PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY (A Central University) DIRECTORATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION Tourism Products of India Paper Code : MBTM 3003 MBA - TOURISM III Semester Author Dr.Jitender Mishra, Assistant Professor, Dept.of Tourism, Pondicherry University, Puducherry. Edited by Prof.Y. Venkata Rao, Associate Professor & Head, Dept.of Tourism, Pondicherry University, Puducherry. © All Rights Reserved For Private Circulation Only ISBN No. 978-93-81932-08-7 TABLE OF CONTENT UNIT LESSON TITLE PAGE NO. 1.1 Tourism Products 4 I 1.2 Tourism Resources of India 11 1.3 Climate, Vegetation and Culture 26 2.1 Natural Resources for Tourism 38 II 2.2 Hill Stations and other Natural Resources 56 2.3 Caves of India 66 3.1 Tourism Circuits & Pilgrimage 78 III 3.2 Heritage Tourism cuircuits 96 3.3 Heritage Circuits of India 102 4.1 Manmade Resources for Tourism 118 IV 4.2 Supplementary Accommodation 132 4.3 India Train Tour Packages 146 5.1 Emerging Trends in Tourism 158 V 5.2 Medical & MICE Tourism 170 5.3 Pilgrimage Tourism & Sustainability 184 Notes MBA (Tourism) - III Semester Paper Code: MBTM 3003 Paper - XIII Tourism Products of India Objectives ➢ To study the vast Tourist resources of India; ➢ To conceptualize a tour itinerary based on variety of themes; and ➢ To identify and manage emerging tourist destinations. Unit - I Tourism products: Definition, Types and unique features - Tourism resources of India - Natural, Socio cultural, Diversities in Landform & Landscape - Outstanding Geographical features - Climate, Flora & Fauna. Unit – II Natural resources: Wildlife sanctuaries - National parks - Biosphere reserves - Mountain Tourist Resources and Hill stations – Islands – Beaches - Caves & Deserts of India. Unit – III Major tourism circuits of India: Inter State and Intra-State Circuits - Religious Circuits - Heritage Circuits - Wildlife Circuits. Cases of select destinations - Kerala, Rajasthan & Goa. Unit – IV Manmade resources: Adventure sports - Commercial attractions - Amusement Parks – Gaming - Shopping - Live Entertainments - Supplementary accommodation - House boats - Tree houses - Home stays - Tourism by rail - Palace on wheels - Deccan Odyssey & Golden chariot. 1 Notes Unit - V Emerging Tourism Destinations of India: Ecotourism - Rural Tourism - Golf Tourism - Wine Tourism - Camping Tourism - Medical Tourism - MICE Tourism -Pilgrimage Tourism. References Manoj Dixit (2002), TOURISM PRODUCTS, New Royal Book Co. Lucknow. Norman Douglas, SPECIAL INTEREST TOURISM, John Wiley, Australia. Robinet Jacob (2007), INDIAN TOURISM PRODUCTS, Abhijeet Pub, Delhi. Sarina Singh (2008), LONELY PLANET INDIA. Stephen Ball (2007), ENCYCLOPEDEA OF TOURISM RESOURCES IN INDIA, 2 Notes UNIT - I Tourism Products of India Learning Objectives After studying the chapter the reader will be able to ➢ Differentiate tourism product from other manufactured products from a marketing view point ➢ To comprehend the vast Tourist resources of India; ➢ To conceptualise a tour itinerary based on variety of themes; and ➢ To identify and manage emerging tourist destinations. Unit Structure Lesson 1.1 - Tourism Products Lesson 1.2 - Tourism Resources of India Lesson 1.3 - Climate, Vegetation and Culture 3 Notes Lesson 1.1 - Tourism Products Introduction Tourism as we have understood so far is the phenomena that encompass many related services under its broad ambit. Some people say tourism is a business of networking. Tourism is basically a service industry. Tourism services differ from other manufacturing goods in terms of four main factors viz. intangibility, heterogeneity, perishability, and inseparability. First, tourism services are intangible since they cannot be inspected and sampled in advance before the actual purchase is made. Therefore, an amount of risk is involved on the part of the purchaser. For example, a tourist 170 booking a hotel room through a travel agent may not have any knowledge about it. In one way, this helps the marketer as there is no physical distribution of the product and no storage of the product is required. However, intangible products suffer from many drawbacks as lack of actual delivery by middlemen like travel agent reduces their commitment to the product. The use of a reservation system to book rooms and airlines seats unnecessarily adds to the cost of the product without adding any value to it. Thus, a marketer must try to present the product in form of brochures and development video cassettes to overcome the drawbacks. Secondly, tourism products are heterogeneous, unlike other manufacturing goods. A TV set, or a motor bike are units in mass production sharing identical characteristics. Although package tour has gone a long way in making the experience standardized in association with the airlines, hotels, and other providers, some aspects of the product are beyond control of any operator. For example, a rain during the tour can spoil the experience and a strike in the high ways can obstruct the movement of traffic. These are the instances on which the operator does not have any control. Third, tourism product is highly perishable. A piece of mobile phone, if is not sold in a shop can be sold on the next day or may be after a 4 month with some discount. However, an unsold hotel room for a day and a flight with an empty seat is lost forever. Tourism industry suffers from time variable demand. Tourism demand is normally more during the peak season. And in off season, the rooms remain empty for certain duration to increase the overall cost of the product. This is the most important aspect in tourism marketing especially in pricing the products. Pricing strategies can help in spreading demand by offering substantial discounts during the off season to an extent. Finally, tourism services are inseparable from its seller. While buying a television set, a customer brings the product to home after a demo at the shop. The seller may not be present in the consumption or use of the goods. Whereas, the guide needs to be present during his description about the product and a tourist enjoys the description of guide at the destination. The travel agent sells the product, the airline cabin crews cater to the needs of the travelers, and the front office executive receives guests are some of the examples of tourism services. Combination of Largely intangible different elements. though with e.g. transport, tangible elements accommodation, food and beverage There is a high degree of Consumer has interdependence between The business to travel to the the elements of a product, tourism product location of the e.g. if the flights is badly and the leisure product, not delayed the traveller may be tourism product vice versa unable to use the hotel services they have booked Most purchases only bestow Most purchases bestow only shared use rights, e.g. the temporary use rights on the consumer has to share flights, consumer – they can only use hotels, restaurants with other a particular flight on a specific users over whom they have no day or stay for a particular control length of time in a hotel 5 Notes Types of Tourism Product I. On the Basis of Usage of Products Tourism product can be studied from two different perspectives i.e. from the perspective of the suppliers (sellers) and that of the consumers (tourists). Services produced by suppliers may range from transportation, lodging, food and beverages, entertainment facilities and so on. Similarly, tourists or consumers may demand the products based on their satisfying needs such as attraction, amenities and accessibility. Further such needs may be categorized on the basis of tourists’ participation and use of natural resources of a country. While suppliers based categorization will be studied as part of tourism systems, this unit will focus on consumers’ participation in natural resources and typology based on such participation. II. On this Basis of Attractions Types On this basis of attractions types, tourism products can be classified into Natural, Man made and symbiotic products. i Natural Tourism Product This kind of product includes mostly attractions that act as a pull factor for a visitor to visit a destination. Natural settings such as unique landscape, dense forest, mountains, lakes and beaches have traditionally been centre for attraction for tourists worldwide. Case –Nature Attractions at Sharavati Wild Life Sanctuary Nourished by Sharavati river the wildlife sanctuary at Mupanne is home to a variety of mammals, birds and reptiles. The sanctuary is a refuge of the endangered Lion-tailed macaque. Other mammals include tiger, leopard (black panther), wild dog, jackal, sloth bear, spotted deer, sambar, barking deer, mouse deer, wild pig, common langur, bonnet macaque, Malabar giant squirrel, giant flying squirrel, porcupine, otter and pangolin. Reptiles include king cobra, python, rat snake, crocodile and monitor lizard. Muppane is a village in Shimoga district in Karnataka having nearest railhead at Thalaguppa which is 40 km away the place is 350 km from Bangalore. Nearest town for Sharavathi Wildlife Sanctuary is 6 Notes Sagar town which is some 20 kilometers away from this unpolluted nature camp. The ecotourism activities at Muppane nature camp is under the control of Karnataka forest department. The second highest waterfall Jog Falls is located in this sanctuary. It is spread over an area of 431 Kms. The sanctuary is nourished by the Sharavathi River. Linganamakki reservoir spread over an area of 128.7 kms is a part of this sanctuary. The remaining area has been divided into core zone 74.33 kms, buffer zone 170.67 kms and tourism zone 57.53 kms. The Sanctuary is cloaked in evergreen, semi- green and moist deciduous forests. Muppane Nature Camp has Forest Dormitory and Tents, which are maintained by the Wildlife Division of the Karnataka Forest Department. The dormitory is on the edge of the Linganamakki reservoir, amidst semi- evergreen forest, approximately 3 km from the main road. The northern part of the sanctuary is mainly semi evergreen forest, degraded in many areas. The entire route from Kargal, through the sanctuary, has numerous villages often bordered by plantations.