2020 Perspective of Tourist Guides in Chennai – Scope for Future Generation

PERSPECTIVE OF TOURIST GUIDES IN CHENNAI - SCOPE FOR FUTURE GENERATION

Synopsis submitted to Madurai Kamaraj University for the award of the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT

By OBED JACKSON. R REGISTRATION NUMBER: P4646

Under the Guidance of Dr B. ZOBEDHA Assistant Professor Department of Hotel Management and Catering Science Madurai Kamaraj University College Madurai : 625 002.

MADURAI KAMARAJ UNIVERSITY Madurai : 625 021, Tamil Nadu INDIA

JANUARY – 2020 PERSPECTIVE OF TOURIST GUIDES IN CHENNAI – SCOPE FOR FUTURE GENERATION

SYNOPSIS

Introduction

Tour guides play many roles within the tourism industry and for the tourists who they engage. Tour guides are frontline professionals who have the potential to manage the tourists experience and enhance destination image (Rabotić, 2010). The exact role of the tour guide may vary by destination, but the literature has provided some common roles. Cohen (1985) proposed four communicative roles of the tour guide, including selection, information, interpretation, and fabrication. The first role, selection, refers to the input that the tour guide has in selecting the location and itinerary for tours that they will guide - including what will be shown and what will not be shown.

This is particularly poignant in a communist country like Cuba where the government allows only licensed guides to share places and information with foreigners. All tour guides in Cuba were state approved which means they likely had little input into the design of tours or the ability to go off script and itinerary to show tourists unsanctioned parts of the country. The second role of information providers has tour guides as giving knowledge to travelers about varying facets of the destination.

Travelers may use guidebooks in lieu of tour guides and guide themselves in a destination (Jakle, 1985). Guides and books play an important role in orientating a person to an unfamiliar place (Jakle, 1985). Although providing accurate information is often considered as an interpretive activity, it actually falls within the realm of education as it is usually more formalized than interpretation (Hammitt, 1984). Researchers have found that travelers desire accurate and timely information on their tours, making the delivery of such information a priority (Lück, 2003). Providing accurate information is especially important considering that research has shown a knowledgeable tour guide is one of the most important elements of tourist satisfaction (Huang, Hsu, & Chan, 2009).

The third role of guiding as interpretation may occur formally or informally (Reisinger & Steiner, 2006). Some tour guides have strict scripted talks that detail factual information about

1 the travel destination, while others have a broad knowledge base and can tailor their tours to their clientele. The off-script communication that occurs between tour guide and tourist provides linkages to the local culture which allows travelers to gain insights into the daily lives of those living in the tourist destination, especially if the tour guide lives in the destination or is indigenous (Howard, Smith, & Thwaites, 2001). Tour guides provide travelers with information about daily life, cultural norms, and opinions of the tour guides on important happenings at the destination, making their communication skills an important tool for the creation of destination image and mindful tourists (Christie & Mason, 2003; Leclerc & Martin, 2004). Tour guides suggest where travelers should gaze. Jakle (1985) highlights, as an example, that tour guides “point out inane formations” in natural landscape that a common eye may not notice. Guides also interpret objects that may not be labeled or are common places to residents.

A tour guide can become the lens through which many travelers experience a culture for the first time through the eyes of a local. Lastly, fabrication refers to tour guides knowingly providing false information to tourists (McDonnell, 2001). While many tour guides undoubtedly do not engage in fabrication, others may do so for a variety of reasons. For example, a tour guide may receive commission from a particular store that sells inauthentic souvenirs at cheap prices (Ap & Wong, 2001).

There is also evidence that tour guides fabricate information like the location of celebrity houses in Hollywood (Susko & Corral, 2016). If tourists learn that information provided on their tours is fabricated, it can have a detrimental effect on their satisfaction and image of the destination (Pearce & Moscardo, 1984). One of the purposes of the regulation of training for tour guides in many destinations is to combat the prevalence of fabrication. As the tour guide provides factual information and informal cultural knowledge, destinations often place great importance on training tour guides to provide an accurate representation of their community (Black & King, 2002).

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India launched Regional Level Guide Training Programme (RLGTP) scheme under which the entire country was divided into five regions - north, south, east, west and northeast. The scheme envisaged a highest level of tourist guide with a license for interstate guiding. The scheme provided for training of 100 guides in each of the regions. Candidates for this training were to be recruited through a call followed by a written aptitude test. 100 short-listed candidates from each region were to be given training by Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM). In response to the advertisement

2 for RLGTP there were a total of 3404 applicants out of which there were 2954 from northern region, 253 from western region, 74 from south 70 from east and only 53 from northeastern region (IITTM’s internal data). This was an unexpected distribution that merited investigation into the reasons as much less than expected responses form four regions. A research question that emerged is why are lesser number of people interested in becoming tour guides in these four regions? Is there a difference in motivation? Is there a perceived difficulty in this profession? This study delves with the first issue and tries to investigate the sources of motivations and differences, if any, there in.

It was decided to study the motivations for becoming a tour guide and compare the motivations across different regions. One of the regions was to be northern region where there was a stiff competition for becoming tour guides. The other region chosen for this study was eastern region. The research issue was to see if there was a difference in motivations of tour guides as they chose these vocations.

Indian Tourism Industry Overview

The Indian tourism and hospitality industry has emerged as one of the key drivers of growth among the services sector in India. Tourism in India has significant potential considering the rich cultural and historical heritage, variety in ecology, terrains and places of natural beauty spread across the country. Tourism is also a potentially large employment generator besides being a significant source of foreign exchange for the country. During 2018, FEEs from tourism increased 4.70 per cent* year-on-year to US$ 28.59 billion. FEEs during January 2019 was US$ 2.55 billion.

Market Size

India is the most digitally-advanced traveler nation in terms of digital tools being used for planning, booking and experiencing a journey, India’s rising middle class and increasing disposable incomes has continued to support the growth of domestic and outbound tourism.

During 2018, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India stood at 10.56 million, achieving a growth rate of 5.20 per cent year-on-year. FTAs in January 2019 stood at 1.10 million, up 5.30 per cent compared to 1.05 million year-on-year. During May 2019, arrivals through e-tourist visa increased by 21.70 per cent year-on-year to 1.23 million.

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The travel & tourism sector in India accounted for 8 per cent of the total employment opportunities generated in the country in 2017, providing employment to around 41.6 million people during the same year. The number is expected to rise by 2 per cent annum to 52.3 million jobs by 2028. International hotel chains are increasing their presence in the country, as it will account for around 47 per cent share in the Tourism & Hospitality sector of India by 2020 & 50 per cent by 2022.

Investments

During the period April 2000 - March 2019, the hotel and tourism sector attracted around US$ 12.35 billion of FDI, according to the data released by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

Government Initiatives

The Indian government has realized the country’s potential in the tourism industry and has taken several steps to make India a global tourism hub. India is a large market for travel and tourism. It offers a diverse portfolio of niche tourism products - cruises, adventure, medical, wellness, sports, MICE, eco-tourism, film, rural and religious tourism. India has been recognized as a destination for spiritual tourism for domestic and international tourists. In Independence speech from Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to visit 15 domestic tourist destinations in India by 2022 to promote tourism. India was ranked 34th in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 published by the World Economic Forum.

Total contribution by travel and tourism sector to India’s GDP is expected to increase from Rs 15,24,000 crore (US$ 234.03 billion) in 2017 to Rs 32,05,000 crore (US$ 492.21 billion) in 2028. According to WTTC, India ranked 3rd among 185 countries in terms of travel & tourism’s total contribution to GDP in 2018.

During 2018, FEEs from tourism was increased to 4.70 per cent year-on-year to US$ 28.59 billion. FEEs during the period January - August 2019 was US$ 19.27 billion. International Tourists arrival is expected to reach 30.5 billion by 2028. Foreign tourist arrivals for medical purpose increased from 427,014 in 2016 to 495,056 in 2017(P). During January-August 2019, 1.70 million tourists arrived through the e-tourist visa.

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During January-July 2019, Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) were 60.84 lakh with the growth of 2.1 per cent. In July 2019, Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) were Rs 1,34,689 crore (US$ 19.27 billion) with the growth of 7.2 per cent from July 2018 to July 2019.Under the Swadesh Darshan and Prashad scheme various projects has been sanctioned of worth Rs 550 crore (US$ 78.70 million).

As of 2017-18, 81.1 million people are employed in the tourism sector in India which was 12.38 per cent of total employment in the country. The Government of India has set a target of 20 million foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) by 2020 and double the foreign exchange earnings as well.

The launch of several branding and marketing initiatives by the Government of India such as ‘Incredible India!’ and ‘Athiti Devo Bhava’ has provided a focused impetus to growth. The Indian government has also released a fresh category of visa - the medical visa or M visa, to encourage medical tourism in the country. Incredible India 2.0 campaign was launched in September 2017. In September 2018, the Indian government launched the ‘Incredible India Mobile App’ to assist the traveler to India and showcase major experiences for travelling. The Government of India is working to achieve one per cent share in world's international tourist arrivals by 2020 and two per cent share by 2025.

In October 2018, Statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, also known as ‘Statue of Unity’, was inaugurated as a tourist attraction. It is the tallest statue in the World standing at an height of 182 meter. It is expected to boost the tourism sector in the country and put India on the world tourism map. In February 2019, the visiting hours has been increased by two more hours and has been equipped with e-bike tours.

The Government has also been making serious efforts to boost investments in tourism sector. In the hotel and tourism sector, 100 per cent FDI is allowed through the automatic route. A five-year tax holiday has been offered for 2, 3- and 4-star category hotels located around UNESCO World Heritage sites (except Delhi and Mumbai).

Total FDI received by Indian hotel & tourism sector was US$ 12.35 billion between April 2000 and March 2019.

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A web based Public Service Delivery System (PSDS) had been launched by the Ministry of Tourism to enable all the applicants seeking approval for hotel projects and track their applications online on a real time basis. Tourism Ministry is also developing several theme- based tourist circuits under Swadesh Darshan Scheme to promote tourism.

Under Union Budget 2019- 2020, government introduced a Tax Refund for Tourists (TRT) scheme like in Singapore to encourage tourists to spend more in India and boost tourism.

India is a large market for travel and tourism. It offers a diverse portfolio of niche tourism products - cruises, adventure, medical, wellness, sports, MICE, eco-tourism, film, rural and religious tourism.

India has been recognized as a destination for spiritual tourism for domestic and international tourists.

Tourist Guides’ Federation of India

It is Apex Organization of Regional Level Guides of India. It has over 3000 professional tourist guides across the India. ‘Regional Level Guides’ Associations of different cities/regions came together in 1996 and decided to form a National Organisation that collectively represents the interests of the Government of India Approved Tourist Guides. Thus was born the Tourist Guides Federation of India (TGFI).

Ministry of Tourism

The Ministry of Tourism, is the nodal agency for the formulation of national policies and programmes and for the co-ordination of activities of various Central Government Agencies, State Governments/UTs and the Private Sector for the development and promotion of tourism in the country. This Ministry is headed by the Union Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge).

The administrative head of the Ministry is the Secretary (Tourism). The Secretary also acts as the Director General (DG) Tourism. The office of the Director General of Tourism {now merged with the office of Secretary (Tourism)} provides executive directions for the implementation of various policies and programmes. Directorate General of Tourism has a field formation of 20 offices within the country and 14 offices abroad and one sub-ordinate

6 office/project i.e. Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering (IISM)/ Gulmarg Winter Sports Project.

The overseas offices are primarily responsible for tourism promotion and marketing in their respective areas and the field offices in India are responsible for providing information service to tourists and to monitor the progress of field projects. The activities of IISM/GWSP have now been revived and various Ski and other courses are being conducted in the J&K valley.

The Ministry of Tourism has under its charge a public sector undertaking, the India Tourism Development Corporation and the following autonomous institutions:

 Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM) and National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS)  National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) and the Institutes of Hotel Management.

The Ministry of Tourism functions as the nodal agency for the development of tourism in the country. It plays a crucial role in coordinating and supplementing the efforts of the State/Union Territory Governments, catalysing private investment, strengthening promotional and marketing efforts and in providing trained manpower resources.

Tourism in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is a State with multifarious tourist attractions. It has mountains, verdant vegetation, sandy beaches, mammoth monuments, timeless temples, fabulous wildlife, scintillating sculptures and reverberating rural life. It has picturesque spots, continuing heritage, cultural confluence and aesthetic magnificence. Tourism is declared as an “Industry”.

Tourist Arrivals to Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is ranked first in both domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in 2014 and 2015 consecutively in the country. Many steps are being taken to sustain the Top position in both domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in the ensuing years. Targeted promotional strategies and extensive marketing campaigns through print and electronic media at the national and international levels and creation and upgradation of basic amenities and infrastructure at tourist destinations have resulted in the increase of tourist arrivals to Tamil Nadu. (in Lakhs)

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Year Domestic Tourist Foreign Tourist Total

2012 1841.37 35.62 1876.99 2013 2442.32 39.90 2482.22 2014 3275.55 46.58 3322.13 2015 3334.59 46.85 3381.44

Table 1

Tamil Nadu is a forerunner in tourism sector in the country. Tourism in recent times has transformed from a service sector into a major export industry. The State holds the position of pride with 5 UNESCO Heritage sites in India, being the highest number. The State is well connected with sea ports, best roads and rail connectivity, besides being the only State with four international airports offering direct connectivity to many countries. With peace loving people and good law & order, the State offers right business environment and desired linkages, along with all necessary infrastructure for investors.

The “Vision Tamil Nadu 2023” outlines a road map for the growth in the State, covering all the major sectors in the economy. The State has emerged as a preferred investment destination ranked high among the investors for fostering growth and empowering an efficient and competitive market place. The State has always offered a climate of uninterrupted growth and economic resilience. Department of Tourism is the major catalyst for tourism promotion in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu Tourism is taking various steps to attract both domestic and foreign tourists. Marketing Meets, Publicity Campaigns and Exhibitions are conducted at potential regions at domestic and overseas levels. The multifarious tourist attractions, excellent Law and Order, connectivity to destinations, tourist facilities for luxury and budget travel, tourist friendliness are highlighted in marketing activities.

In Tamil Nadu, Chennai Port Trust and Thoothukudi Port Trust are attracting Cruises. Tamil Nadu Tourism Department has suggested to the tour operators to modify the tours, so as to make them spend more time on shore and visit more tourist places for a minimum of three to four days. This will help to generate more revenue and provide an opportunity to spend money on other travel related areas and shopping on handicrafts items.

This will help to improve the economy of the State and the Country. This year, two cruise ships have arrived at Chennai Port and Tamil Nadu Tourism has extended good co-ordination with

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Chennai Port Trust and other Departments, for providing a warm welcome to the Cruise passengers. Coastal tourism is based on a unique resource combination at the border of land and sea environment; sun, water, beaches, outstanding scenic views, rich biological diversity etc. Based on these resources, various tourism products have been developed in many coastal destinations such as well-maintained beaches, water sports, boat-trips, cruises, bird watching tours etc. Our Coast line in Tamil Nadu is dotted with other tourist attractions like Temples, Historical monuments, Forts etc.

Creation of Public Convenience, Wayside Amenities, Watch Towers, Development of Walkway, Upgradation of Beach Front Pockets, Installation of CCTV Cameras, Information Signages, Erection of First Aid Kiosks and development of Arts & Crafts Villages are the proposed works. Para-Sailing, Windsurfing, Water Scooter, Banana Boating, Water Skiing, Sand Art are the proposed activities for the development of Beach Tourism.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, has launched the “Swadesh Darshan” scheme with a vision to develop theme-based tourist circuits on the principles of high tourist value, competitiveness and sustainability in an integrated manner by synergizing efforts to focus on needs and concerns of all stakeholders to enrich tourist experience and enhance employment opportunities. The Department of Tourism has identified the consultant for the preparation of DPR with focus on development of world class tourism product.

Eco Tourism has to be developed on sustainable basis without causing damage to environment and wildlife by integrating facilities at hill stations, wild life sanctuaries and national parks for the benefit of tourists. While promoting eco-friendly destinations, the carrying capacity of the destinations will be taken into consideration and the local community is to be made actively involved in all developmental activities, to ensure inclusive development.

Pachamalai in Tiruchirappalli district has been developed as eco-tourism centre by creating facilities for tourists.

Tourist Destinations at Chennai

• Marina Beach • Government Museum • MGR Film City

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• Marundeeswarar Temple • Arignar Anna Zoological Park • Valluvar Kottam • Ashtalakshmi temple • The Connemara Public Library • Elliot’s Beach • VGP Golden Beach • Pebble Beach • ISKCON Temple • Vivekananda House • Dakshinachitra Museum • Santhome Cathedral • The Madras War Cemetery • The Madras Crocodile Bank • Kishkinta Theme Park • MGM Dizzee World • Queens Land • Shirdi Sai Baba temple • Nettukuppam • Prakasam Salai • The Thousand Lights Mosque • Fort St.George • The Chennai Sangamam • Fishing Harbour • San Thome Church • Kapaleeswarar Temple • Gurudwara • Mylapore • Express Avenue • Vadapalani Murugan • T Nagar • Parthasarathy Temple • Parasailing

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• Scuba Diving • Rock Climbing • Wildlife Safari • Surfing • Pintball • Sailing • Boating • Viswaroopa Adhivyadhihara Sri Bhaktha Anjaneyaswami Temple • Fishing • The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center • Thiruvanmiyur • Neelankarai Beach • Tholkappia Poonga • Semmozhi Poonga • Phoenix Market City Mall • Gallery Veda • Artworld Sarala's Art Centre • Cholamandalam • Higginbotham’s • St. Thomas Mount Church • Guindy National Park • Ripon Building • Birla Planetarium • Madhya Kailash • Anna Nagar Tower Park • Secretariat Park • People’s Park • Nageswara Rao Park • May Day Park

Goals of Tourism Department

• Creation of tourist infrastructure facilities at tourist center’s with State and Central funds, which encourage tourism entrepreneurs.

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• Conduct of capacity building training programmes to impart quality service to the tourists visiting Tamil Nadu. • To enhance the service delivery by providing adequate and correct tourist information to the tourists, under Tourist Guide Training Programmes. • For encouragement of Tourism Stakeholders, awareness Seminar programmes will be conducted involving the tourism stakeholders for strengthening the cordial relationships.

Tourism Infrastructure: State Funded Schemes

Tourism Department is sanctioning funds for the development of basic facilities at tourist destinations for the benefit of tourists visiting Tamil Nadu. The major components namely rest sheds, toilets, approach roads, dress changing rooms, parking lots, drinking water, lighting, signages etc., are provided in the tourist center’s under Tamil Nadu State Funded Schemes.

Tamil Nadu Government had sanctioned a sum of Rs.7667.20 lakhs during 2011-2015, for infrastructure development schemes in all districts of Tamil Nadu. For the year 2015-16, the State Government had sanctioned a total sum of Rs.1733.33 lakhs towards provision of infrastructure facilities and development of road connectivity at important tourist centers in Tamil Nadu.

Government of India Assisted Schemes

For the years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India had sanctioned a total sum of Rs.2384.32 lakhs towards provision of infrastructure facilities at important tourist center’s in Tamil Nadu. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India is also extending financial assistance for the development of tourist destinations.

For the development of Kancheepuram and Velankanni, detailed project reports have been prepared and sent to the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India under PRASAD Scheme (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) for sanction.

Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation

TTDC was incorporated on the 30th June 1971 with the object of providing infrastructure in all the major tourist destinations in the State. It has a chain of 53 hotels and a fleet of 8 Coaches.

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It has also established Youth Hostels at Hill Resorts of Ooty, Kodaikanal and Yercaud catering to budget tourists. Some of the hotels have been leased out and the rest are managed by the TTDC.Hotels Division: TTDC is taking efforts to upgrade all the hotels under its Management with the help of Professional Architects to meet the expectations of the customers. The Staff of TTDC hotels are provided training through the two Catering Institutions at Taramani & Thuvakudi and also through Star Hotels. Boat Houses: TTDC is operating Boat Houses at Muttukadu, Mudaliarkuppam, Pitchavaram, Yercaud, Kodaikanal, Courtallam, Udhagamandalam and Pykara.

The Boats are designed by Technical Consultant from I.I.T-Chennai. The Boats are also inspected by the Consultant to confirm the quality. Wearing of Life Jackets by the tourists at all the Boat Houses has been made mandatory to ensure safety of the Tourists. Transport Division: TTDC is operating Tours ranging from half-a–day to 14 days with a fleet of 8 Coaches. More than 30 Tours are being organized by TTDC for the benefit of Tourists. Apart from these tours, TTDC is also organizing tailor-made tours catering to the needs of group tourists. TTDC has secured 150 Seegra Dharshan tickets per day for all seven days of a week from Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) during June 2015.Fair Division: The 42nd India Tourist and Industrial Fair was inaugurated at Island Grounds, Chennai on 11th January 2016. All the Government Departments had erected their Pavilions in an attractive manner showcasing various Welfare Schemes and Development Programmes of the State Government through attractive working models.

Problem Statement

In India tour guiding is a rather fragmented professional work. Individuals must obtain a license to work as tour guides. As of now, there is a three-tier tour guiding system- local level guides, state level guides and regional level guides. The tier is not a professional or educational hierarchy; rather it is based on area of operation. Training is a prerequisite for obtaining a tour- guide license. Such license is issued by relevant authority to allow an individual to guide tourists in a particular area. Licensing authority is different for each level and area of operations and many times this result in duplicity of licensing and training efforts. Generally, local municipal authorities are responsible for training and licensing of local level guides.

The training is organized in a variety of formats and structures. Normally the local municipal authorities may tie up with local university or college/ NGO/ local or state tourism authorities.

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Generally, these are need based training programmes. It could focus on a particular monument (say for example Fatehpur Sikri) or an activity (a theme park) or may be targeted at a particular community (a tribal or rural community). The duration of training programmes also varies from 3 to 10 days. For state level tour guide licensing is of different practices. In many states (like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) tour guide training and licensing is the responsibility of state tourism development corporations while in some cases (like Uttar Pradesh) state governments shoulder this responsibility.

While in Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC) out sources training of guides to Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management whereas Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) has its own institution named as Rajasthan Institute of Tourism Management (RITMAN) that organizes training. In case of UP, the government has tied up with Lucknow University to train tour guides. The duration of programme may vary from 10 days to 9 weeks.

Regional level Guide Training Programme (RLGTP) has been streamlined over last few years. Earlier, Regional Directors were responsible for organizing the training. However, beginning 2005, Ministry of Tourism has asked IITTM to conduct such training. Financial support is being provided under CBSP scheme of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. As of now the highest level, the regional level tour guides, can guide tourist over an entire region that comprises of a few states.

The entire country is divided into 5 regions. At different levels candidates with different educational levels are recruited to be tour guides. For the RLGTP an aspirant should be a graduate. However, many needs are based on local level guide training programmes that accept individuals with lower educational competencies. Candidates from different academic, professional and socioeconomic backgrounds participate and get trained in these programmes. Domicile is often an important criterion for recruiting trainees. This is perhaps driven by two considerations. One, the local candidate is acquainted with local area; and two, such recruitment would create employment for host community.

With passage of time regional level guide training programmes (RLGTP) as well as many states level guide training programmes are getting streamlined. However, such programmes are inadvertently creating guides with similar skills and capabilities. This too is skewed in favor of heritage and culture guides. This was perhaps so as archeological Survey of India (ASI) was

14 one of the important stakeholders. However, these programmes do not focus on tour guides with other specialties like adventure guiding, nature guiding, foreign language guides, etc. At the input level there are candidates who possess different skills and competencies and have different lengths of experience in the trade and therefore have different expectations from such programmes; on the other hand, at the output side stakeholders especially the tourist with different needs and expectations fails to find a specialist tour guide with certain expertise.

The training programme, it is felt, should allow guides to gradually specialize to create perceived value differentiation by virtue of being linguists, circuit experts, heritage guides, eco- guides, cuisine specialists, adventure, guides, etc. Since tourism has multiple stake holders, each have different expectations from tour guides. This paper aims to review literature to understand the roles of tour guides. The paper begins with understand the ‘importance’ of a tour guide for the various stake holders. The paper also reviews earlier work focused on training of tour guides for developing capabilities to address different needs in different situations. Training system should also understand the challenges faced by the tour guides so that relevant inputs and counselling can be part of such training programmes.

Objective of the study

• To study the socio-economic profile of the tourist guide in Chennai • To study the key motivating factors of tourist guide and the challenges faced by the tourist guide in Chennai • To study the essential skills and competencies needed for the tourist guides to have a thriving tourist guide profession. • To understand their impact of motivation, challenges & competencies on tourist guide satisfaction. • To find the scope for future graduates from the tourism sector to make their carrier as a tourist guide.

Significance of the Study

Tour guides play an important and central role in tourism. Dahles (2002) maintain that tour guiding constitutes a strategic factor in the representation of a destination area and in influencing the quality of tourist experience, length of stay and resulting economic benefits for a local community. Tour guides are one of the most important components of a tourist’s

15 experience at a destination. They facilitate tourists and help them create an experience for self. Tour guides are frontline staff who provide the ‘moment of truth’ for tourists and can make or break the trip (Zhang and Chow, 2004). Tourist could have a good experience of all elements of destination performing as desired and tour guide providing the necessary connect. It could otherwise be a not so good performance of destination elements, but an adept tour guide may moderate tourists’ experience to a good feel.

On the other hand, a destination may be well prepared for a superior tourist experience; however, an unprofessional tour guide may spoil all for the tourists. It is suggested that tour guides are responsible for tourist satisfaction with services provided in destinations. According to Ham (1992) and Moscardo (1998), interpretation enhances visitor satisfaction and contributes to the commercial viability of tourism operations.

Their (tour guides) performance to large extent affects repeat and new business, and also the image of their tour companies and even the destinations themselves (Geva and Goldman, 1991; Mossberg, 1995; Pearce, 1982; Schmidt, 1979; Whipple and Thach, 1988; Wong, Ap and Sandiford, 1998). According to Moscardo (1996): Tour guiding (interpretation) is trying to produce mindful visitors; visitors who are active, questioning, and capable of reassessing the way they view the world.

Moscardo (1998) identifies three primary ways in which tour guides can help tourist enhance the quality of their experience- (1) providing information on available options so that tourist can make the best choices about what they do and where they go; (2) providing information to encourage safety and comfort so tourist know how to cope with and better manage encountered difficulties (e.g. advise on drinking water) and understand messages given by the warning signs (e.g. do not smoke here); and (3) creating the actual experience so that tourist can participate in activities such as heritage walks, adventure, visit art galleries, and learn in areas of educational interest.

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India realizes the importance of guides as instrumental for a superior tourist experience. “Guides play a vital role in bringing satisfaction to tourists visiting a country or region/state. The opportunity of direct interaction with the tourists makes them all the more responsible for projecting the correct image of the country/region, giving factually correct information about the destination, ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the

16 tourists as well as pleasant and satisfying stay for them during their visits” (Ministry of Tourism, Govt.of.India, 2005).

Therefore, the competence that tour guides may possess and the role guides must play cannot be left to chance- it must be carefully conceived by stakeholders including destination managers. Understandably, roles of guides in conveying information, offering explanations and developing narrations have become a current research theme (Dahles, 2002). As competition increases, different stake holders like governments, media, industry, etc. expect tour guides to play a larger role well beyond welcoming and informing tourists. They are no longer isolated individual operators. They have to be a part of a destination’s strategy. Researchers like Gronroos (1978) and Geva & Goldman (1991) have suggested that ‘it is the guide that sells the next tour.’

Accordingly, role of guides is influenced by who drives a destination’s strategy and who is responsible for organizing tour guides at a destination. For example, in country like India, tour guide training and licensing is a responsibility of government (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for Regional Level Guides; State Tourism Departments for State level Guides; and in many cases municipal authorities for Local Level Guides) and tour guides are expected to be disseminator of information and cultural ambassadors.

In cases, like in Taiwan, where tour companies should nominate/ sponsor an individual to tour guide training programme, they are expected to play the role of a tour manager, where they should be from immediate community and LTO (example small island destinations) organizes guide training, sustainability, tourist spending and motivating tourist to stay longer are included in responsibilities of a tour guide.

Area of Study

The sample was selected from different tourist destinations in and around Chennai and the sample includes all the tourist guides registered in Tourist Guides Federation of South India, Chennai.

Sample Design

The population comprised all the tourist guides in Chennai. But, in most of the research studies, it became almost impossible to examine the entire universe; the only alternative thus is to resort

17 to sampling. The present study is also of the same nature.

A sample is taken from the target population being researched. A sample is a part of the population which is studied in order to make inferences about the whole population. If the sample is adequate it will have the same characteristics of the population (Lohr, 2009) and the findings are usually used to make conclusions about the population. Thus, a good sample is a miniature version of the population and good sample design involves the following:

 Sample Unit

The objective of the present study is to perspective of tourist guides registered in Tourist Guides Federation of South India, Chennai. Hence to identify the motivating and challenging factors, we need select samples from different tourist destination in and around Chennai, we can consider the tourist guides who belongs to Chennai are taken as the sample unit (Furrer & Sudarshan, 2001).

 Sampling Technique

Sampling techniques are methods used to select a sample from the population by reducing it to a more manageable size (Saunders, 2011). According to de Leeuw, Hox and Dillman (2008) these sampling techniques are used when inferences are made about the target population. In the present study, Simple Random Sampling was used for the selection of respondents. Utmost care has been taken to take respondents from various demographic characteristics.

 Determination of Sample Size

Sample size determination is a critical issue, as excessive samples may waste time, resources, and money. Although overly small samples can result in inaccurate results. According to researchers (MacCallum, Browne & Sugawara, 1996), they usually work at a level of certainty of 95 per cent. This means at least 95 of these samples would be sure to represent the characteristics of the population if the sample is selected 100 times. The margin of errors describes the population estimate accuracy. A researcher estimates the characteristics of the population by plus or minus 3 to 5 per cent of its valid values for most business and management research. The researcher has applied the following formula to determine the sample size.

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Sample size n = (ZS/E)2 where

Z = Standardized value corresponding to a confidence level of 95% = 1.96

S = Sample SD from Pilot study of 50 samples = 0.520

E = Acceptable Error =5% = 0.05

Hence, Sample size = n = (ZS/E)2

= (1.96*0.520/0.05)2

= 415.51

= 416 samples

Structural Content of the Thesis

The present study consists of six chapters and the chaptalization was explained below.

• Chapter I: It included information’s like introduction about the study, industry profile, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study. • Chapter II: It consist of detailed literature review about the research. Explains the theoretical and conceptual framework of the research work. This part also includes the proposed research model. • Chapter III: It explains the details of research methodology which includes research design, sampling procedure, sampling methods, sample size, instrument development, validity and reliability of the study. • Chapter IV: Includes detail information about data analysis and interpretation. In this section, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and multivariate analysis results are discussed. • Chapter V: It consist of details about summary of findings, suggestion of the study, conclusion and future scope of research.

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A CASE STUDY ON MARKETING STRATEGIES OF TOUR OPERATORS IN THE PROMOTION OF TOURISM

R .OBED JACKSON, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, Department of Geography, Tourism and Travel Management Madras Christian College Chennai. Dr. B. ZOBEDHA, Assistant Professor, Department of Hotel management and catering science Madurai Kamaraj University College. Madurai-2

INTRODUCTION Familiarized with the marketing concepts and how the principal suppliers of tourism products apply these concepts for marketing their products and services .A tour operator assembles the products and service of principal suppliers into an inclusive tour package. This starts with a brief recap of the tour operators’ job and the type of tour operators about which you have already in details. It takes into an account the various aspects of market analysis done by tour operation need for designing their products along with issues in decision making, role of brochures, promotional and distribution strategies, etc. This section on brochures has been reproduced from the South Asia Tourism Secretariat’s booklet on tour operations.

OBJECTIVES

 Know about the nature of market analysis needed to be done in tour operations business,  Understand the process of designing tour packages,  Appreciate the importance of brochures in tour operator’s marketing, and  Know about the promotional and sales methods adopted by the tour operators.

Tour Operation : We list the different types of tour operators based on the functions performed by them :

1) An In-bound tour operator handles tours coming into the country from overseas. 2) An Out-bound tour operator is one who operates tours to other countries 3) A domestic tour operator is one who handles the tours of people of a country who travel within the country. Tourist Profile and Segmentation

As a tour operator you have to apply market segmentation in relation to your own business as they are crucial to the type of package you would be packaging and offering for sales people of all types indulge in tourism activities but at the same time their needs, wants, tastes etc. vary from person to person. Hence, in order to provide better service to the customers, it is essential that a tour operator should have a complete profile of the concept of the tourists he intends to or is supposed to cater to.

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Target Markets

A variety of factors have to be taken into account for selecting the target markets a tour operator would like to cater to. For example, market segmentation by tourist ’income groups helps the tour operator to narrow down on the income group he would like to cater .some tour operators target the up-budget higher income group whereas some go for middle income group and some for lower income group. This again is closely linked with market segmentation by tourists’ motives i.e. adventure, cultural, wildlife and so on.

Decision Making

“Two key strategic decisions have to be made from the assessment of external factors; what prices are likely to be, based on cost calculations of estimated contract prices; and what volume of products should be offered in twelve to eighteen months time. The two considerations are obviously inter-related with other estimate of what prices the market will bear. Both prices and volume decisions have to be bases on judgment rather than statistical projections, and successful mangers need strong entrepreneurial flair to get the answer about right. They also need a very strong nerve to hold onto their judgments or change them as unpredictable events emerge.”

Forecasting and Seasonality

Since the lead time in tour operators business is 12-18 months, forecasting for tourist arrivals becomes crucial. The word tourism organisation regularly publishes tourism forecasts in relation to international travel trends. However, in relation to domestic travel, little or no exercise has been done in India in this regard.

Infrastructure

Decision making in tour packaging is also linked to the availability of infrastructural facilities for packaging the tours. Basic infrastructural facilities like transportation and accommodation are required for any type of tour packages. However, when one goes by target marketing approach, one has to ace into account that the destinations that are being packaged have the requisite accommodation and transportation needed by the customers along with the quality of service required to cater to that target category. You may have creative ideas for packaging tours but in the absence of necessary infrastructure the ideas will never be converted into reality.

Product Design

It must be remembered here that a tour operator’s package is not just a product item but a product line which consists a group of product items within it. The various product items include travel, accommodation, sightseeing, entertainment, shopping, etc. and by packaging all these product items together the tour operator is able to develop the product mix of the tour.

Initially, most of the tour operators went by the product orientation approach laying stress on the products and services of tourism supply rather than talking into account the tourist’ requirements. Gradually, the approach shifted towards market orientation by packaging tours as per the requirements of the target market segments. However, recently, the societal orientation approach has been added for developing tour

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The tour operator should also keep a close watch on the product life cycle of the packages that are offered and the movement it is felt that a saturation point has been reached, immediate efforts should be taken to rejuvenate the package, make alterations or drop the package. Many a times such decisions may have to be taken even without reaching the saturation point because of the prevailing competition and business environment. In tourism, attitudes and fashions change faster and one may have to diversify the products accordingly. Distribution and Promotion

Generally, the methods adopted by tour operators for selling their tour packages include both direct sell and indirect sell thought intermediaries like the travel agents. A tour operator has to very care3fully plan his or her distribution channels and nothing can be left to chance. This is because sales to the target market depend on the channel selected on the performance of that agency which has been sleeted as the channel. Mostly, tour operators distribute their product through travel agents who dominate the distribution system. It is they who decide what to display and sell to the customers. The relationship between the tour operator and travel agent depends on pure business dealings in relation to commissions, payment terms and credit. This relationship has to be very carefully handled and the terms offered to the distributor’s have to be competitive and attractive. Both sides enter into mutual agreement where the travel agents to promote and sell the tour operator’s packages whereas the tour operator offer commissions, provide brochures and at times even assist in advertising or promotional activities.

Participate in travel marts, travel fairs, travel exhibitions is an important from of establishing business relationships and promoting the product. Generally, most of the large tour operators participate in such activities at the international level. Recently, in India, tourism fairs are begin organized at the national and regional levels which provide opportunities to the local tour operators in promotion of their products. CONCLUSION

In this unit were familiarized with certain issues related with tour operator’s marketing .Tour operations is a challenging business with ample scope for innovation and creativity. Selling dreams, attempting to convert these dreams into reality and sending back satisfied tourists is what a tour operator has to work for. Selecting your target groups, packaging the right kind of services and products, having the right distribution channels, competitive prices, target oriented promotion mix and finally adequate customer care and smooth operation of the tour are the essential requirement for success in this business. You must remember that though every step requires careful planning and handling, the responsibility of the tour operator is greater once the tour actually starts. Hence, the persons employed by you as escorts or guides should be well versed in the skills essential for handling these jobs. An escort is the friend, philosopher and guide for the group of tourists.

REFERENCES: 1. Tourism products of India – Sindhu Joseph-pub:Delhi, Abhijeet publication. 2. Marketing of Hospitality and Tourism Services- PrasannaKumar Pub- New Delhi Grawhill Education Pvt, Ltd., 3 .Tour operation Management- Ravee chauthan, Delhi, Vista Publisher.

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