25 medical tourism

8/7/2019 25 medical tourism

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Acknowledgement

I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Prof. Ramnath Subramanian, Mr.

Rajesh Talwar, (CEO – Bhakti Vendata Hospital), Mr. Kishore Shrivastava,

(Marketing Consultant) for their guidance and support.

I would also like to thank all others who were directly or indirectly supportive in

completion of the project.

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Preface

From ancient times, India has been looked upon as a place full of mystique. In the

olden times travellers like Huen Tsang came a long way with great difficulties just to

have a feel of the place. But now in modern times, with supersonic jets, the world has

become a smaller place and has been named as a 'global village'. With the destinations

becoming so much closer the tourists' are pouring into India from all over the world

leading to a fast development of tourism industry and yet it has not grown to its fullest

potential.

India is a dynamic and mystic tourist destination where something always remains to

be explored, discovered and unveiled. India offers every type of tourism ideas like

Historical & Heritage Tourism, Adventure Tourism, Nature & Wildlife Tourism,

Religious Tourism, Rail Tourism, Cultural Tourism and some new ideas are also in

the front like Medical Tourism, Health, Yoga & Rejuvenation (Ayurveda) Tourism,

Rural Tourism and Special Interest Tourism and much more.

The future opportunities and challenges in store for this industry have attracted me to

select this industry for my project.

The objective of the project was to identify opportunity and challenges to promote

Indian tourism industry in world market and develop a marketing plan to explore this

opportunity.

For this purpose, project includes studies on World trends in travels and tourism,

guidelines for tourism marketing, and for Indian tourism.

A marketing plan for Medical tourism is accompanied, in the project which aims at

exploring global markets for Indian tourism.

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Tourism – the concept

By tourism society , “Tourism is deemed to include any activity concerned with

the temporary short– term movement of people to destinations outside the placeswhere they normally live and work, and their activities during the stay at these

destinations.”

The definition pulls together three main elements of all travel and tourism products:

1. Visitor activity is concerned only with aspects of life outside normal routines

of work and social commitments, and outside the location of those routines.

2. The activity involves travel and, in nearly every case, some form of

transportation to the destination.

3. The destination is a focus for a range of activities, and a range of facilities

required to support those activities.

Before studying other dimensions, we go through concept of tourism.

• Tourism is a temporary and short – term movement of people.

• Tourism is the totality of relationship.

• Tourism is an activity involving a complex mixture of material and

psychological elements.

• Tourism is the activity concerned with the utilization of leisure hours.

• Tourism is a composite industry consisting of various segments.

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Tourist the concept

“Tourists are the voluntary temporary travelers, traveling in the expectations of pleasure from the novelty and change experienced on a relative and non- recurrent

round – trip.”

Tourists are:

• Persons traveling for pleasure, health and domestic reason.

• Persons arriving in the course of sea cruise.

•

Persons traveling for the business purpose.• Persons traveling for convention.

Not to be tourist:

• Persons arriving without a work to take up an occupation.

• Persons coming from the rural areas to the urban areas.

• Students in boarding.

• Persons domiciled in one country and working in adjoining country.• Persons passing through a country without stopping.

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Tourism Marketing – The Concept

A clear perception of tourism marketing requires a brief analysis of marketing. We arewell aware of the fact that there have been fundamental changes in the traditional

concept of marketing which has been influenced by multidimensional changes in the

business environment.

We consider marketing a human activity directed at satisfying the needs and wants

through exchange processes.

The American Marketing Association defines marketing as “the performance of

business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to

consumer or users.”

Kotler finds marketing a social and managerial process by which individuals and

groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and

value with others.

Krippendorf says, “Marketing in tourism is to be understood as the systematic

Co-ordinated execution of business policy by tourist undertakings whether private or

state, owned at local, regional, national and international levels to achieve the optional

satisfaction of the needs of identifiable consumer groups and in doing so achieves an

appropriate return.”

Burkart and Medilick opine “Tourism marketing activities are systematic and

coordinated efforts extended by National Tourist Organaisation and/or tourist

Enterprises at international. National and local levels to optimize the satisfaction of

tourist groups and individuals in view of sustained tourism growth.”

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In the view of the above, the following points emerge regarding tourism marketing:

• Tourism marketing is a process of creating a product or providing a service.

•

Tourism marketing comprises fact findings, data gathering, analyzing( marketing research), communication to inform and promote (promotion),

ensuring and facilitating sales, selection of marketing planning (distribution),

coordination, control and evaluation ( marketing plnning And auditing),

developing professionally sound personnel (people).

• Tourism marketing is an integral effort to satisfy tourist and more so, it is

device to transform the potential tourist into the actual tourist.

•

Tourism marketing is the safest way to generate demand, expand market andincrease the market share.

• Tourism marketing is a managerial process to promote business.

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Users of Tourism Services

We find different categories of users availing the services of tourist organizations.Classification of different categories would help the tourism professionals in studying

and identifying the level of their expectations vis-a vis their behavioural profile.

Non-users: Persons not interested in using the services are known as non – users.

They lack willingness, desire and therefore, the level of income or even the

availability of leisure hour is not to influence them.

Potential users: Also called as prospects or the prospective users. They have

willingness but the marketing resources have not been used optimally for influencing

their impulse. Thry bear the efficacy and the marketing professionals are supposed to

capitalize on their potentials by using creative promotional measures.

Actual Users: persons already using the services generated by the tourist organisation

are known as actual users.

Occasional Users: users availing the services occasionally but not forming a habit to

travel are known as occasional users.

Habitual users: users forming a habit and availing the services regularly are known as

the habitual users.

It is right to mention that the men and women, kids and teens, youth and grey, rural

and urban, poor and rich, white collar and blue collar personnel, executives and

technocrats, professionals and intellects, literate and illiterate are the different

categories of users availing the multidimensional services of tourist organisations. It is

quite natural that the behavioural profile of all the users can’t be identical. This makes

it essential that professionals study and understand their changing behavioral profile.

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Behavioural Profile Of Users

For the successful and cost-effective execution of the marketing strategies or for

translating the strategies into meaningful purposes, we realize the significance of in

depth study of the behavioural profile of different categories of the users. The tourist

organisations need to understand their behavioural profile which simplifies their task

of creating and stimulating the demand. Users have values, perceptions, preferences,

expectations which are the result of environmental influences. There are number of

factors influencing the behavioral profile, such as race, ethnicity, religion, nationality,

leisure habits, health factors, life styles, ag, life cycle stage, occupation, level of

incomes, advances in communication technology or so.

It is in this context that we find it important to asses the behavioural pattern and users’

characteristics. In the recent years, the usres have become more discriminating in their

using habits and therefore we find their needs for different services, products and

brands changing constantly. This makes it essential that the marketers analyse their

behavioural profile and come to know the levels of their expectations.

Classifying travel Motivations

Motivation for travel and tourism can be categorized as follows:

• Holiday travel

• Business travel

• Health travel

• Visiting friends and relatives

• Religious travel

• Travel for economic benefits (e.g. shopping)

• Travel for educational purpose (study tours, etc)

• Sports and activities travel (participation or observation)

In fact, we can summarise allm of these activities under five basic needs:

1. physical

2. cultural

3. interpersonal

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4. status and prestige

5. commercial.

Although there will be some overlap of motives between these categories, it will be

useful to see how these needs are met by tourism facilities or destinations, and how

they relate to levels of needs in Maslow’s hierarchy.

The demand for business travel is quite different from that for leisure travel, since it is

by nature less ‘discretionary’, that is, less a matter of personal choice. Business people

travel because of demands of their business. As a result, such travel is les price

sensitive, since the company rather than the individual will be footing the bills.

Business people tend to make frequent short – duration trips, which are generally

taken at mid-weeks rather than at weekends, and travel is not subject to seasonal

fluctuations. Travel decision often have to be taken at short notice, so that they need

regular scheduled flights available and a fast and convenient reservations service.

At a basic physiological level, travel can sometimes be essential for health as in the

case of treatment overseas for complex surgery, or the need to travel to warm, dry

climates to recover from illnesses such as asthma and tuberculosis. These are then

survival-related needs. Many people in stressful occupations also need a break from

the mental or physical strain of their work to avoid a breakdown in health, and this

“cathartic” travel is no less necessary for survival. Even business travel, usually only

thought of in terms of economic need, may be required for the survival of the

organisation in the face of overseas competition- but we must also recognize that

quite a lot of business travel is in fact taken for prestige purpose – the requirement for

first class travel and top – price hotels, for instance – while conference travel may be

ascribed to competence needs.

Our social needs for loving and belonging are often met through package holiday

programmes, since many tourists find group tours an excellent way to make new

friends or seek romance. Cultural travel provides opportunities for self – actualization,

the process of achieving or fulfilling one’s potential.

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These examples will be sufficient to show that travel satisfies many physical, social

and psychological needs. They will also have shown us that travel motivation can be

both general and specific. We experience the general drive to get away from our

present environment, to escape from routine and seek new and different experiences,

while at the same time we demonstrate individual motivations to see specific activities

while on holiday.

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Product Planning And Development

The tourism is a multi- segment industry. The essence of marketing is bringing

together the mix of products, possessing the efficacy of satisfying the users.

The tourism products are an amalgam of different tangible and intangible elements.

The products have some salient features, e.g., the products are highly perishable, used

for pleasure or speeding up the learning cycle and the users, a heterogeneous group of

people who are required to come to the spot. The products can’t be transported to the

users and in no case the providers can store or preserve the products. The demand is

highly flexible and the products need world class superstructure and infrastructure.

The three basic elements of the products are attraction of the destination, facilities at

the destination and accessibility to the destination. To the different members of the

tourism industry, the tourism products are different, e.g., to the hotel industry, it is

guest – nights; to the airline, it is the seats flown and the passengers miles that result;

to the museum, art gallery or archaeological site, the product is the number of visits.

In a true sense, it is a complete experience which complicates the task of careful

planning and optimal development.

The development of tourism is the development of the process of social

industrialization. In a competitive market where the leading tourism generating

countries of the globe have been successful in speeding up the process of

socioeconomic transformation through social industrialization, it is essential that the

developing and the less developed countries assign an overriding priority to the

planned development process. Moreover when unplanned and haphazard

developments pave avenues for the atmospheric pollution, this dimension of

management needs a transcendental priority. The World Bank warns., “ In many areas

of the world, tourism development has produced great disparities in the standards of

amenities provided for the visitor and for the local population. This can’t be entirely

denied that in the long run, the improvement to standards for the local population is

probably a condition of successful tourism development. The development of a new

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resort by the provision of infrastructure costing perhaps millions of dollars has a great

impact on land values in the area affected.”

Thus it is important that the tourism planning whether at national or at regional level

must be regarded as an integral part of country’s overall economic and social

planning. A plan for tourism can only serve its desired goal. The main target to such a

plan would be to arrive at an optimum harmonization of the inter – relations between

the two places of market while avoiding the creation of serious economic, social and

territorial imbalances. The key steps in the planning are assessment of tourist demand

and paving ways for an optimal supply. Thus in addition to other benefits, the tourism

planning makes an assault on imbalances. The tourist organisations and the

professionals find it convenient ot have a fair blending of social and commercial

considerations.

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Market Segmentation For Tourism

The behavioural scientist feel that appeal, strategy and tact vary from segment to

segment which in a natural way necessitates a change in the strategic decisions. The

modern marketing theory prefers the formulation of marketing policies and strategies

for each market segment which an organisation plans to solicit. It is natural that

different segments react in a different way. Segmentation makes possible tailoring of

products and marketing programmes uniquely segment for each sub-segment. A

market is not only an aggregate demand for a product but the sum of demands of

different market segments. For getting a positive response in the market, it is pertinent

that the marketers or the tourist professionals are well aware of the different market

segments. It is against this background that we need to study market segmentation for

tourism services.

At the outset, it is essential that the tourist organisation select a suitable base for

segmentating the market. The selection of base has a for reaching ipact on studing the

target market. Thogh there are a number of bases for segmentation, we find lifestyles

an important base since the traveling decisions are fantastically influenced by the

changing lifestyles. The emerging trends in the level of income, the availability of

leisure hour of course influence the process but the main thing is the lifestyles. This is

supported by the logic that if we earn more, we spend more. We prefer to utilize our

leisure time for gaining pleasure or for enriching the knowledge bank. This

necessitates an indepth study of like style for making segmentation proactive. The

living styles of Americans and Indians can’t be identical, the decision making of both

of them are to be different. The Americans prefer to travel and therefore they assign

due weightage to the traveling decisions while scheduling or ordering their

engagements. The Indians avoid to travel albeit we find them earning more or

sufficient leisure time or holidays in their constituting a place of outstanding

significance.

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The segmentation benefits tourist organisations in different ways. An optimal

marketing plan, a balanced development of marketing resources, true gauging of the

level of expectations, formulation of creative strategies for getting a positive response

make it clear that the tourist organisations assign due weightage to segments. They are

supposed to select a suitable base for segmentation out of numerous bases like holiday

base, purpose base, demand base, geographical base, psychological base, demography

base, socio economic base, sex base, age base or so.

The bases help professionals in studying and understanding the changing behavioral

profile of users. In the figure (Anx ) the market segmentation bases make it clear

that geographic, demographic, psychographic and socio – economic aspects can’t be

underestimated to have a clear picture of the tourism users.

The holiday base focuses our attention on the fact that long-distance tours requirwe

availabity of more leisure hours. The holiday market is classified in terms of demand.

The different categories are, the mass market, the popular market and the individual

holiday market. The mass market involves largest number of vacationists who

generally travel in long groups. They prefer all inclusive tours. The users belong to

the conservative group in which we find skilled and semi-skilled workers, blue –

collar employees as the potential users. The popular market involves smaller groups

going on inclusive or semi-inclusive tours. The users are generally class one and lass

two groups, pensioners and retired people. The individual holiday market involves

“social-group –A” like corporate chairman and senior executives. We find an apparent

change in the behavioral profile of different categories in the holiday base. Another

base is purpose in which we find business travel market, cultural tourism market,

common interest tourism market and conference and convention. The demand base

classifies markets into primary tourism market, secondary tourism and opportunity

tourism. The geography base includes lifestyles, personality, motives, product and

knowledge. The demography base covers age, sex, occupation, class and religion. The

socio-economic base makes classification like rich, poor, rural, urban, literate and

illiterate. The age – base classifies markets for kids, teens, youths, young married and

old people market.

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The aforesaid small segments simplify the task of tourist professionals. They know

about the changing needs and requirements of different marketing resources in tune

with the changing levels of expectations make the way for the stimulation of demand

and simplify the task or marketers. It is in this context that we need to segment the

market for the different allied industries helping the tourism industry in many ways.

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Marketing Information System For Tourism

Knowledge is supposed to be the power. Of late to manage a business is to manage

the future, it is essential to manage the information. It is against this background that

the tourist organisations assign due weightage to the MIS. The sophistication in the

process of communication technologies has paved avenues for the development of a

technology driven MIS. In the age of information explosion, it is pertinent that an

organisation develops and institutes MIS to have an easy access to information needed

for planning, problemsolving and decision making. The coordinated, systematic

continuous information gathering are the important purposes of manging the

information related to the marketing activities.

The MIS would help the tourist organisation in many ways, such as the formulation of

scientific and intelligent plan would be possible which would make it easier to

balance the demand and supply position. The emerging trends in the market can be

identified and the marketing decisions can be made creative. The designing of

package tour, innovation in the promotional measures, a change in the pricing strategy

or using it as a motivational tool, the management of tourist organisations, tour

operators, transport operators, travel agents would be made prouctive. Thus it is

essential that the tourist organisations take support of technology-driven MIS which

would make the marketing decisions innovative.

In the management of information, we find project planning playing an important

role. There are different steps of project planning such as setting the research

objectives, planning the required information to accomplish the organizational goals,

identifying the sources to be tapped in seeking the information, employing the

research design, sampling the procedures and selecting the method for analyzing the

data. Such a scientific project planning in addition to simplify the process of research

also makes the result effective. In the tourism industry, we find different categories of

users and an amalgam a of different products which make it a multi-segment industry.

This in a natural way complicates the task of a researcher. A researcher while

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collecting data and helping system analysts in managing the information is supposed

to design the questionnaire consisting of tourist sites, users, products, promotion an

competition. The following questions need an appropriate answer:

•

Who are the users and where do they live?• Who are the potential users and where do they live?

• What are their likes and dislikes?

• What are their travel preferences and interests?

• What do they prefer to buy while traveling?

• Where do they prefer to stay?

• Where do they prefer to take their foods and drinks?

• What are their transportation preferences?• What are their entertainment preferences?

• What are the strategies of leading competitors?

• What type of marketing strategy would be suitable in the existing market?

We can’t deny the fact that if there is one thing certain in the present world, it is

change. We can’t check the flow of change. This necessitates dynamism in our plans,

policies and strategies to make possible necessary changes as and when the

circumstances necessitate so. The multidimensional changes in the environmental

conditions influence our lifestyles, living habits, taste preferences or so. Of late

almost all the leading tourist generating countries of the world have been found

promoting research for innovating the process of making decisions which has been

found making ways for value engineering. It is against this background that the MIS

in general and the marketing research in particular has been found drawing due

attention of the tourist organizations. In an age of information explosion, it is pertinent that the communication gap is bridged over. It is felt that the gap between

the providers and the users has proved to be a major constraint in making the

marketing decisions creative. A well designed, technology-driven, supported by world

class professionals MIS would be beneficial to all the allied industries contributing

substantially to the development of tourism industry. An easy victory on the time-gap

is the result of a well developed MIS.

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Formulation of Marketing Mix For the Tourist Organisation

The marketing mix as defined by Kotler, “The mixture of controllable marketing

variables that the firm uses to pursue the sought level of sales in the target market.”

The Product Mix

Like the manufactured product, the potential tourists can’t feel, taste, touch or sample

a package tour. The tourism product is a non-material intangible thing. Every product

is aimed at some market and its non-marketing success depends essentially on its ‘fit’

with the market. This makes it essential that the tourist professional must continually

strive for improving the effectiveness and increasing the profitability. More so when

we find it a multi-segment industry, the task of formulating a sound product mix for

the tourist organisations is found a bit difficult and challenging. The challenge for the

marketers it to transform the dreams into the realities. We accept the fact that selling

holiday is selling dreams. It is essential that the product offered to a target market

must satisfy the users. Thus the formulation of a sound product mix covers a wide

range of activities like designing a package tour, branding, credit delivery services, or

so. Thus the formulation of a sound product strategy focuses on the formulation of a

sound product mix that makes possible designing of a profitable product portfolio by

including and eliminating the core and peripheral services in the face of results

received from the product portfolio.

The framing of product mix, a challenging task since the marketing professionals are

supposed to blend the core and peripheral services optimally. In the tourism industry,

a deeper product line is found a must. This is due to the fact that needs, expectations,

preferences of different categories of users can’t be identical. The tourism marketers

are required to be captive to deepen the product line so that the products match to the

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expectations. The extent to which the marketers are found successful in deepening

and innovating the product line have a telling impact on the net gain or satisfaction.

Innovation in the tourism product helps raising the sensitivity. There is nothing fixed

and fundamental about the tourism product. The users of the services look forward to

quality product.

In the figure (Anx )we find the product mix for the tourism industry, the multi –

dimensional services included in the mix are attraction, accommodation,

transportation, recreation, restaurant, shopping.

The tourist belong to varied cultural patterns, divergent desires, needs and

requirements, different socio-economic strata or so. This makes it essential that the

tourist organiations while manging the different services are careful to the emerging

trends. Since all the tourists need the same core services, the width of the product is

almost fixed. It is essential that the tourism marketers are captive to deepen the

product line. The success of tourism business depends considerably upon the extent to

which the marketers develop and make available the services.

While formulating the product mix for the tourist organisations, it is pertinent that the

tourist organisations are familiar with the strategies of leading tourist organisations

and promote innovation to the extent it is possible.

Salient Features of Tourism Product

For making the marketing decisions effective, it is pertinent that the tourist

professionals are aware of the salient features of the tourism product. This would help

them in many ways.

1. Tourism Product is highly Perishable : perishability is an important factor that

influence the decision making behavior of the tourist professionals. The

product is used just when it is offered and therefore, if it remains unused, the

chance is lost, the business is lost. If the tourist don’t visit a particular place, if

the seats in hotels, aircrafts remain vacant, the business is lost. This makes the

product highly perishable and makes it essential that the tourist professionals

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make the best possible efforts to promote the services in such a fashion that

opportunities never remain untapped.

2. The Tourism Product is a service Product : we find services the only product

used and sold in the tourism industry. This makes it essential that the tourist

professionals assign due weightage to creative marketing strategies which are

found proactive. The levels of judgment and knowledge possessed by the

individuals and related to tourism reflect on the satisfaction derived by the

tourists after visiting a place. In this context, the marketers need to be high

performers, personally – committed, imaginative and so. This helps them in

capitalizing on the opportunities optimally.

3. Intangibility Complicates the task of marketers : we are well aware of the fact

that tourism is a multi-segment industry in which the transportation and

accommodation services constitute a place of outstanding significance. The

tourist professionals find it difficult to persuade the users by displaying the

seats in the aircraft and bedrooms in hotels. The users first use and then come

to know about the quality.

4. The services are for pleasure: It is right to mention that the tourism services

are used by the tourists to enjoy. By visiting tourist resorts, spots, sites,

beaches, they get pleasure. We also find the services instrumental in the

knowledge bank of tourist or the crazy persons use the services to taste the

enriching flavour of adventure. This makes it significant that the tourist

organisations make the centres attractive by adding additional attractions.

5. Users are supposed to visit the centre : For availing the services of the tourism

industry, it is pertinent that the users visit the place physically. The users are

supposed to come all the way to the spot. This necessitates setting of product

features in a right way.

6. Adequate infrastructural facilities for the tourism product : No doubt that

almost all the industries need infrastructural support, but the tourism industry

can’t exist if hotels, transportation services are found non-existent. Thus we

find infrastructural facilities essential to improve the quality of services.

Efficient transportation facilities, hygienic hotel accommodation, sophisticated

communication services are some of the key infrastructural facilities, adding

attractions to the tourism services.

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7. The users are a Heterogeneous group of people : It is important to mention

that the tourism users come from different regions, income groups, sections,

age groups, genders, professions or so. This makes it essential that the

marketers are familiar with the different groups of people sing the services.

Designing a Package Tour

In the process of formulating a sound product strategy, there are a number of

factors to be given due attention. The designing of a package tour occupies a place

of outstanding significance. For the profitable marketing of tourism services, it is

pertinent that the different components of product are managed in a right fashion.

This gravitates our attention on the offering of a package holiday product which

necessitates management of the following factors.

Destination: the development of destinations or tourist sites has a reaching impact

on attracting the tourists. It is essential that destination or the tourist sites are

easily accessible. This necessitates safe, fast and reliable transportation facilities

hither and thither the tourist sites. To be more specific for promoting world

tourism or attracting the foreign tourists, it is essential that the flying time is made

proportionate. The site should be clean, the beaches should be sandy, sun-shine

should be certain, the entertainment facilities at the site should be of quality the

site should be safe to walk about, the local people should be friendly, the tour

operators, the travel guides and others should have competence of speaking

English and other regional languages. These facilities at the destination would add

attractions.

Management Of Airports : While managing the tourism product, the airports are

required to be managed carefully. The airport should be local and convenient. The

arrangement for car parking should be safe and adequate. It should not be

congested but it should be specious. In addition, the shopping facilities should be

duty free. The airport should be clean and vehicles should be available so that

tourist don’t face any trouble. Besides, the security arrangement should be tight to

protect the passengers and their valuables. The aesthetic management occupies a

place of significance in the very context.

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Airlines : The flights should maintain the time schedule otherwise a dislocation

may invite multi-faceted problems, not only to the tourists but even to the airport

authorities. The services should be reliable, good and polite. The sophisticated

modern aircrafts of new generation should be included in the fleet to attract the

tourists. The safety record should also be upto the mark to remove the fear

psychosis or psycho – fobia.

Road And Rail Transportation: For the tourists preferring to travel by buses of

railways, it is significant that the stations are well managed.

Hotels: For managing the hotels services, it is essential that we are all careful to

the hotel accommodation facilities. It is pertinent that hotels are easily accessible

to the tourist sites or beaches or shops. The hotel personnel should be trustworthy

and competent enough to speak English and other regional languages. They are

supposed to be friendly. The management of facilities at the hotels need due care.

Though the standard of services, amenities and facilities depend upon the grade of

hotels still it is essential that hotels offer the promised services to the users.

Resort Representatives : Regarding representatives of resort, they should be

knowledgeable, friendly, accessible and competent.

Tour Operators : The tour operators should be reliable where the guaranteed

services are made available to the guests without making any distortion. The price

should reflect good value for money.

Tour Agents : The tour agents should be competent, friendly and conveniently

available. They should also provide extra services to the tourists. The incentives

need due weightage. Free transfer to airport and free insurance facilities induce

tourists.

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Miscellaneous : In addition, the fellow travelers should be like- minded. The main

thing is to make tour pleasant and memorable. If the tourists have companionable

fellow travelers, the journey would ofcourse remain memorable.

Promotion mix

The marketing manager has four distinct ways of communicating the promotional

message to the public:

1. By advertising the product through a selected medium such as television

or the press.

2. By using staff to engage in personal selling , either behind the counter,

over the phone, or calling on clients as sales representatives.

3. By engaging in sales promotion activities, such as window display or

exhibitions.

4. By generating publicity about the product through public relation

activities, such as inviting travel writers to experience the product, in the

hope that they will review it favorably in their papers.

It should also be recognized that much communication about products actually takes

place by word of mouth recommendation. The benefits of a satisfied customer

suggesting your product to another potential customer cannot be over emphasized.

This ‘hidden sales force’ costs a company nothing, yet it is most highly effective of all

communication modes, since the channel has credibility in the eyes of the potential

customer, and will be judged as objective in the assessment.

The converse is also true, of course, an account of a bad experience relayed by word

of mouth has a very strong negative influence on purchase. And human nature being

what it is, research shows us that consumers tell ten times as many people about a bad

experience as they do about a good one!

Recognition of the importance of influencing those who can in turn influence others

to buy new products has led to the concept of the two step flow of communication, in

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which messages are directed by the company to the opinion leaders in the society,

rather than to the general public. Opinion leaders include representatives of the mass

media as well as those most likely to initially purchase new products. A travel

company with a limited promotional budget might be the best advised to concentrate

its expenditure on influencing travel writers, by providing study visits to view their

products at first hand, since a favourable report on television or in the press will have

a huge impact on sales.

Factors influencing the choice of the mix

What determines the mix of these four promotional tools in the marketing plan? In

some cases, companies will choose to employ only one of these elements in the mix,

while other companies will use a combination of all four. There are no right or wrong

answers about such choices, although guidelines based on the following criteria can

be helpful.

1. The nature of product : It will be difficult to sell a complex or technical

product without personal sales advice. Many in the holiday trade would argue

that, although resorts are often thought of as homogeneous and

interchangeable, a customer actually needs quite a sophisticated level of

knowledge to make a decision about what resort or hotel to choose. A

brochure can spell out in cold print what kind of beach the resort offers, or the

facilities the hotel provides, but more subjective issues are difficult to put

across in print. Questions such as the ambience of the resort, the quality of the

food served in the hotel, what kind of fellow holidaymakers the client will

encounter in the resort can properly be answered only in a direct face-to-face

sales situation, where the salesperson can help to match the customers needs to

the products on offer to ensure customer satisfaction.

2. The target at which the communication is aimed : A decision will be made

on the mix of communications directed to the consumer and to the trade.

Communications aimed at the trade employ what is known as a ‘push

strategy’, that is, the aim of the company is to encourage dealers to stock the

product, and to push it to their customers. This will often involve direct

selling, supported by trading advertising, or sales promotion techniques such

as the payment of bonuses for achieved targets. A ‘pull strategy’, on the other

24



hand, is designed to generate consumer demand for the product, pulling

customers into the shops and forcing retailers to stock the product through the

sheer level of demand. Here, the emphasis will be on extensive national

advertising, with perhaps some sales promotion support. No intelligent retail

travel agent can afford to ignore the products of major tour operators such as

Thomson, airtours or First Choice Holiday to concentrate on selling smaller

companies, because of the sheer popularity of the biggest companies, which

would mean turning business away.

3. The stage in the life cycle in which the product is to be found : The

communication task for a new product is to make customers aware of its

existence. This means informative messages, usually carried by mass media

advertising, with some sales support, to let as many people know what it is

you have to sell, and the product’s benefits. Later, as competition for the new

product increases, the task will switch to that of persuading the public that

your product increases, the task will switch to that of persuading the public

that your product is the best of those available, calling for greater emphasis on

sales promotion. As the product becomes well established and sales have

peaked, the task will be to remind clients of the product’s existence, and

encourage them to think of their brand first when shopping. This is achieved

by a mix of ‘reminder’ advertising (perhaps little more than constant repetition

of the brand name) and point of sales display material. These tactics will be

discussed more fully in subsequent chapters.

4. The situation in which the company finds itself in marketplace : In a highly

competitive environment, a company will be under pressure to employ many

of the same promotion techniques as its major competitors, to ensure that its

products are seen by the same consumers. This may require reional adjustment

of the communication mix, depending upon the relative strengths and

weaknesses of the company in different areas. This is particularly the case

where a company is also selling its products abroad, where both the message

conveyed and the channels used to teach the market may be quite different to

those in the home country.

25



5. The company’s budget for its promotional strategy: This is the most

important factor that the company must determine. This budget can, of corse,

include a contingency to allow for adhoc activity that exploits unforeseen

opportunities as they arise, as well as ensuring sufficient funds for a planned

programme of activity.

Price’s role in the tourism

Pricing decision must be determined in relationship in relationship with all the other

elements of the marketing mix. The impression is gathering strength within the travel

industry that price is sole criterion of importance to the consumer, or that other

elements are relatively insignificant. While it is true that brand images (with a handful

of notable exceptions) have not played a big role in tourism marketing up until the

present, this is not to say that symbolic values in travel products are any less

important than in other industries, and “futures” forecasters such as the Henley Centre

are suggesting that as discretionary income rises, the symbolic and emotional values

attached to brand names will increase.

All too often, however, travel companies have chosen to ignore the creation of added

value in their marketing plans, and have concentrated exclusively on the promotion of

price. The major tour operators in particular have used low price as a means of

increasing their market shares, at the expense of profit levels. There can be little doubt

that third policy was highly successful during the 1980’s , although this may have had

as much to do with the publicity that resulted from the price wars between operators,

causing consumers to become conscious of price rather than value. Over – optimistic

sales projections led to heavy discounts to “dump”

Unsold seats through late bookings, encouraging consumers both to shop around for

the best bargains and to book later. It is likely that increasing disposable income and

other favourable factors such as exchange rates would have led to substantial

increases in the number of package tours sold during the 1980’s, even had discounting

not been introduced.

26



The 1990’s, however, apparently apparently presented a very different scenario, with

lower volumes but higher prices the stated goal of most companies. This did not prove

to be the case for the first half of the decade: profit margins for many travel

companies – particularly tour operators – remained comparatively poor. At the same

time, the aggressive competition for market share has pushed the overall market size

higher, often on the back of price competitiveness.

Other influences on price

Earlier, we explored some of the factors affecting price decisions over which the

company will have very little control. Chief of these are:

1. The economic health of the country (or region). It is notable that at the time of

the depression in the 1970s, unemployment was less of a problem in London

and the South East of England than in the North and Midlands, and

consequently travel bookings from the former areas were less affected.

However, at the beginning of the 1990s, the slump in the South East proved to

be severs, while the situation in the North remained relatively unchanged.

2. The elasticity of demand for travel and tourism products.

3. Levels of competition faced by individual companies and substitutability

between competing products.

4. The nature of the target market, which will determine what kind of holiday or

other travel products they will buy and at what price.

There will also be ethical considerations to be taken into account. A company

concerned about its public image will wish to reassure its public that it is in a position

to do so without challenge from the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. It would

also be short – sighted of companies to attempt to introduce substantial price increases

at a time when the political climate favours price restraint, even were the market able

to bear such increases.

27



The Place Mix

The term chain of distribution denotes the method through which the services

reach to the destination. The are the link and if link is strong, the producers

succeed in raising the influx of tourists. The middlemen are the tour operators and

the transport operators who buy services like hotel rooms, seats in aircrafts,

railways, arrange charted flights and sell the same either to the travel

agents(retailers) or even directly to the tourists. The tour operators are also called

the producers of a new product. The travel agents buy the services at the request

of their clients and provide a convenient network of sales outlet catering to the

needs of a local catchment area. In figure ANx we find the distribution channel

for the tourism industry which focuses on the different middlemen engaged in the

process of distributing the services. The services are generated by both the publics

as well as private sector. The services are supposed to be standardized where the

middlemen make it sure that the promised services would be made available to the

users without making any distortion. Of course, we find possibilities of distortion

at different points by the different service generating organisations but all of them

need to bridge over the gap.

One-stage system : the one-tier or one-stage system focuses on the direct selling

of services by the providers to the ulimate users, such as the airlines selling

directly to users through its own offices and reservation counters. We find a

number of advantages of this system, since the providers can maintain the quality.

The system is opposed by a number of experts due to high cost of operation. The

stimulation of demand requires professional excellence and the travel agents are

supposed to have world class excellence to manage things to the expectations of

users.

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Two-stage system : In the two-tier system or two-stage system, we find

involvement of middlemen between the providers and users,i.e. Travel agents. The

positive effects of the system are that a traveler while receiving professional

services can also buy other products like airline ticket, hotel accommodation and

transportation facilities. Besides, he/she gets a single bill for all the services. The

price of advantage is an additional advantage since a travel agent gets higher

prices in the case of group tours, conferences, conventions, etc. in addition, the

services cost incurred on travel agent is found very nominal to the usera as he/she

receives a commission from the principal.

Three – stage system : The three-stage or three-tier system involves two

middlemen, a retail travel agent and a wholesaler or a tour operator. An additional

advantage of this system is that the wholesaler makes bulk purchase of the

products for which he/she is paid adequate discount.

Four – stage system : The four stage system is similar to the three-stage system

but it has an additional middleman. Known as Speciality Chancellor he is found

instrumental in the development of tour packages.

The aforesaid channels of distribution of the tourism services make available

services to the ultimate users and therefore these are the different points where we

also expect a distortion quality. It is against this background that different

providers of the services need to be careful while appointing the middlemen.

Tour operators : a tour operator is one who buys the individual elements in the

travel product on his own account and combines them in such a way that he is

selling a package of travel, the tour to his clients. In common parlance, he is also

referred to as a travel agent. A tour operator bears the responsibility of delivering

the services. He creates own package by buying or reserving necessary supply

elements and often retails through travel agents, their own offices and by direct

mail via booking form in brochure or by direct enquiries from consumers. He

offers a number of packages known as tour programme. They are like a

wholesaler. Some of us also call tour operators as producers of a new product but

it is more appropriate to describe them as middlemen.

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Travel Agent : the travel industry is found to be an uncoordinated people trying to

achieve a coordinated result. A travel agent is one who acts on behalf of a

principal, i. e. the original provider of the tourism services, such as hotel

company, airline, tour oprator a shipping company. A travel agency is also calld a

manufacturer of tourist product, i.e. an inclusive package tour. Of late a majority

of the travel agents conduct regular package tour to suit the needs of a group.

Travel agents from the retail sector of the distribution chain.

In the channel decisions, the marketing institutuoions play a decisive role. The

tourist organisatons, tour operators, travel agencies are the main institions helping

the making of productive distribution decisions. We agree with this view that

product innovation in the distribution process plays an important role. To be more

specific in the tourism industry, the middlemen play a commanding role because

the products are of perishable nature. This draws our attention on the

characteristics of the product to determine the length of the channel. The market

factors also occupy a place of importance in the distribution process. From the

standpoint of producers, it is pertinent that we design a profitable channel and

assign due weightage to cost and satisfaction. The chnnel involving the minimum

possible costs but securing high level of satisfaction to the tourist may be

effective. To put it another way, the channel can’t concentrate only on the

profitability element. The aforesaid facts make it clear that the tourist

organisations are required to make the channel decisions proactive so that tourists

get the promised-services without any distortion. If the middlemen act well,

perform well and behave well, we expect a considerable increase in business. The

hotels, airlines can’t work efficiently failing the co-operation of tour operators and

the travel agents.

30



World Travel and Tourism Today

This chapter examines the global dimensions And patterns of, and recent trends in,

travel and tourism, in order to provide a framework within which to consider the

likely future of this global industry.

Growth and Magnitudes

Today’s massive tourism industry has been driven by a number of factors – and these

are factors whose future directions need to be considered.

They are:

• Growth in real income;

• The advance in personal wealth as expressed in the ability of individuals to

generate resources beyond those to pay for life’s basic needs- food, housing,

education, health and, in more recent times, ‘essential’ consumer goods – in

other words, the expanding ability for discretionary expenditure on non-

essential items;

• Increase in leisure time;

• Peace amongst nations;

• Freedom from administrative restraints on international travel;

• Freedoms within international currency markets;

• Expansion of fast, efficient and widely affordable public transport, coupled

with wide to provide transport.

In a word, tourism depends upon economic development and open, free societies.

It can be immediately seen that, measured against these basic criteria, much of

today’s world fares very badly. Such a comparison reveals two important facts.

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First, the majority of the world’s population has yet to attain what we in the

industrialized world would regard as a minimum level of supply of these

elements. Second, and as a consequence, if the world’s under- privileged can

reasonably hope to attain access to these elements during the next century, the

capacity for demand growth in national and international tourism is, for all

practical purpose, unlimited.

The World Of Today and Tomorrow: The Global View

During the past decade, the tourism and hospitality industry flourished, even as it

struggled to cope with difficult challenges. This is a taste of things to come. In the

years ahead, the global population will continue to grow and change, science and

technology will tighten their hold on business and society, and the world will knit

itself ever more tightly into a single market. As a result, both opportunities and trials

will abound.

Increasing affluence in the developed country

In the developed world for atleast the next five years, widespread affluence, low

interest rates, low inflation and low unemployment will be the norm.

Global trade will continue to grow rapidly for atleast the next 20 years. Worldwide

international arrivals are growing from 66o million in 1999 to an estimated 700

million in 2000, 1 billion by 2010 and 1.6 billion by 2020. Improving balance of trade

means more business for European and Asian tourist destinations.

Low Asian currency values will continue to promote travel to the Far East, for so long

as they last.

Technology dominates the economy and society

Discovery grows exponentially, as each new finding today opens the way to many

more tomorrow. Thus the single largest force for change in the 20 th century can only

grow more powerful in the 21 st.

As technology knits the world into one electronic marketplace, business travel will

not decline, but will grow rapidly. In a high- tech world, executives increasingly need

32



the ‘high – touch’ reassurance of personal relationships with their colleagues. The

internet changes the way consumers purchase goods and services. Cashless credit/

debit systems of payment will continue to proliferate. Expect the use of ‘smart cards’

to provide detailed customer information for use in more efficient target marketing.

Resorts, conference centres and other destinations are finding it increasingly easy to

market themselves directly to consumers, rather than relying on intermediaries. So

will air charter services and other transportation providers.

Time is becoming the World’s most precious commodity

Multiple, shorter vacations spread throughout the year will continue to replace the

traditional two – week vacation. Demand for luxurious ‘weekend getaways’ will grow

rapidly, especially in cultural centers and at destinations nearest large cities.

Values and lifestyles are changing

The trend is toward ultra- high quality, authencity and convenience- luxurious

accommodations, fresh meals that seem like labours of love, and constant pampering

of customers – all done at a price that will not make cosumers feel guilty.

Two – income couples increasingly take several short, relatively luxurious weekend

getaways rather than a single longer vacation.

Concerns for environmental issues continues to grow

Demands for still more environmental controls are inevitable, especially in relative

pristine regions. ‘Ecotourism’ will continue to be one of the fastest growing areas of

the tourism industry. The increasing dominance of technology in our daily lives also

promotes this trend. Rain forests, wilderness areas, the ocean, and other unpolluted

regions provide a unique and necessary chance to escape from keyboards and cell

phones.

Generation X and ‘.COM’ will have major effects in the future

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Tourism and Hospitality into the 21 st Century

Experience has taught us that the future is usually not what we would have expected

from extrapolating past developments, but rather what we make of it.

Jacques de Bourborn – Busset once wrote: ‘ What we want is not to guess at the

probable future, but to prepare one that is desirable and perhaps even to go that bit

further and try to make the desirable future the probable one.’

To do so we have to focus on the future, something that seems appropriate at the

dawn of a new millennium.

Numerous, particularly turbulent changes are currently taking place in the immediate

and wider context of leisure and travel. Not only has the new consumer gone into top

gear, society as a whole has become ever more fragmented. Political boundaries are

being abolished to be replaced by others. In contrast, as the result of worldwide

globalization mechanism, our planet is turning into a ‘global village’ with a uniform,

commercialized culture.

The Challenge of Globalization

Dealing with world-wide globalization trends is new to all of us. Everything is in a

state of flux: demand, labor. Know – how and capital are all flowing to where the

biggest hopes for the future lie, with the resistant standardization of production

technologies, business strategies, marketing plans and management styles. Although

tourist production is tied to local conditions, the tourism industry cannot avoid being

affected by globalization. Tourist products, and even whole destinations, are

becoming interchangeable; continental and inter-continental transport networks

determine the direction and speed of development; distribution channels and/ or

reservation systems are increasingly a decesive factor in success.

35



The Challenge of the Changing Climate

The environmental discussion is hotting up from two sides. On the one hand, many

places are already virtually at their ecological limits, and the consequences will

become increasingly visible and tangible over the next few years. On the other, the

process of environmental awareness is continuing among broad segments of the

population. Holidaymakers too are becoming more and more environment conscious,

but in an opportunistic fashion: they are particularly sensitive to environmental

damage when it threatens to spoil their holiday pleasure.

The Challenge of an Ageing Population

Seeing aside the fact that the population of highly industrialized countries may be

considerably influenced by influxes of refugees, the assumption can be that the

population of the industrialized countries is stagnating. On the other hand, the

population’s demographic composition will change radically. While the proportion of

young people will fall drastically in the coming years, the percentage of senior

citizens will increase by upto 1% per year.

There will be fewer and fewer young people and more and more active ‘younger

senior citizens’ with time and money on their hands who will set the tone in the

leisure and travel market.

The Challenge of Changing Values

The process of changing values is equally turbulent. It is characterized by a basically

hedonist attitude (desire, enjoyment, living out one’s dreams) which, however, goes

hand in hand with a certain pessimism about the future.

Cultural identity seems to be increasingly reduced to leisure behavior, and travel with

its utopian, ritual and mythical nature is steadily becoming the last common identity

area. The so–called ‘mega generation’ makes itself heard loud and clear, and its

values are mainly as follows:

• Substantial material demands;

• Little willingness to do anything special to merit these;

36



• Call for more freedom in all areas of life;

• Growing escapism;

• Growing unwillingness to take orders from others;

• Fewer inhibitions;• Individualization of the masses.

Basing one’s argument on Horx, it could be said that whenever everything becomes

commercialized, materialized, rationalized and technical, people more and more come

to long for ‘spirituality’.

The Challenge of Mobility

The fact that a growing number of people can drive combined with the

individualization of society is leading to greater motorization in all Western European

countries, despite intensive debates about the ecological aspects. The willingness to

be mobile, and hence the need for greater mobility during leisure time, will also

continue to increase.

The Challenge of Internet

The internet is changing the way many business are conducted, the appearance of e-

commerce could be a significant event in this century.

Currently only 2% of the world’s population has internet access, but this is changing

rapidly.

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Changing Travel Habits

Upheals in the immediate and less immediate environment of leisure conscious

persons also affect their travel and holiday habits. Horst W. Opaschowski described

the holiday of the future as follows:

• Attractive natural sitting and clean landscapes are automatically expected.

•

People will continue to seek sun, beaches and the sea.• Artificial holiday paradises will become tomorrow’s standard holiday venues.

• Holiday hopping (here today – there tomorrow) will spread.

• Vacations will become the ultimate adventure.

• The holiday world of the future must be as exotic as possible.

• More and more young families will discover indoor luxury bathing complexes.

• Culture and study trips will develop into a stable market segment.

• Holiday clubs will lose their attraction as something out of the ordinary.

This description of tourism of the future highlights the fact that some conflicts are

bound to become more acute, in particular:

• Growing pressure on the remaining nature reserves;

• The distances traveled are becoming longer and longer, consuming more and

more energy, with serious consequences;

• The growing risk that holiday destination will be downgraded to the fast –

food articles of the throw –way society;

• The continuing trend towards ‘exoticism’ with its cultural and health risks for

travelers and host populations.

In addition to these changes in respect of future holiday models, there are also signs of

changes in booking and travel habits:

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• Trend towards adventure – oriented holiday behavior: seeking a more

intensive leisure experience.

• Trend towards going it alone: seeking even more independent holidays in line

with personal ideas, with a preference for more flexible holiday products.• Trend towards more sophisticated travel products: seeking trips that offer

cultural and education, as well as variety; both passive recreation and

hyperactive sport are ‘out’.

• Trend towards more wellness during holidays: seeking forms of travel that

offer overwrought modern man holistic relaxation, with a healthy diet, gentle

exercise, beauty and body care and wide variety of therapies as the keywords.

•

Trend towards ‘second homes’: seeking cosy holiday accommodation ashome– like refuges with a high degree of comfort.

• Trend towards sunny travel destinations: seeking holiday destinations with

guaranteed sunshine – above all during cold, wet winters.

• Trend towards cheaper travel: seeking (cheap) products that represent value

for money: holiday at rock- bottom prices and growing market transparency

thanks to the worldwide web encouragement this tendency.

•

Trend towards spontaneous travel decisions: seeking offers that can be bookedat the last minute (or even at the last second) and which are not only cheap but

also comprise an element of surprise.

• Trend towards more mobile travel patterns: seeking products with frequent

changes of locations, with traveling as the major attraction.

This spotlight – like future analysis leaves considerable scope for interpretation

about the future openings for tourism. Making the most of these trends calls for

visionary innovations, targeted cooperation, clear marketing strategies and careful

nurture of existing core attractions.

39



Tourism Marketing In Indian Perspective

Of late, tourism has emerged as an important sector of the economy. It is found to

be an economic bonanza which contributes substantially to the development

process. If the managerial decisions are creative, innovative and sensitive, we

expect a lot from the tourism industry. The rate of success in the tourism industry

is sizably influenced by the instrumentality of supporting industries, such as hotel,

transportation, communication, banking or so. The developed countries and to be

more specific the leading tourist generating countries of the world, such as USA,

UK, Germany, France, Australia, Spain, Singapore, Cuprus have assigned due

weightage to the principles of modern marketing in managing the tourism industy.

In the Indian perspective we find tourism industry at the bottom of our

development agenda which has been standing as a barrier while energizing the

process of qualitative or quantitative improvements. It is against this background

that we need a basic change in the national development policy for tourism.

It was in the early 1950s that the government of India decided to promote tourism

industry but it had no clear objectives in terms of marketing. At the initial stage,

the image problem was found at its peak and even till now we find it an important

constraint. The government further activated efforts and new offices were opened

in 1964. the beginning of the decade 1970s opened new vistas for the development

of marketing concept in the tourism industry. The Pacific Visitor Survey

conducted by PATA in 1967 revealed that it was only due to image problem that

the tourism industry in India has not been successful in raising its contribution to

the development of the economy vis-a vis generation of foreign exchange. The

beginning of the decade 1980s paved avenues for the development of tourism

industry. The management experts felt that if the contribution to the world tourism

is to be increased, we have no option but to market the tourism professionally.

This necessitated launching of a National Image Building and Marketing Plan in

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key markets by pooling resources of the various public and private agencies

instead of independent and disjoined efforts presently undertaken by these

organisation to project a fair image.

The exploration of the new tourist generating markets particularly in the Middle-

east, South east and East Indian countries having a broad spectrum of cultural

affinity with India and encouragement of ethnic tourism by launching programme

of Discover Your Roots and vigorous marketing of conferences and conventions

traffic could be possible during 1980s. sustained efforts were needed to promote

Buddhist pilgrimage tourism for which there is a great potential. Aggressive

marketing was required to be taken up in the existing tourist generating markets

abroad as well as to explore new markets. It was necessary to reorient the

marketing projects and rationalize the locations of the tourist offices abroad

keeping in view in the market conditions and potentials. In order to cater to the

needs of professionally sound manpower for tourism marketing, the Indian

Institute Of Tourism and Travel Management was developed as a model institute.

In view of the above, it is right to mention that diversification of tourism from the

traditional sight seeing to the more rapidly growing holiday tourism market within

the framework of the country’s milieu is need of the hour. The policy planners, the

tourist organisations, the domestic and global agencies are required to realize

gravity of the situation to capitalize on the opportunities optimally. This requires a

basic change in the product development strtagy vis-avis the innovative

promotional efforts to project a positive image.

The beginning of the decade 1990s opened new areas for the development of

torism in the Indian perspective. This necessitated development of infrastructural

facilities like transportation, communication, accommodation or so. In addition,

this also required use of sophisticated information technologies by the tourist

generating organisations so as to improve the quality of services at different

points. In addition to the planning and development of tourism products, the

promotional strategies thus require due attention of professionals. The creativity in

mesaages, campaign and appeals which probably could not get due treatment

41



earlier is required to be made possible. No plans, policies, strategies and decisions

are expected to be productive or proactive unless we assign due weightage to the

behavioral profiles of the users. We can’t deny the fact that till now the tourist

organisations have devalued the instrumentality of behavioral studies and

therefore we are supposed to do it on a priority basis. The emerging trends in the

business environment make it essential that world class professional excellence is

essential without which all our efforts are to be ineffective. To be more specific

when some of the fictions of today profess the emergence of evolutionary from of

travel, such as monorils operated by magnetism and floating on a cushion air, or

travel in vacuum tubes in which a vehicle will travel at a speed of 800kms per

hour, it is quite natural that the level of expectations of users keep on moving.

The trust areas are the following:

• Making tourism industry a unifying force, instrumental in fostering better

understanding through travel.

• Helping to preserve, retain and enrich our cultural heritages.

• Bringing socio-economic benefits to the community and the state,

specially in terms of expanding the employment opportunities, generation

of profits, tax generation, foreign exchange generation or so.

• Giving a direction and an opportunity to the youths of the country both

through domestic and world tourism to perceive hopes and aspirations of

others in a right fashion.

• Offering opportunities to the new generation in taking up the activities

helpful in image building and strengthening the national image.

• Innovating the promotional measures and assigning due weightage to

aggressive promotion to project a positive image.

• Development of people by advancing education and training facilties.

Enriching their professional excellence by undertaking an ongoing training

programme.

• Motivating the private sector to develop the superstructure.

• An overriding priority to adventure tourism, village or rural tourism, beach

tourism, heritage tourism or so.

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• Promoting the use of sophisticated information technologies to improve

the quality of services.

• Enriching peripheral services to add additional attractions.

Marketing Plan For MEDICAL TOURISM

As we have seen the Scenario of Indian tourism industry, also the world tourism

scenario which shows tremendous potential in growth of industry. But as it also says

that Indian tourism organisation lack marketing competence, following is a marketing plan suggested to explore the potential.

Identification of opportunities and challenges

We first try to understand the opportunity by conducting SWOT analysis of the

Marketing Scenario.

Strength:

Healthcare industry

Healthcare is the world’s largest industry. Healthcare industry is booming all over the

world. In the development cycle of any economy for the last 25 years, before a nation

reaches the developed state, healthcare is the fastest growing industry. The worldwidehealthcare is expected to be a USD 4 trillion by 2005. A 1% market for India would

mean Rs. 2,00,000 crore or USD 40 billion. The Indian healthcare industry is worth

Rs.730 crore today, and it is expected to grow by around 13 % to15 % annually.

More and more overseas Indians fly home to visit their doctors here in whom they

have complete confidence. They get world-class treatment at a fraction of the cost

they would have to pay abroad, as liberalisation has speeded up the entry of the latest

state-of-the-art equipment. Also Indian doctors are amongst the best of the world.

43



They prefer to consult these doctors for their chronic diseases such as high blood

pressure, diabetes, neurological problems and even dentistry.

Medical charges in India are between one-tenth and one-thirtieth those of the US. For

example, a bypass surgery which costs $3000 in US, costs only Rs. 35000-40000 in

India, with the same technologies and facilities.

Also technology wise India is 6 months behind US. In US hospitals patient register

themselves and their no. comes after 8 months.

India- the hub of Asia’s healthcare needs:

• Indian doctors are recognized the world over for their expertise

• There is a huge talent within the country

• Technology-wise we are only six months behind the developed countries

Some factors that make India an attractive proposition

• A large English speaking population

• Opening of the insurance sector

• A miniscule cost of healthcare as compared to developed nations

• Medical expertise and contemporary knowledge of healthcare

• Huge waiting period (upto 18 months in some cases) for treating patients in

the UK hospitals

•

Medical tourism as a distinct possibility• The entire country is focusing on IT revolution, but if we play our cards

healthcare will be the next boom.

Tourism industry

Tourism is the single largest and fastest growing category of international trade,

Accounting for 12.8% of the total exports . It is one of the top 5 export categories

44



for 83% of countries and the main source of foreign exchange for 38%. The

potential for international tourism is vast as today only 3.5% of the world’s

population travels internationally.

India was one of the first countries to become a member of World Tourism

Organisation in 1951.

Total world tourist arrivals were recorded at 692.7 million . India received a share

of 0.37% in world tourist arrivals with 2.64 million international arrivals. World

tourism receipts were USD 462.2 billion while India’s receipt from international

tourism was $3168 million i.e. 0.66% share in world tourism receipt ranking it 29 th

in the world. (See annexure )

Weakness

• Lack of advertising and publicity:

The hospitals are handicapped with government regulations, which do

not allow them to advertise.

• An increasingly fragmented market, lack of statistics, capital intensive

operations and a long gestation period are all wise reasons to shy away

from investing in the healthcare industry.

• Government and trust hospitals dominate the scene. Many of the trust

hospitals suffer from poor management. Good corporate hospitals are still

too few to amount to a critical mass.

• Poor infrastructure facilities

• Lack of government support

• The role of Government: the plethora of taxes and procedural

complications

• Inadequate world class accommodation and Untrained personnel manning

key facilities

• Unfocussed marketing of the Indian tourism product package

Apprehensions about the law and order situations

Opportunity

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Medical tourism

“Medical tourism” has become a part of certain sectors of healthcare, but on a smaller

scale. If industry estimated is to be believed, the size of the medical tourism

industry stands at Rs 1,200-1,500 crore, growing at the rate of 30 per cent . A

recent CII-McKinsey study on healthcare says medical tourism alone can

contribute Rs 5,000-10,000 crore additional revenue for upmarket tertiary hospitals

by 2012, and will account for 3-5 per cent of the total healthcare delivery market.

Treatments cost a fraction of what they do in the West and the quality of doctors and

medical equipment is comparable to the best in the world.

UK and other countries have come up with some proposals for medical tourism packages by private sector healthcare institutions in India and talks are on to make

this reality on a bigger scale.

Multinational health insurance companies, with foreign stakeholders, will play an

important role in medical tourism as, they know that treatment is just one-fourth the

cost in India and people from their countries will be approaching us for treatment.

Also Liberalisation has made it possible for India to enjoy benefits of technological

strides in medicine.

India also has an advantage as there are wider prospects in the fields of ayurveda, and

spiritual medications along with other treatment at nominal prices.

Threat:

Though there are many countries competing in providing medical tourism like,

Germany. South Africa, Europe, Greece.

Almost all countries in providing 'Medical tourism' focus on:

• Cardiac Surgery

• Cosmetic Surgery and non-surgical procedures

• Dentistry

• Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery

• Gynecological

• Opthalmic Surgery

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• Orthopaedic Surgery

From the above analysis, we find that there is opportunity in Medical tourism, which

we can explore with strengths. But as there is a threat of competition from other

countries, the following innovative strategic marketing mix is designed.

For this purpose a Tourism organisation named “Make Ur Trip Pvt Ltd” is formed

which is a virtual organisation, as it provides its services through internet.

Target market:

Our main markets are Germany, US, UK, Africa and neighboring Bangladesh, china

and Sri Lanka for promoting the new package. Market will be segmented into NRI’s

and foreigners. In an age group of 40-54 years. (see annexure )

Buying behaviour:

As we are targeting middle age group who seek for mental relaxation and are not very

price sensitive but look for quality service, this buying behaviour will help us to

attract them as India is a GLOBAL SPIRITUAL POWER.

Marketing mix:

Product:

We have evinced keen interest in attracting patients from neighbouring countries and

other parts of the world for “medical tourism” packages for medical treatments,

including cancer, in India, on the lines of Ayurvedic treatment packages with

sightseeing. Our package will also include air bookings, hotel accommodation,

breakfast, dinner, and other requirements. Along with Ayurveda we facilitate with

other treatments like allopathic, homeopathic as per the convenience of our

customers.

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To facilitate with the above feature we provide them with a travel card which helps

them for a smooth and pleasant journey.

Positioning:

Revitalise, Recharge, Reboost Medical Package .

Above positioning gives a message that -

“Jumpstart your health with a "medical holiday" that's packed with relaxation and

fun! Re-charge, with a medical check-up, while being pampered with 5-star luxury.

With shopping and dining privileges, it's all the convenience needed for a

rejuvenating affair”.

Place:

MUT's the online flight booking engine is truly unique. The engine offers customers aunique combination of discounted airfares and online availability, thus enabling real-

time bookings. MUT’s Customer Service Unit is accessible 24/7 via internet and toll

free numbers, web-chat and e-mail. We seek to deliver the travel card and other

required documents at their doorstep after the registration and payment.

Pricing:

Cost or the price of the package will differ in different packages depending upon thekind of treatment seeked for and destinations looked for. The profits margin will be

high as we provide with unique services. Discounts will be provided during lean time.

(See annexure).

Payment terms:

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Customer will have to pay full cost of package initially by depositing the amount in

our bank account at AMERICAN EXPRESS bank in their country which will help

them to avail of our travel card facility. This will be beneficial for them as they will

have a cost advantage as the conversion charges will be reduced.

Promotion:

We will be promoting our products by:

• personal selling

• participation in trade fairs

• Advertising through effective medias like newspaper (herald

tribune, the times, guardian.) hoardings etc.

• sponsorships in world games

Public relation and social responsibility:

In order to deliver complete customer satisfaction it is necessary to fulfill social

responsibilities and maintaining public relationship with both customers internal and

external. For this following measures will be taken:

• Sponsoring welfare programmes on days like world aids day etc..

• Feedback and grievances system.

• Delivering high quality service.

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Conclusion:

It’s believed that initiatives taken by Make UR trip will help in economic

development of our country as:• It will create awareness about our healthcare industry internationally.

• Domestic players will realize the potential, thus improving their

infrastructure facilities.

• utilization of tourist potential

• It will generate foreign exchange for the country.

“Medical tourism” has become a part of certain sectors of healthcare, but on a

smaller scale. “What we’re looking at is charging those who can afford expensive

treatments, so that some benefits may be passed on to the poor also.

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Bibliography:

Books :

•

Global Tourism - William F. Thebald• Service Marketing - S. M. Jha• Marketing For Tourism - J. Christopher Holloway & Chris Robinson

• Marketing in Travel & Tourism - Victor T.C. Middleton

• Tourism & Hospitality in 21 st Century – A. Lockwood & S. Medlik

Internet Web-sites:• www.tourismofindia.com• www.cii.com• www.indiainfoline.com• www.hindubusinessline.com• www.wttc.org

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http://www.tourismofindia.com/

http://www.cii.com/

http://www.indiainfoline.com/

http://www.hindubusinessline.com/

http://www.wttc.org/

http://www.tourismofindia.com/

http://www.cii.com/

http://www.indiainfoline.com/

http://www.hindubusinessline.com/

http://www.wttc.org/



Documents

25 medical tourism