking guide” (Interviewee 2). Chinese travelers do not yet use public transport very often. The island public buses are so far from the standards of China and the whole system itself is a mess. It is almost impossible for a Chinese traveler to enjoy an excursion journey with the local transport. Also, people had complained about the air transport. It is difficult for a Chinese tourist to come to Mauritius, as the only direct flight is from Hong Kong. We receive tourist from Shanghai, Guangzhou or Beijing. Guides had perceived them to be a very nice experience for Chinese travelers due to the beautiful environment Mauritius provides. No major complaints were notice about the tour buses itself and the activities provided.

4.3.3.3 Catering

Chinese travelers prefer Chinese food wherever they travel. Lunch is always in a Chinese restaurant. Tours explained that reasons for this are that western food is too different for Chinese tourists; this does not suit Chinese people. They are not even eager to try. “It is simple you want to get Chinese customers, you need to give them Chinese food, they don’t want to try something else.” (Interviewee 6) Whatever the price is the want to eat only food they are use to. They are pleased by Mauritian Resorts efforts, trying to give them Chinese breakfast and dinner. With typical Chinese trip in Mauritius breakfast and dinner are usually in the hotel, but lunch is always in a Chinese restaurant. If the trip is longer, for example 10 days (which is very rare) Chinese tourists might want to taste western food only once. The opinions about European and Mauritian food are divided. However, it was surprisingly mentioned that Chinese tourists do like the western type breakfasts at hotels even if western food was not preferred otherwise. However “some negative comments came up with groups are not that pleased with the Chinese restaurants, because Chinese food in Mauritius does not have its typical taste.” (Interviewee 3) The quality of the restorations is said to be very good in Mauritian resorts.

4.3.3.4 Activities

According to tours, sightseeing around the island (normally 2-3 hours) and shopping are always included in the programs. Sometimes groups visit Black river gorges or Chamarel Colour Park or Grand basin spiritual temple and SSR Botanical Garden. It was expressed by one of the tours: Sightseeing is too short and visiting gorges and SSR Botanical Garden is quite boring as it is reasonable small compared to other country (Interviewee 1).

There are no interesting or famous architecture (e.g. compared to Singapore or Thailand) in Mauritius. “There is not much to see” complain a Chinese Tourist to one tour. Chinese tourists would like to see nature or try as much as activity as they can. “A European would go on average on three excursions for ten days of stay, whereas a Chinese would go to seven through the same period”. (Interviewee 3) Shopping is always included in the tours, and groups prefer to do that with a guide as well. Even if Chinese love shopping, this seems to be a disappointment for them in Mauritius. “They are eager to buy luxurious product like Hugo Boss, Chanel, Rolex, and so on” (Interviewee 5), “the problem is that 75 percents of the product they would buy in Mauritius come from china, so why would they buy it here” (Interviewee 1). They would rather by traditional souvenir of the island and model boats. Price is not an issue for them; they are here to spend money. “Chinese do buy a lot, e.g. perfumes, fashion, watches from Switzerland and without caring for the high prices. What they want is quality and brands; they are not here to buy made in China” (Interviewee 5)

Tours mention that Chinese tourists do not enjoy free time on their own. Reasons for this were mentioned that there are no communication possibilities as only few travelers know English and due to their cultural background. Chinese tourists also enjoy casinos and live shows. Lack of interesting nightlife in Mauritius was also found to be negative.

Two of the tours mentioned that travelers are very happy if they are kept busy during their all length of stay. “A Chinese traveler, even if he has his plane at two in the afternoon, at 7 am he is going out on excursion. A Chinese tourist, even if he landed at 7a.m and arrives to his hotel at 9 am, at 10 am he is out for an excursion. This is Chinese Tourists.” (Interviewee 1) They are usually happy of the Mauritius’ experience.

4.3.4 Significance of Traditional Mauritian Attractions

This part will discuss significance of traditional Mauritian attractions for Chinese tourists. That is Sea; Sand and Sun. These attractions are normally promoted by MTPA and attached to the image of Mauritius. What is the significance of these attractions to Chinese travelers according to the interviewee?

The Chinese Tourists are not again the three S’, Mauritius is promoted the same way as in European Country, in China. However once in the island, the three S’ are definitely not their main interest

Hotels are tasked with the responsibility of providing efficient services for their clients. The day-to-day operation of a hotel involves the management of the hotel’s staff, customers and dispensation of other services offered. Hotels have traditionally relied on paper-based records. This system has been characterized by an ever growing need for storage space and proper maintenance to ensure customer’s records and other hotel data is not lost.

Kenya is gifted with a distinctive combination of tourist attractions, comprising tropical beaches, abundant wildlife in natural habitats, scenic beauty and geographically diverse scenery. The diversity of Kenya’s habitat is equalled by the remarkable variety of plant life and world famous wildlife heritage. Thus, Kenya can truly be promoted as a destination that offers the visitor – whether foreign or domestic – an unmatched variety of travel experiences.

Tourism in Kenya has played a very big role in the growth of the economy. It currently accounts for about 12 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), making it the third largest contributor to GDP after agriculture and manufacturing, and Kenya’s third largest foreign exchange earner after tea and horticulture. The sector has been singled out as one of the sectors that shall contribute considerably towards poverty mitigation as set out in the Government’s Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation 2003-2007.

Given that the essential road and rail network and superstructure are already largely in place, tourism has the ability to expand rapidly. Additionally, tourism through its multiplier effect has the capacity to promote regional development, create new commercial and industrial enterprises, stimulate demand for locally-produced goods and services and provide a market for agricultural products.

In order to change the image or perception of Kenya in overseas markets which had been adversely affected by negative publicity, whether warranted or unwarranted, the Kenyan government created a body called The Kenya Tourist Board to oversee these changes. The Kenya Tourist Board is tasked with promoting and marketing Kenya both internationally and locally. The key policies of the board include the promotion of up market eco-tourism and wildlife safaris; a gradual move away from low value package or mass tourism; the diversification of tourism products and markets; and the promotion of regional and domestic, as well as international, tourism. Emphasis has been placed on obtaining a precise understanding of customer needs, and developing and delivering the products that customer’s desire.

The Kenyan government also created some related organizations to help in training and management of Kenyan tourism industry. They include:

Catering and Tourist Development Levy Trustees (CTDLT)

Kenya Utalii College

Kenya Tourism Development Corporation

Kenyatta International Conference Centre

Bomas of Kenya

Kenya Safari Lodges and Hotels (KSLH)

Tourism Trust Fund (TTF)

1.2 Problem statement

The aim of this project is to develop software, which can manage and keep the records of the hotel. The existing system is manual. A web-based booking system enables the customer to view hotel services and select rooms without going to the hotel and he can make transactions through the internet. Thus, the customer can save so much time. Due to the advances in technology, the management of Sunset Hotel requested for the construction of an Online Hotel Booking System.

1.3 Overview of the Current System

The business organization name is ‘Sunset Hotel’. Sunset Hotel Kisumu is a wonderfully landscaped resort that is in a class of its own and is located in peaceful surroundings, away from the hustle and bustle of Kisumu’s noisy business district, and a few meters from the shoreline of Lake Victoria.

Sunset Hotel is just a 5 minutes drive from the city centre and 15 minutes from Kisumu International Airport. The hotel borders Kisumu Impala Sanctuary that hosts a wide array of animals like leopards, hyena, olive baboons and vervet monkeys. It also provides grazing lands for Hippos, habitat for several small mammals including the endangered Sitatunga, and supports a variety of reptiles and birds species.

The hotel has a capacity of 50 rooms and 100 beds all air conditioned with multi channel satellite TV, separate shower & bath, outdoor swimming pool, in-room safe and minibar. As the name suggests, guests from all over the world visit the hotel to view the sun setting from the privacy of their rooms. The hotel is renowned for hosting conference, cocktail parties, outside catering services and family gathering.

All over the world, businesses and hotels in particular have taken their services to the website. Sunset Hotel boasts of a very nice website where guests can view the services offered by the hotel, but it lacks the key advancement in the hotel industry. The hotel lacks an online hotel booking system where guests can book or make reservations in the hotel without having to call or send an email and wait for feedback.

For hiring a room in this type of hotel, the client needs to meet with the receptionist to collect the information of hotel facilities. After that he is to fill up the pro forma provided by the hotel authority, then he has to pay the defined amount of money and is offered room key for his/her rented room. But client always wants greater privacy and reliable security.

1.4 Solution statement

Hotel needs to preserve the records of visitors and reserve rooms in advance. Customers should be able to know the availability of the rooms on a particular date. They should be able to reserve the available rooms according to their needs in advance. To make their stay as comfortable as possible, they are provided with food, laundry services, transportation, phone calls and other services. The records of the foods taken by each customer and the services availed to the customer should be kept since they will be used to generate customer bill.

The Online Hotel Booking System for Sunset Hotel in Kisumu should be able to meet the following requirements:

The system should be able to keep the records of the guests and the room assigned to them.

Customers should be able to know the availability of the rooms on a particular date or a period of time.

Customers should be able to book the available rooms online.

The system should keep the record of food and other services availed to the customer.

The system should allow customers to make payments online through Visa Card, MasterCard, M-Pesa and any other internationally recognized mode of payment.

The system should be able to generate the bill for a customer.

1.5 Scope

The project was meant to come up with an online hotel booking and reservation system. The scope of this project did not cover the design and implementation of the online payment processing system since this will be integrated with PayPal worldwide payment system. Only links to PayPal registration page will be provided but not how it processes transactions.

Being an academic project, limited time and resources has restricted me to incorporate, in this project, only the main activities that will be performed by the Online Hotel Booking System, but maximum care has been taken to make the system well-organized and user friendly.

1.6 Project roadmap
CHAPTER
DESCRIPTION

1. INTRODUCTION

Define the scope of the project, problem and solution statement.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Examines literature and systems of a similar nature , gives insight into strengths and weaknesses of the current system

3. OBJECTIVES

Lists the criteria to be met in undertaking the project

4. METHODOLOGY

Examines probable methodologies that could be used and identifies the suitable one for the system to be developed.

5. FEASIBILITY STUDY

Examines the viability of the project economically, legally, organizationally, socially and technically

6. REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS

Involves understanding the current system in order to determine the requirements that would be incorporated into the new system development.

7. REQUIREMENTS

SPECIFICATION

Involves defining the functional and non-functional requirements of the system to be developed.

8. LOGICAL SYSTEM

SPECIFICATION

The Technical Systems Option and logical designs of the system to be developed are defined.

9. PHYSICAL DESIGN

The logical designs developed in the logical system specification stage are implemented physically.

10. CODING AND TESTING

Codes that give functionality to the system are developed and tested to ensure they achieve the required functionality

11. CRITICAL APRAISAL

The project is examined in totality and its strengths, weaknesses and measures on how it can be improved are highlighted.

12. CONCLUSION

The lessons learned from the undertakings of the project are highlighted.

Figure 1: Project roadmap

In the essay the researcher was able to come up with the current status of the industry, that is, what the marketing body and the government are doing to promote tourism. Moreover, the study includes the country’s Strategic Analysis in a pursuit to shed light on the opportunities that are open for Lesotho’s tourism.

From there the investigation entails what other countries’ marketing mix especially Promotion involves and the researcher is not only based on fellow Developing countries but also other Developed countries.

The investigation also looks at the unexploited markets of Lesotho which can be a major boost to both the industry and the country’s economy at large. These unexploited markets are based on the Product portfolio of the country which has not yet been natured or in some cases, the products that are not being promoted well enough or at all.

In the conclusion there are recommendations on what the tourism stakeholders should do to ensure that the country’s tourism industry performs at its optimum level.

Lesotho’s tourism industry is currently ranked 180 out of 181 economies in relative contribution to national economies and 150 in absolute size worldwide by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and personally as a Mosotho this is appalling indeed considering the fact that fellow Southern African countries like Swaziland and South Africa are ranked 167 and 101 in relative contribution to national economies respectively, but on the brighter side, Lesotho is ranked 50th in 10-year growth which shows that it has a high potential of growing.

Therefore the core aim of this essay will be how Lesotho’s tourism industry can be improved both in the long-run and short term. I will examine the Product, Promotion and Place mostly as it will be difficult to get the consumers view about the Pricing. Moreover I will use different Analytical tools as aids in this essay.

What made the researcher, me, choose this topic is the fact that I was born and bred in Lesotho and I have a close relative actively engaged in the country’s tourism industry and the above mentioned reasons have evoked my interest in tourism as a whole and has lead to this keen interest of looking into possible ways of improving this unique product better known as the “Kingdom in the Sky”, hence the topic: “CAN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY OF LESOTHO BECOME A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO LESOTHO’S ECONOMY?”

What Lesotho is doing

The country’s tourism industry is primarily marketed by a parastatal, the Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation (LTDC) which is a government initiative.

I find it fitting to firstly establish the current state of the country’s tourism industry so that I can move on to raising applicable recommendations. To establish this I interviewed a Marketing personnel at the Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation at the Maseru Information Centre, who emphasized that they as the tourism body are in charge of promoting the country’s tourism and currently they do so by attending regional and international exhibitions such as the well-known Indaba which is Africa’s top travel show held annually in Durban and the ITB Berlin Convention which is the highly respected and decorated travel conference in the world; they attend these exhibitions in order to bring to the attention of international tour operators that Lesotho is the home of adventure tourism so that they include the “Kingdom in the Sky” in the around Africa or around the world tour packages they offer to their clients which mostly are “big spenders”.

The mammoth challenge is that the international market did not know that Lesotho exists therefore firstly the LTDC had to overcome this challenge which they have made commendable progress with their informative campaign by attending these kind of aforementioned exhibitions and others annually so that the industry takes them seriously and does not forget about them by seeing them frequently taking an active role and setting up award winning stands ( Lesotho’s stand was dubbed the best stand at the 2008 Indaba and at the 2010 ITB the LTDC’s stand was amongst the top 10 best stands at the exhibition)

Apart from the annual exhibitions, the LTDC hosts a monthly expo called the Maseru Bazaar at the Maseru Tourist Information Office which showcases local handicraft, traditional dances and local artists of all genres. Furthermore, stalls are put up for all interested individuals in the tourism industry to show their products to the public and visiting tourists who often make their first stop here when they enter the country. The core aim of this expo is to market domestic tourism, that is, to encourage the people of Lesotho to tour their home country, they call this campaign “Know your country first”.

Their campaigns are focused on adventure tourism more than anything because of the country’s rugged terrain and its mountainous geography, therefore most of their budget is apportioned to selling this type of tourism to their regional counterparts and the international market at large.

The LTDC has recently developed a travelers’ website [1] which provides information about where to stay, what to do and a list of upcoming events to mention just a few.

One key aspect in the business industry is the product, this is also the LTDC’s priority to make sure that what they are selling to the regional and international markets is of highest possible quality. They do this by encouraging people to keep the country clean although in this department they are not doing that much as expected.

There has to be a reason why the LTDC is performing the way they are currently, not being at their best. Like many other African countries would say, and has become their “anthem”, the main reason is funding, the government is not injecting sufficient money into the country’s tourism industry to allow the LTDC to function at their optimum best. For the 2010/2011 Financial year, the government apportioned M 53.2 million compared to M 69.7 million [2] for the previous financial year for the Ministry of Tourism Environment and Culture. This is a serious problem which may be caused by the cultural background of Africans because they do not believe in touring themselves but they put effort and money in agriculture which recently is failing them.

The private sector is the one which is doing their level best to try and market the Kingdom in the Sky so that they as individual companies can survive, they have gone to the level of setting up an independent body called Lesotho Council for Tourism (LCT) which includes every business related to tourism, tour operators, accommodation establishments, catering services and others. The core aim of this body is to provide tourism training programmes, support for tourism development and assistance to the tourism private sector to maintain high quality tourism products [3] . It aims to achieve these by encouraging local and international investments in the industry and by offering its members access to membership international tourism bodies (Regional Tourism Organization for Southern Africa, South African Tourism Association).

Strategic Analysis

But what are the strengths and weaknesses of Lesotho’s tourism industry? To answer these questions and others I will use the SWOT analysis.

Strengths

Product

Lesotho is home to numerous unique landmarks which can only be offered by Lesotho and Lesotho only:

The highest pub in Africa which is the Sani Top Chalet

The longest single drop waterfall in Southern Africa

The highest lowest point in altitude in the world

The highest peak in Southern Africa, Thabana Ntlenyana

LetA?eng Diamond Mine which is the highest (altitude) mine in the world

Apart from those unique landmarks Lesotho has the following:

Undulating landscape (magnificent and widely accepted)

Friendly and hospitable people

What Basotho call the Engineering Project of the decade which is the Katse Dam, consists of a 185m tall double-curvature arch wall, and other Lesotho Highlands Water Project dams

National Parks and Game Reserves

Rock art which comprises of foreshortening [4] and therianthropes [5]

Workforce

The industry has several passionate people engaged in different sectors of the tourism industry, tour operators, information office personnel, hospitable hotel staff and others.

Weaknesses

Product

There are various disturbing factors about the product that Lesotho is selling; the defects include:

Several places of interest like rock paintings have been vandalized by untrained care-takers and villagers some thinking they are preserving the works of art; as did one care-taker of the Bushmen paintings’ site who poured water on the paintings thinking they will be more visible only to find out that he was destroying the artifacts.

Maseru as the capital city of Lesotho cannot accommodate more than one thousand tourists. On the contrary, even if more establishments were set up, most of the time the rooms would not be occupied because this came to the attention of a tour operator when he had to organize a tour for a group of 1000 guests.

Tour operators do not have big vehicles to handle large groups which forces them to hire local coaches which most of them are not satisfactory because they travel day-in day-out as taxis therefore they are not looked after that well.

Workforce

Customs’ staff at the various ports of entry does not treat visitors well at all, they do not have customer care training. Numerous tourists have complained about this at the Tourist Information Office in Maseru.

Accommodation receptionists at several establishments in the outskirts of Maseru also have a problem of having not undergone a customer care course. This is a serious problem because one tour operator told me his anecdote of when he was at a hotel in Mafeteng where he waited for about half an hour for a receptionist to appear and when she appeared she did not even greet him nor apologized for being late, she arrogantly asked them what he wanted. This is appalling and is slowly driving people away from the Kingdom in the Sky.

Opportunities

The world is dominated by high-tech machinery and technological advances which cause stress to its users and this has lead to people wanting to tour original and ethnic countries away from their daily busy urban life and Lesotho is one of them, therefore the market for cultural and eco-tourism is fast growing and Lesotho should fight for its share in this market.

Lesotho is investor friendly and for that reason foreign investors could be approached so that they build accommodation settlements and other facilities to improve what the country offers the world and they themselves will be moved to promote the country for their investments sake.

South Africa’s accommodation rates have risen sharply because of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and these prices are chasing tourists away now that tournament is over while Lesotho’s accommodation rates have not changed significantly meaning more people would choose Lesotho over South Africa.

Threats

Lesotho is totally landlocked by South Africa; therefore healthy diplomatic relations between the two countries are of utmost importance because South Africa is the only road gateway into and out of Lesotho. This is not only the case when using road transport but also the case when using air transport because in order to reach Lesotho one uses a connecting flight (controlled by Airlink, an airways company) from the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa and this is because Lesotho does not own an airline company and its airport is too small to land big planes. This proved to be true during the 2010 FIFA World Cup where entering and exiting South Africa to Lesotho by road meant long hours in the queue waiting for your passport to be scanned and this was enforced solely by the South African government alone.

The number of South African companies marketing and making money out of Lesotho based tours is alarming and worst of all, the country gets minimal revenue from those tours. The biggest threat comes from Free State tour operators because they do not hire local tour operators to conduct those tours; they conduct the tours in Lesotho themselves.

South Africa is the country’s biggest competitor because it has almost everything and more than what Lesotho offers and markets those attractions well to the international market.

At this juncture I will try to look at what other countries are doing, both the developing countries like South Africa and the developed countries like Ireland and others.

What other countries are doing

The Developed Countries:

The first country that I will look at is Switzerland which nearly has a similar terrain to that of Lesotho as it is also mountainous and interesting enough it is also landlocked. It is ranked 15 in absolute size and 47 in relative contribution to national economies by WTTC.

Switzerland has different packages and tours such as Food & Wine, Time Travel (which is basically a historical package of the country), Shopping, Wellness, Cycling, Hiking, Adventure & Sports, Family Vacations and Gay & Lesbian oriented tours to mention a few.

They have a very informative website [6] and it doesn’t end there, different cities also have their own websites which concentrate on their respective cities, for example Zurich [7] which has its own website which is quite informative and up-to-date; it shows the different tour packages for different markets such as Smart spenders and Luxury lovers.

This shows that the marketing and promotion of tourism in this country is of utmost importance to the people of Switzerland.

Now, I will explore Ireland, known as the Emerald Isle; it is well known for its vivid greenness of its countryside.

Ireland is a small country ranked 42 in absolute size and 135 in relative contribution to national economies by WTTC. It exploits the honeymoon and romantic getaways markets; that is why it is also well known as a romantic getaway destination, from Northern Ireland to Southern Ireland you find suitable vacation areas for the newlyweds and ordinary couples who want to have a romantic holiday.

It markets different types of holidays also including adventure tours for the adventure seekers, cycling, family packages, angling, cruising, water based activities, wellness tourism and sports including Equestrian.

The Irish tourism sector is marketed by National Tourism Development Authority through the Failte Ireland [8] and its success is based on the fact that each tourism product which is of great importance is marketed individually by a team of executives, and the investment and development of facilities in those sectors of the tourism industry is their responsibility also. These Sectors include: Activities, Culture & Heritage, Festivals & Events, Sports Tourism, Business Tourism, Spa & Wellness, Food and Accommodation [9] . Ireland focuses on Business Tourism also as a key player in the industry so much that it has its own website [10] which deals with the corporate world leaders in pursuing them to choose Ireland as the host of conferences and seminars. On the website there is information about venues and their facilities and registered corporate event organizers so that the business people can enjoy their stay and the conference without any difficulty.

Failte Ireland has made tremendous progress indeed because it has managed to do the following:

Help improve the skills of people involved in the Irish tourism and help those seeking a career in tourism have been offered training.

Setup an Environment Unit whose role is keeping the natural and built environment at their highest possible standard

Setup a programme of country networks which help small tourism businesses to grow

For improving the range and quality of the tourist attractions, they have secured a seven-year grant aid through the National Development Plan

Caught the eyes of the world market by coordinating large events like the Ryder Cup, just to mention a few.

Moreover, the tourism body in Ireland focuses on not only to attract international tourists like most countries do but also they encourage the Irish population to tour their own country and take domestic holidays.

Developing Countries

Now coming to countries which the world views them as developing countries like Lesotho it would only be fair to consider other African countries, relatively bigger and smaller than Lesotho geographically.

Once again I will consider Swaziland as it has a lot in common with Lesotho, it is a monarchy, it is small like Lesotho and landlocked just to mention a few. Therefore, I believe it would only be logical and fair to compare the two countries.

Swaziland has an eye-catching, informative and most importantly, an up-to-date website [11] . Swaziland’s tourism body, the Swaziland Tourism Authority, focuses on promoting different types of tours for different markets which range from adventure tourism (like Lesotho) to shopping and culture oriented tourism because they are a country rich in culture hence the reason why the King is still both the head of state and the head of government.

Considering South Africa which is a trendsetter and a role model of other Southern African countries because of its success and influence, I will look at what it is doing to promote its product.

The Government of South Africa through the Ministry of Tourism injected R 631 million [12] into the South African Tourism (SAT) whose role is to promote South Africa’s tourism.

The SAT like the LTDC, promotes domestic tourism. Since 2007 they did so using a campaign called the Sho’t Left Campaign, “See your world differently” [13] . The campaign’s aim is showcasing the myriad of affordable and within reach holiday destinations to all South Africans. Its execution is colourful and lively, designed to attract South Africans, more particularly those who have not toured their motherland. The main objective of this marketing campaign is to show South Africans the ease factors and affordability of going around the country. The target market of the campaign is three niche markets, Well-off couples and families, the youth and independent couples and families. The main objective of the Sho’t Left campaign is sourcing and publicizing a variety of reasonably priced package holidays. At its inception, it involved an aired travel oriented challenge which was broadcast on SABC 2. Although the Sho’t Left Challenge is no longer aired, SAT continues with marketing and encouraging South Africans to tour their own country with TV commercials [14] which show foreign tourists, touring the places of interest and some closing with a comment: “They have toured our country, have you?”

Apart from promoting domestic tourism, the SAT has an up-to-date website [15] which covers all sectors of their tourism industry including Business tourism which is a good source of revenue because the international and regional conferences are attended by well-established business people who want nothing less than top quality and are willing to pay for it.

Unexploited Markets

At this juncture, I will look at unexploited markets which can be a cash cow for tour operators and the industry as a whole.

Firstly, like Swaziland, Lesotho still has rich culture which can be a measure tourist attraction as it is in Swaziland. The international tourists are interested in the African culture and are becoming more and more interested in experiencing traditional African cuisine. Another anecdote is of one tourist who was taken to one of these five star accommodation and entertainment establishments and emphasized that ‘they (Western people) are the ones who brought this establishments to Africa and they are tired of them, which is the reason why they are touring Africa’. This has proved to be true because during the FIFA Soccer World Cup which was recently held in South Africa, the international tourists especially the Germans enjoyed staying and dinning in Soweto which is a big township made of different ethnic groups of South Africa.

Secondly, adventure tourism has niche markets which have not been fully exploited yet. For example, the off-road market is increasing and as a result an increasing number of bikers clubs are looking for challenging tracks which they can use for their sport and Lesotho has an appropriate terrain for such people who want to ride on their bikes just for the fun of it, not for competitive racing. Therefore tours can be organized for this niche where a track across the mountain highlands can be set up for touring the highlands on bikes. Moreover there is this biggest racing competition of the year called the Roof of Africa Rally. Currently the race attracts the bikers’ families and their sponsors, therefore the rally should be marketed globally to attract foreign and local spectators to come and view this race first hand. The LTDC can help in by advertising this event extensively at the annual exhibitions that they attend and by coordinating this event to ensure its success.

When someone is in Cape Town, South Africa, one of the questions he will be asked by people is, did you go to the Table Mountain. Lesotho also can make money from its “Table Mountain”, Thabana Ntlenyana which is the highest peak in Southern Africa. A huge market exists for this because people would be able to make it to the top of the peak using a cable car if one is to be set up there and adventure seekers would probably climb up the mountain if they are familiar with rock climbing. Although the cable car can be very expensive to set up, it would pay huge dividends to the investors, government and the tourism industry as a whole.

One other possible cash cow is ecotourism, the reason being that Lesotho has an unpolluted atmosphere due to not being part of the industrial revolution. Furthermore Lesotho has undulating landscape and rugged terrain which other western and Asian countries do not have because many of those countries are flat.

Amongst other ecotourism sites there is the Maluti Drakensberg, this area consists of many exclusive features [16] :

Fauna and flora found in Lesotho only

24 species of snakes

350 species of birds of which 40 are exclusive to Lesotho only and 10 endangered species

100 grass types

Unspoilt ecology of the sites

It is one of the finest art galleries in the world due to the rock paintings

Adventure tourism hotspot

The importance of ecotourism and its benefits can be summed up in Hector Ceballos-Lascurain’s words:

“aˆ¦ the person who practices ecotourism has the opportunity of immersing him or herself in nature in a way that most people cannot enjoy in their routine, urban existences. This person will eventually acquire a consciousness and knowledge of the natural environment, together with its cultural aspects, that will convert him or her into somebody keenly involved in conservation issues” [17]

Conclusion

Having seen the potential income generators I will therefore focus on other recommendations:

Lesotho has to:

Add more information on the travelers’ website which includes tour operators’ contact details and more tourist attractions apart from the national parks.

Set tourism as a high priority: by investing in human, financial and other resources

Intensify marketing effort in the region so that the country benefits from the effort that SAT has already embarked on which is already bringing tourist in the vicinity of Lesotho.

Put in place representative offices in three major cities of South Africa – namely, Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

Government should deploy tourism attache in every embassy of Lesotho around the world.

The government should also deploy a tourism attache at South African International Airports namely, the O.R. Tambo International Airport, King Shaka (La Mercy) International Airport and the Cape Town International Airport.

Empower local business people who are involved with tourism so that they can improve the performance of their operations.

Setup ongoing training programmes for the business owners, managers and staff in the tourism industry.

Monitoring of all the programmes and making adjustments progressively to ensure a constant growth of the industry.

Improve and protect tourism product, especially special attractions unique to the country.

The LTDC should refocus its strategies in order to adapt to the ever changing international market and competition by continually revising its action plan and revising its tourism trends’ forecast.

Market ecotourism extensively as Lesotho has world class ecotourism sites and features

In summation, based on the unexploited income generators aforementioned and my recommendations, I can safely say Lesotho’s tourism industry has a great potential of being a major contributor to the country’s economy as it is the case for countries like Zimbabwe and others.

With a fleet of enthusiast tour operators that Lesotho has, the chances of the industry growing are alarming because of the passion that they have as the interview [18] revealed but a lot has to be done to nature that passion so that they do not end-up losing hope and believe in the industry.

Appendix A

Interview with a tour operator and Secretary of the Lesotho Tour Operators Association

Mr. Motlatsi Rametse

Q. What are some of the challenges you meet as a tour operator?

“The destination (Lesotho as a tourist destination) is not known therefore it results in small number of tourists coming to this country although 7 million tourists come to Southern Africa annually

Lack of support by financial institutions

Rigid insurance companies offering limited insurance products, none of them able to cover tourism services

Lack of political will”

Q. Do you think the government and the LTDC has done enough to promote tourism, if not why?

“No, they have failed to link up with South Africa although the country is totally surrounded by it.

They have also failed to intensify tourism marketing in regions that predominately favours tourism to Lesotho. Only 5.8% that reach South Africa come to Lesotho.”

Q. What keeps you going irrespective of the challenges you meet in the industry?

“Diversifying by running other business ventures in parallel with tour operation and my love for tourism”

Q. Do you think the tourism industry has a potential of growing given its state currently and what can be done to facilitate the growth?

“Yes, what needs to be done is aggressive marketing in South Africa through South African media to travel agents and tour operators based in South Africa

Develop a revolving fund to support tourism related projects and businesses”

Q. What seems to be driving tourists away from Lesotho or why are the numbers of tourists who visit the country not increasing?

“Lack of marketing

Lack of standard accommodation facilities

Lack of quality service (customer care)”

The tourism industry is a complex system where its necessary to look at all different sectors which are influencing each other, to get a clear understanding how this system works. A helpful tool to use already models and theories, apply them on different example and evaluate them. The individual as a potential customer has to be analysed and categorised, which is ensuing a better understanding of tourist behaviour. Furthermore it helps to recognize their decision making progress for a destination, as well as getting knowledge about their needs and expectation. This essay will show the usage of these models and theories on example of the Dominican Republic.

Tourism can be defined as a combination of services and activities for people who travel to places outside of their familiar surroundings. The definition of a tourist is wide-ranging, because the purpose of travel ranges from holidays, business trips, and visits to friends and relatives to various other reasons such as study, religion, shopping and so on. More than an industry, it is rather like a system that sells packaged holidays, activities, attractions, accommodations, and entertainment. It is offering the opportunity to break away from normal life and enjoy leisure time in different locations. Tourism normally does not provide just one single product; mostly it is a bundling of various products to satisfy the demand of the tourist. For example, someone going on holiday to London would not merely consume one product from one supplier. It is more likely that he is utilizing a package of services. He might arrive by plane, go by bus/train to his hotel, dine in a restaurant, and take a sightseeing tour. Due to the fact that nearly every tourism product is interlinked, there is no owner or manager with complete control of his own destiny (Gunn A.C. 2002, p.243). Additionally, other industries, such as the oil industry, are linked to the tourism industry. In recent years tourism become a part of daily life because people have more leisure time than they used to have 50 years ago and the view of the work-life balance has changed.

Another important point to mention is that the tourism industry is one of the largest in the world and is creating millions of temporary and permanent jobs. In 2006 the travel and tourism industry’s percentage of the world gross domestic product was 10,3%, with a turnover of US$6,477.2 billion. The industry supported 234 million jobs, 8.7% of total world employment (Cooper, et al 2006: 3). This data represents the global importance and significance to the world economy.

Tourism does not include just the supply of hotels, beaches and travel agencies but also economical, environmental and socio-cultural impacts. These three areas are always commingling and conflicting. There are people whom are simply interested in making a profit, other people wanting to protect the environment, and yet another group of people concerned with the social and cultural impacts of a tourist region. All three groups must achieve a balance to enable sustainable tourism. This idea is shown on the following graphic:

3. Tourist typology and their implementation to tourism models
Stanley C. Plog

One approach to understand tourist behaviour is to identify different types of people, whereupon they can be categorised into a series of organised psychographic types. In 1973 Stanley C. Plog created a model for the American population showing how personal motivation influences the decision for a vacation destination. He divided tourists into four types: allocentric, near-allocentric, mid-centric, and near-psychocentric/psychocentric. The allocentric type views travelling as an opportunity to discover foreign cultures and prefers exotic destinations. They are self confident and open for new experiences. The near-allocentric type is sporty, seeks challenges and views the journey as a chance to test a new lifestyle. The mid-centric type looks for relaxation and pleasure in a well-known environment. They want to escape from the daily routine and enjoy comfortable accommodation. The near-psychocentric and psychocentric types are focused on themselves and are scared to discover something new. These people tend to look for a safe place to holiday. Their choice of destination will be a place they know and where they are not that far away from their home city (Johnson & Thomas, 1992: 19).

Plog considered that there are just a few ‘psychocentric’ or ‘allocentric’ types because the majority of tourists are mid-centric.

However, Plog’s model is hard to apply in reality. For example the Dominion Republic has a lot of organised mass tourism and it is possible to organize a journey by yourself as well. Every tourist is an individual, so they cannot be generalized. One trip can have a completely different occasion and characteristic than the other one (Cooper, 2008: 48).

Cohen’s tourist typology

Another model which classifies tourists is Cohen’s tourist typology. He divides tourists into the organised mass tourist, the individual mass tourist, the explorer and the drifter. Cohen explains that organised mass tourists are typically purchasing a ready-made package tour where they have no or just a little contact with the local people and stay most of the time inside a resort. This is similar to Plog’s ‘psychocentrics` type. In Cohen’s theory most of the tourists are individual mass tourists. They are similar to the organised mass tourists, but they have more flexibility and scope for personal choice. They want to have contact to the local people. This category is comparable to Plog’s ‘midcentric’ tourists and most tourists fall into this category. The third tourist type is the explorer, who organises the trip by himself and looks for something special, something away from the typical interests of a mass tourist. However, he is still interested in comfortable accommodations. The last type, the drifter, is completely independent, wants to live with local people and wants to take part in the native culture. Cohen’s last two tourists’ theories, the explorer and the drifter, which are also the minority in this industry, are similar to Plog’s ‘allocentric’ tourists.

(Cooper et al, p.51).

5. Demand for the creation of tourist typologies and their practice on the example of the Dominican Republic

The reason why we need these typologies for different tourists is to help and to be able to develop tourism destinations. Expectations and needs from tourists on a perfect holiday can be identified, so the desired service can be supplied. As soon as we know the different motivations for individuals travelling to a particular destination, a specific tourist type is going to be targeted. This means that in example of the Dom. Rep. the organised mass tourists in the majority, which are looking for a safe holiday, we know their behaviour and know how to plan for them. Most of the resorts in Dom.Rep. are designed for this clientele and have been developed very fast during the last 20 years to satisfy the demand from tourists. At the first stage resorts were build for explorer or drifter, and since the creation of package tourism, a lot of individual mass tourists came to this area. With the creation of ‘all-inclusive’, there is no need for tourists to leave the hotel. Because of investigating the different desire of tourists and define them, it was possible to develop this area (National and regional tourism planning 1994, p.147).

6. Doxey’s Index: The socio-cultural impact of tourism

The Doxey’s Index describes the relationship between visitors and the visited. He developed a five stage model which describes the first step as the upcoming ?euphoria? when a small number of tourists arrive thus stimulating the economy and a large number of new jobs are created.

The next steps are ‘apathy’ and ‘annoyance’. At this stage local people get first used to tourists in their familiar surroundings, and afterwards annoyed, because too many people are visiting the destination.

‘Antagonism’ and ‘acceptance’ are the last steps in this theory. Native people start to avoid tourists and at the last step they accept them. ‘Acceptance’ means, that they accept tourists in their usual life and forget how the area was before tourists arrived (Cooper et al, p.47).

Top priority should be always building better relationships between residents and visitors, which improves social life for both sides. In Punta Cana, where the proportion of tourists is high to the number of residents, cultural problems occur because of different society expectations (National and regional tourism planning 1994, p.147). While Punta Cana has grown within twenty years, the local community did not have enough time to adjust to the high number of tourists.

The three models of Plog, Cohen and Doxey are coextensive whith each other because when the first visitors (drifter) arrive at a destination, local people are euphoric. These tourists (‘allocentric’) are not scared to discover new areas. In the ‘midcentric’ are the ‘explorer’ and the ‘individual mass tourists’. At this stage the community becomes ‘apathetic’ and ‘annoyed’. The last step is the ‘organized mass tourist’ who belongs to the ‘psychocentric’ and native people start to ‘accept’ them. The relationship between the models is linear (Cooper et al, p.47).

7. Butler’s Tourism Area Lifecycle (TALC)

The Tourism Area Lifecycle(TALC) is a well-known model Butler created to illustrate the dynamic of a tourist -destination or -product through different stages. The graph describes a characteristic function due to the natural interrelation between the exposure and intensity of tourism. It shows the evolutional process where every tourism product is going through, which can help manager to find a way out in case of a crisis or new developed destinations to establish themselves.

Butler’ first stage is ‘exploration’, where small number of visitors arrive in an undeveloped area. These people been identified as Plog’s ‘allocentric’ or Cohen’s ‘explorer’ type. After their trip they are responsible for ‘Involvement’, because they tell others about place they been to (Ryan 2003, p.269). A following rise of the curve during the development stage is logical, because more tourists can be carried. Butler says that the number of tourists decrease until the carrying capacity is reached, this is the consolidation stage. New development has to happen again to rejuvenate, otherwise it would come to a decline of visitors (Butler 2006). While developing new strategies is important to investigate the existing facts and concentrate on the potentials the destination is already providing. At this point it is necessary to make a decision. To develop this place, to leave the place how it is and increase the price or let it decline. ‘Decline’ is the next stage of Butler’s TALC. This happens if too many tourists are arriving at a destination at the same time and the capacity is too low. Visitor are disappointed and the number of tourists will therefore start to fall. An option to avoid decline is ‘Rejuvenation’. That means that the area has to be developed for example with new hotels and beaches.

8. The 5A’s model

The 5As model was helpful to rejuvenate the Dominican Republic when it had been reached the stagnation point. A new development of ‘Attractions’, ‘Accessibility’, ‘Activities’, ‘Amenities’ and ‘Accommodation’ were necessary to bring facilities up to the level demanded by international tourists. When the carrying capacity was reached, an essential element in the tourism take-off was government investment in the infrastructure of tourism zones. Over $76 million went into the Puerto Plata region between 1974 and 1982. New hotels and transportation networks were built, to get electric power and satisfy water supply. Infrastructure was one of the main important things which had to be developed and when the airport in Punta Cana was built, a lot of new different tourists begun to visit this area. (http://kiskeya-alternative.org/publica/afuller/rd-tourism.html#ecsoc)

Today the Dominion Republic is one of the most visited countries and popular for family holidays. This destination fits perfect in Butler’s TALC because at first it was an undeveloped place and started to grow, decisions by the policy had to be done for example to rejuvenate the place, to let the area how it is or to let it decline. The Dominican government decided for rejuvenation because of the high potential of this area. With new roads, attractions, airports and hotels the resort development strategy was successful (National and regional tourism planning, 1994, p.147).

9. Multiplier effect

In tourism “the multiplier effect” is used to illustrate how many times money spent by a tourist circulates through a country’s economy. In other words when a new tourist destination is created, the local economy benefits as new jobs are being created and tourist bring additional trade to local businesses. The most common example is when a new hotel is being built it does not only create jobs directly in the hotel, but also indirectly in other sectors of the economy. The hotel has to buy food from local farmers, who then spend some of this money, for example, on domestic expenses. When tourists spend money for local products the demand for those products increases, which also increases secondary employment.

However the multiplier effect continues until there is a “leakage” out of the economy through imports, which is the purchase of goods from other countries.

The most common example would be a Third World country, such as Dominican Republic, much of the money spent by tourist end up leaving the country’s economy via foreign-owned airlines, hotels, imported drinks and food, etc. A typical luxurious four star hotel would be more likely to import most of its goods and services; if that means that better quality would be provided which would ensure better customer satisfaction.

(http://geographyfieldwork.com/TouristMultiplier.htm

10. Conclusion

Models could be helpful to develop a successful tourism destination and understand the different motivations of tourists. When the policy changes the supply for example to develop an area for package tourism, the demand will also change. That means that the supply has to meet the demand side when at the descriptive side the object and services changing. Plog’s, Cohen’s and Doxey’s models are descriptive because they just describe a situation but Butler’s model is descriptive and prescriptive. TALC explains what is happening in an area and makes diagnose. After this diagnose the problem becomes clear and it is easier to make a decision for solving this problem. It is always necessary to find out how much potential a place has to make substantial development it in the right way. For this fact tourism models are helpful.

11. References

Cooper, C, Fletcher, J, Fyall, A, Gilbert, D and Wanhill, S (2008) Tourism Principles and Practice (4thedn), Prentice Hall, Essex

Gunn, C.A (2002) Tourism Planning (4th edn), Routledge, London

Howie, F. (2003 a,b), Managing the Tourist Destination: A Practical Guide (1st edn), Cengage Learning EMEA

Johnson & Thomas (1992), Choice and Demand in Tourism, Mansell Publishing Limited

National and regional tourism planning (1994) Methodologies and Case Studies (World Tourism Organization) (1st edn), Routledge, London

Ryan, C (2003), Recreational Tourism and Impacts (1st edn), Channel View Publications, Clevedon

Dominican Republic tourism, Tourism Development in the Dominican Republic:

Growth, Costs, Benefits and Choices, avaible from http://kiskeya-alternative.org/publica/afuller/rd-tourism.html#ecsoc (accessed on 11.12.2009)

This report provides a product and market development strategy for the UK tourism industry. It focuses on the benefits and challenges of the UK tourism industry. The background history of UK and the overview of the scope are revealed in this study. It also outlines the vision, mission and its strategic objectives. The report highlights a summary of the key findings of strategic marketing audit of the UK tourism sector. The findings of the report are used to develop a strategy for increasing the economic benefits of tourism to UK. The strategy for overcoming the challenges in order to increase the number of individuals visiting UK for tourism is disclosed in this report. The report concludes by making strategic recommendations for areas of growth in tourism activities in UK, development of products and resources needed to ensure viability. More so, significant barriers to implementing those recommendations are identified throughout the report to address the concerns of stakeholders of the industry.

Summary of Key Issues and findings

The summary of key issues and findings that Britain needs to address in order to improve upon her global competitiveness includes;

The importance of local market and business markets

Growing Competition

New Trends in Demands

Competition from emerging destinations

Taxation of accommodation and food

Entry Visa and Increase in Price

Climate Change

Build on Britain’s image and increase distribution through the trade

Britain’s major source of market and Britain’s core market

However, only five points would be discussed in the body of the report and the rest will be sent to appendix 1.

Definitions, methodology and framework
Definitions

This section seeks to explain strategic positioning and tourism.

What is strategic positioning?

According to Michael E. Porter, (1996) ‘strategy is the ability to make an informed decision on how, when and where to target a customer group, facilitate resources and set objectives (limits) makes the difference between managers who thinks from a strategic perspective in light of what might emerge in future’.

Lovelock (1991), describes positioning as the process of establishing and maintaining a distinctive place in the market for an organisation and/or its individual product offerings.

Putting them together, Strategic Positioning is the positioning of an organization (unit) in the future, while taking into account the changing environment, plus the systematic realization of that positioning (source:http://www.zenska-mreza.hr/prirucnik).

What is Tourism?

According to, Guyer Feuler (1905), “Tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries which deliver a travel experience comprising transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups traveling away from home”. Tourism can be categorized into Domestic, Outbound and Inbound.

Domestic tourism involves people taking holidays, short breaks and day trips within UK.

The outbound tourism has to do with the people’s movement from UK to other provinces, territories or countries to explore.

The inbound tourism involves individual traveling from other places such as Ghana, Togo, USA etc. to UK

Methodology

This report seeks to focus attention on the benefits and challenges of tourism industry in UK. The methods used in completing this report include;

Literature review (Journals, Books, Articles and the internet)

Data analysis at UK, both national and sub-national level

Stakeholder engagement

Conceptual framework

The study adopted marketing framework to explain the functions that links the business with customer needs and wants in order to get the right product to the right place at the right time.

Overview of the marketing process

(Adapted from tutor2u, Riley (2012)

Mission, Vision and Strategic Objectives
The Mission

To increase tourism’s contribution to the growth and development of UK economy.

The Vision

UK is globally recognised as one of the world’s leading regional destinations for conference, business, sporting and other recreational activities. The country is noted for her high quality facilities, cultural and entertainment. In view of this, the report seeks to;

Improve the UK share of tourism worldwide and employment and quality of life.

Increase UK share in global visitor market.

Strategic Objectives

Maximize tourism visitation, spend and length of stay

Attract investment in tourism related products

Increase industry participation in marketing activities through industry engagement

Improve tourism related community assets/products.

improve the engagement of visitor with products

Improve market access and connectivity

Developing and marketing competitive tourist destination in UK

Build on Britain’s image and increase distribution through the trade

Improve the range of product on offer and make it easier to get to Britain

Introduction

This chapter provides the background history of UK and the overview of the industry.

Background History & Current state of UK

The United Kingdom is a country that consists of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It is a wonderful country with diverse culture and tradition. It is highly belief that, the nature of the people in the country, its landscapes, culture, character, history and traditions; its achievements, impact, successes, and standing; and its future, its vision, its potential makes the country Great. The aforementioned characteristics of the country has reckoned its own people, and people from across the world to see Britain, to know Britain and to understand Britain (Source: Former Prime Minister, Tony Blair).

The country is a Member of plethora organisations which include the European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Commonwealth of Nations, World Trade Organisation (WTO), and Organisation of Economic Corporation and Development. UK has the permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Through tourism contributions, United Kingdom is the world sixth largest economy and World’s first industrialized country with a population of over 62.4 million (Ref. UN, 2011).

The Overview of Tourism Industry in UK

Tourism industry in UK has immensely contributed to the economic development in the country. The industry occupies a unique position as the UK’s 5th largest industry, 3rd largest export earner behind chemicals and financial services and worth ?115 billion a year. Besides, it employs over 2.6 million people and supports over 200,000 Small Medium Enterprises (SME’s) (source: VisitBritain.com, 2012). Overseas visitors spend around ?18 billion a year in this country and they contribute more than ?3billion in tax and duty to the Exchequer (VisitBritain Consultation Document, 2012). Research has revealed that, tourism in UK is extremely growing faster than any other economic sectors. It is outpacing mining, agriculture, and fishing as a leading industry for the country. One could see the value of tourism in UK is extremely high.

Although, the industry has been helpful to the country’s economy, there has been stagnation of growth recently, due to few key issues and challenges. This has made the industry to decline to the seventh position in the international tourism destination. This result is based on the visitor’s attendance and expenditure (Ref. UNWTO, 2011). It means that, France, USA, China, Spain, Germany and Italy are all ahead of UK in the tourism hierarchy (Ref. UNWTO, 2011). The question here isaˆ¦. `what might be problems or challenges resulting to poor attendance of tourists in UK. It is argue that whiles UK tourism performs well, international tourism is fiercely competitive business and their competitors are upping their game (VisitBritain.com).

The industry is facing problem on how to create a competitive, world-class tourism industry in Britain which can match both the quality and the best of British business as well as the scale of tourism in Britain in particular.

Situational Analysis: The UK Tourism Industry and its Competitiveness
The Value of Tourism to the UK Economy

The contribution of UK tourism industry to the national economy demonstrates the magnitude and complexity of the industry. According to VisitBritain’s CEO, Sandie Dawe (2012), tourism has tremendously contributed to the development of UK economy. To her, the industry can grow by more than 60% which would be amounted to about ?188bn by 2020. Besides, the number of jobs directly and indirectly linked to tourism could rise by 264,000 to 2.89 million by 2020, (source: VisitBritain).

Value of Tourism

(Adapted from VisitBritain.com)

Deducing from this, one could see that, tourism is a major contributor to the balance of payments. On the contrary, it is one of the few activities which would enable UK to achieve competitive advantages through the redistribution of labour within Europe (Economist, 1993:5-6). It is also a vital motivator of the UK economy reducing the deficit of the balance of payments, boosting employment, generating income, and contributing to regional development (Zacharatos, 1989:274; Truett & Truett, 1987:178). In fact, tourism per se is one major generator of wealth in UK economy. The contribution of the tourism industry in the UK economy has been very encouraging. As of 2010, the contribution of tourism has a total revenue of ?110 Billion and 2011-?120 Billion per annum (UK Tourism Statistics, 2012).

Visitors (?m) Spent (?Bn)

Leisure 11.5 6.6

Business 6.8 4 .0

Students 0.5 1.4

Other 2.4 1.2

In 2011 (Ref: International Passenger Survey, 2011)

* 1% increase in the cost, meaning, tourism earning drop down by 1.3% (Sensitive Tourist, 2001)

3.2. UK’s Position in the International Market

However, the industry’s position in the international market chart has been falling for the past 3 years now. This is because the competition in the global market place has become very tough as a result emerging destinations and other outstanding destinations such as France, Italy, Malaysia, Turkey, U.S.A etc. Although the industry was able to beat the cut-out point set for year 2012, yet the country’s position in the global market is still declining.

In 2011, as illustrated in Tab.1 below, UK came in the 7th position in the world classification of tourist destinations. The growth in global travel over the last two decades means that UK is competing against more destinations, for a larger number of potential visitors (VisistBritain.com).

Strategic Key Issues & Findings Facing The Industry

The following key themes are outlined from the strategic audit based on research and findings in appendix 2 and 3.

The importance of local market and business markets

The local and business markets are seen as the UK’s core markets. Research conveyed by VisitBritain has revealed that challenging facing UK international tourism does not only come from economic trends and competitive activity, but source market also poses unique complications. The local market consists of Western Europe and its surrounding nations such as France and Italy. France, Spain, Germany and USA generate 1/3 of all money spent by visitors in the UK economy (Visitbritain). However, since 2006, UK has lost these market shares and visits. This indicates that, Britain needs to defend volume, value and market share of these areas.

New Trends in Demands

The International tourism is moving to a level where consumers are demanding in new and varying activities which would engage them always. Consumers are demanding for new areas such as eco-tourism, health-tourism, sports-tourism, and activity-tourism and education tourism. This means tourists are no more interested in the culture or geographical location of the country. Therefore, in order to attract the attention of tourists, the industry should turn their attention on activity tourism, education tourism

Growing Competition and Competition from emerging destinations

Competition from existing and emerging destinations is another challenge. The emerging destinations like China, Malaysia, and Dubai are the countries that are growing at a fast rate in the tourism industry. Competitors are moving at fast rate, investing in marketing campaigns and addressing policy issues. For example, US government recently has published tourism strategy and national travel to deal with the visa process, border controls and issues of image. However, the major challenge here is how to create a competitive, world-class tourism industry in Britain which would match both the quality and the best of British business and innovative policies to create value and enhance of competitiveness.

Emerging Markets

The competition in the global market place has become very tough as a result of emerging destinations and other outstanding destinations such as France, Italy, Malaysia, Turkey, U.S.A etc. The strategic audit has outlined China, Turkey, Malaysia, Dubai and Egypt as the key target areas for tourism growth. Although the industry was able to beat the cut-out point set for year 2012, yet the country’s position in the global market is still declining. This has resulted because the global marketplace is getting tougher and countries like France, US, China, Germany and Dubai have recognized the potentials of tourism. This has awakened them to deliver growth and jobs in a tough economic climate.

Taxation of accommodation and food

Research has revealed that UK hotels and restaurants overtaxed in detriment to revenues for the wider economy. Thus, most UK hotels and restaurants charges full VAT rate on tourist accommodation, meal and attraction. There are several shops and restaurants in UK that charges tax on everything tourists buy. A notable example is McDonald- any food bought from McDonald has been tag with tax. This has demoralised most of the tourist to visit UK.

Entry Visa

The difficulty in accessing entry visa to UK is another factor inhabiting Britain’s competitiveness as a destination for international tourism. It is an established fact that, for one to get tourist visa to UK is very difficult. Apart from difficult visa process, it is also expensive as compared to other tourist destinations. For instance, to get a tourist visa to UK, one has to pay an Amount of ?78 whiles Schengen visa is ?53. So comparatively, people would prefer going to Germany, France and other destinations in lieu of UK. This has resulted poor performance since visitors from china, India and other African countries are now visiting Germany and France.

Climate Change

The weather condition in UK is seen as a drawback and hindrance to tourism in United Kingdom. As the weather in UK is unpredictable, tourist most often complain of been disturbed by rain and unfavourable weather conditions. This has negatively affected the industry since most people are discouraged and lost interest in embarking on tourism to UK.

Developing Strategic Options from the above Analysis

The findings above outline a number of challenges facing the tourism industry in UK. This section will develop a strategy that would be used to increase economic benefits for the country’s tourism industry. It would also outline a strategic approach to destination marketing (refer to appendix 2) in order to increase the number of individual visitors. It will develop a brand for UK tourism to get a sustainable presence in the global tourism market place.

Pursuing local and business markets

The industry should increase domestic visitation and focus on the local which is UK’s core market. The UK industry should not ignore its local market and business markets whiles the emerging destinations such as China, India represent long term opportunity for growth. The industry should use advertisement, motivation and rewards to encourage the indigenes of this country to embark on domestic tourism. This will smell good for those outsiders to develop interest in visiting UK.

Strategic development of “clusters”

Clusters occur as a result of both vertical relationships with suppliers and customers as well as horizontal relationships based upon shared technologies and common customers (Barker, 2007). Thus, in order to increase economic benefit of international tourism in UK, the industry should aim at forming a cluster that will bring group of industries on board. The presence of the cluster will accelerate and magnifies the process of factor creation in the industry. Once the cluster is formed, it allows companies from the interconnected industries to invest in infrastructures, technologies, information and human resources to improve economic benefits of the tourism industry.

Japan, for example provides a compelling impact of clusters on a country’s competitive advantage. In Japan, Keiretsu has formed a cluster of companies around the major banks with shareholding connections (Barker, 2007). This has encouraged cooperation and interaction. In simple put, the scale of the cluster will encourage greater investment, specialization, exchange information and ideas about market needs. Porter on cluster has cited several examples and it will be interesting to observe that clusters are active and strong in Japan, Italy, Sweden, and Germany. However, it is very weak in UK

Strategic destination alliance

Research has disclosed that, France, Spain, Germany and USA generate 1/3 of all money spent by visitors in the UK (VisitBritain). However, since 2006, UK has lost these market shares and visits. This means that, UK needs to defend volume, value and market share of these areas. In order to gain market share, the industry should establish a strategic partnership with the emerging competitors. The industry can link up with such destinations to form a league of nations with must visit and must see places. The tourism industry can develop stronger relationships with other private companies in the name of tourism partnership program. This will help to develop and promote cultural tourism and opportunities.

Corporate social responsibility strategy

Scholars like Friedman (1962), and Grossman (2005) maintain that, the traditional view of a company is that, the company has a responsibility to make as much profit as it can for its shareholders. Alternatively, the stakeholder approach suggested by Edward Freeman in 1984 directs organisations to manage the interest of and acknowledge a duty of care to a range of stakeholders. Based on the traditional view of the industry or a limited stakeholder view of the industry, UK tourism board should focus on using corporate social responsibility to increase positive stakeholder benefits whiles eradicating the negative effects of its action. It has been reported that non-governmental organisations have been donating millions to help in various environmental projects. These projects are centered on environmental protection, climate change, and the promotion of renewable energies.

Also, VisitBritain should introduce structures that will engage and communicate with UK tourism industry and stakeholders. This will help to provide a coordinated approach to drive forward the implementation of the Strategic Framework for UK Tourism. The structure will give the industry the chance to share innovative and intelligence delivery as well as addressing key issues and challenges affecting the tourism industry. Notwithstanding that, it will acts as a key mechanism for VisitBritain to communicate with the industry and connect effectively with the emerging destinatioons.

Strategic Recommendations

To overcome the challenges and maximize the benefits of the industry, the industry in collaboration with UK Government should:

Tax elimination

There should be tax free tourists and ensure that there is no imposition of tax on any food and accommodation. The government should solicit for funds from private enterprises to support the tourism industry. This will help to eradicate if not reduce tax rate to its minimum.

Reduction of tourist visa fee to compete with Schengen visa

Thus the amount of money taken from tourists as they apply for tourist visa should be reduced to compete with the other competitive countries. Also the UK government should publish a national travel and tourism strategy which will aim at reducing the tourist visa fee and process, border control and issues of image. This will maximize tourism visitation, spend and length of stay.

Expansion of local and international sales teams

Use the corporate governance strategy to keep the industry accountable.

This will help to avoid any sorts of bribery and corruption in the tourism industry. Have a tourism industry which provides affordable quality, which is open to all and which makes the best use of Britain’s resources.

Summary

To sum up everything, Marshal (2012) opine that “the challenges facing the tourism industry are complex and numerous. However, the two key among all the challenges are; Tax on accommodation and food and how to create a competitive, world-class tourism industry in Britain.

Frankly speaking, “addressing these challenges will require a high level of coordination and cooperation to marshal resources more effectively. Fiscal pressures and competing priorities among all tourism partners and tourism stakeholders will require new and innovative partnership arrangements to respond to growing competition and global opportunities (Marshal, 2012)”.

Conclusion

This report has provided a product and market development strategy for the UK tourism industry. The background history of UK and the overview of the scope are revealed in this study. It also outlined the vision, mission and strategic objectives of the study. Situational analysis of the industry based on the local market, value of tourism and UK’s position in the international market has been scholarly presented. The report revealed a summary of the key findings of strategic marketing audit of the UK tourism sector. The findings of the report are used to develop a strategy for increasing the economic benefits of tourism to UK.

The strategy for overcoming the challenges in order to increase the number of individuals visiting UK for tourism is disclosed in this report. The report concludes by making strategic recommendations for areas of growth in tourism activities in UK, development of products and resources needed to ensure viability. More so, significant barriers to implementing those recommendations are identified throughout the report to address the concerns of stakeholders of the industry.

To amass everything, it is the objective of the Ministry of Tourism and the Government of UK to create the environment where the industry would “do not only teach people to smile but give them a reason to smile”. The Government should note the above recommendations a point and legislate new tourism policy ( Hon. Harold Lovel, 2012).

Annotated Bibliography
Vision, mission, aims and objectives

In order for an organization to have clear strategic directions, it must first formulate clear vision, mission, aims and objectives. The following books were helpful in discussing the purpose of the vision, mission, aims and objectives;

Dale, C. (2012), “Strategic Management for Tourism”

Senior Lecturer in Tourism

University of Wolverhampton

Evans, N. C. D. and Stonehouse, G (2003)

“Strategic Management for Travel and Tourism”. Oxford

Butterworth-Heinemann, 15-20

Understanding Strategic Position and Tourism

Strategy and Tourism have myriad of definitions from a different perspective. It is therefore important to open this report with a brief explanation on strategic positioning and tourism. This will help to facilitate better understanding of strategy formulation and implementation. The following books, journals and articles were helpful in capturing the main conceptualization of strategy and tourism.

Capon, C. (2008), “Understanding Strategic Management”,

Prentice Hall: Hemel Hempstead.

Lovelock, C. H. (1984). “Services Marketing”.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Lovelock, C. H. (1991). “Services Marketing”. 2nd ed., Prentice- Hall

Johnson, G. et al. (2008), “Exploring Corporate Strategy”,

Prentice Hall: Hemel Hempstead.

Porter, M.E., (1980),

“Competitive Strategy: Techniques for analysing industries and competitors”

New York: The Free Press

Tribe, J, (2010), “Strategy for Tourism”, Goodfellow Publishers, Oxford

Overview of Tourism Industry in UK

In order to get broad and comprehensive review of tourism in UK, there was the need to research into several books, journals and articles which helpful to this report. As a matter of fact, the following books and journals were able to give accurate information that the researcher was looking for.

Butler, R.W. (2011): ” Contemporary Tourism Reviews: Tourism Life Cycle”

Strathclyde Business School, Universiity of Strathclyde

Goodfellow Publishers Ltd., Woodeaton, Oxford, OX3 9TJ

Website- wwww.goodfellowpublishers.com

Shaw, S. (2012): International Hospitality Management Program http://www.sprottshaw.com/programs/tourism-hospitality/international-hospitality-management/

Accessed on December 12, 2012

The Economic Importance of Tourism: UK Tourism Satellite .., http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/tourism/tourism-satellite-account/2009—the-economic-importance-of-tourism/rep-2009tsa.html (accessed December 12, 2012).

Tribe, J. (2005), “The Economics of Recreation, Leisure and Tourism”, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.

UNWTO, EUROSTAT, OECD (2008), “Tourism Satellite Account: Recommended Methodological Framework (TSA:RMF)”, Madrid, Luxembourg, Paris.

UNWTO, EUROSTAT, OECD (2008), “International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008(IRTS 2008)”, New York, Madrid. United Nations, Statistical Office of the European Communities, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and World Tourism Organization (2008).

VisitBritain Consultation Document (2012)

“Delivering A Golden Legacy: A Grow Strategy for Inbound Tourism to Britain from 2012 to 2020”.

Website- www.visitbritain.org

Key Issues and Challenges

This part of the report is very sensitive to the study; therefore there was the need to get books which would give accurate information about the benefits and challenges confronting the tourism industry in UK. The research made reference from the following books and websites;

BIS Economic Paper (2012): “Industrial Strategy: UK Analysis”

Department for Business Innovative & Skills, No. 18

http://www.bis.gov.uk

“Business Management and Strategies”,

http://teeanthony.blogspot.com/ (accessed December 12, 2012).

Marshall, C. (2012), “Challenges facing the Tourism Industry in Antiqua & Barbuda”: Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Office of National Statistics (2012): “The Economic Importance of Tourism: UK Tourism Satellite Account 2009”

VisitBritain Consultation Document (2012)

“Delivering A Golden Legacy: A Grow Strategy for Inbound Tourism to Britain from 2012 to 2020”.

Website- www.visitbritain.org

TOMORROW’S TOURISM – Home – Ask, common questions asked of … (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.eastriding.gov.uk/corp-tourism/docs/TomorrowsTourism.pdf

Strategic Options

This section of the report focuses on the Marketing strategy and action plan. There was the need to get frameworks and models to support the work. Therefore made reference from the following books below, because these books give accurate explanations to the various strategic options and marketing models;

Buhalis, D., 1999a, Limits of tourism development in peripheral destinations: problems and challenges, Tourism Management, Vol.20(2), pp.183-185.

Cooper, C. et al., (1998), Tourism: Principles and Practices, 2nd ed, Addison Wesley Longman, England.

Digital Startup and Campaign Marketing station in Hyderabad .., http://browsemasters.com/ (accessed December 12, 2012).

French Luxury Vacations, http://frenchluxuryvacations.com/ (accessed December 12, 2012).

William, J. (2002): “H. Igor Ansoff, 83; education drew worldwide acclaim”- San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved (8/12/2012

http://www.mindtools.com/subscribe.htm.

Beatty, C. et al., (June, 2010): “The Seaside Tourism Industry in England and Wales”: Employment, Economic Output, Location and Trend. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research

Sheffield Hallam University

Positioning the Destination Product – Bournemouth University ..http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/15749/1/Positioning_the_Destination_Product_-_C an_Regional_Tourist_Boards_Learn_from_Private_Sector_Practice_(for_upload to_BURO).pdf (accessed December 12, 2012).

Porter M.E. (1996), “What is Strategy?”| Reflections, http://jensgulich.wordpress.com/2010/10/22/ / (accessed December 12, 2012).

Pima Community College : As with other impacts: Directories, http://ecc.pima.edu/~tourism/Negative%20Impact%20of%20Tourism.htm (accessed December 12, 2012)

Tugberk’s Blog – TugberkUgurlu.Com,

http://www.tugberkugurlu.com/?page=24 (accessed December 12, 2012

What is the difference between the United Kingdom, Great ..?

http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqzuk.htm (accessed December 12, 2012).

Appendices
appendix 1 (KEY ISSUES & FINDINGS)
Increase in Price

A research conducted by San Francisco State University indicated that, the prices for local goods and services have increased by 8% as a result of tourism development. What it means is that, tourism development has tremendously increased in both building costs and land values. This is because the rich are now using the lands to build and engage in real estate for tourism purpose. This has resulted in difficulty for the indigenous people to meet the basic needs to purchase lands for their own use.

Economic Dependence

According to Marshall (2012), “over-reliance on tourism, especially mass tourism carries significant risks to tourism dependent economies. He argues that economic recession and the impacts of natural calamities such as tropical storms and hurricanes as well as changing tourism patterns can have a devastating effect on the local tourism sector.

Reduction of UK Government fund for tourism industry

In addition, the reduction of UK Government funding on tourism industry is a factor. Thus, the subsidy given by the UK government as a supporting aid to the tourism industry has dropped by ?48.0m to ?35.9m, which is 25% decrease in 2011. This has