Definition of Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Service Industries

Introduction

Public-service institutions such as government agencies, labour unions, universities, hospitals, charitable Organisations, professional and trade associations, etc., need to be entrepreneurial and innovative like business. Rapid changes in technology and society pose a great threat as well as an opportunity to them.

However, public service institutions find it more difficult to innovate due to the focus on existing activities. In the absence of a profit-test, size is the criterion of success and therefore service institutions like to become bigger. A brief description about entrepreneurial opportunies in tourism industry, health care and other service industries are given below:

Most innovations in service institutions are imposed on them by outsiders. “The forces that impede entrepreneurship and innovation in a public service institution are inherent in it, integral to it, inseparable from it.” These forces may be divided into three categories.

A public-service institution is based on a ‘budget’ rather than being paid out of its results. It is paid for its efforts out of tax payers or public money. Success in it is defined by getting a larger budget rather obtaining results.

A service institution is dependent on a multitude of constituents. It has to satisfy everyone and cannot give up an existing service, however small or uneconomic in search of an innovation.

A public-service institution exists to serve a moral rather than an economic mission. It seeks to maximise rather than optimize the quality and quantity of service.

To make public-service institutions more innovative, management guru Peter Drucker suggests the following entrepreneurial policies.

The mission should be clearly defined. The focus should be on objectives rather than on programmes and projects.

Goals should be realistically stated. For example should be job is to assuge famine rather than ‘our jobs is to eliminate hunger”.

Failure to achieve objectives should be considered an indication that the objective is wrong or at least wrongly defined. It is not rational to consider failure a good reason for flying again and again.

Public-service institutions need to build into their policies and practice the constant search for innovative opportunity. They need to view change as an opportunity by rather than a treat.

A change is an opportunity. So, they need to view change as an opportunity rather than a threat.

In a developing country like India, public service institutions play a vital role in social upliftment. But most of these institutions function inefficiently resulting in wastage of scarce capital resources. These institutions will have to be productive if these are to facilitate the development of the country. They will have to learn to be innovators and to look upon environmental changes as opportunities rather than threats.

Entrepreneurship in Tourism Industry

During the last 20 years there has been a growing recognition of the importance of entrepreneurship within the tourism industry. Early interest focused on rather general perspectives on the role of transnational enterprises in developing economies. In this context, Rodenburg (1980) examined the dichotomy between locally owned small businesses and larger organizations based on inward investment. This between such development pathways, but is also stressed the polarized nature of and their increased market share, stands in contrast to the numerical importance of small enterprises.

The aim of this chapter is to examine tourism entrepreneurship, especially in terms of the small firm, within a broader research context by highlighting a number of key issues. These include entrepreneurial cultures, the growth of the small firm, and the role of small firm network within tourism destinations. The chapter starts with a short discussion of entrepreneurial and its position within studies of small firms.

Tourism in India

India has unique blend of ancient cities and monuments, old civilization, spectacular natural scenery, rich wildlife reserves, water resources, in history with ancient cities, full of architectural and cultural attractions. In the far northern region there are immense possibilities of adventure tourism specially of winter development and numerous summer destinations due to its relatively cool climate, magnificent lakes and mountain scenery. Many of the hill stations or mountain resorts in the foot-hills of Himalayas were set up during British time in the nineteenth century to escape the heat of the plains.

India is a country, with a large treasure of natural and scenic beauty, archaeological and architectural monuments. There are many hill resorts, beach resort, mountains, rivers, monuments etc., The Indians are well known for their hospitality. An African Scholar Writes “India is a country with too many people, too many animals, too many customs, too many gods and too much of anything”

The Northern part of India is famous for its hills, plains, rivers monuments etc., the Himalayas, Kashmir valley, the Ganges, the Jajma-hal, the Kutubminar, religious centre like Varanasi, Badrinath attract large number of tourists. Tourism infrastructure like attractions, accommoda-tions, accessibility and other amenities are well developed in those regions. Further its attractions are well projected. In spite of all these this region has no natural beach which cannot be substituted by anything else.

The Western regions has Tourist centre like the gate way of India, Bombay (Mumbai) and famous beaches, the cave (Temples-Ajantha-Ellora etc., these centre are fairly well promoted and developed, the supporting facilities like accommodation, transport etc., were fairly developed. Bombay (Mumbai) is a main seat of commerce and it has the maximum number of international flights. GAO beach attracts foreign and Indian Tourists. But compared to the Northern region, it receives a less number of tourists.

The southern regions have many temples, beaches, hill resorts cultural heritage etc. places like Madras, Bangalore, Trivandrum etc, are internationally known. In spite of this, south has not attracted that large number of tourists as the Western and Northern regions. Because south was not sufficiently projected abroad.

The Eastern Region has tourist attraction like the Ghir forest, Pilgrim centre, like Konark, Industrial centre like Calcutta. Less number of tourists comes to this region due to lack of information, promotion and transport and other facilities. But the state Government takes better promotional measures.

The tourists flow to a particular centre is determined by factors like distance, time, cost of getting to and staying cultural ties, security etc.

Eastern region attracts lesser tourists because it is located away from the main centre like Delhi and Bombay (Mumbai). Apart from the location factor, lack of opportunities, security the southern region the season for lesser tourists may be that only few international flights come to the south west compared to the North or the West. But now things are improving.

In the western part we have unique breach resorts along the lagoons of Malabar coasts. The east Indian region have beach resort on the Bay of Bengal and religious centres of Orissa. South India is full of temples.

The tourist attractions of Indian are rooted in the exotic culture and landscapes. Special mention could be made of the class tourist excursions circuits, culture and landscapes, shopping facilities and many other unknown areas with so much to offer to the tourists.

Most foreign tourists arrive in India by air to the major international airports. There are many private airlines operating the international flights. The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism was set up in 1967. Investment in tourism was included in five-year plans. India Tourism Development Corporation was established in 1965-66 to provide necessary tourist infrastructural facilities and to run hotels, restaurants and transport units in important tourist centres all over the country.

The development of means of communication and electronic media have done much to revolutionise the basic structure of the travel and tourism industry. Air transport and shipping services form a wide network. Rail communication in controlled by the central Government and roads are managed by the concerned states.

Tourism Attractions in India

India is the land of myriad experiences and exotic locales. It is a world of resplendent colours and rich cultural locales, be it magnificent monuments, heritage temples or tombs. The Country’s ancient cultural heritage is inextricably linked to its technology driven present existence. The co-existence of a number of religions and cultures, together with an awe-inspiring topography makes it the perfect place for a complete holiday experience. This largest democracy in the world is also home to the oldest civilization in the world the Indus valley civilization. It is land of variations, where you can find diversity in landscape, climate, appearance, food, clothing, language, religion, culture and tradition.

This makes India an interesting place to spend your vacations. India has the right tourism potential and attractions to captivate all types of tourists, whether they seek an adventure tour, cultural exploration, pilgrimages, visit to the beautiful beaches or to the scenic mountain resorts. Here are some of the attractions, which have and still are captivating thousands of tourists year after year.

India is a land of scenic beauty with its snow-capped mountains, lush green fields, verdant hills and white-foamy rivers. India boasts of many world heritage sites as well as world-famous palaces and monuments. The temples of Southern India are indeed examples of architectural wonder. India is a perfect haven for the tourists. Every year tourists flock in droves to explore the spectacular beauty of this splendid country. The tourism industry is a burgeoning industry in India. The travel and tour operators of India are the key players of the Indian tourism industry. The Best of India can be offered to tourists. The tourist attractions of India are given in table.

Attractions of India

Tourism covers a large area in which state govt. municipal and local bodies play an important role. Some states have set up tourism development corporations, but we can’t say that these corporations have been successful in their trial. Govt. agencies have very severe limitations. Private entrepreneurs have to come forward to take initiatives.

Travel and tourism has played a vital role in the development or modern civilizations. Discoveries of unknown areas, trade in tangible and intangible products and exchange of culture and knowledge are the result of travel. In this book and effort has been made to understand the concepts of travel and tourism and provide and insight into the development and operation of the various elements of tourism and its being a dynamic force for regional growth and development. These major components, on the one hand are industries with the travel industry, and on the other, are industries in their own right. An industry is defined on the basis of product. Some writers have avoided the term ‘tourist industry’ and taken over what it described as the ‘tourist system’ (Gunn, 1988). Such a terminology uses the notion of components which would include the tourists, the transporters, the attractions, the ancillary facilities and the planning and promotion of a place.

The tourist product is what attracts the tourists to a place. It includes the primary elements such as historic buildings, urban landscape, museums, and art galleries, theatres, sports and events. There are other facilities which are important for experience of the tourists. Hotel, food beverage facilities, shops and other services are generally put in the category of secondary elements. Figure shows the linking of tourism support services.

The planning and developed of a tourist region is involved in the physical resources or product components, analysis of potential visitors, cost of developed, pricing policies, competitive destinations and other financial aspects to determine the feasibility of development, environmental, cultural and social aspects.

The major elements included in planning for regional development are:

Market analysis

Assessment of available resources:

Visitors attractions

Cultural attractions

Manpower resources

Infrastructure

Superstructure

Transportation

Support services

Visitors accommodation.

Marketing

Economic and financial analysis

Environmental

Social aspects.

Systematic and orderly development of a tourist region lies in good planning for controlled development, awareness, and concern on the part of host communities and government, and careful monitoring of actions, education and understanding rights and responsibilities of both host and visitors.

Entrepreneurial Cultures in Tourism

The majority of work on tourism entrepreneurship has focused on the small firm and its operating characteristics, especially those relating to the owner-manger. Early work utilized Goffee and Scase’s (1983) model of organizational structures and entrepreneurial characteristics (Shaw and William 1990).

This basic model identifies four main types of firm, ranging from the self-employed through to owner-directors. Within the tourism sector, studies emphasized the relatively large numbers of self-employed and small employers who comprise much of the holiday accommodation sector.

Another important characteristic of entrepreneurs within tourism concerns their role as cultural brokers within communities. They can act as important bridges between the world of the tourist and that of the local community, since they may be members of both (jafari 1989). Viewed in this way, tourism entrepreneurs are important in the cultural exchange within tourism and are strongly embedded in these processes. Increasingly, this dual role of entrepreneurship is being recognized in terms of the small-scale enterprise within sustainable tourism.

It is important to recognize that three is a series of entrepreneurial cultures within tourism that range from a strong preoccupation with economic motives through to those concerned more with non-economic ones. In this sense, the concept and definition of the entrepreneur is more complex and reflects the need to adopt different forms (Swedberg 2000). As previously recognized economic perspective of the entrepreneur stress the notions of creativity, innovation, risk-taking and, above all, the pursuit of economic growth. In contrast, sociological and psychological perspectives highlight the knowledge, background characteristics, and personality traits of the entrepreneur. As various authors have argued, there is creasing evidence to show that lifestyle factors and non-economic inclusive of these ideas.

The growth of such entrepreneurs is relatively recent phenomenon and appears to be a direct response to the niche markets provided by the changes in tourism consumption associated with postmodernism, and the growth of the experience economy. Such trends have seen the growth of ecotourism, home stay, adventure tourism, and the backpacker market, for example, and provide new business opportunities. These range of from backpackers hostels to specialized travel agents marketing ecotourism holidays on the internet. It would be wrong to assume, however, that all such enterprises are motivated by life/ethical motives, as many of the tourism dot.com businesses embrace a number of the features of traditional entrepreneurship, including risk taking and innovation, behaving more like Schumpeterian-type entrepreneur.

So-called life style entrepreneurs who are motivated less by profit and more by non- economic factors. Early work by shaw Williams(1998) identified two subgroups:

those termed “non-entrepreneurs” who had usually taken early retirement to tourism destination and had little desire to develop their business. They were motivated by a certain type of lifestyle that fitted their semi-retirement status. Many were also characterized by low levels of managerial skills and expertise.

more ethically bounded lifestyle entrepreneurs of the type identified by Atelijevic and Doorne (2000),who were interested in developing certain types of niche tourism products and had strong interests in environmental issues. These tend to be younger people and may also share some of the characteristics of the “constrained” entrepreneurs recognized by Shaw and Williams. Constraints may either be based on a lack of capital for expansion, or an unwillingness to develop and compromise lifestyle goals, i.e., people whoa want to stay within ethical, usually environmental, boundaries.

Business-oriented entrepreneurs whose motives are mainly eco-nomic. Here it is possible to recognize entrepreneurs in the Schumpet-erian sense, who are capable of growing their business and t hose whose development may be constrained by various financial barriers. It seems likely that these comprise the majority of small business operators within the tourism industry, certainly with the accommodation sector.

Small-scale enterprise operate within specific tourism destinations tend to dominate the industrial structures of such areas. As such, they are a key component in determining the development of tourism destinations.

The increase interest in tourism entrepreneurship has not only produced a broader research agenda, but also highlighted some key characteristics of the small-firm economy. A wider range of case studies has confirmed the economic marginality of many small enterprise and the different motives for operating such businesses. The recognition of an increased number of more ethically driven entrepreneurs concerned with certain lifestyle values has also highlighted a type of entrepreneurial culture which is associated with the shifting consumption patterns of postmodernism. Such enterprise would also appear to fit more closely with the increasing demands for more sustainable forms of tourism production based on community-levels needs – although this needs to be viewed critically. This adds to a complex typology of the entrepreneurial cultures that are being identified within the tourism sector.

While such lifestyle motives are clearly important, it should be remembered that in many other cases it is more profit-driven motives that are driving forward small businesses. In this context, we still knew little about how small enterprises grow and achieve economic maturity. One recent area of growth has been the impact of the “dot.com revolution” on certain types of specialized travel agency: as yet, the growth of this form of tourism entrepreneurship remains a significantly under researched theme.

Entrpreneurship in Accommodation Sector

The accommodation sector comprises widely differing forms of sleeping facilities which can be conveniently categorized as either serviced ( in which can be conveniently is provided) or self-catering. These are nor water-tight categories since some forms of accommodation, such as holiday camps or educational institutions, may offer serviced, self-service or self-catering, but they will help in drawing distinctions between the characteristics of two categories.

A feature of the industry is that, as mass tourism has developed, so have the large chains and corporations in the accommodation sector. Hotels and motles are reaching a stage of development in which a few major companies have come to dominate the international market. This expansion has been achieved not only through ownership but also through franchising, whereby hotels and motels are `perated by individual franchising, whereby hotels motles are operated by individual franchisees paying royalties to the parent company for the privilege of operating under the brand name. this form of expansion has been used with great success around the world by the largest hotel company in the world, Holiday Inns. Since these chains market their products more aggressively, advertising extensively at home and overseas and establishing links with the tour operators, they tend to play a more significant role in the industry than even their market share might suggest.

In an effort to counteract this influence, a number of independent hotels are now banding together to form marketing consortia to provide a more effective and centralized marketing effort. Consortia such as Best West Hotels, Inter Hotels and Prestige Hotels provide a strong marketing challenge hotel chains and an attractive alternative to the tour operators.

Attraction Related Factors

The locale may include the holiday destination and what is offers to the tourist. The holiday destination may offer natural attractions like sunshine, scenic beauty or sporting facilities etc. the locale with its attractions and amenities, is the most important as these are very basic to tourism. Unless these are there, the tourists wuill not be motivated to go to a particular palce. However, since interests are tastes of tourists very widely, they might choose from a wide range of attractions available at various destinations all over the world.

Tourist demands are also very much susceptible to changes in fashion. Fashion is an important factor in the demand for various tourist attractions and amenities. The tourists who visit a particular place for its natural beauty may decide to visit some other attractions due to change in fashion. Peter has drawn up an inventory of the various attractions which mostly influence the preferences of tourists. The five categories are given in the following table

Peter’s Inventory of Tourist Attractions

According to Robinson, the attractions of tourism, to a very large extent, geographical in character. Location and accessibility (whether a place has costal or inland position and the ease with which a given place can be reached) are important. Physical space may be thought of as a component fort here are those who seek the wilderness and solitude. Scenery or landscape is a compound of landforms, water and vegetation and has an aesthetic and relative value. Climate conditions, especially in relation to the amount of sunshine. Temperature and precipitation & snow as well rain) are of special significance. Animal life may be an important attraction, firstly, in relation, to bird watching or viewing game in their natural habitation secondly, for sporting purposes, e.g. fishing and hunting.

Man’s impact on the natural landscape in the form of settlements, historical monuments and archaeological remains is also a major attraction. Finally, a variety of cultural features- ways of life, folklore, artistic expressions, etc, provide valuable attractions top many.

Entrepreneurship in Travel Industry

The industry is developed at a fantastic rate. It has mushroomed tremendously in the last few decades and has become an important factor in the economy of many nations. Thousands of people are wholly dependent upon the industry for their livelihood.

Travel is ranked as the fastest growing occupation in India. The number of full-time travel agents is on the increase. The travel industry employs millions of workers, making it one of the largest employer. It comprise different businesses, ranging form travel agencies and tour operators to cruise lines and lodging establishments. Transportation and transportation related business, including airline, railways, and ship lines, employ large number of Indian workforce. Many private/public schools, colleges, government institutions and universities offer level education programmers. The graduates of these organizations are eventually employed by a diversity of travel related businesses.

Investment in Tourism

This topic deals with the requirements of finance, the sources and the methods by which funds may be channeled form the sources to meet the requirement. Tourism raises certain problems relating to investment and profitability. Tourism investments in developing countries are extremely heavy both in infrastructure and superstructures. As interesting tourism policy needs considerable capital investment.

Tourism demands considerable investment. A high proportion the capital outlay is spent on fixed assets. Accommodation units, land purchases, buildings and infrastructure facilities. According to Medlik about 90% of capital investments in hotel development came into fixed asset category. Variable assets account for a small proportion of the capital outlay. The fixed cost of operation forms high proportion of total costs and such fixed costs have to be paid whether or not the hotel is open to visitors.

Medlik says that after allowing for overheads (depreciation and interest on capital employed), profit amounts on average to about 10% of sale revenue. According to him there is a difference in profitability depending upon the sale-mix of an establishment. Accommodation services yield the highest rate of profit (15%), whereas food (10%) and liquor (7%) comparative yield less profit.

Requirements of Finance

The tourism organization in every country looks after the development promotion and administration which includes training programmes and research. Finances is required for these functions. The formulation and physical development of tourist product requires large capital investment in the infrastructure and in individual facilities. In the developing countries, particularly in new tourist areas, investment in infrastructure must precede investment in individual facilities. It represents a greater proportion of the total investment.

For example, in the development of the Kovalam Beach or Gulmarg areas in India almost 70-80% of the total investment requirement was for project like roads, parks, and clearance services etc. and 20-30% for railway, accommodation and other individual facilities. It all requires a long –term finance. Even inspite of the completion of these individual items, long-term finance is required for modernization and extension schemes. The short-term finance is also required for the maintenance of the infrastructure and for individual facilities.

Tourism promotion also calls for current financing of the media employed. A large part of the budget of most tourist organization is employed for financing the media.

The finance is also required for operating expenses of tourist organization. It includes all costs of the organizational structure.

Tourism is a capital intensive industry, where profitably is long-term oriented. Even the most developed countries, where vast travel plant, modernization, expansion and related training programmes are taken up, require large investment and are feasible only with state assistance.

Sources of Finance for Toursim Development

Issues in and approaches to organization in tourism are closely related to questions of finance in tourism. For the sake of convenience it would better to separate the requirements of finance, the sources and the methods by which funds may be channeled from the sources to meet the requirements.

In most countries there is a mixed pattern of financing in tourism, from public and private funds on the one level of vertical structure on the other hand. The former is considered appropriate, provided that the respective contributions of public and private funds are determined rationally as a matter of policy.

To meet the development, promotion and other financial require-ment of the tourist organization, four sources may be identified. They are as follows.

Government

Industry

Tourist

Tourist Organisation itself

Government

The government contributes to the financing of tourism development at the national, regional and local levels. The economic benefits of tourism being quite spread, the Government enhances the materials well being of the community through its contribution. Even in a market oriented economy it is considered legitimate for the government to intervene financially in circumstance in which private enterprise amy not be able or willing to do so adequately; this may happen in the initial stages in the development of tourism and also subsequently. For maintaining healthy balance of payments, to which tourism contributes significantly, the Government provides finance for tourism development.

Industry

The main beneficiaries from tourism are the provides of tourists services, i.e., the entrepreneurs operating under the tourist organization. In case of integrated structure of tourist organization consisting of

membership participation, individual interests lead the members to contribute to financing the investment by the organization i.e., the members pay subscriptions in view of future returns. The entrepreneurs finance the tourism organization in proportion to the benefit they receive from the tourism organization in proportion to the benefits they receive from the tourism activities. Government may not directly benefits from such financing for the promotion of tourism organization benefits accure to it through tax revenues. It may be argued that the entrepreneurs prosperity or otherwise is at least in part due to the tourist organization which should be able to call on their financial support.

Tourist

The tourists are themselves a major source of financing of tourism development. Through the payment they make for the services they including and element of tax many of them are in fact the main contributors.

Tourist Organization

A tourist organization itself may generate income for its purposes through income from other sources, as it is often in a position to earn revenue for the provision of particular services.

Tourism Finance Corporation of India (TFCI)

As decided by the Government of India, IFCI along with other all Indian institutions and Banks has sponsored the Tourism Finance Corporation of India Limited (TFCI) as a separate all India Institution to cater to the specialized needs of the tourism and related projects. TFCI was incorporated as a public limited company on the 27th January, 1989 and became operational effective from the 1st February, 1989, pursuant to the receipt of certificate of commencement of business form the Registrar of Companies, New Delhi.

Resources

The authorized share capital of TFCI is ` 100 crores out of which the initial paid-up share capital is ` 50 crores, subscribed by IFCI,IDBI,ICICI, UTI, LIC, GIC, SBI, Canara Bank and Bank of India and employees/ Directors. TFCI will also issue bonds, which will be guaranteed by government pf India for mobilizing resources. The TFCI has been declared a public financial institutions by the Ministry, Department of Company Affairs. In 1994 TFCI collected ` 5,11,32,300 by issuing 170,44,100 shares of ` 10 each at a premium of ` 20 each.

Objectives

TFCI provides financial assistance to enterprises for setting up and /or developed of tourism, tourism related activities and services, which inter-alia include hotels, restaurants, holidays resorts, amusement parks and complex for entertainment, education and sports, safari, parks, rope-ways, cultural centres, convention halls, transport, travel and tour operating agencies, tourists emporia, sports facilities etc. Besides, TFCI would also be coordinating and formulating guidelines and policies related to the financing of such projects. TFCI would also have a development role within the overall policies of Government.

Forms of Assistance

TFCI provides all forms of financial assistance for new, expansion, diversification, modernization projects in tourism industry and related activities, facilities and services, such as:

Rupee loans

Underwriting of public issues of shares/debentures and direct subscription of such securities

Guarantee for deferred payments and credits raised in India and /or abroad

Equipment finance

Equipment leasing

Assistance under supplier’s credit

Merchant banking and advisory services

Refinance assistance to state level institutions /banks would continue to be extended by IDBI.

Eligibility for Assistance

TFCI provides financial assistance to projects with capital cost of rupees one crores and above however, unique project which are important from the tourism point of view and for which assistance from state level institutions/banks is not available may be considered on exceptional basis even though their capital cost is below rupees one crore.

Norms of Assistance

A flexible view would be taken in regard to the norms for financial assistance regarding promoter’s contribution, debt-equity ratio, moratorium period and repayment period, depending upon the merits and circumstances of each case.

Tourism Marketing

Tourism Marketing includes all direct and indirect promotional activities to sell travel destination. Realistic establishment of goal is the first step in any intelligent marketing programme. Planning a marketing programme should not be the exclusive responsibility of an official organization. Various segment of travel industry must extend their support and cooperation. To achieve the maximum impact, all marketing activities should be closely knit.

While chalking out a marketing programme, one has to take into consideration the following points.

Level of economic development of the area

Political realities

Magnitude of tourist supply components

Attitude of local travel trade

Local traditional taboos and restrictions

Marketing and Tourism Policy

Marketing affects all the operations of tourism. The investment in modern tourism is particularly very heavy and the establishment of an adequate infrastructure requires many years. To develop the tourist potentials of a country there is a need of well-planned tourist marketing policy.

According to Krippendorf “Marketing and tourism is to be understood as a systematic and coordinated execution business policy by tourist undertaking whether privated or state owned, at local, regional national or international level to achieve the optimum satisfaction of the needs of indentifiable

Consumer groups and in doing so to achieve an appropriate return”

Following are the main factors in working out a tourism marketing policy.

Prices

Price is an essential element of any marketing policy. The number and type of customers depend on it. In the tourist industry price is a determining factor. In this filed the formation of price is facilitated by the broad range of products that may be offered. For example in a seaside research the product (beach) may be both in first class hotel and the adjacent camping site.

Distribution channels

Distribution sector is constantly developing. It requires regular information about the development of commercial structures. In the tourist industry I, this channel has an important part to play. There are various selling methods which are undergoing drastic changes.

The Sales Forces

The success of a tourism marketing polity depends on the personnel who carry it out. It requires a team of well trained persons. Keeping all this in view-the W.T.O. has set up a correspondence course. The course. The course is called marketing for national tourist organization and tourist enterprise. The course will be helpful to those dealing with tourism.

The Marketing Policy

There are five factors in working out a tourism marketing policy.

Tourism Product

Tourism Promotion

The Price of the Product

The Tourist Market

The Tourist Transport

Tourism Product

The product plays an important role in the marketing. As far as the tourist is concerned, the products he buys cover the complete experience from the time he leaves home to the time he returns home. A tourist product is not airlines seat or a hotel bed or relaxation of a sunny beach but rather a ‘package’. The tourist product is a composite product. As an amalgam of attraction, transport, accommodation and of entertainment. All tourist buy either separately, or as an inclusive to the various components of tourist product than seat or a hotel bed is an individual product in the eyes of their product merely component of a composite-product. The tourist products is what the to offer, viz.

Architectural resources

Natural resources

Museums and monuments

Culture

All these things are to be designed and presented according to the requirements of the tourist. There is a need to determine the sector of the tourism market, it is intended to capture. The size of the sector will depended upon the characteristic of the tourist product. For example, a sea-side resort not attempt to capture the same market as safari or a tour of historic castles

The tourist product can be analysed in terms of:

Attraction

Facilities

Accessibility

The attraction are those elements in the tourist product which determine the choice of tourist to visit one destination rather than another, they are factors which generate a flow of tourist to their location. They may be site attractions or those where the place itself is the major inducement to the tourist to visit it e.g. Niagara Falls, the Swiss Alps, The Grand Canyon or built attractions such as Disneyland. The event attractions are those where the event staged is a large factor in the tourist’s choice than the site or e.g., the Olympic games, the Oberaminergau Passion Play or a Congress or Exhibition.

The tourist facilities are those elements in a tourist product which do not normally themselves provide the motivation for tourist for tourist flows. The absence of these facilities may deter the tourists from traveling to enjoy the attractions. These facilities complement the attractions. They comprise accommodation facilities, restaurants, ski-lifts, picnic-sites, etc. Absence of accommodation facilities would be an obvious deterrent to tourism.

Accessibility is a last component of the tourist product. It relates to the mode of transportation to the destination chosen by the tourist. It is determined by the proximity of a destination to the tourist place of residence and is best interpreted in terms of time and the cost to reach the destination, i.e., as economic distance.

The concept of the product is central to marketing strategy and this applies equally to the marketing of international tourism. From the marketing point of view, the tourism product is defined as an experience, of the following components taken together.

Accommodation: It is defined as an establishment which on a regular or on an occasional basis provides over night facilities for visitors. They may also provide other services as meals, which are either ancillary to the accommodation as its main business. It includes all hotels and other traditional form of accommodation, such as boarding houses, motels, inns, holiday villages, tourist complexes, comping sites, youth hostels, spas and other places where the construction is of permanent, semi-permanent nature. Private apartment and furnish rooms in private homes are also include under accommodation.

Natural and other resources: Natural resources refer to such amenities and situation such as Waterfalls Mountains, sand beaches and good climate. Natural scenery, springs, beaches, spas and similar resources are also similar resources are also included.

Others resources refer to social, cultural, historical and religious attractions and economic and technological achievements. It also includes man-made attractions such as Taj Mahal, etc.

Entertainment: The entertainment component runs the gamut of all non-sport audience-oriented activity composed of people.

Services: Service include all operations, designed and performed for the foreign visitors are also included.

Transportation: it covers all forms getting people from one place to another. For example, air transport, rail transport, water transport, etc.

Food and Beverages: This includes different types of food and beverages.

Recreation: Recreation includes all non-entertainment activities for relaxation and diversion.

Other Attractions: IN includes items such as shopping opportunities, etc.

The truth is that the tourist destination as a product is a very complex one. When we try to promote a destination, it is not just beauty, the antiquity, the charm of destination that alone counts, there are many other factors which go to make up the product as a whole.

Tourism Promotion

Tourist Markets

The tourist market is used to describe a collective of buyers of each tourist product. The total tourist market may be divided into three major segments:-

The Holiday Tourist

The Business Tourist

The Common Interest Tourist

The Holiday Tourist: The holiday tourist has proved to be very sensitive to price changes. It has been regarded as highly seasonal. The introduction of winter package to the seasonal peaking of demand for holidays is being improved.

The Business Tourist: The demand for business tourist is relatively price inelastic. Businessmen are frequent but of short stay. This kind of tourism will be attracted by event attractions in the shape of exhibitions, trade fairs and conferences.

Common Interest Tourist: This category comprises of the following:

Visitors to friends and relatives

Visitors for educations purposes

Visitors for pilgrimages and the like

The demand for this type of tourism will be priced elastic and also sensitive to the absolute level of price.

The national, local or regional tourist organizations are engaged in a marketing campaign to persuade the potential tourists to visit the country for which it is responsible. The official tourist organization will seek to create knowledge of its country in particular markets and to persuade visitors thereby to visit their country. The main function of the marketing campaign conducted by official tourist organization will be provision of information about its country and the resorts within it.

Tourism Marketing in India

It is a multi-dimension force. An effect marketing is premised on planning in its totality, understanding the dynamics of the industry, identifying the inherent satisfaction proposed to be provide, establishing the product-purchases interrelationships of what, why, who, when, where and getting the how to go about it, implemented by those trained in its several disciplines.

Dynamics of Marketing

The important dynamics of tourism are

There are two major segments: global and domestic.

Demand is growing

Growth is promised or increasing destination is geographically mutli-dimensional.

It is an industry of industries, the carriers, the travel trade and hospitality, with hoteliering being the most significant.

The composite business has high interdependence between the constituents functioning in parallel in close coordination.

There is multiplicity amongst tourists, in the proposes for traveling and in the manner of traveling, individually or collectively.

The affluent corporate, apart the vast majority of travelers are from the middle income groups seeking good comparative value, with the tourist amongst these not journeying to change the locale of the bed slept that at home.

To the genuine tourist time is valuable, not to be wasted but used to the full for a total memorable experience, in a salubrious setting without hassles and hazards, with case convenience, comfort, cleanliness and in good health.

The traveler seeks confidence in being able to feel as much at home in the destination visited as he would in his or her own home.

And, above all, tourism is a consumer service industry, dependent on patronage from a multitude of sources, with its income coming from guests, users, customers and contractual arrangements such sub-products as may be offered by each of the three “partners in business”, albeit at arms length.

Market Strategy for Indian Tourism

An enduring marketing strategy supported by long-term programmes, for the promotion of India’s foreign and domestic tourism and each of its constituents could be based on:

Developing an arms-length inter-connected “distribution” cob web, embracing the elements, spread over the globe, buying and selling between each other.

Creating and offering “Made in India” unique selling propositions.

Aggressive communication at home, especially internationally, jointly within the industry, related to region in India and for “Destination India” internationally, coupled with competitive direct communication by each of the constituents separa-tely, and by each of those within each constituent individually. The industry and those in it, selflessly contributing to the expansion of tourism demand to bake a large cake and from this, competitively carving out a larger share relevant to specific self-interest.

Tuning the marketing activity of harmonies with what marketing is all about as described above

Exploiting the dynamics of the industry.

Broadening the outlook on marketing to its disciplines and diverse element and then planning activity “totality” to cut the narrow shackles that presently impede its full benefits.

Training and developing marketing in general and the necessary specialists in particular.

Marketing premised on a knowledge-based to be done by knowledge-based managers.

Giving marketing a pride of place in the organization that it deserves, removing it form the narrow confine of “selling” and “Commercial” departments.

Entrepreneurship in Healthcare

Healthcare one of the major areas of new venture investing. In recent biotechnology, medical device, and health care service investments have represented between 25 to 30 percent of al venture capital funding. Moreover, because of the role of universities and other research institutions in producing new intellectual property and because of the financial and distribution power of the major publicly traded healthcare companies new ventures in healthcare often include licensing and joint venturing arrangements.

It analyzes current health care environment challenge, identifies roles of managers and discusses organizational theories that are relevant to the health care environment, outlines the role of entrepreneurship in health care, and describes the entrepreneurial manager in the entrepreneurship manager in the entrepreneurial management process to produce desirable organizational outcomes. Current health care environment continues to show intense competition, entrepreneurial managers are responsible for cre-ating innovations, managing change, investing in resources, and recogniz-ing opportunities in the environment to increase organizational viability.

Major forces in the health care environment include rising health care costs, competition, the growth of managed care, expensive technology, aging of the population and increased cultural diversity (Kovner and Channing, 1997: Shortell and Kaluzny, 1997). Faced with solutions for their long-term survival. In fact, many practicing managers are convinced that organizational survival and success “in today’s hypercompetitive environment depend on flexibility, innovation and speed” (Meryer and Heppard, 2000). As a result, organizations are striving to create strategies that are entrepreneurial and recognizing the importance of entrepreneurship in their long-term strategic vision.

Entrepreneurship and its relevance to health care organizations through a detailed description of the optimal environment, organizational factors, and managerial roles in the entrepreneurship processes to be especially useful to health care organizations as they struggle to survive in the competitive managed care environment.

Health care organizations exit to serve a variety of purposes and make use of money ownership arrangements. Examples of health care organizations include: hospitals, health maintenance organizations, continuing care retirement communities, nursing homes, home health agencies and many others. Such organizations have evolved to meet the demands of the constantly changing health care environment.

Health care entities are organized in many forms, including nongovernmental, profit –seeking enterprises; and government-owned entities, which normally are considered self-supporting, but which do not exist to maximize profit.