Category: Free Essays

Over the years, sustainability and environmental issues have gained significant attention in hospitality, tourism and management projects. Across the world, discussions on sustainable development including that of hospitality industry are ongoing; in fact the hospitality industry is taking a serious note of it.

This chapter discusses on issues, challenges and trends that hospitality industry is facing and might face in the coming years ahead. Eco Responsible Approach and the top issues that might influence the global hospitality industry in the coming years ahead including sustainable development, calls for green hospitality, labour cost, multicultural issues and higher education are taken actively. Latest Trends in the hospitality, ways to enhance guest experience in hospitality and guest expectations to green initiatives shall be discussed. Further, the aspects pertaining to guest demands for sustainable products & services shall be covered.

Key words: Sustainable; Issues; Challenges; Trends; Hospitality Industry

7.2 Sustainability, Tourism & Hospitality:

The concept of sustainable development was initially taken in the context of the social indicators and thereafter expanded to address the environmental indicators. The World Commission on Environment and Development (The Brundtland Commission) popularised the concept of sustainable development in 1987. We may define sustainable development as: ‘Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has mentioned that Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present tourists and host regions, while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled, while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems.

The dimensions of sustainability encompasses of following elements:

competence management;

eco-efficiency;

financial management;

innovations;

operational performance;

product performance.

stakeholder management; and

sustainable management;

Sustainability practices are becoming increasingly common and the issues concerning to sustainability have become an essential part of the social and political discussions in most of the countries. These days many of the small businesses have to struggle for survival in a world of competitions with key players, mergers and mega corporations. There is a strong urge for sustainable development and thus need of involvement of all stakeholders including local communities. Further there is a strong requirement for educating the young people on the environmental issues and instilling the values in their minds so as to make the world a better place in which to live.

The concept of sustainability in the Hotel Industry:

The hospitality industry is gradually becoming one of the great examples of why running a sustainable business will be crucial for long-term success. Defined at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’, sustainability is increasingly becoming one of the most relevant issues to hoteliers in the 21st century as costs continue to rise, demand becomes increasingly sensitive and the pressure on being economically, socially and environmentally responsible grows.

Due to the growing environmental degradation, society is forced to become increasingly aware of the need of adopting and enforcing more effective measures of environmental protection. Sustainable development, including the development of a more sustainable built environment, has thus become a priority and a challenge of our time. A number of studies indicate that the hotel industry has an important responsibility in this process. The global hotel industry, comprising of various facilities, constitutes one of the most important sectors of the tourism industry. Hotels provide accommodation and offer high level of resources for utilization (including energy, water, consumables) in hotel facilities, the environmental footprint of hotels is typically larger than those of other types of buildings of same size. Research has revealed that the hotels are large users of consumer goods; waste generation is one of the more visible impacts the hotel industry has on the environment. According to an IHEI (2002) estimate, a typical hotel produces in excess of 1 kg of waste per guest-day, which, for a typical facility, results in many tons of waste each month. These figures clearly reflect that there is an urgent need for more environmentally sound practices and products in the hotel industry.

Over the years, there has been an increased environmental awareness among the general public and the development of the concept of “green consumerism” has flourished. Where, most of the hotels in the recent past were paying attention to environmental responsibility it has is now increasingly emerged as a corporate issue.

However, in order to achieve greater environmental responsibility, proper implementation tools and strategies are necessary. The instruments of action include the enforcement of relevant laws and regulations (health and safety requirements, planning and building regulations, water utilization, waste generation and the release of emissions), as well as voluntary standards. Certification and labelling schemes are increasingly growing in popularity. Further, the governments, NGO’s, Academic Communities are coming up to assist hoteliers in running more environmentally responsible businesses. As a matter of fact many good hotel chains have also developed their modules and have practiced innovative practices. Significantly, the research study by Centre for Hospitality Research, Cornell University (2010) & (2012) by Glenn Withiam & Rohit Verma in Hotel Year Book 2012 highlighted on Sustainability citing “customers’ demand for sustainable hotel operations has taken root and expanded. The hotel industry has taken notice, as demonstrated by a push for consistent reporting standards and industry best practices coming from our industry roundtables in both Asia and North America. In that regard, meeting planners and corporate planners are now requesting that hotels provide sustainability-related information (such as energy use or recycling policies). Third-party certification of green claims has become an important part of sustainability reporting, as demonstrated for instance by Travelocity’s Green Hotel Directory, which does not recognize self-certified hotels.”

Hotels are highly dependent on financial performance and have to bank upon increased demand and reducing the costs for survival. Sustainable practices can appear altruistic to the guest, shedding a positive light on a hotel. Also, when applied correctly they are generally cost-effective with short periods of payback. The hotels who implement such measures are generally financially sound as costs are recovered in a short time and many a times often the long-term savings are great. However, only a small percentage of existing hotels have sustainability at the core of their business routine that also in organized sector.

There are many benefits for a hotel with sustainable business practices:

– Additional revenue through lower costs.

– Cost saving through cost-reduction measures.

– Easier financing because of lower long-term risk.

– Greater attractiveness to lenders.

– Greater long-term financial stability.

– Increased asset value because of long-term business capability.

– Long-term ability to stay in business and be profitable.

7.3 Trends & challenges of the industry:

Due to increased awareness on the growing environmental degradation, society is becoming aware of the need of adopting and enforcing more effective measures of environmental protection. Sustainable development has become a key priority and a challenge of time. The issue of sustainability needs to be addressed at different levels, in cooperation with academia, industry, policy makers, the general public and other stakeholders. The hotel industry has an important responsibility in this process. The study by Wang Jin – zhao and Wang zing (Shenyang University – China) in the Journal of Management Science & Engineering (2009) in has highlighted in the article issues, challenges & trends, that facing Hospitality Industry has been taken in this chapter and as under

7.3.1 Issues in Hospitality

Green Hospitality: Sustainable Development Calls for green hospitality. Going green is a burgeoning issue in the hospitality industry. People are keen to look at sustainable solutions in a whole new way. There has been a change in the perception of green; it has gone from a fringe movement to mainstream. As a sign of its gaining popularity, one of the appreciated initiatives in India is Welcom Environment Programme by ITC Welcom Group of Hotels in addition to others. Across the globe various conferences on hospitality are being held. The basis of sustainable hospitality operation is a three-part balance, expressed as “profits, people, and planet.” By taking those three elements into account, thus, a sustainable green hospitality development program becomes economically viable, as well as beneficial to the community and environment.

Higher Education: Tremendous changes are taking place in hospitality industry which poses several challenges for transformation of the whole educational process including educational curricula, learning materials, instructional practices and education stakeholders. This includes restructuring the learning process to reflect the use of information in the real world, changing the role of the educator from presenter of pre-packaged facts to facilitator of active learning and transforming the library specialist to an active collaborator in curriculum planning for effective use and availability of information resources. Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India is providing Hospitality & Tourism Education through National Council of Hotel Management, Indian Institute of Travel & Tourism Management and interestingly is Broad Biasing Hospitality & Tourism Education through Central Financial Assistance Scheme by giving a direct grant of Rupees Two Crores to each University for offering hospitality programmes under this scheme. In 2012 about 22 universities in India have been benefited and many more are likely to get. Indeed, educators need to inspire new aspirants and gear them for industry needs. The new educational providers have also been offering the undeniable demand for open, flexible, distance and e- learning; with world class universities like IGNOU offering Hospitality & Tourism Programmes, as collaboration project NCHMCT & MOT, Govt. Of India; and state universities like Uttarakhand Open University and others are promoting Hospitality & Tourism Programmes reaching to the unreached. Similarly organizations like AHLA, whose primary business is not education but who facilities to it with its educational institute.

Labour Cost Issues: Labour expenses continue to remain amongst the large expense items for hospitality managers, accounting nearly about 40- 45 percent of total operating costs. Thus, any trend or issue that could potentially impact labour costs needs to be taken seriously by hospitality owners and managers alike. “Due to the magnitude of the expense, labour costs and issues have always consumed a substantial portion of the time and efforts of hospitality managers. The cost of labour is the biggest expense in all categories of hotels. Even with the advent of select-service properties, hospitality developers cannot avoid the human component of hospitality operations. While managing labour expenses is important, hospitality managers also needs to be aware that employees are an integral part of the hospitality experience. The interaction between hospitality guests and employees has a significant impact on the customer experience and the success of the business operation. Therefore, a fine balance must be drawn between cost controls and guest satisfaction.

Multicultural Issues: The newest trends and topics surrounding hospitality research and development is the management of multicultural talent in the hospitality industry. With the development of globalization, multicultural issues are facing and disturbing the industry operators. Bringing the far corners of the world together is part and parcel of what the hospitality sector does. Blending amenities to cater for the needs of the world’s different cultures is central to success for large, international hospitality chains. Cultural issues have never before been such a crucial determinant of how a large hospitality should operate. In some Asian cultures, for example, eye contact is not sought, as it can make guests feel uncomfortable, while in Western tradition it is equated with openness and honesty. This could be important in defining how staff addresses themselves to certain Asian guests.

7.3.2 Challenges confronting the Hospitality Industry: The various kinds of challenges confronted by the Hospitality Industry revolves around Economic Issues, Operating Issues, Marketing Issues and Technological Issues

Operating Issues

Human Resources: Shortages of human resources and their impact on the industry in almost every geographic location are consistently among the most difficult challenges noted by hoteliers. In many communities, hospitality expansion is limited not by capital, but rather by human resources. A shrinking labour force is the number one challenge facing the global hospitality industry, according to the International Society of Hospitality Consultants, which recently convened to brainstorm world issues and rank them according to importance. The problem of attracting and retaining qualified workers, once an issue only in an isolated number of markets, is increasingly becoming a global challenge. Demography, wage levels, failure to adequately address worker satisfaction and a reputation for long hours and low pay are all cited as contributing factors. Creative hospitality professionals have begun to develop innovative strategies for capturing and keeping high quality workers. In India itself the research report by HVS International cites that ongoing demand for human resources is 3,20,000 and the trained manpower supply is 12,000 annually through Govt. Institutes of Hotel Management. The Prime Minister’s National Skill Development Council has articulated a vision that tourism sector will employ additional 5 million skilled persons by 2022. Realizing the increasing importance of Tourism as an integral part of economic and developmental policy of India Ministry of Tourism Govt. of India has received the 12th Plan Allocation in Rupees 15,190 crore which is a substantial increase over its 11th Plan size of Rupees 5156 crore. In order to meet the growing needs of Human Resources, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has launched Hunar se Rozgar Programme with a target to train 1,07,800 people in 2016-17 against training of 53,800 personnel in 2012-13 for the trade of Hospitality & Tourism.

Cost Containment : Hospitalities are increasingly challenged to find ways to reduce costs without sacrificing the quality standards imposed to consistently meet guest expectations. The idea of “doing more with le” requires managers to think about ways to operate more effectively (in other words to “do the right things in the right way”) and to examine possibilities for cost savings that will not affect the guest’s perception of value.

Increased Competition : Hotels everywhere indicate that their community is overbuilt; there are too many available hospitality rooms relative to the guests desiring to rent them. The resulting competition, which often involves price cutting in efforts to provide greater value to guests, educes still further the profits generated. A steep fall in occupancy ratio in the wake of the global slowdown and tight competition among hospitality operators in a shrinking market have brought down hospitality room rents drastically across the country. The competition has resulted in low occupancies and as a result, the average room rate has taken a beating of almost 30 percent in all major leisure markets. Rooms are now sold not only for less but also bundled with packages, like breakfast, airport transfers or a day’s sightseeing. Competition calls for innovation in hospitality industry.

Marketing Issues

Market Segmentation and Overlapping Brands: Market segmentation is increasing as lodging chains focus on a specific niche of travellers. Additionally, brands overlap. Some industry observers are concerned that franchisers may expand their number of brands to the point that investors who purchase from the same franchiser will be in direct competition with themselves! Also, as the number of brands increases, the ability of consumers to differentiate between them decreases.

Increased Guest Sophistication : Consumers have become more sophisticated and, as a result, so have the types of products and services that they desire. Amenities, including business centers, exercise and recreational facilities, and guest-room innovations, increase costs but, if not carefully selected, may not appeal to many guests being served by a specific property.

Technological Issues

The challenges of keeping up with the fast pace of technology is difficult and expensive.

Interactive Reservation Systems: Guests can now use the Internet’s interactive reservation systems, and hospitality companies are sometimes criticized for the (alleged) large number of keyboard clicks required to make a reservation. The number of reservations made via the Internet continues to increase. Surveys show that a good number reservations are made through the Internet, and this percentage is increasing every year. With such high percentage of reservations done through the Internet, hospitality cannot afford not being connected. If the potential guest cannot book online, a reservation will be made at the competitor’s web site.

Guest-room Innovations: With wi fi connectivity, mood based lighting, choice of music, multiple telephone lines, interactive opportunities for ordering room service, modern ammenities and guest-room check-out are examples of amenities that guests increasingly desire, but that are very expensive to install and implement.

Data Mining This technology allows marketing and sales personnel to find new ways to use guest-related data. (data mining: using technology to analyze guest and other related data to make better marketing decisions.)

Yield Management This computerized process allows managers to match guest demand with room rates (high demand means higher rates because of lessened discounts; low demand result in higher discounts.) (yield management: demand forecasting systems designed to maximize revenue by holding rates high during times of high guest-room demand and by decreasing room rates during times of lower guest-room demand). Yield management is critical to maximizing a hospitality’s profitability. The concept are applied to every revenue department and across department. The yield manager’s job is to maximize the revenue per available room by selling rooms to the right customers, at the right price, at the right time.

Economic Issues

Dependence upon the Nation’s Economy When the nation’s economy is good, business travel generally increases. Hospitality occupancy rates and rack rates increase, which results in higher profit levels. The reverse is also true: business travel slows when the economy slow. Then occupancy and rack rates decrease. Discounts to increase occupancy are offered, which yield lower revenues and profit decreases.

Globalization Globalization impacts the lodging industry dramatically because it influences the extent of which people travel both within the country and around the world. Therefore, it is not only the economy of the nation, but also the economies of individual countries, that play an increasingly larger role in the financial success of lodging properties. To compete, they must pay closer attention to the trends of globalization. The industry must reflect the requirements of the global village in many aspects of its operations, including food, services, amenities, staffing policies and training.

7.3.3 Trends in Hospitality Industry:

Rapid Growth in Vacation Ownership : Vacation ownership is the fastest growing segment of the lodging industry and is likely to continue growing as the baby boomers enter their fifties and sixties in the U.S.A.. The World Tourism Organization has called timeshares one of the fastest growing sectors of the travel and tourism industry. Hospitality companies are adding brand power to the concept with corporations like Marriott Vacation Club International, the Walt Disney Company, Hilton Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Promus’ Embassy Suites, Inter-Continental and ever Four Seasons participating in an industry that has grown rapidly in recent years.

Integration & Globalization: Vertical integration is a trend that began a few years ago. Lodging companies realized that guests’ accommodation needs were not just at one level; rather, they seemed to vary by price and facilities/amenities. Almost all major lodging companies now have properties in each segment of the market. The future of the lodging industry involves globalization. Companies cannot grow unless they venture beyond the United States. American hospitality chains and their management techniques were in demand by many developing countries who wanted premium-name hotel. An extensive survey of the condition of the hospitality would have shown that substantial amounts of money would be necessary to maintain the hospitality’s condition. The hospitality industry is thus at the very core of the globalization of international business. Hospitality companies therefore need to consider the implications of the global context in which they operate and must be prepared to address the questions that arise from this changing environment. Globalization will ultimately touch virtually all aspects of the hospitality industry. Increasingly, customers, management processes, employees, products, and sources of capital will be competed for and will move across national boundaries. Competition in the future will come from global entities with the advantages that globalization brings.

New Management : The complex forces of capacity control, safety and security, capital movement, and technology issues will require a future management cadre that is able to adapt to rapid-paced change across all the traditional functions of management. The growing complexity of the customer/employee interaction, driven by technology and the information age, will shape human resources needs in the future. The customer, armed with more information, will expect frontline and other hospitality staff to be at least as knowledgeable about the firm’s offerings as they are themselves. This will be difficult in an industry characterized by low-skilled, low-paid personnel and a high degree of cultural and behavioral diversity among its employees. Visioning the future: major forces driving change in the hospitality industry’ considers seven areas decisive to the future development of the industry. Each is examined to determine the scope and complexity of the issue and the timing of its impact. That is assets and capital, health and safety, new management , marketing, distribution and capacity management, technology, sustainable development, social issues

Expanded role of Travel Intermediaries & Portals: The entry of Google has added a new dimension to hotel room distribution, since users can book directly from the search results page, instead of clicking through to another site. Going forward, hotels may find themselves being distributed much like package goods. Many guests will go to a travel purveyor for hotel rooms, just as they go to a food market for groceries. Further, there have been facilities extended to many countries including India for developing free websites by google enabling small or even un organised hotels accessible on web.

Mobile apps and RFID : Social media, which have grown exponentially in the past few years, will continue to be a force, but the big electronic development for hotel distribution and operations is mobile devices, particularly those with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips. Because of the remarkable plunge in the cost of RFID, the study by Cornell Research Centre anticipate that this will break out as its own trend soon enough, and the combination of RFID and mobile apps will allow guests to use their smart phones to book a room, check in, open their guestroom door, and settle their folio – all without direct contact with staff. Even without RFID, guests’ use of mobile devices will create opportunities for innovation by hoteliers, including new services and operating efficiencies.

Next generation globalization: Not long ago, globalization meant that hotel brands from developed nations expanded into developing nations, whether through master franchises or by acquiring local firms. Globalization is now flowing in the reverse direction, as brands from developing nations are expanding to developed nations, as well as to other developing nations. To name just a few brands, Taj Hotels from India has now operations in UK, US having properties in Boston, New York, and San Francisco, as well as hotels in London and Sydney, Jumeirah from UAE now manages the Essex House in New York, as well as properties in London and Frankfurt ; Thus, globalization will mean that hotel brands criss-cross the globe.

7.4 Eco Responsible Approaches in Hospitality Business

In the tourism industry, hotels account for a significant amount of the overall pollution generated by this sector. The potential of implementing more sustainable practices in the hotel sector requires the availability of reliable tools for assessment and benchmarking of hotel environmental performance. A number of such tools have been developed by international environmental organizations, branch associations and even hotel corporations. The various schemes differ with regard to geographical/climatic areas covered, types of hotel facilities included, detail of environmental information required, benchmarking methods, user-friendliness and implementation cost.

Green Hotels: In view of the shortage of resources on Earth, rising awareness of environmental protection, and ecological conservation, eco-friendly hotels shall be the answer for the above issues, so that natural resources can be recycled, re-used, and energy can be conserved. These are the future goals of the hotel accommodation industry. The term green hotel (eco-friendly hotel) was first introduced following the emergence of the above concepts. Eco-friendly Hotel Association (2000) was set up to create the green hotel requirements that promote the economical use of water and energy, and reduction of solid waste, so as to safeguard the Earth resources. Green Mountain State (2010) has focused on the creation of an eco-friendly environment, possibly allowing for contribution from all staffs and guests alike. It carefully scrutinizes each area of the hotel operation to find ways to reduce the impacts on the environment. It also looks for ways to educate the public, and to remind everyone that every bit counts no matter how tiny the contribution may be. At the same time, it maintains its commitment to provide the kind of quality service that is expected by hotel guests. The basic concept of a green hotel is a place of accommodation that can provide eco-friendly services, but its main goal shall be focused on ways to maintain its sustainable operation. Under the premise of minimizing the environmental impact, a green hotel shall be managed in such a way to provide patrons with a comfortable, healthy, natural accommodation while its service quality is maintained.

Development of Green Hotels: Eco-friendly or green hotels are developed under the concept of sustainable operation of the tourism industry. It shall be based on the capacity to sustain the ecological environment, and shall be in line with local economic development and local ethics. In addition, it can meet the needs of contemporary people, but without endangering the future generations. Furthermore, it shall be able to promote the local economy, resource conservation, and protect the ecofriendly environment, thus creating a harmonious relationship with the nature. As the hotel accommodation is closely tied to the development of the tourism industry, when the recreation and leisure trend is becoming increasingly popular, increased demand for tourism will also stimulate the demand for hotel accommodation. According to the traditional impression, hotels are places that offer luxury accommodation and services. But, under the global environmental awareness and environmental advocacy, and complying with the environmental management requirements, hotel services are now focused on cleaner production, eco-friendly services, and regular resource conservation.

The concept of eco-friendly hotels came into being under the green corporate culture

and the above principles. With increasing attention on the environmental issues, and

influenced by the concept of green hotels, hotels in every country are urged to implement the environmental management and energy saving measures.

The main spirits of green hotels are to provide affordable products and services to meet the needs of the public, to improve the quality of life at the same time, to reduce the ecological impact on the environment gradually throughout the life cycle, and to reduce the consumption of natural resource. At least, the pace of energy consumption shall be reconciled with the

Earth’s loading capacity. Eco-friendly Hotels Association (2010) firmly supported the

green initiatives through encouragement and promotion of the green hotel services.

Through appropriate management of the natural resources, the green hotel concept

can be applied to the hotel accommodation industry.

The Green Practices in Hotels include:

Commitment to Environmental Practices: (By formulating Environmental Committees, Developing Strategies, Plan of Action, Manuals, formulating green teams, monitoring environmental performance, communicating visibility of environmental practices to guests, stake holders, staff, vendors & public)

Energy Efficiency & Conservation: (Installing occupancy sensors, use of energy efficiency equipments, applications of alternate energy sources, proper HVAC maintenance, energy efficient designs, buildings & construction patterns)

Lighting: (Installing programmable sensors, use of reminder cards, provisions for natural lights, application of dimmer controls, use of CFL and other such energy efficient lamps)

Landscape: (Sprinkler irrigation systems, recycled water, drip irrigation methods, use of drought resistant plants, grouping of tolerant plants, usage of organic fertilizers)

Managing Hazardous & Toxic Substances: (Proper provisions and instructions for storing, use of least toxic products, little or no phosphates laundry products, use of re chargeable batteries)

Pest Management: (Implementation of green integrated pest management programme, application of organic insecticides, usage of traps & barriers and discretion of strong and harmful chemicals)

Purchasing: (Creating environmental purchasing polic

To understand cultural heritage and interpretation, it is essential to understand the various definitions and theories in relation to the concept of cultural heritage.

The term ‘cultural heritage’ refers to the “things, places and practices that define who we are as individuals, as communities, as nations or civilizations and as a species” (Wedenoja, 2010). In other words, it is the cultural legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, preserved in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. It is a legacy which we often want to recognize and reserve because it strengthens our cultural identity of sense of who we are as people. However, what is considered cultural heritage by one generation may be rejected by the next generation, only to be revived by a succeeding generation.

Cultural heritage is not limited to material manifestations. It also includes living expressions and the traditions that groups and communities around the world have inherited from their ancestors and transmitted to their descendants. Thus, cultural heritage can be grouped into broad categories: tangible and intangible. Tangible cultural heritage can refer to moveable objects and immoveable sites. These include archaeological sites, artifacts, buildings, historic sites, monuments, graves, and culturally significant landscapes like sacred places. Landscapes are considered heritage when they have natural features that may have cultural attributes including flora and fauna. Heritage sites like these often serve as an important component in a country’s tourist industry, attracting many visitors from abroad as well as locally. UNESCO [1] defines intangible cultural heritage as “aˆ¦the non-physical characteristics, practices, representations, expressions as well as knowledge and skills that identify and define a group or civilization” (UNESCO, 2010). These include language, oral histories, beliefs, practices, rituals, ceremonies, customs, traditions, music, dance, crafts, and other arts.

Heritage that survives from the past is often unique and irreplaceable. This places the responsibility of preservation on the current generation. Safeguarding cultural heritage has become one of the priorities of international cooperation since 1972 when the General Conference of UNESCO adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. There are 878 World Heritage Sites as of 2008. They are located in 145 countries and 678 cultural, 174 natural, and 26 mixed sites (UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 2010). The preservation of living heritage has only become significant in 2003 when UNESCO adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

(This is the short version –> still have a lot of detail to add because the term cultural heritage is very detailed and has meant different things in the past decades. Unless the professor thinks this is enough.)

Cultural Heritage and the Challenges of Tourism

In recent years, key heritage sites have seen a remarkable increase poorly guided or unguided tourists. Tremendous pressure has been forced upon areas like Angkor Wat, Luang Prabang or Halong Bay the growing number of visitors and the general growth in Tourism. International agencies such as the World Tourism Organization have predicted that tourism numbers will continue to rise over the next 10 years, predominantly so for the continent of Asia. Such growths in visitor numbers worsens existing problems at World Heritage sites which include vandalism, lack of awareness of cultural and heritage significance of sites, congestion and destination and cultural commodification. As global tourism increasingly interface with heritage sites, the pressures of meeting challenges will be more pronounced. In addition to the negative effects of unguided mass tourism at heritage sites, a rise in niche cultural tourism also prompts the need for the training of cultural heritage specialist guides for World Heritage sites. The development of such niche groups of culturally-sensitive and learning-seeking tourists is constituted within the broader developments of what has been termed by tourism academics as “special interest tourism” and the diversification of the tourism market. However, the development of niche cultural tourism is hampered by the widespread lack of cultural heritage specialist guides in Asia-Pacific. In the APETIT meeting in 2002, the training of professional guides was highlighted by UNESCAP and UNESCO as key to improvements in the tourism system and industry.

What is Digitization?

We use the term digitization to refer to the process of converting physical resources or information into a digital format (Digitization, 2007). In other words, digitizing means simply capturing an analog signal in digital form. Photos taken with a digital camera, or data collected by an electronic measuring device are automatically converted into digital form. However, text and images that are in a tangible form can be digitized with a scanner (Ibid). When scanning texts or images, an optical character recognition program, also known as OCR, “analyzes a text image for light and dark areas in order to identify each alphabetic letter or numeric digit, and converts each character into an ASCII code” (Ibid). Audio and videos can also be digitized by a process in which an analog signal is changed, without changing its essential content, into a digital signal (Ibid). The process of sampling measures the amplitude, or signal strength, of an analog waveform at evenly spaced time markers (Ibid). It also signifies the samples as numerical values for input as digital data (Digitization, 2007). Objects and sites on the other hand require a more complicated process. A 3D scanner is utilized to analyze an object or environment. The 3D scanner creates a point of cloud of geometric samples on the surface of the object or site and these points can then be used to digitally reconstruct the object or site (3D Scanner, 2010). Digitized resources can be easily shared through digital devices, equipment, and networks. Despite its many advantages, digital resources still need special care and preservation as they can become obsolete. Therefore, everything must be digitized at the highest quality and migrated to the latest storage and formats.

Digitization of an object using a 3D Scanner (Scribe It, n.d.)

Why Should We Digitize Cultural Heritage?

Cultural Heritage should be digitized for the following reasons:

Preservation of Tangible Cultural Heritage

Digitization can help preserve tangible cultural heritage including objects and buildings. All objects and the valuable information they contain will be available without jeopardizing their integrity by handling or by exposure to the elements. For instance, the Stonehenge in Great Britain is using technological interpretation to conserve the heritage site. Brian Bath states in his publication “The Use of New Technology in the Interpretation of Historic Landscapes” (2006) that a massive number of visitors wanted to see every angle of the Stonehenge and if the same number of visitors came to the site constantly it would “aˆ¦a threat exposed surface archaeology and to the protected lichens on the stone surfaces at ground level”. Bath (2006) also added that it was hard interpreting the site without explaining the conservation process as well. People wanted to see everything but what they didn’t understand was the effect they would have on the site. The solution for this matter was technology. Various forms of Medias like CDs with 3 models and web-based virtual museums were developed in response to assist tourists understand about the conservation and interpretation of the site.

3D/ Virtual Reconstruction of Stonehenge

Broadened Access

A lot of people can’t travel to museums or actual sites whenever they want and even if they could, space constraints imposed on museums would only allow them to see a little percentage of available collections. Therefore, digitizing cultural heritage greatly increases public access. Furthermore, it also advances the work of scholars and researchers worldwide, and opens new opportunities to educators in every setting. Often, objects reside in multiple places even if they are related. Thus, digitizing entire collections allows museums to assimilate their resources, making it possible for scholars working externally to see at a glance their complexity and extent of holdings in a given area. Moreover, digitization also allows museums to share their resources more broadly by integrating collections that have been separated by location across many cultural heritage institutions and research centers. And lastly, digitized materials also help museums reach underserved audiences, as well as those not motivated to see museums as a source of information. For instance, twenty years ago, students had to travel to Washington, D.C. to research in the Library of Congress and it was an expensive matter. Now, high school students from around the world have instant access. In 2003, the Library of Congress reported that approximately 15 million people visited American Memory. That is more than the number of people who have worked in the library’s reading rooms over the past 200 years and 1,500 times the number who annually use the manuscript reading room (Cohen & Rosenzweig, 2006).

New Access

Digitization allows access to historical resources that are inaccessible because of their fragility (Cohen & Rosenzweig, 2006). As an example, the original 1791 plan for the city Washington is so deteriorated and brittle the Library of Congress does not allow researchers to examine it (Cohen & Rosenzweig, 2006). But now anyone can view the digital copy on the library’s website. Not all Library of Congress documents are quite this fragile, but like many other sources, they can’t be browsed easily in analog form.

L’Enfant’s Original City Plan of Washington 1791 L’Enfant’s Revised City Plan of Washington 1792

Support Education

Another benefit of digitizing cultural heritage is that it supports education. Digitization impacts learning in classrooms and everywhere learning takes place. Studies of cultural heritage can come alive with instant access to images, sound files and text extracts. People will be able to experience things not normally possible in a museum, e.g. exploring the inside of a space shuttle in 3D. Furthermore, educators working with cultural heritage can interact virtually with audiences and cultivate forums for exploring topics in more depth and from varying perspectives. Lifelong learners will be able to guide their own learning with help from museums’ digitized collections. Overall, digitization will give public access to a much greater percentage of museum’s immense resources, providing better tools with which to spark learning. Brian Bath (2006) stated that the Museum of London set-up a web-based virtual museum and 40 percent of the people who visited the site including students actually came to the museum. As you can see, some people who may have never had interest in going were appealed.

Enhances Museums’ Competitiveness

Digitization can enhance museums’ competitiveness by enhancing visitors’ experience. A study was carried out by the SITI Research Center of the Queen Margaret University College (Reino, S., Mitsche, N. & Frew, A., 2007) in the UK by comparing live interpretation and traditional interpretation at 2 sites, which were Beamish and the Bowes. The result was that ICT improved competitiveness of heritage sites by enhancing learning, entertainment and visitor’s experience. Beamish which used technology for interpretation had an average of 4% better outcomes in each category.

Ease of Access for Researchers

In the past, researchers and scholars had to endure the thorough process of ordering up boxes of items in order to find what they were looking for. Sometimes researchers or scholars could not study the archival documents (e.g., glass plate and film negatives) without the prior conversions into readable or viewable media like prints. On the other hand digitization allows quick and easy browsing of large collections of material.

Enrich Context

Digitization will help enrich context of cultural heritage because everything relevant to an object including details, records, and other interpretative data can be shared. This will enable a richer interaction and enhance user’s understanding of an object or site’s context and meaning. In addition, digitization will enable allows experts to compare artifacts and specimens against those of the digitized museum, substantially increasing information about these holdings at a greater rate remotely. Equally important, it allows people around the world to add additional impressions, associations, and stories to the permanent record. (Will add an example)

Infinite Reach

Digitization allows infinite reach. It helps people draw multi-media resources from science centers, programs, and museums. Drawn resources could be combined in a way that it could transport an audience back in time. An audience could potentially see how Thai people were living 300 years ago, or witness battles. On the other hand, digitization could also let people experience the present as scientists do. For instance, an audience could be accessing data from Bangkok and could be in the Arctic the next minute learning about ice. And last but not least, people could perhaps travel virtually through space, with a view so clear, making them feel as though they could touch the stars from their armchair. As aforementioned, with digital assets, people would truly have infinite reach.

What is Heritage Interpretation?
The Basic Principles of Heritage Interpretation
The Evolution of Heritage Interpretation and New Media
Museums and Their Functions
What are Virtual Museums?
Still missing but will be added:
How can cultural heritage material be digitized?
Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
Digitizing audio & video
Cultural Heritage in Thailand
Heritage Interpretation in Thailand
Examples of Heritage Interpretation and New Media in Other Countries
What is the possibility for Thailand? Is it worth it? Assesing Cost and Timelines.

Problems with Digitizing Cultural Heritage (Has to be explained in more detail and more examples)

Three major problems impede the use of digital technology from being a major tool in preserving cultural heritage. The first one is the enormous amount of financial resources needed for the scanning process, the second one is the quick obsolescence of hardware and software, and the third is the need for standardization of tools and interfaces. As a result, the work done in this area is mostly on a pilot basis, where researchers study the various aspects of certain subjects, build and experiment with modest projects, debate on standards and establish coordinating bodies.

Forms of Digitization and Their Advantages and Disadvantages

Virtual Museums

3d Technology

The origins of heritage interpretation date back to the aftermath of the creation of the first natural parks at the end of the 19th century in the United States. However, it was not until 1957, with publication by Freeman Tilden’s ‘Interpreting our Heritage’ that the foundation of the discipline were established.

Although in the early days this interpretation was essentially

Community-based tourism is gaining prestige all over the world as an alternative to mass tourism. This new type of tourism favors a contact with the local community and the experimentation of different sensations. Hence, this assignment shows how community based tourism activities were developed and how it has been helping countries to come out of their poverty. The assignment also provides guidance on the issues to be addressed when developing Community Based Tourism (CBT) activities managed by local communities in regional and rural areas. It highlights the practical considerations when planning for and implementing CBT drawing on the experience of CBT activities.

The work showcases and draws lessons from good practice in CBT from around the world drawing from case study examples of good practice. It also identifies the underlying processes and practices that make CBT successful while also identifying key challenges and risks. The lower part of the assignment talks also about responsible tourism which is also an extremely vital part in the tourism industry. Responsible tourism makes people more responsible towards the environment and also helps to protect the communities at large.

In the last part, there is some recommendations given on both community based tourism and responsible tourism.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Tourism is one of the largest growing industries in the world (Choi and Sirakaya, 2008; United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) 2009). Tourism has been a great help and a boon to many countries, most especially the developing countries or countries with no alternative resources other than tourism. However in recent years, a change has been observed in the behavior of tourists. Tourists are now more and more getting interested in destination whereby local cultural, ethnics, indigenous customs and the historical heritage have their own importance and where they are managed in a responsible manner. There is no doubt that tourism contributes significantly to major economic benefits of countries, especially in the case of Small Island Developing State (SIDS) countries like Mauritius. Nevertheless, several studies have also shown that tourism industry also contributes to environmental degradation and negative social and cultural impacts (Choi and Sirakaya, 2008). Such factors have created an increase in an interest in Responsible tourism and Community Based Tourism (CBT).

Community based development is a form of development that takes place in the community, emphasizes maximum participation of community members in its design and implementation on several projects. The term Community Based Tourism (CBT) emerged in the mid 1990s. It is a form of ‘local’ tourism, favouring local service providers and suppliers and focused on interpreting and communicating the local culture and environment. It has been pursued and supported by communities, local government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs). The chief aim is the socio-economic empowerment and value added experience for foreign and local visitors. In this way, this practice puts forward a new place for destinations, for mostly, the adventurous travelers as well as for the nature and culture lovers. The community involving in this type of tourism shares the money equally among each another. Hence, breaking the perception on tourism that only the rich people gets the profits and the one working hard for it gets nothing. Community based development gives the communities an opportunity to value the community asset which are mainly their traditions, inheritance, gastronomy and way of lives. It gives them a chance to indulge in these ventures where they can get great income whilst making the tourists’ holidays valuable. The locals are trained on how to begin and manage a business, environment awareness, product development and marketing.

There are a number of different terms used for very similar activities internationally, for instance, in Latin America the term rural tourism is often used, alongside CBT whereas in parts of Asia, eco-tourism is often delivered via CBT. Normally, sustainable tourism, community based tourism; rural tourism and eco-tourism have similar aims. Planning tourism to safeguard a destination’s cultural heritage and enhance its natural heritage while at the same time improving the socio economic welfare of communities. Eco-tourism, rural and community based tourism are seen as both a set of principles as well as a tourism market segment.

Community based tourism is thus regarded as a means to enhance community development, cultural heritage and conservation. It should also be used to deal with poverty (Equation, 2008). However, community based tourism is not a cure and cannot be seen as the only solution but it can be used as a powerful tool to achieve areas development (Telfer & Sharpley; 2008). However, any community based tourism practices will not be fruitful unless it is carry out in a responsible manner. The word ” responsible ” in tourism refers to ensuring that all forms of tourism are environment friendly, economically equitable, socially and culturally stable and eventually enriching for both hosts and visitors. Thus, it is primarily important to consider community based tourism but in a responsible manner.

Literature Review: 1.1 Benefits of community based tourism

The chief advantages of Community based tourism (CBT) are observed to create jobs, alleviate poverty, pride and satisfaction, community capacity building, revenue for preserving and upgrading the cultural sites. If community based tourism is well planned and done through the whole community, it can bring on great economic benefits to the community itself. Moreover, the five aspects of community development which was adapted from Suansri are mainly: social, economic, political, cultural and last but not the least, environmental. To begin with, social means people gathering together, makes decisions, puts the welfare of the community on front ward, makes fair and good judgment towards the locals and most importantly, treat everyone as equal.

Second, economic is one of the most fundamental one as it helps the community to be self dependent, expand local economy by the staying at the community lodgings and so on, hence, getting income from the local production. Therefore, it brings foreign currencies which make the country at whole moves forward. Next is political which involve the participation of the local people which tightened the bond among them. Fourth is cultural which build a kind of trust and respect among different cultures and hence, encourages cultural exchange. Last of all is environmental which makes the inhabitants of the community more aware of their environment, take actions towards the polluted areas and find an appropriate place to dispose the waste water. Most importantly, it is of vital importance to give the locals and insight about the environment that is educate them about the importance and drawbacks of it. A wrong picture has been portrayed on the development of tourism in local communities where it is believed that community takes advantage of the resources within community which is why government bodies do not seek the advice of the community before a project.

1.2 Advantages of community based tourism:

supports local economic development through diversification of employment

is financially viable

values and encourages equitable participation of local community

is ecologically sustainable and minimizes impact on the environment

preserves and promotes living cultural heritage and welfare

educates visitors about culture and nature

exhibits good management practices

Guarantees a quality and safe experience for all of individuals involved.

Ultimately, local communities are the chief reasons that enable tourists to discover local habitats, wildlife and celebrate and respect traditional cultures, rituals and wisdoms. Tourism can make a destination popular and well liked if they are really welcomed and well treated in that particular locality. Thus, this study gives the local community a boost up about tourism and henceforth can be an enthusiasm for further studies.

1.3 Constraints of CBT

Every community based tourism developer must ask the following questions from the very first stage of idea generation for the same:

Will the project enhance environment while adding value to the visitor’s experience?

Will the project be developed, operated and protected by the community?

Will the project provide social and economic benefits to the stakeholders/shareholders?

Will the project be operated with sound ethical business practices including adherence to regulations and standards set by government, agencies, stakeholders, shareholders and consumers?

Will the project offer professional services and value to the visitor and be competitive in the global marketplace?

If CBT is not properly devised and implemented, it is more likely to fail. According to the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT), major CBT projects fail mainly because:

Few projects understand the need for commercial activities: local people must sell crafts, food, accommodation and wildlife or cultural experiences to tourists. This is the only way to ensure a sustainable supply of local income or conservation funds.

CBT projects must engage with the private sector, including travel agents, tour operators and hoteliers. The earlier this engagement takes place and the closer the partnership, the more likely it is to succeed.

Location is critical: for poor people to benefit, tourists must stay in or near to these communities. Very few communities have tourism assets which are sufficiently strong to attract tourists – they rely on selling complementary goods and services. Tourists need to be close by for this to happen.

CBT projects do not always provide appropriate tourism facilities for generating income. For example, too many CBT initiatives rely on building lodges, which are capital intensive and need considerable maintenance, or walking trails from which it can be difficult to secure revenue.

Protected areas increasingly rely on money from tourists to pay for conservation initiatives.

Local communities often have to compete with conservation projects for revenues. Thus CBT projects failure can fail due to lack of financial viability, insufficient resources, lack of infrastructure and eventually due to lack of marketing capacity.

1.3.1 Lack of infrastructure:

Infrastructure refers to the physical traits of a location that are needed for tourism and more particularly, responsible tourism (Garci, 2008). Proper infrastructure is required to ensure the safety and good experiences of tourists in the community and for the sustainability of the industry. Examples of physical traits can be garbage collection, tourism information center, road signage, hospital or health centres, among others. A study done by Choi and Sirakaya (2006) noted that inadequate infrastructure is often barriers faced in an emerging or developed countries.

1.3.2 Lack of financial viability

Many tourism experts have worked hard to promote CBT around the world but the success of those projects remained questionable as their outcome varies. With constant donor funds, committed technical assistance and market linkages, a small number of projects have attained major pro poor profits benefits. However there has been many CBT projects that have failed due to financial viability, poor market access and poor governance.

1.3.3 Insufficient resources

A main barrier for CBT is inadequate resources. Scarce resources are linked with initial funding sources and opportunities for training to develop skills, knowledge and expertise related to tourism (Graci, 2008). Lack of funding is a persistent problem seen in tourism development, most particularly in rural communities in developing (Choi and Sirakaya, 2008). A lack of financial resources and training will limit or discourage community participation in the tourism development process, which is essential to the success of CBT development (Tosun, 2000).

1.3.4 Lack of marketing capacity

Marketing is another major barrier to establishing a viable tourism industry in rural communities and stem from the first barrier identified: inadequate resources. Cooper identifies that a lack of marketing capacity and lack of knowledge on how the marketing structure operates have caused CBT projects in the Caribbean to suffer (2004).

2. Responsible Tourism

Responsible tourism can be define as an approach that can be used to manage tourism with the aim of maximizing economic, social and environment benefits while at the same time minimizing costs to these destination. In simple words, Responsible tourism helps to create better place s for people to live in, and better places to visit. Responsible tourism approach aims to achieve the triple bottom line of sustainable development which are : economic growth, environment integrity and social justice.

Tourism is always in demand, be it eco, sustainable or responsible tourism. According to several research articles, this transformation has been mainly as responsible tourism helps to:

aˆ? minimizes negative economic, environmental, and social impacts;

aˆ? generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities, improves working conditions and access to the industry;

aˆ? involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances;

aˆ? makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world’s diversity;

aˆ? provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues;

aˆ? provides access for physically challenged people; and

aˆ? is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence.

2.1 Advantages of responsible tourism

Responsible tourism is based on the perspective of ecological integrity, societal justice and capitalizing on local economic benefits which all add to making a superior place for people to reside in and superior places for people to visit. It focuses on tourism that maximizes the profit to local communities, minimizes negative social or environmental impacts, and helps local people conserve fragile cultures, habitats and species. Responsible tourism provides more pleasant experiences for tourists through more major exchanges with local people and a greater indulgence of local cultural, social and environmental issues. Responsible tourism requires that operators, hoteliers, governments, local people and tourists take responsibility and action to make tourism more sustainable.

2.2 Some of its features are explained below:

2.2.1 Economic growth

Hotels and companies purchase goods and services from local community by buying locally made furniture, crafts, clothing and other goods, assisting local producers to achieve the quality and quantity needed. Also encouraging guests to buy locally made goods by setting up craft sales area, which showcases local product. Buying of basic supplies locally and encouraging local suppliers to provide handcrafted packaging for soaps, menus, courtesy gifts and creating contracts with local entrepreneurs who provide good service

2.2.2 Employment opportunities for the villagers

Local industries targets to increase the number of local people employed and the percentage of your wage bill going to local residents are set by providing appropriate skills training programs for the staff, drawing up a community labor agreement with local representatives, setting out targets for employment and skills training, paying above the minimum wages for your area and link wages to positions and experience and providing staff with incentives and bonuses linked to performance or service levels.

2.2.3 Women empowerment Many women are given priorities to launch their own business in craft businesses, local cuisines and in garment industries.

2.2.4 Growth of agriculture and reclamation of wasteland: The responsible Tourism programs optimized agricultural activities and proved that it can be profitable even in a tourism-driven economy. The Responsible Tourism experiments conveyed many who had left farming in the wake of tourism, back to the agriculture sector.

2.2.5 Positive contributions to the conservation of nature

There is land rehabilitation program, focusing on erosion control, clearing of alien vegetation and planting of indigenous flora, rules built to control off-road driving and other activities that impact on the environment and a nearby beach, forest or river adopted to organize litter cleanups and supporting local wildlife or nature conservation program by providing funds or volunteers.

2.2.6 Comprehensive view on development

The development envisaged by responsible tourism is not restricted to any particular aspect, field, area or community. It addresses all the issues – be it economic, cultural, environmental or social- related to tourism and coordinates with the various sectors.

2.2.7 Preparation of destination map and resource director

These are prepared in connection with the Responsible tourism as reliable guides which are of great use while implementing any development programme in the area such as brochures, local guidebooksetc.

2.2.8 Introduction of innovative tour packages

The packages like Village life experience and A Day with Farmers help the tourists have a more enjoyable experience while providing an economic boost to the villagers.

3. Sustainability issue in Responsible Tourism

In 1987, Bruntland Commission defined sustainability as the ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Sustainable tourism development must be able to meet the needs of the tourists and the local community but initiatives must be taken to protect and enhance the opportunity for the future. It is the capacity to manage all resources in such a way that is the environment, economic, social, and cultural factors. A report written by four industry bodies said that to be able to achieve sustainability, the industries should emphasize on best practices, certification programs and economic benefits gained by tourism rather than on the inherent challenges.

The first Conference organized on Responsible Tourism in Destinations was The World Summit on Sustainable Development. The conference communicated the same concepts as sustainable tourism that is the environmental, economic, and sociocultural impacts but also in ethics and human rights. For instance, they argued that companies should do things in a moral and ethical way (McLaren, 2006). A report written by four industry bodies said that to be able to achieve sustainability, the industries should focus on best practices, certification programs and economic benefits gained by tourism rather than on the inherent challenges. It does not only involve reducing the negative impacts but also improve those that exist.

Responsible Tourism is a concept of sustainable Tourism. The Responsible Tourism in Destinations (RTD) said that responsible Tourism should take initiatives in reducing negative environmental, economic and socio-cultural impacts. For instance, the local people should benefit from greater economy to improve their wellbeing, their working conditions must be refined, should be encouraged in decision making, contribute in the conservation of natural and cultural heritage and maintain the world’s diversity. Moreover, both tourists and local people must share more enjoyable experiences.

There must also be a good understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues to be able to maintain cultural sensitivity, creating respect between tourists and host community so that the local people can be proud and confident.

3.1 Environmental Issues

For tourists, the quality of the environment is essential. However, tourism requires many activities which can cause negative environmental consequences. The impacts are caused by the construction of infrastructure like roads, airports, and facilities such as shops, resorts, hotels, restaurants, golf courses and so forth. These tourism developments can increasingly destroy the environment. Negative impacts arise when the number of tourist is greater than the environment’s capacity to cope within the acceptable limits of change. Lack of control in tourism development represents potential dangers to the natural resources. This leads to impacts, for instance soil erosion, pollution, releases into the sea, natural habitat loss, endangered species and also forest fires. It often cause tensions between the inhabitants as they struggle for the use of critical resources.

On the other hand, tourism has the ability to create positive outcomes on the environment by contributing to the protection and conservation of the environment. This can be useful in raising awareness of environmental issues and helps as a mean in financing to protect the natural zones, thus being more environmental friendly. Good initiatives can be taken by recycling, use of ecofriendly bags, bio products, using green mode of transport ,waste management and so forth. For example, cruise ships can act in a responsible way by considering wastewater treatment using Wastewater Purification System, recycling of waste and reducing emissions by using cleaner fuel. A step toward responsible tourism is that organizations should be more transparent. It is important for the organizations to provide detailed information to the local communities and stakeholders about what they do or not. This allows local communities and stakeholders to be informed and make judgments about whether they are behaving responsibly.

3.2 Economic Issues

Tourism can bring beneficial economic impacts such as the generation of foreign exchange, new job and employment opportunities, the stimulation of trade, income and entrepreneurship, development of new infrastructure and greater tax revenues which allow greater government spending or reduced taxes on other activities. Nevertheless, tourism can have negative consequences on the local community, for instance leakages of expenditure out of the local economy, increased tendencies to import, opportunity costs, displacement effects, over-dependence on tourism, inflation and higher land values, seasonality issues, over-reliance on foreign people, new or extra costs, and problems over foreign capital investment.

Therefore, it is vital to take into considerations these factors in a responsible manner and reduce these impacts, for example importing fewer products, by relying on other industries other than tourism, providing discounts during off peak seasons, recruiting more local employees and so forth. Furthermore, when there is competition between companies in a particular area, it is responsible to discourage other companies to be built knowing they will be underutilized or left unused. Therefore, the organizations should be responsible to stakeholders for generating profit and the communities. It is fundamental that the communities should receive fair, equitable, and widely distributed benefits from tourism.

3.3 Sociocultural issues

The socio-cultural impacts of tourism are the effects of local people in interaction with the tourist. For many reasons, the inhabitants are the weaker party in interactions with the tourists and service providers. The impacts arise when tourism brings about changes in value systems and behavior and threatens indigenous identity. Furthermore, changes often occur in community structure, family relationships, collective traditional life styles, ceremonies and morality resulting in deterioration in working and employment conditions, culture clashes and crime. These factors will obviously cause irritation of the local people towards tourists because of their standard of living.

Responsible operators should work with the local community to grow tourism at a pace and in a manner that is mutually beneficial to all involved. They should be able to listen to local people and try to make sure that the visitors have an opportunity to interact with and to experience local culture, and that local cultures are treated respectfully.

Using the responsible tourism helps to view tourism as useful exercise. It helps focus the analysis of ‘sustainability’ on the local community and stakeholders that are achieved by tourism. It is important to think in terms of sustainability to be able to help the local community get a better quality of life.

4. CBT in Mauritius

CBT practices in Mauritius are very limited but exist in Mauritius. One example where CBT was practiced was when there was the construction of Le Trou Aux Biches Hotel, whereby major benefits were provided to the inhabitants such as job creation, new health centre, new post office, new police station and better infrastructure. However even throughout this practice there were some constraints such as poor market access. It is important to highlight that 23 people , being inhabitants of the locality were unaware of the facilities and benefits that the project were bringing. Those 23 people even objected that an EIA license be issued for this project. It was later on after clearing all confusion that finally this project was finally accepted by the whole community. Hence in this case it can clearly devised that a good communication system is important between the development organization and the community.

4.1 How to carry out a CBT project effectively

First of all it is important to have an agreement or contract with the community. However the steps of developing CBT are as follows:

1. Choose a destination.

2. Do feasibility study of the project with the community and know their suggestions.

3. Set vision, mission and goal with the community such as the benefits of the project to them.

4. Develop a plan and prepare the community for them to manage tourism such as we can provide training and education to them.

5. Set direction for organisational management such as they must manage their resources efficiently and preserve resources also.

6. Train interpretive guides 7. Develop a marketing plan for CBT to the local community, the NGO’s, the government and so on.

8. Launch a pilot tour program for the public.

9. Then evaluate and monitor the process

4.2 Using Community Based Tourism as a Planning Procedure for a Mauritius

CBT as a planning procedure means that it combines the two approaches of community development and engagement to tourism planning, in other words it means that the local people decide the type of development and are also involve in the decision making. CBT should focus on the involvement of a community in the planning process to guide the strength and location of tourism development. Once the community have made these decisions they will then be in a position to own, operate, manage and control tourism development within their community like for example in Grand Bay some of the attraction are owned by the local community in this way there will be “community friendly and people centered” development. Here the community is the one from the start of the tourism development up to the last decision concerning the tourism development.

Community Tourism Planning Process

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5. Conclusion

Community-based tourism is developing in different parts of the world as consequence of tourists’ search to discover new destinations instead of traditional ones. This is facilitating the creation of certain tourism products which allow local communities to generate wealth for themselves, considering tourism to be a complementary economic activity and never an economic alternative to traditional activities. Community based tourism can hence be considered as a way to help to alleviate poverty, achieve community development and bring lots of benefits to the host community. Therefore, it is very important to adopt this concept in Mauritius so that the local community gets the opportunity to participate in various activities to bring tourism development in the country and get the opportunity to enrich themselves. Moreover, the community based tourism practices should be carried out in a responsible manner and the host community must think in terms of sustainability so as to minimize the environmental, economic and sociocultural impacts caused by Tourism. However, there are constraints with regards to Community Based Tourism due to poor marketing, lack of sponsoring organizations and eventually insufficient resources but the problems can be overcome if a proper planning procedure is adopted.

The city has exceptionally developed in terms of technology, infrastructure, medical, real estate, education, IT and anonymous. The transformations that took place are extreme, and can easily be noticed. The city today is loaded with numerous malls, multiplex, cinema halls, clubs, restaurants, bars, fast food joints, and coffee shops.

Nevertheless, in this fast pace of time Jaipur has maintained its erstwhile charm, and that can be observed during the visit to the city, where the pleasing pink color still welcomes. Today also, the city is divided into parts, where the new city is embracing all the modern day technologies, unlike the old city is still bustling with fumes of pollution and spices all over. The old fraction of the city is almost the same as it was, the royal architecture, and the bustling bazaars of the city enchant every heart. The visitors to these bazaars can never return empty handed, as the captivating artifacts, abundantly colorful textile, and various other products are so irresistible.

Presently, the market is flooded with all tits and bits. All the latest gadgets, electrical appliances, and apparels are easily on hand. It may seem at a glance that the old city has not grown, but once visited you will release that silently it has adopted all the modern day tact’s.

The city encompasses some of the awe-inspiring architectural structures in its vicinity, for instance, Govind dev ji temple. This legendary temple has been recorded in Gunnies’ book of world records for its immense and astounding structure. The temple is capable of accommodating 5000 devotees at a time. The temple covers an area of 15,827 sq. feet, which is roofed up with a single span of 119 feet. This beautiful temple is devoted to lord Krishna, the chief deity of Kachhawaha’s. The temple was built during the reign of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, and embraces utmost importance for natives.

Jaipur is known as the hottest destination for tourism, and encompasses grand palace hotels. The hotels of the city are so exquisite and regal, and the experience of the stay is one of a kind. These palaces were the regal abodes of the Kings and their families, the royalty can still be sensed during the stay. Raj Vilas, Oberio’s, Rajputana, Trident, Alsisar haveli, Samode haveli, Narain Niwas Palace, and Ram bagh palace hotel are legacies dwelling in the city. Each hotel is drenched in the charm of the royal medieval era. Specially, the Raj Vilas, the hotel is awarded for its best service in pan Asia. For more feasible information peruse www.Jaipur.cc , the portal is swamped with comprehensions for almost all the aspects of Jaipur.

There are numerous of places in Jaipur that unparallel in terms of beauty and architecture, for instance, the renowned cinema hall the Raj Mandir Theatre. This cinema hall embraces mesmerizing interiors and magnificent exteriors. It was built in 1976, and architect by W.M. Namjoshi, the cinema has maintained its beauty as well as cost. The cinema hall attracts many visitors. Jaipur Zoological garden at Ram Niwas Bagh is recognized for its largest crocodile breeding center in the country.

Jaipur the capital of Rajasthan is amongst the ten best cities in India. It is also the largest city in Rajasthan, and is well-known for its exquisite sightseeing places. Nevertheless, ten most and must visit sites in Jaipur are: City Palace, Nahargarh fort, Hawa mahal, Jal Mahal, Amber fort, Jaigarh fort, Jantar Mantar, Markets & shopping, Albert hall museum, and Elephant safari . Jaipur the pink city not only encompasses alluring monuments, legacies and royal culture, but it has also shown a rapid and terrific growth, in regards of development.

Jaipur is one the leading manufacturers and exporter of handicraft, textile, Camel leather items, Rugs and carpets, quilts, brass enamel and many more products. The city is abundant in art and culture, and has merged it with the latest technologies, and this has resulted in fast growth of export. The export from Jaipur is much prominent in state’s GDP. Today, Jaipur has proven to be the most preferred destination in terms of tourism as well as the major business hub.

The city embraces suitable platform for the establishment of businesses and corporate. The city has also been a spectator of immense infra structural transformation, where the huge projects are being placed, such as WTP (World Trade Park). World Trade Park is spread over an enormous area of about 20,000 sq. yard, it is a shopping-cum-business centre, boasting retail outlets, a convention centre, offices, exhibition halls, , an art gallery, a two-screen multiplex, a computer-controlled parking for almost 1,100 vehicles and a five-star hotel.

Today, Jaipur is acknowledged as the fastest growing city, and this pace of growth is tremendously increasing day by day. Rajasthan government has been promoting and encouraging investment by instituting various policies in sectors such as Tourism, IT/ IETS, Industry, and Power. Private sector is also being uphold, the 365 acre Export promotion Industrial Park is one such exemplary, and a key sector facilitating manufacturers. Mahindra World City is yet another accomplishment, a multi product SEZ houses many MNC’s and IT companies. Rajasthan State Industrial Development & Investment Corporation Ltd. (RICCO) is one the major asset for industrialist and factories. It dwells numerous industries and corporate such as Genpact, G4C, Infosys, Derewala gems and jewels.

Moreover, the upcoming project of Metro Rail will transform traditional Jaipur city to an ultra-modern and high-tech city.

Sanganer Airport is the only international airport that Jaipur houses. Now, city is well connected with all major parts. Jaipur has direct air links with Jodhpur, Udaipur, Aurangabad, Delhi, Mumbai, and international links with erratic service to London, Dublin and Dubai.

City embraces about 4000 km of roads in its vicinity. The National highway No.8 connects Jaipur to Delhi and Mumbai, whereas No. 11 links Bikaner to Agra. Constant developments are taking place, which are resulting in a more established and prosperous Jaipur, the conversion of Jaipur-Ajmer road in a four-lane way has changed its look. The biggest realization of the city was the International airport, where conversion facilitates mass.

Meter gauge rail route is connecting Jaipur nicely with Sri Ganganagar, Udaipur, Ajmer and Sirohi. Jaipur is adequately connected with major cities and states such as Agra (Uttar Pradesh), Ahmadabad (Gujarat) and Delhi. Recently, broad gauge system has also been connected, facilitating connections to cities- Lucknow, Delhi, Bombay, Kota, Sawai Madhopur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Howrah and Kanpur.

Nevertheless, Jaipur possesses an efficient 100% of power supply, and major reason behind this is Chambal-Hydel system. The city houses several branches of banks, facilitating mass with standardized national and international transactions. Whereas, the civic infrastructure of the city is going to be enhanced, as Rs. 550 crore have been released by Asian Development Project, for enhancement of roads, improvise drainage system and water supply within the city.

Educational development also has been remarkable, where there are almost 400 institutes in the city. And numerous schools, more of them are affiliated by Central Board of secondary education, and the state has witnessed the highest literacy rate of 77%.

Jaipur serves to be the unsurpassed destination for various corporate setups. Few of the major IT’s and MNC’s has already established their footholds in this beautiful city. Wipro, Deutsche bank, Infosys, Genpact, GE-international, Reliance, etc. are rapidly flourishing on their business in Jaipur.

One of the recent biggest events that took place in the city are IPL matches. Sawai Man Singh Stadium, one of the best stadiums in India has witnessed the exciting Indian Premium League.

Jaipur is the foremost part of the ‘Golden triangle’ (Delhi-Jaipur-Agra), and is the hottest destination for tourists. Tourism itself contributes a bigger share in city and states GDP, where an annual growth rate of 12 % has been witnessed. Started with scratch this city has today reached to population of more than four lakhs. Apparently, Rajasthan received a total number of 1.3 million foreign and 23 million domestic tourists in 2008. The prospects of tourism are very hopeful, and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi will definitely boost the tourism.

The City of Bath and the beautiful countryside which surrounds it have been described as one of England’s most beautiful places to visit. Bath is situated within the south west of England and is a fabulous city to visit. The population [1] of the city is 169,040. It was granted city status by Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1590.

The city was founded, among surrounding hills, in the valley of the River Avon around naturally occurring hot springs where the Romans built baths and a temple, giving it the name Aquae Sulis. Much later, it became popular as a spa resort during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from Bath Stone. Bath and its stunning surrounding countryside offer’s tourists a multitude of fantastic places to visit from stately homes and gardens to the impressive Stonehenge.

As City of Bath the city became a World Heritage Site in 1987. The city has a variety of theatres, museums, and other cultural and sporting venues, which have helped to make it a major centre for tourism, with over one million staying visitors and 3.8 million day visitors to the city each year [2] . The city has two universities and several schools and colleges. There is a large service sector and growing information and communication technologies and creative industries, providing employment for the population of Bath and the surrounding area.

Source: www.maps.google.co.uk Historical Background: –

A city which is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, making it the ideal city break destination and Bath is a World Heritage City (UNESCO), featuring the famous Roman Baths & Pump Room and simply stunning Georgian period architecture. The history of city came across the different periods started from Roman era.

Roman Period: – After the Invasion of Britain by Romans in 43 AD, Bath was also occupied by Romans. The worship of Sulis continued in the Roman times. That’s why during Roman period, grand temples, and bathing complexes were built. In the 3rd century, the city was given defensive walls. But with the start of 4th century, the Roman Empire and its urban sprawl declined while the some of the suit of Baths were in use.The Roman Baths

Post Roman and Saxon Period: – In this period, the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle mentioned the falling of Bath into West Saxons after the battle of Deorham in 577 AD. The name `Bath` came from the “Baoum or Baoan” given by Anglo-Saxons. By the 9th century, after the Royal possession, the old Roman street pattern had been lost and with King Alfred laid out the town afresh leaving abbey precinct in the south.

Norman, Medieval and Tudor Period: – By the 15th century, some major churches were badly dilapidated like the abbey Church. After the status of Spa city, the baths were improved and maintained; city began to attract the aristocracy again. Finally in 1590, Bath was granted as city status by Royal Charter.

17th Century Period: – In this period, the heath giving properties of the hot mineral waters came to the attention of whole country and the aristocracy also started to partake in them, invented by the Thomas Guidott, a student of chemistry from Wadham College Oxford in 1676. Also he wrote “A discourse of Bathe, and the hot waters there” with some inquiries into the nature of water.

Old Character of Bath Streets Georgian Period: – There had been much rebuilding in the Stuart period, but this was eclipsed by the massive expansion of Bath in Georgian times. The old town within the walls was also largely rebuilt. This was a response to the continuing demand for elegant accommodation for the city’s fashionable visitors, for whom Bath had become a pleasure resort as well as a spa. In the early 18th century, the development of first purpose-built theatre, assembly rooms etc came into existence. The use of Sedan Chairs also can be seen into this period by Grand Georgian people (rich people).

Victorian Period: – In this period, Bath crossed the population of 40020 according to Census 1801 & it came into the list of largest cities of Britain. Bath Spa rail station was also built in this period for the Great Western Railway.

20th Century Period: – During World War II, Bath faced three air raids, 400 people were killed and more than 19000 buildings were damaged & destroyed. Houses in the Royal Crescent, Circus and Paragon were burnt out along with the Assembly Rooms, while part of the south side of Queen Square was destroyed. All have since been reconstructed, and regeneration work is continuing. Since 2000, developments have included the Bath Spa, South Gate and the Bath Western Riverside project.

Historically part of the county of Somerset, Bath was made a county borough in 1889 and hence independent of the newly created administrative Somerset county council. Bath became part of Avon when that non-metropolitan county was created in 1974. Since the abolition of Avon in 1996, Bath has been the main centre of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES). Bath remains, however, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, though not within the administrative non-metropolitan county of Somerset.

Spatial Integration of Bath City: –

The Spatial Integration of the Bath city will also be analysed with the help of city landuse assessment method and the changes in it with time and the spatial planning tools & techniques, which are used for the integration of the city will be analysed. The Bath city is now days under a unitary authority “Bath & North East Somerset Council” (BANES or B&NES) which was created in 1st April, 1996. The total area under authority is 220 Sq. Miles and city of Bath is the principle settlement in the district.

The Former Bath City Council prepared Local plan as a Statutory Local plan in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991. The Plan guides development in the City of Bath up to 2001 with the co-ordination of public and private investment decisions. This Local Plan supersedes the Bath City Plan that was adopted by the City Council in June 1990. But after objections, ratifications & modifications at different stages, On 12 June 1996 a letter was received by the Council from the Government Office for the South West on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Environment stating that the Bath Local Plan was now in accordance with the Direction which was henceforth lifted. The Council issued its Notice of Adoption of the Bath Local Plan on 20 June 1996.

Bath and North East Somerset Council adopted this Plan on 20th June 1996 and it now forms part of the statutory Development Plan for the new Authority. The Plan was, however, progressed through all the formal procedures outlined above by the former City Council, and it has been considered appropriate to retain the text which was the subject of public consultation and examination, including references to the “City Council”. These references will serve as a reminder that the Policies are applicable only within the City of Bath, but it should be understood that in most instances the “Council” referred to is that of Bath and North East Somerset. However a High Court Challenge in August 1996 resulted in Bath and North East Somerset Council having to re-adopt the Plan on 19 June 1997.

The Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) council prepared a Local plan which is adopted in October 2007; establish a robust policy framework to provide clarity for all those involved in the development process. The Local Plan includes other spatial planning tools & techniques like Public consultations, Government Guidance, the Joint Replacement Structure Plan, the Council`s Local Transport Plan & the Strategies of the Council (Community Strategy, National and Regional Planning Guidance) and other organisations etc.

The Local plan sets out the key objectives for the development of policies in different aspects: Living and Working (Social Inclusion, Resources, Housing, Economy, Urban & Rural Areas, Shopping, and Services & Leisure), Environmental Assets and Transport & Access etc.

Housing: –

Housing Affordability: – The Housing section assesses the housing situation of the City of Bath. If we look at the housing scenario of the city, the affordability of housing is least in City of Bath as compared to whole of the district. The following figures represents as:

Source: –

So many people are migrating due to high cost of living in the City of Bath. This is leading to recruitment difficulties and skill shortages which could have a knock-on effect on the local economy.

The need for affordable housing (per year) is also much in Bath city as compare to the other areas in the district. The following figures represent it as:

Source:

The land supply for housing development is also limited in the City of Bath. This places considerable pressure for development both on sites allocated for housing and on other sites in the City to meet the demand for housing.

Problems/Issues in City of Bath: –

In the listed Georgian properties in Bath can resulted in an additional challenges and improvement works due to large number of high risk houses in multiple occupations.

Due to the relatively high property values in Bath, the refurbishment of converted buildings often results in higher rents being charged and people are moving off to City of Bath.

The problem of decent housing type is also major concern in the private rented sector which is mostly occupied by university students. It includes the Abbey ward in Bath City and Bathavon wards surrounding city.

The current and future needs of older residents are generally exceeds then Government funding allocations in housing schemes.

Traffic and Transportation: –

The city of Bath is a small & complex city as compared to other cities and it has well defined activities like commercial areas and employment areas. The various sectors of its transportation systems are like parking facilities and public transport services are not only interdependent but all are affected by the other activities and decisions made for them e.g. new developments to meet the housing objectives, conservation of the historic buildings or streets etc. The traffic management system came into force since 1970 rather than building only new roads in the city and at boundaries.

The main problem of the City of Bath is the congestion within the city by through traffic because most of the traffic in city has an origin and destination in the city. The following figures show the mode of transport in the City of Bath to travel to work as:

The table above represents that the all the residents which are living and working in Bath or outside the city and vice-versa, are mostly dependent upon their own vehicles especially car is the most common mode of travel.

But in case of comparison with other area in the district and national level, the figures in following table represents that the residents within Bath are more dependent upon private mode of transport i.e car or on the walk which is much higher as compared to other areas & at National level but

more interesting point is that the City of Bath has percentage of residents who has no car as compared to other areas and National level.

These figures clearly show that the private mode of transport is creating congestion in the City of Bath and through traffic generated by them. Parking and pedestrian safety are also important issues in the City of Bath.

Problems/Issues in City of Bath: –

Traffic problems have been a dominant issue in planning for Bath but the development of new major road schemes within the City is no longer seen as a solution. The emphasis now is on careful management of traffic and the integration of policies for use of land in order to make the best use of existing road space and minimise the congestion, pollution and danger caused by vehicles.

The road and rail network are at capacity and congestion across the area is a problem in terms of journey times and public transport travel times, a key impediment to maintaining a healthy economy. Congestion is also affecting air quality and in areas of Bath City Centre air pollution has reached levels that are higher than the Government recommended acceptable limits.

The lack of parking spaces and their capacity is also an important issue and recent studies have indicated that there is a greater need for pedestrian management schemes, such as improved signing of information etc, and areas given over to pedestrian priority.

Heritage & Management: –

The city is internationally known for its Roman and Georgian heritage and archaeology, its culture as a spa that stretches back over two thousand years, the innovative architecture and town planning, and the harmony between the city and the landscape. The city of Bath was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987 for its unique and outstanding universal value for its Historic character. The city is a blend of history and modern life, continually changing, growing and adapting to modern requirements which attracts approximately 3.7 million tourists each year and lies on strategic road & rail transport routes. The City of Bath has a close relationship between the success of modern city and heritage due to the wide range of business, industries and regional centre for employment, shopping and entertainment etc.

The City of Bath (World Heritage Site) is vulnerable to change and growth with the time, but this is both inevitable and desirable in a living city. There are threats to the fabric and character of the World Heritage Site and its setting, and uncontrolled or inappropriate change in these areas can become a threat to the very values for which Bath is inscribed as a World Heritage Site. So even to tackle these kinds of situations, the local authorities were much concerned about them. They identified various issues related with the World Heritage Site & its management etc. But along with these threats and vulnerabilities, the City of Bath has also many opportunities as a World Heritage Site which are helpful in many ways to the City of Bath.

To address those threats and vulnerabilities, incorporating opportunities, The B&NES and English Heritage prepared a World Heritage Site Management Plan for the City of Bath for the period of 2003-2009. They have identified various issues which are described as:

Problems/Issues in City of Bath: –

Due to the scale and complexity of site, numbers of people are involved in the management, ownership and cultural assets. So it’s really an important from management point of view which requires the coordination of a large number of disciplines and agencies

The protection of World Heritage Site is achieved only through the planning system of plans and designations so for the appropriate protection, and according to World Heritage Site criteria, a appropriate legal system is required because there are number of actions like risk assessment, mitigation & awareness campaigns etc which are necessary for the appropriate protection of World Heritage Site.

There are number of planning applications involved in the whole process as general due to the complexity of the site and the number of listed buildings.

There are number of new developments on the outskirts of the city which may or are degrade the historic fabric of the World Heritage Site which gives an authenticity and outstanding universal values to the site. So there is a need of development controls in and around the city keeping in mind the character of the city.

In the recent times, the condition of contemporary architecture is not good with the test of time & other physical changes in climate, due to which it doesn’t match with the historic architecture of the city. So it’s more challenging from integration of contemporary design into a historic environment.

The city of Bangalore is known as the silicon valley of India. It is a no brainer that IT companies play a significant role in Bangalore’s GDP (as well as Karnataka GDP). Nearly two decades of impressive growth in the sector has changed the face of Bangalore quite literally – the landscape and the population have grown manifold. This unabated growth has put tremendous pressure on the limited and precious resources of Bangalore city – like water, forestry, electricity etc.

As natural fallout, the quality of life has been impacted. Whether it’s the congestion on roads, the irregular water supply (leave alone the quality of water), unprecedented shrinkage of water bodies, greater socio economic divide, Bangalore has seen it all!

This project makes an earnest attempt to qualify and quantify some of the above trends. The inputs have been obtained primarily from secondary research – Research reports, Government databases, Journals etc. We floated a survey among IT professionals to find out the level of sustainability initiatives in their companies, their own perceptions of day to day issues facing Bangalore city and the like.

During the project, we have realised that data availability has been a major concern. The reasons have been manifold. For one, there are umpteen government agencies involved in recording various data that were necessary for the project. In some cases, when the needed data was available, it was either obsolete or did not capture the entire trend over the years or it was at a macro level (Karnataka state level as against Bangalore city level). Due to these barriers, it has been difficult for us to quantify some of the observations we have made in this report. We hope the drive by Karnataka Government’s Directorate of Economics and Statistics to participate in Indian Strategic Statistical Plan, to centralize Government data (initiated in 2009) will prove a major step forward in this lacuna.

We had to make approximations/estimates along the way to show how much of a positive or negative impact IT sector has had on Bangalore. The overall idea has not been to either praise or criticize IT sector for what Bangalore is today. Instead it has been the idea to present the growth of IT sector in Bangalore city and to see if there are any interesting trends that emerge when comparing with issues/challenges/positives that Bangalore city faces. While it might have been ideal to find solutions for many of the topics/issues we raise in this project, due to the paucity of time, the focus has been more on understanding the various aspects of Bangalore city keeping IT sector in mind. Where possible, we have provided recommendations and insights that we gathered during the project on how we can make Bangalore and IT sustainable.

During this journey we studied various frameworks proposed by researchers/organizations on sustainability. We also studied the various sustainability initiatives undertaken by major IT companies like Infosys and Wipro. Considering the Linearity issues, given the cost arbitrage advantage waning away, these major companies have taken initiatives in this area to be leading examples for other companies to follow.

We believe sustainability has received a critical following in the academic elite but is in a nascent stage in terms of co-ordinated implementation across business, government and society. We are hopeful of seeing a lot of seminal and creative activities happening in this area in the days ahead!

Introduction

India is experiencing rapid growth and a consequent increase in urban populations. In the western world, the development has been resource intensive.

Over the past 200 years, economic development has depended on a shift from the use of renewable resources – energy and materials that can be grown or harnessed from the daily energy of the sun – to non-renewable resources dug out from deep underground.

Understanding Sustainability

Bangalore’s population growth coupled with an increased rate of resource consumption, and waste accumulation, will lead to environmental decay, and land, food, and water shortages in course of time. There are also significant changes in global environment such as climate change, increased waste and pollution, and the depletion of natural resources. Further when resource amenities are unevenly captured the rift in the society increases further polarizing communities and create disastrous outcomes – Case in point are recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. Also urban centers like Bangalore are not always healthy places and have a sizeable underclass of people who are poor, sick, unemployed or exploited. Given such a scenario we feel that business-as-usual scenario will bring great disasters to humankind, and is not sustainable.

Sustainable Development is thus about mobilizing successfully international, national, community, and human intellectual resources in general, towards solving problems that are, overall, degrading the life support system, compromising the viability of local communities, and hurting the health and well-being of individuals.

According to Jacobs, Gardner and Munro, (Okechukwu Ukaga, 2010) the five broad requirements of sustainable development are:

integration of conservation and development

satisfaction of basic human needs

achievement of equity and social justice

provision for social self-determination and cultural diversity

Maintenance of ecological integrity

Sustainability as 3 nodal areasAs we have seen already, sustainability is thus, a relational concept, referring to a series of practices and processes that ensure ‘development’ does not exceed the ecological ‘carrying capacity’ of the planet.

A system based definition (Robinson J, 1997) considers three imperatives as follows

The “ecological imperative” is to remain within planetary biophysical carrying capacity.

The “economic imperative” is to ensure and maintain adequate material standards of living for all people. The “social imperative” is to provide social structures, including systems of governance, which effectively propagate and sustain the values and culture people wish to live by.

In a broad sense Sustainable Development is expected to achieve the following as defined by World Bank economist ‘Herman Daly’ (Daly, 2009)

The rate of use of renewable resources not to exceed the rate of regeneration.

The rate of use of nonrenewable resources not to exceed the rate of development of sustainable alternatives.

The rate of emission of pollutants not to exceed the capacity of the environment to absorb them

Why Sustainable Business Initiatives

Business is held back by the same factors that keep individuals and communities in poverty: poor education and healthcare, environmental deterioration, and the absence of adequate infrastructure or an effective rule of law (WBCSD, 2010).

Production of goods and services by business and industry also depends on a steady supply of raw materials. If certain elements of nature are being excessively extracted, the change in the balance of the life support systems may in turn also upset the human habitat, affecting the health and well-being of humankind. Therefore, the over-harvesting of nature for manufacturing materials will ultimately impact the quality of life of the human community.

On the disposal side, both industrial waste and garbage are not part of Earth’s natural cycles and has to be tackled with sophisticated planning and technology as well as clear communication to future generations.

The need is also for transparency, fairness, rule of law, reliability of institutions and access to legal remedy given the scale of change in our daily method of business that is foreseen to achieve significant progress

Although a huge challenge, sustainable development also provides a vibrant business opportunity given the need to develop the new policy frameworks, right technologies and better business models for all around development.

Methodlogy

Given that IT sector has a large footprint in Bangalore, we went about this complex exercise by putting together a mindmap which identifies the various touch points of IT sector in Bangalore’s economy, ecology and social fabric. (An enlarged view of the mindmap below is provided in Appendix). While the list identified might not be exhaustive, we think that this is a good starting point. It would have been ideal to traverse all the branches in this mindmap and make a comprehensive report on the effect of IT industry on Bangalore. Given the paucity of time and the lack of centralized data on Bangalore, we could only cover a limited portion of the same.

Bangalore – among fastest growing cities in India

Bangalore is among the world’s fastest growing cities, a poster child of India’s growing economic prowess; a city whose employment generation and incessant growth in the past decade has made it both sought after as well as envied.

Bangalore today is the chosen destination of both expatriates and educated middle class professionals as well as engineering graduates who are flocking to this city, which has turned into a hotbed of private investment in the IT and ITES sectors. These sectors have enormously contributed to this growth of Bangalore. The urban landscape of the ‘Garden City’ has now been transformed into concrete jungle of chrome and glass facades, shopping malls and branded stores, high rise apartments and overcrowded streets full of traffic congestion.

This unprecedented sharp growth in the city of Bangalore has led to rapid urbanization and has transformed the character of the city putting tremendous pressure on its infrastructure, resulting in an impact to quality of life in Bangalore.

Bangalore city has grown from approximately 177km2 in 1977 to 775km2 in 2011. The city has seen a population growth of 48.93% in the last decade and has shown an average annual growth rate of 2.64%. In comparison India has shown an Annual growth rate of -2.97% in the last decade. According BDA estimates in 2007, 60% of Bangalore’s growth is natural, while 25% is through migrant population. The remaining 15% is attributed to integration of erstwhile rural areas to Bangalore Agglomeration (JNNURM, 2009).

Over the last few decades, the economy of Bangalore has transitioned from a public sector based economy to a textile industry based economy to a cluster of high technology companies. IT industry has grown by a CAGR of 25%+ over the last 2 decades. Exports account for more than 75% of software production, and thus is attributed to the global outsourcing demand for software development at low cost locations with sufficient skilled labor.

It can be conservatively estimated that close to 36% of all IT labor in India is located in Bangalore.

Number of People employed in IT sector (in lakhs)

Until mid-90’s Bangalore was a middle class town with major public sector companies and educational institutions. These units attracted both skilled and unskilled labor with strong unionization. The lower end PSU employees could easily fit into the lower middle class of Bangalore and had access to Bangalore’s technical education. The rapid growth of knowledge sector attracted IT firms which grew rapidly on the eastern and southern outskirts of the city. Since the sector was driven by software exports, infrastructure was not seen a bottleneck in the initial stages of Bangalore’s evolution. (Basant, 2006)

Bangalore’s transformation has been aided by an active support policy of the Govt. of Karnataka for IT sector, as well as, the inherent clustering advantages of the city in terms of availability of skilled people and reputed institutes of higher education.

Growth of Software of exports from Karnataka (STPI Bangalore, 2010)

IT sector in Bangalore is made of top tier IT services companies such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Satyam, IBM, Accenture, and other captive centers of large MNCs such as Cisco, Intel and Honeywell and other small and medium enterprises.

The graphic below provides a view of changing composition of Bangalore’s GDP and a significant move away from manufacturing related sectors. The significant increase in Real Estate’s contribution to Bangalore’s economy also points to the fact of an existing real estate boom and increasing urbanization of the city.

The graphic below shows a significant shift in the contribution of the various sectors towards Bangalore’s economy. The Tertiary sector which is consists of

Transport, Storage and Communication

Trade, Hotels and Restaurants

Banking and Insurance

Real estate, ownership of dwellings and Business services

Public Administration

Other services

It is also seen that the while 66% are employed in the Primary sector, the 56% of per capita income is derived from the tertiary sector (Karnataka Government, 2010).

Changing Profile of GDP contributors in Bangalore’s Economy

But this substantial growth of Bangalore has also invited its fair share of issues – positive/negative. A singular industry being a focal point, a powerful alliance between corporate elites of the city and the government has been criticized as equally responsible for the mishandling of urban growth.

From various sources such as Department of Economics and Statistics, ZDNet IT Professionals Survey, we have arrived at the above figure which substantiates the fact that there is a growing economic disparity among the different sections of Bangalore’s workforce.

From late 90’s to early 2000’s Bangalore started showing the strains of a fast growing mega-city with growing social inequality, mass displacement and dispossession of land, proliferation of slums and congested roads.

Industrial areas in Bangalore

Infrastructure Effects

Bangalore has seen an explosion in the number of vehicles on some of its major arterial roads. The graphic below gives a sample of different category of vehicles that are seen. We see a large increase in private transport on Bangalore roads such as 2-wheelers and Cars/Jeeps/Multi-utility. Bangalore’s road infrastructure is today being seen as a big bottleneck in the economic growth and quality of life in Bangalore.

The following exhibit provides a view of (See Appendix -A : Vehicle Growth in Bangalore)

The growth of vehicles on Bangalore roads could be attributed to the following factors:

High disposable income of IT employees: The salaries of IT employees grew at a healthy pace. Even in absolute terms, they outstripped the salaries of non-IT sector employees. Car companies, Financing companies and leasing companies were quite active in pursuing this sector.

Employee friendly car lease policy:

Companies leased the vehicles on behalf of the employees. Companies benefit due to the accounting principles of leased assets. An example of this could be understood from the calculations shown below (Crisil Research)

Employees gained by way of tax benefits, reimbursement of operating costs, free insurance premiums and of course the upscale in social image of having purchased a four wheeler car.

Whilst the above two factors show a win-win for both the company and the employee, it may not be such a good news for the Government and Bangalore roads. Government loses its tax revenues. Bangalore roads experience a bigger wear and tear (Bangalore is quite famous for the pot holes on the road!) and they are choked.

Due to the traffic congestion that results, its not uncommon to sight a petty quarrel

Easy availability of auto loans with teaser rates: The following graphic shows the trends in auto loans with majority of the disbursements of such loans going to the top cities of India.

(Crisil)

The blue circle identifies Bangalore’s traditional residential hotspots. The red circles identify the major IT concentrations in the city. There is a considerable commute that has to happen on a daily basis in Bangalore to cover the same.Lack of Public transportation : Due to lack of Mass Rapid Transportation system and the clustering of Software technology parks in certain pockets of the city, IT employees had to travel quite a distance (as provided in the figures below) to reach their destination.

The data above helps us understand that there is a significant amount of population that travels across the city, and utilizes private transport such as two wheelers and cars for the trips. This not only adds to the congestion in the city but also increases vehicular pollution (Sudhir Gota, 2008).

It is also interesting to note that there is a decreasing trend in terms of reported road accidents in Bangalore. This could be due to multiple reasons

The average speed of driving in Bangalore is around 11km/h due to high traffic congestion. At such bumper-to-bumper traffic movement there could be lesser chances of accidents. Is this a blessing in disguise!!

The trend could also denote the number of accidents that are going unreported in Bangalore, and if true will require a better way to track and report accidents in Bangalore.

A common adage in Bangalore is the statement “In India people ride on the left of the road, while people in Bangalore ride on what’s left of the road”. This adage we feel symbolizes the severe strain on the road infrastructure in this city.

Social Effects on Bangalore
Corruption

Corruption has been rampant in Karnataka and especially in Bangalore, going by the statistics provided by ipaidabribe.com website. Bangalore is home to “water mafia”, “real estate mafia” and the like.

It is not uncommon to read the Lokayukta’s activism in Bangalore’s newspapers. The Times of India article dated February 5th 2011 quotes Prof. G. Venkatasubbiah’s presidential address at the 77th All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelena as saying “Now, Karnataka has earned the dubious distinction of being the most corrupt state in the country”. From the statistics obtained from ipaidabribe.com, Bangalore leads in the number of bribery cases reported! While it would be difficult to segregate the impact of IT sector on this issue, we can safely assume that corruption is one of the many manifestations of a greater socio economic divide. One could easily debate the accuracy of these metrics, yet it is not easy to ignore such statistics.

Crime

Bangalore has been considered by and large a safe city. But the growing influx of migrants, increasing urbanization, and a major part of the BPO workforce that work in night shifts are considered some of the concern areas for the increasing crime trend in Bangalore. According to the National crime Records Bureau which analyzed the crime statistics in 35 major cities in India for the year 2009, 9.4% of cognizable crimes across these cities have been reported from Bangalore. Bangalore is said to be second only to the capital of India, Delhi in the number of IPC cases registered (Kumar M. S., 2011).

Health

The sedentary lifestyle of IT/ITES employees results in poor health unless compensated for with appropriate active lifestyle. Multiple surveys have suggested that a sizable population of Bangalore’s corporate workforce is susceptible to various health ailments. Stress resulting due to:

Catering to customers/clients spanning across different time zones of the globe.

Exhaustion due to challenging software delivery schedules.

Constant pressure to upgrade skills to make oneself relevant and employable.

Philips Health and Wellbeing Index Report-2011 (Philips India, 2011), a survey conducted by Philips Electronics India finds that 39% of Bangaloreans approach mental health professionals as against the national average of 9%. An good indication that Bangaloreans are the most stressed out!

In the personal interviews we had with middle managers of IT companies, we found that many of their team members/colleagues have revealed their plans to retire at an early age of 45 years. This could be a result of either a good wealth accumulation at an early age or the ill effects of a stressed out work life taking its toll on their mental and physical wellbeing.

Ecological Effects on Bangalore
Lakes

Bangalore, the garden city once boasted of 81 lakes in the city limits and close to 200 lakes in around the city. Today among these hardly 31 show any signs of existence. Around 54% of the original lakes have been encroached upon for urban buildings (Kumar, 2011). The study finds 66% of lakes are sewage fed, 14% are surrounded by slums while 72% showed loss of catchment area. Furthermore, the lake bunds are used as dumping yard, significantly polluting the water source.

In an article in Times of India (Nandi, 2011), the reporter states that Untreated Sewerage water allegedly from high rise apartments off Sarjapur road is the main root cause for high contamination and sinking oxygen levels of Iblur lake.

Water

Though being blessed with near normal rainfall in most of the years, Bangalore faces huge water shortages in peak summer. Bangalore has 20% to 40% dependence on groundwater (Vishwanath, 2009) which is being pumped out and used unscrupulously but is being counted among cities that are non-groundwater dependent. A recent report by BWSSB says, given a projected population of 7.5 million by 2011, Bangalore has a shortfall of 676 MLD of piped potable water which is nearly 42.8% deficit from the overall demand. The picture is even more glim when looking at the projections over the next 25 years

45% of water usage in Bangalore is counted under unaccounted for water category (UFW). Furthermore the significant reduction in water bodies across Bangalore has also resulted in increase in ambient temperature of Bangalore.

We consider the following as some of the major points of consideration from various studieshttp://geoinformatic.org/sites/default/files/images/Greater-Bangalore_in73to06.jpg

Discriminant waste generation

Irrational behavior of substituting money for water.

Sewage Treatment plants for large apartment complexes not working.

Multiple governments departs overseeing the management of water.

Rapid urbanization has resulted in deterioration in ground water table. Decrease in flora, fauna, and catchment areas, number of water bodies.

Water bodies have disappeared and water quality has deteriorated, our survey with IT employees, reveals that this is not a major concern at all!

Nalika Gajaweera, in her internship paper with Equations in March 2006 (Equitable tourism) writes about the growing inequality between the upper middle class IT employee who has the luxury of buying ground water through tankers as against the urban poor as follows

“Three women dwelling in the slums in the backyard of the IT Park are part of the maintenance crew for the IT park; but they have to walk 2km, past the steel and glass structures, to the nearest water source to fetch water for their personal use. While the lake that they reside besides smells of toxins and tainted green, the modernist architectural glass structures that tower over their slums are tinted black and carpeted with lush green grass”

LAND

Michael Goldman in his paper on Speculative Urbanization (GOLDMAN, May 2011) provides the following view of the growing tussle for space and growth and the resultant rampant real estate growth.

“In the case of the expanding IT corridor on the southeast periphery of Bangalore, one ¬?nds villages such as Bellandur caught in the eye of this storm. In 2002, many of Bellandur’s small-landowning farmers refused the price set by KIADB, as their land was fertile, highly productive and alongside a large lake that supplied ¬?sh and irrigation water plentifully. Over time, many farmers living in the vicinity of the IT corridor being developed have sold off their farmland because of pressure from KIADB, and from the developers offering a better price to expedite the land acquisition process. Although as recently as a decade ago, Bellandur farmers pro¬?tably produced cauli¬‚ower, spinach, rice and coconuts for Bangalore city markets, the acute densi¬?cation of the area by IT ¬?rms has rendered its main water source – the once majestic Bellandur lake (the largest in Bangalore) – unusable for farm irrigation, contaminated by the untreated toxic industrial and household waste that ¬‚ows into it. As the new IT thoroughfare cuts right through the village’s farmland, and as individual plots of land were sold piecemeal to developers or the government in order to construct IT campuses, farming has become untenable”

With the sunset clause of Software Technology Parks nearing , scamper for Special Economic zones will follow suit. This would be good news for the Real estate industry, but may not be a great news for Bangalore city and its environment. The silver lining would be the conscious efforts by IT industry to comply with LEED gold and platinum standards. Infosys and Wipro in their sustainability reports have clearly mentioned their support for such compliance in all their new campuses that are being constructed.

E-Waste

E-waste generation emanates due to the rapid technological obsolescence and the need for companies to be at the forefront of technical superiority. The large usage of Electronic equipments by IT companies means that there is a lot of potential for generating E-waste. The State of Environment Report Bangalore 2008 has clearly mentioned the proactive measures taken by Karnataka Pollution control board to commission e-waste recyclers like E-parisara and Ash Recyclers to segregate and recycle such waste.

IT companies for their part have also been able to identify the e-waste issue and have taken upon themselves to donate equipment which is no longer useful for corporate usage to the deserving public. Thus the concept of Reuse/Recycle/Reduce is clearly at play. It is classic case of sustainability initiative by the IT industry and the Government agencies working closely together. Thus it is a significant win-win for the society, the companies and the environment.

Sustainability Initiatives by IT companies in Bangalore

IT companies and its employees have an all-around impact on both the economic factors and socio-ecological factors. For example, the high disposable income of a typical IT employee could have potentially led to the economic growth in other organized and unorganized sectors in Bangalore. As a natural fall out, this could lead to high inflation, lower quality of life, higher corruption and increased socio-economic divide.

Infosys/Wipro in 2008 declared that Bangalore’s infrastructure as a bottleneck. Today Bangalore is no more the largest center for Infosys.

Major IT companies in India have large cash surpluses. It has been seen that these are not coming into Bangalore as investments in Reasearch or education but are being held as cash or being utilized in M&A. This can be substantiated with more detailed analysis.

Figure Typical IT company’s Business interfacesIt is seen that Sustainability has been identified as a focus area in some of the top tier IT companies such as Infosys, Wipro and TCS. Below, we have provided a summary of sustainability initiatives of Wipro and Infosys.

Sustainability initiatives of Infosys

Infosys Technologies Limited founded in 1981 is arguably the poster boy of India’s Information Technology companies. Infosys has been active in taking sustainability initiatives.

Stressing the importance of sustainability, its chairman and chief mentor Mr. N.R. Narayanamurthy states the following in the company’s sustainability report of 2009-10:

“Our vision is to be a responsible, leading organization working towards the greater common good by setting global benchmarks for a sustainable tomorrow”

Infosys has identified sustainability as a focus area in its brand positioning as Infosys 3.0. It explains Sustainable tomorrow as follows:

A sustainable tomorrow can come about only when we can say with confidence that we do not carry the burden of the past, or the guilt of the present. It is the ability to say “yes”.

Yes, we are sustainable from the economic point of view

Yes, as a conscientious global organization, we consumed nature’s resources only to the extent needed for the organization

Yes, as integral part of the community, across geographies, we contributed to its social development.

Yes, we are ready to stand up and be counted.

The theme of “sustainable tomorrow” is broken down into three key focus areas:

Social Contract – Being ethical, practicing good corporate governance principles and engaging with all stakeholders to meet both Infosys’s and client’s sustainability goals.

Resource Efficiency – Improving resource utilization by monitoring usage of such resources like electricity at a granular level at all office locations.

Green Innovation – Collobarating with customers to offer solutions in smart grid, intelligent infrastructure and data centers, and helping customers achieve their sustainable goals.

To make business sustainable, Infosys follows the PSPD model of Profitability, Sustainability, predictability and de-risking business.

Infosys collaborates with global bodies like WBSCD, GTZ, TERI, WEF and UNGC by participating in their external forums.

Sustainability initiatives of Wipro

From its sustainability report 2008-09, Wipro identifies a number of megaforces that it predicts will impact the world in times to come. These are enumerated as:

Climate change

Looming water disaster

Sustainable cities

Universal education

Diversity

Inclusivity and human rights

Transparency

Sustainable food security

Eliminating poverty

Wipro believes that appropriate goal setting with quantifiable is the key to take the sustainability initiatives forward. By setting quantifiable metrics to monitor and adapt, it believes it can make progress in its sustainable journey.

At the heart of its sustainability philosophy is the “Mobius strip” – what Wipro calls as a metaphor for the multi-dimensional challenges of sustainability. What this essentially translates to is the fact that sustainability challenges do not have defined start and end points and there are no clearly defined boundaries between the economic, social and ecological dimensions of any problem.

Wipro is operationalizing its strategic vision by clearly identifying and executing the following:

Leadership backing for sustainability initiatives

Prime Accountability of sustainability initiatives lies with a distinct group

Acquiring commitment from key internal functions like finance, facilities etc.

Create capacity and involvement at all levels of the organization

Continuously learn and improve by partnering with external stakeholders

Integrate into mainstream planning, budgeting and review processes

Create a robust investment framework that provides guidelines for internal investment proposals on sustainability.

A survey of IT Employees in Bangalore

As part of our study we ran a survey across the PGSEM participants who we consider a good representative sample of the IT sector in Bangalore. We received 44 responses and we provide below, our analysis of the results of th

2.1 Introduction

The literature review is discussion of published information based on particular topic or subject, so it can be a simple summary of recourses for that particular topic combines together. It provide a good handy guide for that particular topic. The purpose of the literature review is to give the reader a good access to of a particular topic, it also highlight the key finding of that particular topic. This literature review will talk about restaurants since I’m going to design an Arabic Qatari restaurant in KL Malaysia, followed by the characteristics of good restaurant, then give a short brief about the study area (Kuala Lumpur).

A restaurant is the most popular name in this present world, it’s a public place which open to all for selling food. Now days the restaurant is not just a place to come and eat but now it’s becoming a place where people can meet and spend time together to enjoy.

2.2 Definition of Restaurant

Restaurant is a public place, provide food and beverage on a commercial basis. Its open for all people to take refreshment , provide food and beverage against money , all food and beverage to satisfy guests .(Admin,2012) The word restaurant comes from rest and rent, so guest rest in and pay rent for having refreshment and beverage. Many people think that hotels and restaurants are the same in function and definition, actually its different, hotel has accommodation system to stay night with some facilities like food, but restaurants you can get that facilities without accommodation.(Admin,2012)

http://dc.thedrinknation.com/images/bars/plumedc.jpg

Figure2.1 : restaurant – dc.thedrinknation.com

Restaurants provides different types of services for costumers, people who have no time they are sometimes forced to eat in a restaurant. But not only eating most of restaurants now provides meeting area in for those customers who wants to arrange special events in the restaurant such as marriage or engagement , birthday party, and graduations, company special meetings, or others that why the restaurants becoming more important place in now days . however restaurants normally do not provide the same level of services, of course it will be a restaurants who provides a high level of services foe costumers, and some restaurants just provide a poor services. The following points will discuss the different opinion of research of the characteristics of a good restaurant. (ELS,2009)

2.3 Characteristics of restaurant

A good restaurant should provides a high level of services, quality, and facilities for costumers, there are a very important characteristics can distinguish a good restaurant. Such these qualities provide a good restaurant and satisfy customers and force them to choose the same restaurant next time. The characteristics which will be given is done by different three researchers and everyone of them shows their opinion in how a good restaurant should be and the following point going to enumerate each one’s opinion.

According to ‘ELS’ English learning source they state the characteristics of a good restaurants, the researchers shows the following points of a good restaurant:

Cleanness:

A good restaurant must have clean and keep clean all the time especially working hours when guests are there. This also includes the front area where the costumers sit to eat and the serving areas, as well as the areas that are not visible to customers like the kitchens. Special care must also giving to eating utensils, tools and materials which using for cooking and serving food such as spoons, forks, cups, plates, and towels which served in guests tables. Necessarily a good restaurant must keep the restrooms clean all the time because it is also can affect the customer’s satisfaction about the restaurant. Normally the non-cleaned restrooms caused illness to the costumers that is why the cleanness is so important elements to have a good restaurants which attracts visitors. (ELS,2009)

Service:

The good restaurant always provides a good level of service to it costumers, because it is so important to attract many costumers to visit again. In some cases the costumers can feel so hungry and maybe some of them are stressful from hard work and they wants the restaurant to process orders very accurately, nicely, and quickly furthermore they wants the restaurant to prepare delicious fresh food. Finally, employees should be well-dressed, clean, and trained very well in treat costumers nicely and courteously and be willing to serve the customers. (ELS,2009)

Prices:

A good restaurant should charge reasonable prices for food and drinks in order to satisfy customers. Normally costumers have their own reasonable price in their minds for the food and drinks they ordered and level of services they received. Therefore, a good restaurant should also set prices based on the type of food and the level of service they provide as well. The too high price will upset the customers, they well feel suspicious about the quality of the food. These can may cause the customers think many times before they come and visit again. (ELS,2009)

In summary the above points is the main characteristic of a good restaurants according to English learning source, the first is they should kept clean to impress costumer, second is to provide a high good level of service to satisfy costumers, the last is to charge a reasonable price in order to avoid displeasure and cause them to visit again. (ELS,2009)

The second researcher ‘Bryan Keythman, Demand Media’ illustrate the following characteristics of a good restaurant:

1.High-Quality Food:

A good restaurants provide a high standard of food quality and ensure that guests are getting the same high quality in every meal. Serving a good quality food can earn the restaurant the reputation and compel the costumers to return visit. High-quality ingredients and an experienced cook are important to serving good food consistently. A good cook understands your guests’ needs and works well with the kitchen staff to ensure that guests receive their meal the way they ordered it every time.( Bryan Keythman, Demand Media,2012)

2. Good Overall Experience:

Providing a good clean environment help to promote the costumer overall experience of the restaurant. The staff who interact with the guests in the restaurants should be polite and well-mannered and maintain a positive attitude and behave. Waters who are working in the restaurant should know the menu very well, deliver costumers food and drinks on time, and quickly address any issues that an unsatisfied costumers may have. All the staff should helps and make sure that the restaurant is clean at all times, including the kitchen, food preparation areas and any areas that the costumer can go in the restaurant.( Bryan Keythman, Demand Media,2012.

3. Different from the Rest:

if the restaurant provides a good food and service which it can maybe be better and not similar to other restaurants ,the customers will be willing to overlook the different good restaurant when deciding where to dine. The good restaurant should have one or more unique features that stand out in a customer’s mind and give it a competitive advantage over others.

For example, the restaurant may be the only restaurant in town that makes its ingredients fresh daily or it may have an amazing view of the city that none of your competitors have. .( Bryan Keythman, Demand Media,2012)

The third researcher ” Calia Robert” clarify that dining in a good restaurant gives the costumers a the proper chance to relax, unwind, and enjoy lovely social ambience while having delicious meals.

” A good restaurant creates an overall pleasing experience by combining professionalism, good food and ambience for the enjoyment of the customer.” Calia Robert said

The following characteristics of a good restaurant are illustrated by Calia Robert:

1. Ambience:

In any successful restaurant, the atmosphere of the restaurant will either make or break the business. The costumer likes the dining experience to be interesting and that can include the location, feel, mood, character and atmosphere. The factor which can affect the ambiance of the restaurant can be the decor, music, openness, comfort seating and lighting. (Calia Rober,2012)

2. Service:

Good service is the key characteristic of good successful restaurant . Patrons of the restaurant not only pay for the meals, but also for the experience of being served. Poor services like rude , non-trained, non-existent, or unfriendly waiter staff who are running food for costumers can discourage the costumer to visit the restaurant anymore. Typically, the good high level and flawless service like cleanness, politely staff can bring a good reputation for the restaurant and make people feel happy to choose the restaurants every time. (Calia Rober,2012)

3. Experience:

The restaurant which run by an raw unskilled owner and staff is so easy to differentiate from the restaurant which run by worldly-wised and experienced owner and staff and that experience can clearly affect all aspects of business such as finances, food marketing promotions, staff and all costumers dining experience in that restaurant.(Calia Rober,2012)

4. Cleanliness:

The Cleanliness in a restaurant is a essential element, and keeping the restaurant clean is essential to avoid possibility of illness for costumers, it encourage the costumer to repeat the visit, and a good first reputation and impression. That is why all area of the restaurant should be always clean as well as the employees, and their area, restrooms, and all area which is not visible to costumer. (Calia Rober,2012)

5. Good food:

The restaurant can have all the above characteristics but without a good food the restaurant will consider as fail. Serving food is the main aim of having a restaurant that why providing a good quality of food is the foundation of having a successful restaurant and big rate of visitors. Good food can include compatibility of flavors true actual authentic cooking of different types of food styles, the innovation in creating new delicious and nice clean dishes and elegantly of presenting it. (Calia Rober,2012)

6. Price:

The Restaurant costumers expect prices which reflect the level of service, the type food and the atmosphere of the building itself this include the design, distribution of tables and the interior design. The high prices can upset the costumers and discourage to repeat the visit. Also the stage to low prices will make the costumer Suspect about the quality of food served in the restaurant and the quality of the restaurant itself which can give negative impression. Fixing a balanced prices that meets costumers expectations can lead to a successful restaurant and profit. (Calia Rober,2012)

To find out the change that has been created by integrated resorts like Marina Bay Sands and Resort World Sentosa on Singapore from a tourism perspective

To analyse the change created by integrated resorts like Marina Bay Sands and Resort World Sentosa on the Singapore economy

To investigate how Integrated Resorts help Singapore compete as a brand with other countries

To understand how in a short span of time since its opening has Marina Bay Sands become the face of Singapore.

To analyse the challenges that Integrated resorts are providing to conventional hotels.

HYPOTHESIS
NULL HYPOTHESIS

The entry of integrated resorts has created no impact on the Singapore hospitality industry.

ALTERNATE HYPOTHESIS

The entry of integrated resorts has created an impact on the Singapore hospitality industry.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH
BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Any country that is emphasising on tourism has to focus till a great extent on hospitality and on hotels per say. The world hotel scenario has been changing rapidly and the countries are now starting to develop a competitive spirit so as to create a higher brand name for themselves as compared to other countries. In Singapore itself the hotel industry has a market size of US $ 4,047.9 mn. Now with the rise in global trends for both gaming and tourism the two industries have merged together and come out as one unit. This unit known as integrated resorts are holding on to the interest of many investors. Countries across the globe are investing in these projects.

In the Asian market, integrated resorts have already entered areas like Hong-Kong, Macau, Thailand, Bali, Singapore, Vietnam etc. Singapore and all the other countries are in strong competition with cities like Macau which currently holds the maximum number of integrated gaming resorts. Singapore however is lagging behind with only two integrated resorts and is on par with Vietnam but behind major players like Macau, Cambodia and South Korea.

In the year 2010 Singapore came up with two of its integrated resorts which were expected to create a change in the market scenario for Singapore in the future. These resorts were Marina Bay Sands and Resort World Sentosa. The reasons for them to come up with these resorts were as follows:-

Since 1991 a change had been observed. Singapore which is a major tourist destination has seen a decline in tourist activities. Where on an average a tourist use to spend 4 days in Singapore before, it had now dropped down to 3days. While other major competitors had not seen the same fall. Like in the case of Hong-Kong that still showed an average of 4 days

Other cities were growing their customer attractions like Kaula Lumpur got the Kaula Lumpur city center and Hong-Kong had Disneyland.

The need to tap the rising middle class community in growing markets such as China and India. With growing levels of disposable income the global tourism rate had also seen a rise.

Thus, the Singapore government decided to open two integrated resorts one at the bay sands area and one in Sentosa. For both these resorts they received a lot of bids. And finally the bids were narrowed down to Las Vegas Sands company for Marina Bay Sands and Genting group for Resort World Sentosa.

Marina Bay Sands is a luxurious in all its aspects. It consists of 2600 hotel rooms, a four floor casino, a sky park consisting of infinity pool, gardens and spa and 250 meeting rooms which can accommodate upto 45,000 delegates. It also boasts of excellent restaurants and branded stores like Louis Vuitton to Chanel in their floating crystal pavilion. It also has a 200 seater theatre and an arts and science museum.

On the other hand, the other integrated resort of Singapore- Resort World Sentosa is more family oriented. It comprises of six hotels- the festive hotel, hard rock hotel, Equarius hotel, Crockfords hotel, hotel Michael and spa villas. All these together make upto 1750 rooms. They also boast of 10 restaurants. It also has a spa, a water park, Universal studios and meeting rooms that can accommodate around 35,000 people.

With both these resorts government hoped for an increase in investments and 0.3% to 1.8% increase in GDP by 2015. With this a rise in tourist activities was also expected. It was also expected to increase the job market in Singapore proving more employment opportunities.

RATIONALE FOR THE CHOICE OF RESEARCH TOPIC

The impact of integrated resorts after they have been opened to the tourists on Singapore has not been delved into extensively. The resorts have created a name for itself and become the recognition point for Singapore in a very short period of time. Marina Bay Sands has become the face of Singapore along with the Merlion and Singapore Flyer. Thus, we have chosen this topic as it has further scope of research.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
IDENTIFICATION OF KEY CONCEPTS

The project extensively belongs to the hospitality industry’s hotel sector. We have further narrowed this topic down to integrated resorts. The basic topic of research is integrated resorts and its impact on Singapore.

The two integrated resorts present in Singapore- Marina Bay Sands and Resort World Sentosa, have created a name for itself. They have become major tourist destination and sight-seeing spots for both the localities as well as foreigners. These resorts have won awards and have become brand icon for Singapore. The factors that have caused them to create such a change in the hotel sector of Singapore is what we want to understand. Further we want to understand, in detail, the expectations that were levied on this resort and what they have been able to achieve.

Thus the key concepts that are relevant to this research topic are:-

Introduction of Marina Bay sands and facilities provided by it:

Marina Bay Sands is one of the most exquisite hotels in Singapore and it is well renowned for the variety of facilities that it provides. From a hospitality perspective, these facilities tend to make the place a very compelling one from the perspective of tourists. Some of these facilities include but are not limited to the Sands Sky Park which is an awe inspiring place that seems like an absolute paradise in the sky. Then there are banyan tree spas, club facilities as well as its well-equipped fitness centre. The airports pick up and drop service is very convenient for local as well as international tourists. A variety of brands make shopping at Marina Bay Sands an experience in itself. Last but not the least is the light show called ‘Wonder Full’ which is a nice addition to what is already a terrific experience overall.

Introduction of Resort World and facilities provided by it

Business centre

A unique blend of style and innovation is what describes the Business centre at the Resort World. The Business centre provides the following amenities

Corporate meetings

Press Conference

Product launches

Inmate dinner parties

Banquets

Swimming world

The free form pool along with beach bar concepts decorated along the lines with the swaying palms provides a top of the line amenity system top notching standards of ordinary swimming experience in hotels. Additional features like volleyball court, vibrant music, and different choices of drinks and cocktails just bring the icing with the cherry.

Gym

A 24hr gym with glass and mirrored wall brings a vibrant change in the feeling of the working out. State of the art equipment’s makes the feeling of gym as fun rather than a task.

Rock shop

For all the rock lovers, the hard rock hotel provides band t-shirts, souvenirs that people can take back home, caps and pins.

Compass ballroom

With a seating arrangement of 7300 people and 26 conference rooms, the compass ballroom below the underneath the Hard Rock hotel is diamonds worth in every way. For a hotel to allocate such large space only for entertainment of the customers truly states how integration has truly coming into Resort world group of hotels.

Kids Club

Business Executives are not just the traditional males anymore. More and more females have started occupying space at the top of the level in the pyramid. The task of handling kids and attending business meets have always been a challenge for female executives or single fathers.

Gaming zone

State of the art gaming zone for game lovers to enjoy and play latest single player games, simulator based games.

Casino

Something that attracts more customers and brings the highest revenue to a hotel is the casino. Resort world provides one of the best and the latest structure casino floors. As the belief goes “a game does not drive the player to gamble it’s the ambience that pulls them towards the table.”

Hotel scenario in Singapore before and after the entry of integrated resorts:

As stated earlier, the entry of integrated resorts had made a major difference to the tourist experience at Singapore. The concentrated efforts of the Singapore Tourism Board have added a completely new dimension to the industry as a whole. Where at first there used to be single hotels and tourism was stagnant, now there exists a boutique of experiences that have magnified the beauty of Singapore. This transformation can be well indicated by the fact that the Singapore hotel industry wasn’t even affected remotely by the global economic crisis.

Economic impact created by integrated resorts

With the opening of the Integrated Resorts in the year 2010, the yearly tourist arrivals hit an all-time high of 11 Million, with even monthly arrivals from January to December recording record highs. As of now, the MBS casino sees at an average 25000 customers a day, with only a third of them comprising of locals. Singapore managed to rake in 18.8 Billion Dollars via tourism receipts in the year 2010, which was its highest collection in 10 years. This was a 49% increase from the previous forecasts, a stupendous rise indeed. These receipts included the tourist expenses in the admission, dining and shopping areas. There has been an increase in visitors especially from countries like China, Indonesia and India. To conclude, one may say that the arrival of tourists has greatly affected Singapore and increased its revenues greatly. 60,000 jobs have been created in the integrated resorts industry leading to a 1 to 1.5% increase of the gross domestic product.

Creation of brand image and adding value to Singapore brand

The tourism industry has become a brand in itself over the years, and has played a critical role in the development of Singapore. Integrated Resorts have played a major role in this process, as the variety of services that they provide add to making Singapore a huge attraction to tourists across the world. It has become a thriving cosmopolitan brand that influxes a variety of people hailing from a variety of cultures. Singapore is an enriching an unforgettable destination. As the Singapore Tourism Board puts it, Singapore has become an experience to call your own.

Challenges they are providing to conventional hotels

The term “Integrated Resort” has become popular since the Singaporean Government liberalized their casino licenses and indicated that they want more than just a casino. Singapore envisioned integrated resorts with facilities such as hotels, theatres, convention centres, theme parks, museums, retail, and food and beverage in addition to a casino (MacDonald & Eadington, 2008). The goal was to attract visitors to come to Singapore not just for gambling but also for other leisure travel experiences. Hence integrated resorts such as “Marina Bay Sands and “Sentosa” have brought about a revolutionary change bringing everything under one roof. This has posed a problem to the conventional hotels in Singapore as they have not been able to generate business because of these resorts as customers would prefer the resorts with everything under one roof. The integrated resorts pose a major problem to the 5 stars in the same price range as these hotels have world class facilities which have contributed to the Singapore Travel and Tourism Industry. This is one of the main reasons because of which not many deluxe hotels are existent especially in Singapore as they know they would not be able to compete to these resorts.

Integrated Resorts have been adopted from the Resort concept in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Sands, the extremely renowned company based in Las Vegas has built the Marina Bay Sands, hence the architecture, the infinity pool and the sky park are the main attractions which has not only helped to increase the number of guests checking in but also the footfalls in the casino, the sky walk area making Singapore one of the attractive tourism spots. It is directly contributing to a large extent to the economy. Hence the conventional hotels are not only in danger in Singapore but across the world and have to put in efforts to compete with the integrated resorts tactfully.

Technological innovations that have entered along with integrated resorts

The technological innovations that have made their entry via integrated resorts have been at the heart of the development of Singapore. These innovations such as the introduction of fitness centres, clubs, casinos and restaurants to the conventional hotels have made a major difference. These facilities were very popular even when they were available standalone, but their presence all together has added to the experience as a whole. The tourists have been attracted and they have truly made Singapore their own.

DEBATES RELEVANT TO THE TOPIC

Through our literature review that we have undertaken, we came across several counter arguments against the concept of integrated resorts. Both these resorts have casinos in them and there were a group of people who were very worried about the implications that would come up. They believed that this could cause gambling addictions which in turn could ruin families. Further the presence of casinos could cause an increase in crime rates. thus to counter this the casino owners created a rule in which Singapore citizens have to pay $100 for entry into the casino while for every other customer it is free. This has helped them counter the problem of gambling addiction and did not even increase the crime rates till a great extent.

Another argument that we came across was that with the entry of integrated resorts traditional hotels will lose its charm. And the authenticity of hotels will be lost. The purpose will change and the traditional beliefs will no longer hold true. They did not view it as a new era in the hotel business but as a negative change.

COMPONENTS OF THE RESEARCH TOPIC AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP

The components of this research topic that we have identified so far include:

Number of tourists

Length of stay of the tourists

Political factors such as the relevant stability existent in the country

Types of tourists

Technological growth in the e-commerce sector

Types of facilities available

IDENTIFICATION OF LITERATURE TO BE REVIEWED

The literature reviewed ranges from the time period of when the concept of integrated resorts was initialised and the factors that led to it to when it was being built and what was expected from it to the after effects of it. The literature review also comprises the global trends in hotel industry, the tourism statistics and some acts about integrated resorts in general. The review comprises of all these as they are apt with the research topic and help us gain insights as well as better our understanding. they will give us a base to conduct our further research and not do what has already been done.

INITIAL DESIGN OF STRUCTURE

The design of structure or the outline that we are going to follow while going ahead with our project is as follows

Introduction to industry

Introduction to integrated resorts

Introduction to Marina Bay Sands

Introduction to Resort World Sentosa

Literature review

Survey and questionnaire to tourist and citizens

Personal interview with management of both the resorts

Personal interview with industry experts

Factor analysis and detailed study on factors

Data compilation and analysis

Regression analysis

Hypothesis testing

Conclusion

IDENTIFICATION OF METHODOLOGY
PURPOSE OF STUDY

The project will initially be exploratory in nature with extensive review of literature and available data followed by certain amount of data collection. However, after which we will move towards descriptive research to get more conclusive results. This is because exploratory research will help us create a strong secondary research background and also help us understand the previously proven and explored data in this topic area.it will help us become more familiar with the area of interest and gain more knowledge on the same. It will help us understand the working of hospitality industry in Singapore which has a very unique working style and has created a name for itself with respect to tourism. As well understand the impact that the introduction of integrated resorts caused on this country’s economy and popularity.

With the help of descriptive research we will be able to achieve definite conclusions on the impact that the integrated resorts has on the tourism of Singapore. Primary data collection will be undertaken here. This way we will be able to get factual data in order to provide proof for our conclusion.

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

The methods of data collection that we are using are:-

COLLECTION OF SECONDARY DATA

We are collecting secondary data from various sources which involve both libraries as well as online data bases such as EBSCO, Euromonitor and Google Scholar. We are going through previous research paper, published articles, academic articles etc. with the help of these we have been able to find trends in the hotel industry globally as well as in Singapore, We now have insights into how integrated resorts have impacted not only Singapore but the rest of the world as well. We have even been able to understand why Singapore decided to come up with the concept of integrated resorts and the various factors that were considered. We came across data’s that showed us what was aimed to be achieved with the help of integrated resorts and what has been achieved as well. With further secondary data collection we hope to find deeper insights into our topic as well discover how Marina bay sands became the face of Singapore within such a short span of time.

The advantages of this method are:-

It will help us improve our understanding of the impact integrated resorts ad on Singapore

It will help us gin insights into this topic

It will help fill out all unnecessary gaps that will arise in our research

It will provide us with a base to further our research on

The disadvantages of this method will be:-

It is a very extensive and time consuming work

Data found is generally not very apt or relevant

Data found can be outdated

INTERVIEW METHOD

With the help of following the interview method we are going to personally speak to some industry experts as well try to get in touch with the staff and management of the two integrated resorts of Singapore- Marina Bay Sands and Resort World Sentosa. We will also Interview a few customers staying at both these hotels, members of travel agencies as well as a few Singapore residents. With this we aim to get first hand information on the integrated resorts and Singapore. We will know what are the point of views of different people who are affected by the introduction of these resorts so as to gather a full proof analysis on the different impacts created – positive as well as negative.

The advantages of this method are:-

Accuracy level increases

Likely to get more response

Opportunity to judge non-verbal communications as well

Will be able to tap the spontaneous responses.

The disadvantages are:-

Cannot be undertaken for a large number of respondents

Can turn out to be very expensive and time consuming

There may be restrictions in terms of information revealing and responding from the respondents end

QUESTIONNAIRES

We are going to create questionnaires consisting of 10-15 questions that will be distributed amongst tourists and localities in order to gather their view point on the arrival of integrated resorts in Singapore and its impact on the country in order to find out how they view this change which has come up in the past 5 years.

The advantages of this method are:-

Large amount of data can be collected from a lot of people within a short span of time.

Easily quantifiable results

The validity and reliability is retained no matter who conducts it.

The disadvantages are:-

Can lead to the collection of a very large un-manageable amount of data.

Honesty of the respondent cannot be determined

A question has to be framed in such a way that it is not misinterpreted by others.

PROCESS INVOLVED IN THE RESEARCH

STEP 1 – LITERATURE REVIEW

The first step is going to be to review the literature that has been previously been conducted which is relevant to our topic and which both support and counter our hypothesis. We also want to review the literature that shows us the positive and negative impacts that integrated resorts have on the hospitality industry of Singapore. This has been discussed in more detail in the ‘identification of literature to be reviewed’ section of this proposal.

STEP 2 – DATA COLLECTION

The data for literature review is basically being sourced from National Library of Singapore, other libraries, EBSCO database and Google Scholar. At this step a base will be created for our project and will thus help us create a framework. After which we will be collecting data directly from sources by taking and interacting with individuals associated with entry of integrated resorts. Further we will also try to gather view points on how the entry has changed the face of hospitality in senses like amenities, technologies etc. we will also try to understand from these people what are the changes that have been taking place since the entry of integrated resorts. Then we will try to collect data from sources from industry specialist in order to get statistics, figures and numbers.

STEP 3 – SAMPLE SELECTION

The primary focus for interview and questionnaires are going to be to the employees and management of the integrated resorts, industry experts and members of hospitality industry. However we even want to gather information from general public. This shall comprise of a) tourists and b) Singapore residents.

Tourists – the tourist will be selected in two parts, customers of the hotel and other

tourists. The respondents in each category will be selected using the cluster

method of sample where members with similar characteristics are grouped together.

Singapore Residents – the respondents will be selected with the help of cluster analysis.

The minimum no of respondents that will be taken into consideration is 70.

TIME SCALE

December 2012- submission of literature review and review of atleast 20 articles

Jan 2013 – starting of field work and further literature review

Feb 2013 – compilation of interview and questionnaire’s

March 2013 – preparation of final document and covering objectives

April 2013 – presentation and defence of resear

LIMITATIONS IN THE METHODOLOGY

The limitations that are present in the methodology are:-

Accessibility to the management of Marina Bay Sands and Resort World Sentosa.

Accessibility to the industry experts

Low knowledge of respondents

Likelihood of low response rate

Limited availability of literature review

ETHICAL ISSUES

Objectivity from the researcher’s perspective. The interviewer and researcher should not be bias about the respondent or the answers provided.

Maintenance of integrity and confidentiality of the data provided by the management and industry experts.

Respect for intellectual property right like patents and copyrights.

DATA ANALYSIS METHODS USED

There are a variety of methods that can be used in order to carry out a detailed data analysis of our proposed project:

Regression modelling

We can use this model in order to establish a relationship between a dependent and an independent variable. This model is being applied mainly due to the decline in the tourism industry in the years 2005 and 2006. To create this model, the dependent variable in this case will be the number of tourists entering Singapore in a particular year and the independent variables will be a variety of factors affecting these tourists such as the amenities provided, sightseeing locations, and cultural diversity.

Hypothesis Testing

The null and the alternate hypothesis have already been stated in the previous sections of this proposal. Hypothesis testing will help us determine whether the integrated resorts development has played a critical part in increasing the number of tourists in Singapore.

Factor Analysis

Factor analysis basically involves combining a variety of factors in order to shorten down the number of factors affecting the tourism industry in Singapore. The Regression analysis will help us analyse the relationship between these factors and the number of tourists, whereas the Factor Analysis will help us to identify these factors in the first place. The factors in this case will probably be limited to 5 or 6 in order to get a generalized viewpoint. The number of factors may be shortened down from as many as 30, which we will generate from our own knowledge, our primary as well as our secondary research.

CONCLUSION

We took up this project expecting to find a significant change in consumer behaviour and interest generated in Singapore as a tourist destination created by these two brands Marina Bay Sands and Resort World Sentosa. We believe the concept of an integrated resort will appeal more to the growing number of upper middle class masses in quickly growing economies like India, Singapore and many other Asian countries. While neighbouring cities like Macau, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Thailand have long since invested in contemporary tourist destinations, Singapore has consistently lost ground to these competitors due to lack of innovation in the tourism industry. We believe these two integrated resort projects will put Singapore back on a level playing field with its competing tourist destinations and we hope to prove that through this project. Additionally, we also believe the collaboration between the hospitality and gaming sector will have a major impact on the city’s economy. The resorts are likely to open up several new auxiliary industries and benefit the country in several indirect ways. We hope to prove how these integrated projects will create several new employment options and also allow the locals to develop a certain degree of specialized skill set which will make their value grow in the global market. This in turn is expected to increase the national GDP as more employment will eventually lead to a higher per-capita income which in turn will raise the standard of living amidst the locals and increase the sense of belonging and create a better lifestyle.

We also believe that this collaboration between the gaming (Casino, Universal, etc.) and the hospitality industry will lead to an increased level of interest from a wider category of tourists. While so far Singapore was known more for its shopping avenues and tourist spots like Orchard road and Bugis street, people will also start perceiving the city as a gaming destination.

The Casino hotel Industry refers to establishments primarily engaged in providing short- term lodging in hotel facilities with a casino on the premises (IBISWorld, 2012). Casino hotels provide lodging in hotel conveniences with a casino on the premises and it is seem to have phenomenal growth in the past decade. This boom in casino hotel industry provided the investor to establish a luxury and casino hotels in many region. The casino industry generates revenue from full range of services and amenities such as gaming, food and beverage, rooms, dining, retail space, entertainment, meeting facilities etc. Within the past 25 years, the commercial casino industry has experienced significant growth by operating only in Neveda and Atlantic City, New Jersey to operating 566 casinos in 22 states in 2010 (Bazelon, Neels, Seth, 2012). The prospective revenue from gaming has moved gambling from doing unlawful activity to a legitimate business and at this instant hotels are also offering casino service. Due to financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, the revenue had declined as people were intending to spend less money on gambling and not taking vacation. The increasing unemployment made consumer to spend less and be more selective while spending their money. After the crisis, in 2010 and 2011 there is a huge change and the revenue in casino hotel industry went high however, it is estimate that revenue will further grow 3.9% to $47.8 billion in 2012 (IBISWorld, 2012).

The introduction of Casino hotel creates employment opportunity to the local communities and generates tax revenue for the government. Casino hotel industry mainly depends on the economic condition of the country and willingness to travel which energies industry revenue growth. After the economic growth, the consumer spending has been increased where their disposable income has also been raised and so as their spending. People tend to spend their income in different variety of ways such as recreational, travelling, entertainment, gambling etc. This has become very challenging for casino industry as consumers are visiting casino more often than past. The rising rate of travelling people and consumer spending drives industry revenue growth that tends to compete with increasing global competition of casino hotel industry. Due to declining demand of Casino Hotel industry in 2007, Macau and China took the world’s largest casino gambling region over the Las Vegas. There are more openings of international casino hotel that have significantly increased the competition for the US casino hotel business. Since, consumers are more selective about their spending they would rather choose better recreational activities that can either be internationally or domestically.

There are 300 land-based casinos with accompanying lodging facilities and currently it shows that Casino and gaming is overlapping the hotels and lodging industry. The trend of Casino hotel industry in luxury market is to provide the entertainment convergence i.e. is to attract more people and to provide variety of facilities as such the customers will lengthen their stay and enjoy the modern casino hotel property (Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc, 2005).

Industry Growth Analysis

Current Industry Trends

The casino and hotel can be either standalone or comprises of both hotels facility as well as casino facility. The industry strongly depends on the current economic situation, as such people desire to travel when they have huge amount of disposable income. Due to downturn of economy in 2007 and 2008 there was a declining demand of this sectors and sales dropped way down and the reason behind is they are more concern about their financing. Therefore, Casino Industry was cutting the services like gambling and other entertainment. There is decline of domestic and international travel in United States and the performance of this industry decline as casino hotels rely more on tourists visiting.

Slowly recovering economy shows that there is gradual increment of visitors as consumer spending in 2012 has been increase by 1.9% in result the consumers are visiting the casino more often. However, the competition from others such as American Indian casinos, similar casino gaming places, online gaming, and international casinos make the industry to remain sensitive. In 2012, industry profit is estimated to account for 8.2% of revenue (IBISWorld, 2012).

Economy recovery support growth

Over the next five years period it is estimated that the spending from each people projected to be increased. It is forecasted that the consumer spending will increase at an annualized rate of 2.8% (IBISWorld, 2012). This will lead to the improvement of the casino hotel industry that will in return create job opportunity and therefore the unemployment rate will decrease. The result of getting employment tends to make consumer to spend more money in travelling and gambling. As a result there will be a huge demand of hotel casino industry in future.

Market forecast of Casino hotels shows the long-term position and future growth trend.

market forecast

Retrieved from: http://www.anythingresearch.com/industry/Casino-Hotels.htm

The growth of industry can also see mostly in spring and summer rather than winter or fall. Tourists would like to travel during the better weather condition while spending their money. The industry will see high performance and increase revenue in better weather condition such as in spring and summer of each year. The performance of industry can be measured based upon the valuation and compare with other similar industry.

In domestic market, the industry seems mature in industry life cycle therefore the major other companies are expanding the business internationally. The scope however in Macau and China is in increasing trends, as a consequence the investor would want to achieve higher growth in the revenue.

Analysis of competing companies

There are various industries that compete with each other. The current rivalry competitiveness in casino hotel is relatively high in nature. These competing firms are Caesars Entertainment Corporation, MGM Resorts International, Las Vegas Sands Corporation, and Wynn Resorts Limited.

Retrieved from:

http://clients1.ibisworld.com/reports/us/industry/majorcompanies.aspx?entid=1662

Casears Entertainment Corporation

The world’s largest casino operator whose market share is 18.2%, Caesars Entertainment Corporation has grown by providing various services such as new resorts, expansion and acquisitions and currently it owns and manages the casino resorts. Caesars is able to maintain on loyalty to its customers by providing sound service and to their employee, business partners also. It shows that in 2007 it was 8.9% and due to economy recession it has dropped down to -0.2% however, it has predicted that in 2012 the revenue will be increased up to 3.9% (IBISWorld, 2012).

MGM Resorts International

MGM Resorts is another largest casino hotel operator whose market share is 12.7%. The company has significant holdings in gaming, hospitality and entertainment, and holds a growing number of development and management agreements for casino and non- casino resort projects (MGM Resorts, 2012). MGM’s in USA have improved over the past years and consumers are trying to spend their income in recreational places. Therefore, In 2011 the percentage change shows 4.6% increment in domestic market however, it has also predict that in 2012 the percentage change will be decline but still it will be in positive (IBISWorld, 2012).

Other Companies

Las Vegas Sands Corporation is one of the new kinds of travel destination with the market share of 4.3%. Las Vegas Sands offers high-ends amenities, integrating them under one roof resort.

Over the five years to 2012, global company revenue is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 30.5% per year to $11.2 billion, including forecast growth of 13.1% in 2012. US-specific revenue is also forecast to grow significantly at an annualized 16.0% to $2.1 billion over that same period (IBISWorld, 2012).

Wynn Resorts Limited

Likely, other major competitor in the industry is Wynn Resorts Limited whose market share is 2.8% and it is based on Las Vegas Corporation. It has forecast to grow 0.6% per year on average over that same period to $1.3 billion (IBISWorld, 2012). The company grew very fast in previous years beside the recession period.

Industry Establishments, Sales & Employment Trends

Year

Percent Chg. Year-to-Year

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

09-10

10-11

11-12

12-13

Establishments

367

380

388

397

406

3.6%

1.9%

2.5%

2.2%

Sales ($Millions)

43,200

47,139

49,910

53,614

57,211

9.1%

5.9%

7.4%

6.7%

Employment

228,451

236,755

241,274

247,310

252,835

3.6%

1.9%

2.5%

2.2%

Retrieved from

http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9c59b541-088a-45d0-8846-d6fbd6acad29%40sessionmgr12&vid=7&hid=17

5 Forces Competitive Analysis

Competition from Rival Sellers

The competition from rival companies is extremely high and it is in increasing trend. After the merger of Harrah’s and Caesars and MGM and Mandalay in 2005, they have taken great proportion of market share in casino hotel industry (IBISWorld, 2012). MGM have direct competition with Harrah’s Entertainment however, the other two competitors like las Vegas Sands Corp and Wynn Resorts are small companies and do not have direct threat in the competition. The strength of this competitive force is strong because these two casino hotel have significant revenue with high quality of hospitality and access marketing and promotional to attract the consumer.

Competition from Potential Entrants

There is a high and steady barrier to entry in this industry. The significance of these entry barriers is that governments have minimized the legal issue related with government regulation for the entry of new competitors. And recently, half of United States have legally operating casino including Kansas and Massachusetts.

Competition from Substitute products

The threat to casino hotel industry is international online casino gambling sites, casino without hotel premises, hotels and motels, resorts and lodges etc. Due to economy recession the operator have moved to expand their business in international market where potential growth is high. There is high threat of competition from substitute products; if hotel casino fails to provide better facility then the consumer would rather choose those hotel industries that provide better hospitality. Therefore by maintaining consumer loyalty and providing sound hospitality will create less threat from substitute products.

Suppliers Bargaining Power

The threat of supplier bargaining power is very weak. For hotel casino industry their main suppliers or raw materials used are the food and beverages where these suppliers face competition within those industries by producing their own quality product. The commodity price changes may not affect the industry as such the industry would choose to get same supply from different suppliers.

Customer Bargaining Power

The customers have relatively higher bargaining power. Most of the hotel casino industries are located in west side of USA. Therefore, the customers from there have no choice of choosing other than going to these places. In addition, customers have more bargaining power because it allows customer to go in standalone casino or hotel. Poor hospitality for customer coming in can lead to sift their choice in other kind of industry.

Factors driving industry changes

There are various factors that are driving industry change.

Economic Change

The prosperous health of casino hotel industry depends upon the economic condition of the country. If the disposable income of the consumer were relatively high they would prefer spending their money in recreational areas such as vacation and gambling. Due to economic downturn, people will reduce their disposable spending which was in 2008 and 2009, there was decline of such industry by 8.7% and 8.4% respectively (IBISWorld, 2012). Better economy will create less unemployment rate with proportionate of increased income that in return consumer will be travelling more often.

Airline Travel and Tourism

Based on US, 51.7% of these industries are located in west like most in Nevada and Las Vegas. If there is poor infrastructure it can impacts the total industry, as consumer are not being able to reach to their destinations. Since casinos are still banned in many states, those provisions have historically allowed the industry to develop and expand across these areas (IBISWorld, 2012). Due to global crisis, we can see huge downturn in tourism sector and it has negatively affected the tourism industry. This is the main reason that has reduced the amount of the tourist from different country.

Legal Issues and Technology Innovation

As all state do not have permit to open the casino however, it can be seen there is a huge scope in some other region. There should be a casino legislation and regulatory change that will allow new establishment in other states. Technology Innovation is another factor that drives industry to change. The gambling should be user friendly to the entire consumer using. Usually consumers comes for vacation with their family members, therefore those entertainment should be used so each of the family members can delight efficiently.

A Strategic Group Map Comparative Market Positions of Selected Casino Hotel Industry

Caesars Entrainment Corporation

MGM Resorts International

Las Vegas

wynn

Market Share of Casino Hotel Industry in USA

Market position of Casino Hotel Industry

Caesars Entertainment Corporation seems the major casino operator in USA as well as globally and primarily this company was owned under The Harrah’s Caesars. The company uses its total rewards system to market promotions and to generate play across network of properties (Caesars Entertainment, 2012). Currently the data shows that the company holds 18.2% of total market share. In 2011, the total revenue earned by Caesars was $8372.5 and it has been predicted that it will go up to $8700.00 that is 3.9% higher than the last year. Therefore, it shows there is a huge potential increment of the revenue. Likewise, the second most company is MGM Resorts International, which is another company that operates globally and has covered 12.7% of its market share. In 2011, the total revenue earned by MGM is $5892.9 and it has expected to grow more up to $6040.8 in 2012. However, the percentage change in revenue has decreased from 4.6% to 2.5% respectively. In 2007, MGM had expanded their business in Macau therefore huge amount of revenue had been earned from there also.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Wynn Resorts Limited have estimated industry market share of 4.3% and 2.8% respectively. Las Vegas Sands Corporation have earned 52.4% of total revenue from the company in Asia and in 2012, it has expected to earn revenue of $11,150. Likewise, Wynn Resorts Limited made an expansion of the company in Macau and huge revenue had been generated

Strategic moves

It is seen that foreign casino companies have made huge investment in Macau since 2002. In 2006 the returns from the casino boom surpassed the revenue of the US gambling mecca, Las Vegas however there is risk for Macau that they are too much relying in one industry (BBC News, 2012). In 2011, Macau gaming revenues reach to $33.5 billion, which means there is 42% increase over the period of 2010 (Stutz, 2012). The increment of revenue have been seen by various American regional gaming markets, therefore Caesars Entertainment Corp paid $578 million and expected to get the land for casino to operate casino hotel business in the biggest market however Caesars still not got the permission to build casino (WSJ, 2012). Due to healthy economy and improving business, the casino hotel companies should expand there business internationally as such MGM, Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Wynn Resorts Limited have already introduce their business in Macau where it is seen huge boom and have generated five times more revenue than Las Vegas Strip.

In prospective of USA, it is seen that most of the casino hotel industry are concentrated in west part as only 38 states have legal licensed to operate the casino business. However, there is huge potential of casino business all over the US. As people disposable income has increased with the healthy economy, consumers tend to spend huge money in travelling and gambling and it is time consuming to travel in those regions where the states are permitted to run casino business. Therefore, the biggest companies such as MGM, Las Vegas Sands Corporation and Wynn Resorts Limited should look for potential market and expand their business all over the US. The huge revenue that is available from international casino hotel business can be invested in US and more focusing on the research and development of the market potentiality. The invention of new technology, new gaming, sound hospitality and facilities will help to create more potential consumer in future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-16599919

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204789304578088320711432556.html

Shimla, the former summer capital of colonial India and present capital of Himachal Pradesh, is one of the most picturesque hill stations of North India. Apart from being the administrative headquarters of the state it is a famous and an attractive tourist in large numbers every year. It is also an entry pint to various other tourist resorts and recreational centers in the upper region of Himachal Pradesh, thus a convenient stop-over for tourists.

The journey of Shimla from a serene hill station to a bustling city as an over exploited tourist destination has been gradual and not a sudden outburst. It’s a place where things have definitely gone wrong when it comes to sustainability.

3.1 Growth as a Tourist destination

The growth of Shimla is organic expanding from a village to a town and now a city. http://www.google.co.in/url?source=imglanding&ct=img&q=http://entirekingdom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/shimla-city.jpg&sa=X&ei=ayOtUKzXMdGt0AG93YCABA&ved=0CAoQ8wc4Tw&usg=AFQjCNEWb6Gec0PTY-FtYYtu6cxPcD0PTg

Tourist activities are concentrated along the core of the British town that is the Mall, Cart Road and Lakar Bazaar.

The over developed southern side of Shimla

Source: http://entirekingdom.com

The man made activities have influenced mainly the southern slope Shimla since the northern slope receives no sunlight. It is difficult to find any open space or undeveloped site on the southern slope. There has been extensive cutting of hill slopes.

Himachal Pradesh received a total of 151 lakh tourists in 2011 out of which 20% was contributed by Shimla, the highest for any Himachal destination. The growth rate for tourists in Shimla has been 7% recently.

Source: http://www.kpmg.com/IN/en/IssuesAndInsights/ThoughtLeadership/Tourism-in-himachal-pradesh.pdf

3.2 Impact of Tourism on the Natural and Built Environment

The southern slope of Shimla has been almost entirely built over, as a result the original pattern of slopes have completely disappeared.

At places slope instability has been caused due to poor drainage facility of the area.

Analysis of the slope reveal that in order to obtain maximum advantage of the sun, buildings have come down in steps, even in areas where the slope is more thanb the normally permissible limits. (Beyond 36 degree are considered unsuitable).

Some of the buildings are in dilapidated conditions because of the lack of maintenance and use of poor construction material than due to slope failure.

Another impact of mass tourism is the crash on the local society. It has changed the structure of society itself by favoring certain groups of the population that are able to interact with the tourists and provide services to them.

As more and more tourists came in, the development of tourist and infrastructure facilities has disturbed the mountain eco-system.

The damages of alterations in some of these areas have started to look like the places that a visitor wanted to escape.

Excessive water consumption and ill management of the resource has led to a major water crisis.

Loss of identity and culture. The Britishers left a legacy of red sloping roofs behind which gave the town its character. The modern constructions are flat roofs unresponsive to the climate and identity both.

Over intensive urbanization.

Illegal buildings have cropped up everywhere.

The traffic due to tourists and the overcrowding has disturbed the locals’ daily life and system.

Overload of infrastructure (e.g. Car parking, roads, buildings, water supply)

Changes in the urban fabric.

New architectural styles which are at ties not responsive to site and climate and also the general image of the town.

Spectacular views blocked by ugly concrete structures.

3.3 Identification of issues

After analyzing the impacts and statistical data, the following issues were identified with respect to construction, planning and architecture of the place.

Haphazard development of tourist infrastructure causing architectural pollution and degrading the ecology of the place as well.

Earlier buildings were not more than two to three storey high, but now due to less land available we can see buildings as high as six to seven storey high. This exerts massive pressure on the soil and causes visual blockades which are aesthetically displeasing.

Due to increasing tourist influx in the town, there is a need for more tourist infrastructure and to accommodate slopes more than 36°, which are considered unbuildable, are being cut down causing severe land and soil erosion. Moreover ‘hills are being cut down in the hill station’ giving way to an ugly concrete jungle.

Irregular checks and insufficient guidelines for development of tourist infrastructure and construction activities.

The government and tourism bodies have aimed for growth in tourism but have only recently imbibed sustainable growth of tourism in its policies and that too non seriously.

3.4 Conclusions and suggestions

Shimla is endowed with immense potent as a place of tourist attraction, besides being a gateway to other parts of Himachal Pradesh. It requires special consideration in conservation of ecological order. There are certain spots, which are environmentally rich and need conservation. Many of the problems, which make tourism unsustainable, relate to the fact that many principles fundamental to sustainable tourism are not acknowledged. They have not been adopted in the conception, planning, design and development of tourism facilities in Shimla. A well managed, slow paced, controlled, integrated tourism development is the option. A set of guidelines and suitable approach scheme needs to be drafted and implemented that calls for sustainable progress of tourism.(Parmar, 2003, p. 50)

Sustainable forms of tourism like ecotourism should be promoted to encourage lessening the ecological damage being done.

The primary objective of sustainable tourism strategy should be to promote planning, design and construction of all tourist infrastructure and buildings that are environmentally friendly, do not spoil the character of the place, help integrate social and cultural aspects to it.

In fact one of the most imperative issues in sustainable growth of tourism resources is the contemplation and expansion of design and building standards in order to reach an optimum use of energy, water and land resources. This will result in efficient management for preserving the natural and built attractions in tourism industry.

Regarding the socio-cultural aspect, Shimla has lost its identity especially when it comes to architecture. The buildings should be symbolic of the rich legacy Shimla has or reflect the culture and traditions of the locals. As of now the post-British construction is merely concrete with climatically and site unresponsive features and structure.

In Shimla, things would not have reached such a drastic situation had there been an effective land use plan which controlled the tourist developments and demarcated boundaries for such development.

Buildings that have low environment impact throughout their life cycle should be promoted. Infact the norms should govern that. Importantly they should respond to the climate and context. Also the buildings meant for tourists should have high satisfaction levels and provide meaningful experience to tourists. The idea of sustainable tourism should be clear so that awareness spreads among the community and tourists both.(Khaksar, p. 37)