Research Article Volume 6 Issue No. 6

Transcription

1 DOI / ISSN IJESC Research Article Volume 6 Issue No. 6 Tourism - An Emerging Trend in Mysore Region with Special Reference to Facilities of Accommodation Dr. Lakshmi P. MBA Associate Professor Department of Business Administration Vidyavardhaka college of Engineering, Mysore, India Abstract: The tourism sector is a thriving industry driving the economic development of a country. The development of tourism has its own impact on accommodation and its facilities of a particular region. Thus, the facilities under accommodation should encourage the tourists to stay back for more number of days and plan their sightseeing. Accommodation also provides thousands of employment opportunities. The study deals about tourists from foreign and their satisfactions level of accommodation and its facilities at the tourist spot. Data was obtained from 300 respondents and analyzed using SPSS software by employing t-test and cross tabulation. The study reveals the tourists are happy and satisfied with the accommodation facilities of Mysore region. Keywords: Hotel industry, Accommodation, Facilities at tourist spot, Foreign tourist inflows. INTRODUCTION Tourism is a trade and industrial activity of immense global implication. The remarkable growth in tourism in modern times at the global level is due to various factors such as the impacts of globalization, emergence of the global village and preference for overseas jobs in general. According to world Tourism organization (WTO), tourism enriches individuals, families, communities and the entire world. Tourism enhances the quality of life, conserves the nationwide inheritance and encourages the admiration of diverse cultures both by domestic & overseas tourists. Tourism is one of the most important employment creators and plays a vital role in the balance of payments of many countries. As a service industry, tourism has a flexible character having capability of accommodating people skilled, semi - skilled and unskilled. The benefits of tourism are not limited to the economy alone. Tourism indirectly benefits the environment and culture through taxes generated. As the industry grows, infrastructure needs to be improved and this results in new roads, bridges, hotels, railways, better telecommunication network, airports, water treatment plants and sewage systems. This creates thousands of jobs and benefits the entire community. Tourism helps to protect ancient cultures and handicrafts, which otherwise would have been lost in the persistent march of industrialization. It also helps in cultural interactions. In the long run this contributes to better understanding and promotes harmony. TOURISM IN INDIA Travel and tourism forms an integral part of Indian tradition & culture. The Government of India has now come out with a National Tourism policy which pledges, among others, to make tourism and travel an important instrument of sustainable human development, poverty alleviation, & employment generation. The growth of tourism in the modern times, however, continued to be slow until the early 1980 s after which tourism started being recognized as an industry. Tourism started finding a place in the nation s Five Year plans. A National Tourism Policy, therefore, evolved in 1982, followed by a National Tourism Action Plan in Table 1.1 FOREIGN TOURIST ARRIVALS (FTAS) IN INDIA Year FTAs from tourism in India (in Millions) Percentage change over the previous year Source: (i) Bureau of Immigration, Govt. of India (ii) Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June

2 Graph 1.1 FOREIGN TOURIST ARRIVALS (FTAS) IN INDIA Graph 1.2 FOREIGN TOURIST ARRIVALS (FTAS) IN INDIA (percentasge change over years) This table exhibits the total number of foreign tourist arrivals to India from the year 2005 to The table indicates that the number of foreign tourists arriving India has been constantly increasing from year on except in the year The number of tourists visiting India has increased since 2005 to 2014 by a percentage change of 13.3 to 7.60 except in the year 2009 was -2.2 percent of tourist. This indicates that the government has taken a number of initiatives to attract more number of tourists and India is identified as a tourist destination. TOURISM IN KARNATAKA The government of India under the current National Policy for Tourism has identified the influence of Brand Positioning and Source Marketing as part of the Incredible India. The Tourism policy of Karnataka is considerably associated with global, state and local to focus in drawing domestic and international tourists in large numbers, their maximum number of days of halt and high contribute from their wallet. This necessitates listening to the voice of the tourist and working towards Exceeding tourist expectations. Mission To be a model in increase and tapping the tourism prospective of Karnataka, synchronize to carry a leisure incident that is attractive and gives worth for their money to the tourists. This is to be made sure in a successful, capable and result- based manner. Karnataka Tourism policy: , Department of tourism, Government of Karnataka. Vision International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June

3 To make tourism in Karnataka as a large financial activity, as an owner, revenue-generator and tool of enlargement, by being the apex tourism destination in India by the end of Karnataka Tourism policy: , Department of tourism, Government of Karnataka. Value The values of Punniya Koti protect the Karnataka s traditions and build the trademark to make sure the humble services to national and international tourists i.e., promises made and kept. Karnataka Tourism policy: , Department of tourism, Government of Karnataka. LITERATURE OF REVIEW Lorenzo Masiero, et al., (2012) studies whether the tourist segments have a strong relationship between prices and its effect with the tourism choices activities such as revenue by using all marketing mix and the factors that determine the tourist choice. Thus, the sensitivity to price of different degree to design a right activity in every destination is to attract all segment of tourist. But, yet price has its own influence in choosing the destination by a tourist is been proved. Thippeswamy G (2014) explains the importance of tourism in Karnataka and tries to explore the experience of international travelers about the Indian diverse culture. The study highlights the globalization and open economy of the tourism for the economic development of a country. It also talks about tourism as the highest foreign earning sector and make ways to improve the infrastructural facilities. The other backward linkages for developing industry are possible by improving the tourism sector. Carol Lu, et al., (2015) tries to understand the relationship of customers and hotel managers with satisfaction level in the service offered and how do the customers (tourists) actually feels about it. The study reveals that there is a difference of opinion in satisfaction level for luxury hotels which highly impacts on tourism experience in any particular destination because hotel plays a major role in tourism sector. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM It is the study to examine the reasons for the failure of Mysore to take advantage of the regional, national, international linkages developed in the tourist. The present study is to understand the effectiveness of marketing strategies adopted by Karnataka tourism division to promote tourism in Mysore. The research in specific focuses on international tourists and their opinion regarding Mysore region and its cluster and necessary actions to be taken for promoting the tourism sector. NEED OF THE STUDY With an attempt to find solutions to the above problems, the observations and conclusions made earlier, it is felt that there is utmost need for understanding an in- depth study for identifying the barriers and also the measuring steps that stands in the way of the development of international tourism in Mysore cluster. There is no study been conducted exclusively on international tourism. Thus, there is a motivation to know what kind of tourism products that a potential international tourist can expect by visiting this highly heritage land of Mysore. The positive result derived in this study will contribute a lot not only to the economic well- being of the local residents of Mysore but also to the entire economy of the state. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY i. To analyze the Karnataka Tourism Policy for the betterment of tourism sector. ii. To analyze the international tourist opinion regarding the various facilities at tourist spot and accommodation provided in Mysore. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS 1. H 0 There is no significant relationship between the satisfaction levels of foreign tourists towards the various facilities provided at the tourist sites in Mysore city and its cluster. H 1 There is a significant relationship between the satisfaction levels of foreign tourist towards the various facilities provided at the tourist sites in Mysore city and its cluster. 2. H 0 There is no relationship between the satisfaction levels of foreign tourist towards the accommodation and its various facilities provided at their duration of stay in Mysore. H 1 There is a significant relationship between the satisfaction level of foreign tourist towards the accommodation and its various facilities provided at their duration of stay in Mysore. SCOPE AND COVERAGE OF THE STUDY Tourism in Mysore Mysore stands the second major city in the state of Karnataka and is recognized as the cleanest city among 476 cities in India. The city is stretched across an area of sq km and is located at the bottom of Chamundi hills. Mysore plays as a very important tourist center of state of Karnataka. The place is recognized as palace city of India and declared as a heritage city. The Amba Villas Palace (popularly known as Mysore Palace) in the city is one of the mainly visited monument in India, even defeating Red Fort, Qutb Minar in The study aims at rediscovering and repositioning the tourism resources and potentialities of Mysore region. It intends to find the shortcoming in infrastructure development and tourism support services such as quantity and quality of public transport, accommodation, shopping, information services, Tourism spots in Mysore Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hills, Mysore Zoo, St.Philomena s church, Rail museum, Mysore Sand sculpture International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June

4 Museum, Jaganmohan Palace, Karanji lake and park, Kukkarahalli lake, Lalitha Mahal palace, Happy man park, Wax-museum-melody park, Ranganathittu birds sanctuary, Brindavan garden(krs), Nanjungud temple, Shivanasamudra falls etc. It has a wider scope in further to identify the customer satisfaction, designing a new product in tourism, advertisement and promotional activities related to tourism after the findings of the study. The study aims at evaluating the tourism resources and facilities at Mysore region. The study also highlights the barriers/problematic area in the tourism development in Mysore. It intends to evaluate the infrastructural development and tourism support services such as accommodation, shopping, information services, internet and telecommunication etc. The opinion and suggestions from the respondents incorporated herein would provide guidelines for future course of action to follow with respect to tourism in Mysore and its cluster. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The study is strictly focused on problems and policy of the tourism sector of Karnataka with marketing of tourism products in particular to Mysore region. The method adopted in this study is mostly of exploratory. The descriptive method is also been employed to narrate the international tourism of Mysore cluster. SOURCES OF DATA The study is been made by the use of both primary and secondary data i) Primary data The collection of primary data is been attempted through structured Questionnaire. ii) Secondary data The secondary data is been collected from official and non-official records, leading books on the subject, published thesis, booklets, brouchers on divergent aspects of tourism, tourism sector profile, journals and magazines. Moreover the, information from the internet have been extensively used as a source of secondary data collection. SAMPLING DESIGN There is only one category of respondents for the study i.e., foreign tourists arriving to Mysore city and its cluster. The sample size is restricted to 300 tourists. The major tourist attractions (spots) of Mysore city and its cluster is been studied. Convenience sampling method is adopted in selecting the respondents irrespective of their age, sex, class, country, region, income, etc. Information from the sample respondents were collected through the questionnaire from various tourist attractions, hotels, other accommodations units etc. The questions were objective type in nature and selfexplanatory with multiple choice so that it is easy to derive quick response. Special provision is made to collect the opinion or suggestions of the respondents in the questionnaire itself. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTRPRETATION Keeping in view the objectives of the study, the data collected is classified and tabulated to facilitate correct analysis and easy interpretations. The processed data is interpreted with the help of the statistical tools such as averages, percentages, one sample t-test and cross tabulation. Objective 1 CORE AREAS OF KARNATAKA TOURISM POLICY Cultural / Heritage Tourism: a. Karnataka is well-known for its rich Culture and Heritage thus tourism sector as a huge scope in developing. b. Zones relating to Heritage are formed around the sites of heritage such as Bijapur, Aihole, Pattadakal, Bidar, Badami, Hampi, etc., are planned to be developed according to their master plan. c. Tourism Management plans for cities like Mysore, Bidar, Bijapur and also to other small cities are been developed to increase the value of Heritage. 2. Home stay: It is one of the minimum regulated and a noncommercial venture which is improved across the state. A standardized program is been established and considered as Home-stay up-to 5 room s availability. 3. Cruise Tourism: With the help of PPP initiative the foreign standards dedicates the cruise tourism hubs and planned to be developed at Karwar and Mangalore. 4. Theme and Entertainment parks: Theme and entertainment parks are been promoted and private sector is encouraged to contribute parks through PPP model. 5. Wayside Amenities: It is the basic requirement of toilets for gender, medical services, mini-store, cafeteria, motels, etc., are been established in the highway reaching major tourist destination. 6. Eco-tourism: Forest Department is collaborated for the development and promotion of eco-tourism with the help of PPP. The zone from Coorg to Karwar will be declared for eco-tourism. 7. Health and Wellness tourism: Karnataka is known for health and Wellness destinations because it is well promoted for medicines of traditional systems such as Siddha, Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, etc., which is used for spiritual healing. 8. Safety and Security: This is established for the safety of the tourist and closely works with the local and state police in the key tourism areas. It facilitates with quick responses for any problems faced by the tourists. International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June

5 Objective 2 (Result) Name of the Countries from where the tourists have arrived The nationality of international tourists will provide essential data required for marketing a tourist destination like Mysore. COUNTRY NAME Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid UK China USA Japan Vietnam Russia Poland Australia Finland Thailand Canada France Ukraine Italy Germany England/British Spain Netherland Norway Mexico Brazil New Zealand South Korea South Africa Total The table exhibits the number of foreign tourists arrivals from different parts of the world to Mysore. It indicates that there are tourist from 24 different countries visited Mysore during this study. The majority of the tourists are from France covering 18.3%, followed by USA 15%, China 13.7%, Germany 7.7% and UK 7.3%. This shows that irrespective of the country belonging to different continent the tourist have visited Mysore. This is a good sign which indicates that tourists visit Mysore city and its cluster believing Mysore as one of the most attracted destination. International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June

6 Kind of accommodation availed by tourists in Mysore COUNTRY NAME FIVE STAR HOTEL Kind of accommodation availed during your stay in Mysore THREE STAR HOTEL LODGES GUEST HOUSE FRIEND AND RELATIVES UK Count Total % of Total.7% 3.3% 1.7% 1.3%.3% 7.3% China Count % of Total 1.7% 5.0% 2.0% 5.0%.0% 13.7% USA Count % of Total 2.7% 8.3% 2.0% 2.0%.0% 15.0% Japan Count % of Total.7% 1.0%.3%.0%.0% 2.0% Vietnam Count % of Total.0% 1.3%.0%.3%.0% 1.7% Russia Count % of Total.0%.3%.0%.7%.0% 1.0% Poland Count % of Total.7%.7%.7%.3%.0% 2.3% Australia Count % of Total 1.7%.7% 1.0%.3%.0% 3.7% Finland Count % of Total.3%.0%.3%.7%.0% 1.3% Thailand Count % of Total.0%.0% 1.0%.0%.0% 1.0% Canada Count % of Total 1.0% 1.7%.0%.3%.0% 3.0% France Count % of Total 3.3% 11.7% 2.3%.7%.3% 18.3% Ukraine Count % of Total.3% 1.3% 1.7%.0%.0% 3.3% Italy Count % of Total 1.0% 1.7% 1.7%.0%.0% 4.3% Germany Count % of Total 1.0% 4.0%.7% 2.0%.0% 7.7% England/British Count % of Total.7%.7% 1.0%.0%.0% 2.3% Spain Count % of Total 1.0%.3%.0%.0%.0% 1.3% Netherland Count % of Total 1.0% 1.0% 1.0%.3%.0% 3.3% International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June

7 Norway Count % of Total.0%.0%.3%.0%.0%.3% Mexico Count % of Total 1.0%.3%.3%.7%.0% 2.3% Brazil Count % of Total.0% 1.0%.0%.3%.0% 1.3% New Zealand Count % of Total.0% 1.0%.0%.0%.0% 1.0% South Korea Count % of Total.7% 1.3%.0%.0%.0% 2.0% South Africa Count % of Total.0%.0%.0%.3%.0%.3% Total Count % of Total 19.3% 46.7% 18.0% 15.3%.7% 100.0% This table shows 46.7% of tourists have availed three star hotels for their accommodation. Then, 19.3% have stayed at five star hotel followed with 18.0% of respondents at lodges, 15.3% of them availed the services of guest house and the rest 0.7% of tourists at friends/relative house. Hence, the region should come up with more number of seven, five, four, three star hotels has the international tourists prefer more luxurious hotel to stay. One-sample statistics of satisfaction level of foreign tourists towards the facilities at tourist sites in Mysore city and its cluster One-Sample Statistics N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Cleanliness at tourist places Rest Room facilities at the site Upkeep/Maintenance Guides/Interpretation facilities Attraction level of sites according to you Display of information/signage Shopping One-sample T Test of satisfaction level of foreign tourists towards the facilities at tourist sites in Mysore city and its cluster Test Value = 3 T Df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Cleanliness at tourist places Rest Room facilities at the site Upkeep/Maintenance Guides/Interpretation facilities Attraction level of sites according to you Display of information/signage Shopping Lower Upper International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June

8 The above one sample t test reveals the relationship between satisfaction levels of foreign tourist towards the various facilities provided at the tourist sites in Mysore city and its cluster. The results shows that all the tourists are satisfied with all the factors mentioned above, hence there is a significant relationship as the p value of all the parameters are less than.05. Thus alternative hypothesis can be accepted. One-sample statistics of satisfaction level of foreign tourists towards the accommodation in Mysore city N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Cleanliness in the place of stay Rest room facilities Power supply & water supply Food & Drink Staff/employee co-operation other Services (Safe to keep personal belongings) Public telephone/internet facilities Banking/ATM facilities One-sample T Test of satisfaction level of foreign tourists towards the accommodation in Mysore city Test Value = 3 T Df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Cleanliness in the place of stay Rest room facilities Power supply & water supply Food & Drink Staff/employee co-operation other Services (Safe to keep personal belongings) Public telephone/internet facilities Banking/ATM facilities Lower Upper The above one sample t test reveals the relationship between satisfaction levels of foreign tourist towards the accommodation and its facilities provided at their duration of stay in Mysore city and its cluster. The results shows that all the tourists are satisfied with all the factors mentioned above, hence it shows a significant relationship as the p value of all the parameters are less than.05. Thus alternative hypothesis can be accepted. FINDINGS The major findings of the study are highlighted in the following pages: It is found that there are tourist from 24 different countries visited Mysore during the study. The majority of the tourists are from France covering 18.3%, followed by USA 15%, China 13.7%, Germany 7.7% and UK 7.3%. This shows that irrespective of the country belonging to different continent the tourist have visited Mysore. Gender description included 54% of male from France, China, USA and UK the highest and rest followed from the other countries and 46% of females were from France, USA, China and UK as highest and remaining from the other countries. The 46.7% of tourist accommodation mainly depends at three star hotels for their stay. Then, 19.3% have stayed at five star hotel followed with 18.0% of respondents at lodges, 15.3% of them availed the services of guest house and the rest 0.7% of tourists at friends/relative house. There is a significant positive relationship between foreign tourist satisfaction towards the various facilities provided at the tourist sites in Mysore city International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June

9 and its cluster and reveals that entire tourists are satisfied with the factors taken for the study. The relationship between foreign tourist satisfaction towards the accommodation and its various facilities provided at their duration of stay in Mysore city shows that they are satisfied with the factors taken for measuring the parameters. The tourists from different countries visited Mysore and have stayed in different category of accommodation and it is identified as % of the respondents was moderate and followed with 36.0% of the respondents feel that the price that they pay is costly. The remaining respondents 4.7% said it s less, 2.0% very costly and the rest only 0.7% felt it is very less. Thus, this proves that the tourists are more comfortable with respect to prices charged for accommodation during their stay in Mysore. 65.4% of respondents are of the opinion that their experience of travelling to Mysore city was good. At the same time, it also reveals 16.8% of them felt it as excellent, 14.4% of them viewed the enjoyment of Mysore city as an average and the remaining 3.4% of respondents viewed as poor. RECOMMENDATIONS Experts related to hotel industry, tourism department, authoritative people of entrepreneurial activity, Mysore city developmental board, transportation related authority and other highly responsible group have to associate together in making any decision because it would have its own influence of tourism directly or indirectly. Training should be provided to the tourist guides with the regulated courses that certifies and create an identity which builds the trust and confidence among the tourist to follow tourist guides. Itinerary for international tourists should be scheduled for 2 to 3 days of maximum stay in Mysore region with a perfect planning. This clearly indicates that more number of tourists visit Mysore from 2 3 days within which the very important tourist spots have to be covered with a well-planned sightseeing program. Hotels with due concentration of Heritage concept should be initiated more. Five Star and Seven Star hotels has to be given more importance as international tourists like to stay in such good and a luxury hotel for their accommodation. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY There are certain limitations in every work thus, this present study here also has some limitations and are as follows: Mindset of the respondents varies since it is not easy to get responses from tourists in between their schedule of visiting a tourist spot. Misunderstanding of questions might have also happened which sometime may lead to wrong interpretation by the respondents. CONCLUSION The authority and the entrepreneurs associated with the tourism industry in the Mysore region have to realize that the destination or product has a unique flavor and the sum total of all flavors would be able to create the differentiation. It might be on account of the continuous effort of different stakeholders in tourism that many such places of Mysore which have been spotted are now going to find a place in the tourist map of Karnataka. In order to realize the economic benefit in a concrete way, the mindset of the society has to be changed so as to create a better atmosphere paving the way for the development of this novel and humane industry for the betterment of Mysore, in particular and the entire state of Karnataka and its people in general. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Lorenzo Masiero, et al., (2012), Tourism Market Segmentation Based on Price Sensitivity - Finding Similar Price Preferences on Tourism Activities, Institute for Economic Research, Via Maderno, 24 - CP 4361, CH Thippeswamy G (2014), Impact of tourism sector on economic development in Karnataka, South Asian Journal of Marketing & Management Research, May, Volume: 4, Issue: 4,page 32 44, Online ISSN : X. 3. Carol Lu et al., (2015), Service quality and customer satisfaction: qualitative research implications for luxury hotels, International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Volume: 9 Issue: Karnataka tourism policy Department of tourism, Government of Karnataka 5. Report on the steering committee on tourism for the 11 th five year plan ( ) Government of India planning commission International Journal of Engineering Science and Computing, June