toptermpaper.com

Can High Street Travel Agencies Survive With Online Travel Agencies?

–

Contents (Jump to)

Chapter 2 – Literature Review

Chapter 3 – Methodology

Chapter 4 – Findings and Analysis

4.1 UK Travel Industry, Current Analysis

4.2 Composition of Travel

–

The travel industry represents the classic example of firms operating as agents between the seller and buyers as represented by the multitude of offers that are present in the industry. The foundation for this process was established in the pre-computer era that utilized direct reservation systems. This mode inculcated the industry and became the accepted operational norm as airlines had an exterior sales force as represented by these independent operations, and customers had a means to wade through the difficult maze of airline flight possibilities. The advent of the internet brought a new variable into the scenario whereby it provided consumers with a choice as a result of the capabilities of this medium to collect and display flight availability, schedules and pricing through search engine compiling. Transaction costs were lowered as a result of economies of scale and 24 hour availability, with the heart of the process fueled by utilizing consumers to conduct the work in finding bargains.

This examination will seek to equate whether the traditional travel agencies known as High Street, representing brick and mortar operations in the industry parlance, can survive the onslaught to their business as represented by online travel agencies.

The travel industry represents a phenomenon that we are all familiar with in terms of verbiage, however, the definitive meanings as represented by specific words may not be as clear as one would think. In order to provide the necessary verbal underpinnings for this analysis of ‘if High Street Travel Agencies can survive with online Travel Agencies’, a definition of terms seems in order. Travel represents a word that emanates from ‘travailen’ in Middle English, which means to toil, and has its roots in the French word ‘travailler (Wikipedia, 2007). It, travel, is defined as (American Heritage Dictionary, 2007) 1. being transported “… from one place to another …” as represented by either a trip or journey, and, 2. the process and or time entailed in moving a person from a particular location to another. Travel can be further explained as tourism, which is the visiting of family and or friends, the process of commuting as represented by traveling to either work or other functions, the act of migration in moving one’s local or as a constant series of moves as illustrated by nomadic peoples, and as pilgrimages for religious reasons (Wikipedia, 2007). In the context of this examination, travel shall be defined by the transport of individuals for pleasure, tourism, business and personal reasons.

A travel agency “…offers its services in the capacity of an agent …” and provides “… travel and tourism related services to the public …” as achieved through the agency’s arrangements and agreements with “… airlines, cruise lines, hotels and other suppliers of travel related services” (Department of the Treasury, 2002). Travel agencies “… may contract directly …” with the aforementioned companies or through what is termed a “… coordinating body such as the Airlines Reporting Corporation …” as well as other such agencies or bodies (Department of the Treasury, 2002). In addition to the aforementioned services, travel agencies may offer varied financial related services such as traveler’s checks and trip insurance. An important segment of the travel industry is represented by tourism, which Hermann Von Schullard, Austrian economist, stated is the “ … sum total of operators … which directly relate to the entry … stay and movement of foreigners …” (MedLibrary.org, 2007).

The introduction of internet based online travel information, booking and ticketing systems introduced a new variable into the market which allows consumers to research ticket prices, schedules and related aspects at discounted prices as a result of the lower commissioning fees online services charge airlines for acting in their capacity as middlemen. This phenomenon caught on with the public and market share increasingly shifted in favor of online travel services as lower prices, instant access and no frill airlines captured their imagination. High Street travel agencies are thus caught in a battle for survival as a result, however there are market variables that indicate the penetration rates of online travel agencies has been slowing, but massive damage has already been done. If High Street travel agencies are to survive, they will have to capitalize upon inherent facets of customer attitudes and preferences as well as what their service type offers that can not be duplicated by computerized access that does not offer human problem solving skills for complex travel related problems that exist in varied circumstances.

Chapter 2 – Literature Review

The rapid pace of changes and developments in the travel industry as a result of travel packages, consumer attitudes, economic variables, utilization histories with varied forms of booking methodologies and related aspects rendered the examination of the subject matter as contemporary. The research methodology deemed best suited to this study was ‘descriptive’ in that it is based upon the use of data, information, facts and associated resources to reveal the way things are. To this end, this examination relied heavily on Internet sources to provide the aforementioned.

The definitions utilized herein to provide a basis for understanding of travel agencies as represented by the statement provided by United States Department of the Treasury was used as it represented a definition honed from a governmental classification of an industry sector which represented the culmination of intensive study to arrive at its meaning in a universal sense that is applicable. This same approach was utilized to conduct data and survey research which entailed the collection of information from the Tourism Society of England, the International Air Transport Association, ITB Berlin and IPK International, Internet World Stats and other sources. In conducting the research on the question as to whether High Street travel agencies can survive with online travel agencies, the first aspect that was noted is that the various travel and tourism books offered information on each sector from a dated perspective that did not take into account new developments, many of which appeared in 2005 through 2006 as new travel packages and the a new travel sector, cruises, emerged as an industry force.

The preceding contention is supported by the data uncovered by surveys conducted by Travel Weekly in the United Kingdom that asked respondents in the travel agency sector direct questions regarding their impression and view of their industry. Such a source represents more viable research that was conducted during 2006, offers a more comprehensive base of industry information on how things actually are as it asked the experts in the field of study, travel agents themselves. Their responses on what they viewed as the emerging segment of most importance, cruises, which also represents their most viable revenue stream is data which was not found in the numerous research studies conducted by the World Trade Organization, PricewaterHouseCoopers, Accenture and World Stats. These sources were extremely valuable in providing supporting data on trends, patterns and other facets of the travel and tourism sector, however, information from industry insiders in the High Street sector represented the foundation for the question being examined.

ITB Berlin and IPK International offered invaluable information concerning the breakdown of consumer utilization of travel agency sectors, as did PriceWaterHouseCoopers and Internet World Stats. Accenture’s research gave depth to the previous information as it provided data on how and what consumers do in the process of seeking travel services. Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model provided the means to correlate all of the indicated data and survey information into a concise summary of High Street and online travel agency competitive points to hone in on the variables and factors that the prior sources offered.

Chapter 3 – Methodology

In examining the context of whether High Street travel agencies can survive with online travel agencies it was determined that the research would have to delve into the nuances of the travel and tourism sector to determine the following:

Components of the industry from an historical perspective
Key aspects of varied consumer attitudes, preferences, trends and views
Travel industry product components, trends, developments and projections
Trend of High Street and online travel agency market share progressions
Relationships and importance of differing travel segment components in both sectors in relationship to their inherent strengths and weaknesses as applied against each service model
Variables and factors at work, along with developing trends that might have a bearing on the examination

To accomplish the foregoing the methodology selected entailed the utilization of secondary research of a limited historical nature to provide background information to understand the context of the industry sectors and their changing relationships. The preceding was accomplished through the use of books and journals along with statistical information. Since changes in any industry occur quickly the reliance upon books and journals for contemporary developments was deemed as inappropriate and inconclusive. Therefore, to determine the present status of both sectors, the research and operative methodology centered upon the analysis of data as well as trends and inherent characteristics. To accomplish the preceding quantitative research was determined as the methodology as it “… generates new information about the world …” by virtue of (University of North Carolina, 2007):

Objectivity, whereby the potential for bias that could potentially affect and or influence the outcome is kept to a minimum through the collection of varying points of view from a number of differing sources.
Rigorous, in that the researcch process utilizes data to uncover obvious as well as obsure information, with attention to accuracy and detail as underlying precepts.
Systematic, in that the conduct of research seeks coherent data and information in order to equate the true undercurrents of what is the case as opposed to what appears to be the case in the study and analysis.

The subject under examination represents a puzzle that is ruled by the governing question (International Research Network, 2007). The preceding helped to determine the reseach process, the identification of the sources of data as well as information, and the methodologies to be utilized. Kravitz (2006) states that there are differing types of research which can be used in a study. The one selected for this examination included descriptive along with quantitative as it entails the collection of information and trends through the review of data, surveys and examination of varied sources. Kravitz (2006) indicates that this research type is best at describing the way things are, and that the review of prior research aids in the process, along with contempory information.

Chapter 4 – Findings and Analysis
4.1 UK Travel Industry, Current Analysis

As of 2002 there were 3,181 travel agencies in the United Kingdom, representing a growth rate of minus 17.2% that generated $11, 659 billion in sales (International Air Transport Association, 2002). Globally, the travel industry generates in excess of one trillion USD annually and is the largest industrial sector (Vogel, 2006, pp. 50-59). The Tourism Society of England indicates that domestically this segment of the industry generates 75 billion pounds in a highly fragmented industry (Tourism Society, 2007).

In polls conducted by Travel Weekly, the British based industry travel magazine, travel agents were asked their views on a number of areas (Travel Weekly, 2007). 47% indicated that cruises would represent the biggest growth area in travel in 2007, followed by long haul trips at 32%, and domestic breaks at 21% (Travel Weekly, 2007). The implications of the preceding seemingly bode well for travel agencies in that these types of trips consumers seek the aid of professionals to aid them with arrangements, features, pricing and the varied packages that are available, which can be quite extensive. Travel agents indicated that they were worried, however regarding the state of the travel industry entering 2007, registering 61%, with 26% indicating confidence and 13% checking indifference as their response (Travel Weekly, 2007). Travel agent responses provide a valuable insight as to how they feel concerning various aspects and as the most up to date informational source such is being utilized to provide a gauge on the prospects of High Street travel agencies and their battle for market share with online travel agencies. A significant response to the polls in this regard can be found in what travel agents thought about the price wars lowering High Street fares. 36% indicated that they believed that such would end up in lower prices, while 42% replied no, with 21% indicating probably (Travel Weekly, 2007).

With respect to the dollar to pound exchange rate that has increased in favor of the pound, travel agents indicated that they felt Christmas shoppers would benefit the most, 51%, followed by New York City retailers at 23%, High Street travel agencies, 15%, and online retailers and airlines at 11% (Travel Weekly, 2007). The preceding represents an indication of travel agent’s attitudes toward High Street travel agencies that mirrors their responses concerning their battle for market share. This view was also confirmed by travel agent responses to if there is any future for independent High Street travel agents. 54% stated that they felt there would always be room for independent agents, with 27% indicating the affirmative but as part of a larger buying group, and 19% stating that they would not be able to compete against the larger companies (Travel Weekly, 2007). When asked about the importance of cruises to their industry, travel agents responded in the following fashion. 53% indicated that this area is growing in importance, with 21% stating that it represents the one area that they make money (Travel Weekly, 2007). 17% indicated that this segment is too complex and that they do not sell cruise packages, and 9% stated that cruise business is vital to their business only if they sell these via self packaging (Travel Weekly, 2007). Given that 47% indicated that the cruise business will enjoy the largest segment of growth in the industry in 2007, that seemingly indicates that High Street travel agencies are factoring in this segment as an important revenue stream.

The utilization of the Internet as a booking method has seen high growth in Europe, mostly in flights as well as accommodations (ITB Berlin and IPK International, 2006, p. 13). The foregoing represents an approximated one/third of all outbound trips and also entails online booking for some segments of an individual’s trip as represented by hotel and vehicle reservations (ITB Berlin and IPK International, 2006, p. 13). ITB Berlin and IPK International (2006, p. 13) reports that the utilization of the internet is primarily the mode used for airline ticket purchases, with accommodations second, however, vehicle reservations leads both categories as a percentage of sales of the total.

Table 1- Travel Bookings in Europe, January Through August 2006

(as a percentage of pre-bookings in total travel)

(ITB Berlin and IPK International, 2006, p. 13)

Total

Internet

Accommodations

78%

37%

Flight

63%

38%

Travel insurance

23%

6%

Bus/coach

15%

2%

Rental car

15%

10%

Ferry

9%

7%

Train

7%

4%

Others

5%

3%

Interestingly, travel agents utilize the internet as a source of information and the use of tour operators in placing their rates and packages online represents a key reason for the preceding (ITB Berlin and IPK International, 2006, p. 13). Consumers utilize the Internet for a large percentage of their travel arrangements, especially in the area of airline, accommodation and auto rental, as shown by the following:

Table 2 – Information Sources Used by European Outbound Travelers, January through August 2006

(ITB Berlin and IPK International, 2006, p. 14)

Source

% share

Internet

45

Travel agency

20

Friends/relatives

17

Travel guide

8

Travel brochure

7

Newspaper

3

Tourist office

2

TV

2

Others

5

The preceding seemingly indicates that incursions by Internet based booking in the cruise travel segment is going to remain low as a result of the complexities encountered in making selections and wading through the complex data and choices. As the main revenue source and growth area for High Street travel agencies, consolidation of the services offered in this area represents a strong foundation to be built upon. The consumer climate in the United Kingdom exceeds the confidence of travel agencies with respect to their outlooks. Travel Weekly’s (2007) poll in this segment indicated that 26% of them were confident, while ITB Berlin and IPK International (2006, p. 18) found that the United Kingdom and Spain are at the top of its consumer confidence survey as well as percentage of household consumption. Termed as a willingness to buy, said factor represents increased demand in the UK during 2007, and as the United Kingdom’s placement in this category has consistently been at the top, bodes well for the continued growth forecast in the industry.

The growth in eCommerce has shifted the manner and way individuals utilize travel services. Originating in a paper on packet switching by Leonard Kleinrock of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961, the theoretical underpinnings of Klienrock’s work set the stage for the ARANET which was the distant forerunning to the internet (Internet Society, 2007). That beginning has reshaped the manner of global commerce, information availabilities, and created an entirely new set of industry classifications. One such manifestation is illustrated in the travel industry. The ability to search large quantities of data easily and instantly through varied online web sites, and travel agencies without any sales or pressure tactics makes the internet a technology that is ideally suited to the travel industry. In this medium consumers can search and explore at their leisure at any time reviewing all manner of destinations, travel times, pricing and comparative offers. This used to be the exclusive domain of travel agencies, the search for fares, times, routes, seating, destinations and packages, through information networks that were unavailable to the public. Consumers do not have to queue at call centers, telephone or take a trip to High Street travel agencies, they can simply click online and search easy to find categories from their Internet browser. Online travel agents are able to offer 24 hour access to information that consumers can access and compare at any time, representing a boon to locating the best prices, dates, deals, destinations and packages.

The online travel industry is just a decade old, however the impact of online agencies has been tremendous (Economist, 2005). The benefit of the Internet to consumers and travel providers such as airlines, hotels, car rentals and associated sectors is that it saves administrative costs enabling them to offer lower fares and rates (Economist, 2005). There are 37,600,000 internet users in the United Kingdom estimated for 2006 against a population of 60,000,000 people representing a 62.5% penetration rate with user growth rising by 144% between the period 2000 and 2006 (Internet World Stats, 2007a). The UK ranks 6^th globally in the total number of Internet users (Internet World Stats, 2007b), and ranks 20^th on terms of penetration rate (Internet World Stats, 2007c).

Table 3 – Top 20 Countries with the Highest Number of Internet Users

(Internet World Stats, 2007b)

Rank

Country

Internet

Users

Population

(2006 est.)

Internet

Penetration

1

United States

209,024,921

299,093,237

69.9%

2

China

123,000,000

1,306,724,067

9.4%

3

Japan

86,300,000

128,389,000

67.2%

4

Germany

50,616,207

82,515,988

61.3%

5

India

40,000,000

1,112,225,812

3.6%

6

United Kingdom

37,600,000

60,139,274

62.5%

7

Korea (South)

33,900,000

50,633,265

67.0%

Table 4 – Top 20 Countries with the Highest Number of Internet Users

(Internet World Stats, 2007c)

Rank

Country

Penetration

(% Population)

Internet Users

Latest Data

Population

(2006 Est.)

1

Iceland

86.8%

258,000

297,072

2

New Zealand

76.3%

3,200,000

4,195,729

3

Sweden

74.9%

6,800,000

9,076,757

4

Portugal

74.1%

7,782,760

10,501,051

5

Australia

70.7%

14,663,622

20,750,052

6

Falkland Islands

70.4%

1,900

2,699

7

Denmark

69.4%

3,762,500

5,425,373

8

United States

69.3%

207,161,706

299,093,237

19

Netherlands

65.9%

10,806,328

16,386,216

20

United Kingdom

62.5%

37,600,000

60,139,274

The significance of these figures is that online travel agencies effectively are accessible to 62.5% of the UK population, which becomes more imposing when one considers that 16.7 million United Kingdom residents traveled outside of the country during 2006 (National Statistics, 2007). The utilization of travel outside the UK is utilized as internal country travel represents means generally using short air trips, train, car and coach for brief trips and stays and does not factor into the type of business profile utilized to a high percentage by High Street travel agencies. The impact of the Internet has caused a dramatic decrease in the number of brick and mortar travel agency locations in the United Kingdom as a result of shifting consumer booking patterns. During 2005, the intrusion of the Internet into the brick and mortar travel agency business caused 28 travel agency companies to fail, not to mention the numerous closing of the offices of the larger chains (m-travel.com, 2005). In 2005, the number of brick and mortar travel agencies totaled 6,124, down considerably from the 7,513 in 1989 (m-travel.com, 2005).

The good news is that cruise ship travel is up substantially, and the travel / tourism industry has been experiencing solid growth. However, the cruise ship segment is the sector of the industry that has shown the most dramatic gains. Lines such as Carnival, Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have either ordered or put into service over 30 ships in a few years representing a tremendous capital investment (Prestige Travel Systems, 2007). The lure of cruise ships lies in their first class accommodations and immersing passengers into a totally contained package of luxury, gourmet meals, on ship shops, athletics, movies, entertainment, restaurants all while cruising to destinations. Carrying in the area of 4,000 passengers, with 10 to 15 decks, the typical cruise ship boosts in the area of 10 restaurants, 250 waiters, and most are the same size or larger than the Queen Mary 2 (Guardian Unlimited, 2006). Industry executives in the cruise ship sector report that projections in cruise ship travel forecast it to increase in 2007 (Cruise Critic, 2006). The growth of this segment is good news to brick and mortar travel agencies as airline travel booking has been and is shifting to the online sector.

The airline travel segment as a result of the Internet, and user penetration in the UK, 62.5%, has seen an increase in online bookings to the point where it now registers 53%, according to a survey conducted by Accenture (2005). The Report stated that 63% of respondents have booked hotels online, and that nearly two-thirds of those responding to the survey indicating that they expect to increase their use of low cost airlines where price is the primary consideration (Accenture, 2005). One of the key facets uncovered is that consumers are highly price sensitive and that since the 2003 survey it was noted that there has been a significant shift to online bookings from a live agent (Accenture, 2005).

Table 5 – Primary Method of Booking Business Travel

(Accenture, 2005)

Online

53%

Phone with a live agent

27%

In person

12%

Other

8%

Table 6 – Internet Use for Flight Arrangements

(Accenture, 2005)

Research flight times and availability

79%

Purchase airline tickets

66%

Update and or change reservations

28%

Specify personal flight preferences

26%

Airline check in

22%

Access account history or receipts online

19%

None of the above

12%

Other

2%

Table 7 – Personal Travel Preferences, Airline Type

(Accenture, 2005)

Major network carriers

48%

Low cost airlines

46%

Not applicable

5%

Other

1%

The foregoing indicates a high do it yourself mode in airline bookings whereby the comparisons are rather straight forward. Features incorporated into online sites such as arranging your own seating has proved to be extremely popular, as has the printing of boarding passes and tickets (Economist, 2005). In fact, many online travel agencies are offering more than simply travel tickets and accommodations. Some have gifts shopping, hotel ranking sites, comments from other travelers, tickets to events and more, all in the effort to make the experience personable and get consumers to either remain on the site longer or return (Economist, 2005). As indicated under Table 6 – Internet Use for Flight Arrangements, 79% of Internet users utilize online sites to research flight times and availability, while 66% actually purchase tickets. Naturally the more comfortable one

A marketing environment comprises of macro and micro elements. Marketers should consider both internal and external environments to understand the whole of the market in which they want to sell their products or services (Masterson and Pickton, 2004).

Normally, in a time of recession, customers do not spend too much money on overseas holidays (Mintel, 2009), because they see them as a luxuries. One could expect, therefore, customers would prefer take short city breaks or a domestic holiday. Businessman also may choose budget priced accommodation for their business trips.

Moreover, consumer-spending power has diminished, as they have had to ‘draw-in’ their purse strings, although levels of personal disposable income have been maintained to a degree because of historically low interest rates. Mintel(2010) estimates that personal disposable income stagnated between 2004 and 2009. The hotel industry has been notably affected by the recession.

Environment analysis using such models as, PRESTCOM, Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT Analysis and Segmentation can be used to examine the effect of the recession upon the hotel industry and for this reason models will be used in this report.

2.1.1 POLITICAL

Up to 1978, the hotel industry developed rapidly but after that date, the economy increasingly became market-oriented. This improvement created a much better environment for the industry in which to develop (Hornsby, 1990).

According to Kotler (1996), the political environment strongly affects the hospitality industry. The political environment is comprised of laws, government agencies and pressure groups that influence and limit the activities of various organisations and individuals in society.

Furthermore, the EU has proposed plans to sponsor holidays for individuals who do not have enough money to travel. According to Travel Weekly (2010), these plans assist many customers with financial problems to have a holiday. For example, young persons aged from 18 to 25, disabled people and pensioners, etc. The idea to help these people travel was put forward by Antonio Tajani, the EU Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, who declared that a holiday is a human right.

Therefore, this proposal could actually stimulate consumption and offer individuals more opportunities to have holidays. Perhaps this might be good news for the hotel industry during the recession.

2.1.2 REGULATORY

An environment that is regulated protects companies from each other. While most businesses praise the virtues of competition, they try to counteract it when it affects them. Another way is try to restrict a company’s unfair dealings and illegal transactions. Furthermore, regulation also aims to protect consumers from unfair business practices. If unregulated, firms might provide unsafe, low quality products, poor services, be untruthful in their advertising or deceive through packaging and pricing.

VisitBritain, the body, which aims to promote UK tourism, has launched a ?6.5 million advertising campaign outside the UK to promote the affordability of Britain as a destination. However, it calls for this investment to be matched by the UK government have so far been unsuccessful (Mintel, 2009).

Moreover, hotel and restaurant taxes have become a popular source of revenue for local government. Hotel taxes are supposed to be used to support tourism; however, how this money is spent has been subject to liberal interpretation. Therefore, hotel managers should make sure that these taxes, which are designated to promote tourism, are used properly and effectively.

2.1.3 ECONOMIC FACTORS

One factor that complicates the situation is the weakness of the pound against the Euro and Dollar. Sterling has lost value rapidly over the last year. In July 2008, one pound would still buy $2 but by November 2008, it was worth only $1.48, the lowest level for 6 years. Similarly, at one point the pound was almost equal in value to one Euro. While this is bad news for people buying goods or travelling outside the UK, it also means that UK goods and services become more attractively priced from the point of view of Euro Zone or USA travellers (O’Grady, 2008)

The economical environment is comprised of the following factors:

Wage inflation: During a recession wages might increase. It is depends upon decisions to cut or increase wages that are made by employers. Therefore, hotel managers should pay more attention to income distribution as well as average earnings.

Price inflation: In a recession, if the economy declines then commodity prices will rise. This factor will influence the decisions customers make whether to travel or not.

Gross domestic product per capita (GDP): The most important economic factors are customer’s purchasing powers and spending patterns. GDP can indicate the magnitude of these factors, because total purchasing power depends on current incomes, prices, savings and credit. Hotel managers, therefore, must be aware of major trends in income and changing consumer-spending patterns.

Exchange rates: The UK economy has weakened, the value of the pound against the Euro has decreased and therefore, customers might choose domestic tourism for their holidays.

Even during a recession, customers still holiday but prefer to take short breaks to reward themselves. Mintel’s Annual Survey of Spending Priorities in 2009 showed that holidays remain the leading concern for consumers, despite the recession.

Furthermore, all other leading consumer priorities showed little change compared to pre-recessionary times.

Specifically, hotels in the UK appear relatively cheap since the fall in the value of sterling and hence more attractive to inbound travellers and tourists. At the same time, this means it is less attractive for UK holidaymakers to travel to the Euro Zone or USA and more attractive to stay at home.

2.1.4 SOCIAL FACTORS

The age profile of the UK population is increasing. Furthermore, Mintel’s (2009) exclusive consumer research reveals that older adult usage of budget hotels is slightly below the national average; however, it is somewhat more than for young people.

However, even during the recession, some people remain unaffected and they still stay in luxury hotels, such as, the Ritz or the Hilton. They do not care about the cost because they lead a luxurious lifestyle. Although these people have not changed their pattern of consumption, however, most customers will be affected by the recession and they might prefer to choose budget and not mid-range hotels when they travel.

2.1.5 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS

Technology has a significantly affected the hotel industry in many ways, for example, Travelodge launched a free iPhone application that allows users to locate their five nearest Travelodges by GPS. They can see the availability, prices and book rooms. Moreover, customers can reserve their accommodation or check-in by via internet. In addition, they can obtain information via new platforms, such as, Facebook or Twitter. These and other technological advances help companies to become more effective in the marketplace, however, internet penetration levels and demographic breakdowns might make operators use of this distribution channel ever more viable. If firms adopt useful technological advances, they will gain a competitive edge.

2.1.6 COMPETITION FACTORS

Since hotels are a service industry, human resources have become an indispensable element of the market. If the turnover ratio of employees is low, the centripetal of employees will be strong. As a result, the company will have the advantage of competition.

The main substitutes who could replace the customers’ decision in the UK hotel market are those from other countries. Foreign customers may plan to visit the UK from places where they live, such as, France and Spain. However, Country House or Bed & Breakfast hotels and so on which could also threaten substitutes in the UK domestic hotel industry.

Hotels find themselves with different problems compared to their entrants. These problems include a high barrier of exit and entry costs with the investment. Thus, the large capital investment required to build a hotel represents a sunk cost.

Hotels may not meet all their debt payments, taxes and other fixed costs but they can produce enough profit to cover their costs. Even they are perhaps prepared to operate at a loss rather than close their doors completely. However, when there is an oversupply of hotels but the total number of rooms remains the same, the result will be a price war within the industry.

2.1.7 ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS

A Hotel manger should decide how to engage with the process of hostelry management using his/her capability and skills and be able to adjust and develop it to adapt to customer needs and preferences. For example, if a hotel could provide a high quality service or promote a particular customer-desirable activity then client return ratio will be increased. However, the problem that faces the hotel industry is recruiting qualified staff that can satisfy the standard of service required by customers. Most service employees lack the knowledge and skills to provide a service that meets international standards. This may be because employees have not received adequate training in the skills that are required.

For instance, Whitbread has decided to open 1,700 Premier Inn rooms across the UK during 2009 and 2010. Whitbread is planning to increase their market share of the UK hotel industry. It will attempt to achieve this by building up its market position and providing customers with cost-effective packages (Mintel, 2009). It also plans to develop their booking platform, enhance their sales and put into place the next phase of its revenue management system.

2.1.8 MARKET FACTORS

In the market sector, the most important thing is the customer; firms should affirm the clients they want to reach and their market segmentation.

At the end of 2007, the UK hospitality as well as the hotel industry worldwide had been hardly affected by the recession and many commentators predicted that this would last until at least 2010. In the course of a few months, by early 2009, consumers had radically changed their attitudes and consumption. The optimism that had been expressed earlier could not be sustained (Mintel, 2009).

The number of business travellers choosing budget hotels for their commercial trips is increasing. Moreover, the start of this trend corresponds to the beginning of the recession in 2008. Many companies have reduced their budget for commercial travel in response to recessionary conditions; therefore, commercial travellers now use budget hotels rather than mid-market ones.

‘Green holidays’ and the effect of frequent air travel upon the environment are being raised as concerns (Bainbridge, 2009). Customers who want to reduce the effects of their pollution upon the environment choose to holiday within the UK (Bainbridge, 2009). However, these concerns are not entirely beneficial for the UK hospitality industry because overseas tourists share these beliefs, so this could reduce inbound tourism into the UK.

Saving the environment, however, is currently a relatively low priority for most consumers but studies indicate that ‘green issues’ will gradually become more important in the future (Key Note, 2009).

A previous study has claimed that more customers prefer to holiday in the UK because of ‘green’ considerations and as an alternative to flying abroad. Therefore, in 2008, travellers might choose the ferry to holiday as a ‘greener’ alternative (Key Note, 2009).

Budget hotels have made important investments in order to close the gap with mid-market brands. The three top most improved brands in terms of advertising awareness are Premier Inn, Travelodge and Holiday Inn Express.

2.2 SWOT analysis
2.2.1 Strengths

The UK, like many other countries, after rapid economic growth with an open policy has now become one of the world’s most attractive places for travellers. On a positive note, the hotel market in the UK is a strong and sophisticated one that offers a wide range of options, which could meet different types of customer needs. This includes internationally famous brands as well as smaller individual enterprises. Moreover, there is a powerful promotion and support system in place for tourists through organisations, such as, VisitBritain.

Moreover, the range of hotels offering different prices could meet individual consumer needs. Luxury, middle range, budget and even the country house hotel could satisfy every consumer. In addition, the growth of the budget hotel sector opened up a wider range of clients to the hotel market.

In the past ten years, due to the rise in the level of consumers’ disposable incomes, the short – break leisure market has grown. This phenomenon has allowed customers to have more domestic holiday choice and encourage travel within the UK. This trend has proven very positive for the hotel industry.

Another factor that has strengthened the hotel market is the online reservation system. Customers are able to search for information, accommodation and book rooms online. This system is not only convenient for customers it is also efficient.

2.2.2 Weaknesses

Profitability is a major concern for hotels. They worry about losing money during the course of chain operations. In addition, there remains an absence of an efficient system to monitor hotel management, which includes employees and retired employees etc (Gavin, 1997).

The existing weaknesses in the hospitality industry are described below.

Recession has been the influential factor from 2004 to 2009. As noted by Keynote (2010), the number of visits peaked in 2007 but fell during 2008 by one million.

In the face of room oversupply, occupancy rates averaged approximately sixty percent but this figure fell by eight percent during 2007 to 2008 (Keynote, 2010). In an attempt to counter this fall, prices were reduced but this may diminish profitability.

Mid-market hotels are coming under pressure, being squeezed, between budget and luxury hotels. Competition in the mid- and budget hotel market is becoming more intensive and probably there will be a price war.

The performance of the global economy has a direct influence on the cost of hotel equipment. These costs have been rising and consequentially the financial burden has become heavier.

2.2.3 Opportunities

Many tourist and hotel officials now believe that the UK will become the world’s most attractive visitor destination by 2011. This is considered an encouraging sign and a great opportunity for those who want to expand their hotel business in the UK. Any expansion is anticipated to be within the mid- or low-grade hotel sector. The demand for high star rated luxury hotels among the various hotel management groups is not expected to rise (WTO, 1999).

In late 2008, the pound fell against foreign currencies and was very nearly equal to one Euro. This means that UK services, including hotels and tourist attractions have become more attractive to overseas tourists as they get more value from their Euros or dollars.

The development of a global online reservation system will not only make hotels easily reachable but also provide an opportunity to access a wider client base.

According to Keynote (2008), the age profile of the UK population is increasing. Many consumers that belong to this enlarged senior sector of the population have disposable assets, which they use to enjoy their leisure. In addition, the number of retirees is rising, which will have a positive effect upon the hotel market.

In the next decade, due to a number of organized activities, such as, the 2012 London Olympics, more attention will be paid to the UK by the international market and it is anticipated that this will promote a growth in demand from overseas visitors for accommodation.

Few leisure facilities, for example, restaurants and bars can cope with any extra business and, therefore, they are unable to create potential sales from the local area and hotels.

2.2.4 Threats

Since 2004, the long-stay leisure market, that is, stays involving five nights or more has been in decline. Moreover, the number of long-stay hotel rooms booked in 2008 decreased by more than a half compared to 2006, at eleven million (BMRC, 2009).

The threat of terrorist activities could discourage overseas travellers to stay in the UK.

The success of the budget hotel sector is a threat to mid- and upmarket hotel chains. During the recession, customers may choose low price accommodation for their tourism. For example, self-catering and other less expenditure styles of accommodation manifest a big threat at this time.

Some budget airline companies that offer low-priced flights to travellers for short weekend breaks may compete with domestic travel in the UK.

2.3 Porter Five Forces

The structure of the hotel industry strongly affects competition between its members, which in turn directs decisions about the choice of strategies that are used by them. Therefore, Porter’s Five Forces analysis will be used to investigate the industry.

New Entrants

Government policies against entrants

Fixed cost is huge

Hard to access further credit

Investments cannot be recovered immediately

Buyers

Large hotel, power low; Small hotel, power high

Customers as a group have more power

Sign contract gain more bargaining power

Suppliers

Bargaining power depends on the size of the hotel

Unique technology and resources

Switching costs

Competitors

Competition within luxury, mid-market and budget hotels

Customers change consumption to budget hotels.

Little effect on luxury hotels

Substitutes

Camping, caravan clubs, B&B and country houses etc

Camping and Caravan clubs had their best ever year in 2008

An attractive option for the budget conscious consumer

The analysis includes the threat of new entrants, competitive rivalry within the industry, the threat of substitutes and the bargaining powers of buyers and suppliers.

2.3.1 The threat of new entrants

Suitable hotel sites are not easy to find and building costs are very high. Furthermore, investments cannot immediately be recovered, especially during the period of construction. This factor represents a strong barrier to entering this market. The UK has enjoyed some of its highest periods of growth in property prices in recent years. The construction industry has been badly affected by the latest recession.

Developers are hardly able to gain credit to support large scale building schemes; therefore, many hotel projects have stalled (Blitz, 2009).

Aside from new developments, hotel managers who are unable to access further credit are finding things more difficult. Larger operators and branded chains are able to look to the medium and long-term over which a boom for hotels and travel are predicted due to emerging markets but smaller operators have less access to the resources that they will need in order to survive the next couple of years (Blitz, 2009). As a result, the threat of new entrants into hospitality industry is limited.

2.3.2 The competitive rivalry within industry

In economic downturns, competition occurs within upmarket, midmarket and budget hotels. Mid-market hotels usually cater for tourists who do not travel a lot; also, their rooms are priced much higher than in budget hotels. In general, when the economy is in recession, consumer-spending power is less, therefore, they might choose lower priced accommodation. At the same time, budget hotels continue with their strong development plans to offer extra rooms through the expansion of new property. The development of budget hotels has eroded the mid-hotel’s market sector.

However, the upmarket hotels have been little affected. Their customers are less likely to change their consumption patterns. The lifestyles of these customers engender very high consumption. Their expenditure would not change because they are not price sensitive. That is to say, no matter how prices changes, they will continue consuming.

2.3.3 The threat of substitutes

There are some substitutes in this market, such as, camping, caravan clubs and B&B and country houses. Mintel (2009) predicted that these holidays are an attractive option for budget conscious consumers. These substitutes will benefit from an increase in the number of families who because of financial reasons elect to stay in UK in 2009 and 2010. The Camping and Caravan Club market had their best ever year in terms of recruitment during 2008 (Mintel, 2009). Camping holidays are predicted to do rather better over the next few years before the long-term trend towards decline is re-instated. However, growth in this area might not be good news for the hotel industry, as by definition ‘a stay in a hotel’ does not count as such for this type of holiday.

2.3.4 The bargaining power of buyers

The hotel industry is faced by fierce competition. Companies will possibly sign a long-term contract with consumers to retain their customer base. Therefore, customers possess a strong bargaining power.

Behind large hotel groups, there are large amounts of capital to support them to buy land and build new hotels. Consequently, the bargaining power of consumers is quite low with respect to these large hotel groups. Conversely, for small hotels, the bargaining power of consumers is much greater, which means these establishments might find it harder to fulfil customers, expectations.

However, customers will segregate into two sectors, namely, individual and group.

Customers as individuals: This sector will divide into business travellers and individual tourists. Business travellers may have a long-term contract with a hotel, therefore the price for them could be pre-negotiated but for individual tourists, their bargaining powers are almost none.

Customers as a group: Groups usually book rooms through travel agencies, involving a large number of rooms and the travel agent takes the profit. However, the price is still much cheaper than for the individual. That is to say, their bargaining power is more than the independent tourist is.

2.3.5 The bargaining power of suppliers

There are two main bargaining powers in the industry, one is furniture and fittings and the other is food and cigarettes. They are outlined below.

Furniture and Fittings: When hotels purchase furniture; they typically establish criteria that they use. The number of pieces of furniture purchased is usually in bulk rather than separate items. Thus, orders must be relevant to the number of rooms they operate. For this reason, furniture is supplied by specialist contract providers, which are dedicated departments of businesses that already cope with the domestic market as well.

Food and Cigarettes: Many food and cigarette manufacturers have their own specialised sector that supply and deal with the demands of the hotel industry.

However, bargaining power is dependent on the size of the hotel. If a company has very many hotels then its bargaining power with its suppliers is enhanced. Conversely, if the company has few hotels then its bargaining power will be limited.

2.4 STP process—Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
2.4.1 Segmentation

According to Swarbrooke and Horner (1999), the tourist market is divided into demand characteristics within a number of the different segments, which are described below.

Family market: The definition of family means two parents with one to three children. The preference of many families is to minimise the cost that is required to meet their desire to have a vacation. However, these needs will depend on those of their children.

Hedonistic tourist: According to Kozak and Andreu (2006), the number of hedonistic tourists has increased in recent years. They prefer a place with sun, sand and sea, such as, Ibiza. In fact, they have a desire for physical pleasure and a social life.

The backpacker market: Backpackers generally keep their expenditure to a minimum; they have the time and want adventure as part of their holiday. Moreover, this tourist usually travels independently rather than in a group.

VFR (visiting friends and relatives): People do not stay in commercial accommodation and usually domestic travel is involved (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). This form of tourism could also relate to weddings and funerals. In particular, their budget is limited in a similar way to that of a normal holiday.

Excursionists or day-trippers: In general, these travellers do not travel far and it involves domestic transport. They would do not usually stay overnight.

Educational tourists: They usually travel to other countries, for example, for foreign culture, student exchanges or attending language classes.

Religious tourist: This form of tourism can be seen as obligation or duty for those who have faith and belief but recently traditional religious tourism has become, in part, a sightseeing tour, which visits churches and cathedrals (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). However, they usually visit the place at a specific time, such as, the Haj.

The snowbird market: The ‘snowbird’ refers to a tourist that travels during the winter, in order to avoid the cold weather. Retired people normally take this type of vacation because they have the time to travel.

Tourists with disabilities: According to Swarbrooke and Horner(1999), there are many kinds and degrees of disability, which include the following:

Mobility problems: These individuals are confined to a wheelchair and may have difficulty in climbing stairs.

Sight problems: These individuals have minor eye impairments and unclear vision.

Hearing difficulties: These individual have injuries to their ears and their hearing is impaired.

It is important that hotels have regard for these conditions and have someone available to assist them.

The short break market: This means tourists use their two-day weekend to have a vacation. According to Mintel (2007), the short break market is continuing to grow despite an overall stagnation in the growth of domestic tourism. It is forecast that the volume of the short break market will increase to 9.5 million and its monetary value will be ?2.5 billion by 2011.

Commercial travellers: They usually travel for business and generally involve domestic travel.

2.4.2 Targeting

In order to relate to the research objectives of this report as described in earlier in this chapter, the researcher will inquire into the budget hotels to investigate their target market.

Budget hotels focus upon three types of domestic tourists during economic downturns: commercial, family and short break. Budget hotel characteristics are relevant to these three types of tourists in terms of limited cost, clean and comfortable accommodation in which to live. In addition, the fact that there many chains are available in this sector means that travellers can be reassured regarding expectations and quality as they are buying into a brand name (Brotherton, 2004).

2.4.3 Positioning

According to Baines, Fill and Page (2008), positioning is important for a business because it differentiates it from other competitors. As Mintel (2010) argues, the first physical attributes of budget hotels for customers is that they have quality standards, consistent service and are located in many places, which are convenient to access. According to (Brotherton, 2004), the second positioning elements for budget hotels as perceived by customers are value for money, cleanliness and have a great brand reputation.

Marketing communication can be used to position brands as a strategy to attract customers (Shimp, 2003). Budget hotels position their brand, products and services via three basic consumer needs, such as, functional, symbolic and experiential (Keller, 1993). These are described below.

Functional needs: Budget hotel marketers adopt new technology and season sales to appeal to consumers’ needs for convenience, value for money, physical comfort, etc. These wants can met consumers’ functional needs and brand satisfaction.

Symbolic needs: Budget hotels appeal to symbolic needs with their desire or self-image to associate with the brand. For example, tidiness, cleanliness and efficiency, etc.

Experiential needs: Budget hotels use quality standards for accommodation to address the experiential needs for consistency and hygiene.

For a marketer, it is important to recognize that brands benefit by fulfilling these needs, even by a combination of any two. This project will investigate consumer attitudes toward the budget hotel market during a time of economic downturn and analysis how the recession affects consumers’ consumption patterns and budget hotel strategy.

Do major events bring lasting benefit to host community?
Introduction

Most promoters of bids for major events, such as the Olympic and Commonwealth Games or the world cup, submit as part of the reasoning behind the decision to bid the lasting benefits that it will bring economic benefit to the host community in the short and long term. Furthermore, this argument is used as a justification for the considerable involved in staging such events. For example, as can be seen from the budget and capital cost reports from Beijing, which is hosting the 2008 Olympics Games, whilst the operation of the games itself is targeted to make a small profit (see appendix 1, table 1), the construction and infrastructure costs have been estimated at over $1.4 billion (see appendix 1, table 2), which the BOCOG^[1] and Chinese government state will be recovered as a result of the longer term economic benefits that these costs will bring to the area, in terms of increased trade, employment, tourism, international and local trade and other local social community benefits.

However, whilst researchers of this issue appears to agree, at least for the immediate area where the event is located, for example Beijing, there is an immediate economic benefit during the staging of the events, there is a significant difference of opinion as to a) whether there is a economic benefit for the wider geographical area and b) whether there is a lasting economic benefit for the host community subsequent to the event. Within this paper it is intended to concentrate upon the latter of these two questions in an effort to prove or disprove the following hypothesis: –

“Events provide no lasting benefit to the host community.”

To assist with this analysis, it is intended to use data from the Olympics in Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004), together with brief references to the Beijing 2008 Olympics. To assess whether the case is true in relation to other major events, which may not have such a global attraction, the Manchester Commonwealth Games of 2002 have also been included within the selection.

Overview of Events

As can been noted earlier the operational costs of hosting a major event is sizable and, due to increasing concerns in areas such as security, which includes prevention of terrorism, these have increased significantly over the years (Baade and Matheson. 2002a, p.5). In terms of this expense Baade and Matheson (2002a, p.6) with Salt Lake City as spending $300 million, which must cast doubt on the appropriateness of the $50 million Beijing is planning to spend on this item (see appendix 1, table 1). Thus, it is not surprising that there has been a chequered history in terms of the profitability of staging such massive events. In recent history an example of these extremes can be foun, with Montreal recorded a $1 billion loss for the 1976 games whilst Los Angeles made a profit of $250 million for hosting the same event in the 1984. Nevertheless, in most cases the majority of these operational costs, with careful planning, marketing and promotion, are expected to be recovered from sponsorship and TV rights, which has the potential of bringing in over $1 billion in revenue in today’s terms, if measured against the past expectations CBS (1998).

These figures pale into insignificance when compared to the capital and infrastructure cost, which runs into Billion’s of dollars, the return on which cannot be so easily calculated. Thus, in order to achieve a national government commitment to assist with the funding of the event, it is the task of the promoters to attempt to show that these costs will have long-term economic benefits for the community. The following is a brief overview of the capital and infrastructure costs incurred by the four locations chosen for analysis.

Based upon 1996 prices, the total direct cost of the Sydney Olympics was calculated to be around A$8.4 billion, (Madden 2002, p.9), which relates to around US$4 billion, although when final figures were available this showed a similar increase against budget as Atlanta. In his study into these costs, Madden (2002, p.9), allocated them over a 12-year period from 1994/95 to 2005/06 as indicated in the following graph: –

As can be seen from this the majority of the monies post the event was spent on international tourism. Of these costs about $600 million was spent directly upon games visitors, and these would therefore have been recoverable from the games revenues. This leaves approximately $7.8 billion to be quantified as costs that should have a lasting economic benefit, in addition the benefits incurred during the event.

Athens 2004

The cost of the games in Athens, originally budgeted to cost $5.6 billion, actually rose to over $8.5 billion Associated Press (2004). Part of this additional cost was caused by an exceptionally large security costs which, being the first games to be held post the 9/11 tragedy, soared to $1.5 billion.

With Beijing budgeting to spend $14.25 billion on capital and infrastructure and $1.625 billion on operating costs making a total of just under $16 billion, although many experts are predicting that this figure will increase to over $20 billion, it is clear from the following graph that the costs of the games will have doubled with every staging of the event over a twelve-year period (see figure 1).

In 2002 Manchester played host to the Commonwealth games. Originally the budget for this event was set at around ?25 (approximately $50), but the final amount climbed to between ?70-80 million ($140-160 million). Of this amount ?17 million was spent on a performance legacy programme, deliberately targeted to produce long-term benefits for the community.

As the Olympic Games increases are significantly higher than the rate of inflation that any of these areas have suffered during the same period, it is apparent that the accuracy of forecasting the longer term economic benefits is becoming even more critical to both the organisers and the regional and national governments that are being asked to help fund these costs. Furthermore, as has been demonstrated with all of these events, the calculations of initial budgeting show considerable under-estimation when compared with the final costs, which suggests that the reliability of the organisers costs in relation to the longer term benefits

Long-term Economic Benefits

To determine whether the capital and infrastructure cost of an event has a long term benefit to the host community, the assessment of this process can only bet determined by the future economic development that occurs within that geographical location (Fort and Fizel 2004, p.91). Therefore to evaluate the hypothesis set at the commencement of this research, it is intended to use three of these factors, these being increase in GDP, employment and tourism activity.

GDP

Growth domestic product is an indicator that shows how well the economy is growing, usually based upon a per capita figure. One of the main arguments of those promoting the benefits of hosting an event is that it will contribute significantly towards improving that figure over future years. In reality, this does not appear to be the case when analysing the result for the events indicated.

In all cases there were economic improvements in terms of GDP during the periods leading up to the staging of the events, although in some instances, these were not as high had been projected. Similarly, in the longer term, these increases were not sustained. For example, taking Sydney and New South Wales as an example, as can be seen from the following graph, whist there was a significant rise in GDP during the years from 1994/05 to 2000/01, immediately the games were over, this fell back sharply to a year on year decrease.

Studies conducted by researchers into the Atlanta and Athens games, including Baade, Robert A. & Victor Matheson. (2002) and Gratton and Henry (2001) have shown a similar reaction in relation to the GDP in each of these cases, with rising levels during the build-up period to the games, but little to no benefit for the following periods.

This position also appears to be relevant to the economic effects of lesser events, as can be evidenced by the research into the benefits of the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 (Eurotec 2007). The initial impact was encouraging, as was noted by one of the organisers at the time, who said: –

“We estimated that ?22m in business benefits across the northwest derived from the Games at the time,” says Rosin. “There was ?2.7m added value for every ?1m invested. There has been investment in the financial sectors, in the city centre and in particular in east Manchester. Associated retail development and the creation of employment for local people in this area can be directly attributed to the Commonwealth Games” (Editorial (2007).

However, a graph of the impact on output of the games and legacy programme in this case (see figure 4) shows that, as with the Olympics, despite the initial benefits achieved prior and during the time the event was staged, in this case exceeding expectations, the longevity of this was short, with it falling away rapidly within one year.

It is apparent from these findings that the significant improvement to GDP would only be temporary in nature and as a result contributes little to the long term improvement of the local community environment (Fizel et al 1999, p.75). Assuming that a study of other events of a similar magnitude to those identified operated upon a similar basis, it is therefore apparent that the GDP benefit would be condensed into the period of the event and limited thereafter,

Employment

Tourism

Tourism is another area against which the success of the games can be measured. Whilst, in most cases there is an increase in the physical numbers of tourists visiting the area in the years leading up to the event and subsequently, the benefit of this has to be evaluated against the additional facilities that have been provided as a part of the capital and infrastructure costs. For example, if one looks at the Beijing games, the intention is to build sufficient hotels in the area to be able to offer 130,000 (BOCOG 2007). As this represents an increase of around 20% of the number of rooms that are available, whilst an increase in tourism will have an impact upon the local economy in some areas, unless it is in excess of 20%, it will have a detrimental impact upon the hotel and catering sector, which will either force down the unit price per room or result in a decrease in occupancy, either of which will reduce the fiscal benefit.

Thus the measurement of costs can be evaluated by either their socio-economic, environmental or the estimated direct future impact they will have on a countries gross domestic product (GDP). For Beijing, all of these improvements will therefore provide a useful economic legacy of the games if managed correctly. However, in addition to the intangible benefits, there are the intangible costs that also need to be measured, both in real terms and potential. These can be defined into two main areas being, local but external to the event, future but unanticipated.

In addition to the determinants outlined above, there are others than need to be taken into the equation to provide a more detailed analysis. For example, there is the potential displacement issue related to local residents at the time of the event, where homes are lost to make way for the additional infrastructure projects (Fizel 1999, p.72). Secondly, there is the long-term use of the facilities. In the case of Sydney, the authorities are still paying around $46 million a year to maintain facilities that have remained uneconomic since the event (Owen 2005). Finally, the impact that the event has on trade outside of the area also needs to be considered. Research has show that, whilst the immediately area businesses benefit from the event, others further away from its location tend to show a downturn during that period when events are being staged. (Owen 2005). These represent hidden costs that are a) not always taken into account by the bid promoters and b) difficult to quantify in terms of amount and the length of time that they should be calculated over.

Conclusion

The research conducted for this paper has been limited in terms of the events covered and the timescale over which these have been studied, being restricted to five events over a 12 year period from 1996 to 2008. However, from the analysis of the events used within this paper it can be seen that in the main, the hypothesis set at the commencement of this paper has been proven. Whilst most of the events showed an immediate economical benefit, this did not last for a significant period. Therefore, on balance of probabilities. we would agree with the statement made by Baade and Matheson (2002, p.28) which stated that “the evidence suggests that the economic impact of the Olympics is transitory, onetime changes rather than a ‘steady-state’ chane.,” Similarly, with the increasing costs of operating and staging these events showing every sign of continuing to escalate, the opportunity to reverse this trend will become even more difficult in the immediate to long term future, especially when one takes into account the fact that even the cost of the London Olympics has exceeded the budgeted estimates.

There appears to be two main reasons for the differential between the projected benefits and the actuality. The first of these relates to the accuracy of initial estimates, which as has been shown within the costings of the events studied, is significantly lower than they should be, which could be result from an effort to make the bids more attractive to the community and nation hosting the event or as a result of problems being experienced within the project management process. Secondly, it would appear that the economic determinants being used by the organisers are failing to pay enough attention to the results of previous events when creating their own model. All of these issues need to be addressed when making such projections and it will be interesting to revisit the issue following the Beijing games in 2008 to see whether any lessons have been learned in this respect. These issues have to be managed correctly if they are to stand a chance of producing a long term economic benefit (Humphreys and Hummer 1995, p. 6).

References

Arthur Andersen, Hospitality and Leisure Services, “The Sydney Olympic Performance Survey: The Sydney Olympic Games on the Australian Hotel Industry,” Mimeograph, November 2000, pp.1-7.

Associated Press (2004). Games cost Athens over $8.5 Billion. Retrieved 30 November 2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5761646/

Baade, Robert A. & Victor Matheson. (2002). Bidding for the Olympics: Fool’s Gold? In Transatlantic Sport, edited by Barros, Ibrahim, and Szymanski. Edward Elgar Publishing. New York, US.

Baade, Robert A. & Victor Matheson. (2002a). Mega-Sporting Events in Dveloping Nations: Playing the Way to Prosperity. Retrieved 30 November 2007 from http://www.williams.edu/Economics/wp/mathesonprosperity.pdf

CBS (1998). Television, sponsorship revenue could top $800 million. CBS Sportsline wire reports. Retrieved 27 November 2007 from http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/olympics/nagano98/news/feb98/revenue2398.htm

Country Update (2004). Practicality is the New Watchword as Beijing Olympics Projects Move Forward. Eunited Stataes Embassy, Beijing, China.

Editorial (2004). Beijing Olympiad: Profit or Loss? China Today. 5^th November. Retrieved 25 November 2007 from http://www1.china.org.cn/english/sports/111340.htm

Editorial (2007). Glasgow 2014 – the bid legacy – after the event. Glasgow Business Guide. Retrieved 1 December 2007 from http://www.glasgowbusinessguide.co.uk/show_article.php?artID=156

Eurotec (2007) An Evaluation of the Commonwealth Games Legacy Programme. Retrieved 2 December 2007 from http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/Evaluation_of_Commonwealth_Games_Legacy_programme.pdf

Finance (2007). BOCOG Budget. Retrieved 26 November 2007 from http://images.beijing-2008.org/upload/lib/bidreport/zt5.pdf

Fizel, John., Gustafson, Elizabeth and Hadley, Lawrence (1999). Sports Economics: Current Research. Praeger Publishers. Westport, US.

Fort, Rodney D and Fizel, John (2004). International Sports Economics. Praeger Publishers. Westport, US.

Gratton, Chris and Henry, Ian (2001) Sport in the City: The Role of Sport in Economic and Social Regeneration. Routledge. London, UK

Humphreys, Jeffrey L and Plummer, Michael K (2003). The economic impact of hosting the 1996 summer Olympics. Retrieved 1 December 2007 from http://www.selig.uga.edu/forecast/olympics/OLYMTEXT.HTM

Humphreys, Jeffrey M. and Michael K. Plummer (1995). The Economic Impact of Hosting the 1996 Summer Olympics. Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. Atlanta, US..

Madden, John R (2002). The Economic Consequences of the Sydney Olympics: The CREA/Andersen Study. Current Issues In Tourism. Vol 5, No 1, pp.7-21.

Owen, Jeffrey G (2005). Estimating the Cost and Benefit of Hosting the Olympic Games: What can Beijing expect from its 2008 Games. The Industrial Geographer. Fall 2005

Appendices

Appendix 1

Table 1 BOCOG operating Budget

Source: from http://images.beijing-2008.org/upload/lib/bidreport/zt5.pdf

Table 2 BOCOG Construction costs

Source: from http://images.beijing-2008.org/upload/lib/bidreport/zt5.pdf

1

INTRODUCTION

Destination marketing has been proven to be a successful approach to increase visitor numbers (e.g. Blum and Fallon 2002; Cortes-Jimenez, Blake, McCabe and Pratt, 2009). Islands have long been popular tourist destinations, (Sharpley, 2001). Prevailing literature reveals that their physical and climatic characteristics, combined with the less tangible elements of ‘island-ness’, insularity, strategic location, remoteness, traditions and enclave nature, create a particular allure to ever-increasing numbers of tourists, (Conlin and Baum, 1995; Lockhart, 1997a). Such singular characteristics give them a distinctive status among global tourism markets and can hence be used to their destination marketing advantage. ‘Destination marketing is an integral part of developing and retaining a location’s popularity’, (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006, p. 729) and to enhance sustained destination competitiveness, (Buhalis, 2000). Overall, destinations use a combination of marketing communication tools to support their strategies and alter themselves from others, (Zupanovic, 2007). Developments and innovations in such marketing tools have led to an improvement of marketing efficiency of small island nations, Martin, (2008). The methods of marketing tools that destinations use will depend on the types of the tourism product and the market characteristics, (Buhalis, 2000; Wang and Russo, 2007).

However, marketing efforts are being compromised as the increasing number of events and trends affecting the tourism industry in the global environment are becoming more complex and fast-paced (Faulkner, 2001). Small island destinations face particular challenges when seeking to compete in the global market, (Lopez and Baum, 2004). Destination marketers have to proactively shape, adapt to, and passively struggle (Courtney, 2001), through changes in customer preferences, fierce competitions, technological progress, (Bieger, 1998) and more recently through the prevailing global economic crisis. The biggest challenge for such economies lies in the pooling of resources especially as they face pressure on already limited funds (Gretzel, Fesenmaier, Formica and O’Leary, 2006). Nonetheless, such constraints can however be overcome by designing effective strategies with particular focus on their distinctive characteristics to adapt and survive on the global market, (Poon, 1993; Sheldon, 1997).

Tourism destination marketing is amongst the most prominent and influential means of inducing increasing visitation and maintaining stays within a destination, (Blum and Fallon, 2002; Cortes-Jimenez, Blake, McCabe and Pratt, 2009, p. 1). However, marketing activities requires intensive capital input and for small economies facing pressure on already limited funds and faced with increasing competition in the global market, the question of effectiveness emerges as a prime issue, critically in terms of assessing if and how marketing efforts affect consumer behaviour. Fotiou, Buhalis and Vereczi, (2002, p. 79), argued that islands are among the most frequently visited destinations in the world and in essence possess certain attributes that set them aside from mainland destinations.

Island tourism has been a subject of increasing interest to researchers in terms of its contribution to social and economic development and resulting impacts (Conlin and Baum 1995; Lockhart 1995; Russell 2006) as well as the debate about their sustainability (Weaver 2000; Bianchi 2004; Oreja-Rodriguez, Parra-Lopez and Yanes-Estevez, 2008) and questions of destination management (Keane, Brophy and Cuddy 1992). However, whilst destination marketing has been a relatively well-studied line of inquiry in the field of hospitality and tourism for many years, destination marketing issues and concerns for small island destinations remain relatively untouched as evidenced by the apparent lack of published research in this area. The latter henceforth provides the basis for the current study, which aims to review and evaluate the effectiveness of destination marketing campaigns in the Seychelles Islands, the challenges and opportunities faced by destination marketers and their responses to the radical changes taking place in the global environment to ensure destination marketing success in the future. In a climate where the future of destination marketing is under increased scrutiny, it is important that researchers extend this line of inquiry to all corners of the globe especially small island nations that are largely influenced and challenged by global forces.

Aims and Objectives

The aim of this study is to review and evaluate the effectiveness of destination marketing campaigns in Seychelles, the challenges and opportunities facing destination marketers and strategic solutions being employed.

Objectives

Review destination marketing activities and tools utilized in the Seychelles archipelago

Measure the effectiveness of destinations marketing campaigns in Seychelles from both destination marketers’ and visitors’ perspectives

Highlight key challenges and opportunities facing Seychelles’ destination marketers in face of the changing marketplace

Identify solutions and strategies being adopted in Seychelles for destination marketing success in the future

Relevance of Destination Marketing

With the general increase in island tourism in the Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean in the last two to three decades, individual island destinations are facing increasing competition from other islands offering similar products and targeting the same markets, (Pearce, 2008). The question therefore under scrutiny is how to market or brand an island to appeal to the global market and attract international capital. Ideally, destination marketing is conducted using a combination of marketing instruments with careful management of the four P’s (Product, Place, Price, and Promotion), which is done in accordance with consumers needs to woo and capture the right audience, (Zupanovic, 2007, p. 773). According to the WTO (2004: 10) ‘aˆ¦..destination marketing covers all the activities and processes to bring buyers and sellers together; focuses on responding to consumer demands and competitive positioning; is a continuous coordinated set of activities associated with efficient distribution of products to high potential markets; and involves making decisions about the product, branding, price, market segmentation, promotion and distribution ‘.

Destination marketing is usually the function of non-profit entities, so-called Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs), (Blumberg, 2000, p. 47) generally responsible for generating tourist visitation for a given area. However, since the destination comprise of ‘clusters’ of businesses, that offer experiences achieved through a combination of a diverse array of products and services, (Heath & Wall, 1994; Scott, Parfitt & Laws, 2000), destination marketing thus involves a plethora of stakeholders who are responsible for components of the total offer (Wang, 2008, p. 192; Goodall & Ashworth, 1997). Hence, destination is not only marketed on a collective basis by DMOs that ideally should represent the overall destination but also by individual stakeholders involved in the tourism industry who singly markets their own products, (Prideaux and Cooper, 2003, p. 37). Generally, both forms of marketing are essential but nonetheless, agreeing and maintaining a consistent image throughout individual promotions have become a concern, which thus requires DMOs to effectively consult and coordinate the conflicting interests of the different stakeholders in order to develop a destination image that is owned and utilized by all groups, (Beeton, 2005). Given the complexity and interdependency among stakeholders, (Soteriades and Avgeli, 2007, p.336), destination marketing is hence increasingly being undertaken using a collaborative approach connecting the various public and private stakeholders into working interactively and exchanging ideas, expertise and pooling of financial and human resources (Wang, 2008, p. 191; Palmer and Bejou, 1995; Selin & Myers, 1998), to provide an integrated ‘destination tourism product’. Such collaborative strategies can produce consensus and synergy, giving way to new opportunities and emerging innovative solutions and a greater level of effectiveness that would not have been achieved by solo undertakings as argued by Bramwell and Lane (2000). This is supported by Baker and Cameron (2008, p. 83) who claimed that collaboration between stakeholder is fundamental to success in destination marketing. These forms of cooperative are particular efficient especially in small island nations where a great challenge in destination marketing is often, as discussed by Bennett (1999), the lack of expertise, resources and flexibility.

Destination marketers, not exempting those of small island destinations, often use a myriad of traditional promotional sources with verbal and visual messages, (Perdue and Pitegoff 1994). Owing to the intangibility of tourism products, promotional materials are deemed significant given that they represent the ‘destination tourism product’ (MacKay and Fesenmaier 1997; Sirakaya and Sonmez 2000). Advertising is the most visible activity of destination marketers (Gee and Makens, 1985) and the most manifest form of promotion aimed at either consumers or the travel trade. Consumer advertising is mostly common, particularly using prints, television, radio, outdoor and predominantly the internet. With the increasing trend in internet use (Gretzel, Yuan, Fesenmaier, 2000, p.; Soteriades and Avgeli, 2007, p.339) and purchase of holidays online, the internet provides small island destinations to receive maximum visibility internationally and hence to help widen the scope and ways of reaching consumers from all over the world. However, one cannot disregard the crucial role of trade advertising for instance in travel magazines and newspapers. Personal selling is another prominent tool employed by destination marketers mostly conducted through travel trade for example trade shows, exhibitions and events, trade familiarization tours, training workshops, media trips, meetings and conventions, (Dore and Crouch, 2002, p. 137).

Sales promotion technique is used mainly by individual operators of tourism products whilst DMOs’ use of such technique is limited to facilitating promotional partnerships among organizations. Direct marketing methods have also been given prominence in destination marketing, (Murphy, 2003, P. 316) with increasing use of direct mail of destination brochures and visitor guides/magazines and the extensive use of global distribution systems and destination websites to facilitate communication and bookings. According to Dore and Crouch (2002, p. 137), publicity is normally seen to be of lesser importance relative to the aforementioned elements of the promotional mix. The authors argued that publicity campaigns can be useful in targeting and developing new market segments, capitalize on major events such as sporting events, to soften or reverse adverse trends such as the decline in leisure traveling following the prevailing economic crisis, or to improve poor public relations. Kotler, Armstrong, Brown and Adam (1998) identified publicity tools as news, speeches, special events, written and audio-visual materials which communicates the organization’s information to its public.

Despite the increasing use of technology, package vacations are still preferred and sought by most international tourists, (Budeanu, 2003, p. 94). For this reason, small island destinations also make use of intermediaries more particularly tour operators and travel agencies to sell their products in the international outgoing tourist markets, (Lopez and Baum, 2004, p.207). The latter further contends that tour operators have conventionally been important figures in tourism distribution channel serving small islands such as the Balearics, Canaries, and Turkey. Being an intermediary between the supply and demand sides and having higher credibility and ability to reach mass crowds, island destinations depend on tour operators to sell the existing capacity of tourism facilities, (Carey and Gountas, 1997, p. 426) given the extreme competitive rivalry in the global market. In their study on the Canary Islands, Lopez and Baum, (2004), found that organized package tours are still being used by most international leisure Europeans despite changes taking place in advances in technology of distribution.

Pricing plays an important role in determining the image of destinations. A wide range of pricing techniques are applicable to tourism destinations (Meidan, 1995; Kotler et al, 1996). However, pricing a destination is an extremely complex process because due to the fragmented nature of the tourism industry, it is determined by the pricing and marketing policies of individual firms at the destination and distributors in the country of origin, (Buhalis, 2000, p.17). Pricing can in essence deter or attract visitors, and thus pricing policies should be enforced on maintaining fairly standardized price structure. Due to their vulnerable economies, small island nations often overprice their tourism products in order to boost their profitability, (Buhalis, 1999b). For especially long haul island destinations, pricing plays a vital role in determining the willingness and ability of travelers to visit. However, as Buhalis, (2000, p. 18), argued destinations can only charge premium prices if they offer a unique experience. This can therefore justifies as Lockhart (1997, p. 4) states, ‘island tourism planners are now seeking to diversify away from the attraction of “sun, sea and sand”, which are typical of mass tourism, into special activity holidays and business travel characterized by higher spending patterns and niche segments of the market’. To support this, certain destinations e.g. Mauritius, Seychelles, are branded and promoted unique-exotic-exclusive as they are regarded to offer a unique, ‘one-in-a-lifetime’ experience and thus promoted premium prices, (Buhalis, 2000, p. 8).

Alternative marketing approach for small island destinations

In the context of small island destinations, the deployment of the basic traditional promotional mix is evidently not sufficient in face of a competitive market. Unlike developed, mainland destinations, islands rely exclusively on external markets for tourism given that their small size limits the potential for domestic tourism, (Reid and Reid, 1994, p. 42). Thus, accessing these markets using such conventional mass media tools requires substantial capital, (Ogilvy and Mather, 1988), economies of scale, management and marketing skills, presence in the electronic marketplace, among others, (Furr and Bonn, 1998; Buhalis, 1999; Main, 2002) which are already lacking in such nations. However, several authors are in consensus that small island nations have features and characteristics which give them a distinctive status among global tourism markets, (Reid and Reid, 1994; Baum, 1998; Lockhart, 1997; Lopez and Baum, 2004). These dissimilarities have strong implications upon marketing initiatives which they must utilize in order to attract visitors and thus compete in the global market, (Baum, 1998, p.121). Remoteness, perceived ‘difference’, smaller size, slower pace of life, distinct culture, exotic wildlife, and pristine environment are some of the basic distinctive attributes of islands (Baum, 1997; Lockhart, 1997). Such attributes have the potential to appeal to a particular spectrum of visitors, and often small sun-drenched, white-sanded, palm-fringed paradises like the Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives predominates visitors’ interests in search of distant and exotic locations. Butler (1993: 71) professed that the islands’ appeal ‘may relate to the very feeling of separateness and difference, caused in part by their being physically separate, and perhaps therefore different from adjoining main-lands. Where such physical separateness is accompanied by political separateness, the appeal can be expected to increase, and given people’s desires for the different while in pursuit of leisure, different climates, physical environments and culture can all be expected to further the attractiveness of island tourism destinations’.

A major element in the success of small island destinations thus will be their ability to develop and project a unique and recognizable brand (Prideaux and Cooper, 2003), that represents value in the eye of the customer based on the above distinctive characteristics and advantages. Morgan, Pritchard and Piggott, (2002, p.335) identified destination branding as ‘the most powerful marketing weapon available to contemporary destination marketers’ due to ‘increasing product parity, substitutability and competition’. This is confirmed by several authors arguing that destination branding is a sound framework to manage the destination image ( Kavaratzis, 2004), and that branding is at the very heart of destination marketing strategy (Pike, 2004). Successful brand logos not only enhance a strategic market position but also create an emotional bond between the target markets and the destination, (Williams, Gill and Chura, 2004). This view is echoed by Morgan and Pritchard (2004) who purported that it is crucial to build a brand on values that connect a destination to the consumer in a unique way that the competition cannot surpass, as Rome and Paris have done.

Another key marketing weapon at the disposal of island destination is bringing environmental and social development responsibility to the product as suggested by Bennett (1999, p. 54). Given their geographical isolation, island destinations have more scope for preservation of eco-systems and environmental control which gives an island unique physical characteristic (Reid and Reid, 1994, p. 44). Therefore potentials of eco-tourism are great given that it is one of the fastest-growing niche markets in the travel industry, (Kotler, Bowen, Makens, 2006). The Seychelles Islands, for instance is mostly cited as a good example of eco-tourism by Fotiou, Buhalis and Vereczi, (2002) in their study ‘Sustainable development of ecotourism in small islands developing states (SIDS) and other small islands’. Moreover, while islands are constraint by their size which limits tourism growth, the same characteristics may confer a sense of community and personalized ties (Wheeller, 1991) which are essential to boost the preservation of local culture and identity, an important aspect in achieving distinctiveness. Their small size also makes it feasible to offer highly personalized service which is a key feature of small islands tourism (Reid and Reid, 1994, p. 42) and highly sought by travelers. Bennett (1999, p. 54) argued that destinations that behave responsibly in ensuring that tourism both benefits local communities and is conducted in an environmentally sound manner will outsmart those that do not.

Market characteristics

Developing a marketing mix for destinations will vary according to each destination and especially the types of target markets. Firstly, understanding destination types and characteristics is of vital importance for its marketing. Each particular destination will be able to match certain types of demand only and therefore, understanding travel motivations is crucial in order to develop appropriate products and brand destinations for the right target markets, (Buhalis, 2000, p. 5). The same author asserted that destinations should not be aware only of the needs and wants of the existing customers but also of potential ones they can attract. A product portfolio can then be developed, which will enable the maximization of benefits and adaptation of the marketing mix to the target markets, (McKercher, 1995; Tribe, 1997). A perusal of relevant consumer behavior literature reveals that tourism products are selected according to a wide range of criteria. These criteria are altered according to the purpose and features of the trip, elements of the external environment, the characteristics of the traveler and the particularities and attributes of destinations (Gilbert, 1991 and 1993; Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999; Goodall, 1988 and 1991; Kent,1991; Mansfeld,1995; Mayo and Jarvis, 1981; Sirakaya et al, 1996; Mazanec, 1989; Mazanec, and Zins, 1994; Moutinho, 1987, Ryan, 1997, Woodside, and Lysonski, 1989).

For the purpose of this research, three market characteristics have been identified and discussed. Firstly, geographic origin represents the basis for collecting and interpreting tourism data in most regions as it seems to offer information relevant to developing marketing strategies, (Reid and Reid, 1994, p. 52). Substantive differences exist in seasonal and destination visitation patterns among nations. For instance, it has been accounted that USA, Canadian, UK and European tourists to the Caribbean islands differ along several dimensions, including: average daily expenditure, length of stay, season visitation patterns, type of accommodation patronized, kind of meal package used and number of countries visited per trip (North American Demand Study of Tourism, 1983; European Tourism Demand Study Update, 1983; Caribbean Tourism Statistical Report, 1987; Bogino, 1979; U.S. Travel Service, 1978). Hence, origin markets provide destination marketers with substantial information to develop marketing strategies.

Secondly, the purpose of travel also serves as a significant variable affecting visitor behavior. Reid and Reid, (1994, p. 41) argued that given their geographical isolation and small size, island destinations appeal mostly to leisure travelers, especially the ‘allocentric’. These consumers seek authentic and unique experiences and are willing to pay a premium for such, (Buhalis, 2000, p. 17). This is supported by Baum (1998), who contended that islands do provide a sense of adventure to travelers and are perceived by visitors to offer a significantly different environment to their mundane lives. Therefore, visitors’ expectations when visiting island destination would be driven by their perceptions of an undisturbed phenomenon of nature, (Valentine, 1992), which encompasses a range of tourism experiences including adventure and ecotourism, (Priskin, 2003, p. 501). The exploitation of such differential opportunities should therefore be at the heart of marketing policies in island destination through enhancing and emphasizing on their uniqueness.

Lastly, the marketing literature reveals that visitors with different experiences (e.g. potential, first-time and repeat visitors) have different information, perception, image and demand about a destination, (Wang, 2004, p. 103). In an empirical study conducted on ‘Tourism marketing management in small island nations’ by Reid and Reid, (1994), it was argued that characteristics of repeat visitors deserve particular attention due to high repeat visitation levels reported for island destinations. Such characteristics have several implications for marketing as underlined by findings in the literature that it is more effective to attract repeat visitors than it is to gain new ones, Oppermann, (1998), as it implies lower investment in time, money and creativity in contrast to pursuing new markets. Moreover, the distinctive buying behavior signals the ability of a destination to generate loyalty in the form of repeat visits. The important issue thus is acquiring knowledge of repeat visit characteristics such as visitation frequency, visit duration and period and size market to help focus on a market concentration strategy, (Reid and Reid, 1994, p. 51). However, destinations should not ignore the potentials of expanding their market base by targeting new visitors as such can open profitable avenues for them.

Overview of Seychelles and its marketing strategies as a tourist destination

Seychelles is a Unique Archipelago comprising of around 115 islands in the Western Indian Ocean. Till-to-date, tourism remains the pillar of the country’s economy, through direct and indirect contributions to GDP and through inflows of foreign currency including tourism receipts and foreign direct investment. As a tourism destination, Seychelles offer an ever-expanding kaleidoscope of experiences to visitors seeking quality and diversity as well as unrivalled opportunities for global investors. With the islands’ distinctive natural features and home to a diversity of endemic and indigenous species, the archipelago is well-known for its sound environmental protection which forms the basis for inbound tourism. However, although much emphasis is placed on preserving the ecological marvels and natural purity of the islands, Seychelles offers a multitude of modern tourism facilities, services, infrastructures and attractions.

Promoting tourism to the Seychelles was entrusted to the Seychelles Marketing Authority (STMA) established in June 1999 as the official destination marketing organization representing the local community. Since the year 2000, Seychelles had largely been marketed under a black and white campaign using the slogan ‘as pure as it gets’, with the focal point of Seychelles’ ‘untouched beauty and natural perfection’. The brand logo of the campaign was represented by four circles symbolizing the lush green tropical islands, the white beaches, the coral reef, and the Indian Ocean. Since then, the marketing function was driven by the collective local expertise supported by international marketing experts and Seychelles Representation Offices overseas. A myriad of marketing tools was employed including magazine and website advertising as well as joint promotions with stakeholders, which featured highly evocative black and white imagery to portray Seychelles’ Unique Selling Points (USPs) and as the preferred long-haul ‘Sun, Sea, Sand’ destination for the affluent visitors.

In 2005, the destination marketing function was conferred to the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) which in 2008 became a parastatal organization after it was handed over to the private sector whilst the government moved back to being the ‘facilitator’ of the industry. At the onset of its establishment, STB continued in pursuing the tasks of the previous DMO until 2007 where it unveiled a new tourism brand bearing the slogan, ‘Not just another place, another world’. The underlying aim was to move away from the traditional promotion of Sun, Sea, Sand, to reflecting the diversity of Seychelles as the World’s only mid-ocean granitic islands and depicting the range of attractions and activities that are part of the Seychelles experience. With this, STB embarked on an aggressive program to revise and further enhance its traditional marketing tools to re-launch the destination in a bid to ensure that Seychelles is recognized as one of the most desirable tourist destinations in the world. With this saw changes towards a fully-fledged e-marketing section, greater enforcement on Seychelles’ USPs and the launching of the ‘Affordable Seychelles Campaign’ in March 2009 at the ITB trade fair in Berlin to help promote the country’s smaller establishments under the brand name ‘Seychelles Secrets’.

Whilst destination marketing has been a relatively well-studied line of inquiry in the field of hospitality and tourism for many years, destination marketing issues and concerns of small island destinations remain relatively untouched as evidenced by the apparent lack of published research in this area. The latter henceforth provides the basis for the current study, which aims to review and evaluate the effectiveness of destination marketing tools in the Seychelles Islands. References are made to other practical researches whilst exploring the theoretical and research issues related to destination marketing

METHODOLOGY

Given the descriptive nature of the research, both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. A plethora of academic journals and books were reviewed to provide a comprehensive review of destination marketing studies in small island destinations and to present additional perspectives to the field of inquiry at both conceptual and methodological levels. Primary research included both qualitative and quantitative methods.

The sampling method of this study was twofold. First the study’s focus necessitated a sample of organizations whose roles and purpose paralleled the research topic. The first subsample thus consisted of organizations that are directly involved in marketing the Seychelles destination selected using a non-probability quota sampling. The targeted organizations were the Seychelles Tourism Board, Travel Agencies, Airlines and Hotels. The research subjects were then conveniently selected as per the size of the marketing department. A total of 25 participants were targeted for the first subsample. Secondly, a non-probability, convenience sampling was used for the second subsample which composed of tourists’ respondents visiting the Seychelles during the period with a sample population of 100 subjects. Given the size of the archipelago and the time frame of the research, the number of research subjects was assessed as satisfactory.

Two separate self-administered questionnaires were developed for the study designated for the two subsamples. The relevant literature and survey instruments developed by past researchers provided the basis for developing the questionnaires. A response rate of 64% was recorded for the organizations and 83% for tourists’ respondents. Statistics were analyzed by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. The results have been elucidated by means of descriptive statistics and cross tabulations. Content analysis was employed to analyze the data derived from open-ended questions.

Globalisation and the Internet have changed every aspect of the tourism and leisure industry – from marketing and communication channels to booking and hospitality services. Many of the previous strategies employed by the industry no longer are effective because of these new market forces. Organisations within the tourist and leisure industry must be attuned to the shift in consumer and business trends related to where they seek information and book their travel in order to maintain or grow their businesses. Companies should also be aware of how various communication channels can be leverage to attract specific regional tourist markets. This paper examines both traditional and innovative communication channels – print, media, Internet, agencies and booking companies, and word-of-mouth – to distinguish between what is effective and non-effective now and in the near future based on specific trends that are currently influencing the industry’s evolution. As the research found will illustrate, the effectiveness or non-effectiveness of each channel is linked to the travel stage – from planning and booking to the destination experience and journey home.

Traditional communication channels within the travel industry have centred on booking agencies an shops, print media and advertising, marketing collateral, and television and radio. When it comes to the destination experience, word-of-mouth, travel kiosks, and tourist centres are other traditional channels that seem to work well.^[1] These channels were – and, to a certain extent, still – able to provide brand promotion, nurture customer relationships, and offer a “value proposition.”^[2] In relation to marketing efforts, traditional channels “follow a passive one-to-many communication model, whereby a company reaches current and potential customers through the broadcasting of the same message.”^[3] However, in terms of today’s marketing strategies, there are a number of reasons why this channel is not effective: “uncustomised message to every consumer, wasted exposures to uninterested audiences, and ‘noise’ distraction from competing and conflicting messages.”^[4] Additionally, traditional mass media formats of print, television and radio do not offer the new demands for interactivity, flexibility, and accessibility.^[5]

In terms of booking travel, these channels may still attract a certain demographic of travellers, but they mediums do not reach the potential audience that might be possible if more innovative channels were utilised. This is because of a movement related to consumer preferences from the “High Street” to the Internet.^[6] In addition, these channels could also be considered ineffective based on their inability to maximise monetary resources. These channels can also be ineffective in that they do not build repeat business or encourage long-term relationships with customers because there is an inability to develop specific, customised communications. Print, television and radio tend to be more expensive while booking agencies and shops tend to produce higher overhead costs, making these more expensive than some of the newer methods of communication that rely on technology to reach more people while minimising the cost of using these channels. The traditional methods of communication tend to be more fragmented, reducing the level of brand recognition and equity that could be achieved through some of the more innovative channels.^[7]

One aspect where traditional communication channels may still be effective is with destination guides and services once travel has been booked and the trip has commenced. For example, it is estimated that 60-70 per cent of visitors to the UK will still use travel books and guides while 10-20 per cent will still seek Tourist Information Centres or related “in person” service to get their information.^[8] While 25 per cent may utilise the Internet or a mobile device while others will use a combination of traditional and technology communication channels to find information about their destination while travelling,^[9] traditional channels seem to be more effective during this part of the experience.

There are signs, however, that indicate that technology may enable these communication channels to become more effective in addressing travellers who are seeking unique destination experiences and on-demand information. While basic information, such as specifics on major attractions, hotels, restaurants, and the like, will still be sought, there may be a need to also supply information on unique places, opening and closing times, special exhibitions, and smaller attractions.^[10] As travellers become more technologically savvy, the traditional methods may no longer satisfy demand. As one study noted:

For example, growth is being realised in handheld devices that “combine cell phone voice communication, Internet access and global positioning – enabling visitors ‘en route’ to a destination to access product information and make bookings; to put together itineraries; and to relate their position quickly to nearby services (theatre, restaurants, attractions, events, etc.^[11]

Those destination service organisations currently focused on traditional communication channels may want to start strategising on how to incorporate new channels into their offering to retain their customer base.

More than other industries, tourism is an “information-intensive” industry that consists of numerous producers that need to work together to serve their clientele.^[12] As such, it was one of the first industries to widely adopt^[13] some of the emerging communication channels, such as the Internet, which has increased the “interactivity between consumers and suppliers.”^[14] Not only does it provide an inexpensive delivery channel for information, but it also “empowers the marketing and communication functions of remote, peripheral and insular destinations as well as small and medium sized tourism enterprises which become able to communicate directly with their prospective customers and differentiate their product according to their needs.”^[15] Traditional communication channels could not provide the geographic reach that a channel like the Internet has now been able to do in creating an infrastructure that enables information convergence.

One niche where the Internet has been particularly effective as a channel for the tourist and leisure industry is marketing communications and advertising by creating a “narrowcast.”^[16] In terms of addressability, those utilising this channel can also provide unique experiences for the consumer. Customisation of information and the ability to create unique sales propositions make newer communication channels, such as the Internet and database management, more effective than its traditional predecessors. The Internet can effectively mirror the benefits of personal selling techniques “but with much more flexibility, better memory and less cost.”^[17] This need for customisation comes from the growing shift in the demographics of today and tomorrow’s traveller. As one research firm noted: “More attention will need to be given to tailoring propositions to suit the ageing population, those with more time and money to spend on leisure, the childless couples seeking quality time, or the emerging traveller nations of China and Central Europe.”^[18] Strategies now must address “multi-generational needs, wants and desires.”^[19] The introduction of mobile handsets and high-tech communication channels has helped the industry “develop and leverage customer relationships and to interact with more customers across more channels than ever before.”^[20] The ability to achieve this also creates effective cross-selling opportunities that might not have been possible using traditional channels.^[21]

Related to these demographic trends, consumer and business demand is also now on an instantaneous cycle. Provide the information that they need or they will move onto the competition. Traditional methods cannot adapt to these lead times^[22], making the Internet and real-time answers via web sites a more effective method. Online travel agents are an excellent example of just how effective the Internet is as a communication channel. As one research firm explained, “The global reach of the worldwide web brings the massive network of suppliers, such as airlines, hotels and tour operators, within the reach of millions of customers.”^[23] Unlike a traditional travel agency, online channels provide 24/7 access, real-time updates, and the ability for multiple brands and travel products to be offered simultaneously for the lowest price, reducing the time that the consumer or business has to spend searching for their travel needs.^[24] There is also a degree of transparency in pricing that has never been possible.^[25] No traditional communication method can deliver this type of effectiveness.

Despite the effectiveness that the Internet and technology have brought to the travel industry, one aspect that illustrates the advantage of traditional methods comes down to personal service. Unfortunately, technology removes the intimacy of face-to-face communication channels. In response, many organisations utilising technology are providing telephone support so that customers still feel that connection.^[26]

An interesting aspect of business that is becoming a growing part of the tourist industry is environmentally based and involves Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This becomes especially important in new and emerging economies.^[27] In looking at other aspects of the travel and leisure industry that utilise communication channels, the use of local community groups, community leaders, and media organisations^[28] are two channels that work effectively to help develop a sustainable tourist trade in developing countries, such as those in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. These channels can help create a tourist trade in less modernised areas through such “grassroots” tactics as “training; participatory workshops; community, group, and individual meetings; local radio; school newsletters; and local events.”^[29] In these areas, more advanced channels, such as the Internet, may not be effective except for attracting travellers from Westernised cultures that rely on this technology to find information. If the goal is to attract more foreign tourists, investment in tactics utilising this type of channel might then become an effective mechanism for a sustainable tourist and leisure industry. The Internet could then become an important way “to put local tourism micro-enterprises into direct contact with the global market of travellers.”^[30]

The changing levels of effectiveness in the various travel and leisure communication channels have had the greatest negative impact on smaller, niche travel agencies. They cannot compete with larger online entities that have the resources to participate in the newer, more effective channels created through technological advancements and the globalisation efforts of travel and hospitality firms. Other aspects of the travel and leisure industry can look to utilise both traditional and emerging communication channels for effective coverage and interaction with their customers by enhancing their marketing and promotional efforts while expanding the capabilities of their service offering. The tourist and leisure industry will need to continue utilising a multi-pronged approach through the power of multiple communication channels to serve all its customers.

WORKS CITED

Buhalis, Dimitrios. “Information Technology as a Strategic Tool for Tourism and Hospitality Management in the New Millennium.” Tourism Review, No. 2, 1996, pp. 34-36).

Grenna, Lucia; Hilbruner, Roberta; Santi, Emanuele; Scuppa, Gianmarco; and Vereczi, Gabor. “Communication and Sustainable Tourism.” USAID, 2006, pp. 1-27.

Kyriakidis, Alex. “Tourism, Hospitality & Leisure – Executive Report.” Deloitte & Touche UK, 2003, pp. 1-26.

Liu, Zhenhua. “Internet Tourism Marketing: Potential and Constraints.” Hotel Online. 2000. .

Raleigh, Lori. “Top Ten Issues in the Hospitality Industry for 2007.” International Society of Hospitality Consultants. November 2006. .

Wright, Tom. “Customer Contact Services.” VisitBritain. October 2004, pp. 1-33.

Section One: Identification of research area (10% 250 words) In this section you will be expected to identify an area of research. You must justify it as an area of research in your academic field; explain why it is topic of importance, why it is of interest and how it will help for the industry your subject area is located in.

Research question: Did the venues built for the Olympic Games in Beijing have a positive effect for china?

This research topic exemplifies an excellent business model for growth and change and an opportunity to exact best practice for a city in need of renovation, inspired by the International presence of the Olympic Games. It seeks to demonstrate the cause and effect of long-term change and sustainable development that can occur and the value placed upon often risk-taking investment by way of national necessity.

From a business perspective the research will focus on determining what the economic, social, political and technological implications have been for China in the light of their internationally profiled focus on making the city of Beijing a more environmentally stable location, having been rated one of the most predominantly polluted and energy and resource hungry cities in the world.

The Olympic Village itself contained a number of innovative technologies including a heat pump system, solar collectors, water saving devices, and rainwater collection.

Introducing the use of sewage water is likely to save tons of coal each year

The Olympic Village also contains a vacuum glass tube solar collection system installed on the buildings’ roofs which heats tap water. There are water collection tubes installed as part of the roof gardens on the buildings. The 2008 Headquarters Office has estimated that this solar heating system will save nearly 2,400 tons of coal per year. This building will now function as a kindergarten following the Games and the Olympic Village will serve as a residential area. The architecture was designed to save as much energy as possible, through, for instance, orienting the building to take in sunlight in winter, and an exterior sun shading system to cool the inner spaces in summer time.^[1]

Overall the environmental design and construction of these buildings and surrounding carbon neutral woods, parks and greenbelt areas paved the way for the implementation of new systems that impacted on air quality, energy use, transportation, water, forests and toxics and waste across the city which has influenced the way in which China as one of the most rapidly developing nations in the World is now appreciating its responsibilities to exact environmental standards universally. Beijing now provides an example of China’s commitment to expand in an environmentally cautious way.

Section Two: Setting your research aim(s) and objectives (15%) State your research questions, develop a research aim and set your objectives.

The hypotheses for this research will aim to answer the question as to whether the building and environmental measures adopted that took place in Beijing for the benefit of the Olympic Games has impacted at all significantly on the wider future appreciation by China to adapt its buildings, resource usage and the subsequent way in which it will continue to conduct its business.

This will need to be achieved by presenting the changes that occurred in Beijing, prior, during and following the Olympic Games, to assess the environmental objectives that were woven into the design and implementation of all its new venues and landscapes. A comprehensive summary of the types of buildings and venues that were constructed for the benefit of the Olympic Games in Beijing will need to be provided. Once this has been established, the ways in which these environmental additions proved successful can be measured alongside their sustainability and productivity from a business and environmental perspective. An historical evaluation of the city before it became the chosen host of the games will need to take place in terms of investigating its original economic, political, environmental and technological situation and how this was viewed globally by other nations, as well as in relation to China itself. This will then build an understanding of the way in which the city functioned in comparison to how it now functions in 2008; whether any significant changes have occurred in its growth and fiscal situation. Consequently evidence to support how China has responded to the success of these buildings in relation to the way in which they have increased Beijing’s political, economic and social standing will need to be ascertained with regard to whether this has raised the profile of China generally around the world. Evidence of influence and genuine impact will need to be provided.

Section Three: Literature Review (25% 1000 words)

Identify the areas of secondary literature you need to be looking (The subject areas which will assist you (Think theoretical areas) Then you will need to give a precis of the main issues, indicating their relevance to your subject. Literature reviews should also raise issues and develop an argument in the literature if possible.

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the fundamental rationale for determining the best way in which to build a framework to take forward a research paper tackling the subject of the effects of Leisure Tourism on a whole nation. Examples of literature will be illustrated through a variety of texts, journals and internet references in order to demonstrate the numerous academic theories and examples that can help shape a contextualised argument exploring a number of hypotheses.

The investigative approach for determining the question Did the venues built for the Olympic Games in Beijing have a positive effect for china? can be measured and rationalised by way of several hypothesis; What is the political, economic, technological and social background of Beijing prior to it being awarded host city to the 2008 Olympic Games? How does China function currently as one of the World’s most developing countries economically, what type and level of resources does it use in order to sustain its growth? What was the nature, design remit and approach to building in Beijing in relation to preparing for the Olympic Games and how was it influenced to apply an environmental approach – what physically was constructed and for what purposes? Has the city’s reconstruction made an impact on its environmental situation at all? How has this been communicated to the rest of the world and consequently raised the profile of China?

A number of sources relating to these questions can be utilised from journals, texts, reports and online material that will form the fundamental framework to this study and the dissertation will flow in accordance with these lines of reasoning.

In order to demonstrate the history of Beijing and its context within China there are a number of sources of material Growth Without Miracles: Readings on the Chinese Economy in the Era of Reform illustrates China’s economic reform during the second half of the twentieth century. How not just the living conditions of the Chinese population but through its economic transition from central planning to a market economy. The book is complied of thirty widely-cited articles by well known economists in the field of China studies.^[2] The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China by Colin Mackerras and Amanda Yorke emphasizes China’s openness to Western technology as well as its rejection of Western democratic ideals. This volume offers up-to-date information on all aspects of Chinese life since 1949, with particular emphasis on the 1980s. Maps and tabled statistics accompany the text relating to all areas of Chinese life. China in the Global Economy Environment, Water Resources and Agricultural Policies: Lessons from China and OECD Countries, by Nong ye bu informs the reader about China’s water resources which are extremely low, poorly distributed, and increasingly polluted and how China’s future development depends on initiatives that will raise the efficiency of how water is used.

More specific to Beijing many studies have been conducted over the years into the environmental affects of this busy expanding city. One example can be found in

Air pollution and daily mortality in residential areas of Beijing, China. Is a research paper which documents the relationship between air pollution and daily mortality in 1989 two residential areas in Beijing, China. ‘A highly significant association was found between [sulfur dioxide] and daily mortality….The association of [total suspended particulates] with total daily mortality was positive but not significant….In the cause-specific analysis, the strongest effects on mortality were consistently seen for respiratory diseases in both [summer and winter].’ ^[3]

The most modern analysis of the processes undertaken by Beijing in the run-up to the ensuing Olympic objectives for the city are highlighted in The Concrete Dragon: China‘s Urban Thomas J. Campanella discusses China’s great building boom that there were fewer than 200 cities in China in the late 1970s compared to the 700 odd today. The scale of China’s urban revolution is detailed, alongside its roaring economy and rapid urbanization elsewhere compared to the rest of the world. In relation to articles and journal citations this area of understanding is well documented. Most useful examples can be gained from examining Spectacular Beijing: The Conspicuous Construction of an Olympic Metropolis which presents a critical review of Beijing’s Olympic redevelopment, and of the social, economic, and political impacts of hosting ‘mega events’ as a means of urban image construction. How Beijing’s restructure played an important role in China’s transition to capitalism as the Olympics have helped concentrate economic and political power in the hands of a coalition of government leaders and private investors. ^[4]

(Broudehoux, 2007) With similar information to be accessed from New Beijing, Great Olympics: Beijing and its Unfolding Olympic Legacy by Ryan Ong and Olympiad Dreams of Urban Renaissance by Rob Imrie.

In terms of the most recent analysis carried out in relation to the impact of the games physically and financially, this is a well documented area of dialogue in the media and with scholars.

Estimating the Cost and Benefit of Hosting Olympic Games: What Can Beijing Expect from Its 2008 Games? Represents a forecast of what will ensue as a result of the impact on Beijing whilst anticipating ‘The potential for long term economic benefits from the Beijing Games will depend critically on how well Olympics related investments in venues and infrastructure can be incorporated into the overall economy in the years following the Games.’^[5](Owen, 2005)

For a more generic approach to this argument James Higham’s Sport as an Avenue of

Tourism Development: An Analysis of the Positive and Negative Impacts of

Sport Tourism looks at the positive economic repercussions for cities who host the Olympic Games.

As this is still quite a modern debate it is difficult to source a great deal of scholarly information that determines the subsequent impact to be had on China as a whole. Evidence for this is still emerging and it is suggested that news archives, economic reports and environmental reviews be explored in greater detail in order to address the outcomes of the question under discussion. Many have prophesized or forecast this debate but for factual information a most up to date study of observations being reported from China will be required to substantiate the debate.

Another helpful source can be utilized from documents associated with the Beijing Municipal Government and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). The most relevant of these being the UNEP report Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – An Environmental Review and the official Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games paper Beijing 2008: Environmental Protection, Innovation and Improvement, 2001-2006, Update Report.

Section Four: Research Methodology and Design (10% 500 words) Here you will need to focus on the types of methods you intend to use and why. Why for instance will you use one research method over another or why do you need to use more than one method? As a rule of thumb, think about

The problem being addressed in this dissertation is to attempt to demonstrate evidence that is both economic and environmental, not only to Beijing but in the broader context of China and how this has essentially been strengthened by the influences of leisure and tourism. It is necessary to conduct considerable research across a number of areas in order to reach the conclusions that will effectively answer the question.

Many dissertations of this nature require a definitive method of research in order to build a framework to take forward the means to answering the hypothesis.

For the purposes of this essay the way in which the methodology for developing this framework came about is primarily informed by the Literature Review. This type of secondary analysis helps clarify both the type of information available as well as the limitations of that material.

Burns’s An Introduction to Tourism and Anthropology demonstrates the fast-growing field of tourism studies. How anthropology is the window through which tourism dynamics should be analyzed and evaluated. ^[6] In terms of assessing the impact of tourism and how in the case of Beijing it acted as a catalyst for change as well as changing the world’s opinion of the region; this volume suggests an anthropological approach to research, in other words statistical data to explain the phenomena under discussion. Appreciating that this may be the best way of assessing an outcome with which to measure impact, Tourism and leisure research methods: data collection, analysis and interpretation provides the tools to recognise and produce good research through qualitative and quantitative research techniques focusing on reliability, validity and representativeness of data using SPSS for Windows and an SPSS data file to undertake statistical analysis, data management and data documentation. In terms of the business studies approach to solving this question, carrying out quantitative research which in the context of Social Sciences includes a wide range of examples and activities offers a solid foundation in research design, measurement, and statistics.’ ^[7]

Applying quantitative research to this study should help develop and create a model for the hypotheses and measure the connection between the data received from the Government and UN reports cited in the Literature Review alongside the empirical results fielded from any contrasting qualitative research that emerges from subsequent interviews, surveys or observations collated from relevant citizens of Beijing, China, officials connected with the construction programmes and the Construction and Environment department of the Beijing Organising Committee as well as analysing relevant documents and material.

With the emphasis on quantitative research methods this will largely involve planning, sampling, designing measurement instruments, choosing statistical tests, and interpreting the results ^[8]

In order to effectively analyse leisure and tourism within the business, management and environmental disciplines a number of factors will need to be taken into consideration including anthropology, the economics of China, the history of its growth exemplified by Beijing, human geography, the philosophy and sociology of the environment.

Fieldwork will need to be planned and conducted according to ethnographic methods including participant observation, interviewing, focus groups, and video/photographic work to capture and appreciate the changes occurring in China and the move towards an environmentally more astute philosophy. ^[9]

Section Five: Your reflection on the overall process (15% 200 words) Sum up your reflections on the whole research methods process, how you coped with it and how you will approach final year study. This can be in the first person (i.e. ‘I think this I think that.’).

This is a fairly challenging area of study which requires the collation of a number of different areas of research to be processed and analysed. In order to quantify and qualify data such as this from a fundamentally empirical approach it is imperative to categorize the subjects or ‘instruments’ in much greater detail. For example should the data be gathered from specific areas in order to provide a holistic approach to determining the question, if so should these reflect economic, social, political and technological affects and form the categories that make up the focus of the discussion points?

The need to establish a well thought out framework is crucial. It seems very clear from all of the complexities involved with assessing the impact of construction and technology for the purposes of staging the Olympic Games and how it can best be implemented requires further attention in terms of what is achievable and justifiable in this study. Primary research needs to be completed in order to establish the exact nature and challenges of existing opinions, observations and comparisons relating to the city of Beijing; compared to official government documentation, measured in relation to the overall accepted international objectives of China as a nation in its own right.

The different actors, cultures, structures and goals will vary, sometimes considerably between communities under scrutiny. A common vision relating to the objectives of Beijing and its country needs to be legitimised in order to argue whether this has directly influenced China in a beneficial way.

Depending on how this research is developed and taken forward in the future will influence the way in which data is recorded and the evidence presented.

References

Black, T.R. (1999). Doing Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences. London. Sage.

Blaxter, L et al. (1996). How to Research. Buckingham. OU Press.

Broudehoux, A Spectacular Beijing: The Conspicuous Construction Of An Olympic Metropolis, Journal of Urban Affairs, Volume 29 Issue 4

Brunt, P. (1997) Market Research in Travel and Tourism. Oxford. Butterworth – Heinemann.

Bryman, A and D. Cramer. (1997). Quantitative Data Analysis with SPSS for Windows. London. Routledge.

Burns, P.M. (1999). An Introduction to Tourism and Anthropology. London. Routledge.

Campanella, T.J (2008) The Concrete Dragon: China’s Urban Revolution and What It Means for the World: Princeton Architectural Press

Clarke, M, M. Riley, et al. (1999) Research methods in hospitality, tourism and leisure. Thompson International.

Cook I and Crang M. (1996) Doing Ethnography. CATMOG. Norwich.

Garnaut, R, Huang, Y (2001)

Growth Without Miracles: Readings on the Chinese Economy in the Era of Reform: Oxford University Press

Higham, J (1999) Commentary — Sport as an Avenue of Tourism Development: An Analysis of the Positive and Negative Impacts of Sport Tourism, Current Issues in Tourism Vol. 2, No. 1

Imrie, R (2007) Olympiad Dreams of Urban Renaissance, Modern Language Assoc, Volume 122, Number 1

Mackerras, C, Yorke, A (1991)

The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China: Cambridge University Press

Nong ye bu (2006) China in the Global Economy Environment, Water Resources and Agricultural Policies: Lessons from China and OECD Countries: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Ong,R (2004) New Beijing, Great Olympics: Beijing and its Unfolding Olympic Legacy, Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs, Vol 4, no.2

Owen, J.G (2008) Estimating the Cost and Benefit of Hosting Olympic Games: What Can Beijing Expect from Its 2008 Games? The Industrial Geographer, vol 3, issue 1

Saunders, M.K. Lewis, P. Thornhill, A. (2006) Research Methods for Business Students, (4th ed), Harlow, Prentice Hall Publications.

UNEP (2008) Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: An Environmental Review

By United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Environment Programme

Published by UNEP/Earthprint, 2008. Available from http://www.unep.org/publications/eBooks/beijing-report/Default.aspx?bid=ID0EWBBG

Wu, F, Webber, K (2004) the rise of “foreign gated communities” in Beijing: between economic globalization and local institutions: Elsevier Ltd.

Xu, X, Gao, J, Dockery, D.W, Chen Y (1997) Air pollution and daily mortality in residential areas of Beijing, China. In: Research papers on interrelationship between population growth in developing countries and global environment, Volume II. Tokyo, Japan, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, 1997 Mar 3. : 321-

1

Environmental management and sustainable development is one of the most recent ecotourism trends. The term environmental management first surfaced in the 1980s describing the importance of organizations, populations, and communities to practice and handle their environmental impacts. Conservation of resources and sustainable developments are the key components to protecting and managing the environment, as well as addressing the effects of the tourism industry and other various sectors. Tourist areas such as Costa Rica, Brazil, the Dominican Republic and other various destinations are in desperate need of implementation of the ecotourism trend environmental management. All tourist destinations suffer from the lasting impacts of their visitors, continuous construction of infrastructures, deforestation and finally pollution affects. Government laws and regulations alongside with community, professional and personal concerns, when combined, may lead to significant improvements in environmental management.

The article, A methodology for creating greenways through multidisciplinary sustainable landscape planning, by Selma Beatriz Pena and other colleagues (2010), discusses a precise method in particular to greenways by sustaining tourism areas. “Greenways are networks of linear elements that are planned, designed and managed for multiple purposes, including ecological, recreational, cultural, aesthetic or other purposes compatible with the concept of sustainable land use” (p.971). By using landscapes in a cultural and natural process that does not have detrimental environmental effects, interpretation, knowledge and understanding is required for the sustainment of tourism areas. Landscape is a complex concept and system that is the result of the combination of natural and human force factors. The cultural and natural elements were incorporated through an ecological structure that is the product of natural and fundamental systems. “The comprehension of environmental sensitivity can give way to sustainable development by supporting decisions regarding interventions from ecological, economic and social perspectives.” (p. 971) By the positive and helpful use of landscape alongside with steady use, the management of the environment will continue to become known and more effective.

The discussed methodology envelops three phases of criteria including eco-cultural analysis, synthesis and diagnosis, and the proposal. The approach consists of landscape structures and dynamics consisting of biophysical, dynamic, vegetation and other various cultural characteristics. The eco-cultural analysis was used by searching and gathering valid information collected solely from field data and cartography. “The study of habitats is critical to acquire knowledge of the territory and sustain the foreseeable correct management measures.” (p. 978) Many other analyses such as the biophysical component, geomorphologic dynamics, the vegetation analysis, cultural landscape, and the cultural and natural analysis, compiled together the information needed to make a successful proposal in identifying the necessary steps towards environmental management and the sustainment of landscapes. Preserving natural areas such as fields, meadows and forests leads to the sustainable maintenance of ecosystems and is the principle of managing the environment. “Once the priority actions and the management measures for habitats that ensure ecological equilibrium of landscape have been implemented, it is then possible to propose sustainable greenways.” (p. 980)

Article 2

The use of choice experiments in the analysis of tourist preferences for ecotourism development in Costa Rica, Robert R. Hearne (2002) explains, “During the past decade Costa Rica has successfully promoted its tourist industryaˆ¦” (p. 154). Hearne also addresses the dynamic aspects and advances of sustainable infrastructures and their extreme efforts towards protecting their natural areas via nature-based tourism. Nature-based tourism is used “to promote the dual goals of nature conservation and income generation.” (p.153) To further make an environmental management impact, Costa Rica must combine within the tourists an appreciation for the nature, sustainable infrastructures, specified and defined restrictions, as well as the acknowledgement of national parks and protected areas. An increase of tourists in any area immediately generates revenue, a positive effect. While “tourist dollars can generate income for local populations and contribute to the financial self-sufficiency of protected areas” (p. 153), they also propose harmful possibilities on the environment including leaving their imprints on the land, loss of resources and creating a large volume of pollution.

Chosen experiments appear as means to evaluate the impacts on the Braulio Carrilo National Park due to a major increase of tourist visitations in the area. The experiments and tests are a comprehensive and accumulative evaluation that analyzes “direct links with economic theory of derived utility that consumers’ utilities are defined over a bundle of attributes or characteristics of a purchased good or service.” (p. 156) A large majority of the park aims its’ focus on the protection and conservation of wildlife habitats including pumas, jaguars, tapirs, quetzals, and eagles. Along with the variety of species, the park is located among five different climate zones. Therefore, an environmental management plan and experimental assessment is key to the preservation of the National Park and to inform the park rangers the essential needs of the area. “This study demonstrates that choice experiments are a feasible mechanism to analyze user preferences for the management of protected areas in developing countries.” (p. 161)

Article 3

The third article, Sustainable Strategies for the Brazilian Amazon Region: An Ecotourism Perspective, Raul Gouvea (2008) discusses the importance of implementing an ecotourism industry along the Amazon region due to the influx of tourists and the lack of sustainable development accommodations. The Brazilian government has become aware of the environmental dangers that may occur because of the growth in the tourism industry. Each year Brazil becomes a more known tourism destination with the continued expansion of hotels, theme parks and convention centers. With the developments of new infrastructures, the environment will suffer from deforestation and major disturbances among the wildlife animals and surrounding habitats. Taking action now and considering the needs of an ecotourism trend such as environmental management will ensure the sustainment of the country. “Ecotourism offers an avenue for translating sustainable development strategies into profits and a feasible alternative to finance the conservation of ecosystems.” (p. 89)

The Brazilian government has tried various perspectives of environmental management regulations since 1987. With the establishment of their ecotourism industry, the “protection and conservation of the visited areas, and efforts to generate benefits to the local communities as a way to promote the conservation of local habitats” (p.91), are their two main focuses on tackling this problem. Collectively, with their focuses, The Brazilian Tourism agency and the Ecotourism Poles Project and the Brazilian Ecotourism Institute, works towards a successful program of devising, identifying and promoting poles for ecotourism development. However, a major problem that Brazil faces is the lack of educated professionals appointing the ecotourism advances. The three corporations that are working so hard to develop and implement the ecotourism trend of environmental management are having a serious problem with acknowledging where to begin, finding the manpower needed for the necessary changes of infrastructures and difficulties with their communication and transportation efforts. The only answer towards lasting environmental management in Brazil is that “several steps need to be taken to establish a persuasive eco-mindset in the Amazon region. The creation of an ‘ecological triple-helix,’ bringing together the local private sector, local educational institutions and local and federal governmental agencies is of paramount importance to move the ecological agenda forward in the region.” (p. 93)

Article 4

Leida Mercado and James P. Lassoie, wrote the article, Assessing Tourist’s Preferences for Recreational and Environmental Management Programs Central to the Sustainable Development of a Tourism Area in the Dominican Republic (2002). Sustainable development, conservation of natural resources and preservation of the environment from the affects of the tourism industry was an important emphasis in the paper. “The link between market competitiveness and sustainable tourism is very reasonable, especially when the tourism industry depends on the uniqueness of environmental resources, as in the Dominican Republic.” (p.255) The tourism industry is known to be a major affliction in the goal towards and eco-friendly environment. The appropriate way to assess that problem is to first incorporate the specifications such as regulations and policies of a tourism area to sustainable developments. Also, to further help the ecotourism trend of environmental management, recognizing the interests in sustainable developments of tourists and other communities will help aid in creating awareness and add extra support to environmental management. This article first handedly reports “how important it is to elicit tourists’ preferences of programs central to the sustainable development of tourism areas since these preferences can drive managers’ development decisions in more sustainable directions.” (p. 253)

To further pinpoint the interests of tourists regarding where they like to vacation, a considerable amount of nearly two hundred people were interviewed. The importance of containing this information is because then the resort of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, as well as surrounding areas, will be aware which areas will need extra help in environmental management and sustainable developments. “The main factors that they considered when deciding where to go on a beach vacation were evaluated, as well as their preferences regarding four programs designed to improve recreational and environmental management of the area.” (p. 253) The tourists expressed their opinions in financial terms. Of the results that they gathered, certain preferences expected of the tourists where cleanliness of the ocean and beach areas, prestige of services, and the overall price when going on a vacation. Also, they responded particularly to two of the four sustainable development programs. The outdoor aquarium and the Water Management Program were the main interests of the interviewed tourists as they showed a substantial willingness to pay. “From the study of tourist preferences, it is possible to draw conclusions with implications for both sustainable tourism development and environmental policy.” (p. 265)

Article 5

The final article that showed the growing ecotourism trend of environmental management, A Conceptual Framework to Develop Long-Term Ecological Research and Management Objectives in the Wider Caribbean Region, (2004) was written by Victor H. Rivera-Monroy. Tourism is the main source of income for the Caribbean region. With the constant flows of tourists entering the region, it puts a lot of stress on the fragile ecosystems. The environment experiences signs of deprivation in most common areas such as the surrounding sea and watersheds. Tourists are also responsible for the damages they leave behind, the extra amounts of pollution in the area, the disruptiveness of wildlife habitats and the need of lodging accommodations. Because the Caribbean cannot do without tourists generating revenue, ecotourism is becoming a very well known trend because of the need for environmental management strategies and support for sustainable developments. A problem when assessing the development of the ecotourism trend is that “there are few, explicit, long-term, comprehensive studies describing the structure and function of Caribbean ecosystems.” (p. 843)

To address the problem of the fragile ecosystems, “a conceptual framework using environmental signature hypothesis of tropical coastal settings to develop a series of research questions for the reef-sea-grass-wetland seascape” (p.843) was created. A total of thirteen locations of different atmospheres and tolerance levels of environmental impacts from both natural situations and external ones were documented with the conceptual framework approach. “This approach follows the strategy developed by the Long Term Ecological Research program of the National Science Foundation to establish ecological research questions best studied over decades and large spatial areas.” (p. 843) The thirteen selections showcased different stages of tolerance from possible human impact of the ecosystems. The destruction of coral reefs were the main concern found in the research approaches. Effects of damages made to the coral reefs may be from “sedimentation, destructive fishing, poorly regulated mining and construction and anthropogenic nutrient inputs.” (p. 850) The causes that lead to the destruction of the coral reefs solely comes from the tourism industry. The Caribbean region constantly maintains accommodations for their visitors by participating in deforestation, infrastructures of hotels and other facilities, mining and the construction of the coast and beach areas. All in all, the Caribbean has successfully centered some main environmental damages made by tourists. The next step is to further implement the ecotourism trend of environmental management full force in the region to protect the natural areas.

Conclusion

The main reasons how tourism negatively affects the environmental management approaches is through the adjustments that ecosystems and wildlife areas have to modify because of the “human ecological footprints” of tourists, secondly, deforestation by construction of both general infrastructure and tourism related facilities, and finally pollution of noise, water, and air However, because of all the harmful contacts that tourism has with the environment, it does raise a lot of probable concerns to create awareness to the environmental management protection and conservation organizations.

Physical impacts on the environment primarily come from the construction of tourism and leisure related facilities such as roads, railroads, paths, airports, marinas, hotels and resorts, and stadiums for sporting events such as the Olympics, National Football League, and NASCAR. With the constant increase in demand for tourism and recreational service areas, deforestation is the main cause to the negative impacts in the environment. Land resources such as forests, fields, and the countryside are being used for building materials, accommodation of the land, and minerals and soils. With the decrease of natural regions, wetlands and wildlife is also experiencing the detrimental shocks.

In closing, all of the above articles discuss the important ecotourism trend of acquiring environmental management procedures and tactics. The common theme among the articles is acknowledging the positive and negative effects of tourism. A positive effect for the Costa Rica National Park was increased revenue that was essentially used to help protect their natural areas. Other positives include new methodologies and advanced approaches for protection and sustainable developments. However, despite the many positives, tourism also has negative impacts on specific areas resulting in the desperate need for new ecotourism trends which includes environmental management and sustainable developments.

Jim Corbett national park is one of the beautiful places for tourism. It is situated in Utterakhand state which was recently formed as a new state from the northern part of the Utter Pradesh (which is in India). This national park is exactly located at down part of Himalayas surrounded by districts of Nainital, Pauri, Garhwal, Almora and Bijnore. This park covered an area about 1300 sq.km which is included about 500sq.km of central parkt of the city and 800 sq.km of defence area. The central area is formed as a national park and the defence area is formed as Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary and reserve forest.

The parks have sub-Himalayan belt geographical and ecological characteristics. This nark will come under ECOTOURISM in which this park was formed by 488 different species of different plants and it also has dissimilar varieties of fauna. Due to increase of visitors and some other problem, this park has faced serious challenge for their ecological balance.

In the year of 1957 the park runs from side to side to the river. In the same year this park was again given name as a CORBETT NATIONAL PARK. Jim Corbett National Park after the carnival it have turned as a hunter environmentalist who was silent probably the residents area of man and animals, better than anyone else and he helped so much for setting up the boundaries of park. Almost all were based on his area.

In the year of 1970 after understanding sunrise upon the country loss of the Indian tiger is a definite risk and one more project was introduced at the forest rest house that is ‘Dhikala’ on April 1st 1973.There is no looking back for Corbett national park, there is well thought-out as one prime countrywide park of the country which is considered.

Jim Corbett show popular almost courage at countless shooting man in eater leopards and tigers. He followed a strictly a golden rule where he was refused to kill. Jim Corbett has man -eaters (1944) rudraprayag of leopard and the tiger of temple kumaon of man- eaters (1954).

However he perhaps fame to greatest claim for Jim Corbett lies on the Corbett National Park, It is one of the most tourist important destination of Indian.

Corbett national park is famed for its wealth and different species of its wildlife which is included with 50 species of mammals and more than 580 species of birds. This park is safety place for animals such as tigers, Indian elephants, wild dogs, leopard cats, indian pangolin and hog deer. This is placed in terai of Uttarakhand but now we can rarely seen outside of this park. This terai (moist land) place is formed by muddy jungle and grassland which is extended in between the foot hills of Himalayas and indian plaind

The Ram-ganga River is a basis of attractive to numerous winter traveller birds. A number of high heights above sea level birds also visit the Corbett national park at winter time. With height of Corbett national park range from 400 meters to 1,200 meters above sea level and there is a rich selection of environment. Almost 73% of the park is covered by thick moist deciduous forest with a majority of sal trees go together with haldu, pipal, rohini and mango trees. 10% of the core area is covered by a collection of grasslands in the valley

Jeep Safari and Elephant Safari are located in Jim Corbett national park. Jeep Safari and elephant safari is a place of collection of tigers, wild elephants and it is a good place for the visitors. The best way of viewing of this park is jeep and elephant back. This elephant safari will show the deep forest (natural forest view) and closer to the wildlife without scaring the animals away. Generally visitors can observe wildlife at Corbett national park contains the spotted deer, wild boars, sambar, barking deer, rhesus macaques, langur monkeys, peacocks and herds of wild elephants. Corbett national park in India is a heaven for birdwatchers, control over 580 different species of birds. On request visitors can also get hold of commonly found list of the birds and mammals in Corbett national park.

.
HISTORY

Corbett national park is an old national park which is located on the Indian sub-continent which is establish in August 1936. In the beginning this park was called the Hailey national park after that government of utter Pradesh is named as Sir Malcolm Hailey. After independence this park was renamed the Ram-ganga national park. In 1957 this park was given name as Corbett national park in remembrance of the famous hunter and ecologist. At that time he has taken the responsible for mark out the park boundaries and he have helped in setting up the Corbett national park.

Dhikala in Corbett national park have the difference of being the scene. In 1974 for the launch of Project Tiger, India’s ambitious conservation program to save the tiger and its habitat. The creation of 9 tiger reserves, including Corbett national park, was announced. In 1972, India’s tiger population had fallen to an all time low of 1,800. A 1993 census suggests that India’s tiger population stands at 3,750.

Corbett national park in India is a important project, in which the rules of protection are to be securely followed by visitor, park workers and the Kumauni villagers (who live just outside the Corbett national park) and this made easy for the reason that is a park much-loved of all who visit. The hygienic river ramganga is the living source of the Corbett national park. The plants at Corbett national park is thick mixed deciduous with a wide selection of trees including the grand sal, and creepers, shrubs, bamboos and grasses.

It is a beautiful perfect park, the air full of tangy fragrances and expectation. This will come in with modesty, meaningful that you are in a celebrity else’s house. Corbett national park is a superb lesson in biodiversity. Morning smog over the river blue skies with idle clouds, bird songs speckled sunlight pointed perfume a crunch in the grass.

In the year of 1820 a Private property of local rulers before being taken over by the British Raj.

In the year of 1858 the British rulers have provided the protection to this park

In 1879 this forest is declared as a reserved forest.

In between 1900-1910 Jim Corbett leads shikar parties and kills two maneaters.

In 1910 Jim Corbett gives up killing as mere sport and becomes the saviour of the villagers, delivering them from maneaters.

In 1934 The Park is declared a National Park and Corbett helps name the boundaries.

1n 1957 after the death of Jim Corbett, the Park is renamed in honour of his memory.

In feb 1974 tiger project was introduced.

In the year of 1986 Corbett National Park celebrates its Golden Jubilee.

In the year of 1996 staff of this park Celebrated Diamond Jubilee of its existence as Corbett National Park.

At 9th November 2000 this park have became as a part of uttarakahand state.

In 2010 this project have became as a international project

Methodology

Due to the limited previous research on Jim Corbett national park in tourism, this study takes a tentative approach. The method selected is qualitative, in the form of questionnaire interviews. The in-depth interviews will be undertaken by the visitors of Jim Corbett national park.

There are number of techniques used in calculating the. I intend to use the short method proposed by Based on Zeithaml et al. (1988).

The information for measurement of the areas mentioned above will come from secondary data (Newspaper, Journals, and Media etc.).

Provenance

The data for this analysis will come from data of the INDIA tourism board, articles from newspapers, World Wide Web, journals and media. The researcher will draw on the following works to assist with these measurements.

Some books have published on Jim Corbett national park as mentioned below

Man-Eaters of Kumaon.

The Temple Tiger and More Man-Eaters of Kumaon.

Jungle Lore.

The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag.

What is Ecotourism?

Generally ecotourism means creating of little environmental impact probable and helping to sustain

Natural places encourage the defence of wildlife and habitats when the visitors are visiting this place. The responsibility of development of ecotourism is taken by the tourism and tourism development sectors, in which it will encourages the natural life of living aspects and it is also the key to sustainable ecological development.

Nowadays the “Green Laws” of preservation are making people aware of how man and the environment can live symbiotically for more time to come and ecotourism is the only way makes best use of the economic, environmental and social benefits of tourism.

Every person is stakeholder in this process and we clearly need to avoid our long-ago limitation and harmful impact that they cover.

Ecotourism of Jim Corbett national park

The main objective of ecotourism is to focus on the protection of wildlife and the reserve management.

In the year of 1993 ecotourism management have started training for staff which covers history of Jim Corbett National Park, visitor management and park naturalists.

In 1995 they have recruited more guides to reach the customers need and to do the good marketing. This project allowed the staff to guide the travelers about the activities of the management. After a long time the government of India have organized several workshops on ecotourism in Corbett national park in which to develop their surrounding regions. This park is remain protected my Garhwali region.

In the year of 1995 Riley have said that best chances of viewing of tigers is to come late in the dry season that is in between the months of April to mid of June and elephants can be seen in any day

In the year of 1997 tiwari and josh have said that in between the months of April – June this place is best for the Indian tourists and they have recommended in between the months of November – January for the foreign tourists.

In the year of 1991 this park have covered 3237 tourist vehicles which is carrying about 47,215 visitors during the tourism seasons between 15th November-15th June. The main concept of Jim Corbett National Park will show the natural ecotourism. Excessive trampling of soil due to tourist pressure has led to reduce of plant species and has also results in reducing of soil moisture.

Majority of visitors have used the wood as a fuel for cooking usually this fuel is obtained from nearby forests which is resulted great pressure on forest ecosystem of the park and visitors have got so many problems by making noise, littering.

In the year of 2007 young photographer Mr. Kahini Ghosh Mehta have taken a challenge for promoting healthy tourism about Corbett national park and he is the person who have made first time travel guide on Corbett.

The first film which is named wild saga of Corbett has provided the information about needed by a tourist before when they are planning to visit a park and they have collected the tips from the senior park official, nature guides and naturalists. At the present time visitors can get a DVD’s copy of this film from the bombay natural history society (BNHS)

Good Points about Corbett National Park

Good-looking place with rich range of wildlife, including tiger and elephant.

Jeep safari and Elephant safaris which will allow wildlife to be seen nearby and are great fun.

Fairly easy to journey to Corbett for the reason that of the morning and overnight train between Delhi and Ramnagar.

Bad Points about Corbett National Park

Extremely accepted by tourists, for that reason it was high demand for jeep safari and elephant safaris and frequently exceed availability.

Corbett Forest Rest House and Hotel in Corbett National Park are limited, advisable to make booking, before you go Corbett National Park.

Hypothesis

There are two kinds of hypothesis in this statement. One can directional hypothesis as in preservation of tigers is the most important aspect of Jim Corbett national park and the other can be non directional hypothesis as in there is a relationship between conservation of tigers and Jim Corbett park as a part of environmental tourism.

Objectives of the research:

The primary objective of this is to find out the advantages of carrying out project tiget in jim cabert national park as a part of environmental tourism. Flora and fauna are the best examples and known for their protection project of task on tiger project.

Some of the questions have been addressed

What are the major schemes undertaken for progress of the tiger reserve project?

How this Project Tiger help develop the tourism sector in Jim Corbett Park?

What are the government initiatives for the development of tourism in Jim Corbett Park?

This case study will also be presented to identify the benefits of tiger project for tourism relates activities

Techniques

Both qualitative and quantitative analysis will be used. For the quantitative analysis, descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and percentages will be utilised. A questionnaire using the Liker scale will be used to measure attitudes.

Statistical data will be used to present the findings. Systematic collation and comparison of the various data from the different sources will be made. The researcher plans to use the semi-structured interview to obtain information about the attitude of the stakeholders. Jankowicz (2005) claim that the semi-structured interview is an effective research technique as it assist in reducing bias. A checklist based on a literature review will be formulated by the researcher to construct the questions for these interviews. Content analysis will be used to evaluate the information from those interviews.

Time Line

I started my MSc. International Tourism course in September 2008 and will finish by November 2009.

June 2009 – Tutorial (proposal discussion with tutor)

July 2009 – Literature Review

August 2009 – Construct research instruments (semi structured interview and questionnaire)

August 2009- Complete literature review, Pilot test instruments, Tutorial

September 2009 – Review and rewrite instruments

September 2009 – Analysis of findings, Archival research, Tutorial

October 2009 – Conduct interviews and administer questionnaire

October – 2009 Analyse data, Tutorial

November – Present final dissertation.

CONTENTS

Chapter One – Introduction

Background of the study

Importance of the study

Definition of terms

Conceptual Frame work

Chapter Two – Review of literature

Chapter Three – Methodology

Introduction to Research Methodology

Survey design and administration

Survey methods

Research limitations

Chapter Four – Data Analysis and Results

Introduction to Data Analysis and Results

Chapter Five – Discussion and Findings

Introduction to discussion

Discussion

Chapter Six Conclusion

Conclusions Introduction

Key issues emerged

Scope for further research and limitation

Bibliography

Appendices

Anticipated learning

After conclusion of the course I would like to go back residence and I like to assist the staff in Jim Corbett national park. I consider that this study will offer me with some of the necessary tools and knowledge that required making a valuable contribution to the future research conducted by the Hospitality Industry.

This assignment is basically based on eco-tourism. Ecotourism is a very fast growing sector in today’s travel industry. Also known as “green tourism,” ecotourism is when people use to travel to a destination and take place in observing and interacting with the environment, learning about the cultures and practices of local inhabitants while promoting their well being. I have put together various articles relating to ecotourism. These articles include a study that reveal what makes up ecotourism and how it is being developed. The second article I will to look over describes how business travel organizers are more often considering ecotourism when they scheduling their events.

Tourism is travelling for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who “travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited”. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals.

Eco-tourism: Perhaps the most over-used and miss-used word in the travel industry. But what does it mean? The Ecotourism Society defines it as “responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people”. A walk through the rainforest is not eco-tourism unless that particular walk somehow benefits that environment and the people who live there. A rafting trip is only eco-tourism if it raises awareness and funds to help protect the watershed. A loose interpretation of this definition allows many companies to promote them as something that they are not. If true eco-tourism is important to you, ask plenty of questions to determine if your trip will help “conserve and improve” the places you visit.

www.untamedpath.com/Ecotourism/what_is_ecotourism.html

Without getting too bogged down in theoretical definitions of tourism, tourist or the tourism industry it is very important to tell the differences between mass tourism and eco-tourism. Mass tourism should have the following characteristics:

A concentration on high volume sales with throughputs and turnarounds

The shifting of large groups of people ‘en masse’ to specific developed destination

Full utilization of packaged holiday components offered as a single product at an all inclusive price, often with a short term time period.

Development of large scale transport systems, infrastructure accommodation, supporting facilities and attractions within destinations, usually at a fast pace and often supply led.

Marketing approach is centred on the most hedonistic motives for travel, particularly the sun, sea and tourism products.

The key for mass tourism are high volume, large scale, fast pace, hedonistic motives. Eco-tourism, on the other hand, needs to have the following characteristics

Be a nature based experience

Be low impact and small scale

Promotes a conversation ethic

Provides support for local communities

Provides a learning opportunity

Helps to maintain the natural and cultural integrity of certain tourism areas

Utilises environmentally friendly techniques and technologies

Eco-tourism has missed in past fifteen years from a convenient buzzword to an international movement. It is an attempt to balance the economic development of tourism with the conservation and protection of natural areas and traditional cultures. It underpins the very concept of sustainable development through tourism

There are lots of benefits of ecotourism. If done right, there are lots more benefits of ecotourism than any disadvantage valuable considering. Sadly, the idea of ecotourism has been advertised and abused by many people, organizations, and countries to reap profits for themselves.

While there are lots of benefits of ecotourism to consider, we also need to consider the disadvantages of ecotourism. Most of the benefits of ecotourism cannot be corrected in our situation since the number of people taking beneficial of ecotourism is far larger than the number of people actually staying true to ecotourism and helping the environment.

We can do our part in helping the environment and saving our natural resources at home, in our backyard, in our community and of course, we can help by educating people. Don’t let the benefits of ecotourism make we be part of the scams and schemes that constitute the biggest problem in ecotourism.

Its aim is to create the viable and sustainable tourism opportunity, and limit the effect that all related movements will have on the environment, while improving the lives of the public living in the place. According to Ecotourism the concept accords of a number of core principles, including: Minimising industrial impact on the environment, building environmental and cultural awareness, empowering local communities, increasing awareness of the political and the environmental and social issues of the country concerned.

MAIN BODY

In its original way eco tourism is purely nature-based, the adverse impact of tourism on the local culture having been, temporarily, over looked. However, it quickly became clear that when they trying to create a new tomorrow for tourism, to focus on wildlife and natural environment unique, simply did not work. It was also smoothly clarified that in those countries where the local communities where actively indulged in the eco tourism decision-making process there was that they got much higher a success rate, especially in terms of profit. As a result, today’s eco tourism encloses the synergistic approach and I think Bulgaria is the best example where eco-tourism applies.

Brief Introduction of Bulgaria

Bulgaria, which was founded in 681 A.D., is the oldest state in Europe, but its roots reach far deeper into the past. In tombs adorned with frescoes and bas-reliefs in the Valley of the Kings, archaeologists continue to discover beautifully worked golden objects buried with Bulgaria’s Thracian forebears, some dating to 3000 B.C. Uncovering the countless burial mounds that dot central Bulgaria is a process started in earnest just a decade ago. In that short time, it has become clear that Bulgaria once was home to the world’s most sophisticated goldsmiths. The discoveries also have prompted local claims that it was here, in the shadow of the Balkan Mountains, that Europe’s first civilization was born.

Traversing Bulgaria’s mountain ranges, which are carpeted with ancient forests and carved by mineral-rich Rivers, you can see why the country’s sophisticated warrior-artists chose to settle in its fertile plains. Bulgaria is a fascinating country, with a temperate climate that is more southern European than eastern. It is this gentle climate, along with a sweeping, sandy beach bordering the Black Sea coastline that continues to attract new visitors, the vast majority of whom arrive in high summer.

Most of Bulgaria’s unique treasures lie hidden in the ancient tombs of the Valley of the Kings; in the mixture of Bulgarian Renaissance architecture and ancient Roman ruins lining the cobbled streets of Plovdiv; in the medieval university town of Veliko Tarnovo that rises precipitously from limestone cliffs above the winding Yantra River; and in the architectural museum towns snuggled deep in Bulgaria’s mountains. It is particularly the latter, their narrow cobbled lanes and alleys lined with 19th-century stone-and-timber homes, that define Bulgaria as an undiscovered gem.

www.frommers.com/destinations/bulgaria/3535010001.html#ixzz18l6bNScq

During the earlier phase of the project, work centred on developing systems to encourage sustainable natural resources conservation and management in and near Bulgarian protected areas, and by this management system to benefit local communities. As part of the protected area management application effort, the project applied a competitive group approach to destination development in some regions around two of Bulgaria’s largest parks – Rila and Central Balkan National Parks. Activities involve eco-enterprise development based on non-timber natural resources harvesting, ecotourism destination development by community ecotourism associations, and significant amounts of public guidelines and organizational development.

Sustainable tourism aims are addressed by the “triple bottom line” system that includes social well being, environmental protection and economic development. BCEG Project assistance give their hands in small, independent tourism providers and regional ecotourism associations to anatomise the national ecotourism market. Based on this activity, the Bulgarian ecotourism sector became more confident in its ability to cover a major portion of the European and other international areas.

Ecotourism Monitoring ideas were produced in conjunction with Bulgarian National Park and participating ecotourism communities. This “Guidebook” is used by communities to choose and analyse indicators related to the triple bottom-line of social, environmental and economic growth. The nation’s first protected region management ideas were developed and approved through the Government of Bulgaria and are being used to guide in-park and outside-park tourism growth and management programs for two national parks and a world heritage site – Rila Monastery’s Nature Park.

A National Ecotourism Strategy and Action ideas for Bulgaria was made and applied by three collaborating ministries under the Project, and presented to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria by the U.S. Ambassador in 2004. Twelve Regional Ecotourism Action ideas were created, and they contributed to the growth of a national ecotourism action ideas. A national ecotourism market survey was directed and used to aware product growth. Two ecotourism department were institutionalized near Rila and Central Balkans National Parks, and members were trained in hospitality skills, destination management, and membership development. many community ecotourism projects were made, and destination management ideas developed for two of these department.

Public awareness was increased by the production and distribution of a national parks multimedia CD, mass-media outlets, and conservation education materials. The project helped significantly to national pride in Bulgaria’s culture and hospitality. It has made a base for tourism diversification, motivated concrete local initiatives toward application of ecotourism activities, relates the complementary motives of cultural and nature tourism, made synergies among donors, and has institutionalized a replicable growth process.

The system of developing sustainable tourism strategies and application ideas has yielded many critical lessons: One is the need to clearly monitor and includes all key stakeholders in a strategic planning growth from the onset; it is important to build on present experience and perceptions, and to use these to build case studies materials for success. The ability to relate (at small scale) the activities of government, national authorities and local civil society was instrument to team-building and creating a common set of goals. Each understood they had an vital role to play in any successful ecotourism investment. In the absence of a “full” fruitful national policy, a partial national policy and many of political good will can do! Ecotourism in Bulgaria was able to capitalize on a changing national tourism development policy that, although centred on mass tourism, was open to form other forms of tourism market diversification. Advertising at national and local levels is not only important but critical to helping areas, government and even commercial banks, to better understand the opportunities for relating natural and historical resources to rural growth and economic growth activities. Those same information activities and centred campaigns are critical to the growth of a bottom-up system that is based on rapid, information sharing between stakeholders at regional level. Kamelia Georgieva, Bulgarian ecotourism important for the BCEG project, confirmed, “Sustainable tourism growth is about social and political engineering, as well as enterprise growth. Public awareness is critical to support this system.”

Long-term technical and commercial financing helped to governments, NGOs, and the private sectors are needed to implement the sustainable tourism system. Sustainable tourism growth and marketing to national and, more importantly, international areas is important to careful but concerted ecotourism growth. Foremost centred on domestic tourism markets in areas where citizens have a culture of holiday and growing real income will increase the local confidence needed to spread into the global market. International marketing and global market growth are good opportunities for public and private partnerships. There are no better “low hanging” circumstances for relating common ideas, and shared costs and revenues.

Protected regions and cultural landmarks must be saved from bad human impact related with distinct forms of tourism, including eco-tourism. When monitoring impacts and endorsing limits of acceptable use and change, they protected regions and cultural site managers must err on the side of conservation. The unsuccessful to do so can result in costly restoration agendas and the loss of culture and biodiversity. Therefore protected regions and site managers will work with others to: Develop a national process for the enjoyment and utilization of resources and sites that respects and sets boundary on use and change growth mechanisms that effectively endorse the management process. Analyzing threats to biodiversity and cultural and heritage sites and apply ways for mitigating those threats. Monitoring indicators and monitor changes in biodiversity and historical heritage. Implement official systems, standards and ways for the protection of natural resources (species, localities) and cultural and historical heritage sites in the areas of major conservation value, both inside and outside the protected region network. Growth and utilize special training agendas for training on assessment of desirable change, and increasing the skills of PA administrations, heritage regions managers, representatives of the private sector in the region of eco-tourism, departments and government.

There are a number of practical mechanisms growing in Bulgaria to help protected regions conservation and eco-tourism growth several have the capacity to financially benefit protected regions and eco-tourism entrepreneurs. Provisions to grow these mutually beneficial systems are still in their infancy and need to be further monitored and improved. There is a need to:

· Go on to monitor national legislation and reform it to allow fees to be collected from ecological activities to fund the conservation and maintenance of resources and sites of cultural heritage.

· Growth and legalize profitable financial systems that promote the initial goals of sustainable growth and nature conservation monitoring protected regions and eco-tourism financial systems models from other countries that employ the use of limited time redemption or commercial contracts

· Growth model shortens that serve to guide concession relationships, and endorsing their duration and operating systems

· Assign the profits made from these contracts to benefit the goals of nature conservation and local economic development

· Support the development of protected regions Fund to ensure continuing financial help for capital betterments and operating projects departments with a mechanism of protected regions in the country. The PAF would help capital investments, park development projects, cultural sites, and provide eco-tourism growth grants to communities that work in close proximity to protected regions.

· Assign central and municipal cultural funds, envisaged in the Law on Protection and growth of Culture, to help initiatives goals at conserving and using cultural heritage for eco-tourism.

Theories

Develop Clusters or Networks of Core Eco-tourism and Supply Chain Businesses at the International, National, Regional and Local Levels

Scattered eco-tourism activities in the country could profitable from the exchange of information and cost savings related with a national network of eco-tourism providers. The scale of such a network is difficult to measure at the existing time and should evolve from a model that represents the advantages to network subscribers. Eco-tourism groups or networks could start within key areas of the country, growing into a national system.

Improve the Entrepreneur Capacity of Businesses and Train Local Communities Providing Eco-tourism Services

Many local scommunities with good capacity for providing and benefiting from eco-tourism do not have enough skills and experience to offering eco-tourism products and services to their clients. At a certain stage, small, rural communities are able to measure the advantages of ecotourism as an income generation way and as a municipal growth tool, but they lack the important means and skills to monitoring success. Hence, these communities require small and micro business growth assistance to develop entrepreneurial potentials.

Expand Enter to Financing Mechanisms, Equity Investments and Other Funding Resources

Circumstances for investing in and financing eco-tourism in Bulgaria are relatively undeveloped. The scale and costs linked to most rural eco-tourism activities and services are not of a enough size to capture much commercial banking help. The scale and location of many of these business growth activities are varied, and represent no logistic and administrative advantage to a commercial bank if they were interested. However, investments in a large number of small-size projects in major target regions, rather than in large-scale individual projects, are needed to grow rural eco-tourism. Eco-tourism financing faces various challenges, and government agency help combined with (a) business planning and best management activities, and (b) financial facilitation and guarantee programs, may provide solutions. The following systems are seen as suitable for advancing eco-tourism models.

Facilitate the Development of Effective Small and Medium Eco-tourism Enterprises

Small and medium enterprises play a vital role in sustainable growth. SMEs support meeting sustainable growth goals by generating and keeping income and economic improvements closer to home. They are more flexible and readily tailored to offering tourists with extra care or customized services.

Implementation

Local government engagement and leadership is key to the development and promotion of eco-tourism development. Effective implementation of the NETS by local governments will require:

· An understanding and capacity to develop eco-tourism as part of local government planning and operations

· Establishing local mechanisms for ensuring public and private sector engagement in focused eco-tourism development

· Selecting and applying financial mechanisms to support eco-tourism development, such as national budget, matching grants, public-private sector joint ventures, and links to large-scale tourism development

· Developing and implementing by- laws

· Creating and applying incentives

· Developing and implementing a system of monitoring indicators of success and impact

A partnership between the Ministry of Regional Development and the National Association of Bulgarian Municipalities and the Foundation for Local Government Reform, the two national associations that address local government, will help to ensure that eco-tourism is a focus of local government and capacity building. Both the public sector and the national associations must agree to participate in completing the NETS. In doing so, they will build the capacity for their future role in its implementation.

CONCLUSION

Ecotourism is the future of tourism, but it will resolve the key issue of large-scale ecotourism. Depending on the time, there can be better ecological and economic benefits from large-scale ecotourism. There are already examples in Bulgaria where this is obvious. However, scale is a case-by-case decision. The fundamentals of ecotourism (given that it is taken as given it will be based on green productivity principles, in that it is nature-based, provides quality experiences, is enjoyable, and is profitable not only for the operators but the local community) do not change with a change in scale.

Ecotourism is a move to counter this. Its objective is too made viable and sustainable tourism opportunities, and limit the effect that all linked activities will have on the environment, while improving the standards of the local people living in the area. According to Ecotourism.org, the concept involves a number of core principles, including is minimising industrial effect on the environment, building environmental and cultural awareness, raising awareness of the political, and social issues of the country concerned, and make sure that the experience is good for all parties, including visitors and citizens.

The objective is to get sustainable and responsible tourism activities to the benefit of all and the detriment of none. One of the most essential factors in the success of any ecotourism program is knowledge. Those proposing the project should gain intimate knowledge of the location, the fauna, the flora and the communities living there. They should know how they effect on each other and how a change in one will affect the rest. They should understand the culture recognising the people relationship with the environment, and how they look the concepts such as land and water gathering materials for personal purposes.

Eco-tourism is in its philosophy, centred on cultures, wilderness adventures, personal development and learning new measures to live. It is defined as go to destinations where the flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the like minor attractions. Responsible eco-tourism involves programs that decreases the adverse impacts of traditional tourism on the natural environment, and improves the cultural integrity of local people.

Ecotourism may be described as Environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy, study and appreciate nature and any accompanying cultural features that promote conservation, have a negative visitation impact and provide for substantial beneficial active socioeconomic involvement of local populations.In general, ecotourism is an insightful, mindful and participatory travel experience to natural and cultural environments, assisting the well-being of the local cultures and environments for future generations. At the same time ecotourism produces viable economic opportunities for the host areas. Originally, ecotourism was defined as purely nature based, forgetting the impact tourism had on the local villages and culture. However, it quickly became apparent that trying to create a new type of tourism, which only focused on wildlife and the environment, while excluding the local villages, simply did not work.T hose countries that involved the local communities in the ecotourism decision-making process had a much higher success rate in implementing profitable ecotourism. Consequently, most recent definitions of ecotourism now include a more synergistic approach, including the tourist, local villages and environment. People form the world are finding pleasure in going back to natural products and tastes as opposed to the artificial and the synthetic. Be it in food, fashion and interior decoration. It goes for the Nature tourism or Eco Tourism also. Whether it is the eco tourism drive launched by the green state of Kerala or promotion of Heritage Hotels by Rajasthan, all of these initiatives indicate toward the growing popularity for eco tourism in India.

There are certain guidelines ecotour operators and nature guides go by to develop and maintain a sustainable ecotourism business.

Provide money and other tangible support for developing parks’ services and managing natural resources. Support indigenous people/businesses by buying local goods and services
Link commercial tourism to local conservation programs.
Develop sustainable tourist facilities that minimize environmental damage.
Promote ecological research and rescue programs.
Arrange and promote meaningful contact between tourists and local people.
GUIDELINES FOR ECO-TOURISTS/TREKKERS.
Stay on trails:- Don’t wander into the brush the trails are there for a reason. Leaving the pathway, you might unknowingly disturb wildlife habitat, or endangered or threatened plant communities.
Reduce, reuse and recycle:- The same idea that works at home, work and school works when you’re in natural areas. Think of ways you can cut down on waste. For example, instead of taking all those plastic forks and paper plates when you go camping or picnicking, use items that you can wash and reuse.
Put waste where it belongs: in a trash can:- you don’t have much waste left, but what you do have should go in a trash can. Wherever there’s also a recyclables can, use it. And don’t leave food out for animals, like raccoons, to eat.
Learn about the flora and fauna of the area you’re visiting:- Your knowledge will lead to a greater appreciation and respect for what WILDLIFE PARKS hold. Learning about the world around us is fun, and it can be as easy as taking along a field guide.
Leave plants, animals, rocks, logs, etc. alone:- That flower may be the most unusual you’ve ever seen, and that little critter may look really cute, but they’re not there for you to pick or to pet. You’re in their home. Wild animals are wild, and they need their space. Give animals plenty of room when viewing them.
Try to visit parks in their off season, when possible:- You’ll not only avoid the crowds on your visit; you’ll make the in-season crowds in the natural areas that much smaller, reducing negative impact.
Support parks, forests and preserves:- As a visitor, your entrance fee helps pay to maintain and improve the area. But you also can become a park member or join the many “Friends Of” groups.
Be a good example for others; spread the word about responsible ecotourism:- When your family, friends and neighbors hear about your trips to natural areas, they might want to go, too. Point them to areas of special interest to you, and be sure to tell them these great tips!