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Tourism is a fast-growing industry, but with the credit crunch in 2008, figures have dropped as people have less money to spend as a tourist all over the world. Many countries rely on tourism sector greatly as the income generated by this sector is easily planned to be invested in other sectors of the country like education, sports, defence and health.

Economic recession has led to increase in oil prices. These fluctuating oil prices result in the airline industry imposing further fuel surcharges to cover higher costs, which have to be met by the consumer through increased air ticket prices. This has put the consumer off travelling during the expensive periods. Unfortunately, the tourism sector these days is experiencing not only economical disasters but other emerging issues as well. In order to look at the whole scenario of travel and tourism industry in terms of latest alarming situations (decreased access to natural resources for the local communities and environmental degradation) let’s take Dubai as a destination. In this context, we will particularly look at the destination not economically but ecologically and naturally specifically.http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5CEJ5GGFrNM6u6mXLPX17O856OyMIPO_xUPmcR5o89jjkxOXh

Infrastructure of Dubai

The Dubai government Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) is the main organisation for the promotion and development of tourism in the emirate. The department has taken over the licensing of hotels, hotel apartments, tour operators, tourist transport companies and travel agents. It has a supervisory role covering all tourists, archaeological and heritage sites, tourism conferences and exhibitions, the operation of tourism information services and the licensing and organisation of tour guides. The government provides on-going development to the infrastructure, and the recent opening of the port Rashid cruise line terminal is just one of a series of innovation aimed at widening the total tourism product base within Dubai. It is hoped that this terminal will do for cruising what the opening of Dubai Duty Free did for air traffic arrivals. The government has a direct stake in the tourism sector through the development and ownership of a number of the major hotels as well as spectacular theme parks such as Wild Wadi. This investment is not just a matter of expenditure: it is clearly demonstrating that quality must be paramount. http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQQeds-zs-P2La2ChQp9qvZfpxcvmC8cse3NVJcGeUGbl_Vhtsb

The DTCM had set an aggressive target of attracting 15 million tourists by the year 2010, which they have achieved. Projections for the immediate future are summarised in the following figure.

Targets for Dubai’s tourism future

Year

Dubai hotel guests (Millions)

Dubai hotel beds (Thousands)

2003

5.24

39.8

2004

6.08

48.2

2005

7.06

55.9

2006

8.19

64.8

2007

9.49

75.2

2008

11.01

87.2

2009

12.78

101.2

2010

15.00

117.3

2011

18.24

122.7

Such targets are not over-ambitious for DTCM. Expatriates and foreign visitors can enjoy a relaxed and pleasant life style in Dubai. There is virtually no crime, apartments and villas are modern and spacious, and the climate greatly appeals to those who enjoy warm weather. There are many clubs and societies in Dubai. Freedom of worship is allowed for all religions. Foreign newspapers, magazines, films and videos are all available. Alcohol may be consumed in hotels and in licensed club premises. Women can drive and move about unaccompanied. In 2002, free hold ownership for UAE nationals as well as expatriates in certain select property developments was introduced in Dubai and 25 years mortgage loans become available. Initially focus was centred on the Palm, Dubai Marina, and other developments of Emmar properties but after the completion of these projects new man made wonders are forthcoming. The potential for visiting friends and relatives will thus be substantially increased.

The Palm had already been described as the “8th wonder of the world” and was the sort of project that some say could only have taken place in Dubai. It consists of two massive, artificial islands: the Palm Jumeirah and the Palm Jebal Ali. Each island is being built in the shape of a palm tree consisting of a crown of 17 fronds, a trunk and a surrounding crescent island, the back of which forms a protective break water. Each island is approximately six kilometres long and 5.5 kilometres. Together they will add nearly 120 kilometres of much sought-after coast line to Dubai.

Approximately 3000 homes and at least 40 luxury hotels have been built on each island, capable of birthing a total of 400 yachts. The Palm is just one of several Nakheel residential projects: others include the World, Jumeirah Islands, Jumeirah Lake Towers and the Gardens.

Dubai will continue to improve the destination’s infrastructure, and the following are just some of the developments that are either already planned or completed or in actual construction or development to support visitor growth targets:

Hydro polis- the world’s first under water hotel

Dubai airport expansion to handle 70 million passengers by 2016

Dubai Festival City-4 kilometre site along the Creek

Dubai land the region’s biggest tourism project aiming for 200,000 visitors a day- to include five themed leisure areas and the Mall of Arabia, the World’s biggest mall

Extending Dubai Railway project

Burj Dubai the world’s tallest tower

The emirate contained a mix of natural and cultural attractions that formed the basis of a very marketable leisure tourism product. The existing natural attractions included:

Miles of clean un-crowded beaches along the shores of Arabian Gulf http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ00bEjqDhgeTP_RaZMGxiHhDFPdfphroNR6kutwq75Ed-yFtcFFA

A subtropical climate with average temperatures of 18 C in January 33 C in July and annual precipitation of less than 150mm,contributing to a yearlong tourist season

The availability of water sports of all year around in the gulf

Desert dunes for a variety of outdoor activities and leisure pursuits

The Hatta Mountains for Wadi-bashing and other adventurous pursuits

The Al Maha environmental conservation reserve, the base for the re-introduction of the Arabian Oryx.

Dubai is a migratory crossroads in both spring and autumn for many bird species.

The Khor Dubai Wildlife sanctuary is home to one thousand Greater Flamingos.

Dubai also had a strong cultural heritage to exploit for tourism purposes. Important elements of this cultural attractiveness to western visitors include:

The exotic middle eastern atmosphere associated with the hustle and bustle of the Souks and dhow Wharves along Dubai Creeks

The distinctly Middle Eastern architecture of the wind towers , Mosques and palaces

The traditional welcoming and hospitable culture of the Arab world

Mass and sustainable tourism

Mass tourism is the result of advancing in the means of technology especially air, rail and road. The comfortable aircrafts with essential in flight services and many more to offer the passengers have made travelling fun and simple. Since having the foreigners in a country for pleasure or holidays in great numbers have left many negative impacts in the past therefore the need of the sustainability was felt. In past, mass tourism has threatened the destinations with cultural, environmental, social, religious and economical impacts therefore; the urge to develop the tourism sector became necessary for tourist boards and governing bodies. This led to sustainable tourism. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQvy1JvgM6QidDTw6dR41a7XNKXd04pE2Z2VQ3VAkZ8_sfiHRJB

Sustainable tourist activity, on the contrary, encompasses being sensitive to the cultural, religious and environmental and social aspects of a particular destination, aiding the environment and fostering the local economic growth through travel and tourism activities. Sustainable tourism surrounds the ideals of protecting and not disturbing the natural resources and maintaining the good relationship with the host population.

Going back to the example of Dubai as a destination, in past due to the weather, gold, tax free country, and Dubai airport facilities and duty free, safaris, luxurious accommodation etc., the destination has confronted with the mass tourism. Traffic, noise pollution, litter pollution, fights with the local community and crimes made the authorities alert and minimize the negative effects of the tourism despite of its economical advantages. DTCM the tourist board of strategic planning in the country thus, implemented the plan to restrict the infinite number of tourists. The figure above states that clearly which can only be undergone by a destination that follows sustainable tourism policy.

Looking at the marvellous, unique projects of Burj ul Arab, Safari, water sports, Dubai Mall etc. the evidences that a destination may have to support Sustainable tourism. It is obvious that Dubai’s main industry is not Oil but tourism. Even many forthcoming events and projects will keep attracting the tourists from all around the world. Sustainable tourism means to meet the present demands of the tourists without risking the future of the destination which is very apparent in DTCM’s planning. All the resources of the country are well planned and utilized to serve the tourism sector. Eco, Natural, Cultural tourism are the elements that unveils the well management and strategic scenario of the destination.

Acceptance of a Cosmo-Politian lifestyle

Although these natural and cultural assets have clearly contributed to Dubai s success as a destination, it is very important to emphasise that they have been greatly enhanced by ambitious investments in the tourism infrastructure on the part of both public and private sectors. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFfNT_QL9Deu-0yevTkJPQfRCJn0NWYDPdwesha_pGXYawgJOc

Destination Dubai

United Arab Emirate (UAE) comprises seven members: Abu Dhabi, the capital city, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaima and Fujairah. Dubai, with an area of 3885 square kilometres, is a second largest emirate. It is situated on the banks of the Dubai creek, a natural inlet from the Arabian Gulf, which divides the city into Deira District to its north and Bur Dubai to its South, the city ranks as the UAE’s most important port and commercial centre. Along the Arabian Gulf coast there are off shore islands, coral reefs and Sabkha (salt marshes). Stretches of gravel plane and sandy dessert characterise the inland region. To the east, a range of mountains lie close to the Gulf of Oman and forms a back bone through the Mussandam peninsula. The western interior of the country, most of it in Abu Dhabi, consists mainly of desert interspersed with oases.http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSjkF0Jjz6PAvFd4pMa2m1dYkScE5EREigE2N3ZhEvVd4lKQ87t

The emirate embraces a wide variety of scenery in a small area. In a single day, the tourists can experience everything from rugged mountains and owe inspiring sand dunes to sandy beaches and lush green parks from dusty village to luxurious residential districts and from ancient houses with wind towers to ultra modern shopping malls.

Tourism in Dubai

The impressive development, climate, hospitality and world class airport has attracted many tourists around the world to the detention of Dubai. In 1985, the introduction of award winning air line Emirates was established to smooth the transaction of tourists in and out. In 1989, Dubai recorded only 630 thousand visitor arrivals, but number increased drastically to over 8 millions, in 2003, with at least 458 thousand coming from the UK. Dubai has managed to increase its number of visitors by over 1200% in little more than a decade and tourism is now, at 12% of the gross domestic product (GDP), one of the emirates more important and fastest growing sectors of the economy. Dubai significance as a global destination stems from the fact that it can be viewed from two main perspectives. It is not just a simple holiday destination; it is an important commercial, trading and business centre as well. Therefore visitors to Dubai provide examples of the three categories into which tourists are usually divided. They are identified as:http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRbbNqdZ3UbOTAo7IJsw-_Yo4gEPDaxDyBae93cGYOWL2Iu_Pd

Leisure visitors 44%

Business visitors 45%

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) 8%

Not classified 3%

Previously viewed in tourism terms as little more than a duty free stop over, Dubai today has become a highly acclaimed destination offering an outstanding range of facilities and services for both leisure and business travellers.

Its geographical location is 55 degree East, 25 degree North on the Southern shore of Arabian Gulf. It is strategically located at the cross roads of three continents Europe, Asia, Africa- a natural meeting place. Dubai is now a major aviation hub for the Emirates airline and so attracts visitors wanting a stopover.

Natural and eco tourism
Emirates airlineWelcome from our Chairman

Emirates airline chairman promoting greenery

The first Eco flight (see appendix 1) from Dubai to San Francisco known as green flight took off on 18th Jan 2009 indicates the vigilance of the government in terms of its environment. Such an initiative was worked out between EK airline and Airbus Company to promote safe and pure environment. This indicates that the award winning airline is environmental conscious and promotes it product (flying with the carriage) but not on the risk of spreading pollution. It is the best example of eco and natural tourism as EK airline does not want to take any step which can damage the surroundings of the people or harmful natural life animals and plants survive in.

Al Maha desert resort

It is generally accepted amongst most nations that approximately 8 to 10% of their land area should be put aside for the conservation of their indigenous habitats, the function of such a policy is to insure that the nation’s historic environment is permanently retained as part of its heritage that the diversity of fauna and flora within the nation is kept intact as a representative sample of the original habitat. It is intended that such conserved areas can function without disturbance or undue intervention from human elements.http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQcuBM8v_futKEADdvnA8aCImMtCHCk1C6To_1EjsGC71Pii7wBhg

Al Maha is the first eco tourism resort in UAE. Dubai has several environments worthy of conservation within such a frame work. Apart from the dune environment there is also the mountain habitat around Hatta and coasts intertidal strip. Each of these represents a separate, distinct and unique habitat type within Dubai. Each has its own fauna and flora, its own appeal to the visitor and its distinct historic, geological and archaeological merits. Al Maha has been developed with key eco tourism principles under pinning its commercial success. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQjmQD_KzmpEHJbxRIxlembZmQGjNJ5QKOT5jAs5s4HCy6D4aZkRg

The environment is supposed to be free of intrusive disturbances with surroundings; this includes the restriction of all artificial noise from the operation and ambient noise from the resorts surroundings. The restriction of any human structures which impinge on the natural land space confines the development of the resort’s own infrastructure to a minimum land area. The land making up the resort must provide a natural, original and unique environment for the guests, where they feel a part of the conservation process; this allows the guests to feel that their support is directly contributing to the conservation of the area they are experiencing. One of the major contributors to the success of eco tourism resorts worldwide is the fact that the guest enjoys exclusivity. The rate charge is function of the exclusivity enjoyed and paid for by the guest. The undisturbed settings, the personal attention and service standards not achievable in the large public facilities are the basis of high yield eco tourism products. The guest must be assured of privacy, discretion and an unobtrusive environment. The experience must also be meaningful to the visitor, providing aspects which are educational, comfortable and divergent from normal life style-thus assuring the guest the time spent in the resort is an enchantment to his or her quality of life.

The resort must meet the perceptions and expectations of the guests with regard to:

Accommodation

Facilities

Architecture and design

Surroundings

To meet these criteria, Al Maha has adopted traditional historic aspects, with operational requirements, to meet the guest perception and expectation of the desert and Arabian heritage. A portion of land surrounding the core area of the resort has been demarcated for protection, and all activities capable of devaluing the environment are restricted. Isolation has been reinforced by means of the introduction of animal’s proof fencing, which will allow the establishment of indigenous species in viable breeding numbers within free roaming settings. The program has been very successful and guests are now issued with their own fauna and flora checklist guide to record the various species that they have seen. The variety of elements used provides a suitable illustration of how far the desert resort has now developed in terms of conservation:

Grass (Herb, Dune, Basket and Cats Tail)

Shrub ( Broom Bush, Dye Plant and Milkwort)

Herb ( Callous, Palm Lettuce and Arabian Cotton)

Plant (Crimson Wort, Spiny Disk and Dwarf Pea Plant)

Tree (Salam, Ghaf and Sidr)

Mammal (Sand Gazelle, Arabian Hare and Gird)

Reptile (Monitor Lizard, Sand Skink and Sand Snake)

Birds (Common and may be resident or migrant-300 species recorded)

Impacts of natural and eco tourism in Dubai

Unprotected environment of any country in any regard can disturb the economy drastically. The disastrous situation where the government invests most of its resources in tourism sector rather than sports, education, health and other sectors, can lead the destination sudden collapse that causes destruction to the economy as a whole. Ignoring the eco and natural issues in destination planning and promotion will cause the following pitfalls: http://static.amefiles.com/images/news/large/5/77505-Al_Maha_Desert_Resort_Spa.jpg

All the tourists will misuse the resources of the destination and there will be nothing left to offer for next group of tourists next season. For example, beaches of Dubai or safari. It is important that the authorities are well managing such sites so that they are presentable to be offered to other tourists for amusements and relaxations.

The entire infrastructure used to access natural sites like deserts, wild wadi, zoo, Al Maha Desert need to be watched by authorities all times. The expensive bridges, motor ways, services need a lot of investment to be built so their utility should be long lived and must be equally used by locals and tourists safely.

Natural life of Dubai is consisting of desert and likely animals. Their protection is momentous so that they are not endangered or extinct. Hunting such species should not be appreciated at all and in fact some fine must be imposed upon to undergo this pleasure. Tourists might need this notification.

The increasing demand and forecast of tourism is a major threat for the land and other resources (like in Egypt the residents were asked to move their ancestor’s house because the government wants to build a five star hotel to accommodate Tourists in Luxor) in the country. It is due to the planning in future which may lead to lay more buildings to accommodate the tourists by making hotels, services, park or other type of attractions. The demolishing 0f the deserts will affect the habitat of many species and their existence will be affected. http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxax9lvclTZKx5F0YuGvdM-iVZVqT9I94uDlkUKcpL5Jziqhwl-A

Pollution no matter air, dust, litter or noise by tourists will also demonstrate the inability of DTCM (local tourism board) to prevent the destination from negative effects of touristic activities. Especially beaches and deserts if polluted by the tourists will result in developing hatred in host population and conflicts will take place.

Welcoming host population is the biggest element to like a destination. Any naturally or ecologically disruption in the surroundings of the local community will force the government to put a stop to the transition of tourists. This can be done very easily but the damages that have been made to the destination can never be repaired so quickly.

The greater developments in Dubai to promote Tourism is of course utilising the natural resources like mountainous area, land, desert, beaches etc. This never stop development might not leave enough attractions for coming generation to be proud of. The natural treasure of wild life or other animals will become the history. Establishing tourism sector on the risk of losing the real identity of the country should not be the approach of the strategic planners. Sustainability tourism is the answer of all such issues.

Ecotourism became popular in the 1980s as a form of tourism that focused exclusively on wildlife, nature or “exotic” cultures. Some research indicates that such tourism may not in fact benefit these communities–as it might lead to them becoming dependent on the tourist economy, without developing skills that would allow them flexibility in the economy and be more of a long term guarantee./

Recommendation

Tourism sector of Dubai has a lot to offer. Millions of tourists have visited the destination and many more are planning to visit this luxurious, advance, modern destination to enjoy the safari, Wild Wadi and marine life etc.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/dynamic-architecture-dubai.jpg

Due to the Political turmoil in certain parts of the Middle East, is likely to benefit Dubai’s tourism industry and economy. To the extent that Dubai is viewed as an alternative destination to countries such as Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt, it is likely to benefit as some visitors change their travel plans in favor of the emirate.

The collapse of the Hariri government in Lebanon has plunged the country into what is likely to be a prolonged period of political uncertainty in which the threat of violence is ever-present.

Events in Tunisia and Egypt have generated a great deal of negative publicity for the tourism sectors in those countries, and will likely impact bookings and arrivals this year.

Regardless of whether these concerns are justified, the likelihood is that some of the most important tourism destinations in the Middle East are likely to see a fall in visitors in 2011.

Conclusion

From the outgoing account I want to sum up that that Tourism is now the fastest growing sector of Dubai’s economy, contributing about 19% to the Dubai’s GPD in 2005, and 20% as of late 2007. This is made possible by ever – increasing numbers of tourists. About 3.6 million tourists visited Dubai in 2001 and more than six million came in 2005. As of 2007, Dubai’s hotels received about 6.5 million visitors that contributed us$3.5 billion to the local economy.

Dubai is one of the few international destinations to see an increase in visitors over the last year, successfully retaining its position as a world-class tourism and trade hub – as Despite the economic climate, visitors to Dubai reached an all-time high of 11,996,449 in 2010 and even though the pace of growth has slowed.

Having developed a highly desirable and increasingly diversified premium tourism product, Dubai continues to meet the needs of an ever-expanding audience. With so much to offer both leisure, eco, sustainable, natural, and cultural and business visitors, from groundbreaking attractions to world-class hospitality, it is little wonder that Dubai is experiencing such significant growth. Dubai attracts more visitors each year than any Arab country outside of Egypt – and hosts a major shopping festival in the first quarter that traditionally attracts hordes of regional retail visitors.http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSv4NvD-_IwJuoy-AWEL8N5MtjqSOVS1uxzttsqWaNuKEskRWTYZA

In this regard, the dense growth of this sector has never let the strategic planners ignore the environment, local population’s right, natural sightseeing, cultural values and belief etc.

The fast emergence of Dubai on the world tourism map and its spectacular performance is undoubtedly the result of aggressive global marketing and promotional agenda being pursued by the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM).

The department, in co-operation and co-ordination with public and private sector organizations, has been successfully developing the appeal of the destination that offers tourists the opportunity to explore traditional Arabian hospitality along with a contemporary lifestyle. All the attractions are well planned and maintain the ecology and natural resources of Dubai for future tourism and its host population.

Continuing its aggressive marketing and promotional drive in 2010, DTCM has high lighted the strengths and attractions of the emirate’s vibrant tourism industry in 36 overseas travel exhibitions and hosting exclusive road shows and workshops in 10 countries.

Dubai’s tourism product offering has considerably expanded last year and more changes are expected this year. Last year, the global tourism industry too underwent rapid changes due to the global economic downturn, requiring fast-rising destinations like Dubai to adopt strategies to remain at the cutting-edge of the highly-competitive business.

In short, Dubai’s position as the leading tourism destination and commercial hub in the world is very prominent and DTCM’s mission is “to strengthen the Dubai economy through the development of sustainable tourism”.

Appendix 1
Emirates operates worlds longest eco-flight

Sunday 18 January 2009 8:38 AM

The Dubai-based airline Emirates has claimed that the first service to operate on its new route from Dubai to San Francisco was the first ever cross-polar ‘green’ flight and the world’s longest eco-friendly journey.

On December 15th, the airline began operations on the 16-hour, non-stop service that uses a Boeing 777-200 long-range aircraft in what the company has called the “Em-vironment flight”.

To plot the most efficient course for the flight, Emirates has worked with government agencies in Dubai, Russia, the US and Canada.

Other measures that the airline will also employ to maximize the eco-friendly potential of the new route include the use of electrical power while the aircraft is on the ground in Dubai, the minimal use of thrust when landing, and single-engine taxiing to its destination gate at San Francisco airport.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates chairman and chief executive, said: “After months of planning, Emirates’ Em-vironment flight is a best-practice trial of how airlines, governments, manufacturers, technology providers and airports can work together to be as eco-efficient as possible.

“The San Francisco inaugural flight will be a dual milestone of commencing services between two great cities and also demonstrating the best our industry can offer in environmental efficiency.”

Emirates claims that, with some 58 Airbus A380s, A350-XWB and Boeing 777 planes on order (more than any other airline), it will have the world’s ‘greenest’ fleet of wide-bodied aircraft

Appendix 2

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Appendix 3

The Emirates Group’s vision is to be an environmental leader in the aviation and travel industries. Our goal is to make sustainability and eco-efficiency the cornerstones of all group operations, in the air and on the ground.

Aviation is one of the world’s most important contributors to economic and social development – particularly in the developing world. The aviation industry employs over 32 million people worldwide and represents 35% of world trade by value – it contributes US$1.1 trillion per annum to world GDP.

The aviation industry recognises that, although it is only responsible for less than 2%, of global greenhouse gas emissions from human activity, it must be committed to growing sustainably and reducing growth of its emissions. To put this in perspective, shipping accounts for some 4% of human emissions, while ground transport accounts for almost 14% (IPCC, 2004). At current growth rates, aviation is expected to account for only 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Read more about this at www.flyingmatters.org.

Emirates is committed to a global solution for managing the growth in international aviation emissions, through ICAO – the International Civil Aviation Organisation – as mandated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Our customers, staff and regulators are increasingly conscious about the environment and greenhouse gas emissions.

Emirates has committed to environmentally-responsible operations through the Group’s Corporate Environmental Policy (click here to view). This policy is implemented internally through the ‘Emvironment’ programme – which is communicated internally and externally to staff, customers and all stakeholders.

Our focus is becoming an ecologically-efficient organisation – growing our business to be economically sustainable, while using fewer resources and creating less waste and pollution. If we achieve these aims, it benefits our customers, the environment and our business – the triple bottom line.

The Emirates Group’s commitment to eco-efficiency means multi-billion dollar investments in the most modern, eco-efficient technology available- in aircraft, engines and ground equipment – we strive to be leaders in eco-efficiency in our industry and in our region.

We are committed to operating our assets in the most environmentally responsible manner, and in compliance with all applicable environmental regulations and standards.

Emirates firmly support our industry’s four-pillar strategy to reduce emissions, as developed by our industry body – the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Read more about this strategy at www.enviro.aero.

Implementation of this strategy includes the use of new technology throughout our Group; making significant investments in the most modern, low-noise, low emissions aircraft available; encouraging governments to make air navigation more fuel and emission friendly; and reducing the environmental impact of our ground operations.

We are committed to further reductions in fuel consumption and emissions per passenger – our fuel efficiency rates are already 30% lower than the global fleet average.

Other goals include staff education, waste reduction and recycling, lower energy use and greater communication – internally and externally.

Our ‘Emvironment Champions

The recreationists who visit and enjoy the planets protected natural areas cause serious ecological damage to the very lands they enjoy. To maintain ecosystem integrity, park managers must increasingly focus on recreation management as a vital part of their jobs. Managers agree on the importance of pursuing objectives using the least cost mix of tools. To make this choice wisely, the efficacy of various tools in influencing recreationists’ behavior must be assessed.

Natural resource managers often confront the dual objectives of encouraging recreation while simultaneously preserving the ecosystems they manage. Unfortunately, human behavior often degrades natural processes.

To maintain ecosystem integrity, park managers must increasingly focus on recreation management as a vital part of their jobs. The choice of recreation management strategy requires that objectives be delineated and that the efficacy of the many tools at their disposal be evaluated.

Visitor management in parks, wilderness and other protected areas requires information about visitor environment interactions and, particularly, the distribution and flow of visitors in space and time. Such information is usually sketchy and based largely on the verbal reports of visitors.

Many of the world’s natural parks, wilderness areas and other protected areas are established for the dual purposes of ecological preservation and recreational use. Managers of such places must balance visitor use and environmental protection. Regardless of the balance selected, policy development and implementation requires fundamental information about visitors, their needs and wants, the impacts of their visits, and their distribution and flow in space and time.

While well-established protected areas in developed countries often receive large numbers of visitors, newly established ones can struggle to attract them.

This is especially so in some developing countries, where protected areas often depend on tourism income, and the number of visitors may be too low to provide even a small portion of the necessary income to run the park. Therefore strategies to manage the problems of large numbers of visitors in some protected areas often need to be complemented by other strategies designed to attract them to other areas.

Managers have at their disposal a wide array of strategies to manage the impacts of park tourism. Their choice will be determined by any restrictions that legislation or agency policy places upon them, by the efficiency and appropriateness of the management strategy, and the resource implications. The main features of these strategies to control, influence and mitigate visitor impacts are described below.

There are four strategic approaches which can be used to reduce the negative impacts of visitors on protected areas:

1. Managing the supply of tourism or visitor opportunities, e.g. by increasing the space available or the time available to accommodate more use.

2. Managing the demand for visitation, e.g. through restrictions of length of stay, the total numbers, or type of use.

3. Managing the resource capabilities to handle use, e.g. through hardening the site or specific locations, or developing facilities.

4. Managing the impact of use, e.g. reducing the negative impact of use by modifying the type of use, or dispersing or concentrating use.

Literature review:

The requirement of Environment Canada, Parks’ mandate to protect heritage resources and to facilitate visitor use of those resources has not been met in park management plans or operations. Care of the physical, biological, and cultural heritage resources led Parks Canada to develop objective data about natural resources within park boundaries but minimal data about the dimensions and nature of human use. Park planning reflected a protection bias with the result that issues related to the mix of opportunities, activities, services and facilities were not well analyzed or taken seriously. In practical terms, management action in national parks suffered. Facilities were badly located and sometimes too large or too small.

Managing the tension between the resource and the visitor requires that park visitors and their activities be treated seriously. This requirement has led to the development of the Visitor Activity Management Process (VAMP). The advent of VAMP represents a fundamental change in orientation in Parks from a product or supply basis to an outward-looking market-sensitive one.

Traditionally, park agencies have utilized a product orientation to visitor activity planning and management. Park planners and managers, believed ‘their primary task to be providing facilities, services and programs which they consider to be most appropriate, as efficiently as they are able’.’ This approach involves deciding what the public wants and how the park agency can best provide for visitor and local wants.

The resulting facilities, services and programs are offered to the public with the hope that they will be utilized. Ensuing management then becomes operation-orientated, focusing on the facility or resource being offered rather than on the recreation experiences or benefits provided.

Natural resource information is collected through the Natural Resources Management Process and is assessed to identify resource opportunities and constraints. The inclusion of such information in VAMP is important because it helps achieve integration between visitor use and resource protection.

From the recently revised US National Park Service (NPS) Management Policies, provides a strong mandate to guide recreation management decisions in protecting park resources and values at some 375 parks.

This policy guidance recognizes the legitimacy of providing opportunities for public enjoyment of parks. However, the Management Policies also acknowledge that some degree of resource impact is an inevitable consequence of use and direct managers to `ensure that any adverse impacts are the minimum necessary, unavoidable, cannot be further mitigated, and do not constitute impairment or derogation of park resources and values’ (NPS, 2001).

Most protected areas internationally operate under similar mandates. Success in achieving an appropriate balance between recreation provision and resource protection mandates requires professional management of park natural resources and visitor use. Managers must have the ability to assess and find out visitor impacts and determine what their acceptability with respect to park management objectives is.

Objective of the research:

National Park Service lands are administered under dual legal mandates requiring managers to achieve an acceptable balance between resource protection and recreation provision objectives. While some degree of environmental degradation is inevitable, managers are challenged to develop recreation resource management policies that can preserve environmental conditions and processes, while sustaining high quality recreational experiences. Recreation ecology knowledge can assist managers in this challenging task by providing procedures to monitor resource conditions and evaluate the effectiveness of management actions.

Provisions of (physical) facilities in recreational areas often have a double purpose. They offer service to the visitors, but their primary purpose might equally be as management actions with the purpose of limiting impacts on the natural environment.

Research in the outdoor recreation field shows that land managers usually are more sensitive to ecological impacts from recreation than are the visitors.

1. How do the two groups judge the need for facilities?

2. Which management actions are regarded as good or acceptable tools in order to repair or minimize impacts?

3. How we can apply visitors’ management tools to integrate protection and use of national parks and facilities at the same time?

Methodology:

This project will utilize both quantitative and qualitative data collection tools, but is rooted in a qualitative method. It means combination of quantitative and qualitative method but rely on qualitative one.

Data collection will consist of primary data and secondary data. In secondary data collection, using of magazines, books, articles, journals, internet, websites and conference’s papers are common ways and primary data can be gathered by: communication methods and observation methods such as interview and questionnaire.

Expected benefits to the society:

Protected areas provide opportunities for visitors to develop a sense of perspective, to begin to appreciate that the past played an important role in shaping the present, and to understand that what we now hold dear came because others before us made sacrifices, were worried about the future or were simply far-sighted. Parks are thus highly valued for their opportunities for these experiences.

The potential pressures that tourism may place on cultural resources are significant, yet such tourism is highly dependent on maintaining the integrity of the site. National parks and protected areas provide important reserves for biological habitats, ecological processes, pure air, clean water and individual species. These functions serve the important role of providing the security that cultures need for maintenance of natural processes important to the survival of human life. National parks and protected areas provide critical habitats for humans to enjoy, appreciate and learn about natural processes.

A client focal point has turned into extra significant in today’s spirited atmosphere.

Determining client pleasure is an instrument regularly used as well as too encouraged by additional modern edition of the superiority method necessities.

An additional approach of determining the eminence of the tune deliverance is by production utilize of secrecy visitors, compliant personnel who perform as regular clientele although are accurately scrutinize what is obtainable fine in addition to what be able to be enhanced in the overhaul procedure as professed through the client.

The reason of secrecy shopping revising is to assist focal point of the concentration of company administration on client overhaul enhancement by on condition that information on the procedures as well as the eminence of services it is only if.

Mystery shopping revision is able to encompass the uncomplicated truthful surveillance of summits of auction or services spotlight predominantly on signage, hygiene, coming up instance, reply time, profitable signage, the state of tackle in employ, devotion to the company’s principles.

It might also extend as far as making purchase or enquiry, where the evaluator acts as if he or she was an actual or potential customer, on the basis of a simple of more complicated scenario.

Mystery shopping revise engage the utilize of anonymity shoppers who will be qualified along with or succinct to scrutinize familiarity plus determine some client service procedure by performing as a potential client along with legal responsibility of a sequence of prearranged errands to assess analogous as well as reliable method.

Mystery shopping procedures used might comprise, secrecy surveillance, visits, telephone calls, mail or fax, email or website visits.

BRIEFLY DESCRIBE AND CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE USE OF MYSTERY SHOPPERS
MYSTERY SHOPPING

Mystery shopping is very practical in overhaul circumstances, for instance in banks, restaurants, shops, travel agencies, airlines, car dealers etc.

The method mystery shopping is put into practice is somewhat universal:

Unidentified personnel are used as ambiguity visitors

The anonymity visitor is well taught as well as uses a predefined checklist

The mystery visitor act like a standard purchaser

After the visit to the examine summit the checklist is overflowing in as well as an appraisal description is predictable

The valuation descriptions as well as the score on the checklist are used for reaction.

The criticism has to guide to a figure of development issues as well as events.

Generally mystery shopping is used by the souk investigate businesses for the measuring the trade check eminence as well as get together a few of the information concerning the services as well as goods.

These mystery shoppers performs as customary universal consumers however they carry out precise errands similar to: purchasing of the goods, perform in a little method or make questions to the staff as well as subsequent to they write down a exhaustive description as well as present it to the institute.

The performance of mystery shopping has been typical in the commencement of 1940’s for measuring the workers’ truthfulness.

At the same time as the mystery shopping, the tackles like videos, audios as well as feedback forms are the uncomplicated ones’.

Numerous companies determine in the use of the internet which is governed as well as permit the possible mystery shoppers to contribute by utilization of internet.

The general spaces wherever the mystery shoppers leave is to the theaters of movies, banks, dealers of car, health clubs, restaurants, apartments, fast foods, etc.

In UK, mystery shopping is utilized for criticism of the client services which are offered by establishment of restricted as well as the additional businesses whichever are non-profit similar to churches as well as links of accommodation.

USE OF MYSTERY SHOPPERS

Mystery shopping will be utilized for a variety of reasons.

Most of the occasion, the objective is for calculating the excellence of the overhaul liberation to clients.

In these circumstances the mystery guest can be paying attention on the acquiescence to explicit principles, guiding principle or anxiety, or the mystery guest is able to be inculcating to location the excellence of the overhaul on a level.

If a mystery guest is also used to visit not only the own service locations but also locations of competitors, benchmarking becomes a way to judge your own activities against those.

Other uses of mystery shopping are:

Calculating efficiency of programmes

Testing if workers luxury all populace in the similar means, or difficult alongside favoritism.

To believe whether the vendor advocate our produce to a purchaser

Is our product displayed outstandingly or as we identify to our legislative body.

Does our home visiting salesman investigate the potential customer’s needs previous to introduction into a sales terrain or a meticulous model?

Reports build very obvious what is departing incorrect

Training programmes can be enhanced

Development behavior can be paying attention on matters that are significant for the purchaser

Good performance of workers can be satisfied.

An resourceful mode of recognizing employees in necessitate of additional training

A customary summing up of strengths as well as weakness which can be your accomplishment sketch

A way of recognizing trade channels which are under-performing

Because it is the majority cost-effective as well as supple client rapport administration instrument obtainable.

It can be organized rapidly as well as reasonably.

Moreover, it is a supple agenda so as to can be customized as well as squeezed on the soar, charitable the customer admission to incredibly existing marketplace explore devoid of exclusive set up costs

Mystery shopping is additional similar to an X-Ray.

It is a very well, grainy depiction of your commerce investigative and region of highest attention.

One of the immediate benefits of a mystery shopping program is that the client states for all employees to see what the service criteria

It is very helpful in the improvement and enhancement of the business and the good training can be given to the employees or the staff.

IDENTIFY THE BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF USING MYSTERY SHOPPERS.
BENEFITS OF MYSTERY SHOPPERS

Mystery shopping programmes are exclusive as well as intended specially for every customer.

Mystery shopping tune is backed up by gratis examination as well as overhaul assurance so by no means require worrying.

Continuing effectual observing of the client overhaul levels in the association.

Occasions are stick for the association to make sure their principles as well as strategies.

Nurturing surrounded by the stakeholders, there is an accomplishment of the improved sympathetic in the case of awareness.

To get better the purchaser overhaul as well as its procedures, augment the member of staff in staffing plus preservation levels.

Mystery shopping is extremely critical intended for whichever type of industry.

Mystery shopping is an imperative fraction of every industry towards growing its trade as well as client service.

The skilled corporation forever draw patrons a bunch. The majority of the companies seek a lot of habits to get better their overhaul for the patrons.

The administration is given with the information which is used to recompense the presentation as well as stimulate the workers who are standard as well as provide preparation as well as therapy to the workers who all require the enhancements.

Mystery shopping assist in creating improved as well as extended relations with the clientele who are glowing fulfilled.

Owners as well as executive of the industry are making available with the facts which are constructive in circumstances in the places of dispassionate information, tangible as well as enumerated.

For the achievement of client overhaul as well as auctions, association is able to tendency the information intended for the expression.

DRAWBACKS OF MYSTERY SHOPPING

Sometimes mystery shopping is been visional as the intimidating to the workers, in that case workers sight the mystery shoppers as the examination by the administration additional than as a generate for the guidance as well as growth.

Mystery shopping is appraised as a process but not the conclusion.

Any association is supposed to be unbolting to their workers regarding their anonymity shoppers.

Association has to state in feature detail the rationale of production work out as well as also charge crash of the solitude of checking as well as after that rightful the employees’ human rights.

DRAW UPON RELEVANT ACADEMIC JOURNALS AND LITERATURE TO ENHANCE YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE MYSTERY SHOPPER IS USED.

Mystery shopping can be used for the grounding of the antagonism.

The extremely innovative utilize of the mystery shopping is to organize for the exterior antagonism.

To obtain the photograph of the condition of the workers ability for the client overhaul.

It can be used for scrutinizing the antagonism.

The strengths as well as weakness can be recognized through the anonymity customers.

Mystery shoppers’ intelligence can be used as the additional method for arranging for the rivalry by observance an eye lying on the marketplace.

This thought is been used frequently by bankers, garments retailers as well as superstores.

The additional purpose of the vagueness shopping is to be acquainted with the high-quality workers as well as gratifying them.

Giving emphasis to the exceptional client services would keep the customer faithfulness very important to allow the customer for investment its high-quality clientele.

The workers who all sense the worth in addition to be documented resolve get ahead of their approaches which are high-quality to their clientele.

The customer knows that a quantity of his workers valor be recruited by the rivalry as well as he required to build sure they know that he respected their hard work on the provisions behalf.

The agenda of gratitude is an ever more motive of widespread for carrying out standard ambiguity shops.

In general workers are reserved on the toes of the obscurity shopper to create them believe so as to any customer may be a secrecy shopper.

If any member of staff is documented by the secrecy shopper as the most excellent member of staff, they are satisfied in various ways as well as the goals are been talented.

Gratitude is been specified to the workers who are well familiar by the mystery shopper in the appearance of money or parking gap or any thing also.

Normally the standard member of staff is specified the encouragement.

Customer service assessments are stated in the appearance of the additional benefit.

One of the mystery shopping is to calculate the preparation; the mainly customary is to how much the member of staff is required the preparation to accomplish.

The first way is so as to the anonymity shoppers are send to assess the purchaser overhaul plane.

In the chapter of two, assessment will be analyzed as well as expansion of the training agenda in favor of the workers is carrying out.

The third phase, the secrecy shoppers will revisit for the assessment of the client overhaul position guidance.

By this the association can determine the efficiency of the agenda of the instruction everywhere the training has in use the assessment will be prepared there.

CITE AND ANALYSE CURRENT EXAMPLES OF THE MYSTERY SHOPPER FROM WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Industries: Hospitality and Lodging

The extensively business which is varied, the accommodation as well as generosity business will not only create up of resorts as well as hotels, as well as casinos plus sail appearances.

Mystery shopping assists in provided that utmost awareness of the visitors, obedience of authoritarian, anticipation of defeat, security as well as physical condition as well as the demonstration of product which in turn will make the most of proceeds as well as earnings.

The visitors are primary prioritized along with to make sure genuine purchaser overhaul knowledge as well as reliable, mystery shopping is indispensable.

As a foremost obscurity shopping contributor, the cleverness overhauls appreciate the entire prospects which are positioned on the employees along with how it honestly pressures the estimations of visitors.

There are healthy smoothed as well as high-quality programmes

The primarily approaches the client overhaul wherever the aptitude overhaul the mystery shoppers will recognize so as to the generosity as well as the overhaul are the supreme of building their visitors not still take pleasure in other than also they approach back in the prospect as well as speak high-quality concerning their practices.

The intelligences will assess the commerce as of the proviso summit to plow prove out.

Will make sure all the belongings similar to, if the manager of the corollary was well-organized as well as how the employees are salutation fine or cheery well or not as well as if the grievances are concentrated polity along with tenderly or not.

In each generosity industry hygiene is an indispensable principle.

Exceeds as well as the hygiene be supposed to be meet on occasion or else visitors will by no means go back to the business yet again.

Frequently visitors are expecting the spotless, contented surroundings to carry on their hang about.

The mystery shoppers resolve assess the bistro, all visitor accommodation, health resort amenities as well as the community regions.

The protection as well as sanctuary is obligatory whether the visitors are conscious of the requirements or not.

The aptitude as well demeanor the observance location which is camouflaged along with exposed demeanors, elevators, fire exits, stairwells as well as fire extinguishers be obtainable otherwise not.

Furthermore, they moreover appraise the hotels bistro as well as the kitchens intended for the rationale of sanitation, food storage space, hygiene as well as processes of managing.

Every one of these assessments is support on the conformity of the employees’ members with their association measures as well as guiding principle based on their safety measures, preclusion of thrashing, and safety all the way through the possessions.

Trade name symbol is extremely obligatory of whichever big hospitality industry.

Astuteness overhaul will be modified from side to side an assessment agenda by provided that the investigative statistics to make sure for so as to every reliability which are desirable by the brand name principles.

Inscrutability purchaser of the bistro will principally spotlight on the consequence of the visitors wherever the valuation of the workers will exist fretful.

Immense overhaul as well as the enormous foodstuff of an attractive which is measured by the visitors as well as keep in mind to stay yet again.

IDENTITY AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENTS USING THIS QUALITY CONTROL TOOL

Notify the workers concerning the agenda in proceed as well as get the contribution on survey which the customers will be utilizing.

The agenda of the secrecy shopping resolve job improved if it is not like secrecy mostly for the staff, inform them in advance as well as let them be acquainted with what is predictable as of them.

Forever put into practice the declarations as well as agenda are supposed to be endorsed in optimistic method.

Ought to construct in no doubt to the mystery shoppers be recognizable by means of the information compilation, coverage, examination as well as regarding the propose to supply.

Reflect concerning the managerial goals as well as objectives along with after that put the feedback form.

The entire problems are supposed to be surrounded in so as to the anonymity shoppers can insert amplification by means of on the whole explanation.

Put into practice the modifications which are effectual in performance as well as split the consequences through the group.

For eternity, recompense the presentations which are high-quality. It augments the attention in the profession.

Make it a large agreement whilst the anonymity shopper discovers a person’s name of welcoming worker or the obliging member of staff.

The entire design of the players is to construct the workers do the effects accurate.

Mystery shopping intended for any big business it is an essential obsession.

Mystery shopping is the momentous obsession to get better the industry as well as attractive it as well as for verdict the souk.

Which ever corporation is capable will be fast in the most favorable numeral of clientele.

Numerous companies will be annoying to get better their industry by the purchaser overhaul.

Companies will go elsewhere in addition to discover the disadvantages wherever they are deceitful.

A number of the administrators will do the furtively as well as a number of others will employ the populace to do the job.

One of the best ways to augment the rapport by means of clientele is the inexplicable shopping.

When employing the secrecy shopper, forever choose for the knowledgeable one or supposed individual.

To assess the expanse you have completed what are the consequences as well as for which you seem for.

The ambiguity shoppers’ most important purpose is to go to amass as well as has distress in cavernous which have complete the encumbrance in expansion of the superstore.

Myanmar is situated in the crossroad of China and India which are the world great civilizations. It is the largest country in South East Asia, which is rich in natural wildlife and cultural resources. 60% of the country is covered by rivers and the Ayeyarwady river is the life-blood of the country. The horseshoe-shaped mountain complex is the dominant the geographic features of Myanmar. Hkakabo Razi ,5881 meters height, is the highest peak in Southeast Asia. The population is over 60 million, and has eight major ethnic groups; more than 10 minorities’ ethnicity in each group. As Myanmar is home to various ethnic groups, the differences and colourful cultural, traditional way of life, festivals are very fantasizing. Myanmar is steeped in history and the legacy of various kingdoms. There are unique archaeological sites, ancient cultural edifices and traditional arts and crafts. So it is obvious that Myanmar has great tourist potential and attractions in many fields. But Myanmar tourism industry remains nevertheless a growing sector of the economy, compared to neighbouring countries.

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http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/mizoram/

1. Socio-Economic background

Since 1962, Myanmar had been isolated nation, and all economic industries including tourism sector became state-owned. The visa validity was reduced to 24 hours, as a result, the tourism industry become shrink quickly. In 1990, the new military government came and the tourism market was authorized to open, foreign investments were allowed. In 1996, “Visit Myanmar Year” was introduced, officially opened the doors to tourists. The Leader of the Burmese Democracy Movement, 1991 Noble Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Su Kyi against the “Visit Myanmar Year” campaign and called upon foreign nations not to come Myanmar; arguing that tourism legitimizes the dictatorship in place and asking tourists to wait until the situation improves. During two decades, it hasn’t developed as expected although the government tries to develop as one of the economic priorities .This is explained by several factors,

1.1Foreign Currencies exchange rate

In the past, foreign revenue and currency from tourism industries were not effective in GDP and to the population, only profits to the Generals as they are siphoned off by the military. There are two exchange rate; official rate of $1=6kyats (local currency) and the real rate of exchange of around $1=1000kyats which is more than 150 times. Therefore, for every 100 dollars paid to the country’s authorities, only 600 kyats contributed to the national budget, while the actual amount collected by the top is 100,000kyats. Moreover, the Myanmar population was not allowed to possess foreign currency.

The development of infrastructure did not generate employment to the population due to the use of forced labour. Although it should have been a considerable employment reservoir for the population, it turned to burden for Myanmar citizens. Finally, the economic benefits serve the military monopoly and support the reinforcement of the dictatorship rather than to the Myanmar citizens.

1.2 Civil War

In Myanmar, there are limited tourist accesses to some areas of the country because of on-going conflicts with various ethnic minorities. The political situation was not stable and reliable security could not be provided in those areas where the most attraction places such as Kachin State and Chin State have. Mount Hkakabo Razi, the highest mountain, in Kachin State, RI (Heart) Lake in Chin State and some beautiful places are unaware by tourism industry.

1.3 Transportation and Communication Barriers

In Myanmar, airway, railway, motorway and waterway are available. Although railway service is the common transportation, the technical condition remains poor. Motorway is also the main route in major cities, but the roads are in poor condition and cannot be passable during the rainy season. The common public transportation; trishaw and taxi, commuting buses are not reliable and effective except from Yangon. To some tourist destination such as Kachin State, only flight can be available. The number of flights is inadequate and most are unreliable. There are 69 airports the whole country, only 11 of them had runways over 10,000 feet (3248 meters). Of the 11 airports, adequate facilities are not provided expect from Yangon International Airport and Mandalay International Airport. These barriers make delay the development of tourism industries.

Insufficient communication facilities make slow down the tourism development. The communication sector has been monopolised by the government, Myanmar Post and Telecommunication (MPT) since 1962. By 2011, a fixed-line telephone service cannot be arranged in most villages. As said by the ITU, the official waiting list for telephone service stood at 100,000 by 2002 and had increased to 250,000 by 2009.Myanmar’s mobile market has grown since four years,1.2 million mobile subscribers has been on Myanmar’s mobile market .But still early 2012 ,only 1.2 million mobile entered less than 3%. Mobile phone can be accessible only in some major cities. Moreover, Internet connection is slow and erratic.

Another reason was that accommodations are not sufficiently provided. In the whole country, the number of hotels is 25,000 rooms of all classes in 730 hotels and guest houses.

2. The current situation

Political reforms initiated since November, 2010, President U Thein Sein came to power and Myanmar Democracy icon, Daw Aung San Su Kyi was released from home arrested. The subsequent easing of international trade sanctions has seen the country become the new tourism hotspot. Furthermore, the relationship between international has been improved significantly, especially the visit of US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Starting from October, visa-on-arrival was allowed by the Ministry of Immigration at Mandalay and Naypyidaw airport. (According to Irrawaddy news). A new airline, Etihad is planning routes into Myanmar’s big cities while existing airlines such as Thai Airways is increasing their service.Domestic airline MAI will start flying to Hong Kong, Seoul and Laos from Oct1, 2012. After the political changes, Myanmar officially welcomed 391,000 international visitors which are almost 26 percent more than the previous year. But most of them are business persons and cross-border visitors.C:UsersPhyumar LwinDesktopDownloadr620-1a412a958d03694f2d28f85d241c4167.jpg

The government made ceasefire agreements with SSA (South State Army), the Chin National Front, the Karen National Union. Tour package are allowed to some prohibited areas.

3. The socio-economic changes by Tourism-Industries

Tourism is a process which can significantly effect on socio-economic changes of the country. The level of impact can vary on various aspects. Since it brings economic development; increase foreign exchange, generating more job opportunities, reduction in migration of labour out of development area, cultural heritage and traditional ways of life are not alive anymore. Some obvious positive effects on the local community and economic are foreign income can be contributed to gross domestic product of the nation.

3.1 Employment opportunities

Developing tourism-industries can promote job vacancy in the blossoming hotels and other related service industries. It includes both direct and indirect employment as it is cover up all sectors (transportation, manufacturing, accommodation and service industries).The direct contribution of tourism industry to GDP in 2011 was MMK 615.5bn (1.4% of GDP.(See Appendix3) Local people can be employed in hotel zones and constructing infrastructure, personal income can be increased as a result of improvement of tourism initiatives based by community. In 2011, the percentage of foreign income by tourism in employment was 1.1% of total employment (299,000 jobs). This is forecast to grow by 2.9% in 2012 to 308,000. Indirect employments are also developed in numerous sectors such as transportation, local manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade including local restraunts. This can be one of the effective solutions to Myanmar’s unemployment problem and labour migration. Visitor exports are a key component of the direct contribution of Travel and Tourism with MMK92.3bn in 2011. This is expected to grow by 5.2% in 2012. (WTTC report)

3.2 Local Quality and Sense of Place

It is obvious that tourism industries would be a short pathway to make the transformation from a traditional way of life to modern life style by developing infrastructure. In Myanmar, most of the cities are not well- developed expect most crowded cities like Yangon, Mandalay. Moreover, diversity of ethnic groups and different traditional cultures are being preserved in order to keep tourist interest. It can also promote a chance to tourists and Myanmar alike to develop the awareness and appreciation the richness of Myanmar’s history and culture, traditional festivals. As a consequence, Myanmar handicrafts such as Lacquer Ware, Jade, painting, Tapestry, etc. can be widening.

Conclusion

For many decades, Myanmar tourism industry has been isolated and outpaced by neighbouring countries. After the changes of political situation, it led to highly positive effect on this sector. It might be the advantage for Myanmar to avoid the mistakes done by neighbouring countries. Tourism which can benefit both for local and tourists such as ecotourism, cultural tourism, volunteer tourism and natural tourism can be promoted and built economic in a sustainable way. Moreover, it can bring both positive and negative effects to the local quality. In order to decrease the negative effects on local society, these following points can be done (Fennell 1999).

Local people should involve in the tourism industry as employees.

The organization should cooperate with the local businesses.

Volunteer tourism, ecotourism, and cultural tourism should be developed.

Local products should be more promoted.

Travel and tourism is expected to perform well over the forecast period. In the future, there is expected to be privatization in travel and tourism, less military involvement, positive momentum to tourism sector in Myanmar.

Ladakh is a land with extraordinary charm. Surrounded by two of the world’s most fascinating mountain ranges, the great Himalayas and the Karakoram, this destination of India is endowed with captivating geographical features.

Some of the best places in Ladakh are:

Leh: Leh, the crown of Ladakh, is a famous city known for its mind blowing attractions. The snow-capped mountains, the charming river and the beautiful valleys, all combine to make this tourist destination a big hit with tourists. This land has been the center of Tibeto-Buddhist culture for ages. It is one of the best places for mountaineering. The Leh Palace and the beautiful Gompas are striking attractions.

Alchi: It is a legendary Himalayan beauty located on the banks of river Indus. Having rich cultural heritage, it is a small village famous for one of the oldest monasteries of Ladakh, Alchi Monastery. Built in the 11th century, the monastery is decorated with beautiful murals and frescoes.

Lamayuru: Enveloped in natural beauty, this small village is proud of its arresting Gompas. Surrounded by the huge mountains, the village is a home to the beautiful Kagyupa monastery, which is one of the largest and oldest monasteries in Ladakh.

Kargil: Kargil is the second largest urban centre of Ladakh. The town lies nestling along the rising hillside of the lower Suru basin. Two tributaries of the Suru River that meet here are the Drass and Wakha. The land available along the narrow valley and the rising hillsides are intensely cultivated which grow variety of vegetables and cereals. Kargil is also famous for fine apricots grown here. Kargil serves as an ideal base station for adventure activities like trekking, mountaineering, camping, river rafting, etc.

Drass: Drass has beautiful pasture grounds and is the second coldest inhabited place in the world, where the temperature goes as low as -50 in winter. Drass has become famous in recent years because of Pakistan’s misadventure in the Tiger hill. One can have a lovely view of Tiger hill from Drass village.

Zanskar: Zangskar is the most isolated of all the trans- Himalayan valleys. Zangskar comprises of two main valleys of Stod and Lunak, which converge below at Padum. The area remains inaccessible for nearly 7 months in the year due to snowfall and this makes this valley one of the coldest inhabited lands in the world. All the high passes are close in the winter and the river freezes on the surface. Zanskaris walk along the Frozon River called ChadarTrek to reach the Indus River. The route from Kargil to Padum via Penzi La is the only motorable road to reach Zanskar valley, which remains open from June to September.

Padum: Once the capital of the Zangskar valley, today Padum is the administrative headquarters of the region and probably the most populous settlement of Zanskar. Stakrimo Gonpa is on a hill side and the 10th century monument carved on a huge rock near the river bank, provides epigraphic evidence that the region was influenced by Buddhism since ancient period.

Nubra Valley: The Nubra Valley means ‘the valley of flowers’. The altitude of the valley is about 10,000 ft. above the sea level. The pleasant weather and natural beauty make this place a popular tourist destination. The main attraction in this area is Bactarian Camels around sand dunes, Deskit & Samstanling monasteries. Khardung la Pass, and Camel Safari.

Pangong Lake: What strikes the eye in coming first in view of this lake is the lovely colour of its water, especially towards evening, which is of the richest deep blue. The water of the Lake is not that as salty as sea water. The landscape on the way to Pangong is spectacular.

Dhahanu-The land of Aryans: Dhahanu is situated to the south west of Leh, around 163 Kms. Being on lower altitude Dhahanu is warmer than Leh. The main attraction of this tour is Drokpa Community considered being as the last race of Aryans confined to the valley. Their feature is pure Indo Aryan and they have preserved their racial purity down the centuries. Their culture and religious practices are very similar to ancient pre- Buddhist religion known as Bon-Chos.

So, find for yourself why Ladakh is one of the most gifted places in the world.

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway has always been a project of high priority for the Maharashtra State Government. The traffic on the Mumbai-Pune section of National Highway 4 is expected to increase drastically. The distance between the two cities is some 180 km and it takes about five hours to cover it under good traffic conditions. However increasingly, and during the monsoon, traffic on the Mumbai-Pune road is very high and frequent accidents block the narrow and winding curves of the two lane highway. Landslides in the region are very frequent due to the monsoon rains. The resulting delays and traffic blockages turn a 5-hour journey to one that would involve anywhere between 10 to 15 hours. (Sulakshana Mahajan, 2002)

The Government of Maharashtra had been newly elected in 1995 and they were very keen on the early completion of the Mumbai Pune Expressway, as there was prestige value attached to it. It was decided in July 1996 to implement the project as a BOT(Build-Operate-Transfer) project and tenders were prepared appropriately, for which only one bid was received from Reliance India Limited which was rejected as it was double the government budget. In turn the project was awarded to MSRDC. (IITK Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2007)

Feasibility Study:

In 1990, the Government of Maharashtra appointed RITES and Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick of United Kingdom to carry out the feasibility study and they submitted the report with the estimated cost of 240 million USD. The Government then handed over the project to MSRDC in March 1997 on a Build Operate and Transfer basis (BOT) with permission to collect tolls for a period of 30 years. The Government of India received the clearance from the Ministry of Forests and Environment in November 1997. In order to prepare detailed estimates, designs and bid documents the work was divided into eight phases and each phase was under the supervision of renowned international consultants. (IITK Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2007)

Features:

· The Mumbai Pune Expressway also known as the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway is India’s first six lane high speed access controlled tolled expressway.

· Spanning a distance of 93kms it connects Mumbai, the financial capital of India and Pune, the neighboring industrial hub city.

· The project cost 350 million USD to construct and was completed under the guidance of MSRDC in a time period of 24 months.

* The expressway has four lane wide tunnels at five locations with a total length of 5724m.
* There are separate tunnels for traffic in each direction and these tunnels are provided with modern facilities for ventilation, lighting and fire fighting vehicles.
* This work was entrusted to the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd on 8 December 1997.
Benefits of the Expressway:

Many aspects of the Expressway make it an engineering marvel.

* No signals along the 93km route and no blind curves.
* Reduction in accidents.
* Reduction in travel time.
* Saving of fuel consumption.
* Faster crossing of the Khandala Ghat.
* Reduction in pollution.
Issues faced in building the Highway:

· The mountainous terrain around the area, posed a huge threat in building the Expressway.

· As five tunnels had to be constructed, there was a lot of difficulty in drilling through the mountains as the rock was extremely hard.

· Around 500 trees which got in the way of the construction had to be uprooted and transplanted into pits dug at other locations.

· Vast areas of rich, fertile land had to be cleared into farmlands in interior areas.

· Difficulty in accessing the work areas to supply raw materials.

· Nature of soil in the area caused problems in building roads, due to which concrete roads had to be built.

* Environmental Concerns:

An Environment Impact Assessment was conducted by RITES and they identified the following concerns:

The construction of the Expressway would impact on the quality of water in the rivers flowing in nearby areas, which were being used for drinking and industrial Purposes. It would also result in loss of forests and rare flora, effect on wild life in the Ghats and lead to landslides in the future.

· The difficulties faced due to rehabilitation of the human settlements.

Reasons for the successful implementation by MSRDC:
Workforce:

MSRDC hired their workforce from Public Works Department and CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra), most of whom had extensive experience in the development of large-scale projects. They also took employees from the revenue department on deputation to help with the land acquisition process. (IITK Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2007)

Appointment of Project Management Consultants:

A Steering Committee was set up in order to recommend different technical standards to be adopted, to prepare geometric standards, and to help MSRDC in deciding upon various provisions of tender documents and related matters. The Steering Committee proposed that Project Management Consultants (PMC) be appointed for preparing and ensuring consistency in design standards, cost estimates and tender documents, and to supervise the construction work as and when it began. In addition it was also though that if the technical aspects of the projects were taken care of by PMC’s, then MSRDC could concentrate on the task of coordinating the various administrative requirements such as getting clearances, raising finances etc.

Committees were to be formed to perform each of the tasks by drawing personnel from each of the PMC’s to ensure consistency. Since the most important skill for a PMC was considered to be Technical Skill, the selection criteria were such that 75% importance was assigned to the technical bid and 25% to the financial bid. Another condition was imposed that 1 PMC will work on only 1 section of the Expressway to avoid excess load on a PMC. (IITK Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2007)

Facilities given by MSRDC to Consultants and Contractors:

MSRDC and the Government of Maharashtra provided several facilities to contractors and consultants in order to ensure quick and efficient working. The expenditure on these services helped reduce production costs by 8-10% as a result of speedy completion of work. Some of the facilities given were like:

* Project Management Consultants had their own site offices set up with standard equipment like Xerox, telephone, printer provided at MSRDC’s expense.
* Increase in the price of steel, bitumen and cement will be absorbed by MSRDC.
* Custom duty is to be reimbursed for import of new machinery.
* Land provided for site facilities was given to the contractor free of cost.
* As the stretch of construction was 93 kms, MSRDC prompted oil companies to set up petrol pumps.
* MSRDC took the responsibility to divert all utility services like telephone cables, water pipelines and electrical lines coming in the construction stretch.
Litigation:

MSRDC adopted a very proactive stand towards litigation right from the start and they appointed a panel of experts for handling cases. They also made sure they responded to court orders in very less time which helped reduce the delays in re-seeking appropriate dates. (IITK Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, 2007)

References:
Roadtraffic-technology.com. (2009) Mumbai-Pune Expressway, India. Available from: http://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/projects/mumbai/ [Accessed: 11/12/2009]

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd. (2007) MSRDC – Project – Mumbai Pune Expressway. Available from: http://www.msrdc.org/Projects/Mumbai_Pune_Expr.aspx [Accessed: 11/12/2009]

Wikipedia (2009) Mumbai Pune Expressway. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai-Pune_Expressway [Accessed: 11/12/2009]

ExpressIndia (2000) The Mumbai-Pune expressway. Available from: http://www.expressindia.com/news/fe/daily/20000730/fec30031.html [Accessed: 11/12/2009]

Dandekar/Mahajan EPW Paper (2001) MSRDC and The Mumbai-Pune Expressway: A Sustainable Model for Privatizing Construction of Physical Infrastructure? Available from: http://sdmahajan.tripod.com/epw_paper.pdf [Accessed: 11/12/2009]

The two types of survey taken into consideration were a mail survey and an e-survey. The former is reported to be the most effective method of surveying a membership organisation (Veal 1997). This delivery method was not undertaken though, due to the cost of printing 360 questionnaires and the accompanying letters, as well as purchase of envelopes and stamps. These expenses would increase substantially if reminders were to be sent.

Therefore, it was decided that an e-survey would be employed.

The advantages of an e-questionnaire included low cost of conducting the survey and the possibility of instant analysis of the collected data (Veal 1997). An additional benefit was the possibility of designing a visually attractive questionnaire. Furthermore, online surveys were selected as they are eco-friendly, owing to the non-use of paper (Survey Monkey 2007), an approach reflecting the basic principles of the Forestry Commission, the administrator of the locations which are a focus of this study. An e-survey is also more advantageous for the respondents as they are allowed to take their time to answer the questions. At the same time, completing a survey online is quicker in comparison with filling out a postal survey (Survey Monkey 2007).

The biggest disadvantage can be the general perception of some e-surveys as part of the increasing volume of ‘junk e-mail’, which might play a role in response rates (Veal 1997). The spam and personal data protection concerns were addressed by selecting a legitimate and reputable organisation (IMBA U.K.) to distribute the e-questionnaire. Another disadvantage of a web-based survey, just like a postal one, is its limited administration, which can negatively affect the response rate (Survey Monkey 2007). Further drawbacks of using a web-based survey include technical faults and multiple submissions by the same respondent. Although it was impossible to prevent the former issue, the latter was solved by the use of a tool allowing only one response per computer.

2.3. Survey instrument

A two-page, self-administered fully electronic questionnaire was designed using an online survey tool surveymonkey.com. The questionnaire design process offered by Veal (1997) was adopted in the present work. Firstly, literature review was conducted to identify conceptual problems and research questions. Secondly, a list of information required to address the issues as created. Thirdly, questionnaire was selected as a method which would meet the information requirements. The questionnaires used by Green (2003) in a survey on IMBA U.S. members, as well as a study by Cessford (1995) on New Zealand mountain bikers served as a blueprint in the questionnaire design process. The factors examined in the questionnaire can be divided into five groups corresponding to the research objectives:

1. mountain bikers general characteristics (type of mountain biking participated in, level of advancement, frequency of participation);

2. mountain bikers’ demographic and socio-economic characteristics (age, gender, household size, education, occupation and income);

3. the Forestry Commission locations used by mountain bikers (identification of the most popular mountain biking centres in Great Britain);

4. travel patterns of mountain bikers and trip-related factors in decision making (importance of promotional channels and of various destination features in destination choice, spend, means of transport and accommodation used, use of tour operators);

5. the importance of adventure components in mountain biking and the motivations of mountain bikers.

The e-questionnaire consisted of 21 questions, 15 of which concerned the respondent’s mountain biking experience, while the remaining 6 their demographics (see Appendix 4). The demographics section was presented on the second page, as inserting all 21 questions on a lengthy single page might discourage respondents from completing the survey. 19 questions were closed, while only 2 open-ended. It was decided that pre-coded questions are a more reasonable option since the questionnaire was respondent-completed and, as reported by Veal (1997), open-ended questions are too time consuming, which can negatively affect response rate. As regards question techniques, 2 kinds of rating scales were employed, namely Likert scale with simple YES/ NO answers, as well as semantic differentials indicating the degree of importance of a particular feature using 5-point scale (1 – not important, 2 – quite important, 3 – important, 4 – very important, 5 – extremely important). These two scales were not only easy to construct and administer, but also respondent friendly. Several questions were checklist or multiple choice type, and only 2 were open-ended, though they did not require descriptive answers. The ordering format was based on Veal (1997), who suggested sequencing questions in the following order: easy, relevant and personal. The questions were kept compact and simplified wherever possible, and clarity of layout was assured by using the online survey tool.

Introductory remarks specifying the purpose of the survey were included on top of the questionnaire, while confidentiality and anonymity were ensured in remarks preceding the demographic section of the questionnaire. In addition, a thank you page was created at the end of the questionnaire. These measures, coupled with the survey participation request posted on IMBA U.K. forum in advance, were employed to maximise response rate. In order to ensure validity of the questionnaire-based data, ‘dummy’ categories were included. In question 4, listing the Forestry Commission managed mountain biking centres, 3 non-existent locations were added – Mammoth (ENG), Gutter Valley (SCO) and Badger Trail (WAL). In question 8, the same feature was repeated twice under different wording (‘Strong mtb community/ culture’ and ‘Strong mountain biking community/ culture’). This approach is suggested by Veal (1997) as a tool of measuring the degree of error in responses.

In the pre-testing stage of the questionnaire design, a 21-question draft was e-mailed to 10 members of IMBA UK forum who had earlier declared that they would be interested in completing it. The purpose of the pre-test was to determine whether the instructions and questions were interpreted in a manner which had been intended (Finn et al. 2000). Specifically, wording, sequencing and layout of the questionnaire were to be tested (Veal 1997). Most of those who replied described it as “easy to complete and not time consuming”. Nevertheless, problems in two questions were indicated. Firstly, extending the list of Scottish mountain biking sites in question 4 was suggested. Upon reviewing the Internet sources, a total of 8 sites were added to the list. Secondly, it was signalled that question 13 asking about an approximate spend per trip was not precise enough. This issue was addressed by specifying the areas of spending that the respondents should consider (travel, food, drink, accommodation).

Event spectators are the main key area for the success of event. The 2012 London Olympics will be the major sporting event in country in the next two years. The strategies of encouraging the event spectators have been put on and try by the government. According to Woodward (1990) notes that without visitors support many leisure developments are simply not viable. There are some studies have been carried out by academic including Zyl and Botha (2004) states it is crucial to understand what motivates people to attend and participate in the event.

This piece of research proposal will be focus on the factors that encourage or discourage potential spectators from attending the major sporting events. There have been some research studies about the event attendees but this research purposely designed for young adults in the age of 18-25 years old. Other than that, it includes also the attraction part of the event toward the spectators and drivers that limited or encourages the factors on attending the event especially on age 18-25years old potential attendees. Recommendations can be made throughout the research for better improvement. Therefore it is an extending area of research.

The purpose of this study is to concentrate on the motivation of attending major sporting events for young adults (18-25 years old). It is important for event organizer to understand their spectators especially in the age of 18-25 years old. According to an expert author Sihera states (2007) “This period is closely allied to the future, with the acknowledgement that a lot of life is yet to be lived”. It means that a supreme event experience could inspire the young adults that attend have the aspiration in the future. By enhancing their life experience on the major sporting events could leads them to another level on participate event in the future as well to explore their potential to become the main resources of certain event.

1.3 Aim and objectives

Aim: To critically investigate the drivers and barriers for young adults (18-25 years old) to attend the London Olympic Games in 2012 as spectators.

Objectives:

Identify and analyse the factors that encourage or discourage potential spectators from attending major sporting events.

To critically analyse the 2012 London Olympics and its appeal or lack of appeal, to spectators.

To identify and analyse the drivers, motivations and barriers constraints that either encourage or discourage young adults aged 18-25 to attend the London Olympic Games in 2012 as spectators.

2. Literature Review

In order to achieve the aim and objectives delineated in the introduction. Previous similar studies are useful to be the literature. Research conducted by Dodd et al (2006) stated there are wide range of motives that bring people to attend an event. The factors that influenced based on affiliation, escape, dream fulfilment, identity fulfilment, personal growth, and family togetherness. The researcher also identified that other motives could include the opportunities for trying news food and beverage, participating in events, and shopping. Demographic data along with psychographics and lifestyle characteristics usually used to explore motivations. Researcher thought that market segmentation can be based on differentiating motivations, demographic, and event behaviour characteristics (Formica and Uysal, 1996 cited in Dodd et al, 2006).

There are other researchers also reviewed at the similar area. The dimensions of event motivations and selected event and demographic variables according to visitor type, revealing the differences among first time and repeat event attendees examined by Backman (1993) cited in Dodd et al (2006). The researcher has shown that different event attendees types as well as their motivations for attending and level of satisfaction with events. Formica and Uysal (1996) cited in Dodd et al (2006) identified five dimensions of event and festival motivations: excitement and thrills, socialization, entertainment, event novelty, and family togetherness and compared these motivations between residents and non-residents. The results turned out showed those attendees from event region were more toward on the importance of socialization. In the contrary, those attendees from out of region were more motivated by entertainment. The study also revealed that more males and younger attendees were from out of the region.

2.2 Motivation Understanding

To be motivated means to be moved to do something (Ryan and Deci, 2000). A person that stimulus to act or move is considered motivated. According to Kondo (1989) states there are no established and standardized methodology of motivation, which exist for statistical analysis. This is because the human beings whom trying to get motivated are too diverse. Nevertheless, the author also said that many keys to motivation can be discover if not concentrate on differences in people characteristics but on the common human traits that underlie these differences, for example: human nature. Cassidy (2005) notes that theories of motivation applied to understanding sport, leisure, and tourism behaviour are complex due to its intangible nature, issues of multiple motivation theories and questions of measurement and interpretations.

2.3 Host Organisation Appeal

The 2012 Olympic Games will be host majority in Greater London as well as other cities in the country. According to research conducted by Ritchie (1984) states an event with a competitive advantage possesses such significance, in terms of tradition, attractiveness, quality or publicity, that the event provides the host venue, community, or destination. Other than that, the 2012 Olympic Games will be offer as much as British food produce as possible. The food vision (2009) published that a total 14 million meals will be served during the games across 40 locations and all the produce must be British. Dimmock and Tiyce (2001) demonstrates that unique celebrations of the community can shows the traditional culture which is a strong motivator due to the uniqueness of events, visitors appeal who want to encounter an authentic cultural experience, to escape from everyday life, be entertained and socialise can be increase.

The London2012 (official website for London Olympic Games) launched “Sign Up” programmed in March for those spectators who are interested in attending the event. Over one million people have registered their interest in London 2012 Olympic. According to chairman of the London organising committee of the Olympic Games, Coe (2010) states 96% of registrations have come from United Kingdom residents, with 32% of registrations from Greater London; 27% from the south east and 41% from the rest of the United Kingdom. With ?2 billion budget for staging the Olympic games, Coe (2010) states it should come as no surprise that the British public is so enthused by the prospect of world class sport coming to these shores. Olympic tickets go on sale in spring 2011 via an application process. Attendees who have registered would be the first to find out about the process opens in 2011 (London2012, 2010).

2.4 Drivers Encourage

The London 2012 (2009) received planning permission to carry out temporary work at West Ham Station to get it ready for the London 2012 Olympic Games. West Ham is one of the gateway stations to the Olympic Park, along with Stratford Regional and Stratford International Station. Spectators can safely use West Ham Station and avoiding unnecessary congestion. It is an important step toward keeping people moving at this key station in 2012. According to Derrett (2004) states that more leisure pursuits becoming more accessible, there is a greater opportunity to be involved in activities and events either as a participant or a spectator. The author also said that event take place in unique locations with spectacular scenery can be identified by spectator of the event by its location.

3. Methodology

3.2 Deductive Approach

The deductive approach has been chosen to apply in this research. According to Veal (2006) states the deductive approach works from the more general to the more specific and it seen as a scientific way of collecting data. This approach begins with the general and ends with the specific which ideally suited for this research method approach. Deductive approach is concerned with testing theory and takes the existing body of theoretical and empirical knowledge as its primary starting point (Brotherton, 2008).

3.3 Research Instrument

Questionnaires have been chosen to use in this research. The reason of using this research instrument is due to low cost, standardisation of questions and the questions tend to be straightforward (Gillham, 2000). The questionnaires will be separate into three sections. The first section of questionnaires will be asking the general information of participants, for example age, gender, and region; the second section will be more specific on participant’s motivation of attending the London 2012 Olympic Games, for example entertainment, opportunity, escaping from day and etc; the last section will be gather the information of factor that constraints participants to attend the London 2012 Olympic Games as spectator for example lack of time, financial issues, transportation issues and etc.. All the questions will be quantitative only because the data is more statistical and concentrate on numbers of participants (Veal, 2006).

3.4 Sampling and Data Collection

Sampling is a smaller version of the whole it is obtained from that reflects the same characteristics those of the whole. It is simple and straightforward in terms of its basic rationale and principles (Brotherton, 2008). The questionnaires will be distributed randomly to wide range of people so that everyone can have the equal chance to be the participant (Veal, 2006). The questionnaires will be distributed at urban area in West Midland and Greater London. A street survey approach will be use in this research. According to Veal (2006) state this approach brings convenience for the participants, the flexibility timing is controllable which is essential and it can ensure that all questionnaires were not filled out in rush or hurry. The questionnaires distribution will be targeting on young adults from aged eighteen to twenty five. The chosen age group will be target by observation of potential participant’s appearances. Mistake age group participant will be treated as error and eliminate from this research.

3.5 Data Analysis

The data collected from quantitative questionnaires will be analysing by SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Version 16.0 analysing software. All participants will be labelled in numbering order for the conveniences of analysing the data and correlations can be found easily. All answers obtained from questionnaires will be number coded for the purpose of SPSS software to input the numerical data and evaluate its significance (Veal 2006). Results of this research will be present in graphs and tables format for better discussion and comparison view.

3.6 Limitation

Limitations might occur while carrying out this research. The answer feedback from respondents only based on the questions stated in questionnaires. Missing question could be leads to lack of information. Questionnaires only rely on answers provided by respondents not the entire population, the results only refer to their answer so it might makes the results a little questionable for researcher (Veal, 2006). Another limitation would be this research only gaining quantitative data. Greater information generate by qualitative research could have been useful for this research.

4. Conclusion

The research proposal has identified the aim and objectives set. Relevant studies available as the literature for this research including motivational theory, host organisation appeal and encouragement work done by the government. Method and methodology uses have been introduced in this research proposal. Limitation consideration of the research has been specific stated down. Further literature would be explore and insert in the actual research dissertation. Primary research will be conducting sometime during summer holidays. Data analysis will be starting after the research is conducted. Any limitation arise during research will need to be overcome for smoother work and possible better result. A complete dissertation research probably will be ready to submit by the end of the year.

A worldwide industry of festivals has grown and expanded since the 90’s. Nowadays, festivals are recognized as one of the top growing types of leisure- and tourism – related phenomena (Dimmock and Tiyce, 2001). As Mintel International Group (2006) suggests, festivals are forecasted to grow a total of 106% in the next five years period. South Australian Tourism Commission (1997, p. 2) suggests an easily understandable meaning of festival :” Festivals must have as a prime objective a maximum amount of people participation, which must be an experience that is different from, or broader than day to day living.” Festivals, and more specifically, music Festival Organizations are increasing in number every year worldwide. According to Frey (1994), the provision of music festivals has developed based on a constant increase in disposable incomes, accompanied by an augmented amount of time offered for holidays. Furthermore, another feature that makes music Festivals so popular, is the fact that music Festivals form special events which include a variety of activities associated with the music (Bowen and Daniels, 2005), unlike concerts which provide mainly live music performances, rather than various event attractions.

One of the most popular music Festivals in Greece for the last six years is the Synch Festival. The Synch Festival began its operation in 2004 at Lavrio Technological & Cultural Park, an ex industrial area of distinctive beauty, aimed at bringing the Greek and international audience, in touch with modern sounds and images. Music, arts and new technologies coexist in a two day festival. Keeping up with modernity, Synch offers its audience the possibility to experience some of the most interesting aspects of global culture. Synch”s main course is music but despite its focus on the various aspects of the contemporary electronic scene Synch denies all kinds of borders and separations that lead to limiting or rigidifying musical expression. The musicians participating in the festival originate from different backgrounds and currents to share their ideas discouraging easy categorization creating musical hybrids that constantly evolve. It forms an uncommonly open-minded curatorial sensibility, tapping everything from experimental micro sound to minimal house and banging techno to local outfits using rock, jazz, regional music and electronic elements. It’s got the perfect balance of industrial setting, a diverse multimedia program, cutting edge electronic acts and classic live acts.

Falassi (1987) argues that the collective role of a festival is directly connected to values that a community looks upon as vital to its ideology, such as social identity, historical continuity, and physical survival. Additionally, according to Arcodia and Robb (2000), a festival develops around the marking of unique occasions and around the festivity of important events. Thus, according to Usyal, Gahan and Martin (1993) a festival may be considered as the cultural resources of an area that make realizable the successful hosting of festival attendees. “The phenomenal growth, coupled with increased consumer awareness and choice, requires the industry to manage the sector effectively and efficiently to ensure sustained development and growth in the future” (Yeoman, Robertson, Ali-knight , 2004, p. xix). Therefore, according to Arcodia and Whitford (2010) festivals are expanding worldwide as an increasing and lively sector of the tourism and leisure industry, which have major economic, socio-cultural, and political impacts on the destination and on the host groups, if managed properly.

All the way through history, festivals have taken the forms of cultural traditions or have marked religious or historical occasions linked to the community staging the festival (Arcodia & Robb, 2000). According to Earls (1993) historically, the way festivals celebrated special occasions was through art, ritual, and festivity; they were seen as public meetings that make people’s joint wishes and dreams reality and offer a significant event for a unique experience in their lives. The basic origins of this type of communal celebration which has cultural importance to the host population (Pardy, 1991), can be traced back to the carnival of Europe ( Arcodia, Whitford, 2010). “The defining characteristic of a special event or festival is its transience” (Gilbert and Lizotte , 1998, pp. 73). This suggests that it would be difficult to encourage and maintain the same sense of occasion and enthusiasm, if such an event was to be held more often. Goldblatt (1997) defines a festival as “a special event that recognizes a unique moment in time with ceremony and ritual to satisfy specific needs”(Goldblatt, 1997, pp.33).According to Yeoman et al. (2004) the word festival derives from feast and means a time of celebration.

Yeoman, et al. (2004) argue that the features of festivals and events are unique, thus no common model of management fits them all. “These characteristics include intangibility , production, often taking place at the same time as consumption, and perishability” (Yeoman et al., 2004, pp.xx). Festivals and events have diverse levels of operating costs and they fall into both the not- for -profit and profit- making categories. They can array from locally based events, to large international festivals (Yeoman, et al, 2004). Previous studies on festival motivation (Uysal et al,1996, Nicholson and Pearce, 2001, Crompton and McKay, 1997) jointly demonstrate that the type of the festival is a significant predictor of motives. As a result, further exploration on various types of festivals should be conducted, in order to improve our understanding of the relationship between the kind of the festival and the visitor motives. A significant characteristic of a festival is the sense of community, belonging and celebration engendered by an event, which forms a communal and free social meeting including a variety of media such as arts, performances and shows (Goldblatt, 1997).

Cultural consumption is an intangible pleasure-seeking experience. The consumer experience in cultural products appears to have as its main elements the multisensory, fantastic and emotional characteristics of any consumer experience (Bourdeau, Paradis and Nyeck, 1997; Bourdeau, Decoster, Paradis; Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982). In other words, it can be perceived as a self-gratifying consumer experience with an experiential perspective (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982). The intangible characteristics of attendance at a cultural festival modify the event into a consumer facility. According to Bourdeau et al.(2001 ) more generally, it is a pleasure seeking experience in which consumers use their senses. “It is only after this hedonistic experience, when they leave the festival site, that they develop feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction” ( Bourdaeu, De coster Paradis,2001,pp.1). However, the intangible, hedonistic nature of a festival visit makes it difficult for managers to determine satisfaction levels amongst customers. Managers of a cultural scheme must supply to the festival attendees an intangible, hedonistic experience, preferably one that includes not only the fundamental service but secondary services as well (Eiglier and Langeard, 1987). The fundamental service is the principal reason for attending the festival. In the case of a music festival, it is the content of the event, which is the music. Secondary services are those surrounding the event such as festival information services. Swan and Combs (1976) have suggested that when the show does not meet up to the consumer’s expectations, dissatisfaction occurs, and when the content of the festival does meet their expectations, satisfaction arises. Howard (1977, p. 57) describes satisfaction, from an expectancy theory perspective, as “the consumer’s mental state of being adequately or inadequately rewarded for the sacrifice he or she has undergone”. The level of sufficiency results from comparing past experience with the reward that was expected from the brand (Bourdeau, De Coster, Paradis, 2001). One of the original service quality theories is that customers are satisfied when their judgment of the service they have received (perception) equals or exceeds what they expected: Customer Satisfaction (CS)= Perceptions(P) =Expectations (Williams and Buswell,2003,pp.60). This is identified as the gap analysis theory (Zeithalm et al., 1990) or Oliver’s expectancy disconfirmation (Oliver, 1997). Zeithaml et al. considered that the features that influence customer’s formation of their expectations are: word of mouth , personal needs, external communications, and past experience. Moreover, Johnson and Mathews (1997) noted that the expectations of a frequent user of a facility would rely more on the influence of past experiences than other means of information. Researchers have no way of knowing what a first-time user’s expectations are based upon. Dale (1994a) suggests that world class experiences are valuable in formulating expectations. Parasuraman et al. (1988) attempted to clarify customer expectations, by suggesting that they are what an organization should offer.

(table , pp. 67)

MOTIVATIONS :

The success of a festival is heavily dependent on the execution of a strategic marketing plan; an understanding of the relationship between a destination event and its visitors and the identification of target markets are critical factors in the process (Thomson and Schoefield, 2009). Festival organizers are likely to assert that their primary goal is to provide high quality, satisfying experiences that visitors perceive to be good value in order to increase the probability of the visitors returning in the future and/or recommending the festival to others in their social circle (Lee, Petrick and Crompton, 2007). Since competition among festivals and destinations is increasing, the need for information on festivals,

specifically analysis of motivations for attending festivals and events

(Getz, 1993), has become crucial. Actual attendance itself may be attributed to various motives or just a single motive. In order for the event organizers to manage to deliver a great experience, the event product definition is a vital step . The event product is a unique blend of activities, which are the tools for achieving the overall event aims and satisfying customer needs. “Event design should be customer orientated , and event organizers should create a mix that satisfies the largest number of potential customers” ( Salem, Jones, Morgan, 2004, pp.14,in Yeoman). Getz in 1997 argues that many events lack of a product orientation , which means that they attempt to promote their event with no consideration for what prospective customers need , desire, and are willing to pay for. Hall in 1992 identifies three important objectives of event marketing: to know what the customers need and what motivates them ,to build up products that meet their needs and expectations and to create a programme that communicates the event’s aim and objectives. Individuals, participating as audience at a festival or special event wish to satisfy their curiosity about place and people. Participants wish to emerge from the event with experiences to narrate back home. These people want to avoid insecure situations , anxiety, worries, uncertainties, embarrassment, having to make too many difficult decisions , or being cared as computer number and being made to feel an annoyance. According to Yeoman et al.(2004) it is a marketing saying that people do not buy products or services , they buy the expectation of benefits that these products or services will provide them with.

No matter the main aim of the festival, there is a wide variety of customers , each with dissimilar expectations , and this impacts on the management processes used for each individual festival (Yeoman, et al.,2004). Motivations are a theoretical construct for the driving forces of human behaviour (Kroeber et al, 2003) and clarify why people do what they do instead of choosing another choice. Burch (1969) states that the personal motivational drives of individuals are modified and readdressed by their workmates, family or friends. Therefore, it is obvious that the motives to attend a festival may evolve and differentiate throughout someone’s life, which enhances the need for motives to be constantly investigated. Pointless to say, event organizers might have false impression of their customers’ motivation. Wicks and Fesenmaier (1993) examined the perceptual gap on customer expectations between visitor and vendors, identifying those areas of the event that need improvement. The same equivalence also has applicability to the recognition of the motivation gap that may exist between attendees and festival providers. As Fodness (1994) highlights , the motivation stands for the major driving power in explaining human behaviour, even though it is not the only factor(Fodness, 1994). According to Lee and Lee(2001) dividing festival markets through motivations, allows event managers to discover the strengths and opportunities of the market and contributes in guaranteeing their contentment. In case festival visitors are diverse, a significant marketing instrument is the dividing of these visitors into groups and the comprehension of their features based on festival motivations. The segmentation allows event organizers to develop and support event features suggested and appreciated by specific visitor groups (Formica & Uysal, 1996).

Moreover, Crompton and McKay (1997) argue that event managers should make every effort possible to fully understand the motives of festival attendance in order to provide better services for them; since motives are a powerful predictor of satisfaction and a significant aspect in the decision making process, the exploration of the visitors’ motives can lead to advanced levels of attendance. For example, Crompton and McKay (1997) explored festival attendance motivation for the following reasons: firstly, it gives the opportunity to match the festival’s content to the visitors’ needs. Furthermore, it augments the visitors’ satisfaction levels since their needs are met; and lastly it increases the chances for the visitors to revisit the festival, a fact that plays a key role for the economic viability of the festival. Schoefield and Thomson (2007) also agree that it is critically important to discover festival visitor motivations and to measure consumers’ satisfaction levels from the point of view of the consumer. They suggest that from a planning and management perspective it is vital to determine visitor satisfaction and behavioural intention with respect to repeat visits and to help identify the factors which affect visitor motivation and their experiential outcomes. (Gelder, Robinson, 2009,) Bowen and Daniels (2005) state that understanding why people go to music festivals can help planners align their marketing efforts to emphasize the attributes that best reflect the mission and goals of each event . Nicholson and Pearce (2001) believe that these factors will become increasingly important as the growing number and diversity of events, especially festivals, lead to heightened competition , in particular when events are initiated or expanded to encourage tourism and thus boost local economies (Daniels, 2004). Apo Glastonbury pdf Getz (1993) also emphasized the importance of analyzing visitors’ motives for attending festivals and events. Identifying such motivations is a prerequisite for planning event programs effectively and marketing them to visitors (Crompton & McKay, 1997). Analysis of festival motivations also helps event managers to better position their festivals (Scott, 1996).

PURPOSES OF THE STUDY

By understanding what drives and motivates participation, the festival management could probably gain better insight into a strategy to maintain attendees and to drew new ones to the festival (Van Zyl, 2006). The primary aim of the present research is therefore to fill the gap in previous research by determining what motivational factors push and pull visitors to attend the Synch Festival, held in Athens, Greece, and participate in it, and what are their expectations. Comparisons will also be made with the point of view of the manager of the organizing company. By understanding attendee’s motivations you can give the opportunity to the event organizers to tailor promotions and develop desired services.

The research objectives are :

To explore and review the literature relevant to the motivation and expectations of people attending leisure events, with particular emphasis on music festivals.

To investigate what motivates people to attend the Synch Festival and their expectations of the event.

To explore and review the ways in which the Synch Festival is managed and organized, and in particular , the degree to which (if at all) customer expectation and motivation is considered.

To report the findings of my research and, where appropriate, make recommendations and suggestions to the event organizers , as well as fill the literature gap as far as the exploration of festival motivations at a national level, is concerned.

To achieve this, the article is structured as follows: the literature review is followed by a description of the research methods, followed by a discussion of the findings , followed by the conclusion-discussion part where recommendations will also be made.

The last few decades have been characterised by a radical change in management perceptions about the importance of the work force in achievement of strategic objectives of business organisations.

Management experts agree that in situations where competitors have similar financial resources and organisational infrastructures, competitive edge can be achieved only through well trained and intensely motivated employee forces.

The hotel industry has grown remarkably in the last two decades. With the industry expanding exponentially, capacity builds ups in business and tourism centres have created enormous competition in all its segments. Whilst hotel managers strive to provide good physical facilities to their clients, it is widely accepted that excellence in service quality is best achieved through the efforts of employees to meet customer needs.

Motivating employees is thus seen to be a critical task of hotel managers. The dissertation project aims to examine the importance of motivating employees in the hotel industry for the achievement of competitive advantage and the best possible ways and means of doing so.

The last few decades, especially the period that commenced from the 1970s, have been characterised by radical changes in management perceptions about the importance of the work force in achieving the strategic objectives of business organisations. [1]

Whilst traditional management theory treated workers, along with capital, land and machinery, as just one of the four important inputs of business enterprises, current management thought and practice, influenced on one hand by the opinions of experts like Drucker, Porter, Maslow and McGregor, and on the other by dramatically altered business conditions, perceive employees to be critical to organisational success and growth. [2]

Contemporary developments like globalisation, economic liberalisation, the deconstruction of trade and physical barriers, technological advances, the spread of the internet, instantaneous communication technology, cheaper travel costs and the emergence of China and India as economic power houses have made the world intensely competitive and diminished the superiority of Western business organisations. [3] Management experts agree that in economic scenarios where competitors have the same sort of financial resources and organisational infrastructures, competitive edge is mainly achieved through well trained and intensely motivated employee forces. [4]

The hotel industry has grown remarkably in the last two decades. Globalisation along with greater discretionary incomes in the populations of advanced and developing countries, cheaper travel, open borders and the opening of numerous business and tourists destinations have led to substantial increases in business travel and domestic and international tourism and created enormous opportunities for hotels.

Aims and Objectives

With the hotel industry expanding exponentially, capacity builds ups in business and tourism centres have created enormous competition in all sectors of the hotel industry. [5] Being service oriented in nature, hotels work towards achievement of service quality and improvement of customer satisfaction for achievement of competitive advantage. [6]

Whilst hotel ownerships strive to provide good physical facilities to their clients, it is widely accepted that excellence in service quality is best achieved through the efforts of employees to meet customer needs [7] Motivating employees is thus seen to be a critical task of hotel managements. [8]

This proposal aims to investigate the contribution of employees in achievement of profitability and competitive advantage in the hotel industry, the importance of motivation in improving employee performance, and the role of managers in motivating employees to improve their performance and commitment.

Its objectives are elaborated as follows:

To examine the ways and means in which employees can add to the service quality, efficiency, profitability and competitive advantage of the hotel industry.

To examine the impact of motivation on the performance of hotel employees.

To examine and assess the various ways of motivating employees.

To examine the roles of managers in motivating hotel employees.

2. Literature Review

Human resource management theory has changed radically over the past few decades. Whilst traditional HR theory was influenced and shaped by scientific management principles embodied in the approaches of Henry Ford and Fredrick Taylor for improvement of worker productivity, the post Second World War period saw the emergence of behavioural experts and psychologists like Maslow, McGregor, Herzberg and Vroom, who discarded Fordist and Taylorist principles and emphasised that worker performance could be much better enhanced by meeting the various needs of workers, training and developing them and empowering them to do their work to the best of their ability. [9]

Experts like Maslow and Herzberg stress that worker motivation is critical to worker performance and organisational managements need to motivate members of their work force in carefully thought out, well planned and deliberately implemented ways. Maslowaa‚¬a„?s theory of needs, McGregoraa‚¬a„?s exposition of theory X and theory Y, Herzbergaa‚¬a„?s detailing of hygiene and motivating factors, and Vroomaa‚¬a„?s work on motivating employees deal with the various needs of workers and how they can best be motivated by organisational managements. [10]

Extant HR theory also places great stress on the need of managers to know methods of motivation and use them appropriately in the work place. [11] The evolution of human resources as a management discipline has been characterised by numerous academic and research work on the best possible methods of motivating employees. [12]

Employees are seen as key inputs in the hotel industry and most well known hotel chains like The Marriot, The Mandarin Orient and The Ritz Carlton are known to have very carefully thought out and well implemented employee performance improvement programmes. [13] Motivation plays a key role in such programmes and is a key responsibility of hotel managers. [14]

The Ritz Carlton, the only two time winner of the famous Malcolm Baldridge awards for quality, is known to have an excellent employee training, development and motivation programme. [15] Employees at the Ritz Carlton are motivated through a complex system of policies and procedures that deal with remuneration, training, involvement, responsibility allocation, employee respect and empowerment. [16]

Employee motivation and the responsibilities of managers in motivating employees are key areas of focus in hotel management theory. [17]

3. Research Methodology
Research Hypotheses

The aims and objectives of the project, along with the information obtained during the course of review of available literature, lead to the following research hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: Employees are critical for the achievement of service quality, profitability and competitive advantage in the hotel industry

Hypothesis 2: Employee motivation leads to improvement in employee performance

Hypothesis 3: Managers can motivate hotel employees in various ways.

Research Methods

The choice and adoption of appropriate research methods for projects are essentially decided by the nature of the project and the resources available with the researcher. [18] With there being two basic methods of social research, namely the quantitative and qualitative approaches, the choice of an appropriate method for this assignment will be shaped by the research hypotheses elaborated above. [19]

The research hypotheses essentially deal with issues and questions that are how, why and what in nature, and are thus best tackled by use of interpretative qualitative methods, rather than through analysis of the results of number based quantitative surveys. [20]

Information for the project will be obtained from primary and secondary sources. [21] Primary information sources are those that provide information directly from people and organisations who form the subject of research, whereas secondary information is obtained from sources created by people, (e.g. authors, researchers, or media publications), who are unconnected with the research subject. [22]

It is proposed to use both primary and secondary sources for this research project. [23] Whilst substantial information from secondary sources on human resource management, motivational theory, service quality, managerial responsibility and the responsibilities and methods of managers for motivating employees is available in the public domain, primary information can be obtained through study of hotel websites and interviews of people associated with the research subject. [24] With the hospitality industry now a globally important industry, a number of academic publications and research studies are available on different aspects of hotel management. [25] The study of such sources will enable the researcher to obtain accurate and extensive information on the subject under study. [26]

The methodology entails the collection of primary and secondary data from the sources elaborated earlier, the qualitative interpretation of obtained information, and its detailed analysis for the purpose of examining the validity of the hypothesis. [27]

Ethics

Care will be taken to ensure that all ethical requirements regarding the conduct of research projects are followed, especially with regard to protection of the rights and confidentiality of primary respondents. Adequate care will be taken to ensure that appropriate credit is given to all information sources. [28]

Constraints and Limitations

The study will be limited by the amount of primary and secondary information accessed by the researcher, as well as the amount of cooperation provided by the primary respondents from the hotel industry.

It is envisaged that obtaining appointments with hotel managers may be a difficult task and could delay the gathering of information and data. The researcher plans to start taking appointments with managers in the hotel industry at the earliest in order to maintain the research schedule.

4. Timeline

The research is expected to take six months to complete. The timeline of the project is provided below.

Function

Month

1

Month

2

Month

3

Month

4

Month

5

Month

6

Determining of Secondary Information Sources

*

Study of Secondary Information Sources

*
*
*

Determination of Primary Information Sources

*
*

Study of Primary Information Sources

*

Fixing of Appointments with Primary Respondents

*
*

Conducting of Interviews

*

Collation of Secondary Information

*

Compilation of Literature Review

*
*

Compilation of Primary Information

*

Collation of Data

*

Data Analysis and Interpretation

*

Preparation of Rough Draft of Dissertation

*

Discussion with Tutor

*

Preparation of Final Dissertation

*
Word Count: 1610 without Tables