South Asian Journal of Tourism and Heritage (2010), Vol. 2, No. 1 Satisfaction Level of the Tourists Visiting the Desert Destination of Jodhpur An Assessment MEETA NIHALANI* *Meeta Nihalani, Ph.D., Head, Department of Management Studies, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur ABSTRACT The desert of Jodhpur is unique and is popularly known as the Sun City. The heat and the long streams of desert are attracting tourists from all over the world to experience the adventure and the cultural appeal of this destination. The international tourists are choosing this destination as their first choice. In this research paper, an effort has been made to diagnose the feelings of tourists regarding their choice of Jodhpur as destination of visit. The aim of this paper is analyze the variables which attract the tourist to Jodhpur and the factors responsible to woo the tourist to the desert of Jodhpur. The satisfaction level of the tourist is measured so as to build a strategy to satisfy and attract the tourists to Jodhpur. KEYWORDS : Satisfaction Level, Motivation Behaviour, Desert Destination. INTRODUCTION The global economy has many options for the growth and development. The travel industry is becoming important for generating employment and earning wealth. In today s travel industry, the customer is global and is king or queen. The travel industry is the world s largest industry and is the most international in nature. (OCLC).The purpose of the business is to create and maintain satisfied,profitable customers (Levitt)So tourist satisfaction is important to create a brand value for the destination and make a strategic base with good tourist facilities. The aim of the strategist is to know and understand customers so well that product or service fits them and sells itself. (Drucker) The beginning of the organized travel marketing required the cooperation of cruise lines. Airlines, auto rental firms, and passenger railways cooperatively developed packages with cruise lines. This requires coordination in pricing, promotion and delivery of those packages. The government agencies play an important role through legislation aimed at enhancing the industry and through promotion of regions, states and nations. (Cruise Forum)The tourist satisfaction is based on past buying experiences, the opinions of friends and market information. The tourism industry is growing in Rajasthan and the State reflects its success by the colorful development of Jaipur and the heritage tourism of Jodhpur. Jodhpur is an important destination for growth of cultural and heritage tourism. Jodhpur stands on sandstone hills, surrounded by a strong wall nearly 10 km in length, with seven gates. The city is dominated and surmounted by a massive fortress. Within the walls are royal palaces with priceless jewels and a striking collection of arms. Sightseeing of Jodhpur includes visit to the Fort, Palaces, Armory and Jaswant Thada. Mehrangarh Fort is situated at an altitude of about 125 meters. The Fort is spread over an area of 5 sq km in the heart of the city of Jodhpur. The fort has seven gates of which the noted ones are the Jayapol, built by Maharaja Man Singh in 1806... Jaswant Thada in Jodhpur is a white marble memorial built in memory of Maharaja Jaswant II in 1899 A story goes that Maharaja Jaswant succumbed to injuries in this place while fighting the Mughal king Jahangir. This place is of historical importance in Jodhpur. Umaid Bhawan is another building which has attracted people from all over the world. It is made of marble 2010 South Asian Journal of Tourism and Heritage
SATISFACTION LEVEL OF THE TOURISTS VISITING THE DESERT DESTINATION OF JODHPUR 93 and pink sandstone. It is believed that the palace was constructed to give employment to the famine-struck population of Jodhpur. This majestic building is presently the residence of the former rulers with a part of it running in response to export markets. Many of the factories and shops here design furniture and metal work products that are geared to Western tastes. The central market, or Ghasmandi Bazaar, is very popular with visitors. The basic items of shopping are textiles, silver, jeweler, instruments, pottery, boxes, carved ducks, metalwork, marble figures, paintings, copper, brass, antique reproductions, ivory, and insignias in white German metal, bed covers, wall hangings, puppets, clothes, old doors, and lots of furniture. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION There is need to develop and use reliable guest information, particularly guest satisfaction data. It has been examined by researchers tourism industry failures are partly a result of management s lack of strategic orientation in measuring and focusing on customer satisfaction. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY It is impossible to develop a close customer relationship if the travel service providers know nothing about the likes and dislikes and spending habits of the individuals being served. In the absence of a powerful database, the majority of customers are faceless and homogenous. So this paper aims to study the awareness level among the tourist coming to Jodhpur and the factors influencing tourist decisions to visit this destination. The research aims at diagnosing the satisfaction level of the tourist and to derive a strategy to boost the tourism potential to the destination. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A descriptive conclusive research design was used to present the study. The research was conducted to study the perception regarding the visit to the destination of Jodhpur. The research design has chalked a plan to keep track of tourist s action and to know his needs and desires. DATA COLLECTION METHOD Both the primary and secondary data have been used to form the research design. For the primary data collection, personal interview method was followed.the respondents were personally contacted and administered structured, undisguised and unbiased questionnaire. Secondary data was collected from the various magazines, newspaper and internet. In carrying out a survey relating to research, we first had to select the problem and study its implications in different areas. Selection of the research problem is in relation of the need to establish a strategic base to find out practical solutions for the factor causing dissatisfaction to the tourist. The Universe of the research study is all the tourists who are coming to Jodhpur. The population of the research frame is all the tourists of Jodhpur...The sampling unit of the research are the single most unit of the population. It may be single person or a group from whom questionnaire will be filled up to fulfill the target... The sampling technique was based the availability of the tourist. The selection of respondents was done on the basis of convenience sampling. The sampling size or the number of respondents included in the study was 200. ANALYSIS OF DATA The analysis of data collected through the file investigation included the calculations of percentage and weighed averages for easy comparison. The data is collected with the help of structured questionnaire. All the aspects mentioned for the study in the objectives were included for analysis. The study of this research enables us to analyze the factors responsible for the purchase of desert tourism product in Jodhpur
9 MEETA NIHALANI Table 1: The Responses of Tourists Regarding the Visits to the Destination of Jodhpur Options Responses Percentage Yes 200 100 No 0 0 Table 2 : Awareness among the Tourists Regarding the Destination of Jodhpur Options Responses Percentage Yes 200 100 No 0 0 Table-3 : Factors Influencing the Tourists to Visit the Destination of Jodhpur Options Least Not Very Neutral Important Important Important Important Mean Weight Score (0) (1) (-2) (-1) (2) Forts and 2 25 25 50 81 0.69 palaces Total package 20 50 20 5 65 0. 2 available Environment 80 5 20 30 25-0.62 Approachability 5 80 0 25 60-0.12 Facilities related 20 35 30 35 80 0.55 to food Shopping 15 20 0 0 85 0.80 Table 4 : Satisfaction Level of the Tourists Visiting the Destination of Jodhpur Options Most Least Not Important Indifferent Important Important Important Mean Weight Score (1) (0) (2) (-1) (-2) People 111 27 20 23 20 0.98 Place 132 6 22 0 0 1.55 Food 6 20 20 50 6-0.23 Culture 1 5 30 11 9 5 1.50 Environment 56 78 26 32 8 0.75 Shopping 105 85 0 10 0 1.00 Entertainment 98 2 15 25 20 0.86 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION This paper presents the analysis of the data collected through field investigation. The data is collected with the help of structured questionnaire. All aspects mentioned for study in the objectives were included for analysis. This paper deals with the study of the tourist perception reading the visits to the destination of Jodhpur. Table 1 show that all the respondents are interested in visiting the destination of Jodhpur. Table 2 shows that the tourists are aware of the destination and had heard about this desert. The interest for the desert and awareness for the destination had brought them to this place. Table 3 shows that the tourists are interested in the forts and palaces and this factor had attracted them to the desert destination of Jodhpur. The history and heritage had influenced the tourist to deep level of their emotions. The tourists were also interested in the shopping of the souvenirs of the destination. The handicraft industry of the Destination had grown to new dimensions
SATISFACTION LEVEL OF THE TOURISTS VISITING THE DESERT DESTINATION OF JODHPUR 95 because of the interest of the tourist. The total package of the facilities offered by the travel agents to the tourists was satisfactory. The facilities related to food offered by the hotels were also satisfactory to the most of the tourists. The tourist was affected by the heat and the dust of the destination. This environment was not tolerable to them and they were feeling dissatisfied by this kind of environment. The connectivity and approachability to the destination was not up to the mark. Table shows the satisfaction level of the tourist. The choice of the place was right for most of the tourists and they amazed to see the culture. They were satisfied by the colorful culture of the destination. The life style of the people was the major factor affecting the tourist satisfaction. The shopping was colorful and it attracted most of the tourists... The handicrafts and the souvenirs of Jodhpur lured the tourist to the destination. The entertainment faculties were reasonably good and the people of the Jodhpur were hospitable to them. They were also satisfied by the cuisine of the tourist. RESULTS AND FINDINGS 1. 100% of the tourist had heard about the tourist destination 2. It has been revealed from the research that the respondents were aware of the desert destination of Rajasthan. 3. Most of the tourist were influenced by the culture of the destination. Most of the tourists were satisfied by the unique heritage and the forts and palaces of Jodhpur 5. The shopping of the handicrafts and souvenirs of this destination lured the tourist and their interest in shops was amazing 6. The tourists found the total package satisfactory 7. The tourists were influence by the food and facilities of the destination not many years ago, experience in food and beverage management was critical for the success of a hotel general manager. Todays general manager believes that training in marketing is one of the primary requirements for success (Woods). PROPOSED STRATEGY FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF TOURISM DESTINATION. Destination marketing is an integral part of developing and retaining a particular location s popularity. Too often, however tourism planners focus only on destination developments without paying attention to retaining an preserving the attributes that attracted travelled to the destination in the first place (Jim Bergstorm)Tourism planners need to do the planning of the destination in such a there is demand for tourism in the future also. Destination must choose their events to fit the needs of the locality, since each event draws on its own type of crowd. (Juergren) It is important for all tourism businesses and agencies to work together to promote the destination and to ensure that visitor s expectations are met. State tourism organizations should work with national organizations and local organizations. Hotels and airlines and the local business managers should promote the destination with sense of pride and ethics. CONCLUSION The primary data analysis revealed that the majority of respondent have been aware of the tourist destination of Jodhpur. They were attracted by the cultural appeal of the destination. The fascination of forts and palaces faced visitor to experience the life of kings who lived many years back. The shopping option was good. The total package of facilities given by the travel agents was satisfactory. They were only pained by the heat of the destination. The tourists will remember the memory of visit to Jodhpur as memorable experience as an interaction with kings of a queens in the forts and palaces.
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