PROGRESS REPORT

for
Post Doctoral Fellowship 2016-17

Sixth monthly progress report submitted to the Indian Council of Social Science Research
(ICSSR) in Partial fulfilment of the Requirement
for Post Doctoral Fellowship 2016-17.

Marketing Strategies for Tourism Industry: A Comparative Study for

Manipur and Sikkim

Submitted by:
Dr. Rajesh Singh Kumabam
Post Doctoral Fellow (ICSSR)
F.No. 3-31/2016-17/PDF

Submitted to:

1
 Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi
2017

Progress Report

1. What Research Work you have done after getting the previous
Instalment of your Fellowship.

Break-up of Research work done in the last six months

a). Review of literature on one of the marketing strategy component “Branding”

Introduction

‘Tourism’ identifies itself as a travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes. World
Tourism Organization defines tourists as people ‘travelling to and staying in places outside
their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other
purposes’. Tourism, perhaps, is recognized as “an activity essential to the life of nations
because of its direct effects on the social, cultural, educational and economic sectors of
national societies and on their international relations” in the Manila Declaration on World
Tourism (1980).

Hunziker and Krapf (1941) defined tourism as “the sum of the phenomena and relationships
arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, insofar as they do not lead to permanent
residence and are not connected with any earning activity.” Similarly, in 1976, the Tourism
Society of England defined tourism as “..the temporary, short-term movement of people to
destination outside the places where they normally live and work and their activities during
the stay at each destination. It includes movements for all purposes.”

The United Nations, in 1994, classified three forms of tourism in its Recommendations on
Tourism Statistics:

i). Domestic tourism, involving residents of the given country travelling only
within this country.

ii). Inbound tourism, involving non-residents traveling in the given country.

iii). Outbound tourism, involving residents traveling in another country.

2
Wernick (1991) said that of late tourism is synergistically linked, through visual imaging,
with the selling of numerous other commodities such as cars and petrol (advertisements
always reflect the leisure use, not the work use, of cars), pop music and fashion, and is an
overt constituent of ‘lifestyle’, the ‘aestheticisation of life’ and the ‘promotional culture’. The
basis of any successful marketing tactic is an inspiring brand that speaks to the specific key
drivers of the target market. With all of the variety of niche and source markets, knowing and
understanding who to target and how to target them is vital to success.

In tourism the perception is the reality. It is the image that is perceived by those who use or
are likely to use the brand and services. It is this image which can make one standout from
others who are doing or saying parallel things in a crowded market place. Branding is thus a
process that puts together and sustains multifaceted mixtures of attributes and values, many
of which are intangible. In tourism, factors such as fee of travel, convenience and quality of
facilities are important, however, the strongest motivation is provided by the image.

It is ‘image’ which places a destination on the consumers ‘Shopping Lists” and creates an
emotional demand which in turn enhances the destinations’ chances of being chosen over
others. How a destination or commercial tourism organization supports its products or
services is a key factor in the realization of its objectives. In an activity like tourism where
the customers is located inaccessible from the place he/she is intending to visit or from the
tourism products and services he/she is thinking to buy, tourism marketing thus becomes the
central element of tourism. Creating the proper image becomes an integral element of
marketing. Strong branding represents one of the best defense against unpleasant economic
and market conditions (Source: Ministry of Tourism Report).

Many countries have tried to brand themselves as the finest tourism destination. Some
countries have been very successful in branding themselves like “Malaysia: Truly Asian”,
Tourism marketers try to locate a promise of benefits (i.e. a brand promise) that transcends
time. France’s long held emotional/public positioning to be all about ‘tasteful living’ still
works. Destination like Bradford, UK (Trueman, Klemm and Giroud, 2004), Scotland
(Donnelly, 2004), Singapore (Wong, Miller and Choi, 2006), Sydney Olympics, Australia
(Woodside, Spur, March and Clark, 2002) and New York (Rangan, Elberse and Bell, 2006)
have been successful in branding their respective locations from the international perspective.

Proper/Eminence infrastructure is essential for developing tourist products and for proving
superior services to both domestic and international tourists. Creation of tourism

3
infrastructure has favourable impact on overall economic growth and employment and on the
safeguard of art, culture and heritage. Tourism projects like destination development are
capital intensive, commercially unviable, and need financial support from the government. At
the same time, it is necessary that such infrastructure is created with professional know-how
of architects and landscaping experts and is then privately managed through a transparent
procedure. Large revenue projects such as setting up of hotels, convention centres, golf
courses, etc., normally have substantial gestation periods. These facilities need to be created
by private enterprises with the government acting as a facilitator and catalyst.

We can define “Promotion” as one of the market blend elements, and a term used frequently
in marketing. The elements of promotion are personal selling, advertising, sales advertising,
direct marketing, and publicity. A promotional plan can have a wide collection of objectives,
including: sales increases, fresh product acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning,
competitive retaliations, or creation of a corporate image. However, basically, there are three
basic objectives of promotion. These are:

1. To present information to consumers as well as others.

2. To increase demand.
3. To differentiate a product

Basically, there may be different ways to promote a product in different areas of medium.
Some to cite are through use of internet advertisement, special events, endorsements and
newspapers to advertise products. In tourism promotion, the main objective is to increase the
flow of tourist visiting a destination.

Conclusion

‘Tourism’ can be a travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes. The United Nations,
classified three forms of tourism namely, Domestic tourism, Inbound tourism, and Outbound
tourism. Tourism must be successfully marketed using specific key drivers of the target
market. In tourism the perception is the reality. It is this image which can make one standout
from others who are doing or saying parallel things in a crowded market place. Branding is
thus becomes a very important component in tourism. In tourism, factors such as fee of
travel, convenience and quality of facilities are important, however, the strongest motivation
is provided by the image. Many countries have tried to brand themselves as the finest tourism
destination. Creation of tourism infrastructure has favourable impact on overall economic
growth and employment and on the safeguard of art, culture and heritage. Promotion to build

4
a great brand of any tourist location has assumed pre-eminence in today’s highly competitive
scenario. A promotional plan can have a wide collection of objectives, including: sales
increases, fresh product acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning, competitive
retaliations, or creation of a corporate image.

Basically, there may be different ways to promote a product in different medium. Some
important media to promote can be through use of internet advertisement, special events,
endorsements and newspapers to advertise products. In tourism promotion, the main
objective is to increase the flow of tourist visiting a destination.

b). Books and Articles Reviewed

1. Wernick, Andrew. 1991. Promotional Culture: Advertising, Ideology and Symbolic

Expression. London: Sage Publications.
2. Recommendations on Tourism Statistics - United Nations Statistics
(https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/Seriesm/SeriesM_83e.pdf)
3. Annual Reports, Ministry of Tourism (tourism.gov.in/annual-reports)
4. Branding Is Key For Countries (https://www.forbes.com/2010/06/29/branding-
countries-economy-business-oxford-analytica.html)

5. Trueman, M., Klemm, M., & Giroud, A. (2004). Can a city communicate? Bradford
as a corporate brand. Corporate communications: an international journal, 9(4), 317-
330.
6. CIM Coursebook: Delivering Customer Value through Marketing, Ray Dolleney
(2004)

7. Wong, C. Y., Millar, C. C., & Ju Choi, C. (2006). Singapore in transition: from
technology to culture hub. Journal of Knowledge Management, 10(5), 79-91.
8. Wang, J. (2010). Brand New China. Harvard University Press

c). Resourceful Persons interacted (last six months) and their views on tourism

(i). Mr. V. Kumaran, Asst. Director, Indiatourism, Imphal

- His feedback on the status on the latest trend in developing tourism in NE India was
noted.
- Freelance enterprising efforts of new generation of entrepreneurs in promoting
tourism in the states of NE India were discussed.
5
 (ii). Mr. Somorendro Huidrom, Founder and CEO, Shilheipung Eco–Tourism Park

- Elaborate discussion on contribution of entrepreneurs in developing tourism in

Manipur extensively discussed.
- Future plans and strategies for growth of tourism discussed.
- Role of entrepreneurs in development of tourism discussed.

2. What Research Work you are planning to do in the next

instalment.

In the next six months timeframe, following broad areas of activities will be carried
out/undertaken: -

a). Destination branding

- Literature on destination branding will be extensively reviewed.

b). Methods and tools for branding tourism as such in both states Manipur and Sikkim.

- Various methods and tools of branding will be studied in details

c). Interviews and interactions with resourceful persons directly or indirectly link with
tourism development in both states

- Persons with resourceful ideas either directly or indirectly involve in tourism

sector/industry or have some stake in this sector will be interviewed.

d). Questionnaire Framing and Pilot survey to test suitability of the statistical tools
(Research Methods) for adoption in this study

- Questionnaire will be framed incorporating all relevant points for this study and pilot
surveys will be carried out to test whether questionnaire rightly captures our objectives for
the study.

e). Papers/Articles publication, seminar participation and other activities relevant to

this study

- Papers relevant to my area of study will be published in Journals of repute besides

participation in National and International Seminars in India and Abroad.

6
3. How you are planning to do that.

For Destination branding

- Extensive review of literature on Destination Branding will be completed in one (1)

month timeframe (Timeline 6 to 7th Month of my Fellowship Period). Some of the
relevant literatures collected so far for review are (i). Destination attractiveness of
Kerala as an international tourist destination: Importance-performance analysis by M.
Edward and P.G. Babu (2008), (ii). Branding of Cultural Festival as Destination
Attraction: A Case Study of Calabar Carnival by B.B. Esu and V. Mbaze-Arrey
(2009), (iii). Destination Marketing for Convention and Visitor Bureaus by R.B.
Gartrell (1994), (iv). Strategies for tourism destination development: An Investigation
of the role of small business by G. Ashworth and B. Goodall in Book “Marketing
Tourism” by L. Moutinho. Besides all other articles and books of importance will be
incorporated in this study.

For Methods and tools use in branding tourism

- Effectiveness in Branding Tourism largely depends on the various methods and tools
use for branding tourism as such. There is cut-throat competition as competitors in
tourism sector have become more sophisticated in using very effective and efficient
creative advertising techniques. Besides adoption of latest technology like internet
and mobile penetration even in rural areas has encouraged free flow of information-
just at the tip of our fingers. So, internet marketing has become one of the most
effective tools to promote tourism directly to our probable clients. Likewise, reviews
on all other relevant methods and tools will be undertaken in two (2) months’
timeframe (Timeline 6 to 8th Month of my Fellowship Period). In this respect, articles
and books by authors like (i). Engel, Warshaw and Kinnear, 1991, (ii). Tunnard and
Haines, 1995 and others will be reviewed. Overall use of Blogs/Articles, Email
Marketing, Paid Searches, and Promotion through Social Media – Facebook, Twitter,
and YouTube in tourism will be thoroughly studied along with the use of radios,

7
 television, magazines, posters, newspapers, brochures and many others for advertising
in tourism sector.

For Interviews and interactions with resourceful persons

- Seeking first hand primary feedback and information is of paramount importance in

this study. Persons with authority and vast knowledge in the field of tourism will be
interacted and their feedbacks will be taken on various aspects of promoting tourism
in both states.
- Some of the Officials in this list include
o Director,
Tourism Department, Government of Manipur
Address: -
Directorate of Tourism
Imphal West, North AOC,
Manipur – 795001
o Proprietors of
 Selloi Langmai Eco Park
 Uyokching Ecological Park
 LG Rose Garden
 Millennium Garden and others

For Questionnaire Framing and Pilot survey to test suitability of the statistical tools
(Research Methods) for adoption in this study

- Questionnaire will be framed and its pilot survey will be done in both states so as to
test whether all our objectives can be captured or not. This will be helpful in finalizing
the questionnaire. Once it is done, will start the survey in both states.

Papers/Articles publication, seminar participation and other activities relevant to this study

- Target to publish 4 papers and 2 seminar participation in the next six months. One
seminar participation abstract for NEMA Conference, Topic: Electronic Word of
Mouth (eWoM) and its Impact on Choice of Tourism Destination already sent and
accepted.

4. Details of research Papers/Articles published, participation

in seminar, etc. during the reporting period.

8
During the first phase (Last Six Months) (i). One book Chapter, (ii). One Article, and (iii).
One National Seminar Paper were presented/published as a part of my research work.

Details of the Book Chapter, Papers/Article and Seminar are: -

1. Book Chapter Article –

- Kumabam, R. S., & Singh, W. C. (2017). Youth and Entrepreneurship: A Case Study
of Manipur. In Panchal, N.; Devi, M.S. & Singh, W.C., A Beacon Across Economics,
Finance, Governance and Leadership in Recent Era. New Delhi: Himalaya
Publishing House.
2. Article in Journal –
- Kumabam, R. S., Meitei, C. I., Singh, S. S., & Singh, T. P. (2017). Expanding The
Horizon of Marketing: Contemplating The Synergy of Both Traditional Word Of
Mouth and E-Word of Mouth. International Journal of Management (IJM), 8(3), 204
- 212.
3. National Seminar Paper –
- Singh, S. S., & Kumabam, R. S. (2017). Rural Tourism: A Prospective Business in
Rural Manipur in National Seminar on Entrepreneurship - The Rural Perspectives.
Organised by Department of Management, North-Eastern Hill University, Tura
Campus, Tura, Meghalaya.

(Dr. Rajesh Singh Kumabam) (Prof. Ch. Ibohal Meitei)

Post Doctoral Fellow (ICSSR) Director
Name, Designation and Signature of Manipur Institute of Management Studies
the Research Fellow (MIMS), Manipur University (MU), Canchipur,
Manipur
Name, Designation & Signature of the Supervisor