011 Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Market (Tourism)

Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets
Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India
THE GALLUP ORGANIZATION
Report on Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets
For
Market Research Division Ministry of Tourism Government of India

March 2007
Table of Contents
Chapter No. 1. 1.1 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4 1.1.5 2. 2.1 2.2 3. 3.1 3.2 3.2.1 3.2.2 3.2.3 3.3 3.4 3.4.1 3.4.2 4. 4.1 4.2 4.2.1 4.3 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.3.3 4.3.4 4.3.5 5. 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.3.3 5.3.4 5.3.5 5.4 5.4.1 5.4.2 Contents BACKGROUND Tourism Outlook Tourism Outlook Global Tourism Outlook Asia Tourism Outlook Forecast Indian Economy Tourism Outlook India STUDY OBJECTIVES Primary Objective Secondary Objectives RESEARCH DESIGN Segments identified Segment definition Travelers Segment Trade Partners Directors of Tourism Office Methodology Sample Travelers Segment Sample Split Trade Partners Segment Sample Split FINDINGS TOURISM OFFICE EFFECTIVENESS Executive Summary Detailed Findings Tourism Office Effectiveness Travelers Awareness of India Tourism Offices Detailed Findings Tourism Office Effectiveness Trade Partners Key marketing Challenges Trade Partners Not dealing with India Disposition to deal with India in Future Efforts required on part of the India tourism office Tourism Office Interaction FINDINGS TRAVEL BEHAVIOR Key terms used Executive Summary Detailed findings Travel Behavior Travelers Past Travel Behavior Future Travel Behavior Source of Destination awareness India Travel Future Recent Travel Experience Detailed Findings Travel Behavior Trade Partners Popularity of Destination Interest levels about India Destination
1 2 2 4 6 7 11 14 15 16 17 18 20 20 22 22 23 24 25 26 28 29 30 30 32 32 33 34 35 36 40 41 42 45 45 47 50 52 59 66 66 74
5.4.3 5.4.4 5.4.5 5.4.6 5.4.7 5.4.8 5.4.9 6. 6.1 6.2 6.2.1 6.2.2 6.2.3 6.2.4 6.2.5 6.2.6 6.2.7 6.2.8 6.2.9 6.3 6.3.1 7. 8. 8.1 8.1.1 8.1.2 8.2 8.2.2 8.2.3 8.3.1 8.3.2 8.4.1 8.4.2 8.4.3
Profile of Travelers who travel to India Aspects of India that attract travelers Types of Holiday activities preferred in India The most popular attractions in India Knowledge levels about India Sufficiency of Information Experience vs. Expectations FINDINGS COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS Executive Summary Detailed Findings Communication Effectiveness - Travelers Advertising awareness levels Spontaneous + Aided Awareness of India Advertising India Advertising Awareness Levels Source of awareness of India advertising Spontaneous elements recalled of India Advertising Aided Awareness Recent Travelers Disposition Distribution India Total Awareness vs. Disposition Ad Impact By intention to travel Detailed Findings Communication Effectiveness Trade Partners Awareness of India advertising campaign FINDINGS NTO INTERVIEWS SUMMARY OF METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS Summary Gallup Study Of Key Overseas Markets Gallup Study - Methodology Gallup Study - Sample Gallup Study Summary Of Findings Trade Partners Segment -Perceived Challenges -India Tourism Offices Regional Directors -Structure Of India Tourism Offices -Challenges in Marketing India Potential Travelers -Outbound Travel -Image -Communication Recent Travelers WAY FORWARD ANNEXURES NTO offices and representations abroad Annexure 1 NTO staff (expressed in Full-Time Employees FTEs) Annexure 2 Thailand Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Annexure 3
76 77 78 79 80 82 83 84 85 87 87 88 89 90 92 95 96 97 99 104 104 106 116 117 117 117 118 118 120 120 121 121 121 122 122 123 123 124 125 132 133 134 135
9.
CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND
1.1
TOURISM OUTLOOK
1.1.1 Tourism Outlook Global
World Travel & Tourism generated about US$6,477.2 billion of economic activity (Total Demand) in 2006. As per the estimates the rate of growth in nominal terms, will take the total industry valuation to US$12,118.6 billion by 2016. Total Demand (or in other words, 100% of the world market share in Travel and Tourism) is expected to grow by 4.2% per annum, in real terms, between 2007 and 20161.
Post the period of stagnation triggered by the events of September 11, 2001 coupled with slow growth of the global economy, conflicts in the Middle East and sporadic terrorist attacks worldwide, International tourism has rebounded strongly since 2004, both in terms of arrivals and of receipts.
World Tourism demand like the global economy continues to exceed expectations, showing resilience against extraneous factors. The estimated 842 million arrivals in the year 2006 represent an additional 36 million over 2005 level, making a new record for the industry. Of the additional 36 million, 17 million were for Europe, 12 million for Asia and the Pacific, 3 million for Africa and for the Americas, respectively and nearly 2 million for the Middle East.2
Among the various regions, while Africa registered the highest annual growth rate for international tourist arrivals in both 2006 and 2005 (above 8%), it was followed closely by Asia and the Pacific 7.7% in 2005 and 7.6% in 2006.
1 2
World Travel and Tourism Council & Accenture: Travel And Tourism Economic Research in India UNWTO World Tourism Barometer: January 2007
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By sub-regions, South Asia registered the highest annual growth rate in 2006 (10.1%), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (9.4%) and South East Asia (9%). Europe and Middle East showed a growth rate of 4% in 2006. The weakest region was America, whose estimated growth rate was 2% 3.
In terms of the future forecast for the year 2007, Africa is forecast to record the highest growth in the year 2007 at 9%, followed by Asia and the Pacific at 8%. Americas (+2%), is set to continue growing below the world average, in spite of good performance of the southern destinations3.
UNWTO World Tourism Barometer: January 2007
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1.1.2 Tourism Outlook ASIA
Asia continues to be the world economic powerhouse. According to the United Nations, by 2020, four of the largest ten economies will be in Asia (China, India, Japan and the Republic of Korea). Asia will also account for 12 of the 22 mega cities (urban centres with more than 10 million people) by the same year4.
An improved global economic performance, further uplifts of travel and visa restrictions in the region, lower transportation costs, and favourable exchange rates all contributed to the strong rebound in the region during the year 2006.
Of the 842 million arrivals in the world for the year 2006, 167.1 million were for Asia. Within Asia, North-East Asia contributed about 94 million arrivals. 53.8 million arrivals were for South-East Asia. Oceania and South Asia together accounted for about 19.3 million arrivals5.
Asia and the Pacific was able to maintain its extraordinary growth level (+7.6%, compared to last year), both due to the recovery of Thailand and the Maldives from the impact of the December 2004 tsunami, as well as remarkable performances from emerging destinations in the region. International tourist arrivals in South Asia grew by 10%, boosted by India, the destination responsible for half the arrivals to the sub-region6.
There was increased competition among airlines in pricing as steps were taken by various government authorities worldwide to ease protection on their own national carriers. This resulted in lower airfares on some routes, despite a possible pass-through due to the hikes in oil prices.
4 5
Mega Trends of Tourism in Asia Pacific: June 2006 (Report by UNWTO) UNWTO World Tourism Barometer: January 2007 6 WTO: Newsroom release, taken from http://www.unwto.org/newsroom/Releases/2007/january/recordyear.htm
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The rise of the low-cost airlines offering not only lower prices but also lesser restrictions with respect to length of stay or weekend stopover, thus putting air travel within reach of groups of travelers with more limited budgets but a healthy desire for travel, also triggered tourism in the region.
Further relaxation of immigration regulations and cultural integration in the region favored intra-regional tourism, with generally lower spending levels due to shorter stays. Together with some price cutting strategies adopted by countries and corporations in the region, intraregional traffic recovered quicker than long-haul traffic, from the 2004 tsunami.
7
Though still the smallest of WTOs tourism regions, South Asia
has
been recording consistently strong growth over the past four decades due to the growing number of new destinations on offer in the region, and the expansion of the tourism product developed in the main countries of the region. These developments have served to attract in particular the long-haul interregional tourist.
WTO Tourism 2020 Vision Countries part of South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri-Lanka.
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1.1.3 Tourism Outlook FORECAST
The Tourism 20208 Vision forecasts show that international tourist arrivals are expected to reach over 1.56 billion by the year 2020. This demonstrates an annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent over the period 19952020. Long-haul (interregional) travel worldwide will grow faster than intraregional travel. In 1995, long-haul travel accounted for 18 per cent of all international trips; by 2020 this is expected to increase to 24 per cent. The 22 destinations9 of the Indian Ocean country grouping are forecast to receive 179 million international tourist arrivals in the year 2020, thus recording an annual growth rate of 6.3 per cent over the period 1995-2020. Consequently, the Indian Ocean region is gaining market share of worldwide tourist arrivals and by 2020 one-in-every-nine (or around 11 per cent) of tourist arrivals will be to an Indian Ocean country. Thailand will become the leading Indian Ocean destination with a forecast of 36.9 million arrivals in 2020, an average annual growth between 1995 and 2020 of 6.9 per cent. South Africa will occupy the second place, third place will be occupied by Indonesia, Malaysia at number four; fifth and sixth positions will be held by Australia and Singapore respectively. India will be the seventh largest Indian Ocean country in terms of arrivals. The prospects for the Tourism sector at a global level are very optimistic on account of the following factors: The worldwide economic growth is fueling the old source markets of North America and Europe and simultaneously creating new source markets of Asia. Travel & tourism has rebounded post the terror incidences and threats to airlines. Consumer confidence is up again and not dampened anymore by these events.
8 9
WTO Tourism 2020 Vision, Volume 6: South Asia WTO Tourism 2020: Classifies the 22 destinations as Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Reunion, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South-Africa, Sri-Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand and Yemen
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1.1.4 INDIAN ECONOMY
Indias recent and current economic growth is all the more impressive given that, for most of the last 50 years, it struggled to increase its GDP faster than population. Goldman Sachs report, Dreaming with BRICs: The path to 2050, predicts that India will become 3rd largest economy of the world by 2035, behind US and China.
As per advanced estimates released by the Central Statistical Organization, real GDP is expected to grow by 9.2 % during 2006-07. This would be the second consecutive year of high growth as real GDP was estimated to have grown by 9% during 2005-06.
The nominal GDP stands at Rs. 35,315 billion, or U.S $ 797 billion. The industrial growth as reflected in the month of September 2006 up by 11.4%, the infrastructure index up by 9.9%, business confidence picking up again, and strong sectoral trends reflected in autos, cement and telecom all prognosticate encouraging story10.
From 2007 to 2020, Indias GDP per capita in US$ terms will quadruple. Indians will also consume 5 times more cars and 3 times more crude oil. 11
Economic engines firing all cylinders have domino effect on ancillary industries like - Infrastructure and Air Connectivity (Aviation), which in turn, impact Tourism Industry.
10
India Macroscope Travel and Tourism in India: Unlocking its potential as an engine for growth, Citigroup, November 2006 11 Goldman Sachs: Global Economics Paper No: 152, India's rising Growth Potential, January 2007
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INFRASTRUCTURE
An efficient infrastructure is a prerequisite for sustained economic development. Going by the current estimates, the overall Infrastructure Industry in India has been pegged at $ 20 billion. Rub-off effect of upswing in the Economy at a macro-level is also felt in this industry. The industry has been witnessing a growth of 24% per annum. Roads, Power, and water account for 50% of the Infrastructure investments and have been witnessing robust growth12.
Roads India has one of the largest highways and road networks in the world, second only to that of USA. The total length of the road exceeds 3.5 million kilometers13. The Golden Quadrilateral Highway project aims to connect 4 largest cities: Delhi in the North, with Kolkata in the East, Chennai in the South and Mumbai in the West. Along the way it runs through 13 other states and 17 other cities (with a population of million or more inhabitants) and is expected to be fully functional by 200714.
Power Steps have been taken to improve the Power and Electricity situation in the country. Out of the 80,000 villages which were yet to be electrified at the time of making the 10th Five year plan, it was proposed to electrify 62,000 villages through Grid Supply and the remaining 18000 villages through the use of decentralized non-conventional sources of energy, by 2011-12 15.
India Infrastructure: ENAM India Research, December 2006 Total Tourism India: An analysis of the Worlds fastest growing market, Pacific Asia Travel Association 2006 14 Goldman Sachs: Global Economics Paper No: 152, India's rising Growth Potential, January 2007 15 10th Five year plan (2002-2007)
13
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Water The 10th Five Year Plan was declared as the Water Plan for focused attention on the integrated development of water resources in the country. Some state governments have made changes in existing irrigation acts to motivate participation of beneficiaries in construction, operation and maintenance.
The overall growth in the Infrastructure Industry is encouraging for Tourism as this shall aid in providing improved connectivity and better destination experience to the incoming travelers.
AVIATION
Civil Aviation forms a very important infrastructure in boosting trade and commerce as well as in enhancing overall international competitiveness. In value terms nearly 30% of India's foreign trade is handled by the airports16. Revolutionized by liberalization, the aviation sector in India has been marked by fast-paced change in the past few years.
There are two broad components to the Civil Aviation Industry, the Airports and the Airline Companies.
India has witnessed growth in both these components of Aviation industry.
The Indian Government has indicated its plans to complete the development of 35 non-metro airports by 2009 and to involve the private sector for the development of city side facilities at these airports17.
One of the recent developments in the Aviation history, at a global level has been successful operations of low-cost airlines. Be it in the U.S, Europe,
16
AeroIndia 2007: Business Opportunities, Civil Aviation Sector, from http://www.aeroindia.in/htm/bu-opp.htm 17 Business Line, October 21st, 2006
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Australia or South-East Asia, the low cost model has expanded in the market, and gained significant share. India is no exception to the rule. With the entry of LCCs (Low-Cost Carriers) like SpiceJet, GoAir, Air Deccan, the Industry has undergone massive change. From being a service that few could afford, the sector has now graduated to being a fiercely competitive industry with the presence of a number of private and public airlines and several consumeroriented offerings.
Comparing Indias Aviation Industry to that of China, India has 15 million seats (as on September 2006) as compared to 140 million in China being serviced by about 200+ aircrafts as against 800 in China. The middle classa major market for LCCsin India is about 300 million strong and 400 million in China, yet India has recorded an annual growth of 25% against Chinas 17% in terms of trips per capita, in the last year. At 0.01 trips per capita, India is said to rank between Ethiopia and Nigeria, countries with a much lower per capita GDP. Malaysia, with a population of 28 million, has the same number of air passengers. Indias 200 aircrafts may be compared with US-based LCC Southwest Airlines that alone has 417 aircrafts18.
There exist a strong potential for India to become worlds leading LCC Market; it already counts half a dozen airlines based on the low-cost model, and on an average 40% of the passengers are first-time airline travelers. The Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) predicts that the LCCs market share in India will reach 70% by 2010, making it the Worlds leading LCC market in terms of total market penetration19.
The figures clearly forecast Indias civil aviation industry to grow exponentially in the years to come. Newer routes shall be opened, and destination shall become more reachable, these endeavors, at an overall level will forebear a positive impact on Tourism.
The Financial Express (Edits and Columns), Indian Aviation: Gaining Tailwind, September 2006 Total Tourism India: An analysis of the Worlds fastest growing market, Pacific Asia Travel Association 2006
19
18
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1.1.5 Tourism Outlook India Given the Global Tourism perspective, buoyancy in the Indian Economy and growth in the related ancillary industries like Infrastructure and Aviation, the Tourism Industry is expected to be on an upswing in India. Foreign Tourist arrivals to India have been showing an increasing trend, it being estimated at 4.43 million in 2006, up 13% from 2005 (3.92 million). Taking into account the fact that these figures exclude the NRIs visiting India, the total number of international tourist arrivals in 2006 is estimated to be over 7 million20.
Indias outbound travel is twice the volume of inbound, and destinations in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to receive continuous growth in tourist arrivals from India. In terms of the growing travel and tourism economy and the real growth rate of travel market, India is the number one country in AsiaPacific region 21
The Travel & Tourism Industry in India is expected to grow and generate US $ 128 billion by 2016. The Total Demand is expected to grow by 8% per annum, in real terms, between 2007 and 2016. In the year 2006, India represented 0.8 % of the world market share22.
Indias rich cultural and geographic diversity provides the basis of a wide range of tourist products and experiences, which include among others leisure, culture, adventure, spirituality, eco-tourism and wellness & health. Apart from acknowledging the traditionally recognized advantages of developing tourism for promotion of people to people understanding, earning of the foreign exchange, vast employment generation, it can play a major role in furthering the socio-economic objectives of the nation.
This figure has been arrived at by taking into account the figures estimated for foreign tourist and NRIs visiting India as obtained from the International Passenger survey 2003 of Ministry of tourism 21 Mega Trends of Tourism in Asia Pacific: June 2006 (Report by UNWTO) 22 World Travel and Tourism Council & Accenture: Travel And Tourism Economic Research in India (2006)
20
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Tourism and Employment
The travel and tourism sector creates more jobs per million rupees of investment than any other sector of the economy and is capable of providing employment to a wide spectrum of job seekers from the unskilled to the specialized, even in the remote parts of the country23.
Tourism employs around 8% of total workforce. The most significant contribution of the tourism is the creation of employment in rural areas by stimulating local art, handicrafts and folklore.
India Tourism Global Recognition
The last few years have been highly successful for India Tourism. The Incredible India campaign has enabled the destination to penetrate global market and reach the ultimate consumer through electronic, print and internet media. On account of the spurt that India has witnessed in tourist arrivals in the recent times and given the unique and immense potential the country has as a vacation destination, The World Travel and Tourism Council has identified India as one of the foremost tourism growth centers in the world, in the coming decade. Integrated endeavors of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India have led to India winning the following international acclaims:Conde Nast Traveller, the worlds leading travel and tourism journal has ranked India amongst the top 4 preferred holiday
destinations of the world India amongst the top 5 favorite destinations Lonely Planet in a survey of 167 countries ABTA (Association of British Travel Agency) has ranked India as No. 1 amongst top 50 places for 2006
23
10th Five year plan (2002-2007)
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The Incredible India campaign has been the winner of PATA Gold Award for best Print Ad Campaign and PATA Gold Award for Best Destination Marketing Campaign The Incredible India Campaign has been ranked as the Highest Recall Advertisement worldwide by Travel and Leisure World Travel Awards received for a) Asias Leading Destination b) Worlds leading Travel Destination Television Commercial c) Worlds Leading Responsible Tourism Project, for Endogenous Tourism Project bureau and d) Asia's leading tourism and convention
Increasingly, Tourism as a sector seems to be emerging to be one of the main driving engines of the Indian Economy.
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CHAPTER 2: STUDY OBJECTIVES
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2.1 Primary Objective
Given the background, the marketing objective was identified as under:
Objectively assess the impact of the overseas campaign and study end-result in terms of knowledge levels, expectations, aspirations of India in key source markets. This understanding was expected to be used to finetune the current campaign and designing of future campaigns in the relevant overseas source markets.24
This further translated into the following being the primary objectives of research: Objectively assess the salience and effectiveness of the integrated communication effort undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, by source of awareness viz. Levels of the various overseas marketing activities carried out by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India. Through different medias TV, Radio, Posters, Print; Press and Media relations; Customer Information services; Consumer fairs and Exhibitions, Trade events, Festivals, Hallmark events and Website, and various other channels of communication as applicable, amongst various target segments.
24
TOR
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2.2 Secondary Objective
Secondary objectives which were also identified to corroborate the primary objectives are as follows: To obtain an assessment of the support provided by India NTO (to business partners) in furthering their business. To obtain a broad overview of the outbound travel patterns (past and future) amongst the general population in the key target markets. To determine the preference for India, as a destination amongst potential target. To ascertain the current perception of India and evaluation of India as a destination vis--vis select competing destinations on key Image metrics. To ascertain the expectations of India, as a travel destination and the activities they would like to indulge, when traveling to India. To obtain an evaluation of India as a travel destination, amongst those who have visited India in the recent past To ascertain the expected role to be played by India Tourism overseas offices, by the intending Asia Vacation travelers.
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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN
17
3.1 Segments Identified
Given the research objectives and the information areas to be probed, it was imperative that the target respondents needed to be defined with care. A focus simply on general population will not provide detailed and robust analysis; an intention to travel in the near future would be an important criterion. Thus, the general population was split into those intending to travel and those not intending to travel. Among those intending to travel the sample was further segmented into those intending to travel to India and those not intending to travel to India, but to other Asian destinations.
It was also appreciated, that to understand the efficacy of the marketing campaign, it was important to capture and comprehend two perspectives, one from the point of view of the travelers, and the other from the point of view of channel partner or the Travel Agencies (also referred to as the Trade Partners), who are a strong link between the destination and the potential travelers.
The feedback from the Directors of the Tourism offices based out of different countries was also included, as it was felt necessary to capture the opinions of the India Tourism Offices. For this qualitative research methodology was employed. The Directors were spoken to and their inputs studied.
18
Thus the segments studied were:-
GENERAL POPULATION Intending travelers Intending to travel to India Intending to travel to other Asian destinations, but not India Non travelers Returning travelers
TRADE PARTNERS SEGMENT Small Medium Large
DIRECTORS OF THE INDIA TOURISM OFFICES
Further explanation of the segments has been provided below.
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3.2 Segment definition
3.2.1 Travelers Segment
Four layers were covered within the Travelers segment. These four layers are as mentioned below
a) General Population - defined as population falling within the age group of 20-75 years, irrespective of gender. The occupation as defined was either working, or taking care of the home (home manager), or retired from professional career or pursuing education.
b) Potential Asia vacation Traveler (Intending to Travel to Asia in the next 2 years on vacation BUT NOT to India) - defined as the general population who intend traveling to any of the Asian destinations in the next two years for vacation purposes but with India not in the consideration set.
c) Potential India vacation Traveler (Intending to Travel to India in the next 2 years on Vacation) as the name suggests these are all the general population travelers who intend traveling to India in the next two years for vacation purposes.
d) Recent Travelers - Finally, keeping in mind the limited rate of incidence of travel to India amongst the general public in each source market, we covered the Traveled to India segment in India itself. These respondents were intercepted at Airports when they were returning from their India vacation. This segment is referred to as the RECENT TRAVELERS Segment. Here we did not sample by countries, but quotas were applied for visitors from Europe, Americas and Middle East. 20
Fig 3.2.1a elaborates in detail on the sampling framework and the target segments appearance in the universe.
General Population
Potential Asia Vacation Travelers, But not to India (Travelers Segment)
Intending to travel to Asia, but not to India in the next 2 years on vacation
Asia Travelers
Potential India Vacation Travelers (Travelers Segment) Intending to travel to India

in the next 2 years on vacation
Recent travelers to India

Departing vacation travelers from India
Fig 3.2.1a
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3.2.2 Trade Partners
In order to understand, in totality, the travel behavior, the disposition towards the communication campaigns, and the effectiveness of the Tourism Office, the Trade Partners (Travel Agencies from the source markets) were also included in the Study. Further profiling of the Trade partners was done on variables like size of operations, tenure in business, dealing with Asian destinations but not India, dealing with India etc, and the data was analyzed by these profiles.
3.2.3 Directors of Tourism Office
As mentioned earlier, these interviews were done through qualitative technique, wherein in-depth telephonic interviews were conducted using a structured discussion guide, which allowed flexibility basis the response of the respondents.
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3.3 Methodology
Two techniques of data collection were used in this research. 1. Computer-Aided Telephonic Interviews (CATI) 2. Pen & Paper - the interviews were done by the professional interviewers who went and visited the respondent inperson to gather his / her feedback. There were certain source markets which did not permit the use of CATI and there were some markets which did not permit the use of Inperson, therefore, for those source markets only one methodology was resorted to. Further explanation about the methodology and the way they apply to various segments has been given below:
TRAVELERS
RECENT TRAVELERS
TRADE PARTNERS
DIRECTORS OF TOURISM OFFICES
A mix of in-person interviews (wherever the markets permitted) and telephonic interviewing was used as mechanism to do the datacollection
All the interviews done for this segment were done in India, at the airports; therefore the interviews were only done through the inperson route. The interviews were done when the passengers were waiting at the lounge before the boarding of the aircraft.
Similar to the Travelers, a mix of in-person as well as telephonic interviewing was used in case of the Trade partners. However the inperson route was used only for the source markets where it was possible to do in-person interviews
In-depth Telephonic interviews using structured discussion guide
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3.4 Sample
In all, the data collection was done across 13 countries, and 20 locations. This holds true for the Travelers segment as well as the Trade partners segment. As has been mentioned earlier, for the Recent Travelers segment the interviews were done at the Indian airports itself. The data collection was done at the following international airports Mumbai Airport, Delhi Airport, Bangalore Airport, Hyderabad Airport and Chennai Airport.
In all, a total of 8295 Travelers, 602 Trade Partners were met across these 13 countries and 20 locations and 518 Recent Travelers were met at the Indian airports. The data collection was done during the two month period of October-November 2006.
COUNTRIES AUSTRALIA
LOCATIONS Sydney, Melbourne
METHODOLOGY In-person and CATI
JAPAN SOUTH KOREA
Tokyo Seoul
CATI only In-person and CATI
MIDDLE EAST GERMANY FRANCE ITALY SPAIN NETHERLANDS SWEDEN UNITED KINGDOM CANADA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Abu-Dhabi, Dubai Frankfurt, Berlin Paris Milan Madrid, Barcelona Amsterdam Stockholm London Toronto, Vancouver New York, Chicago, Los Angeles
In-Person only CATI only CATI only CATI only CATI only CATI only CATI only CATI only CATI only CATI only
24
The entire field work for all the segments were done during October November 2006. Table 3.4.1a, gives the break up of the sample for the Travelers segment (including the Recent Travelers), and tables 3.4.2a and 3.4d give the break up for the Trade segment.
3.4.1 TRAVELERS SEGMENT SAMPLE SPLIT
Data Collection Locations* Sydney Melbourne AUSTRALIA Tokyo JAPAN Seoul SOUTH KOREA Abu-Dhabi* Dubai* MIDDLE EAST Frankfurt Berlin GERMANY Paris FRANCE Milan ITALY Madrid Barcelona SPAIN Amsterdam NETHERLANDS Stockholm SWEDEN London UNITED KINGDOM Toronto Vancouver CANADA New York Chicago Los Angeles USA Total
Random Contacts 507 520 1027 400 400 400 400 250 353 603 381 422 803 378 378 386 386 526 521 1047 396 396 403 403 401 401 401 401 802 400 420 429 1249 8295
Potential Asia Vacation Travelers BUT not India 101 101 202 64 64 90 90 95 102 197 63 60 123 77 77 72 72 46 46 92 83 83 70 70 94 94 73 77 150 70 65 70 205 1519
Fig 3.4.1a
Potential India Vacation Travelers 64 63 127 39 39 15 15 70 66 136 40 33 73 49 49 46 46 61 60 121 42 42 82 82 39 39 39 40 79 36 35 41 112 960 35 -16 10 17 35 30 15 12 24 24
Recent Travelers
9 6
145
140 518
25
Further as has been mentioned earlier there were specific quotas with respect to the Travelers who intend traveling outbound to ASIA but not INDIA for vacation in the next two years, and also travelers who intend traveling to INDIA for vacation in the next two years. These segments were referred to as Potential Asia Travelers (PAT) and Potential India Travelers (PlT), and the sample size achieved for each of these segments has been given in Table 3.4.1a.
3.4.2 TRADE PARTNERS SEGMENT SAMPLE SPLIT
DATA COLLECTION LOCATIONS Sydney Melbourne AUSTRALIA Tokyo JAPAN Seoul S KOREA Abu-Dhabi* Dubai* MIDDLE EAST Frankfurt Berlin GERMANY Paris FRANCE Milan ITALY 28 29 57 -25 28 45
TRADE PARTNERS (Telephonic) 20 25 28 28 -25 9 --68 28 29 -29 -28 -Fig 3.4.2a
TRADE PARTNERS (In-Person) 19 9
--
34 34
---
--
--
26
As Table 3.4.2a and Table 3.4.2b elaborate, both CATI and In-person methodologies were used for the Trade Partners segment as well. Which ever source markets permitted the use of the two methodologies, a combination was used.
TRADE PARTNERS SEGMENT SAMPLE SPLIT (2)
DATA COLLECTION LOCATIONS Madrid Barcelona SPAIN Amsterdam NETHERLANDS Stockholm SWEDEN London UNITED KINGDOM Toronto Vancouver CANADA New York Chicago Los Angeles USA Total 87 56 29 28 28 57
TRADE PARTNERS (Telephonic) 28 29 -28 -28 -29 -28 28 -29 29 29 -497 602
Fig 3.4.2b
TRADE PARTNERS (In-Person) ---
--
--
--
---
----
105
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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS TOURISM OFFICE EFFECTIVENESS
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4.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Although the role of tourism offices is not designed for direct interaction with potential travelers, the current awareness levels of India Tourism offices in the travelers segment offers scope for improvement. The travelers, who are aware of India tourism office, have learnt about them from Travel Agents (Trade partners), Internet and friends, relatives or acquaintances.
The trade partners have highlighted some challenges that they face while marketing India as a tourist destination and many of these issues are destination related challenges (like hygiene, safety issues and destination products), but they are also voicing lack of marketing and promotional support from the Tourism offices, which if worked upon will help in driving India as a tourist destination.
A deeper look at the data reveals that the relationship between Trade partners and the Tourism office of India needs further reinforcement. The trade partners seek support from the Tourism offices in terms of promotional materials and communication for the potential travelers. This further is a reaffirmation of the belief amongst Trade partners that the travelers from their regions do not have adequate knowledge about India as a tourist destination. An interesting trend noticed amongst the large Operators is that their interaction with Tourism offices is limited. When compared against the competing destinations the interaction with the India tourism office is better.
The trade partners, who do not deal with India currently, are not considering dealing with India as a tourism destination in future. The main challenge for these operators, moreso in Americas and Europe, is that India (and Asia) is not in the immediate consideration set for travelers in their markets.
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4.2 DETAILED FINDINGS TOURISM OFFICE EFFECTIVENESS TRAVELERS SEGMENT
4.2.1 Awareness of India Tourism Offices
The travelers awareness levels of Tourism offices are fairly low, and this is true of across most source markets and relatively higher for Recent Travelers (Fig 4.2.1a). The source of awareness amongst those who are aware is largely driven by their contact of Travel Agent, or by the use of internet (Fig 4.2.1b).
Fig 4.2.1a
30
Source of awareness of India Tourism Offices
Prime source of awareness about the India tourism offices are - travel agents, word of mouth and internet.
Fig 4.2.1b
31
4.3 DETAILED FINDINGS TOURISM OFFICE EFFECTIVENESS TRADE PARTNERS
4.3.1 Key marketing challenges Trade Partners Segment
The key challenges in marketing India as a destination, as voiced by the Trade partners are given in Fig 4.3.1a. Although the top two challenges seem to be pertaining to the Cleanliness / Hygiene and Safety / Security (Destination issues), the trade partners also make a mention of Lack of promotional support from the tourism office to help them market India as a tourist destination.
Fig 4.3.1a
32
4.3.2 Trade Partners not dealing with India
Trade Partners who are not dealing with India were specifically asked why they do not deal with India.
The prime reason mentioned by the trade partners is that they have specialized in a certain set of destinations. So as the business is getting niche, it seems the trade partners are focusing their efforts in developing key destinations. Lack of promotional support comes across as another reason for the trade partners to not deal with India (Fig 4.3.2a)
The Trade partners mention more promotional support and communication for the potential travelers, which will help in building interest as a destination and create the desired pull, as the help that they need from the India tourism office, to further their dealings with India as a tourist destination.
Fig 4.3.2a
33
4.3.3 Disposition to deal with India in future Trade Partners Segment
The future disposition amongst the trade partners to deal with India is also not so positive, expectedly in Long haul markets (Americas and Europe) keeping in mind the consideration set of travelers in these markets.. More so with respect to the medium and large sized trade partners (Fig 4.3.3a); where the dependence or interaction with Tourism offices is low.
Fig 4.3.3a
34
4.3.4 Efforts required on part of India Tourism Office Trade Partners Segment
Trade partners mention - promotional material and campaigns as the top most effort required on part of the tourism office to help them market India as a tourism destination. There are also mentions of increase in overall marketing support, and product offerings (Fig 4.3.4a).
Fig 4.3.4a
35
4.3.5 Tourism office interaction
Only a third of Trade partners met said they were interacting with the respective tourism offices. The level of interaction reduces as the scale of operations of the trade partners increase (Fig 4.3.5a). This poses challenges in long haul markets, wherein preferences for destinations like India (which are not in the immediate consideration set) would require active involvement of large operators.
Interacted or received support from Asian tourism offices or their local counterparts Trade Partners Segment
Fig 4.3.5a
36
Asian destinations tourism offices interacted with Trade Partners Segment
Incidence of interaction with India NTO office is higher than that of other Asian destinations (Fig 4.3.5b). Though at an absolute level this incidence is weak across markets.
Fig 4.3.5b
37
Support received from Asian Destinations Overall Trade Partners Segment
Promotional materials and campaigns, new product offerings and other marketing support are key areas of interaction with the Asian NTOs, including India (Fig 4.3.5c).
Fig 4.3.5c
38
Evaluation of role of Asian Tourism office Overall Trade Partners Segment
Role of India tourism office is important in their dealing with India as a destination, with a third mentioning the role to be significant in their dealing with India as a destination. (Fig 4.3.5d).
Fig 4.3.5d
The response from the trade partners was sought on a five point significance scale, wherein %5 was, extremely significant, and %1 was not at all significant.
39
CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR
40
5.1 Key Terms Used
The various terms and nomenclatures that have been used in the tables, charts and graphs are explained as follows:
Signifies the number of respondents who have responded to the question.
Indicates the percentage of responses on the responding base.
()
Figures in () represent all respondents who have mentioned at least one European destination with respect to past travel or future intent.
Spo
The figures given under this heading indicate the response was Spontaneous, which means for that diagnostic, the respondent was not aided, and the response is his top-of-mind response.
PAT (Potential Asia Vacation Travelers) All respondents who have stated their intention to travel outbound to Asia but not India are referred to as Potential Asia Vacation Travelers.
PIT (Potential India Vacation Travelers)
All respondents who have stated their intention to travel outbound to India are referred to as Potential India Vacation Travelers.
41
5.2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Looking at the data across the Traveler Segments (including the Recent Travelers) and the Trade Partners, certain key points are observed with respect to the travel behavior, namely -
With respect to Past travel behavior, source markets like Australia (51%) and UK (46%) have highest incidence of travel. Travel to Asia is higher in Japan, Korea, Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets. In terms of the preference for India as a tourist destination, Middle East comes across as a market which has strongly favored India (25%), as compared to the other destinations, where outbound travel to India stands around 3-5%.
With respect to Future intention to travel outbound, on vacation, in the next two years, at an overall level and across destinations is high (on an average 50%). For Asian destinations (intention to travel outbound to Asian destinations) spontaneous mentions are lower, however at aided levels mentions of Asian destinations rise significantly. This could imply that the travel intention to Asian destinations in the next two years is latent. In the order of choice of destinations within Asian region, India is at the fourth position. Within the set of source markets in which survey was done, Middle East shows high future preference in terms of intention to travel to India (19%)
Potential Asia Travelers (Travelers intending traveling to Asia but NOT India in the next two years), mention Thailand & Mainland China as key destinations of consideration.
The (perceived) popularity of destination was another diagnostic captured from the Trade Partners segment. Here, Thailand gets mentioned as the number one destination - the most popular amongst the travelers as seen by the trade. India is mentioned as the fifth destination in terms of popularity.
42
An area of concern is the mention of Thailand as the most popular destination even amongst Trade Partners who deal with India. It is amongst the trade partners who are relatively newer in the business (tenure: 1- 5 years), with mid-sized operations (handling about 100-500 travelers), that India finds mention as the most popular destination.
On destinations that have shown increase in popularity in the last two years, the trade mention - Thailand, India and Mainland China. Destinations like Indonesia (terrorism); Middle East (political conflict) and Africa (debilitating socio-economic structure) are seen as declining in popularity in the last two years.
As per the Trade Partners, travelers Interest levels in India as a tourist destination have gone up from the past; with an overwhelming 58% of the trade partners mentioning so; with a third mentioning it has remained the same as in the past. Trade in Middle East, UK and South Korea have been emphatic in stating that interest levels in India have increased. The level has increased mentions are much lower in North America and other European markets such as Netherlands and Spain.
It is the newer operators (tenure less than 5 years in business) and also the smaller operators who are positively disposed to India as a tourist destination.
In the case of Recent travelers, the overall experience has been extremely positive. A high percentage of these visitors are intending to come back and recommend India to their friends and family. We need to see how we can leverage this brand goodwill in the source markets. This point gains further significance as word of mouth is mentioned as the prime source of information on vacation destinations, by intending travelers.
43
The key attractions for the Recent Travelers has been Warm and friendly people (50%), Cultural Diversity (46%) and Plenty to see and do (45%).
For 97% of the Recent Travelers, experience exceeded or met expectations, which further translates into their intention of recommending and returning to India in future
The profile of travelers traveling to India as per the trade partners, belong to the top end of the socio-economic pyramid.
Travelers segment as well as the Trade partners segment unequivocally mention Cultural Diversity and Plenty to see as the most important aspects that attract India as a tourist destination.
One of the underlying themes which come across strongly even amongst Trade partners is a strong association of India with Taj. In fact, it is not only the strongest association with brand India but also gets mentioned the highest mention as recalled elements of the advertising.
Coupled with the above only 25% of trade partners across source markets feel that the travelers from their market know a lot about India. This is a cause of concern. Further, one in every three trade partners feels that the information available about India as a tourist destination in their market is insufficient (more so true in case of the large Trade partners). Trade partners voice that the information seems to be lacking in the area of places to see and visit.
Connecting the threads, it seems that lack of information, support (product and promotional) and education amongst the Trade partners about India as a tourist destination coupled with strong associations with TAJ impute that TAJ becomes the sole selling point to the prospective travelers.
44
5.3 DETAILED FINDINGS TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR TRAVELERS SEGMENT
The following chapter deals with the findings on travel behavior from the Travelers segment, following this section is the Trade partners segment and the trends observed regarding the travel behavior by studying the trade partners segment
5.3.1 Past Travel Behavior
The incidence of past vacation travel in the last two years is averaging at around 40%; the highest is in Australia and lowest in South Korea, as can be seen from fig 5.3.1a.
100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%
Overall Canada USA UK C. Europe Middle East South Korea Japan Australia
40%
42%
46% 39% 41% 36% 31% 39%
51%
Fig 5.3.1a
45
As can be seen from the graph 5.3.1b, Incidence of past travel (in the last two years) to Asia is high in Japan, South Korea, Middle East and Australian market. North America and Europe favor Europe and the Americas. India is a favored destination amongst the travelers traveling from Middle East.
CANADA (%)
UNITED KINGDOM (%)
C. EUROPE (%)
MIDDLE EAST (%)
Oth. Eu. Cts Car./Cen.Am UK France Germany INDIA
38 27 27 16 8 5
USA Africa Car./Cen.Am Australia/Canada Singapore/Mid.E INDIA
4 1 9 7 7 5
USA Africa S. Car./Cen. Thailand INDIA
30 26 20 10 7 4
Thailand INDIA Malaysia Germany Singapore France
35 25 25 17 12 9
SOUTH KOREA (%)
Mn. China Thailand Japan Philippine USA
34 19 17 11 11 2
USA (%)
Overall (%)
INDIA 21 21 13 12 10 6
AUSTRALIA (%) JAPAN (%)
Oth. Eu. Cts S. America UK France Car./Cen.Am INDIA
41 25 18 13 11 2
Oth. Eu. Cts (32) USA S. America Africa Thailand/UK INDIA
USA 37 26 24 16 13 6 Oth. Eu. Cts South Korea Mn. China Thailand INDIA
38 28 18 17 14 1
Oth. Eu. Cts USA UK Singapore Thailand INDIA
Fig 5.3.1b
46
5.3.2 Future Travel Behavior
The graph given in fig 5.3.2a highlights the future travel intention at three levels; the base of the pyramid refers to - intention of the General population to travel outbound. At the next level are the incidence of travelers to Asian destinations but not INDIA, and the crown of the pyramid represents the travelers who intend traveling to India. The green bars which are given parallel to the pyramids represent the figures at the three levels of the pyramids but for the Past Travel. The idea behind the analysis is to give a comparative picture of the travel intention, both future and past.
As we can see from fig. 5.3.2a, interest in visiting Asian destinations is high across all markets; however, Middle East (36%), Australia (39%) and S. Korea (22%) particularly favor Asian destinations.
Potential India = 2% Potential Asia Tr. = 6% Pot Vacation Travel. = 54% Canada= 802
2%
Potential India = 1% Potential Asia Tr. = 7% Pot Vacation Travel. = 48% USA = 1249
1%
Potential India = 5% Potential Asia Tr. = 10% Pot Vacation Travel. = 57% United Kingdom = 401
2%
6% 42%
6% 39%
8% 46%
Potential India = 3% Potential Asia Tr. = 12% Pot Vacation Travel. = 46% C. Europe = 3413
1%
Potential India = 14% Potential Asia Tr. = 36%
10%
Potential India = 1% Potential Asia Tr. = 22% Pot Vacation Travel. = 31% South Korea = 400
1%
7% 36%
22% 41%
24% 31%
Pot Vacation Travel. = 76% Middle East = 603
Potential India = 1% Potential Asia Tr. = 11% Pot Vacation Travel. = 30%
1%
Potential India = 4% Potential Asia Tr. = 39% Pot vacation Travel. = 65%
3%
22% 39%
24% 51%
Japan = 400
Australia = 1027
Fig 5.3.2a
Green Bar = Past Travel Potential Asia Traveler = Asia India (implying travelers who intend traveling to Asia but not India)
47
Fig. 5.3.2b, shows the destinations which the travelers have spontaneously mentioned as the ones they intend visiting, when they travel outbound on vacation in the next two years. In North America and Europe, the stated destinations are predominantly U.S, Europe and the Caribbean. Stated mentions for Asian destinations are low.
Asian destinations find mention in Middle East, however even in the Middle East market, in terms of order Malaysia and Thailand find higher mentions than India.
CANADA (%) Oth. Eu. Cts (67) UK Car./Cen.Am France Australia INDIA USA (%) Oth. Eu. Cts (68) S.America UK France Car./Cen.Am INDIA 51 24 15 13 11 2 48 24 21 13 9 5
UNITED KINGDOM USA Australia Car./Cen.Am Africa Canada INDIA 42 19 14 14 11 9 Overall (%) Oth. Eu. Cts (35) USA S. America UK Thailand INDIA
C. EUROPE (%) USA S.America Africa Thailand Dont Know INDIA 25 20 13 10 9 6
MIDDLE EAST (%) Malaysia Thailand INDIA Germany France UK 31 23 SOUTH KOREA 19 Mn. China 18 Japan 17 USA 12 Australia Philippines 11 10 4 12 20 37
22 18 13 10 USA 9 UK 7 Thailand Canada INDIA 10 10 5 22 23 AUSTRALIA (%) Oth. Eu. Cts (55) 38 USA
INDIA JAPAN (%)
34 25 10 8 8 1
Other Eu. Cts (38) Mn. China Thailand South Korea INDIA
Fig 5.3.2b
48
As a next step, only Asian destinations were prompted and Fig 5.3.2c shows the choice of Asian destinations both at Spontaneous level and at Total level (which is spontaneous + aided).
Though Asian destinations find low mentions spontaneously, when aided the proportions rise substantially, indicating a latent inclination to Asian destinations.
CANADA (%) Spo Thailand Japan Hong India Mn.China 3 2 1 5 3 Tot 24 24 23 20 20
UNITED KINGDOM (%)

Spo Total
C. EUROPE (%)
Spo Tota
MIDDLE EAST (%)

Spo.
Tota
SOUTH KOREA (%)

Spo Total
Maldives Thailand Hong Singapore India
2 7 2 2 9
32 31 30 28 26
Thailan India Japan Mn.Chi Indonesi
10 6 4 6 2
45 39 39 39 31
Malaysia Thailand India Singapor Indonesi
31 23 19 11 2
47 41 30 23 9
Mn.China Japan Thailand Philippine Hong India
37 20 7 10 2 4
58 52 32 30 27 16
USA (%) Spo Japan Hong Mn. Thailand India 5 1 7 2 2 Tot 34 32 30 23 20
Overall (%) Spo Thailand Mn. Japan India Hong 9 6 4 7 2 Tot AUSTRALIA (%) 37 Spo 31 Thailand 31 Singapore 29 Hong 29 Japan Mn.China India 4 5 5 36 34 19 4 37 4 38 10 39 Thailand Singapore Taiwan Maldives Hong Kong India Tot JAPAN (%) Spo 8 1 6 2 1 1 Total 45 41 40 37 35 31
Fig 5.3.2c
49
5.3.3 Source of Destination Awareness
Amongst Potential India Travelers, Word of Mouth is the prime source of information when deciding on destination. Figure 5.3.3a highlights that the Recent Travelers primarily rely on websites for information, although there is no mention of the website of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. There are other portals that the Recent Travelers have made use of to obtain information about India as a destination. Along with the sources mentioned, Travel Agents (Trade Partners) and press (editorial content) also aid in spreading awareness about a destination.
50
Source of Awareness of India Destination

Recent Travelers Segment
Travel Agent WOM (Friends and Relatives)
45% 22% 18% 7% 5% 25% 2% 16% 1% 50%
TV Outdoor Indian Govt Website Other websites E-mails Unaided
Repeat Traveler 40% Local India Tourism Office Brochure / Leaflets

32%
12% 11%
Direct Mailers Radio Magazine / Newspapers 59%
Airports Tourism Fairs / Exhibitions Cinema
N = 503
Travelers Segment by regions
Fig 5.3.3a
51
5.3.4 INDIA Travel - Future
With respect to the booking arrangements, the potential India travelers show a strong preference for Travel Agents. In markets like Japan and US, Internet appears as a strong medium. (Fig 5.3.4a)
Bookings, Travel Arrangements & Accompaniments - Travelers Segment (by regions)
Fig 5.3.4a
Fig 5.3.4b
The US, Canada and UK markets clearly show a preference for Non package tours, while, South Korea and Japan prefer ready-made package tours with tour guides. Also one in every three travelers in Australia prefer Tailor made packages (Fig 5.3.4b)
With respect to the bookings and travel arrangements, the USA, Canada and UK markets prefer not to have any package; however the nonEnglish speaking markets of South Korea and Japan show an inclination towards ready-made packages with tour guides (Fig 5.3.4b).
52
In terms of who would accompany them, its spouse or friends / colleagues, and this trend is observed across source markets (Fig 5.3.4c).
Bookings, Travel Arrangements & Accompaniments - Travelers Segment (by regions)
Fig 5.3.4c
53
Reasons for traveling to India
The prime attractions to travel to India are mentioned as Sightseeing, Cultural events and shopping. The table below (Fig 5.3.4d) indicates the same.
Fig 5.3.4d
54
Places to visit / visited on India travel Travelers
While talking about the places they would like to visit, there is singularly high mention of the Taj Mahal. However, the Recent Travelers reveal a different picture. They have truly experienced the range / diversity that India as a destination offers, and therefore their experience spans across monuments, places of religious interests, hill stations etc, across several visits. It may be concluded that before a traveler visits India, the predominant destination imagery is that of the Taj Mahal but upon arrival and in the course of the vacation he/she visits other areas of interests.
In addition to Taj Mahal, Beaches in Goa get second mention. The Golden Triangle finds mention at the next level. (Fig 5.3.4e)
Fig 5.3.4e
55
Possible countries to be visited in the same trip Travelers (by regions)
When the potential travelers to India are asked about other destinations they plan to visit in same trip; Thailand, Singapore and Sri-Lanka get mentioned (Fig 5.3.4f). This is common across source markets (Americas, Europe and Asia).
Fig 5.3.4f
56
Possible countries to be visited/visited in the same trip Recent Travelers
The Recent Travelers when talking about other destinations planned in this trip mention Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia (Fig 5.3.4g)
Fig 5.3.4g
57
Reasons for not intending to travel to India
All the travelers who intend to travel outbound on vacation in the next two years, but have not chosen India as a destination, mention reasons such as - doesnt offer things of interest to me and safety and hygiene issues, which are primarily destination reasons, as reasons for not intending to travel to India (Fig. 5.3.4h)
Fig 5.3.4h
58
5.3.5 Recent Travel Experience
This section will focus on the experiences of the Recent Travelers in India during their vacation.
To begin with the experience of the Recent Travelers is much more varied, so while the intending travelers mention seeing Taj as the reason for coming to India, the recent travelers have enjoyed a lot else that the destination has to offer. However, it seems that currently the Pull is created only by Taj.
In terms of other countries/ destinations planned for visit in this trip, 1 in every 3 Recent Travelers visited India alone in this trip. Amongst Asian destinations - Singapore, China and Thailand are the competing destinations (Fig 5.3.5a), the data also shows substantial amount of repeat traveler to India, about 2 in every 3 Recent Travelers were repeat visitors, thereby implying the Destination pull after having gone through the first experience is good (Fig 5.3.5b).
The top three attractions in India are stated as Warm and friendly people (50%), culture and diversity and plenty to see and do. Beaches, traditional image and monuments also get mentioned as the prime attractions for the Recent Travelers (Fig 5.3.5c)
More than half of the Recent Travelers spent more than $3000 during their stay in India; this is all inclusive for their entire trip, including the cost of transportation / travel etc (Fig 5.3.5d).
59
Countries considered - Recent Travelers Segment
With respect to alternate Asian destinations considered by the Recent Travelers before they finalized on India, Singapore, Mainland China and Thailand are mentioned. However it is also interesting to note that one in every three travelers were unequivocally decided about visiting India, and therefore had no other competing destination in their mind.
Fig 5.3.5a
60
First timers vs. Frequenters - Recent Travelers Segment
A large number of Recent Travelers had visited India before. And amongst these repeat visitors a fairly high proportions (52%) had been to India 2-5 times (Fig 5.3.5b)
Fig 5.3.5b
61
Indias attractions- Recent Traveler's Segment
From the point of view of the Recent Travelers, their interface with the local people comes out as the strongest impression/attraction from their overall India experience. Its basically interplay of their experience with people, cultural diversity and the sheer range of things to experience which are attractions as per the Recent Travelers.
Fig 5.3.5c
62
Accommodation, Expenses and Travel Recent Travelers
As the chart below indicates, fairly high proportion of travelers stayed in four stars and above hotel properties and had spent more than USD 3000 during their stay. This includes cost of transportation (air ticketing).
Fig 5.3.5d
63
Experience vs. Expectations - Recent Travelers Segment
The reasons why their experience exceeded expectations, is around the destination reasons. Further the overall experience with accommodation options gets mentioned as the second most important reason why their experience exceeded expectations (Fig 5.3.5e).
Fig 5.3.5e
64
Experience and Disposition RECENT TRAVELERS
97% of the Recent Travelers mention that they enjoyed their stay in India. A key highlight is that majority of recent travelers would like to return to India and advocate it as a destination to be visited for vacation.
Fig 5.3.5f
65
5.4 DETAILED FINDINGS TRAVEL BEHAVIOUR TRADE PARTNERS
This chapter deals with the detailed findings with respect to the travel behavior from the perspective of the channel partners or the Trade partners.
5.4.1 Popularity of Destinations
Thailand is the top mentioned destination in terms of popularity. India is in the fifth position (Fig 5.4.1a).
Thailand and India are considered to be increasing in popularity in recent times (Fig 5.4.1d). Amongst Asian destinations, Thailand and Mainland China are ahead of India in terms of popularity (Fig 5.4.1g). Looking at the destinations which have reduced in popularity, Indonesia, Middle East and Africa are mentioned. These also happen to be the regions which are struck with terrorism and war (Fig 5.4.1i).
Destinations popular amongst the travelers Overall Trade Partners Segment
Fig 5.4.1a
66
Destinations popular amongst the travelers By Countries
Fig 5.4.1b
As fig 5.4.1b shows, across the Western source markets there is mention of the Western markets being popular (Europe for Americas and viceversa) and Asian source markets mention Asian Destinations as the ones that are popular now.
67
Destinations popular amongst the travelers By Countries dealt with
Fig 5.4.1c
The trade partners, who deal with India, have mentioned Thailand as the number one destination in terms of Popularity; Americas are close behind (Fig 5.4.1c).
68
Destinations popular amongst the travelers By tenure into business
Fig 5.4.1d
Looking at the data by tenure in business, the operators who are new in the business are favoring India as a popular destination, however amongst the more seasoned operators Thailand is the favorite. (Fig 5.4.1d).
69
Destinations popular amongst the travelers By size of operation
Fig 5.4.1e
The mid size operators mention India as a popular destination. As the size of operations increases, the preference shifts to Thailand. The larger operators are clearly favoring Thailand in terms of popularity.
70
Destinations increased in popularity in Last two years Overall Trade Partners Segment
Fig 4.4.1f
Thailand, India and China are the top three destinations in terms of increased popularity in the last two years (Fig 5.4.1f). In addition to Thailand and China, India also figures in the top 3 in terms of popularity amongst the travelers as mentioned by Trade partners (Fig 5.4.1g).
71
Popular Asian Destinations amongst the travelers Overall Trade Partners Segment
Fig 5.4.1g
Popular Asian Destinations amongst the travelers By Countries
Fig 5.4.1h
72
Destinations popular in past but not now amongst the travelers Overall Trade
Fig 5.4.1i
Destinations that have been facing the turmoil of terrorism, poor development indicators and political conflicts, are the ones which have been mentioned by Trade partners as having reduced in popularity in the last two years. The top three destinations as given in (Fig 5.4.1i) are Indonesia, Middle East and Africa.
73
5.4.2 Interest levels about India Destination Overall Trade Partners Segment
There is positive sentiment at an overall level about tourist interest levels in India. 58% of Trade Partners believe that the Interest levels have increased in recent times (Fig 5.4.2a), the exceptions being Netherlands and Spain (Fig 5.4.2b).
Fig 5.4.2a
Interest levels about India Destination By countries
Fig 5.4.2b
74
Interest levels about India Destination By tenure into business and size of operations
Fig 5.4.2c
75
5.4.3 Profile of travelers who travel to India Trade Partners Segment
The Trade Partners description of India travelers profile is very similar to the profile captured in the Recent Travelers survey. As per the trade, the tourists visiting India belong to upper income (45%), fall in the age group of 31-50 years (58%) and are married (Fig 5.4.3a).
Fig 5.4.3a
76
5.4.4 Aspects of India that attract travelers Overall trade partners segment
Fig 5.4.4a
As figure 5.4.4a indicates, cultural diversity, plenty to see and do and places of religions importance is the top three attractions in India for tourists as per the Trade Partners.
77
5.4.5 Types of holiday activities preferred in India Overall Trade Partners segment
Types of holiday activities preferred in India By Countries
Fig 5.4.5a
78
5.4.6 The most popular attractions in India Overall Trade Partners Segment
Again, Taj gets mentioned as the most popular attraction, even amongst the Trade partners segment (Fig 5.4.6a). Thus, the limited awareness of specific tourist attractions displayed by the travelers is corroborated by the Trade partners. (Fig 5.4.7a and Fig 5.4.7b). Although the destination has lots to offer (varied experience of the Recent Travelers), Taj Mahal is an overpowering association with the destination across all segments studied.
Fig 5.4.6a
79
5.4.7 Knowledge levels about India Overall Trade Partners segment
Fig 5.4.7a
Knowledge levels about India By countries
Fig 5.4.7b
80
Knowledge levels about India By tenure into business and size of operations
Fig 5.4.7c
81
5.4.8 Sufficiency of information Trade Partners Segment
Close to one in every three trade partners states that the information available about India as a tourist destination is not sufficient. The information is seen lacking with respect to the specific product available, places to see, on transportation and laws and regulations of the country. (Fig 5.4.8a and Fig 5.4.8b).
Fig 5.4.8a
Lack of information on the following Trade partners segment
Fig 5.4.8b
82
5.4.9 Experience vs. Expectations Overall Trade Partners Segment
Fig 5.4.9a
As per the Trade partners, the reasons for experience having exceeded expectations are the Cultural diversity and the accommodation facility (this concurs with what the travelers had mentioned as their reason for experience exceeding expectations). (Fig 5.4.9a).
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CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS
84
6.1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As far as the Travelers segment is concerned, although the spontaneous awareness of advertising (Incredible India campaign) is low, the awareness increases sharply when aided (40%). The total awareness is high in Middle East (49%), Continental Europe (50%), UK and Australia (39% each). This suggests that the advertising awareness is latent and not top-of-mind as we would have desired.
Measuring the Advertising awareness among Trade partners, lower proportion of Trade partners recall having seen the advertising (37%). Amongst the trade partners who were able to recall the advertising campaign, 53% mention that the advertising has not had any effect in generating interest in India as a vacation destination.
The Travelers get their destination awareness from Press and TV. The Recent Travelers also mention websites (other than the official websites), airports and brochures as key sources of awareness. The mention of official website as a source of awareness is negligible.
The Taj Mahal is the predominant element from the campaign, getting a maximum recall (34%). This holds true amongst the Recent Travelers as well. Although the advertising is communicating the message of India being a destination steeped in history, culture and offering lots to see and do, there is no specifics that the travelers are able to associate with the plenty aspect of the destination.
The advertising effectiveness in generating interest has been moderate. 44% of the travelers report that they were positively pre-disposed to visit India upon seeing the communication.
85
India has a very distinct image with associations like Palaces and Royal Retreats, Places of religious interests, Yoga, Ayurveda and meditation, Heritage and artifacts etc. In comparison to competing Asian destinations, China and Thailand have strong mentions with Cultural Diversity. Singapore and Hong Kong are considered to be safe and secure destinations.
86
6.2 DETAILED FINDINGS COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS TRAVELERS SEGMENT
Following chapter shall deal with the detailed findings on communication effectiveness from the Travelers segment.
6.2.1 Advertising Awareness Levels Spontaneous + Aided (Travelers Segment by Regions)
Spontaneous awareness of India advertising is low across markets, however when aided the awareness increases sharply, which is true for most Asian destinations. Middle-East comes across as a market with high awareness of the campaign (Fig 6.2.1a). Amongst Recent Travelers the awareness could be influenced by their proximity with the destination and the communication exposure at the destination. Interestingly however, while looking at the travelers who are Potential Asia but not India Travelers (PTA) and Potential India Travelers (PTI), the awareness levels amongst the latter are higher on India destination advertising awareness (Fig 6.2.3a)
Fig 6.2.1a
87
6.2.2 Awareness of INDIA Advertising (Travelers Segment by Regions)
In the graph below, is a cross-tab of Spontaneous ad awareness and the Total ad awareness across the regions. An Ideal curve should be an upward sloping curve, indicating high Spontaneous and Total awareness. However its only for the Middle-East market, that the scores on both spontaneous and Aided awareness of India destination advertising are high.
Fig 6.2.2a
88
6.2.3 India Advertising Awareness Levels Total (Travelers Segment by Regions)

Fig 5.2.3a
The next level of analysis looks at the awareness by respondents who intend traveling to Asian Destinations but not India in the next two years, vis-vis the respondents who intend traveling to India on vacation in the next two years. Across regions, the awareness levels amongst the travelers who intend traveling to India on vacation in the next two years is higher than the travelers who intend traveling to Asian destination but not India on vacation in the next two years.
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6.2.4 Source of Awareness of India Advertising
In the Recent Travelers segment, the prime source of awareness is print media, airports and other websites. Amongst the Travelers segment however the source of awareness of the campaign is much more traditional in the form of Television and Print (Fig 6.2.4a).
Fig 6.2.4a
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Source of Awareness of India Advertising (Spontaneous + Aided)
While looking at the source of advertising awareness, which is spontaneous awareness + Aided awareness, the Indian Govt. websites very low scores. (Fig 6.2.4b).
Fig 6.2.4b
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6.2.5 Spontaneous elements recalled of India Advertising
One of the important diagnostics to be measured in the Communication effectiveness is the elements recalled from the campaign. It has been mentioned earlier that the campaigns communicated various elements with respect to the destination or various attractions of the destination. For instance there were individual campaign items around wildlife, monuments and artifacts of historical importance, nature, ayurveda, yoga etc.
However the findings of the study indicate that in terms of the elements recalled from the advertising, Taj is the singular element achieving a very high recall. In fact across geographies and across travelers segments, Taj gets mentioned as the element of advertising seen by them. (Fig 6.2.5a, 6.2.5b, 6.2.5c).
Fig 6.2.5a
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Spontaneous elements recalled of India Advertising By Traveling Intention
Fig 6.2.5b
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Spontaneous elements recalled of India Advertising Recent Travelers
Given below are the top elements that the Recent Travlers (Travelers who have stayed in India and are now heading back) have recalled from the India Destination campaign. Again, Taj gets a very high recall, the slogan is recalled by one in every five Recent Travelers (Fig 6.2.5c)
Fig 6.2.5c
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6.2.6 AIDED AWARENESS Recent Travelers Segment
There were six story boards (identified as the prime campaigns) which were shown to the Recent Travelers. All six namely Ayurveda, Fairs and Festivals, Ruins of Humpi, Taj Mahal, Desert and Wildlife and awareness was asked from the respondents (yes / no question).
Again, we see that the story board on Taj gets higher mentions of aided awareness than the other story boards, re-emphasising the point that Taj is the predominant property associated with India (Fig 6.2.6a).
Fig 6.2.6a
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6.2.7 Disposition distribution Travelers Segment (by regions)
In terms of assessing the impact of the advertising in generating interest levels amongst the travelers about India as a tourist destination and disposing them to come over to India, the campaign has had a moderate success. In fact on a likelihood scale of 1-5, wherein 5 means extremely likely, the campaign across the markets averages about 15%, other than the market of Middle East, wherein one in every two travelers who have seen the advertising make an unequivocal mention of it having made them more likely to come to India (Fig 6.2.7a).
Fig 6.2.7a
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6.2.8 India Total Awareness (Unaided + aided) vs. Disposition (Travelers Segment by Regions)
Fig 6.2.8a, ideally should show an upward sloping curve, thereby indicating awareness is leading to positive disposition. However we observe that the western markets are outliers, Middle East and Japan emerge as two source markets which seem to be following the curve. Even with respect to the Recent Travelers, 4 in every 5 recent travelers mention that they were positively pre-disposed after seeing the advertising (Fig 6.2.8b).
Fig 6.2.8a
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Disposition distribution Recent Travelers Segment (by regions)
Fig 6.2.8b
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6.2.9 Ad Impact - By intention to travel
While looking at the diagnostics and assessing the message take-outs of India advertsing, the scores indicate that the advertising has been moderately successful in creating interest in India as a tourist destination among travelers. It appears that Advertising has re-inforced the knowledge that the travelers had about India. (Fig 6.2.9a).
(Fig 6.2.9a) - The responses from the Travelers were sought on a five point scale wherein 5 was Absolutely agree. The scores given in the graph are the scores of positive disposition.
Fig 6.2.9a
5.2.10 Image
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Correspondence Analysis was used to arrive at the Imagery related associations as shown.
As can be observed that every graph (Fig 6.2.10a-6.2.10e) has two elements which are getting depicted, the first element is the various diagnostic statements with respect to the Destination and the second element is the destination name itself. Simple way of reading this graph would be to look at the destination and see which all attributes are close to that destination and they can be understood as the statements which are associated or define image for that destination.
Across source markets other than Middle East, India gets very strong associations with - royal retreats, palaces, yoga, ayurveda, meditation etc. And on these attributes India is fairly distinct - there are no other destinations which are closer to India in terms of strength of association. Middle Eastern travelers strongly associate India with medical treatment.
Indonesia and Sri Lanka are the destinations which are strongly associated with Value for Money and being the destinations which are inexpensive.
Although - Cultural diversity is one of the messages which we have been trying to communicate through our campaign, it is Thailand and China which find stronger associations on this attribute.
Figures 6.2.10a 6.2.10e are all the various correspondence maps given across various regions.
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Imagery NORTH AMERICAN TRAVELERS
Fig 6.2.10a
Imagery - EUROPE TRAVELERS
Fig 6 .2.10b
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Imagery - MIDDLE EAST TRAVELERS
Fig 6.2.10c
Imagery - EAST ASIA TRAVELERS
Fig 6.2.10d
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AUSTRALIA TRAVELERS
Fig 6.2.10e
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6.3 DETAILED FINDINGS COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS TRADE PARTNERS SEGMENT
The last chapter dealt with the findings from the Travelers Segment with respect to the Communication effectiveness, this chapter will deal with the detailed findings on Communication Effectiveness from the point of view of the trade partners.
6.3.1 Awareness of India Advertising Campaign Trade Partners Segment
Moderately low proportion of trade partners exhibit awareness of the India destination advertising campaign. Only a third recalls the Destination advertising for India. Trade partners dealing with India have significantly higher recall (Fig 6.3.1a)
Fig 6.3.1a
5.3.2 Success of the marketing campaign Trade Partners segment
In terms of measuring the success of the campaign, from the perspective of the trade partners it would be the ability of the campaign to generate footfalls and queries about travel to India on vacation.
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The Trade partners were asked to rate the success of the marketing campaign on a five point scale. Wherein 1 means not at all successful and 5 means very successful. The findings indicate that fairly large section of Trade is undecided about the campaigns success (fig 6.3.2a).
Fig 6.3.2a
Another important reading from the data is that amongst the trade partners dealing with India (Fig 6.3.2a), the percentage of the respondents who give a perfect 5 on success of the marketing campaign is lower than the trade partners who are not dealing with the Asian destinations.
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CHAPTER 7: FINDINGS NTO INTERVIEWS
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The information areas on which the feedback was solicited from the directors spanned across:
Vision for India as tourist destination Market Position India as tourist destination Key Business Goals for the Tourism offices Key strategies and leading initiatives Growth opportunities Challenges for India as a tourist destination NTO Strengths NTO Challenges
The findings are discussed below:
Vision for India as a tourist destination
The mood is upbeat about India as a tourist destination. There is unequivocal mention of India being a potentially strong market from the point of view of vacation travel. The Regional directors did make a mention of the popularity of the destination having increased. For instance, in Australian market, the traffic of the travelers to India has doubled in the last three years. The expected growth across markets is about 18-20% (annual).
Market Position India as a tourist destination
India is a planned destination. To elaborate further, India comes across as a choice of destination, when the vacation is more in-depth. One of the reasons why India has that positioning in the market currently is because of the variety that the country has to offer. Travelers to India find it difficult to cover the length and the breadth in a short span of time, therefore the trend which is emerging and which is articulated by the directors is that India is a preferred destination when the trip is more planned from the travelers.
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Therefore for shorter vacations, the getaways are decided on account of the nearness (distance) and also on the basis of all that the destination has to offer. Typically the trips to India have to be longer as far as the travelers projections are concerned and when they are planning their trips, they do take into account the time they would spend to witness and enjoy what India as a destination has to offer to them (there is a definite acceptance of India being a country that offers a lot).
One of the factors which make India a much planned choice of destination is also because of the lack of proximity to certain source markets. For instance, from the Australian market there is no direct flight to India. There are competing destinations who ply their Air Carriers but there are transit countries in between, which happen to be competing destinations, thereby increasing the time it takes to travel from Australia to India, and thus posing as a constraint.
Some of the competing destinations for India were mentioned as Thailand, Indonesia etc, now these destinations are small in geographies and are therefore less time consuming for the travelers (in case of un-planned or spontaneous vacations).
Key Business Goals for the Tourism offices
There is a unanimous mention of sustainability of growth coming up as key business goal and objective for the next two years. The directors are looking at growth of 18-20%. So the objective is to sustain the momentum which the tourism industry has enjoyed and in particular India as a tourist destination has been enjoying since the last few years.
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Key strategies and leading initiatives
Multi pronged strategies are adopted by the tourism offices as the stakeholders involve the trade partners and the end travelers. As far as the trade partners or the intermediaries is concerned, the directors have been offering marketing support in terms of advertising, helping the trade partners with the destination brochures, holding work-shops, symposiums, seminars etc.
For the customers the strategies have been tailor made to suit the palette of the source markets. For instance in the Australian market, Town to Town road-shows / activities are organized. The office there organizes something called as India Evenings, wherein the travelers who have been to India are called and asked to articulate their experience. The evenings are facilitated by the pictures and collages explaining or defining India as a tourist destination. In other markets there are a number of road-shows, which involve trade and also past visitors to India.
A taste of cuisine and culture of India is offered at these events. Another interesting activity which is initiated by the tourism office is organizing the festivals of India. The throughput is directed to re-create the experience that is often related with the fairs and festivals of India.
There is also mentioning of the Incredible India marketing campaign as one of the leading initiatives on part of the India government to provide fillip to the tourism industry. Incredible India campaign is considered a success, in terms of its ability to connect the varied activities that were being carried on by the various tourism offices in their endeavors to communicate to the travelers what brand India as a tourist destination stands for.
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Before the campaign gained worldwide acceptance the communication as an activity (advertising) was left purely to the Tourism offices, this was hampering the equity of brand India, as there was no integration of messages that were being communicated by the various tourism offices. The thread of consistency was missing, there was no unifying link across those communication endeavors and also in terms of economics, it was proving costly for the NTOs to develop their own communication strategies and platforms to reach out to the end consumer (travelers).
Further, the campaigns are translated into local vernacular to suit the market specific requirements, and the NTOs also modify the message to include call-to-action content in the communication modules. However the central theme across communication strategies now is the Incredible India theme.
Currently, there are a number of initiatives which are undertaken trying to build-upon the central campaign such as local communication, outdoor advertising and the like.
Growth opportunities
The need of the hour as articulated by the tourism offices seem to be the ability to develop customized product (travel routes / places to see) and communication for the travelers. As of now the communication is directed and read as India being a destination that has a lot to offer, however, it has to be made more segment-specific. One of the variables to qualify these segments would be the choice of vacation adventure, medical-tourism, sight-seeing etc. Its imperative to understand and identify these segments in detail and then chart out specific saleable products for these segments.
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Further it is imperative to develop dedicated communication strategies highlighting the elements of the products specifically designed for these segments and then communicated with the channels which are segments specific to thus ensure maximum impact with minimum outlay. In source markets like Australia, Wild-life sanctuaries, alternate form of medicine, ayurveda in Kerala, Yoga etc are mentioned as the growth opportunities which can be leveraged on. For middle east, green products such as Northeast, would be perceived as attractive.
Challenges ahead
India as a tourist destination has taken off. There is no denying that India has made an indelible impression in the global tourism industry. There is an unparallel belief of India being a great tourism product.
However some of the challenges that India as a tourism destination is grappling with involve things like Air transportation, Hospitality (Accommodation), Local transportation, and other basic Infrastructure requirements (Roads, highways, national-ways, connectors, other forms of land and water transportation etc). Source markets like Australia; do not have a direct carrier to India.
One of the serious concerns is the translation of the basic amenities like infrastructure requirements into negative word of mouth which thus impacts the salience of brand India as a tourist destination.
Hotels in India are now considered to be very expensive. The broad undertones suggest that the hotels and accommodation services in India are out-pricing themselves. There seems to be a general tendency amongst the hotel operators and also the trade not to allow confirmation of bookings at offseason rates, since the operators want to inflate bottom-line by selling their rooms at the most expensive rates possible by the law of demand and supply during peak season. 111
Interestingly, this has translated at times into Tourism offices not promoting India as a tourist destination during the peak season since the hotel rates are touching the ceiling. Thus India destination seems to be missing out on a large chunk of the share of wallet of a vacation traveler, since the push from the tourism offices in some of the source markets is coming only during off-peak season.
Also the India-end of the operators (based in India) are found wanting in terms of support for operators in the source markets.
Strength of the India NTO Organization
Some of the NTOs have been doing outstanding work and have been winning accolades for their endeavors. It is important that a best-practice analysis across these tourism offices is done and the learning from these offices be captured in a capsule / module and then applied across the tourism offices.
Also for some of the tourism offices, the office bearers or the directors are fairly seasoned tourism experts, and the richness of their experience comes into play while executing and designing strategies for travelers as well as trade partners.
Challenges in selling India as a tourist destination
Poor infrastructure seems to be the biggest challenge that the NTO seems to be grappling with, in terms of selling India as a tourist destination. The visuals in the communication (Incredible India) campaign are at times representative of an Ideal India than the Real India.
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For instance across the communication campaigns featuring Taj, the ambience are shown to be clean and hygienic whereas the actual experience presents a different story, this at times creates unrest within the travelers, since there is a huge mis-match of experience vs. expectations.
Depending upon the source markets, specificities are highlighted as problems, for instance for the Australian market its capacity of the hotels, and direct airline facility which are voiced as priority concerns.
Lack of professionalism in the tourism office is highlighted as another concern. Taking cues from the tourism offices of competing destinations (Hong Kong, Singapore etc) there are suggestions to make the tourism office a tourism marketing board. Lack of marketing aptitude is mentioned as a concern area. There is a consensus on the present office bearers being more generalists in their approach. There is lack of tourism experience and the tenure of stay of the office bearers is too short for them to start contributing effectively. This at times is a bottleneck in the way of faster and effective decision making which does hamper the day to day functioning of the tourism offices.
Although there is mentioning of dedicated tourism officers who are working in the tourism offices, however over a period of time that professionalism seems to be getting eroded because of the induction of generalists. There is no long term commitment from them. There are no concerns highlighted with respect to the funding of these offices; however there are concerns around the people who manage the funding, in terms of the aptitude and attitude for tourism development.
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Adequacy of staff is also highlighted as a concern area, for instance it was mentioned that there is only one NTO which is looking after the whole of North and the South America, however the post of director has been vacant for the last two years and no efforts have been undertaken to fill in the vacancy. Also there is a need to supplement the local offices with staff from the local markets, rather than deputation from India, as they would be in a better position to understand the local market.
Finally, since this business is largely seen as a trade driven market, there is a felt need to expose trade to the market. Other destinations seem to be undertaking a number of sponsored trips for people in the industry (airlines, travel agents, etc) to build interest in their market. India is currently challenged by lack of clear policy and current guidelines are found wanting.
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SUMMARY
Summarizing the throughput of the discussions with the directors of the tourism offices and analysis of the same, following points come out:
Infrastructure - starting at a broad level (in terms of the airline facilities, hotel accommodation booking etc) and going down to local transportation, local tourism routes etc, are major concerns that the NTOs grapple with. Efforts are needed at a war footing to set the course correction and improvise on the infrastructural facilities that the destination has to offer. This is also because although there is huge potential in the product (India Destination), and good infrastructure often serves as an impetus to delivery of a great destination experience.
Diversify express need of diversification, TAJ is a singular element that comes across in communication, primary element of attraction etc. However there is much more that India as a destination can offer and therefore the need of the hour is to highlight those elements of vacation, customize the communication strategies around the same, study the various travelers segment in detail and then target them with specifically designed product and communication strategies to suit the palette of various segments of travelers, as identified.
Organizational Structure more autonomy is demanded to function effectively at the NTO level. The govt. way of working often is not appreciated by the tourism offices. For instance often the assignment to be delivered by a vendor is decided on low cost basis (Tender approach); at times this means sacrifice on the quality of work, which further impedes the overall working of the NTOs.
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CHAPTER 8: SUMMARY OF METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS
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8.1 SUMMARY Gallup Study of Key Overseas Markets
8.1.1 Gallup Study Methodology
The scope of the study included interviews amongst travelers and trade segment conducted during the two month period of October-November 2006. It covered 13 source markets spread over Asia, Australia, Europe, Middle East and North America. Two techniques of data collection were used in the Gallup study. 1. Computer-Aided Telephonic Interviews (CATI) 2. In-Person Interview - the interviews were done by the professional interviewers who went and visited the respondent in-person to gather his / her feedback.
8.1.2 Gallup Study Sample
In all, a total of 602 Trade Partners, 8295 Travelers and 518 Recent Travelers were interviewed. For the Recent Travelers segment, the data collection was done at international airports in the following locations: Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.
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8.2 Gallup Study Summary of Findings
Findings from the primary research and interviews with the National Tourism Offices have been summarized below.
I. TRADE PARTNERS SEGMENT
In the Trade Partners segment, covered as a part of the study, the sentiment about India as a destination has been fairly upbeat. Within the Trade Partners segment, there were three broad sub-segments namely, Small Sized Tour Operators (tour operators who have dealt with less than or equal to 100 international travelers in the last 12 months), the Mid-sized Tour Operators (tour operators who have dealt with more than 100 but less than or equal to 1000 international travelers in the last 12 months), and the Large scaled tour operators (tour operators who have dealt with more than 1000 international travelers in the last 12 months).
8.2.1 India as a destination About 3/5th of the Trade partners
have indicated that interest India levels as in a has
destination
increased in the last two years, in their respective markets Close to 90% mentioned that experience of past travelers who visited India, met (53%)or exceeded (34%) their expectations Thailand and India figure in the Top 5 popular destinations, across source markets. The other destinations that find mention are European destinations, US and Caribbean. 118 source
With regards to popularity amongst the Asian destinations, India (32%) is ahead of Singapore (23%) and Hong Kong (23%), but ranks 3rd after Thailand (63%) and Mainland China (41%).
Thailand and India, along with Mainland China are seen as destinations that have increased in popularity in the last two years. India is seen as the No. 1 popular destination amongst the Midsized trade operators, but doesnt find favour amongst the Large-scale operators.
As per the Trade partners segment, the aspects that attract visitors to India are namely:o Cultural Diversity (56%) o Plenty to See (19%), and o Religious places and Heritage (19%)
As per the Trade Partners, travelers mention TAJ (67%) as the most popular attraction of India, with other competing attractions such as Beaches of India (26%), Palaces of Jaipur (24%) falling far behind.
Trade Partners, who have been in business for 1 to 5 years, mention of India, as a clear favorite amongst travelers (54%). About 86% of these Trade partners also highlight that the interest levels about India as a tourist destination have increased in the last two years.
As per the Trade Partners, destinations that have been facing the turmoil of terrorism, poor development indicators and political conflicts, namely, Indonesia (19%), Middle East (14%) and Africa (12%); have reduced in popularity in the last two years. India (2%) finds a much lower mention.
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8.2.2 Perceived Challenges
According to the Trade Partners Segment, the knowledge level of intending traveler public of India is weak. Only about 25% of travelers know a lot about India. In addition to the above, there are other distinct challenges for the Trade in marketing India as a destination, namely:
Perceived lack of information around: o Products / places to see o Transportation/traveling o Rules, Laws and Regulations o Hotel and accommodation o Prices and associated travel costs
Destination issues such as cleanliness/hygiene, safety/security and transportation problems Perceived lack of promotional support
8.2.3 India Tourism offices
According to 60% of the Trade partners, India Tourism Office plays a significant role in their dealing with India as a tourist destination, although when compared to competing destinations like Thailand (75%) and Malaysia (74%) the scores for India are lower. The distinct expectation that this segment has of India Tourism offices are around:
Offering more support around promotional materials and campaigns Increase of communication to potential visitors Increase in marketing support Increase in new product offerings Holding symposiums and seminars for trade
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II. REGIONAL DIRECTORS
The Regional directors, of India Tourism Overseas office, who were covered as a part of the study, mentioned that the growth rates in their respective regions have been healthy and the mood is upbeat about India, with increasing interest levels. They shared the opinion that India as a
destination has a distinct image, more around Culture and Diversity, with no real distinct competition.
8.3.1 Structure of India Tourism Offices
This segment had mixed comments with respect to the current India Tourism office structure. They felt that the existing structure:
was not too different from other NTOs was lacking professional marketing perspective, owing to emphasis being laid on tendering process had concerns around vacancies not being filled up urgently was fairly autonomous needs to be more supportive, with respect to: ad-hoc requests and servicing, and support (e.g. tickets for trade and key opinion makers).
8.3.2 Challenges in marketing India
In the minds of Regional Directors, some of the challenges in marketing India as a destination were as follows:
lack of direct connectivity (by air) lack of hotel rooms and associated prices lack of support from Indian Tour operators lack of products
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lack of support for sending travel agents on familiarization trips to India lack of local staff
III. POTENTIAL TRAVELERS
Amongst the potential traveler segment, covered across the 13 source markets, the mood with respect to both travel and India as a destination was upbeat.
8.4.1 Outbound travel *
Future travel intention is high, averaging 50% amongst the target population across source markets. This is an increase of around 10% over the past vacation travel in the last two years.
Interest in Asia is again high averaging 20% across source markets. And, interest in traveling to India is around 7%. Preference for Asian destinations improves significantly at an aided level (from around 10%, at Spontaneous levels, it goes up to around 35%, when Aided).
Among Asian destinations, it is Thailand (37%), Mainland China (31%) and Japan (31%) which are the top three destinations for future travel, followed by India (29%) in the fourth position.
As compared to other sources of awareness for India as a tourist destination, Word-of-mouth (49% at spontaneous level, goes up to 72% when aided) happens to be the prime source.
Website of Government of India, (1% at spontaneous level, goes up to 13% when aided) finds mention at lower level.
* Outbound Travel Outbound Travel here implies travel outside of the respondents region. For instance for a respondent of Germany, Outbound Travel would mean, travel outside of Europe.
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8.4.2 Image
Amongst Asian destinations, India has a distinct image, with strong associations on o Palaces and Royal retreats o Place of religious interest o Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation o Heritage and Artifacts, and o Medical Treatment
8.4.3 Communication
Advertising, which is a key catalyst to create interest in India as a destination, has been able to communicate the message of India as a unique destination steeped in history and showcasing diversity. The awareness level of India advertising is a healthy 40% at aided level, which is in line with the trend observed for most Asian destinations. Taj Mahal is the predominant element recalled by the traveler segment, which is also true for the recent travelers (covered as a part of the study) to India.
The following observations of the Travelers segment were also concurred by the Regional directors:
the communication has been successful in creating interest in India there has been a unifying effort for communication across the globe though it could be supplemented locally (through TV, Press and events)
In terms of creating interest in India as a destination, around 44% of the travelers say that the ad made them somewhat/more likely to visit India in the next two years.
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IV. RECENT TRAVELERS
The inherent potential for India as a tourist destination is evinced by the feedback from recent travelers to India.
97% of them mentioned that their experience with India as a destination either met or exceeded their expectations, which is very encouraging.
The key highlights were warm and friendly people (50%), cultural diversity (46%) and plenty to see and do (45%). Unlike the intending traveler segment, where recall and association with India was primarily around Taj, here the experiences were more varied Goa (45%), Kerala (32%), Kulu / Manali (23%), Haridwar / Rishikesh (29%), etc across multiple visits
Future likelihood to travel return to India at 98%, is very high.
Thus, there certainly exists a distinct opportunity for India as a tourist destination, which is highlighted by the overwhelmingly positive experience of the recent travelers.
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CHAPTER 9: WAY FORWARD
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To leverage this opportunity, a multi-pronged strategy needs to be adopted, building upon two broad pillars:-
OVERALL STRATEGY
A) NATIONAL TOURISM OFFICES
B) COMMUNICATION
NATIONAL TOURISM OFFICES The marketing of inbound tourism by NTOs necessitates staff at both head office and the offices abroad. As with the other destinations, increasingly, the presence of India Tourism offices in key source markets is critical to drive interest in India as a Tourist destination, by understanding the local pulse and offering customized support and communication to address the needs of that market. According to the WTO report on Structures and Budgets of NTOs25 although there are minor differences between NTOs, their structures are more or less similar. The differences that exist between countries can be explained by the variations in their marketing policies. For e.g. centralization of tasks at head office may limit the number of staff needed abroad and vice-versa.
A difference in strategy that necessitates a physical presence in foreign markets also influences the staffing levels of offices abroad. Whereas India has 13 Tourism offices abroad, competing destinations like Malaysia has 30
25
Structures and Budgets of National Tourism Organizations: UNWTO (2004-05)
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offices (excluding 16 marketing representations) and Thailand 18 offices (excluding 21 marketing representations)26. The challenge for India, as with other Asian destinations, is that in most long-haul source markets, though there is latent need / interest in the destination, it is not immediate. Here the role of the Tourism offices is critical
in terms of sustaining interest and increasing the relevance, through increased activity in key markets. In order to exploit the opportunities that lay ahead of India as a destination, some of the options that need to be explored are:
Strengthening Presence
In the long-haul source markets, like UK which is very upbeat about India, strengthen our Tourism offices thereby elevating our promotional and marketing activities
With forecast of increased inflows into South Asia, exploit the same by expanding our presence to markets which increasingly contribute to the global traffic and where we have limited or no presence, namely, Mainland China, Spain, Russia, South America
Scandinavian Nations and the like. With the increased economic growth rates in South Asia, expectedly there is a corresponding increase in intra-regional traffic. In case of Thailand, wherein the share of inbound tourism from the region from the various intra-regional markets is: Malaysia (12%), Japan (10%), China (7%), Korea (8%) and Hong Kong (6%); the allocation of budgets for these markets account for 30% of the total27. Thus, India should also follow similar approach. India needs to allocate sufficient budget and strengthen its presence of Tourism Offices in markets like Mainland China, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea.
26 27
Structures and Budgets of National Tourism Organizations: UNWTO (2004-05) (Refer Annexures:1) Structures and Budgets of National Tourism Organizations: UNWTO (2004-05) (Refer Annexure:3)
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Structure and Staffing issues
According to WTO report on Structures of NTOs, there is limited variability across NTOs, more on account of difference in marketing strategy.
Appreciating the task at hand, there is a distinct need to increase the marketing orientation of the Tourism offices coupled with heightened interactions with industry professionals and trade and increased promotional activity. Such an effort has implications on staffing requirements, namely those who have experience and technical expertise in tourism marketing and associated industries and having expertise to structure packages, promote and market them and continuously interact with the trade bodies. These roles require dedicated and full-time resources to further Indias presence in source markets.
Staffing in the India Tourism offices could as well have more local representation. Their familiarity with the local context makes them better suited for the role.
Filling up of vacancies, which are at times open for extended periods of time, should be addressed with urgency.
As seen with other NTOs, there is increased relationship with private sector, either at formal, contractual or informal level. This
needs to be explored by India Tourism offices either for staffing requirements or partnering on marketing activities, which will further a professional approach.
Trade Interaction
In addition, India Tourism offices need to actively support and partner with Trade, in terms of creating and sustaining interest in India as a
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destination. On this front, the two requirements of the Tourism offices are on promotional front and also on product offerings.
The challenge for India Tourism offices is that there is limited interaction with the large operator segment, although the significance of the role that the tourism offices play in the Trade Partners dealing with India as a tourist destination is high. Along with that the geographical spread of the tourism offices is limited when compared to the competing destinations like Malaysia and Thailand. It is this segment of large operators, which is critical to drive volumes and tip the tide in Indias favor. Here the following activities are required:
Dedicated service teams and regular interactions Development of customized products for each market Increased communication to traveling public, in conjunction with the large operators, and Exposing the frontline staff at these operators to various products, by taking them on familiarization trips to India, as done by other regional destinations like Thailand and Malaysia. This will enable them to better market India as a destination, on account of their first hand experience. In the event, that the aforementioned is being addressed, efforts need to be made to measure and manage the impact and efficacy of the same.
These initiatives need to be supplemented with more support at the backend, both with respect to policy decisions and servicing.
COMMUNICATION
The communication has been successful in terms of reinforcing existing perceptions, in terms of India being unique, steeped in history and diversity.
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The reach of the ad can be enhanced by adopting a more creative approach to the media mix, and further augmenting with local communication initiatives.
Though
Press
and
TV
advertising
finds
larger
mentions,
International channels need to be supported by presence in Local TV stations. Finally, outdoor media, along with events could be used as a reminder media to maximize on the global campaign.
In terms of content:
There is a distinct need to focus and elaborate on the Plenty to see and do dimension, as this would increase the relevance of India as a destination and go beyond Taj, which expectedly, is the only distinct strong association with India, amongst the travelers.
Also, the varied experience of the recent travelers, which furthers this proposition, should manifest in the communication. Such an approach will help in impacting disposition to travel to India, which with respect to the current communication is debatable.
WEBSITE - Increasingly Internet is becoming a more important medium for the travelers segment. Internet as a source of awareness of India destination and also as a source of awareness for India advertising finds limited mention. More importantly, Indian Govt. website doesnt find substantial mention which needs to be addressed. Here the following activities are required: Linking our website to various web search engines and further its utility by making it more interactive and relevant to the target.
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In addition to increasing awareness of the website, this media can be leveraged to address some of the existing communication related issues around:o Places of interest, which currently is an area of focus for communication. Here associated information around,
historical information about the place, how to get there, places to stay and the like, could be enhanced. With the current limitation on the experience with tour operators in India and also most of the travelers planning trips on their own, an interactive component allowing for travel arrangements, planning and scheduling for the proposed trip will further the relevance of the website. And finally, providing link of Incredible India website to other commonly used travel sites will further the incidence of access.
Apart from India Tourism offices and Communication, there are other destination challenges that require to be addressed. Some of these are infrastructural issues such as hotel room availability and associated pricing. Some of the other mentions which increasingly will play a critical role and warrant attention are Cleanliness & Hygiene and Safety & Security issues. --
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ANNEXURES
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NTO offices and representations abroad Annexure 1
Source: Structures and Budgets of National Tourism Organizations: UNWTO (2004-05)
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NTO staff (expressed in Full-Time Employees FTEs) Annexure 2

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Thailand Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Annexure 3
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011 Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Market (Tourism)

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

THE GALLUP ORGANIZATION

Report on Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Market Research Division Ministry of Tourism Government of India

Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

1.1.1 Tourism Outlook Global

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

UNWTO World Tourism Barometer: January 2007

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

1.1.2 Tourism Outlook ASIA

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

Though still the smallest of WTOs tourism regions, South Asia

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

1.1.3 Tourism Outlook FORECAST

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

1.1.4 INDIAN ECONOMY

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

India has witnessed growth in both these components of Aviation industry.

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India

Tourism and Employment

India Tourism Global Recognition

10th Five year plan (2002-2007)

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets

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CHAPTER 2: STUDY OBJECTIVES

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Evaluation Study in Selected Overseas Markets