TITLE OF THE STUDY: A STUDY ON TOURISM MARKETING OF KESARI TOURS PVT. LTD. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: 1) To study about the working of tour agencies in INDIA. 2) To study the level of operations. 3) To study how they promote their tourism activities. 4) To study the success in promoting the tourism. SCOPE OF THE STUDY: The area of our research is to study how tourism in INDIA is operating, how the tourism activities are promoted and how the tourism culture is. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY: The study has been made on a sample and hence it may not be very representative in nature. DATA COLLECTION AND METHODOLOGY: PRIMARY DATA: A questionnaire was prepared for getting the view of tourism activities and their promotion in INDIA. For this Tours & Travel Agencies were visited. The survey was conducted in DOMBIVLI. SECONDARY DATA: Secondary data was collected from Books and Internet. TOURISM Tourism is travel for predominantly recreational or leisure purposes or the provision of services to support this leisure travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals. Tourism is vital for many countries, due to the income generated by the consumption of goods and services by tourists CLASSIFICATION OF TOURISM: · Recreational tourism: In the recreational tourism, the tourist spent their leisure hour at the hill stations, sea beaches etc. such type of tourism provides an opportunity to the tourist to get away from day to day humdrum bad refresh their mind and energy. · Adventure Tourism: Adventure tourism is a type of niche tourism involving exploration or travel to remote areas, where the traveler should expect the unexpected. Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity as tourists seek unusual holidays, different from the typical beach vacation. Adventure tourism typically involves traveling into remote, inaccessible and possibly hostile areas. It may include the performance of acts that require significant effort and grit and may also involve some degree of risk. · Health tourism: Health tourism has always existed, but it was not until the eighteenth century that it became important. In England, it was associated with spas, places with supposedly health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. The most popular resorts were Bath, Cheltenham, Buxton, Harrogate, and Turnbridge Wells. Visits to take ‗the waters‘ also allowed the visitors to attend balls and other entertainments. Continental Spas such as Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) attracted many fashionable travelers by the nineteenth century. · Ecological tourism: One of the most promising types of tourism all over the world is ecologic tourism. This type of tourism lets people gain power and energy in the course of communicating with nature and watching it. Besides, it stimulates environment protection thus making this type of tourism profitable for local population. UNESCO list of world‘s legacy includes five natural objects from Russia: virginal forests of Komi, the Baikal Lake, volcanoes of Kamchatka, golden mountains of Altai and western Caucasus. Niche tourism: Physical activity or sports –oriented niche tourism includes adventure tourism such as mountaineering and hiking (tramping); Backpacker Tourism; Sport travel to do skiing, golf and scuba dri9ving or see a sports event (e.g., FIFA World Cup); and extreme tourism for people interested in risky activities. Learning-oriented niche tourism includes audio tourism and audio walking tours; bookstore tourism, in which travelers visit independent bookstores; creative tourism workshops; educational tourism for classes; ancestry tourism, to visit birth places; hobby tourism (such as garden tours, amateur radio DX-peditions, or square dance cruises) The cultural sub-type oflearning-oriented niche tourism focuses on cultural and arts activities, including cultural tourism, music tourism, and heritage tourism. The nature and environment-oriented sub-types include Coastal Tourism; Ecotourism (e.g. sustainable tourism in Rainforests or national parks); Garden tourism; and Rural Tourism such as Agritourism. MARKETING MIX: A firm takes the support of numerous marketing instruments with regards to its product, pricing, distribution and promotion. The formulation of the mix is vital for its role in helping managers to conceive right ideas regarding the switching on of the marketing action, particularly to raise the acceptability of the product by creating and penetrating demand. The marketing strategy, or mix, should be viewed as a package of offerings designed to attract and serve the customer or visitor. Recreation and tourism businesses and communities should develop both external and internal marketing mixes for different target markets. Framing of the proper marketing mix is significant because it helps the tourist organization in accomplishing the objective and projecting a faire image. Tourism Products: 1. Accommodation: · Unclassified · One star · Four star · Five star 2. Destination: · Natural Scenes · Historical Excellence · Artificial Beauties · Social Cultural Excellence 3. Transportation: · Airways · Railways · Roadways · Waterways 4. Tour operators: · Travel companies · Travel agents · Guides 5. Shopping: · Handicrafts · Handloom · Book Kesari Tours Pvt.Ltd. (The Journey Of Excellance,Innovation & Joy) Vision = " Kesari-The World Class Travel Company, spreading smiles and Happiness” Mission "Kesari is passionately committed to Total Quality Travel, with continual delivery of value added services. We uphold the highest ethical standards and believe in creating new benchmarks in the industry." An Overview:- Kesari Tours Pvt., Ltd. Established in 1985 by kesari patil and operates as a travel company in India. It offers tour escorts services, pre-departure services, customized packages, and staying and guest services. Kesari Tours operates various destinations in India, including Himachal, Rajasthan, Kerala, Kashmir, and Nainital, as well as Europe, South East, Asia, America, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Japan, China, and South Africa. The company markets its products through sales agents. Kesari Tours Pvt., Ltd. was founded in 1984 and is based in Mumbai, India with branch offices in Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Thane, Nagpur, and Kolhapur. MARKETING MIX OF KESARI TOURS PRODUCT Product is the combination of tangible and intangible elements. The Tourism(KESARI TOURS) product, which is mainly the destination, can only be experienced. The views of the location travel to hedestination, the accommodation and facility as well as the entertainment at the destination all form the tourism product. Thus, it is a composite product combination of attraction, facilities and transportation . Each of these components has its own significance in the product mix and in the absence of even single components, the product mix is incomplete. Today Kesari offers the largest number of Family tour options in the Indian tourism industry with more than 60 options for Europe, more than 80 options for South East Asia, 115 in India, and more than 70 in the rest of the world, not to forget 224 types of Unique Speciality Tours like My Fair Lady for Ladies, Honeymoon tours for the newly weds,Pilgrimage tours by Marigold, Exclusive tours for Seniors known as Second Innings, Students Special tours, Chota Break – the escorted short tours and Agro tours Services Offered by KESARI TOURS · Escorted tours · Customized holidays · Trade fairs · KESARI TOURS sports · Corporate tours · Strawberi : A division of Kesari, caters to the needs of the individual traveller. These are customized or tailor-made holiday packages created for you, 'As you like it', to destinations worldwide. · Kesari MICE: A division of Kesari caters to the corporate travel needs of companies mainly for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions. · Happy Hours: This division of Kesari, created with the idea of giving an opportunity to every Indian, with a budget constraint but a passion to travel, within India and around the world. These cost-saver tours are becoming very popular since the past few years. · Kesari Forex: An authorised 'Full Fledged Money Changer' by Reserve Bank of India, Kesari Forex tries to fulfil all thecurrency needs of the Indian traveller going abroad. · Kesari Inbound: India's favourite outbound tour operator now also offers Inbound operations. Kesari India, winner of many National and International Tourism awards, offers you a variety of packages - with responsible prices, meals, no hidden costs and much more. PRICE Pricing in tourism is a complex process. Pricing includes the prices of other services like Air travel, Bus, Railways, Hotels, etc. All are included in tourism package. Pricing also depends on the Geographic Location of the destination. Pricing also depends on the competitors price. Pricing also depends on Seasonality. Seasonality is the most important factor in pricing. To match demand and supply tourist managers try to get either discount .E.g. Taj is the tourist attraction in India. Pricing is also based on competitors pricing. Pricing is also subject to government regulations .E.g. Air price changes tourism package also changes, if Hotel charges change then also tourism package changes. Pricing of the tourist product is a complex matter because of its composite nature. Geographical location of the destination affects the pricing decision. At the same time, seasonality factor and varying demand cannot be overruled. The objective of pricing in any other firms is to fetch a target market share, to prevent competitionA very important way, in which KESARI TOURS responded to their highly complex pricing circumstances, is to operate at two levels. 1. The first level is corresponds with the marketing strategy, which concerns with the product positioning, value for the money, long run return on investments etc. 2. The second level corresponds to the marketing operations or tactics where the prices are manipulated to match the current demand and competition PLACE Different distribution strategies can be selected for Tourism marketing. Tourism as a product is distributed as a travel. Internet is also used widely. There is an also small agent spread all over the town who plays a role of place. Large travel companies like Thomas Cook, Cox & Kings, KESARI TOURS, etc they act as a wholesalers and these wholesalers also act as a retailer. The two major functions performed by the distribution system in tourism marketing are 1. To extend the number of points of sales or access, away form the location at which services are performed or delivered 2. To facilitate the purchase of service in advance Different distribution strategies are selected for Tours marketing by KESARI TOURS. There are also small agents (who have taken franchise of KESARI TOURS) spread all over the town/country who also play a role of place. KESARI TOURS act as wholesalers and also act as a retailer. The latest mode of reaching customers is through Internet that is KESARI TOURS has its own website from where information on the tours can be procured, direct booking can be done for which the payment can be made through the credit card. KESARI TOURS also has its own offices from where booking can be done. 1) Franchises : Offices in all major cities of India,347 offices in India 2) Travel boutique online 3) Internet Booking of Packages and Tickets PROMOTION Advertising and sales promotion in Tourism can be very effective when supplemented by publicity and personal selling. They use electronic, print all sorts of media they use; and it is highly promoted industry. Public or PR (Public Relation) plays an important role in tourism. It is also through recommendation of friends and relatives this is a biggest promotion. Creation of awareness is an important factor in the formulation of marketing mix for the tourism industry. The promotion task simplifies the activities of informing, persuading and influencing thedecisions of potential tourists. The promotion mix plays a vital role as the users of service feel high degree of involvement and uncertainty about the product and their role in buying process In the tourism industry the travel agents and the travel guides are the two most important peoplewho speak a lot about the industry. Hence it is imperative that they have to be at their best at all times. Travel guides especially, are expected to have a lot of patience, good sense of humor, tact to transform the occasional tourists into habitual ones, thorough knowledge of the places, linguistic skills etc Promotion provides target audiences with accurate and timely information to help them decide whether to visit your community or business. The information should be of importance and practical use to the potential or existing visitor and also accurate. Misrepresentation often leads to dissatisfied customers and poor recommendations. Don‘t make claims you cannot live up to Developing a promotional campaign is not a science with hard and fast rules. Making decisions regarding which type or combination of promotion types to use (personal selling, advertising, sales promotions, or publicity) is not always easy. If, however, you follow a logical process and do the necessary research, chances for success will be improved. It will be necessary to make decisions regarding: (1) Target audience---the group you are aiming at; (2) Image---that which your community or business wants to create or reinforce; (3) Objectives---those of the promotional campaign; (4) Budget---the amount of money available for your promotion; (5) Timing---when and how often should your promotions appear; (6) Media---which methods (television, radio, newspaper, magazine) will most effectively and efficiently communicate your message to the target audience; and (7) Evaluation---how can the effectiveness of the promotional campaign be determined.. KESARI TOURS`S PEOPLE MIX- The people who sell the product and service your product are an extremely important part of tourism marketing. Friendly personal service and trained employees can make or break a tourism business. Because much of tourism industry is based upon word of mouth advertising- particularly about the service received- what their customers say after they depart can trust your business forward or send it into a downward spiral. It is extremely important to ensure that all staff dealing with customers carries out excellent service delivery at all times. 1. Includes travel agents, tour operators, tour guides. 2. locals are employed 3 Exhaustive training is provided 4 2900 employees through its 347 offices and caters to 3 million customers. PROCESS OF KESARI TOURS There are many different types of processes involved in running a tourism business, for example, administration, training, planning, The operation process of the tourism firm will depend on the size of the tourism firm. and strategizing, recruitment, purchasing, distribution and service delivery. It is important to ensure that these processes are planned and carried out properly so that operations run smoothly and problems are rectified quickly. For example, a hotel needs a efficient front and back office communications to ensure high quality service and experience without inconvenience for the customer. A great deal of attention needs to be paid to processes in services-oriented businesses. Dealing with staff turnover, sick leave, suppliers and distribution channels all have an impact on how the service is delivered. Implementing clear procedures will ensure that the best possible service is delivered at all times. The Sequential steps involved in the delivery of the KESARI TOURS Products are: 1. Provision of travel information --- The information regarding the travel is provided at a convenient location where the potential tourist seeks clarification about his proposed tour. 2. Preparation of itinerates------ KESARI TOURS prepares its composition of series of operations that are required to plan a tour. 3. Liaison with providers of services--- Before any form of travel is sold over the counter to a customer; KESARI TOURS enters into the contracts with the providers of various services including transportation companies, hotel accommodation, coaches for local sightseeing etc. 4. Planning and costing tours------ Once the contracts and arrangements are entered into, then the task of planning and costing the tour, this will depend on the tour selected as well as physical evidence. 5. Ticketing----- The computerized reservation system has in recentyears revolutionized the reservation system for both rail and air travel. KESARI TOURS also provides the online ticket booking facilities to its customers, which further leads to time saving process for it`s customers. 6. Provision of foreign currency and insurance--- KESARI TOURS in case of foreign travel also provide foreign currency as well as insurance to its customers. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE The Physical evidence of a tourism product refers to a range of more tangible attributes of the operations. Tangibalising the product is a good way of giving positive and attractive hints or cues to potential customers with regard to the quality of the product., For KESARI TOURS , Elements Such as quality and attractiveness of décor, effective layout of establishment, surroundings and quality of promotional materials are all important. The physical evidence of a tourism product refers to a range of more ‗tangible‘ attributes of the operations. ‗Tangibalising‘ the product is a good way of giving positive or attractive hints or cues to potential customers with regard to the quality of the product. For example, if you run a shuttle service then it are important to ensure that your vehicles are spotlessly clean at all times. Elements such as quality and attractiveness of decor, effective layout of establishment, surroundings and quality of promotional material are all important. MARKET SEGMENTATION Tourism businesses and communities often make the mistake ofattempting to be all things to all people. It is difficult, and risky, to develop marketing strategies for the mass market. Strategies designed for the ―average customer often results in unappealing products, prices, and promotional messages. For example, it would be difficult to develop a campground that would be equally attractive to recreational vehicle campers and backpackers or promote a property to serve both snowmobilers and nature oriented cross country skiers. Marketing is strongly based on market segmentation and target marketing. Market segmentation is the process of: (1) taking existing and/or potential customers/visitors(market) and categorizing them into groups with similar preferences referred to as ―market segments; (2) selection the most promising segments as ―target markets; and (3) designing ―marketing mixes,or strategies (combination of the 4 Ps), which satisfy the special needs, desires and behavior of the target markets. There is no unique or best way to segment markets, but ways in which customers can be grouped are: (1) location of residence---instate, out-of-state, local; (2) demographics---age, income, family status, education; Indian travel market can be classified into two broad categories International Travelers- Those crossing International borders Domestic Travelers - Those travelling within India. International Travelers can be classified as Inbound Travelers (those who travel into India from Overseas) and Outbound of India (who travel internationally. Inbound market is further segmented into six broad categories 1. Holiday and sight seeing. 2. Business travelers 3. Conference attendees. 4. Students 5. Visiting friends6. Relatives etc. TARGETING Such segmentation is required when targeting the offerings to a particular segment. For Example 1. The mass market consists of vacationists that travel in large groups and prefer all-inclusive tours. They are generally conservative.The popular market consists of smaller groups going on inclusive or semi-inclusive tours. This group includes pensioners and retired people. 2. The individual market consists of chairmen, senior executives, etc. 3. As the lifestyle changes, consumption of services might change. For example, a newly married couple might prefer romantic holidays, but once they have children they would prefer family vacations where there are plenty of activities to entertain kids. Teens and youth might prefer adventure holidays whereas senior citizens would probably prefer more relaxing vacations SWOT analysis- Strength- 1) India’s largest outbound tour operator. 2) Offices in all major cities of India. 3) Tie ups with other tour operators and travel agents across india. 4) Internet booking of tickets and packages. Weakness- 1) Not focusing on Rural areas and Indian railways network. 2) Lack of corporate offices and small city offices across the nation. 3) Feedback system exists for namesake. 4) Ineffective customer services. Opportunities- 1) Increase in NRI population. 2) Increase in per capita income. 3) Increasing trend of exploring India. 4) Increase in online booking. 5) Increase in number of tourists for upcoming sports events in India like Commonwealth Games, 2010 and Cricket World Cup, 2011. Threats- 1. Economic conditions 2. Security 3. New entrants 4. Local Travel Agents and travel companies Competitors KEY TO SUCCESS FOR KESARI TOURS The key to success for KESARI TOURS will undoubtedly be effective market segmentation through identification of several niche markets and implementation strategies. Their personal selling marketing strategies will rotate around keeping in touch with hotels and travel agencies for major customers, and advertising customers. Hence their key success factors will include the following: 1) Excellence in fulfilling the promise: intend to offer completely enjoyable, comfortable and informative travel excursions that will ensure that travelers are thoroughly satisfied and appreciative at the end of their trip. 2) Timely response to customers’ requests: KESARI TOURS cannot afford to delay their clients for whatever reason, as this will have negative bearing on our image and reputation, including future business. Hence they need to be continually communicating with the client, including hotels and lodges so as to ensure that are constantly available to the client meeting their expectations. 3) Solid and fruitful strategic alliances: KESARI TOURS should realize the importance of establishing and maintaining fruitful strategic alliances with various stakeholders, including hotels, lodges, and travel agencies, so as be assured of constant flow of customers, fulfilling their needs at every opportunity. 4) Marketing know-how: There will be a need to aggressively market KESARI TOURS business and the services they provide so as to be continuously at the top of prospective client minds. This will also act as a temporary deterrent for companies contemplating entering our market. FINDINGS: · Majority of the tours and travel agencies work at local level. · Seasonal advertising is made largely through pamphlets. · It is observed that, reservations are made through Office, · Online and Telephone. · Due importance is given to online and office reservation because it is found that proper information is not provided through telephone and some of the telephone calls for enquiry may be fake. · Majority of tours and travel agencies use Tally for keeping their accounts. · Service tax is applicable to those Tours & Travel Agencies whose annual turnover is above Rs.800000/- · Majority of the Tours & Travel agencies fix their prices on thebasis of competition. · Majority of the Tours and Travels agencies provide insurance facilities to their tourists. · It is observed that most of the Tours & travel agencies do not have self owned mechanics for long tours. · The Government regulations are not transparent and there is lot of red-tapism. · The Tours & Travel agencies do not have their guides communicating in different languages to tourists from different states. · There is provision for first- aid facility to the tourists. · Majority of the Tours & Travel agencies have their tour destination which includes Natural Scenes, Historic Places, Artificial Beauties and so on. SUGGESTIONS: · The Tours & Travel agencies should gear up their tourism activities at national & international level. · Along with seasonal advertisement, regular advertisement should be made, so that tourism impact is maintained. · Along with pamphlets, different media should also be used to have a better awareness among the people. · As far as possible, reservation through telephone should be, avoided to prevent fake enquiries. · Comsoft database, a software which is specially for managing accounts should be used by all Tours & Travel agencies. · The prices of the tour packages should be fixed taking into consideration the low income groups and the market segments. · All Tours & Travel agencies should have self owned mechanic for long tours to have an immediate remedy on breakdowns. · The Escorts of Tours & Travel agencies should be well versed with all types of different languages to facilitate better communication between the tourists. · The Tours & Travel agencies should also try to conduct tours through waterways. · The Tours & Travel agencies should make arrangements for training their staff and employees to overcome the breakdown problems during long tours.