volume 3, no. 2, september, 2017, sixth issue tourism spectrum · and maxwell fry. chandigarh...

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Volume 3, No. 2, September, 2017, Sixth Issue

Patron and Editor in Chief

Professor S. P. Bansal,Vice Chancellor

Indira Gandhi University, Meerpur Rewari, Haryana,Professor IVS, MTA Himachal Prades University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India.

Editors:Dr. PrashantGautam

Associate ProfessorUIHMT, Punjab University, Chandigarh, India

Dr. SandeepWaliaAssociate Professor & Head of Department

University Institute of Tourism & Hospitality ManagementChandigarh University, Gharuan, Mohali

Punjab,India

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Contents

Sl.No. Titles & Authors Page No.

Articles

1. Chandigarh as a Heritage Destination : A Tourists Perspctive After Unesco 1-12World Heritage Status to Capitol Complex

Dr. Jaswinder Kumar, Dr. Meenu

2. Incentive Travel : A Study of Customer Satisfaction of Leading Travel Companies in India 13-20Dr. Vikramjit Singh & Dr. Amit Kumar

3. Corporate Governance and Destination Management 21-24Deepa Shrivastava & Dr. Satish Kumar

4. Strategies for Sustainable Tourism Development in U.P. 25-27Dr. Amit Kumar Singh & Dr. Mahendra Pal Singh

5. A Comparison of Researchers Research on the Residents’ Perceptions 28-31Towards Social Impacts of Tourism

Anil Kumar & Surender Thakur

6. Conceptualization of Rural Tourism and its Status in Himachal Pradesh 32-40Dr. Amit Katoch, Dr. PrashantGautam & Dr. Suman Sharma

7. Rama Trail on Its way to Developmet : Progress and Prospects 41-48Dr. Anil Kumar Singh & Shruti Singh

Call for Papers Tourism Spectrum 49-51

TOURISM SPECTRUMA-Bi Annual International Refereed Journal

Volume 3, No. 2, September, 2017, Sixth Issue

Chandigarh as a Heritage Destination : A Tourists Perspctive AfterUnesco World Heritage Status to Capitol Complex

Dr. Jaswinder Kumar, Dr. Meenu

ABSTRACT

Chandigarh is emerging as a heritage destination after Capitol Complex was declared as a world heritagesite by the UNESCO in the year 2016. Chandigarh designed by famous French Architect, Le, Corbusier, idfamous for city planning and modern urbanism which has placed India on the World Map . Chandigarh isthe best-planned city in India, with architecture which is world-renowned, and a quality of life, which isunparalleled. As the capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh itis a prestigious city. Chandigarh is various heritage buildings, monuments, parks which are the primeattractions of it. Various buildings, campuses, and natural features have been listed for heritage status havebeen categorized heritage zones, heritage precincts and heritage buildings. Heritage tourism in Chandigarhisoffering viderange of activities to explore monuments, objects, and culture. Rock garden, Sukhna Lake,Capitol complex, rose garden, leisure valley are prominent visited paces for tourists.This paper tries to studythe tourists ‘opinion about Chandigarh as a heritage destination and tries to study various motivationsassociated with their visit to City. Finally paper suggests certain measures to enhance heritage tourismactivities in the city. .

Key Words: Heritage Tourism, Tourist Motivations,World Heritage Site

Dr. Jaswinder Kumar Assistant Professor, UIHTM, Panjab University Chandigarh,E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Meenu Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce and Man agement, DAV college, Chandigarh,E-mail: [email protected]

Chandigarh, ‘The City Beautiful’Chandigarh, also called as, ‘City Beautiful’ was plannedby the famous French architect Le Corbusier. It is locatedat the foothills of Shivaliks, it is known as one of the bestexperiments in urban planning and modern architecture inIndia.Chandigarh derives its name from the temple of“ChandiMandir” located in the vicinity of the site selectedfor the city. The city has a pre-historic past. Since themedieval through modern era, the area was part of the largeand prosperous Punjab Province which was divided intoEast & West Punjab during partition of the country in 1947.The city assumed the unique distinction of being the capitalcity of both, Punjab and Haryana while it itself was declaredas a Union Territory and under the direct control of theCentral Government. Chandigarh is is known all over theworld as an outstanding example of architecture, planningand landscaping. The architect-planner Le Corbusierfocussed on large number of open spaces, green belts, cityparks and neighbourhood parks. The construction of capitalcity of joint Punjab was started in early fifties. The

development of capital city was begun in mid fifties. TheCity Chandigarh was pronounced a Union Territory in theyear 1966 with joint capital of both the conditions of Punjaband Haryana. The zone of Union Territory of Chandigarhis 114 sq. km. just with 13 villages falling in the ward ofUnion Territory.

Works of Le Corbusier In ChandigarhChandigarh is a grand success story in the annals of modernarchitecture. A revolutionary experiment, which came tofruition with the juxtaposition of a great vision that theIndias first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehrunurtured and a profound genius of a French architect LeCorbusier and his team. The Capital complex, Sector 1,comprises three architectural masterpieces, Secretariat,High Court and Legislative Assembly separated by largepiazzas. In the heart of the Capital Complex stands the giantmetallic sculpture of The Open Hand, the official emblemof Chandigarh, signifying the city’s credo of “open to given,open to receive.

TOURISM SPECTRUMVol. 3, No. 2, September, 2017, Sixth Issue, pp. 1-12

1Volume 3, No. 2, September, 2017, Sixth Issue ISSN : 2395-2849

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Volume 3, No. 2, September, 2017, Sixth Issue ISSN : 2395-2849

Picture 1 : Vidhan Sabha (Capitol Complex)

Picture 2 : Open hand (Capitol Complex)

Chandigarh became symbolic of the newly independentIndian. The foundation stone of the city was laid in 1952.The city is well known for its architecture and design byarchitects such as Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Jane Drew,and Maxwell Fry. Chandigarh offered Le Corbusier thechance to fulfill his lifelong dream of building an entire

city which he fulfilled by creating and executing the mostthoughtful design for the Capitol Complex. It stands as anembodiment of the spirit of exaltation, power andpermanence experienced by Indians on acquiring theprerogative of self-governance after a long and bitterstruggle for freedom.

Figure1 : Chandigarh MapSource:http://www.masterplansindia.com/chandigarh/heritage-areas

Chandigarh as a Heritage Destination : A Tourists PerspctiveAfter Unesco World Heritage Status to Capitol Complex

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Table 1 : The Basic Geographical and Demographic Profile of Chandigarh

Area 114 SqKms +25.42 SqKms additional hilly catchmentarea declared as Wildlife Sanctuary)

Longitude 760 47’ 14 ELatitude 300 44’ 14 NAttitude 304 to 365 meters above MSL with 1% drainage gradientAnnual Rainfall 111.4 cm/year averageMonsoon July- SeptemberTemperature Winter Min.(Nov-Jan) 40 C-140 C

Summer Max.(Appril-July) 370 C-440 CTotal Villages 22 (As per 2001 Census)Panchayats 12 (of 13 Villages)Population (2001 Census) 1054686Population Density /sq.Km 9252 pLiteracy rate 86.05%

Source: http://mcchandigarh.gov.in

Picture 4 : Panoramic View of Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh

Table 2 : Tourist Arrival in ChandigarhYear 2012 Year 2013 Year2014

Month Domestic Foreign Domestic Foreign Domestic ForeignJanuary 71,617 2,472 78,463 2,677 88081 2074February 77,892 3,094 77,813 2,629 90883 3140March 74,339 3,901 68,520 4,223 91184 3331April 78,488 5,719 80,460 4,284 86703 3724

Tourism in ChandigarhChandigarh, is known worldwide for its elaborate buildingsand arterial roadways. It has variety of incrediblylandscaped gardens and parks. Chandigarh isgateway toHimachal Pradesh, Chandigarh is known forits proximityto major tourist hillstations like Shimla, Manali,Dharamsala.Chandigarh is also famous for culture, urbandesign, space, restaurants, shopping, natural beauty ,pleasant weather, picturesque skylines and incrediblesunsets. Activities like Boating, Theme Parks and Golfing,

shopping, food are prime fascinations for tourists.Chandigarh is witnessing good amount of domestic andforeign tourists annually, in the year 2012, it witnessed9,24,589 domestic tourists and 34,130 foreign tourists. Inthe year 2013 the domestics tourist increased to 9,36,922and foreign tourists to 40,124 (Table 2). It is clear fromtable 2 that from year 2012 to 2014 it is witnessingcontinuous increase in domestic and foreign tourist monthlyand annually.


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May 83,860 2,462 72534 3689 91925 2436June 75,915 1,563 82,718 2466 86533 1060July 84,433 2,055 76,284 1,764 87381 1563August 72,087 2,210 72,156 2,602 86991 1699September 74,364 2,216 81,841 3,433 87605 1889October 78,861 3,014 79,884 4,158 88311 2082November 76,514 2,423 79,243 4,086 NA NADecember 76,219 3,001 87006 4,113 NA NATotal 9,24,589 34,130 9,36,922 40,124 885597 22998

NA: Not Available, Source: http://chandigarhtourism.gov.in/

psychological.Heritage tourism is defined by the World TourismOrganisation (1985) as movements of persons foressentially cultural motivations such as study tours;performing arts and cultural tours; travel to festivals andother cultural events; visits to sites and monuments; andtravel to study nature, folklore, and/or pilgrimages (p. 6).Zeppel and Hall (1992) define heritage tourism as a subsetof cultural tourism that is based on nostalgia for the pastand the desire to experience diverse cultural landscapesand forms. The artifacts and traditions inherited from thepast, such as buildings, objects, traditions, festivals,museums, and monuments, constitute the landscape ofheritage tourism. It is both tangible and intangible, in thesense that ideas and memories—of songs, recipes, language,dances, and many other elements of who we are and howwe identify ourselves—are as important as historicalbuildings and archaeological sites.Pearce and Balcar (1996) analyzed destinationcharacteristics, development, management, and patterns ofdemand through an elementby-element comparison of eightheritage sites on the West Coast of New Zealand. Silberberg(1995) provided a common pattern of cultural/heritagetourists by analyzing age, gender, income, and edcationallevel. Active public discussion about material and intangibleheritage—of individuals, groups, communities, and nations,is a valuable facet of public life in our multicultural world.Heritage is a contemporary activity with far-reachingeffects. It can be an element of far-sighted urban andregional planning.

Heritage Tourism and SustainabilityRecently, attention has been paid to the importance of thetourist in achieving the goal of sustainability in heritagetourism (Willson& McIntosh, 2007). When tourists have asatisfying experience, they support the philosophy of thesite’s management (C. M. Hall & McArthur, 1993, 1996),so the site becomes easier to manage.The issue ofmanageability has possessed a huge part in heritage tourismexamine, yet the lion’s share of research has had a tendency

Literature reviewHeritage is the full range of our inherited traditions,monuments, objects, and culture. Most important, it is therange of contemporary activities, meanings, and behaviorsthat we draw from them. Prentice (1993) defined the term“heritage” as not only landscapes, natural history, buildings,artifacts, cultural traditions and the like that are literally ormetaphorically passed on from one generation to the other,but those among these which can be promoted as tourismproducts.Peterson (1994) uncovers three noteworthy purposes behindgoing to historic locales: to see an alternate place, to figureout how to appreciate a cerebral affair, and to impart toothers or show kids the historical backdrop of the site.Kozak and Rimington (2000) detailed the discoveries ofan examination to decide destination credits basic to thegeneral fulfillment levels of voyagers. Pizam, Neumann,and Reichel (1978) stated that it is important to measureconsumer satisfaction with each attribute of the destination,because consumer dis/satisfaction with one of the attributesleads to dis/satisfaction with the overall destination.Heritage includes, but is much more than preserving,excavating, displaying, or restoring a collection of oldthings. Heritage incorporates, however is substantiallymore than safeguarding, unearthing, showing, orreestablishing a gathering of old things.Many tourists whovisit heritage sites seek a value-added and authenticexperience, when compared with the traditional products(sea, sun, sand) or mass destinations (Yankholmes andAkyeampong, 2010). According to Richards (1997),cultural tourism includes all movements of persons tospecific cultural attractions such as heritage sites,artistically and cultural manifestations, and arts and dramaoutside their normal place of residence. Silberberg (1995)states that cultural tourism is a form of tourism motivatedby interest in the historical, artistic, scientific, or heritageofferings of a region. Stebbins (1996) defines culturaltourism as a genre of special-interest tourism based on thesearch for and participation in new and deep culturalexperiences, whether aesthetic, intellectual, emotional, or


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to comprehend the social and instructive issues of heritagetourism as opposed to concentrating on the utilization ofsupportability in a reasonable setting (Fyall and Garrod,1998; Millar, 1989). It is eminent that issues identified withthe supply side (i.e., preservation, translation, assetsadministration) are the primary concentration of the writingIt is notable that issues related to the supply side (i.e.,conservation, interpretation, resources management) are themain focus of the literature (Fyall, Garrod, &Leask, 2003;Leask&Fyall, 2006; Shackley, 2001). To achieve the goalof sustainable heritage tourism, both supply and demandsides should be considered.

Tourist MotivationPrentice (l993b), explained about heritage tourists withregard to six motivations: pleasure of viewing, education,information, relaxation, entertainment, and exercise.Moscardo (1996), in the context heritage sites, emphasizedtwo main motivations: educational and entertainment/social. Heritage tourism is commonly regarded as activityby tourists in a place where historic monuments arepresented (Garrod and Fyall, 2001). Heritage tourism isconsidered on the relationship between the individual andthe heritage monument seen and the tourists’ perception ofthe site as part of their own heritage (Poria 200la, 2001b;Poria, Butler, and Airey 2000, 200l, 2003a, 2003b, 2003c).According to Goulding (1999) and Ng (1991), historicalrepresentation is a source of cultural pride and identity;and historical monuments are the physical reminders ofhistory and cultural heritage. According to Whidden (1991)and Hall and Page (1999) the promotion of heritage sitesas tourist spots can guide the public to recognise the valueof collective memory, that can be established when peoplefeel a particular attachment to an area.McCain and Ray (2003) highlighted the need for the studyof tourist motivations as an integral part of the study ofheritage tourism. Moscardo (1996) also noted theadminsitration of the motives of visitors to heritage settings

through the interpretation provided on site. In addition,Silberberg (1995) emphasized the importance of touristmotivations to the management of heritage sites by stressingtheir role in marketing efforts.

Heritage Tourism and SustainabilityAccording to Australian Heritage Commission there shouldbe sustainable practice in both tourism and heritage. Thereare certain principles that are important for tourismoperators, heritage managers and others who are committedto responsible practice and a quality product. Recognising,describing, understanding and communicating significanceis an essential part of heritage conservation and responsibletourism at heritage places. Heritage conservation is aconcern of responsible tourism. It ensures the long-termprotection of heritage assets.Heritage management shouldcontributeenhance tourists’ experience and enjoyment ofheritage places, and reduce their impacts (Glasson, 1995;McArthur & Hall, 1993, 1996).

Research GapFrom the literature review it is identified that very lessresearch on diversity of experience for heritage tourist andimage building of heritage destinationthrough variousattributes has been conducted. Based upon this theresearcher tries to identify the relationship between heritagedestination attributes and satisfaction for image buildingforChandigarh as a heritage destination.

Theoretical BackgroundThe study focuses on identifying the cultural/heritagedestination attributes which influence tourists’ satisfaction.The research is based on a consumer behaviour model,which depictsthat consumer satisfaction related to certainattributes, and judgements of performance regarding theseattributes. (Clemons and Woodruff, 1992).ArchitecturalWork of Le Corbusier in Chandigarh, Capitol Complex,was added to this list in the year 2016.

Picture 4 : Vidhan Sabha


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Picture 5 : Eco friendly Vehicles in Capitol complex

Picture 6Rock Garden, Chandigarh

Picture 7Tourists enjoying shopping in Chandigarh


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Different attractions of Capitol Complex, UNESCOWorld Heritage SiteLe Corbusier planned the city as a living organism, withthe Capitol Complex in the north representing the headcomprising of, The Parliament or Legislative Assembly(1955) was designed as a large box with the entrance porticoon one side, concrete piers on the other, and a repetitivepattern on the façade. The High Court (1952) has been inuse since March 1956. The Secretariat (1953) is a very largebuilding and a 254 meters long and 42 meters high housesthe ministerial chambers and all ministerial agencies. TheCapitol Parcis articulated with six monuments, The OpenHand, The Martyrs’ Memorial, The Geometric Hill, TheTower Of Shadowsand The Modular.

Objectives of study1. To study the current scenario of tourism in

Chandigarh.2. To study tourist opinion about heritage tourism in

Chandigarh.3. To suggest measures for enhancing heritage tourism

in Chandigarh.The study sought to identify the relationships betweenattributes of heritage destination for sustainability at Capitolcomplexand tourists’expectation and satisfaction.

HypothesisH0: There is no relationship between the attributes ofheritage tourism in Chandigarh and the image building oftourists.

Tourists’ SurveyThe survey was conducted for three days from 14-15April2017in various tourist sites of Chandigarh and approached

to the tourists for the interview and the questionnaire formto be filled. Distribution of questionnaires was carried outonly during the daytime from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M.Respondents were approached and informed about thepurpose of the survey in advance before they were giventhe questionnaire and were asked if they would participatein the survey. The data was collected at Capitol complex,rock garden, Sukhna lake and Le Corbusier museum.

MethodThe methodology was quantitative in nature and employeda survey research design as a common method to investigatemotivations to travel and perceptions of tourist aboutChandigarh as a heritage destination. After the design ofthe questionnaire, a pre-test was performed to ensure theinternal and external consistency of the questions.Questionnaire for tourists’ perceptions about Chandigarhrelated to various attributes such as monuments, food,heritage buildings and accessibility, measured by a five-point Likert scale. The demographic characteristics of therespondents were also collected (such as gender, age, andeducation).A total of 150 questionnaires were filled in, of which 135were properly completed and provided usable data.Thefactor analysis with varimax rotation and principalcomponents as the extraction method was used reduce data,transforming the original set of 23 variables into a smallerset of representative factors. Cronbach’s alpha coefficientsevaluate the reliability of the obtained factors. An on-sitesurvey of the tourists in Capitol Complex, Sukhna Lake ,Le Corbusier museum and Rock garden, Chandigarh wasundertaken for this study. The data collected from Likerscale items were designed to quantify tourists perceptionsof these changed views. Visitors were asked to indicate,on a 5-point scale from1 (Very Poor through 5 (Very Good),their perceptions.

Table 3 : Description of survey RespondentsGender Frequency PercentageMale 77 57.037Female 58 42.963NationalityIndian 103 76.296Foreigners 32 23.704Age20–29 22 16.29630–39 37 27.40740–49 47 34.81550 and above 29 21.481Occupation


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Student 20 14.815Private employee 38 28.148Govt. employee 49 36.296Others 28 20.741Educational levelUp to High School 35 25.926Graduation 67 49.630Post Graduation and above 33 24.444Source: Data Collected through Questionnaire

Table 4 : Tourists’ motivations to visit ChandigarhTourists’ motivations n %Heritage of Chandigarh 43 31.852City Planning 31 22.963Events 26 19.259Shopping 21 15.556Visiting Friends and Relatives 14 10.370

Results

Table 5 : Attribute Perceptions of Chandigarh as a heritage destination

Attributes Mean S.DHeritage of Chandigarh 3.935 0.983Food 3.623 0.734Welcoming city 3.821 0.648Historic City 3.729 0.539Accessibility 4.128 0.398Shopping Facility 4.017 0.853Cleanliness 4.125 1.048City Planning 4.115 0.648Weather 3.927 0.638Safety and Security 3.673 0.832Entertainment quantity 3.874 0.635Entertainment quality 3.772 0.847Quality of hotels 3.281 0.353Signage and information 4.132 1.049Dissemination of cultural events 3.872 0.543

Tourists were asked about their motivation to visitChandigarh, 43(31.852%) visited to see the heritage ofChandigarh, 31(22.963%) for City planning, 26(19.256%)for events, 21(15.556%) for shopping and 14(10.370%) for

visiting friends and relatives in Chandigarh. Thedemographic profile and their mean responses for the fiveresponse choices given by visitors for each of the sevenrating scale items are reported in the table 5 and 6.


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Effective promotion 3.721 0.735Population diversity 3.582 0.834Attitude of People 3.674 0.745Value for money 3.876 0.645Regional centrality 3.898 0.763Health services 4.221 0.539Services professionalism 3.763 0.846

Table 6 : Principal component analysis with Varimaxrotation(n=135)

Components Communalities Factor loadings MeasuresHeritage and attractions of City (Factor-1)Accessibility 0.643Heritage of City 0.698Signage and information 0.654City Planning 0.592Historic center 0.543Weather 0.665Safety 0.548Mean 3.99Eigenvalue 4.853Explained variance by factors (%) 38.542Cronbach’s alpha 7.783Entertainment in Chandigarh(Factor 2)Entertainment quality 0.598Entertainment quantity 0.563Shopping opportunities 0.582Population diversity 0.493Regional centrality 0.412Mean 3.981Eigenvalue 4.993Explained variance by factors (%) 11.646Cronbach’s alpha 0.743Food and Accommodation (Factor 3)Food 0.598Welcoming city 0.592Quality hotels and restaurants 0.621Mean 3.868Eigenvalue 2.842Explained variance by factors (%) 7.843


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Cronbach’s alpha 0.663 0.664F4—EffectivenessDissemination of cultural events 0.598Services professionalism 0.653Effective promotion 0.658Cleanliness 0.682Value for money 0.587Mean 3.732Eigenvalue 2.932Explained variance by factors 6.863Cronbach’s alpha 0.616

1. Items measured on a five-point Likert-type scale.2. Factor with Cronbach’s alpha less than 0.6 omitted.3. Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy—0.932; Bartlett’s test of significance—0.0.

Table 5 presents the perceptions of all respondentsregarding the different attributes of Chandigarh. Thesefindings show that Chandigarh is perceived by tourists asa heritage destinations consisting heritage buildings,monuments and other attractions. Table 6 presents theresults of the factor analysis. The KMO test and Bartlett’stest of sphericity were computed to assess theappropriateness of factor analysis to the data. The KMOvalue was 0.859, and Bartlett’s test was significant at the0.00 level. Bothresultsdirects the factor analysis may be considered (Hairet al., 1995).The principal component factor analysis with varimaxrotation was used to identify the underlying dimensions.Two attributes were removed correspondingto a fifth factorwith a Cronbach’s alpha of less than0.6. A final four-factormodel was estimated with 21 items. The factor solutionaccounted for approximately 64.9.7% of the total varianceexplained, with all communalities ranging from 0.412 to0.698.Factor 1 is related with basic heritage attractions ofthecity, and it is responsible for explaining 38.54% ofthetotal variance found, with a Cronbach reliability alphasof0.783. Factor 2 is related to the entertainment relatedfacilities in city and it explained 11.646% of totalvarianceand Cronbach’s alpha level of 0.742Factor3,related to food and accommodation and explained 7.843% of total variance explained with the alphalevel of 0.663.The fourth factor, effectiveness represents6.863% of thevariance and had a reliabilityalpha of 0.616.

Significance of Tourist Opinion for ChandigarhThe tourist opinion is important in developing successfulmarketing strategies to promote and position or Tourist haveconsidered Chandigarh as a welcoming city offering

wonderful heritage and history. Tourists are very happy withregard to city planning and safe environment for tourists.The signage and information are giving tourists very diverseexperience of knowledge and entertainment. Chandigarhis located in a central location and a gateway to HimachalPunjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. Its locationgives tourists to chance to visit it as well as it offers verydivers experience for entertainment quantity and quality,which is reflected from tourist responses. Chandigarh offersvery good shopping Malls and markets, restaurants, foodcorners which makes it as a paradise for shopping and foodlovers. Tourists seems also satisfied with regard to variousevents and programmes in the city, cleanliness, serviceprofessionalism and value for money in the city.After getting UNESCO World heritage status to CapitolComplex, Chandigarh is witnessing increase in tourism.There is need to study the impact of this increase inconservationand sustainability of various heritagemonuments and buildings in Chandigarh. There is needfor protection and management of historic heritage. Thereis also need to investigate the model for sustainabledevelopment of this heritage.

ConclusionChandigarh is emerging as a perfect heritage destinationoffering very diverse experience to tourists. There is needto develop marketing Chandigarh tourism as a heritagedestination.Visitor are having very good experience withregard to heritage tourism and related activities inChandigarh. After UNESCO world heritage status toCapitol complex, there has been increase in tourist forheritage travel and diverse experience . The marketing andpromotion of heritage places of Chandigarh needs torecognise and respect their identified significance and the


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visitor expectations. Providing an enjoyable and enrichingexperience for visitors is the goal of everyone involved inheritage tourism. There is need to understand the tourists’motivations by tourism operators and heritage managersand plannersfor providing high quality visitor experiences.

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24. Poria, Y., R. Butler, and D. Airey (2000). “ClarifyingHeritage Tourism: A Distinction between Heritage Tourismand Tourism in Historic Place.” Annals of TourismResearch, 28 (4): 1047-49.

25. Prentice, R. (1993a). “Heritage: A Key Sector of the “New”Tourism.” Prog- ress in Tourism, Recreation and HospitalityManagement, 5: 309-24. ??? (1993a). “Motivations of theHeritage Consumer in the Leisure Mar- ket: An Applicationof the Manning-Haas Demand Hierarchy.” Lei- sureSciences, 15: 273-90.

26. Prentice, R. C., S. F. Witt, and C. Hamer (1998). “Tourismas Experience: The Case of Heritage Parks.” Annals ofTourism Research, 25 (1): 1- 24

27. Richards G (1997) The social context of cultural tourism.In: Richards G (ed.) Cultural Tourism in Europe.Wallingford: CAB International.


28. Shackley, M. (2001). Managing sacted sites. London:Continuum.

29. Silberberg T (1995) Cultural tourism and businessopportunities for museums and heritage sites. TourismManagement 16(2): 361–365.

30. Silberberg, T. (1995). “Cultural Tourism and BusinessOpportunities for Museums and Heritage Sites.” TourismManagement, 16 (5): 361-65.

31. Silberberg, T. (1995). Cultural tourism and businessopportunities for museums and heritage sites. TourismManagement, 16(5), 361-365.

32. Stebbins RA (1996) Cultural tourism as serious leisure.Annals of Tourism Research 23(4): 948–950.

33. Willson, G. B., & McIntosh, A. J. (2007). HeritageBuildings and Tourism: An Experiential View. Journal ofHeritage Tourism, 2(2), 75–93.

34. World Tourism Organisation (1985). The States’ Role inProtecting and Promoting Culture as a Factor of TourismDevelopment and the Proper Use and Exploitation of theNational Cultural Heritage of Sites and Monuments forTourists. Madrid, Spain: World Tourism Organisation.

35. Yankholmes AKB and Akyeampong OA (2010) Tourists’

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Websites1. www.cci.in/pdfs/surveys-reports/Tourism-in-India

2. www.tradingeconomics.com/india/tourist-arrivals

3. https://www.go2hr.ca/bc-tourism-industry/what-tourism

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Incentive Travel : A Study of Customer Satisfaction of Leading TravelCompanies in India

Dr. Vikramjit Singh & Dr. Amit Kumar

ABSTRACT

The meetings, incentive, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) is one of the most important segments in thetravel and tourism industry. In the United States alone, the economic impact of this industry is estimated atover $110 billion annually, with incentive travel responsible for approximately 5% of this total (CEIR,2008). MICE tourism is a perfect way of combining business with pleasure. MICE tourism presents uniqueopportunities for business development, be it an informal conversation with old partners and meetings withprospective investors, customers and suppliers, information exchange or introduction to new technologies.The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry is extensively and rapidly growingand is largely associated with travel for business purpose. The MICE industry - a service industry combiningtrade, transportation, finance, and travel—has been active in Europe and America for over a century. Hotels,event venues, attractions, restaurants, and other service providers are dependent upon incentive travel for asignificant portion of their revenues. Although incentive travel has been used as a management tool fordecades, it is often not fully understood. Pizam and Holcomb (2008) define incentive travel as “travelprovided to employees by companies in an effort to motivate them to increase/improve their performance”.In this era of cut throat competition it is very important for incentive travel companies to understand thesatisfaction level of their customers. The aim of present research paper is to study the customer satisfactiontowards incentive travel of leading travel companies in India.Keywords: Travel, Tourism, MICE, Incentive travel, hospitality industry etc.

Dr. Vikramjit Singh Assistant Professor, University Institute of Tourism and Hotel Management Chandigarh University, PunjabE-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Amit Kumar HOD & Associate Professor, School of Hotel Management, Airlines and Tourism C.T. University, Ludhiana, Punjab,E-mail: [email protected]

IntroductionThe Indian tourism and hospitality industry has emergedas one of the key drivers of growth among the servicessector in India. Tourism in India has significant potentialconsidering the rich cultural and historical heritage, varietyin ecology, terrains and places of natural beauty spreadacross the country. Tourism is also a potentially largeemployment generator besides being a significant sourceof foreign exchange for the country. India is the cradle ofthe human race, the birthplace of human speech, the motherof history, the grandmother of legend and the greatgrandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and mostinstructive materials in the history of man are treasured upin India. For travelers, India offers a rich cornucopia ofchoice – snowy mountain peaks, sunny beaches, rainforests,tiger and lion sanctuaries, deserts dotted with exotic palaces,historical destinations, pilgrim destinations, from bustling

cosmopolitan cities to tiny hamlets that seem frozen in time,India offers a heady blend of culture, history, tradition,hospitality, beauty coupled with modern amenities likedeluxe and super deluxe hotels and resorts that wouldappeal to the business traveler. The Incredible India websitesays, “What makes India different from any otherdestination is the myriad of experiences that it offers. Thisis one land where the ancient and the modern co-exist. Indiahas everything that a visitor wants to experience and offerspeople a complete holiday both physical and mental. Thisis perhaps the reason why we have so many repeat visitors”.It adds, “Amidst the countless ways that India can captureworld attention as a tourist paradise, there also exists adynamic business opportunity as a splendid venue forinternational conferences and conventions of no less thanglobal standards. Sites, the exotic and mystical, excellentfacilities of Biz and Bytes (Vol. 6. Issue: 2, 2015) E-ISSN:



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0976 0458, Print ISSN: 2320 897X 159 beach andadventure holidays which can be combined as pre and postconference tours. Enchanting India’s image as a conferencedestination is also projected through the chains of hotels,providing international standards in facilities and services,exclusive business hotels and exotic resorts, with meetingrooms of distinction, spacious convention facilities, modernbusiness centres and a wide range of conference facilities.”Travelling to attend meetings is the primary reason forbusiness travel. About twenty percent of all business tripsare for the purpose of attending corporate meetings orconventions. The incentive travel market is one that canhave a profound economic impact. The convention industrytends to attract high-spending visitors and those who makerepeat visits to a destination. Researchers have suggestedthat MICE travellers tend to stay longer at a destinationand spend more than the average traveller (Hunt, 1989). Atrend that began to develop several years ago is that businesstravellers are mixing business with pleasure. Spouses andchildren are accompanying the business travellerdomestically and internationally, and with the availabilityof resort activities this usually means the visitor will stayfor one or two days longer, in the hope of developing a“mini-vacation.”Incentive travel programs can be used in different ways.Some companies may use an incentive travel program tostimulate sales of their products or services throughdistributors; thus, the distributors are the recipients of thetravel incentive, not direct employees. The other scenariois when a company uses an incentive travel program toreward, recognize, and motivate employees for meeting orexceeding specific goals set forth by the company. Incentivetravel, very broadly defined, is the lure of a travel trip tomotivate employees at work. Incentive travel has becomeincreasingly popular with a lot of corporations in the lastfew years. So much so that it has become a huge marketfor the industry. In this Unit, we are going to discuss theevolution of Incentive travel and its various phases. Therole of professional motivational houses in this regard hasalso been discussed. The Unit also takes into account thefuture of incentive travel and the form it might take after afew years. Incentive Magazine (October 1996) definedincentive travel as a global management tool that uses anexceptional travel experience to motivate and/or recognizeparticipants for increased levels of performance in supportof organizational goals. Society for Incentive TravelExecutives (SITE) defines incentive travel as a modernmanagement tool used to achieve extraordinary goals byparticipants or a travel prize upon attainment of their shareof the uncommon goal. Meaning whereby that incentivetravel is a reward programme which employees get afterattaining certain targets. The corporations of North Americastarted the phenomenon of incentive travel some years back.Trips to popular destinations such as Bermuda, theCaribbean, Mexico and even Europe were showcased for

the employees as incentives for giving extra ordinaryperformance. Destinations within the United States suchas Las Vegas and Hawaii were also utilized as attractionsfor incentive travel.

Review of LiteratureThis section on literature review is focused on varioustheories that are relevant to our study.Jeffrey, Dickinson and Einarsson (2013) analyze actualpractice in industry with respect to the use, choice, andeffectiveness of four types of incentives, cash, prepaidcards, travel, and merchandise. They found that usage ofcash and cards continue to increase but travel andmerchandise are still frequently used.Deborah Allcock and Igor Filatotchev (2010) examinedthe Executive Incentive Schemes in Initial Public Offerings:The Effects of Multiple-Agency Conflicts and CorporateGovernance. They examine the factors affecting theimplementation of equity-based incentive schemes in initialpublic offerings (IPOs). With a unique sample of U.K. IPOcompanies between the years 1998 and 2002, it shows thatconditional (performance-related) incentive schemes arenegatively associated with share ownership and boardpower of the IPO’s founding directors. However, theretained ownership of venture capital firms is positivelyassociated with the probability of conditional incentiveschemes. Board independence weakly effects on thetoughness of executive compensation. They suggested anumber of avenues for a future analysis of the governancedevelopment process in threshold firms.Yancey (2010) investigate the Aligning the CEO’s IncentivePlan With Criteria That Drive Organizational Performance.They examined the top human resources executives at creditunions described their CEO compensation practices. Thecredit unions with CEO incentive plans enjoyed betterfinancial health than did those without CEO incentive plans.The longer the CEO incentive plans had been in place, thebetter the credit unions’ financial health. The best creditunions were those that incorporated people metrics intotheir CEO incentive plans, but these made up a smallminority.Pauline J. Sheldona (2008) examines the phenomenon ofincentive travel and gives insight into its use by major U.S.corporations. They study fortune 1000 companies and theiruse of incentives-especially incentive travel-is the basis ofthe paper and they found that travel is a common incentivetool used by 40% of the sample companies. They identifiedthe Characteristics of incentive travel are discussed anddifferences between users and non-users of incentive travel.A large corporate which have strong presence in nationallyand internationally have their own in house traveldepartment are more likely to use incentive travel.

Incentive Travel : A Study of Customer Satisfaction ofLeading Travel Companies in India

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Jeffrey and Shaffer (2007) investigate the MotivationalProperties of Tangible Incentives which are offered toEmployers who spend considerable sums on noncashtangible incentives need to document their effectivenessand investigate the best means of delivery.Zheng Xiang and Sandro Formica (2007) analysis theincentive travel industry with environment changes intourism. It is important to understand how managersperceive environmental forces that are driving their decisionmaking and strategy formulation. They use cognitivemapping techniques to represent and interpret incentivetravel managers’ perceptions of their business environmentsand they suggest that managers are frustrated by thechallenges and threats posed by the fast-changingenvironment in which they operate and find it increasinglydifficult to identify business opportunities. They offerimportant implications for knowledge management andstrategic management for incentive travel businesses.Donoher, Reed and Susan (2007) examined the IncentiveAlignment, Control, and the Issue of Misleading FinancialDisclosures they raised concerns about the efficacy ofincentive alignment and control systems. Among the firmsthat either did or did not restate misleading financialdisclosures, both managerial equity ownership andcontingent compensation were positively related torestatements when considered independently of otherfactors such as firm performance and board characteristics.When these variables were introduced, performancepositively moderated the relationship between ownershipand restatements, although contingent compensation wasno longer significant. Finally, misleading disclosures wereless prevalent in firms whose boards had high levels ofbusiness experience and long tenure.Severt, Wang, Chen & Breiter (2007) examine the overallconference motivators and their importance in influencingthe conference attendees’ decisionmaking. They sayconvenience of conference, education benefits, productsand deals, networking & activities and opportunities.Food management (2007) in one of their articleinvestigates that to vow MICE customers there is a risingtrend of convention center catering and points out fivephenomena: sustainable cuisine, formal menu tastings,display cooking, smaller and more complete portions andfull- service package solutions. Sustainable cuisinerepresents an eco- friendly cuisine made from organicproduce. Formal menu tasting implies efforts to standardizethe food making process and its tasting. Display cookingallows for interaction between food preparers and customersat their cooking stations. Furthermore, as a multiple coursesit-down menu is replaced by three course meals, the foodortions are getting smaller and yet are nutritionallycomplete. The last factor, the full service package solutions,demonstrates catering sales and operations directors arestarting to serve as a single provider to help conventionorganizers understand their catering program.

Breiter & Milman (2006) identifies tangible & intangibleelements of service that attendees encounter at tradeshow& rank their relative importance and to measure to whatextent these service elements were delivered by theconvention center. In research they find cleanness ofconvention center, well maintained facility, helpfulness ofguest services/ personnel, directional signage andavailability of high quality lodging near the conventioncenter are very important.Tammie, Kristin and others (2006) examined the cost-effectiveness of a hospital incentive system for heart-relatedcare, using a principal-agent model, where the insurer isthe principal and hospitals are the agents.Stephen and Jannifer (2006) explored the multipleemployee incentive plans. Many employees are coveredby merit pay plans as well as individual or group incentiveprograms such as gain sharing, profit sharing or other bonusplans. These plans are intended to facilitate organizationalgoal attainment and simultaneously to help employees reapthe benefits of their efforts. While targeting specificorganizational objectives and reinforcing employeebehaviors, the combination of multiple incentive systemsmay have some unanticipated negative consequences.Careful design and implementation can increase the successof such programs.Lee & Back (2005) in their studies found that satisfieddelegates play an important role in the MICE industry interms of bringing repeated business & promoting themeeting venue, as well as the whole destination, to othersthrough positive word-of-mouth (WOM). Doing that couldpotentially increase attendance numbers. Attendancenumbers are important for both meeting venues & hostdestinations as attendees bring operating income to hostfacilities, as well as direct & indirect economic impacts tohost communities. Furthermore, as indicated by Lee &Back, increasing attendance is critical to associationsbecause they dependRobinson & Callan (2005) establish whether gaps existbetween conference organizers & conference delegates’needs when selecting & assessing the quality of aconference venue. They highlight competence, serviceproviders, price / value, bedrooms, access, additionalservices, leisure facilities, location & image are importantattributes which an attendees look for.Jung (2005) identifies comprehensive determinants ofexhibition service quality as perceived by attendees. Theresearch further suggests contents, booth layout & function,exhibition & booth attractiveness are few things that aexhibition attendee look for.Storms and Loosvel ( 2004) address to who responds toincentives. that this is mainly the result of survey-specificcharacteristics such as length of the survey, invasion ofprivacy issues, and cognitive efforts needed to fill in the


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questionnaire. Person-specific characteristics such as thelevel of individualistic attitudes and the age of therespondent also have an effect but less so than the survey-related issues.Amer (2004) in their research found that creating andmaintaining excitement throughout an entire conference iscritical to satisfying conference attendees. Quality foodfunctions are one method to create exciting and memorableevents.Hinkin & Tracey (2003) identify the physical & service-related characteristics of properties that may have animportant impact on program & meeting effectiveness.They identified following attributes like security, staff, guestrooms, meeting rooms, food & beverage, convenience,public areas & recreational amenitiesWirtz and Chew (2002) examined the impact of incentives,tie-strength, and satisfaction on word of mouth behavior.Consumer deal proneness was investigated using a quasi-experimental design. They suggested that satisfiedcustomers are a necessary but not sufficient condition forgetting positive WOM, and that incentive may be aneffective way to get satisfied customers to recommend afirm. Furthermore, incentive programs targeted at strongties are likely to be more effective than those targeted atweak ties, provided customers are genuinely happy withthe service provided.Iommazzo (2002) in their study also verified the sensoryenvironment provoked by food and drinks reinforces theuniqueness and memory of a guest’s experience.Hutson (2002) examines the shopping for incentives aretaken as compensation and benefits professionals considerincentive packages, they should note an emerging markettrend among employees as desire to be able to redeemrewards both online and off. That has demonstrated thatemployees want the ability to select personally relevantrewards. It also examined the “choice” preference on nextlevel. When asked where they would be most likely toredeem a reward gift card, more than one third of incentiveusers said they would want to use the card in stores andonline. Stored-value reward cards not only let recipientsreward themselves how and when they want but also canplay an essential role in creating good employee relationsin a sluggish economy. The personally meaningfulincentives can help downsizing companies stem theresignation temptation that often follows layoffs.Miller and Whitford (2002) identified the trust andincentives in principle agent negotiations with special focuson insurance / incentives trade off. Experimental subjectswere routinely able to achieve efficiency in agent effortlevels without inefficient risk-sharing. These experimentaloutcomes, while anomalous from the standpoint ofprincipal-agency theory, are quite consistent with other

experimental data testing notions of trust-based implicitcontracting. Such contracting within a hierarchy may allowan outcome preferred, by both principal and agent, to thatdeemed possible by principal-agency theory. If this is true,then the lessons to be learned from principal-agency theoryare all the wrong ones. Concentrating on incentives cancrowd out the very qualities in a relationship that makesocial efficiency possible.Shinew and Backman (1995) explored the attractiveoptions for travel incentives have trophy value whichimplies that they provide long-lasting positivereinforcement, an element that adds to their motivationalvalue. They examine the comparable attractiveness of themost popular incentives and to determine the influence ofsocial pressure and motivational effect of contests. Theyfind the two ‘travel-type’ rewards received the highestattractiveness ratings and that the influence of socialpressure on reward attractiveness was significant.Riccia and Stephen (1992) examine the incentive travelindustry which had unique fantasy travel and recreationexperiences as rewards for employees who excel inproductivity and sales. Incentive travel planners areinvolved in the complete process of employee motivation,advertising the incentive opportunity, planning andmanaging the the search result showed that therewere154 theses with incentive travel as key word, 53 wereentitled incentive travel but only 40 were concerning thestudy on domestic incentive travel. Through her lamination,she excluded introductory these is and propaganda ofincentive travel and chose 29 theses to give an outline of.The current situation of incentive travel. All the heateddiscussion and hot issues mainly fell into two categories:First: the definition and features of incentive travel; forexample: Wang (2007) held that incentive travel was notonly an award to employees but more importantly anaward to the company. It functioned as a modernmanagement tool and special travel program. Gao & Liu(2006) assumed that incentive travel bore deeperand internal characteristic so fit own more than generalfeatures of regular travel. Second: the present situation andproblem so incentive travel and the correspondingsuggestions & solutions; Wang (2007) expounded incentivetravel as the new mode to motive staff in modernenterprises. In his view, incentive travel started late in Chinaand companies didn’t truly understand the meaning of it.Zhang (2007) held forth his idea that the governmentshould dismantle barriers and restrictions imposed onaccounting system, tax revenue, and other public policiesand regulations to elevate the development of incentivetravel trip. They discussed the rapid rate of growth of theindustry, definitions, characteristics and examples ofincentive travel trips are discussed, primarily from a NorthAmerican perspective. Potential problems with usingrecreation and travel as a reward are reviewed.


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Hypothesis1. Customers are not satisfied with the services offered tothem during the Incentive tour.2. Customers are not satisfied with the tour packages offeredby the travel company.

Date AnalysisAnalyzing meaningful results from the data collected isrequired to compile, analyze & interpret the raw data &formulate reasonable conclusions out of it. Analysis canbe viewed as ordering, the breaking down into constituentparts & manipulating of data to obtain answers to researchquestions underlying the research projects. The outcomesof analysis are the findings that are closely related with itsinterpretation. In order to reach meaningful finding,percentage analysis is used for analyzing the data.

InterpretationThe demographic characteristics of the respondents areshown in Table 1. The dominant age group of therespondents (46%) was 25 to 35 years followed by 32% in

the age group less than 25 years and 20% lies in the agegroup of 36 to 45 years, 2% was above 46% which madeup the smallest group of the respondents. In the categoryof income level, 60% of the respondents were earn less the25000 a month, 20% of the respondents were earn between25000 – 35000 and more the 35000 per month. In termsof level of education, almost of the respondents (56%) had a graduates education; 40% of the respondents hada post graduate education, and 4% of the respondents hada secondary school education. The result shows therelatively high educational attainment of the respondents.As per the family size, 61% of the respondents were hadfamily of four persons, followed by 22% family of six ormore persons. Only 17% of the respondents had family oftwo persons. As per the gender distribution, 85% of therespondents were male and 15% of the respondents werefemale. On the basis of marital status, majority of therespondent (50%) were married as compared to unmarriedwho are 44%. Only 6% were other category. On the basisof Designation or Position in management, 56% of therespondents were from lower management, 22% of therespondents are from middle and higher management.

Table 1 : Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents (N=78)

Variables Frequency Percentage (%)Age Group Less than 25 25 3226-35 35 4636-45 15 2046 above 2 2Income Less than 25000 48 6025-35000 12 2035000 above 15 20Education Plus 2 3 4Graduate 44 56Post Graduate 31 40Family size 2 persons 13 174 persons 46 616 and above 17 22Gender Male 66 85Female 12 15


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Marital status Married 39 50Unmarried 34 44Others 6 6Designation / Positionin management Higher Management 17 22Middle Management 17 22Lower Management 44 56

agreed that sales counter provide tour information tocustomers followed by 26% of the respondents werestrongly agreed. 15% of the respondents were medium intheir views and 4% of the respondents were disagreed. Noneof the respondent was Strongly Disagreed. 6% were notresponded.1.3 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel onDocumentation services (in percentage)The study indicates that 62% of the respondents wereagreed that sales counter provide documentation servicesto travellers. 13% of the respondents were strongly agreedand medium with their opinion about documentationservices. None of the respondent was Disagreed andStrongly Disagreed. 12% were not responded.

Hypothesis 1: Customers are not satisfied with the servicesoffered to them during the Incentive tour.1.1 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel onCourteous welcome (in percentage)60% of the respondents agreed that they had received thecourteous welcome at the sales counter followed by the24% of strongly agreed respondents. 12% were medium intheir opinion about courteous welcome. None of therespondent was Disagreed and Strongly Disagreed. 4%were not responded.1.2 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel on Tourinformation (in percentage)It had been observed that 49% of the respondents were

Table : 2Variables Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Mean Standard

Agree Disagree DeviationN % N % N % N % N % N %

Courteous welcome 19 24 47 60 9 12 0 0 0 0 3 4 1.87 0.6Tour information 20 26 38 49 12 15 3 4 0 0 5 6 1.97 0.78Documentation services 10 13 49 62 10 13 0 0 0 0 9 12 2 0.54

Hypothesis 2: Customers are not satisfied with the tourpackages offered by the travel company.2.1 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel on Typesof incentive travel packages (in percentage): It had beenobserved that 58% of the respondents were agreed on typesof incentive travel packages they received and 11% of therespondents were strongly Agree. 11% of the respondentswere medium in their opinion on types incentive travelpackages. 4% of the respondents were disagreed on it. Noneof the respondent was Strongly Disagreed. 16% of therespondents were not responded.2.2 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel onGroup corporate tour (in percentage): It has beenobserved that 66% of the respondents were agreed on group

corporate tour in which they received by company asincentive package and 18% of the respondents werestrongly Agree. 6% of the respondents were medium intheir opinion on group corporate tour. 4% of the respondentswere disagreed on it. None of the respondent was StronglyDisagreed. 6% of the respondents were not responded.2.3 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel on Hotelvouchers (in percentage): It has been observed that 69%of the respondents were agreed on hotel vouchers whichthey received by company as incentive package and 2% ofthe respondents were strongly Agree. 12% of therespondents were medium in their opinion on hotelvouchers. 4% of the respondents were disagreed on it. Noneof the respondent was Strongly Disagreed. 13% of therespondents were not responded.


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2.4 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel onAirlines tickets (in percentage): It has been observed that62% of the respondents were agreed on airlines ticketswhich they received by company as incentive package and13% of the respondents were strongly Agree. 5% of therespondents were medium in their opinion on airlinestickets. 5% of the respondents were disagreed on it. Noneof the respondent was Strongly Disagreed. 15% of therespondents were not responded.2.5 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel onTravel voucher (in percentage): It has been observed that61% of the respondents were agreed on travel voucherwhich they received by company as incentive package and4% of the respondents were strongly Agree. 13% of therespondents were medium in their opinion on travelvoucher. 4% of the respondents were disagreed on it. Noneof the respondent was Strongly Disagreed. 18% of therespondents were not responded.2.6 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel onAdventure trips (in percentage): It has been observedthat 50% of the respondents were agreed on adventure tripswhich they received by company as incentive package and22% of the respondents were strongly Agree. 11% of therespondents were medium in their opinion on adventuretrips. 4% of the respondents were disagreed on it. None ofthe respondent was Strongly Disagreed. 13% of therespondents were not responded.

2.7 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel onTraining and development programs (in percentage):It has been observed that 54% of the respondents wereagreed on training and development programs which theyreceived by company as incentive package and 13% of therespondents were strongly Agree. 18% of the respondentswere medium in their opinion on training and developmentprograms. 2% of the respondents were strongly disagreedon it. None of the respondent was disagreed. 13% of therespondents were not responded.2.8 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel on FreeMeal vouchers (in percentage): It has been observed that47% of the respondents were agreed on free meal voucherswhich they received by company as incentive package and13% of the respondents were strongly Agree. 15% of therespondents were medium in their opinion on free mealvouchers. 3% of the respondents were disagreed andstrongly disagreed. 19% of the respondents were notresponded.2.9 Customer Satisfaction with Incentive travel on Freepass for different events (in percentage): It has beenobserved that 54% of the respondents were agreed on freepass for different events which they received by companyas incentive package and 12% of the respondents werestrongly Agree. 18% of the respondents were medium intheir opinion on free pass for different events. 4% and 2%of the respondents were disagreed and strongly disagreedrespectively. 10% of the respondents were not responded.

Table : 3Types of incentive Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Mean Standardtravel packages Agree Disagree Deviation

N % N % N % N % N % N % Individual family tour 9 11 45 58 9 11 3 4 0 0 12 16 2.09 0.67Group corporate tour 14 18 51 66 5 6 3 4 0 0 5 6 1.96 0.65Hotel vouchers 2 2 54 69 9 12 3 4 0 0 10 13 2.19 0.55Airlines tickets 10 13 48 62 4 5 4 5 0 0 12 15 2.03 0.68Travel voucher 3 4 48 61 10 13 3 4 0 0 14 18 2.2 0.6Adventure trips 17 22 39 50 9 11 3 4 0 0 10 13 1.97 0.75Training and 10 13 42 54 14 18 0 0 2 2 10 13 2.15 0.78development programsFree Meal vouchers 10 13 37 47 12 15 2 3 2 3 15 19 2.19 0.86Free pass for different 9 11 42 54 14 18 3 4 2 2 8 10 2.24 0.84events

Conclusion and SuggestionsFrom the analysis it can be inferred about “The satisfactionlevel of various services offered to customer on incentivetour, that majority of customer were highly satisfied with

documentation services at the sales counter. When it comesto services on the tour, the customer highly satisfied withthe services of local guide, special arrangements for senior/VIP and needy, New innovation idea, itinerary planning,


coach service and flight services. When it comes to thepost tour services, the customers were satisfied withfeedback services and complaint handling. Hence, it canbe inferred that the customer are partially satisfied withthe services offered to them during the incentive travel.Further it can also be stated that “the satisfaction level withvarious incentive packages offered to customer of incentivetour by a travel company. The majority of customer werehighly satisfied with free passes of different events, Travelvoucher, Free meal vouchers and hotel voucher.Following suggestions can be drawn from the study:• It is suggested that The Incentive Travel Companies

should improve the services at the sales counter andduring tours.

• The Incentive Travel Companies should improve theIncentive Tours Packages.

• More Products/Services related to Incentive Travelshould be developed

• Incentive Travel Companies should offer all inclusivepackages to the customers.

• Incentive Travel Companies should plan a balancedItinerary (They should get more relaxed time also)

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2013 The use of incentives in organizations, InternationalJournal of Productivity and Performance ManagementVolume: 62 Issue: 6 2013

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environmental change in tourism: A study of the incentivetravel industry Tourism Management, Volume 28, Issue 5,October 2007, Pages 1193-1202

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9. Vicky Storms and Geert Loosvel 2004 “Who Responds toIncentives?” Field Methods November 2004 vol. 16 no. 4414-421

10. Darryl A. Hutson American Express, Incentive Services,L.L.C. 2002 “Shopping for Incentives” CompensationBenefits Review March 2002 vol. 34 no. 2 75-79

11. Gary J. Miller and Andrew B. Whitford 2002 Trust andIncentives in Principal-Agent NegotiationsThe ‘Insurance/Incentive Trade-Off’ Journal of Theoretical Politics April2002 vol. 14 no. 2 231-267

12. Jochen Wirtz & Patricia Chew (2002) “The effects ofincentives deal proneness, satisfaction and tie strength onword-of-mouth behavior” International Journal of ServiceIndustry Management (2002) Volume: 13 Issue: 2 2002

13. Kimberly J Shinew, Sheila J Backman 1995 Incentivetravel: an attractive option Tourism Management, Volume16, Issue 4, June 1995, Pages 285-293

14. Pauline J. Sheldona 2008 Incentive Travel:Insights intoIts Consumers Journal of Travel & Tourism MarketingVolume 3, Issue 2, 1994 pages 19-33

15. Peter R. Riccia, Stephen M. Holland 1994 Incentive travel:Recreation as a motivational medium Journal of Travel &Tourism Marketing Volume 3, Issue 2, 1994

16. Kimberly J Shinew and Sheila J Backman 1992 Incentivetravel: an attractive option Tourism Management Volume13, Issue 3, September 1992, Pages 288–296


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Corporate Governance and Destination Management

Deepa Shrivastava & Dr. Satish Kumar

ABSTRATCT

Destination management organizations (DMOs) play a major role in managing destinations and in developingcooperation between destination players. The paper explains the concept of corporate governance. Paperhighlights the need of corporate governance for the destination management. The elements of corporategovernance have been discussed. The two prominent theories of corporate governance - agency theory andstakeholder theory have been explained. The applicability of the theory for destination management hasbeen discussed. The theories can be applied for improving the effectiveness and productivity of the destination.The complexity of the destination and the involvement of diversified stakeholders make it a need to apply themechanism of corporate governance.Keywords: Agency Theory, Corporate Governance, Destination Management, Stakeholders Theory.

Deepa Shrivastava Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, Noida , Uttar Pradesh,E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Satish Kumar Assistant Professor, Guatam Buddha University, Greater Noida Uttar Pradesh, E-mail: [email protected]



IntroductionThe economic downturn and corporate scandals throughoutthe world has highlights the importance of corporategovernance. Hospitality companies are not untouched tothe current crisis and governance meltdown. HVS GlobalHospitality Services report it says that shareholders aredemanding more accountability and transparency in theaffair of the company and calling for the application of thecorporate governance mechanism in the companies. Thenature of tourism products ask for a broad involvement ofdestination stakeholders in the destination managementorganization’s (DMO) activities and makes destinationgovernance, defined as the setting up and developing ofrules and mechanisms for a business strategies by involvingdestination stakeholders.Tourism organizations are the most important players indestination management. These are instrumental indestination management. They design and market packagesaccording to the demands of tourist. Tourism has changedfrom the demand side and also from the supply side. Theexpectation of both customers i.e. the demand and of thelocal stakeholders i.e. the supply side has changed. Suchchanged requirements demand much greater variety ofOffers, common responses and strategies from all playersin the tourism sector. Standardization, changes inadministration, better entrepreneurial competency oftourism firms have become a crucial and decisive factor.The packages booked by the tourist can be a combination

of services which places more demand for professionalismfrom tourism organizations. Continuous innovation anddevelopment have become are part of a tourism manager’srepertoire, and represent major challenges:• Professionalism in the fields related to technical skills,

communication skills, and entrepreneurial skills.• Strategic thinking• Human resource development• Collaboration or cross linking with other sectors. The

complex set of organizations and theirinterdependency has to be taken into account.

• Innovation and implementation of new ideas.• Interdependency between the players of the industry

provides dynamism which needs to be addressed.• Public Private Partnership is an important part of

tourism industry and needs to be taken care.Tourism industry in India is facing competition frommultinational tourism companies who are moreprofessionally managed and accepted by the customers asthe major players. The quality of the product and theservices is the outcome of the professionalism and bettermanagement of the companies. Tourist trust the companieswhich are better governed and managed. To build the trust,reputation of a company and to show how professionallythe firm is managed a mechanism is required. Corporate

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governance provides tools for the efficient and effectivecontrol and management of the organization, including theability to measure its efficiency and implement certainstructures and standards.The elements of corporate governance can be analyzed andapplied from the tourism point of view. The application ofthe concept of corporate governance in tourism can beidentified due to the complexity and heterogeneous natureof the tourism products, diversified institutional structures,sharing of common goods and services by the locals andthe tourists, environmental protection and communityownership. Hall in 2008 identified eight areas of publicsector involvement in tourism, several of which also applyto tourist organizations: coordination, planning, legislationand regulation, entrepreneurship, stimulation, promotion,social tourism, and a broader role of public interestsprotection.Corporate GovernanceGood governance is the process, procedure and the codeof conduct which helps to meet the needs of society alongwith the better utilization of available resources. Corporategovernance is perhaps one of the most importantdifferentiators of a business that has impact on theprofitability, growth and even sustainability of business.Corporate governance is the process which is has to beinbuilt in organization’s culture. It is distilled from thevalues, policies and the ethics of the people running thebusiness. Profitability of the corporation is the onlyobjective but sustainability of the business in long runkeeping intact the interest of all the stakeholders is corporategovernance.Finally, good corporate governance can remove mistrustbetween different stakeholders, reduce l costs and improvelabor and social relationships and ensures environmentalprotection.Governance addresses such questions as:• Who is and what is related to a task• Who is responsible for the direction and the boundary

within which the direction is to be pursued• Who makes decision• Who is responsible for setting performance indicators• Who is responsible to monitors process and evaluates

results• Who is accountable and to whom and for what.Elements of Corporate GovernanceIndependence of directorsIndependent directors are the directors who are not theowners or their family members or being appointed by theirfriends or relatives. Having non-executive independent

directors reduces the chances of biased behavior ordecisions by the directors. This reduces the conflict betweenthe board and the management. It ensures that the decisionsare taken in the interest of the company which can lead tothe improvement in the performance of the company.Separation of roles of CEO and Managing DirectorLarge companies can have CEO and Managing Directorresponsible for two different functions. The CEO canconcentrate on strategic planning whereas ManagingDirector can look after the day to day operations. In caseof small businesses other than company form oforganizations the strategic planner of the business can bedifferent from the owner-operator. It enables him or her tofocus on the long-term, strategic business planning.Succession PlanningCorporate governance provides the systematic planning forsuccession or for selling or buying of business. Theconsensus of all the stakeholders can be obtained when thebusiness is managed and controlled ethically andtransparency & accountability is ensured.Standardized procedures and controlsCorporate governance ensures the use of standardized andreliable code of conduct for the managers. This givesconfidence to the stakeholders. They show confidence inthe company. This increases the market and brand value ofthe company. Such confidence allows the small businessto survive in the market even if the owner is not presentdue to certain unavoidable reasons.Performance EvaluationCorporate governance ensures the evaluation of theperformance of the company. The use of financial,marketing and operational indicators for controlling theaffairs of the company provides the mechanisms formeasuring the performance of the company. Comparisonscan be done which provides valuable information for theplanning and strategy formulation of the company.Better HR policiesTransparency and accountability of the managementensures better renumeration, incentives and appraisalpolicies. When the management is in the hands ofindependent directors employees feel more confident onthe HR related polices of the company.Effective LeadershipAs said by Carcello in 2009 the management is responsiblefor the designing and defining the corporate strategy of thecorporation. It is required as the actions for the future hasto been formulated. The management is also responsiblefor its actions to all the stakeholders of the company. Alongwith the administrative duties they also own responsibilityto the third parties related to the company.


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Effective ManagementThe day to day activities of the company are the tools toachieve long term goals of the company. Beiger (2002)emphasized the role of decisions taken in short term andmedium term for the fulfillment of long term goals. Theroutine decisions decide the long term fate of the company.Risk ManagementStrategic Planning is not enough for the achievement oforganizational goals. These decisions require controllingand monitoring also. The performance has to be measuredand the decisions have to be controlled. The accountabilityand transparency in the operations ensure effective controlmechanism in the company.Corporate Governance for Destination Managementand the theories of Corporate GovernanceStakeholders TheoryDestinations are the entities which have many connectionand linkages with other business and the stakeholders arealso diverse. Due to these linkages and interdependenciesthere is always the problem of coordination and controlover the destinations. (Buhalis, 2000; Fesenmaier, 2001;Sainaghi, 2006).Tourism is a complex system and it involves differentstakeholders. Each of them has its own specific interestsand not easily agrees to common decisions. They can beseen as the puzzle divided into pieces but every piece cannotfit all which can destroy tourist experience. Stakeholderstheory begin with management and ethics. Freeman (1984)proposed the theory and suggested that the organization isrecognized by its relationship with other groups andindividuals.Stakeholders approach requires identification of the interestand stakes of the stakeholders. This is done to understandand manage the process. As suggested by Freeman (2010)and Tkaczynski (2009) stakeholders should be divided intoprimary stakeholders and secondary stakeholders. Primarystakeholders are those who keep the organization going.The organization participation is must for the survival.Secondary stakeholders are the group who are directlyinfluenced and affected or they influence or affect directly.But they are not necessary for the survival of theorganization.If the concept of Freeman is applied for tourism destination,an organization can be seen as a merger of relationship ofdifferent individuals and groups. The various players intourism destination are the administrators, planners,construction companies, accommodation, shops,restaurants, travel agents and tour operators. Basically theseplayers help the department and government in theirefficient functioning (Geiæ, 2007).

These actors are “pieces of a puzzle” i.e. stakeholders oftourism destination, but same kind of importance must beappointed to each stakeholder so that key stakeholders canbe identified. It is important to stress that they differ fromstakeholder of a firm e.g. shareholders and employees areone of the stakeholders of a firm because tourismdestination is on a higher level than a single firm.Stakeholder approach has been studied in various contextsrelated to destination management and marketing e.g. toexplore the attitudes and perception of individualstakeholder groups, in building interorganisational linkagesthrough marketing alliances or networks, in strengtheningand formalising linkages (Tkaczynski, 2009).Tourism destinations understand the increasing competitionand the need to apply stakeholders approach in destinationmanagement. Various case studies have related stakeholderapproach in tourism destination management (Byrd andGustake, 2006;; Wisansing, 2008; Munro, King andPolonsky, 2006; Marzano and Scott, 2005; Lewis, 2004;Timothy, 1999; Tkaczynski, Rundle-Thiele and Beaumont,2008; Li, 2006).D’Angella and Go (2009) gave a list of benefits by applyingstakeholder approach: promotion activities organized bypeople with specific skills, economies of scale, synergies,high occupancy rate, lower seasonality, planning andorganization of events in city, coherence amongdestination’s firms in terms of activities and involvementin the decision making process. Stakeholders approach canbe beneficial for local residents also in the form of qualityimprovement, better job and ease in establishing business,increase in safety measures etc.The application of stakeholders approach gives greatpossibilities if implemented but the approach has not beenapplied significantly. There can be qualitative andquantitative benefits of stakeholders approach which cancontribute in increasing tourism supply and sustainabledevelopment.Agency TheoryThe conflict of interest between the stakeholders has gainedthe attention of many researchers. Jensen and Meckling in1976 proposed a theory explaining the nature of conflictand how it can be resolved. The theory proposes that agencyrelationship arises due to the contract between principals(owners) and the agents (management). Separation betweenownership and control is the foundation of the corporations.To make managers act in the best interest of shareholdershas been a major concern in the area of corporategovernance (Allen and Gale, 2001). Agents may not alwaysact in the best interest of shareholders when the control ofa company is separate from its ownership. Simon Herbertin 1959 said that managers might tend to play it safe andwill try to get acceptable level of growth as they are more


concerned with their own existence than with maximisingthe value of the firm to its shareholders. But the expectationof the shareholders is that the agent will act in their bestinterest.Characteristics of tourism organizations and destinationsmake the theory of agency suitable. Multiplicity ofstakeholders, varied interests creates multiplicity ofchallenges. Conflict of interest between the shareholdersis agency conflict. Protecting the public interests may notbe necessarily equivalent to tourism interests. Thedevelopment an area as a tourist destination is notnecessarily equivalent to developing a local society. Thiscontradiction between types of utility may cause agencyconflicts. Agency theory states that in order to minimizeagency costs and thereby protect shareholder interests theboard should play a controlling role (Stiles & Tylor, 2001).The interrelated board roles should be identified along withthe control role.

ConclusionThe management in hospitality sectors owns moreresponsibility towards the stakeholders. The complexity ofthe industry has increased the possibility of neglecting theinterest of the shareholders. Changes in social and economicconditions, increasing regulations, collaborations andpartnership, and involvement of multiple brands make itdifficult for the management to fulfill their duties. Theprinciple of the theory of corporate governance can beapplied for the destination management which increasesthe productivity and profitability of the destinations.References1. Ancona, D. G. (1999). Managing for the future:

organizational behavior & processes. Thomson South-Western.

2. Beritelli, P. (2011). Cooperation among prominent actorsin a tourist destination. Annals of Tourism, Research, 38(2),607-629.

3. Beritelli, P. (2011). Do actors really agree on strategicissues? Applying consensus analysis of stakeholderperceptions in tourist destination communities. TourismAnalysis, 16(3), 219-241.

4. Beritelli, P. (2011, June). Measuring hierarchy in elitenetworks of tourist destinations: A look beyond themeasures of power and centrality. TTRA Conference

5. Beritelli, P., Bieger, T., & Laesser, C. (2007). Destinationgovernance: Using corporate governance theories as afoundation for effective destination management. Journalof Travel Research, 46(1), 96-107.

6. Buteau-Duitschaever, W. C., McCutcheon, B., Eagles, P.F., Havitz, M. E., & Glover, T. D. (2010). Park visitors’perceptions of governance: a comparison between Ontarioand British Columbia provincial parks managementmodels. Tourism Review, 65(4), 31-50.

7. Carcello, J. V. (2009). Governance and the commongood. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(1), 11-18.

8. Donaldson, T., & Preston, L. E. (1995). The stakeholdertheory of the corporation: Concepts, evidence, andimplications. Academy of management Review, 20(1), 65-91.

9. Dredge, D. (1999). Destination place planning anddesign. Annals of tourism research, 26(4), 772-791.

10. Dredge, D. (2006). Policy networks and the localorganisation of tourism. Tourism management, 27(2), 269-280

11. Felton, R. F., & Watson, M. (2002). Change across theboard. McKinsey Quarterly, 4(1), 31-45

12. Fine, C. H. (1998). Clockspeed: Winning industry controlin the age of temporary advantage. Basic Books.

13. Formica, S., & Kothari, T. H. (2008). Strategic destinationplanning: Analyzing the future of tourism. Journal of TravelResearch.

14. Freeman, R. E., & McVea, J. (2001). A stakeholderapproach to strategic management

15. Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: Astakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press

16. Gedajlovic, E. R., & Shapiro, D. M. (1998). Managementand ownership effects: Evidence from fivecountries. Strategic Management Journal, 533-553

17. Gretzel, U., Fesenmaier, D. R., Formica, S., & O’Leary, J.T. (2006). Searching for the future: Challenges faced bydestination marketing organizations. Journal of TravelResearch, 45(2), 116-126

18. Marzano, G., & Scott, N. (2009). Power in destinationbranding. Annals of Tourism Research, 36(2), 247-267.

19. Padurean, L. (2010). Destinations dynamic–a managementand governance perspective (Doctoral dissertation, TesisDoctoral. Lugano: Univesità della Svizzera Italiana).

20. Pechlaner, H., Kozak, M., & Volgger, M. (2014).Destination leadership: a new paradigm for touristdestinations?. Tourism Review, 69(1), 1-9.

21. Pennings, J. M. (1980). Interlocking directorates. Jossey-Bass Inc Pub.

22. Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. R. (1978). The external controlof organisations. New York, 175.

23. Ryan, C. (2002). Equity, management, power sharing andsustainability—issues of the ‘newtourism’. Tourismmanagement, 23(1),17-26.

24. Van Maanen, J. (2011). Tales of the field: On writingethnography. University of Chicago Press.

25. Williamson, O. E. (1979). Transaction-cost economics: thegovernance of contractual relations. The journal of law &economics, 22(2), 233-261.

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Strategies for Sustainable Tourism Development in U.P.

Dr. Amit Kumar Singh & Dr. Mahendra Pal Singh

ABSTRACT

U.P. being the cradle of the great and oldest civilization of the country is always considered as heart & soulof the nation. It offers a palette of diverse experiences for the tourists. U.P. is one of the most favoured statefor the tourist in India with a consistent ranking amongst the top states in terms of tourist arrivals. Thetourism industry in U.P. has a significant contribution to the states economic growth. The contributions oftourism in employment generation both direct and indirect is of immense importance to the state. U.P. isendowed with a varied spectrum of tourism offerings. These ranges from wonders of the world (Taj Mahal)to unique cultural & religious hotspots like Varanasi, Braj and Awadh. The cuisine of U.P. is just as diverseas its geography. U.P. is also home to rich textiles, crafts, dance/drama & legacy of musicians adding to theexquisiteness of tourism offering in the state. Hence it is now pertinent to effectively market the existingtourism products/destinations of the state to create a unique identity on world tourism map. Tourists todayare increasingly in search of unique tourism products & destinations.In order to successful achievement of tourism development need a long term policy for tourism. Needs tofocus on key issues of infrastructure gaps, planned development of tourism products, inclusions of dynamicICT tools, encouraging entrepreneurships, skill development, marketing & Branding. The strategies envisagedto overcome the challenges in tourism sector in the state.Key Words:- Entrepreneurship, Employment, Marketing & Branding.

Dr. Amit Kumar Singh Department of Tourism Management, Central University of Sikkim, Gangtok, SikkimDr. Mahendra Pal Singh Department of M.T.A., Dr. R.M.L. Avadh University, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh

IntroductionTourism around the globle has taken a paradigm shift andthe tourism industry now demands a refined frame work.Tourism in U.P. is closely associated with the local andrural communities. U.P. is the fourth largest state in Indiawith an approximatre area of 2,40,928 sq km. U.P. is oneof the most favoured state for tourists in India with aconsistent ranking amongst the top states in terms of touristarrivals. The tourism industry in U.P. has a significantcontribution to the state’s economic growth. Thecontribution of tourism to employment generation bothdirect and indirect is immense importance to the state.Tourism is a major social phenomenon of the modernsociety with enormous economic consequences. Itsimportance as an instrument for economic development andemployment generation, tourism is one of the major vehiclefor generating sustainable livelihood in identified as animportant avenue for employment & income generation,foreign exchange earnings and at the same time having amultiplier effect on the economy.

Research Methodology:- The study is conducted throughvarious primary & secondary data sources. The study areawas visited and the information about the place wasgathered by field survey.Secondary data and information were gathered from U.P.tourism, Lucknow. Some of the information includes books,journals and other published reports.

Present Situations of Tourism in U.P.Residents of U.P. may be cribbing about the state as tohow corrupt or unsafe cities are. But opinions of foreigntourist differ as they will praise Taj for beauty, Varanasi forits peace, Lucknow for its multi cuisine culture. Foreignerslove the cities of U.P. and that is why there has been anincrease in the footfalls in 2106 replacing Delhi in thirdposition. U.P. has the advantage of being in close proximityto Delhi and hence visitors who come to Delhi either leavefor Rajasthan or U.P., Varanasi has always been a favoritedestinations as the look for peace and tranquility. Thereare repeated visitors to the state due to the cultural diversityand rich heritage.



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U.P. can boast itself to be a state with many tourists worthyspots in India. The state is not only important for thedomestic tourist, it is also famed for being established onthe world tourist map owing to the presence of the Taj Mahalin addition to heritage U.P. attracts a lot of tourists for otherpurpose like religious purpose, historical purpose and itsproximity to states like Rajasthan & Uttrakhand.Uniqueness of Uttar Pradesh:- U.P. is endowed with avaried spectrum of tourism offering:- U.P. is home to some very important Hindu Pilgrim

Centres of India like Ram Janmbhoomi (Ayodhya),Krishna Janmbhoomi (Mathura), Baba Vishwanath(Varanasi) and Sangam (Allahabad) etc.

U.P. is the only state which is abode of one of thewonders of the world, Taj Mahal.

U.P. has a plethora of unique Wild Life especially inthe Tarai region of Dudhwa National park, SuhailwaNational Park which is endowed with unique Floraand Fauna.

Some important destinations related to the life of LordBuddha like Kapilvastu, Sarnath, Shravasti,Kausambi, Sankisa and Kushinagar.

U.P. is also home to rich textiles crafts, dance/dramaand legacy of musicians adding to the exquisitenessof tourism offering in the state.

The cuisine of U.P. is just as diverse as its geography.

Interrelationship between Tourism Stakeholders and Sustainable Tourism Development :-

Stakeholders Expected BehaviourTourist i) Aware of fragile environment & impact of their actions.

ii) Responsive to needs of local people.Tourism Entrepreneurs i) Density of tourism balanced with environmental capacity.

ii) Minimum import of goods & services into the tourism area.Local People i) Participation in decision making.

ii) Responsible attitude over protection of the resource base.iii) Local Ownership.iv) Economic benefits stays locally.

Government i) Incorporate “Responsible Tourism” into tourism policy & planning.

Challenges faced by U.P. Tourism• Inadequate road, rail & air connectivity.• Inadequate support infrastructure at the tourist

destinations.• Inadequate cleanliness at tourist destinations &

surrounding including lack of clean public toilet.• Inadequate availability of hotel rooms.• Inadequate availability of skilled labour.• Limited availability of hygienic & quality food

outlets.• Poor visitors management at sites especially religious

destinations.• Safety of Tourist.Development of New Tourist Destinations in U.P.:- Newtourist destinations & new circuits shall be identified &presented to the tourist:-1. Braj Circuit ( Mathura, Vrindavan & Agra)

2. Budelkhand Circuit (Jhansi, Lalitpur, Deogarh &Chitrakoot)

3. Vindhya Circuit (Areas near to Vindhyachal &Sonbhadra)

4. Buddha Circuit ( Sites connected with Lord Buddha)5. Awadh Circuit (Lucknow, Ayodhya and Allahabad)The State Tourism department also explored the Seven newcircuits for the tourist:-i) Heritage Arc (Agra-Lucknow-Varanasi) region.ii) Mahabharata Circuit (Areas connected to the

Mahabharata Era).iii) Ramayana Circuit (Areas connected to the Ramayana

era).iv) Jain Circuit (Areas connected to the Jain faith).v) Sufi Circuit (Prominent areas connected to the

Safism).vi) Freedom Straggle Circuit (Areas connected to the

Independence movement).


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vii) Craft, Cuisine and Cultural trails.Other than of this development of some Niche tourismproducts of U.P. for the tourist:-a) Eco tourism & Wildlife Tourism.b) Adventure Tourism.c) Sports Tourism.d) Cultural Tourism.e) Rural Tourism.f) MICE Tourism.g) Medical Tourism.h) Wellness TourismStrategies for Tourism Development in U.P.:- For thepromotion of tourism in U.P. needs some to follow somestrategies that are-1. Tourism destination will be connected through

advanced telecommunication facilities.2. Facilitate & Encourage local employment

opportunities through development of alternatetourism segment.

3. The water supply, sewage system, approach roads,parking facilities, sitting areas will be developed &strengthened.

4. Uninterrupted electricity supply will be ensured attourist destinations.

5. Special attention will be given to development ofalternate tourism, yoga, adventure tourism, ruraltourism, tangible & intangible heritage & handicraftetc.

6. Tourism will be focused in potential under developedareas, so that employment opportunities are created.

7. Establishment of tourism research & exhibitioncouncil.

8. To modernize the working system of tourismdepartment preference will be given to e-communication and computerization.

9. Facilitation for destination branding & market linkagesupport including to lucrative international markets.

10. Digital marketing techniques shall be utilized toinform & educate tourists on the uniqueness of thetourist destinations & products thereby enhancing thestate’s image & perception.

References1. Burkart & Medlick.S; Tourism-Past, Present & Future,

London.

2. Confederation of Indian Industry; Travel & Tourism Sector;Potential, opportunities & enabling framework forSustainable growth, KPMG International Cooperation.

3. Wheeler, B: In Progressive tourism opportunities? TourismManagement.

4. Poon, A; Tourism, Technology & Competitive Strategies,AB International, Wallingford.

5. Carney,D. ; Sustainable Rural Livelihood: whatcontribution can we make?

6. Dain Bolwell and Wolfgang; reducing poverty throughtourism.

7. Deloitte and Touche; Sustainable tourism and povertyelimination.

8. Fairborn Are African Journal of Business managementVol.5(11) June2011.

9. Goodwin, Kent; Tourism conservation and sustainabledevelopment.

10. Jonathan Mitchel and Ashley; Tourism and povertyreduction: Pathways to prosperity.

11. Koch and Elliffe; Tourism growth and the empowermentof local communities.


A Comparison of Researchers Research on the Residents’ PerceptionsTowards Social Impacts of Tourism

Anil Kumar & Surender Thakur

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to compare the different researchers study on resident’s perceptions aboutimpacts of tourism. The main aim of this paper is to provide insight into the different methodology used bythe researchers to identify the impact of tourism. This study identifies the positive and negative aspect oftourism perceived by local residents.Design/ Methodology: In this study the information is collected from the research of Pizam(1978), Belisle &Hoy (1980),Liu and Var(1986),Milman(1988),Leonard (2008) and Joe & Yu(2008).The data were collectedfor this study was secondary. The study was exploratory and followed by a comparison of studies done bydifferent researchers.

Anil Kumar Research Scholar, Department of Tourism and Travel Management, Central University of Jammu (CUJ), Jammu,E-mail: [email protected]

Surender Thakur Assistant Professor, Travel & Tourism, Gov.t Post Graduate Degree College, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh

IntroductionPizam (1978) noted that most of the early studies relatedto impact of tourism focused upon the economic aspects oftourism and with the passage of time increasing attentionhas been given by maximum researchers to the social effectsof tourism. The social impact of tourism changes in valuesystems,family interactionmoral/ethicalconduct,individualbehavior, collective lifestyles, shelter levels,artistic expressions, customary ceremonies, and communityorganizations (Fox 1977). Understanding the social impactof tourism on residents isan important aspect of tourismwhich helps to develop a good tourism planning tominimize social impacts. Instead of reviewing all the journalliterature on host community perceptions of the socialimpacts of tourism, this review examines two of the earlierand more often quoted studies (Belisle and Hoy 1980;Pizam 1978) and four more recent studies (Liu and Var1986; Milman and Pizam 1988,Joe and Yu 2008). Thepurpose of the review is to determine if there has been anydevelopment and progress in the quest to developoperational measures and a theory of the social attributesof tourism and to suggest areas requiring attention for futureresearch. Reviewing the work of six published studies hasobvious limitations for the current study in terms ofcomparison and observations drawn, but, most importantlythe present study is an attempt to give a valuable insightregarding the research methodology to the scholars.

ObjectiveTo compare the researchwork done by six famous authorsto understand theSocial Impacts of Tourism.Fulfillment of objective: To fulfillment of above objectivethe researchers mainly focus on the six studies,focusingthis review on a limited number of studies enables a morethorough comparison and review of social tourism impacton the residents. Moreover an analysis of the other studies(Allen, Long, Perdue and Kieselbach 1988; Boissevain1979; Brougham and Butler 1981; Liu, Sheldon and Var1987; Pearce 1980; Perdue, Long and Allen 1989; Rothman1978; Sheldon and Var 1984; Thomason, Var, Kendall andTarakcioglu 1985) reveal that the six studies which wereselected for this review are generally indicative of theapproach and methodology used in this area of research.In reviewing the findings of these six studies, it is evidentthat the social impacts, in particular, are not universal.The summary of the research findings, above, provides asound description and knowledge-base of host resident’sperceptions of tourism impacts. For any field of researchto develop, it is important for future research toextendbeyond the findings of existing research andcontribute to a better conceptualand theoreticalunderstanding of the problem.In order to examine whetherthe more recent research of Liu and Var (1986)and Milmanand Pizam (1988) have been able to contribute to a betterconceptualand theoretical understanding of the problem, a



comparison of the six studies was undertaken. Thiscomparison may also help identify any commonproblemsassociated with the approach and methodology used in thesestudies.For the fulfillment of objective: The criteria used tocompare the studies are categorized under the 21 categories.To understand the research process adopted all six authors,

the above table has been divided into four sub parts:Part1. Problem FormulationPart2.Data CharacteristicsPart3.Data AnalysisPart4.ConclusionItem Comparison

Table 1.1: Problem Formulation: This table explains about the different criteria used by the author forproblem formulation as given below:

Criteria Pizam, Belisle and Liu and Milman Leonard Joe and1978 Hoy (1980) Var (1986) (1988) (2008) Yu (2008)

1: Problem Identification Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes2.Objective Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes3.Hypothesis Yes Yes No No Yes Yes4.Theory No No No No No Yes(social

exchange theory)5.Concept defined Yes Yes No No Yes Yes

After detail review of literature Joe and Yu (2008) supportSocial Exchange theory. This theory is about behaviorwhich seeks to understand and predict the behavior ofindividuals in an interaction situation. Social exchangetheory suggests that individuals will engage in exchangesif :

(1) The resulting rewards are valued, (2) The exchange is likely to produce valued rewards(3) perceived costs do not exceed perceived rewards (Ap,1992).

Table 1.2: Data Characteristics:This Table Explains about the Different Criteria used by the Author for DataCharacteristics as Given Below:

Criteria Pizam, Belisle and Liu and Milman Leonard Joe and1978 Hoy (1980) Var (1986) (1988) (2008) Yu (2008)

6. Location Cape Town Columbia, USA, Hawai USA, USA, Florida Taiwan, I-LanUSA Santa Maria Florida (Beach)

7. Study Area Resort, Developing Estab island Estab Estab DevelopingTown area destination island tourist island cultural

destination destination destination destination

8. Study design Interview Interview Mail Telephone Telephone Questionnairequestionnaire interview survey

9. Instrument used for the 11-point 7-point 6-point 5-point 5-point 5-pointstudy likert scale likert scale likert scale likert scale likert scale likert scale

questionnaire questionnaire questionnaire questionnaire questionnaire questionnaire

10. Sampling frame Not defined Not defined Not defined Defined Defined defined

11. Sampling Technique used Not given Stratified Random Proportional Systematic Not givensampling sampling stratified sampling

used sampling

12. Sample size Residents 108 636 203 162 2861636

A Comparison of Researchers Research on the Residents’Perceptions Towards Social Impacts of Tourism

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The sampling methodology used in the studies varied fromauthor to author. The descriptions provided about thesampling plans were generally limited and the informationprovided would not allow the reader to make judgmentsabout the appropriateness and adequacy of the sampling

plan.The weakest aspect of the data characteristics wouldbe that none of the studies reported any tests of thereliability and validity of the measures used in the surveyinstrument.

Entrepreneurs212

13. Response rate Not Given Not Given 21 % Approxim- 27 % 90 %ately 58 %

14. Realibilty Not stated Not stated Not stated Not stated Not stated Not stated

15. Validity Not stated Not stated Not stated Not stated Not stated stated16. Justification for No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yestechnique used

Table 1.3 : Data Analysis:This table explain about the different criteria used by the author for Data analysis asgiven below:

Criteria Pizam, 1978 Belisle and Liu and Milman Leonard Joe andHoy (1980) Var (1986) (1988) (2008) Yu (2008)

17.Technique Used Univariate Univariate Univariate Univariate Descriptive, Descriptive,analysis analysis analysis analysis Univariate Univariate(Mean) (Mean) (Mean) (Mean) analysis analysis

std.deviation) (Chi- Square) ANOVA ANOVA, (Mean) (Mean),Multiple Multiplereg T-Test, Percentile T-test,

regression ression factor Regression(stepwise). analysisAnalysis of (varimax

variance rotation)(1 way)

Commonfactor

analysis(varimaxrotation)

18. Test of Hypothesis Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

The use of statistical techniques to analyze the data variesfrom study to study and this makes comparisons betweenthem very difficult. The techniques used in each study

provide useful information about the techniques which havebeen used by the different researchers in future studies.

Table 1.4: Conclusion:This table explains about the different criteria used by the author for conclusion as given belowCriteria Pizam, Belisle and Liu and Milman Leonard Joe and

1978 Hoy (1980) Var (1986) (1988) (2008) Yu (2008)19.Conclusion with problem Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes20.Limitation of study No No Yes No Yes No21.Implication for practitioners No No Yes No Yes Yes


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Tourism Spectrum


Due to difference in location, sampling and analysis ofdifferent researchers, there is lack of comparability amongthe six studies, it is not possible for researchers to arrive ata common conclusion concerning about the social impactsof tourism and their measurement. However, someobservations are drawn after comparative analysis of theseall studies are as follow:1: The all researchers were clearly the problem and also

briefly explain state the objectives for their studies.Only Joe &Yu (2008) support the social exchangetheory. Social exchange theory is atheoreticaldirection of the studies poses problems in developinga conceptual framework. So because of theoreticalsupport, it becomes difficult for researchers to clarifythe concepts.To measure the social attributes oftourism provides a difficult challenge for researchers.To solve this challenge, first, any research will haveto have a conceptual and theoretical framework. Inthis regard, the relevance of social exchange theoryseems to be applicable and valuable of furtherinvestigation.

2: More emphasis should be placed on longitudinalresearch of resident perceptions, especially over thevarious development phases of a destination area.

3: More attention should be given to the significantfindings of research carried out to date (e.g., theintensity of tourism development and growth, thecultural and economic distance between host andtourist and the influence of economic dependency ontourism and attitudes toward tourism).

4: Reliability and validity measures used should beidentified. Finally, the sampling methodology and samplesize should be accurately identified and described.Researchers need to develop asome theoretical frameworkfor the study which helps to develop a framework for thestudy.Practical Implications/ Value: The different findingssupport the usefulness to understand the impacts of tourism.The comparison of the methodology of the various studiesregarding the perception of residents towards social impactsgives valuable insights to the scholars, academiciansregarding the perceived impacts of tourism on residents.References1. Allen, L., Long, P., Perdue, R. and Kieselbach, S.

(1988).The Impacts of Tourism Development on Residents’Perceptions of Community Life. Journal of Travel Research27(l): 16-2 1.

2. Ap, John.(1992). “Residents’ perceptions research on thesocial impacts of tourism.” Annals of Tourism Research17, no. 4 (1990): 610-616.

3. Belisle, F. J., & Hoy, D. R. (1980). The perceived impactof tourism by residents a case study in Santa Marta,Colombia. Annals of tourism research, 7(1), 83-101.

4. Boissevain, J. (1979). The impact of tourism on a dependentisland: Gozo, Malta. Annals of tourism research, 6(1), 76 90.

5. Brougham, J. E., & Butler, R. W. (1981). A segmentationanalysis of resident attitudes to the social impact of tourism.Annals of tourism research, 8(4), 569-590.

6. Bystrzanowski, J. (1989). Tourism as a factor of change: asocial cultural study. Tourism as a factor of change: a socialcultural study.

7. Emerson, R. M. (1972). Exchange theory, part II: Exchangerelations and networks. Sociological theories in progress,2, 58-87.

8. Fox, M. (1977). The social impact of tourism: A challengeto researchers and planners. A new kind of sugar: Tourismin the Pacific, 27-48.

9. Homans, G. C. (1974). Social behavior: Its elementaryforms.(Revised ed.).

10. Jackson, L. A. (2008). Residents’ perceptions of the impactsof special event tourism. Journal of Place Managementand development, 1(3), 240-255.

11. Liu, J. C., & Var, T. (1986). Resident attitudes towardtourism impacts in Hawaii. Annals of tourism research,13(2), 193-214.

12. Liu, J. C., Sheldon, P. J., & Var, T. (1987). Residentperception of the environmental impacts of tourism. Annalsof Tourism Research, 14(1), 17-37.

13. Milman, A., & Pizam, A. (1988). Social impacts of tourismon central Florida. Annals of Tourism Research, 15(2), 191-204.

14. Pearce, J. A. (1980). Host community acceptance of foreigntourists: Strategic considerations. Annals of TourismResearch, 7(2), 224-233.

15. Pizam, A. (1978). Tourism’s impacts: The social costs tothe destination community as perceived by its residents.Journal of travel research, 16(4), 8-12.

16. Rothman, R. A. (1978). Residents and transients:community reaction to seasonal visitors. Journal of TravelResearch, 16(3), 8-13.

17. Sheldon, P. J., & Var, T. (1984). Resident attitudes totourism in North Wales. Tourism Management, 5(1), 40-47.

18. Stokes, C. S., & Miller, M. K. (1975). A MethodologicalReview of Research in” Rural Sociology” Since 1965.Rural Sociology, 40(4), 411.

19. Thomason, P., Crompton, J. L., & Kamp, B. D. (1979). Astudy of the attitudes of impacted groups within a hostcommunity toward prolonged stay tourist visitors. Journalof travel research, 17(3), 2-6.

20. Tosun, C. (2006). Expected nature of communityparticipation in tourism development. Tourism Management27, 493-504.

21. Var, T., Kendall, K. W., & Tarakcioglu, E. (1985). Residentattitudes towards tourists in a Turkish resort town. Annalsof Tourism Research, 12(4), 652-658.

22. Ying Chin Yang, J., & Mei Chen, Y. (2008). Nature-basedtourism impacts in I-Lan, Taiwan: business managers’perceptions. International Journal of Culture, Tourism andHospitality Research, 2(3), 250-270.


Dr. Amit Katoch Assistant Professor, UIHTM, Panjab University, Chandigarh; E-mail: [email protected] PrashantGautam Director & Associate Professor, UIHTM, Panjab University, Chandigarh,

E-mail: [email protected]. Suman Sharma Assistant Professor, School of Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Management, Central University of

Himachal Pradesh, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh E-mail: [email protected].

Conceptualization of Rural Tourism and Its Status in Himachal Pradesh

Dr. Amit Katoch, Dr. PrashantGautam & Dr. Suman Sharma

ABSTRACT

The research paper gives an explanation of the rural tourism. It gives various definitions related to ruraltourism as given in the literature. And also narrates the problems associated with defining rural tourism inglobal context. Based on the content analysis, a definition of rural tourism has also been given by theresearcher. Apart from it, the paper also gives explanation of rural tourism in Himachal Pradesh.Keywords: rural tourism, concept of rural tourism, rural tourism in Himachal Pradesh

IntroductionWhen, the tourism started it was seen as an eternaldevelopmental means for the regions bestowed with naturaland cultural possessions, but in the present days it is seenas a alternative option for the rural regions, which lackssignificant wealth-producing resources (Chow, 1980;Fotiadis, 2009; Katoch, 2014). The present traveler oftourism wants to experience good quality of life and escapethe busy routine resulted due to modernization,globalization and industrialization (Page & Connell, 2006).Over the years, the man has become very conscious w.r.tenvironment and seeks peace of soul, mind and body. And,this pursuit of man has resulted in development ofalternative forms of tourism such as rural tourism,ecotourism, geotourism and myriad other forms of tourism(Katoch, 2014).Rural tourism is a type of tourism which occurs in thecountryside (Lane, 1994). It provides serene surroundings,typical village or rural appeal and opportunity to participatein outdoor activities in open spaces. According to lane(1994), the attributes of rural tourism are- that they arelocated in rural areas; based on small scale and traditionalactivities; rural in scale relating to small building &settlements; relies on traditional attibutes of countrysideand has complex rural environments & several forms. Ruraltourism constructs unusual appeal and tourists enjoy theremoteness & solitude; nature; environment; biodiversity;experience of local communities, culture and their way oflife and freeness from urban life (Commission, 1995; Page& Getz, 1997).

But, apart, for being a rewarding experience for the tourist,it is equally a pleasing experience for the local community.It is related to native development through job creation;infrastructure development; culture restoration;environment protection and universal fraternity throughpromotion of understandings (Katoch, 2014). Accordingto Hall and Jenkins (1998), the tourism flows in rural areashelp in achieving diverse goals such as to maintain & createlocal incomes, help in building economic and socialinfrastructure, improve local amenities and further helpsin protection of ecological and cultural resources. Thereview of literature of rural tourism clearly states that theaim of tourism in the rural areas is to provide opportunitiesfor local community development. Local communitydevelopment refers to benefits w.r.t economic, socio-cultural and ecological aspects. Though the developmentcan have both negative & positive sides (Chow, 1980;Cooper et al., 2008).There has been large number of studies on rural tourismwhich have focused on diverse aspects of rural tourism suchas concept of rural tourism (Lane, 1994); marketing of ruraltourism (Page & Getz, 1997; Sharpley & Sharpley, 1997;Roberts & Hall, 2004); management of rural tourism(Roberts & Hall, 2001; Hall, Roberts, & Mitchell, 2003);rural product (Luloff et al.,1994; Fleischer & Pizam, 1997;Edmunds, 1999; Sharpley, 2002; McDonald & Jolliffe,2003; Iorio & Corsale, 2010); rural tourists (Kastenholz,2005; Kastenholz, Cameiro, & Eusebio, 2006; Molera &Albaladejo, 2007; Loureiro & Gonzalez, 2008; Rigg,2014); Impacts of rural touism (Chow, 1980; Cooper,



Fletcher, Fyall, Gilbert, & Wanhill, 2008) and of course onresident perceptions (Haralambopoulos & Pizam, 1996;Fleischer & Pizam, 1997; Bansal, 2011; Chand, 2013). Theresearchers too, advocate that for the efficient andsustainable development of the concept its timelymonitoring (through research) should be done to see itseffect on the stakeholders. From all the stakeholder’s, thehost population or the local community plays an importantrole and is central to the success of any form of tourism(Anderek et al., 2005; Sharpley, 2002). In order to reducethe negative impacts and enhance the positive impacts, itis very important to increase the engagement of the localcommunity in tourism (Lankford & Howard, 1994;Haralambopoulos & Pizam, 1996; Anderek et al., 2005) aswell as to include them in its decision making process(Lankford S. V., 1994; Bramwell & Sharman, 1999;Timothy, 1999; Ashley, 2000; Choi & Sirakaya, 2006;Byrd, 2007; Wang et al., 2010).In India, vey few studies have been done to see the impactof rural tourism on local community development. In thestate of Himachal pradesh too, very less researchers havefocussed on this area. The present study is a effort in thisregard, which focusses on the impact of rural tourism onthe local community development in Himachal Pradesh.

Rural Tourism Conceptualization “It is thus a question of striking a difficult balance betweenthe values of the past and the demands of the present,between what is sought and what is consumed, betweenthe expectations of the city and the realities of thecountryside”

(Henri Grolleau, 1997)Rural tourism is a complex form of activity where aim isnot only to get benefits through tourism industry, but alsoto protect the traditional economies. It has to maintain abalance between the tourist experience and maintenanceof local values & customs. The paper is broadly dividedinto two parts. One part deals with rural tourism, whichdiscusses the various definitions of it. And, then gives acommon definition of the concept, based on review of otherdefinitions. The part two discusses about the rural tourismin Himachal Pradesh under study.Rural tourism is a tourism which takes place in thecountryside. But, in order to have a better understandingof rural tourism, it is important to define it comprehensivelyso that it has a wider application. But, a lot of problems areassociated with it, such as:1. Rural areas are difficult to define owing to different

criterion used by different nations;2. It is difficult to define rurality concept and points of

argument are- population density and size ofsettlements; land use and traditional social structures.

3. Distinction between rural & urban is blurring due to

suburbanization, long commuting and second homedevelopment.

4. Altogether rural tourism is a multi-faceted activitybased on diversity of attractions, tourism activity andagricultural base.

5. There exist great diversity in rural areas and furtherTourism development and management may varyfrom one rural location to the other;

6. Not all forms of tourism occurring in rural level arestrictly rural;

7. Historically tourism is a urban concept;8. Though rural areas experience depopulation others

are experiencing an inflow of people to retire ordevelop “non-traditional” businesses;

9. The concept of rural tourism is a new field, verycomplex and involves a lot of perspectives of thevarious stakeholders, agents etc (Frías and Polo, 2008;Hall, 2004; Lituchy and Rail, 2000; Roberts and Hall,2001 & 2004; Simpson, 2008).

10. Rural Tourism needs extensive research anddevelopment as it is a new niche of tourism, whichhas arosen.

11. Need to understand the rural tourism market and theextent of commercial aspect involved with thisconcept.

12. The role and type of infrastructure, superstructures,accommodation and accessibility in rural tourism isa confusing aspect.

13. The rural tourism concept differs in developed,developing and poor countries.

14. The concept of rural tourism has to be sustainable,environmentally friendly and community orientedwhich makes its operation difficult (Cánoves et al.,2004; Goodwin, 1996; Hall and Brown, 2006;Mowforth and Munt, 1998; Reid, 2003; Swarbrooke,1999; Simpson, 2008 & 2009).

The definition of rural tourism has been subject to manyarguments in the various research articles & not reached acommon agreement (Pearce 1989; Bramwell 1994; Komilis1994). The rural tourism is a complex and multifacetedactivity. It has its origins in farm & several other niches’within a larger niche activity (Clemenson and Lane, 1997)(see Table 1.1).Rural Tourism extends beyond Farm Tourism to include-”Special-interest nature holidays and ecotourism, walking,climbing and riding holidays, adventure, sport and healthtourism, hunting and angling, educational travel, arts andheritage tourism, and in some areas, ethnic tourism (Lane,1994) .It has defined by various researchers in a number ofways. From the literature review it is clear that rural tourismis a tourism activity which occurs in rural areas, involvelocal community & sustainable in nature.


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Tourism Spectrum


34

Tourism Spectrum


Table 1.1: Range of Tourism and Recreation Activities in the Countryside(Adapted from Thibal, 1988; Hall, 1992; Lane, 1994b, Ceballos-Lascurian, 1996; Weaver & Fennell, 1997; Clifford,

2002; Du Rand & Health, 2006; Ritchie & Adair, 2004; Buckley, 2007; Jennings et al., 2007)

TouringHiking (footpaths, fitness trails, nature parks);Horseriding; Touring in Gypsy Caravans, Wagons; Motorizedtouring (trail riding, all terrain, vehicles, motoring).SmallTown/ Village Touring; ‘adventure’ holidays/ wildernessholidays; Cycling; Donkey riding; Cross country skiing.Water Related ActivitiesFishing; Swimming; River/ Canal Tourism (house boats,narrow boats, barges); Canoeing, Kayaking and (Whitewater) rafting; Windsurfing; Speed boat racing; Sailing;Facilities of the ‘aqualand’ TypeAerial ActivitiesLight aircraft; Hang- gliding and micro-light Aircraft;Hot air balloons; Sporting activitiesSporting Activities/ Sport TourismRequiring natural setting:Potholing, rock climbing,orienteering Requiring modified/ constructedsettings:Tennis; Golf; Low –intensity downhill skiing,Hunting. (Clifford, 2002; Ritchie & Adair, 2004;Buckley, 2007)EcotourismEcotourism is a rural subset of the widerconcept of sustainable tourism. e.g. enjoy nature andappreciate nature. (Ceballos-Lascurian, 1996)

Cultural ActivitiesArchaeology; Restoration sites; Rural heritage studies;Local industrial; Agricultural or craft enterprises.Museums; Courses in crafts; Artistic expressionworkshops; Folk groups; Cultural; gastronomic and otherroutes.Health related ActivitiesFitness training; Assault courses; Spas and health resorts.Passive ActivitiesRelaxation holidays in a rural milieu; nature study inoutdoor settings, including bird watching, Photography,Landscape appreciation.‘Hallmark’ EventsRural sporting festivals, Agricultural showsBusiness RelatedSmall – scale conventions/ conferences;Incentivetourism short- breaksFood and gastronomyLocal cuisines and Dishes, wine etc. (Du Rand & Health,2006)Nature TourismRelated to environmental conservation and to localcommunities.Farm Holidays/AgritourismInvolve staying or working in farm. Best example:Austrian Holidays. (Weaver & Fennell, 1997; Jenningset al., 2007)

According to Saxena et al., (2007), a large number ofapproaches & models have been used to understand ruraltourism such as core peripheral approaches(Selwyn 1996;Weaver 1998; Russo 2005 as quoted in Saxena et al 2007);consumerist approaches (Urry 1995; Hirsch 1978; Cloke&little 1997; Lash &Urry as quoted in Saxena et al 2007);commercialization approach (Cohen 1993); existentialapproaches (Tuner & Ash 1975; MacCannell 1989; Selwyn1996; Robinson & Boniface 1999 as quoted in Saxena etal 2007); dramaturgical or performative approaches(Boorstin 1964; Goffman 1975; Feifer 1985; Crang 1998;Tulloch 1999; Ryan &Aicken 2005 as quoted in Saxena etal 2007) ; economic approaches (Ashworth &Goodall 1990;Tisdell 2000 as quoted in Saxena et al 2007); community

focused approaches (MacCannell 1989; Lanquar 1990;Scheyvens 2002 as quoted in Saxena et al 2007) andsustainability approaches (Cater 1994; Wahab and Pigram1997; Miller and Twining-Ward 2005 as quoted in Saxenaet al 2007).But none of the approaches gives a reasonable answer torural tourism as given by Integrated Rural Tourism whichtakes into account integrated &interdisplinary approach,role of stakeholders (actors); potential benefits and binaryunderstandings of network characteristics which determinethe success of tourism in rural areas.In the literature following eleven elements were marked orhighlighted as shown in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2: Eleven elements of rural tourism, highlighted in various definitions.S.No Elements in Definitions Explanation1. Type of Tourism Tourism lies in between countryside tourism and agritourism;

Culture is a key component, but agritourism, green, gastronomic,equestrian, hunting can be sub-sectors in the countryside(Participation in activities, traditions, lifestyles of their rural hosts.)


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Tourism Spectrum


2. Dimensions Economic, social & ecological development of local’s i.e.sustainable development.

3. Management Planning & management of the various resources.4. Involvement Involvement of the local community.5. Niche and marketing Marketing initiatives should deepen people’s understanding &

concern for countryside apart from attracting tourists.6. Nature Complex multi-faceted activity; Core (farm-stay; farm holiday; rural

landscapes, rural cultures); Auxiliary (additional elements whichare non-farm such as hospitality, foodservice, arts, crafts, touristtrail & outdoor activities); Augmented (government or regionalprograms to foster & support rural tourism).

7. Size Rurality & all its components must be conserved; Small sized.8. Non-Urban Non-urban, Non-Industrial, Forest based; Peace & quiet; slower

pace of life; fresh air; Non –urbanised; lots of space.9. Integration (Network involvement) IRT is constructed through social networks of exchange that are

embedded, empowering & endogenous.10. Small scale Small scale of firms; Small establishments.11. Enriching experience Rural tourism is REAL (Rewarding, Enriches the spirit, Provides

Adventure & learning).

Based on content analysis of the various definitions givenin literature, the generalized definition of rural tourism canbe given as:Definition of Rural Tourism“Rural Tourism may be defined as tourism phenomenonwhich occurs in rural areas, involves complex multifacetedexperience (farm & non-farm), multi-actor approachprimarily to benefit local community and provide variable,individualized & enriching experience to the touriststhrough planning, management & sustainable developmentdone at local level.”1.3 Rural tourism in Himachal PradeshRural tourism has got great prospects in Himachal Pradesh.Though the state is renowned throughout the globe for itsnatural beauty and is an established tourist destination forall reasons & all seasons. The state is too known for itsculture, customs, traditions, festivities, folklores, art & craft,ancient history and exhibits the unique rural blend ofculture. The real culture of Himachal Pradesh dwells inthe villages, whether it is Naggar famous for art &craft,Garli-Paragpur for heritage or Baroh for Gurukul culture.But, still there are many rural sites in Himachal which havegreat latent tourism potential. In order to augment tourismin these rural areas, Home stay scheme was launched inHimachal Pradesh in 2008, so that tourists were able toexperience tourism in the rural areas. But in true spirit thescheme of rural tourism i.e. “HarGaon Ki Kahani” waslaunched in 2010 by Government of Himachal Pradesh.As such one village in every district was selected &fascinating tales, folklores and anecdotes related to thesecountryside’s were used to entice tourists. This scheme

endeavoured to develop villages of historical significanceby providing basic amenities & a glimpse of the rural lifein the mountain state (KMPG, 2012). The total outlay ofRs 20243.92 crore was declared for this purpose. As perthe scheme Shamsher in Kullu, Salasi in Bilaspur, Bela inHamirpur, Sangrah in Sirmour, Baggi in Mandi, Saho inChamba, Nerti in Kangra, Udaipur in Lahaul&Spiti, Bruain Kinnaur, Baniya Devi in Solan, Hewan in Shimla andNari in Una have been selected.The 89.97 percent of the total population of the state livesin the villages (Census of India, 2011). Also, the economyof the state is largely dependent on farming, horticulture,forests, and hydropower. The state has got huge market forits art & handicraft. A large number of rural locations inthe state still remain untapped & have huge potential. Thisclearly underlines the fact that the state has great prospectsfor rural tourism and certainly more benefits could bepassed on to the rural populace. The rank of the state is 13,in terms of visiting tourists and rural tourism further offersgreat scope to improve this figure through sustainabledevelopment.In Himachal Pradesh, tourism sector contributes about 7.2%to the state GDP, which is fairly noteworthy. Owing to therich natural and cultural resources, the state has tremendouspotential and scope for further growth in Tourism. In theyear 2016-17, 5,273.01 lakh under state budget has beenallocated to tourism in Himachal Pradesh. The governmentis also giving high priority to tourism industry and backingup infrastructure development in the state to facilitatetourism development. This comprises improvement inpublic utility services, transportation, communication,airports and other public amenities.


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Tourism Spectrum


According to the economic survey of Himachal Pradesh(2015-16), there are 2,416 registered hotels with bedcapacity of 67,097. Also, there are 662 Home stays in thestate having 1,838 rooms (Economic Survey of HimachalPradesh, 2015-16). The ADB has also funded 20 projectsto the tune of US$ 95.16 million. Under it, tourism projectshave also been sanctioned in the rural areas i.e. four clusters

namely Dhameta, Kangra-Pragpur, Naina-Devi and Shimlato develop tourism related skills in the local community(Economic Survey of Himachal Pradesh, 2015-16). Due toall these positive developments, there has been greatincrease in the flow of tourists in Himachal Pradesh (SeeTable 1.3 & Table 1.4).

Table 1.3: Tourist arrival (in Lakhs) in Himachal Pradesh

S. No. Year Indian Foreigners Total1. 2005 69.28 2.08 71.362. 2006 76.72 2.81 79.533. 2007 84.82 3.39 88.214. 2008 93.73 3.77 97.505. 2009 110.37 4.01 114.386. 2010 128.12 4.54 132.667. 2011 146.05 4.84 150.898. 2012 156.46 5.00 161.469. 2013 147.16 4.14 151.3010. 2014 159.25 3.90 163.1511. 2015 171.25 4.06 175.31

Source: Economic Survey of Himachal Pradesh 2015-16(Economics & Statistics Department)

Table 1.4: Showing number of Home stays Units,Domestic Tourists & Foreign Tourists in districts of Himachal Pradesh

S.No Districts Home stay Tourists flow Tourists flow Totalunits (2013) (Domestic) (International)

(2014) (2014)1 Kullu 187 31,87,436 1,04,309 32,91,7452 Shimla 77 31,93,637 1,56,235 33,49,8723 Kangra 69 22,30,888 1,02,479 23,33,3674 Kinnaur 50 26,497 2,084 28,5815 Mandi 46 9,36,532 9,189 9,45,7216 Chamba 35 10,90,874 970 10,91,8447 Solan 31 9,13,732 5,766 9,19,4988 Lahaul –Spiti 29 85,282 5,111 90,3939 Sirmour 12 8,99,226 3,112 9,02,33810 Bilaspur 4 12,41,267 156 12,41,42311 Una 3 13,66,145 280 13,66,42512 Hamirpur 0 7,53,185 8 7,53,193Himachal Pradesh 543 15,924,701 3,89,699 1,63,14,400

(Source: Department of Tourism & Civil Aviation, Himachal Pradesh andEconomic Survey of Himachal Pradesh 2015-16)The proposed study was being done to do“conceptualization of rural tourism and its status in

Himachal Pradesh.” Rural tourism is doing fairly well inthe state. And it has got great potential owing to the rich


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Tourism Spectrum


culture (traditions, cuisines, festivities, folklores, art & craft,heritage) and the natural beauty which still remainsuntapped. It is also, one of the few activities, which canserve as a lifeline to the economic, social and ecologicalconcerns of the rural areas. In the present time ofglobalization, capitalization, urbanization and economicrestructuring the nations and various regions are strugglingto redefine and erect their economies. Tourism is a goodopportunity to provide socio-economic benefits to the ruralpeople apart from maintaining the sustainability of theplace. But at the same time the negative impacts of tourism(in terms of economic, social and ecological aspects) canalso not be ignored. And this demands research, which helpsus to understand tourism phenomenon holistically toprevent unwarranted optimism and excessive negativismamong people.

ConclusionThe rural tourism focuses on sustainability and to developand conserve the rural areas by developing tourism whichhas regard for local community. It focuses on its culture;minimizing negative impacts (economic, socio-cultural andecological); enhancing local participation in plan making& decision making process; keeping check on visitorcarrying capacities; employing selective marketing strategy;encouraging local businesses; maintaining quality oftourism product & enhancing customer satisfaction;supporting agriculture & rural economy and focuses on longterm goals (Lane, 2005). The power of tourism can be usedto pull rural regions in decline. And to provide employment,income and capital flows to materially assist ruraldevelopment.But rural tourism also has many challengesassociated with it. The quality of tourism product,infrastructure, accessibility, skilled manpower, theinvolvement & support of local people, interest of investorstoo affect the rural destination. The challenges may furtherbecome complex owing to political and institutional hurdlesespecially in developing and less developed nations(Holland, Dixey, & Burian, 2003). All these aspects arealso related with rural tourism in Himachal pradesh. And,many of the rural locations such as Naggar, Pragpur doingfairly well. Still the scope is huge, just the need is to tapthe potential and plug in the weaknesses through propertourism management and involement of the keystakeholders including the local community.

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Rama Trail on Its way to Developmet : Progress and Prospects

Dr. Anil Kumar Singh & Shruti Singh

ABSTRACT

The research article discusses some significant destinations associated with the Hindu epic Ramayana.The destinations discussed in the article are located within the geographical boundaries of districtDangs of South Gujarat, India. Modern district Dang in South Gujarat is the same place which wasknown as ‘Dandkaranya’ in the epic Ramayana; this was the place where Lord Rama with his brothercame during his fourteen years exile in the forest. The places discussed are associated with the episodesof the epic Ramayana. The research aim was to find out the Government of Gujarat developmentprogress for these destinations as these are among the most revered religious places by the localhabitants of the Dang District. The objective of discussing this place is its strategic location from thetourism development viewpoint. The Dangs is the abode of natural beauty and diverse flora and fauna,which adds prominence to the present places. The scope of the research lies in the tourism developmentand value addition to the available tourism products, which would further enhance the overall tourismindustry development in the State of Gujarat.Keywords: Rama Trail, Shabari Dham, The Dangs, Gujarat Tourism, Religious Tourism, RecreationalTourism

Dr. Anil Kumar Singh Assistant Professor, Tourism Management, Faculty of Arts, RGSC, Banaras Hindu University,Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, E-mail: [email protected]

Shruti Singh Research Scholar, Tourism Management, Department of History of Art, Faculty of Arts, BanarasHindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, E-mail: [email protected]

IntroductionThe vision of Gujarat Government as per its tourism policy2015-2020; is to position Gujarat as a vibrant touristdestination with a an emphasis on improving visitorexperience, livelihood linkages, environmental concernsand enhancing investment opportunities, thus catapultingtourism as one of the most important economic drivers,leading to sustainable development and inclusive growthin the State. Over the last five year tourism plan, the growthin tourism inflow in the state has increased to a great extentas an after effect of the Branding of the Gujarat’s Tourismwith its launch of Marketing Campaign “kushboo Gujaratki”. The marketing effect was such that the major touristinflow remain concentrated to few tourism hubs of the State,which were well showcased in the publicity brochures ofGujarat Tourism. Destinations like Somnath, Dwarka,Junagadh, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Kutch, Ahmedabad andVadodara are the main tourist attractions in the State. Allthese were the result of the event based tourism organisedat various places to showcase rich and vibrant culture ofGujarat. The new tourism policy now focusses to expand

the tourist experience by introducing new tourismdestinations as well as by adding more exciting and multi-faceted tourist recreation activities within the State. Themission is to unlock the immense untapped/under-tappedpotential of tourism in the state so as to reap the benefits ofinfrastructural development and economic opportunities tothe whole of Gujarat. Moreover, to preserve and upgradeenvironment; to develop tourism products and strengthentourism infrastructure of such places which have tourismpotential are still need to be either tapped or promoted.The Gujarat Government also aim to promote tourism forall segments of the society especially facilitating seniorcitizens, the differently-abled, homemakers, farmers andstudents by ensuring affordable accommodation and travelcircuits. Thus, it becomes imperative to identify suchtourism elements which would cater the demands andexpectations of the prevailing market conditions.Identifying potential tourist destination and therecomprehensive development becomes essential forpromoting and branding of Gujarat as a leading touristdestination the world over. The Ministry of Tourism,



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Government of India has identified several tourist circuitsand destinations to be developed on PPP model at variousregions. Rama Trail, is one such project that is to bedeveloped in the Dangs district of South Gujarat. RamaTrail and its associated attractions were the part of theVibrant Gujarat 2015 upcoming projects which wassanctioned huge amount to upgrade and enhance its valueon tourist map. The Rama Trail is the chain of four sites ofreligious significance associated with the episodes fromthe epic Ramayana and are revered by the residents by thenearby places in the region.

About Rama TrailDuring 7th Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015, TourismCorporation of Gujarat limitedhad marked some sites forthe purpose of development and expansion of tourism inthe State. Rama Trail is one such projects of Religioustourism significance in the State, which attracts hugenumber of visitors within the region and outside the Stateboundaries of Gujarat. The trail comprises of four mainsites of mythological importance and receives visitors andtourists from the neighbouring State of Maharashtra. Thesesites comprises of Shabari Dham, Pampa Sarovar, AnjaniGufa (Cave) and Anjani/Anjan Kund. Almost USD 2.03million has been allocated for the upgradation of ShabariDham; where USD 2.167 millions will be sanctioned forthe upliftment of Anjan Kund and Pampa Sarovar on PPPmodel(Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015).These four sites arelocated in the North East Dang district of Gujarat. DangDistrict is predominantly habited by the tribal community.The modern day Dangs is the ‘Dandkaranya’ in theRamayana period. Shabari Dham proves this claim. TheDang District has plethora of natural beauty, dense forest,diverse flora and fauna; it is bounded in the North by Suratand Dhule district of Maharashtra State, in the east by Nasikdistrict of Maharastra State and west by Valsad district.The Dangs lies on the Sahyadri hills, is entirely a thickforest area. The forest, indeed, is an emporium ofinnumerable varieties of vegetation, timber, wood and othermedicinal herbs. Dangs forest belongs to the type: “SouthIndian tropical moist deciduous forests” (GujaratGazetteer). Thus, the main occupation of the residents isassociated with Agriculture and Bamboo industry. TheDangs folk songs are filled with the stories of Ram andSita.

Profile of The CircuitShabari Dham It is a mythological place located in SubirVillage of Subir block of Dang District. Subir village issituated on Chamak-Dungar hill on Ahwa-Navapur road.It is surrounded by Purna Wildlife Sanctuary in the North

of the District. The Legend says that this was the placewhere Lord Ram alongwith his brother Lakshman duringtheir search for Sita, met Mata Shabari, who was a devoteeof him.Shabari was said to be waiting for Lord Rama toarrive on this hill top. Here, after sitting down to take rest,Rama and Lakshman were served with a fruit known as‘ber’ by her. She was a woman from the Bhil Communitywhich resided in the region. She offered the berries to Ramaonly after tasting each of them to ensure that they tastedsweet. At the site, there are three stones on which LordRam, his brother Lakshman and Shabari are said to havesat are still worshipped. A temple is constructed here in2004. The temple is small, built simplistically, but theremarkable feature is the drawings depicted on the wallsrelated to this particular episode. Main chamber of thetemple has idols of Lord Rama, Lakshman and Shabarioffering berries in a bowl. At the same place, in front ofthe three statues, are three stones laid down which aresupposedly the seats where the three of them sat down totaste the berries. Shabari Kumbh Mela was organised herein January 2006 for the first time, though it was laid banon it on account of resistance from the local tribalcommunity.Best Time to VisitMonsoon and Post Monsoon season (June – November)AccessibilityRoad – No State Transport, Jeeps can be hired. Connectingroad is Ahwa(HQ) – Navapur road. From Surat, publictransport can be hired to reach Ahwa.Shabari Dham is 4kmsfrom Subir.Ahwa – Subir – Shabaridham 30kms/45minsSaputara - Subir - Shabaridham 70km/90minsSurat – Subir - Shabaridham 130kms/3hrsNearest Bus Station - SongadhNearest Rail - SongadhNearest Airport – SuratAccommodationTwo Kathiawadi RestaurantsForest Rest House (on Subir – Nawapur Road)Maa Shabari Farm House and Resorts (behind the temple)Nearby AttractionsPampa SarovarPurna Wildlife SanctuaryMahal Campsite AhwaGirmal Falls


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Courtesy: (Above) Darpan Dodiya, (Below) guidetogo.in

ShabariDham – 6kmAhwa - 30km (GJ SH 80)Surat – 165kmDon – 43km (via GJ SH 14 or GJ SH 80)AccommodationHotels are available at ShabariDham.Nearby AttractionsPurna Wildlife SanctuaryMahal CampsiteAhwaDon hill station

Pampa Sarovar About 6 kms from ShabariDham Templeis the Pampa Lake near the village of Jarsol. It is a watersource associated with a story of Lord Ram’s bathing. It isa fresh water lake on the banks of River Purna. MatangRishi, the Guru of Shabari Mata, is said to have built hisashram near this lake. Ramayan mentions that Pampa Lakeis situated on River Pushtharini. The followers stronglybelieve that Purna is the same river that was known asPushtharini in the ancient times. This is the place whichhosted 2006 ShabariKumbhMela.Best Time to Visit Monsoon and Post- Monsoon Season(June – November)Accessibility Public Transportation is not available.Distances from the major towns


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Anjani Gufa (Cave) The circuit goes like this Anjani Kund-Anjani Parvat- Anjani Cave. The Anjani Gufa (Cave) liesin the Anjani Parvat (mountain). Anjani Parvat is situatedin a village near Ahwa which is associated with manymythological stories of Ramayana. The villagers of Dangdistrict believe that Lord Hanuman was born in a cave ofthe Anjani mountain. The stories tells that Anjani Mata,mother of Lord Hanuman, did a penance on the AnjaniParvat. And as a result of the penance, she gave birth toLord Hanuman in the cave located in the center of theAnjani Parvat. Hence, it is the birthplace of Lord Hanuman.The Don hill station lies behind the Anjani mountain.

Best Time to Visit

Monsoon and Post Monsoon Season (June – November)During Hanuman Jayanti

Accommodation None of its own.

Nearest Stay at Ahwa and Saputara

Accessibility

No State transport buses are available. Private jeeps can behired.

Nearest Bus Stand is Ahwa

Nearest Railway Station is Navsari

Nearest Airport is Surat

Nearby Places

Don Hill Station

Saputara Hill Station (45km from Anjani village)

Pandav Gufa

Anjani/Anjan Kund It is a small body of water near theAnjaniGufa. Legend has that in his childhood, LordHanuman took bath in this Kund and climbed the mountainand put upon a solar eclipse. During festivals like Diwaliand Hanuman Jayanti, many devotees from Surat come overhere. They stay and cook here, and enjoy ‘Dairo’- a musicalcelebration during their stay. The site has a panaromic viewbeing surrounded by Sahyadri hills from east, north andsouth. There is a temple of Anjani Mata and BalHanumanwhich is the holy place for the peoples of the Dang District.The Kund is one hour from the AnjaniGufa.

Best Time to Visit

Monsoon and Post Monsoon Season (June – November)During Hanuman Jayanti

Accommodation

None of its own.

Nearest Stay at Ahwa and Saputara

Accessibility

No State transport buses are available. Private jeeps can behired.

Nearest Bus Stand is Ahwa

Nearest Railway Station is Navsari

Nearest Airport is Surat

Nearby Places

Don Hill Station

Saputara Hill Station (45km from Anjani village)

Pandav Gufa

Courtesy: Left - Collectorate (Dang), Right- Darpan Dodiya


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the policy period, the current development and upgradationhas no doubt made the destination popular among thepeople of Gujarat; but they still need to catch the attentionof the tourists and tour operators outside the boundaries ofthe State. hence, it is essential to understand therequirements of the prospective tourists in the future. Acareful assessment of the above sites revails the following:Shabari dham–The site of Shabari Dham is a forested areawith teak and bamboo vegetation surrounding it. TheTemple is the core site of the Dham, where all thedevelopment had taken place in past years. In the last fewyears, a commendable work of upgradation has been doneat the temple premises to give it a face lift and to make it aprime location. The temple surroundings have been adroitlydeveloped. Surroundings like, Parking space, Concrete roadto the top, Neat pavements, Fountains, Lavish gardens.

Tourism InfrastructureConnectivity: Connecting road from main towns to theDham are quite good in condition. The issue lies with the

Temple Idol of Bal Hanuman and Anjani Mata near the Kund

Courtesy: Collectorate-District Dang

Progress - Development AssessmentSince the last ten years of tourism policy, the Governmentof Gujarat with its nodal agency Tourism Corporation ofGujarat Limited had understood the significance of boththe tourism industry as well as the tourism potentials ofthe State. The role played by tourism in the developmentof the region, state or a country is widely known and wellaccepted. In this scenario, Gujarat had still to sprung up asa major tourism destination of the country despite its diversenatural, historical, architectural and cultural affluence. TheGujarat Tourism board through its policies has come upwith a comprehensive plan, to project Gujarat as multi-interest tourism destination. Though the work fordevelopment is still in the pipeline. A lot effort still remainsto be done for the coming years, to leverage Gujarat as aprime destination for all types of tourist, be it domestic orinternational. The ongoing project of Anjani Kund andupcoming projects of Shabari Dham has received hugeamount of financial assistance from the Government ofIndia. Thus, keeping in mind the period between the amountallocated for the development purpose of these sites and


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appropriate transport services. Local private jeeps need tobe hired to travel to the site, with no public transport orspecialised tourist buses along the route.Accommodation: Since the region is under administrationof the Forest Department, the permanent commercial

structures are prohibited within the forest area. Apart fromfew Kathiawadi restaurants and Shabaridham Trust Resortand a Forest Rest House, there is no accommodation optionto stay overnight. This restricts to only excursion tripstothe region. This arise as one of the reason why touristsfrom far away places do not get attracted to the place.

Courtesy: guidetogo.in

Safety and Security:In the absense of any organised traveland travel facilities, safety and security comes in question.The Dangs is the tribal dominated region of the State andmost of the places are under dense forest cover. Undefinedroutes, scarcity of proper direction boards and sign boardsalong the route, inefficient lighting, makes the traveldifficult and the time spend over the site is of short duration.

Pampa Sarovar

The place seems worn out. Except for making someconcrete steps and lookout points and rare signboards, nosignificant upgradation is done. Though, many tourists visitPampa Lake, the location is overlooked by the tourismdepartment. For food, as now, except from small shops, no

restaurants or hotels are available in the area. Noaccommodation options too. Whatever accommdation isavailable is at Shabari Dham. Sign boards are well placedon the state highway for direction.Still basic infrastructureneeds to be added to make the place more accessible bytourists.

To host huge influx of tourists especially at the time ofcelebrations such as Shabari Kumbh Mela, installation ofbasic amenities like Garbage Cans at appropriate placesfor waste management, Changing areas for the devotees.Arrangement of proper lighting near the Kund. Provisionfor snacks and meals with the use of modern green orientedtechnology without damaging the natural environment.


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courtesy: Dang District Panchayat

Anjani Gufa and Anjani KundThe area surrounding the Anjani Gufa and Anjani Kund issurrounded by hills and is completely remote. Except forconcrete connecting roads and few markings for thedirection to the Kund, no other signage or direction boardscould be seen. An entrance Gate has been built on theentrance of the Anjani village, pavement block and smallrest dome, these three structures have been completed inthe last two-three years with the help of crores of fundreleased for the development of the region. The temple atthe Kund is even Surat funding.Accommodation: Is the great issue, with no accommodationnearby except for Ahwa and Saputara hill station.

Prospects (Scope for Development)There is a huge potential for this chain of mythologicalsites to be developed as one of the popular destination ofGujarat. It has a lot of unique attractions attached to it thatmay be listed down to make it apparent:Strategic Location: The Dangs – Amidst dense forest cover,hilly terrain, best monsoon destination in the State. Richtribal culture. Vicinity to other popular destination likeSaputara hill Station, Don hill, Historical forts, waterfallsand other important touristic attractions.Unique Selling Proposition: Its association with the epicRamayana, tribal dance and music involves stories of Ramand Sita, Folktales associated with Ramayana episodes.Destination offers combination Culture, Religion andNatural Attraction.The unique attractions attached to the prospective siteswould not alone be sufficient to develop and project thetourist spots as the prime tourist destination of Gujarat. Acomprehensive plan for development is needed. The areasof concern for its development and upgradation lies underfollowing heads:

Beautification and Facelift: Pampa Sarovar and area aroundAnjani Kund needs a facelift, given due attention to leastenvironmental damage and changes. Local residentsagreement in any acquisition of Land is the foremost thing.Proper Signages and Boards are a must do. Properarrangement for waste management is needed. For this,instead of using fibre garbage cans, local handmade bamboobaskets must be put to use. This would increase the sale ofthe bamboo articles and income level for the local tribes.This would also ensure their interest in the developmentwork undertaken in their region. Similarly, Bamboosboundaries could be used to demarcate the pathways leadingto the main site. For lighting, use of bamboo lamp shedsmay be used, it will add both to the beautification as wellas economic gain to the residents.Accessibility: to make the place accessible hassle-free,mode of transport need to be introduced specialised to servethe tourists. Car and Bus service should be encouraged toprovide commutation between the district headquater, Ahwato various sites. Driving training and language trainingcould be arranged to the local residents who are aware ofthe routes and interiors of the region.Accommodation: For strengthning longer stays in Dangand to attract tourists beyond the state boundaries,accommodation facility is needed both at the budget leveland world class standards. High-end Hotels should beencouraged to set up their properties at Saputara, Don andAhwa under PPP model.

Marketing and PublicityTo project and promote the destination, the tour operatorsmust be encouraged Rama Trail in their itinerary and tourpackages. They must encourage to showcase the Ramacircuit – Shabari Dham-Pampa Sarovar-Anjan Gufa-AnjaniKund in their publicity brochures.Since the best time to visit these places is during Monsoonseason, several festivals such as Saputara Monsoon Festival


are celebrated. These site visit could be added as anadditional attraction to the tourists visiting at that time.Moreover, small plays and folktales of tribals must beshowcased during this period to diversify the tourist influxat various places of Dang. This would provide longer staysand more activities to do. Tribal songs and Danceperformances at Shabari Dham and near Anjani Kund wouldprovide additional entertainment to the tourists. Providedthis, tourist visiting could be offered for shopping at smallstalls of bamboo craft and other local handicraft items.

ConclusionIt could be derived that given the proper planning andeffective blue print of the work to be done would lead ineffective development of the places of tourist importance.The four sites under Rama trail has immense potential tobe developed as a major attraction of South Gujarat. Theimportant facets of development lies in creating basic civicinfrastructure and giving thrust on developing tourismelements to promote sites in the tourist itinerary. Rama Trail,The Dangs is expected to become a landmark tourist circuiton account of its Unique Selling Proposition.

References1. Collectorate – District Dang, Government of Gujarat

2. Dang District Census Handbook, Census of India 2011

3. Dang District Panchayat

4. Tourism Policy of Gujarat, 2015-2020

Web Links1. http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/

DCHB_A/24/2422_PART_A_DCHB_THE%20DANGS.pdf

2. https://dangs.gujarat.gov.in/tourist/shabridham-and-pampa-sarovar-

3. http://www.discoveredindia.com/gujarat/attractions/temples/shabari-dham.htm

4. http://www.guidetogo.in/shabari-dham-dang/

5. ht tp : / /www.pandyadhaval .b logspot . in /2011/12/shabaridham-and-pampa-sarovar-dangs.html

6. http://www.darpandodiya.com


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Call for Papers

Tourism SpectrumVol. 4, No-1, ISSN No. 1/2, March 2018, ISSN No. 2395-2849

Patron and Founding Editor: Professor S. P. Bansal

Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi University, Meerpur, Rewari, Haryana, Founder Vice Chancellor Maharaja AgrasenUniversity, Baddi, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India.

E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.tourismspectrum.com

The next issue will be a Non-The matic issuei. e Open issueand invitiesmanu scripts and researches realted to Travel,Tourism and Hospitality. Tourism Spectrum invitesManuscripts Dealing with variousa spects of TravelTourismand Hospitality Phenomenon. EmphasizinganIntegrated Approach to Tourism in terms of Tourism.BeinganInter-Disciplinary field, the Journal focuses onvarious aspects of Tourism like An thropological, Business,Economic, Educational, Environmental, Geographic,Historical, Political, Psychological, Philosophical,Religious, Sociological, Inter Alia, aspectsofTourism(Including Conceptual Essays, Case Studies, andIndustry-Oriented Expositions). Papersonany aspectrelated toTourism are Encouraged for this Journal. Being a BroadSocial Science Journal its Readership is Diverse. SoSpecialist Technical (E.G. Economics, Management,Hospitality) Papers must also be Intelligible to a BroadSocial Science Audience.

About The JournalTOURISM SPECTRUM is a refereed social sciencesinternational journal focusing on the academic and researchperspectives of tourism and hospitality. While striving fora balance of theory and application, Tourism Spectrumseeks to develop theoretical constructs. To enrich thediscipline of tourism, it encourages offerings from variousdisciplines; to serve as a forum through which thedisciplines may interact; and thus to expand spectrum ofknowledge and contribute to the literature on tourism socialscience. In this role, TOURISM SPECTRUM structures andis structured by the research efforts of a multidisciplinarycommunity of scholars.The Journal is published twice a year (September & March)and features manuscripts dealing with various aspects ofcontemporary tourism and hospitality issues. Emphasizingan integrated approach to tourism in terms of tourism beingan inter-disciplinary field, the journal focuses on various

aspects of tourism and hospitality on the local, regionaland global levels.In addition to research papers, TOURISM SPECTRUMalso publishes Research Notes (RN). RNs are short paperswhich may include an overlooked thought or add a questionmark to some findings (this might be challenging orsupporting ongoing research concepts and methods; dealingwith untested propositions or hypotheses; importing andapplying to tourism new models and tools from other fields;promoting multidisciplinary investigation in tourism;reporting or updating on-going longitudinal research;raising issues for debate and investigation; identifyingresearch questions applicable to the industry). Typically,the author(s) should identify a particular theme or issuethat they would like to draw to the attention of the researchcommunity and develop a short piece specifically on this.The essence lies in the flow and in the convincing statementof cutting edge questions and answers/suggestions forfuture research.In addition to this, the journal also publishes ConferenceReports, Research Reports, Book Reviews or any othermajor happenings of the tourism world in its differentcolumns. If a debate arises on any submission or reviewersand authors convincingly disagree; that may also bepublished to present dialectic viewpoints on a topic ofuniversal interest in the discipline.

Important Timelines• Abstracts (approximately 200 – 300 words) should

be submitted by 20thDecember 2017.• If accepted, full articles (approximately 5,000 – 7,000

words) should be submitted by January15, 2018, andshould follow the format guidelines provided below.

• Research notes and discussion papers (approximately2,500 words) will also be considered and should alsobe submitted by January15, 2018.



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Tourism Spectrum


• Articles will undergo blind review by at least tworeviewers.

• Please note that initial acceptance does not guaranteepublication. In case of non-support from author orcopyright issues, the paper may be dropped at anystage with notification to the author/s.

• The anticipated date for publication of the Issue islast week of March 2018 - Volume 4, No.-1 (Issue 1/2).

• The papers along with the abstracts should besubmitted by email. These submissions should be sentas attachments in MS Word Format [email protected] and a [email protected]

Author’s GuidelinesSubmissions must fall with the aims and scope of thejournal. The journal has the condition for publication thatmanuscripts submitted should not have been published orwill not be simultaneously published elsewhere.The editors reserve the right to edit the contributions orsend them back to the authors for required revision.Thereafter the publication of the papers will be subject tothe final approval of the editorial board.

Types of PaperTOURISM SPECTRUM publishes manuscripts dealingwith various aspects of the tourism phenomenon.Emphasizing an integrated approach to tourism in terms oftourism being an inter-disciplinary field, the journal focuseson various aspects like anthropological, business,economic, educational, environmental, geographic,historical, political, psychological, philosophical, religious,sociological, inter alia, aspects of tourism (includingconceptual essays, case studies, and industry -orientedexpositions) . Papers on any aspect related to tourism areencouraged for this journal. Being a broad social sciencejournal its readership is diverse. So specialist technical (e.g.economics, management, hospitality) papers must also beintelligible to a broad social science audience.

Article Format• Articles for consideration to be published in Tourism

Spectrum should be written in English (UK) and sentas soft copy.

• The articles should be typed in double space, withmargins on both sides with an approximate wordlength of 5000-7000 words including abstract andreferences.

• The word limit for abstract is 300 words.• A single paper is allowed to have a maximum of three

illustrations. Illustrations should be accompanied by

suitable captions. Any graphics (figures, photographs)should be in .tiff or jpeg format.

• Spellings and usage should adhere to internationalpattern.

• For every abbreviation, full form should follow inparentheses for the first time it is used.

• Citation and referencing: citation within text shouldmention surname(s) of the author(s) referred, year ofpublication and page number within parentheses, e.g.,(Mac Cannell 1990: 11). For multiple authors, usethe full and formal citation for up to two authors, andfor more than two use the first author’s name with“et al.” For example, (Allen 2004:63) (Airey and Tribe2011), (Finkel et al. 2013: 23). In case of more thanone citation in a row, the full reference should beseparated by other a “/” (Allen 2004:63/Airey andTribe 2011:24/Finkel et al. 2013: 23). Referenceslisted at the end of the article should be titledREFERENCES. Each reference should carry thename(s) of the author(s), surname followed by commaand then initials, year of publication, title of work,place of publication, the publisher’s name with pagenumbers. Website and newspaper references shouldcarry the dates also. The reference list will have allthe names of authors and et al. and will only be usedfor citation purposes.

Examples:Branson, R. (2006), Screw it Let’s do It: Lessons in Life,Virgin Publishing, UK,67-75.Howell, J.M. and Avolio, B.J. (1993), TransformationalLeadership, Transactional Leadership, Locus of Control andSupport for Innovation: Key Predictors of ConsolidatedBusiness Unit Performance, Journal of Applied Psychology78(6),891-902.Cook, W. Jr. (1992), Compatibility of Tourism andWilderness, In Singh, T. V., Smith, V., Fish, M. and Richter,L. K., (eds) Tourism Environment: Nature CultureEconomy, New Delhi. Inter-India Publications, 30-38.Es.sense (2011), Sir Richard Branson Agrees to BecomeExecutive Coach at es sense, Available at http://w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / n o t e . p h p ? n o t e _ i d =10150151083779106, Accessed on 26th May 2011.

NOTEStrong emphasis is laid on the originality of research workand plagiarism is strictly discouraged along with uncitedborrowings and repetition of ideas. Readability of text ispreferred. Publishing ethics is advocated here and is aprerequisite for the editors, authors, reviewers and thepublishers.

Call for Papers

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Tourism Spectrum


Publication in TOURISM SPECTRUM is exclusivelyevaluated on its intellectual merit and does not discriminateon the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religiousbelief, ethnic origin, citizenship or political philosophy.Submissions based on empirical research/descriptive orreview papers are welcomed.

DISCLAIMEROpinions and conclusions expressed in TOURISMSPECTRUM are those of the author/s and are notnecessarily endorsed by the Editorial Board of TOURISMSPECTRUM/or the editors of TOURISM SPECTRUM.While the journal endeavors to provide accurate materialboth in print as well as on its website, this material is

provided ‘as is’ and TOURISM SPECTRUM makes norepresentations about the suitability of this material for anypurpose. TOURISM SPECTRUM reserves the right tochange, at any time without notice, any material on thewebsite. The journal however does not accept responsibilityfor any damage or loss occasioned by the use of the material.All articles published in TOURISM SPECTRUM becomethe journal’s Copyright with future rights reserved.However this does not affect the authors’ right to use thematerial for personal use, for their own classes, researchworks and lectures.All of the issues are available on the website oftourismspectrum.com for download.

Call for Papers

volume 3, no. 2, september, 2017, sixth issue tourism spectrum · and maxwell fry. chandigarh...

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