a study on community tourism and its impact in ... - IRACST Home

IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012tourism.(People should have the right to say 'no' totourism.)IMPACT IN ERNAKULAM DISTRICTAfter finding out what the customer wants orneeds, the product (or service) is developed tosatisfy those needs and then it is promoted atprices mutually acceptable to both producer andconsumer. There are various genres or fields thatmarketing is involved in, all of which take adifferent approach. These include directmarketing where individual customers arecontacted personally, public sector marketing(political parties are the clear leaders in this areaof marketing, but other public sector agenciesrun marketing programs to promote theirservices), relationship marketing (buildingloyalty such as through frequent flyerprograms), social marketing (includingeducational programs such as the ‘drink drive’programs where an attempt is made to alterbehaviour) and destination marketing (gettingpeople to visit places, keeping them there andgetting them to come back again). A corecomponent of the modern economy is that ofservice provision. Services are intangible in thatthey cannot be tested without using them beingin separable from the provider / producer andthey have a strong people presence in anytransaction. Being intangible, services cannot beseen, tasted, felt, heard or smelled before theyare purchased, so we need to provide some typeof tangible evidence or representation (such asbrochures).WHAT ERNAKULAM HAS TO FOCUS ON ?If the current market is suitable and desirable,strategies to continue to support and developthem can be developed .However, if thecommunity wishes to broaden ore ven change the type of visitor; they needto understand the nature of different marketssegments and niches. Understanding marketsegmentations is a continual process, but some of themore common segments that many communitiesare interested in attracting include:• Nature or eco travellersFocus on learning, experiential activities andefforts that support conservation•Outdoor enthusiastsActive holiday-makers Natural, healthy food•Heritage travellersOnce the community’s assets (supply) and thepotential tourist’s interests and needs (demand)are established, short and long-term projects canbe identified and prioritized according to theirvalue to the community, value to the tourist andtheir advantage over competing communitiesCONCLUSIONOnce the group is gathered, a VisionStatement is required that identifieswhat is really valued and desired for thecommunity. Under pinning thestatement will be a set of goals thatneed to be articulated and agreed upon, suchas the number of jobs, for whom, at what payscales, for what seasons, or to encourage new residents,retain young members of the community and soon. While agreeing on this is important, therealso needs to be a commitment from thecommunity to work to achieve the vision. Nowthat the community knows who is visiting themand what they want for their future, they mustunderstand what they actually have in theircommunity by undertaking a Product Inventory.This is primarily a list of all existing attractionsand tourism-related facilities that is then ratedon their value to the tourists and theircompetitive advantage. In addition, thecommunity’s infrastructure needs to beassessed so that the capacity to support anexpanding tourism industry cans bedetermined. Of particular concern are water,sewerage, and waste disposal and transportationsystems.579