Tourism has remained one of the most adventurous activities in the world. Many people are increasingly venturing into tourism as a way of spending their vacations. “Tourism refers to travelling for leisure or business reasons” (Theobald 23). Tourists have always been faced with the dilemma of choosing a suitable destination for their holidays.
Tourists who may wish to have a holiday worth remembering should think of visiting Brazil. This is because of the following reasons. Brazil is one of the most incredible tourist destinations located in South America. The profile of tourism in Brazil has remained very high for several decades. “This is because of its most colorful Rio de Janeiro Car naval, its famous football tradition and samba dance” (Santana 236).
Lifestyle Show
There are fabulous tourist attraction sites in Brazil. Before a person decides to visit Brazil, he or she can make early choices before going there. This is important because it would give a person the easiest time possible to locate the sites. A person can visit the destinations either as an individual or he can choose package tours.
Brasilia is one of the major sites that one can tour upon reaching Brazil. Brasilia was founded in 1960 when it became the capital of Brazil. Most of the magnificent buildings within Brasilia were designed by a famous architect called Niemeyer. Brasilia is a lovely city that was ones bare with hardly any development. Today it is one of the busiest commercial cities in South America. This place will be of great fun for those people who would like to maintain the urban hustles while enjoying their holidays.
Right from the airport there is a warm welcome by dancers who usher in visitors. There are splendid accommodation facilities within the city. International hotels have dotted every corner of the city and one has the option of choosing a suitable accommodation that meets his desire. There are also many well furnished restaurants which can be visited by people who like having drinks while listening to soothing music (Bogosian 67).
Rio de Janeiro is another city that one should not fail to visit while having a holiday in Brazil. This city has a mystical beauty that has remained fascinating to many visitors. This city has a cosmopolitan culture and visitors can easily get used to the lifestyle here. “The city has got areas snuggled up between a splendid bay, and immaculate world famous beaches on one side, and a swiftly risen mountain range, roofed by a lavish tropical forest” (Wonderfullitems 67). Caraioca is a term used to refer to the people living in this city.
This is because they lead a lavish lifestyle by drinking, playing and having all sorts of fun in the sand beaches. There is a huge museum that preserves all the artifacts found in Brazil, and it can be visited especially by people who may wish to learn more about the history of ancient Brazil. “The beauty of this city is further enhanced by the charming -long standing neighborhoods, striking parks and gardens” (Damaceno 2).
Sao Paulo remains the largest city within the region of South America. There are also many attractions in this city that one can visit. Most of the people here are cultured and civilized. Cultural diversity in Sao Paulo makes it lively. “The popular tourist attractions here include Niemeyer’s Edifício Copan, the baroque Teatro Municipal, the Patío do Colégio and the Museu de Arte de Sáo Paulo” (Damaceno 23).
“At one point Salvador da Bahia was the greatest city in Brazil” (Damaceno 123). It was established in 1549. This city has a rich culture and it is popular for its churches and elegant mansions. “Its numerous wild festivals and universal aestheticism and profligacy are also quite popular with the tourists” (Santana 231). It is always recognized for its historical slave trade. The slave business also left this place Africanized.
Conclusion
The future of tourism in Brazil remains bright and many players in the tourism industry are keen to make Brazil a better tourist destination. With the improvement of infrastructure and more investment in the tourism industry, we are therefore optimistic that the profile of Brazil tourism will remain high.
The aim of this assessment is to determine the influence of some selected market mix elements (these are product, price, people, partnership and place) on the effectiveness of historical and cultural tourism services.
Scope
There are 8Ps (elements) in the tourism market mix; however, in this assessment only 4Ps will be covered (Esu, 2012, p.277). Geographically, the assessment is within Myanmar; though, destinations of interest are Inlay, Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan. The assessment will zero-in on the market strategy targeting the Chinese visitors with regard to cultural and historical tourism themes. Myanmar borders China to the northeast.
Chinese travel for leisure and business, inter alia (Lewis-Smith, 2012). In 2011, the visitor arrival (at 61,696) from China was the highest compared to any other country (Network Myanmar, 2012). Moreover, these statistics indicate a rise when compared with the previous years.
Most of the visitors were on tourist visas. Much as there exist a 224km road network linking Myanmar to China via the Myitkyina-Kanpikete-Teng Chong, the country has experienced a dismal paradigm shift in promoting tourism internationally by exploring more avenues to boost visitor increase from the Chinese target market (Xinhua News Agency, 2009).
Market Mix Concept
The concept builds on the fundamentals of marketing. The concept was introduced in the 1940s and integrates (8Ps) elements, which form the bases of analysis for a marketer (Wolfe & Crotts, 2011, p.2). With regard to the tourism industry, two categories of the elements exist; these are the primary (that include product, people, place, price, participation, and promotion) and the process (Wolfe & Crotts, 2011, p.2).
Market mix inferences are imperative when modelling marketing strategies to optimize on resource allocation that has the potential of producing the strongest return-on-investment (Jansen-Verbeke, 1995, p.316). In essence, the market mix has the potential to augment effectiveness in delivering tourism services in the Myanmar.
Key Findings
Product Strategy
Archaeological tourism richness at Bagan is represented by the diverse Pagodas and Temples that exemplify the architectural styles of the 11th and the 13th Centuries. The 2217 deserted but renovated Buddhist temples in Bagan are a haven for tourists that treasure archaeology (Myanmar Tourism Services, 2012).
Not only the temples, the thick jungle surrounding them makes the scenic sites richly recreational, adventurous and benign to tour around. Nevertheless, the temples are conspicuous since the Bagan is on a plane. There is also the Bagan Archaeological Museum furnished with antiques, stone inscriptions and Buddha images. History lovers can recollect and collate about the achievements made by the first Myanmar Empire, which was established by King Anawrahta (Myanmar Tourism Services, 2012).
Other isolated ancient tourist sites are the Maha Gandayon Monastery and the U Pein teak bridge in Amarapura and brick monastery and the Nanmyint watchtower in Innwa. Mandalay destination hosts the Amarapura and the Innwa sites.
With regard to cultural tourism, Taunggyi is taunted as the cultural heritage backyard in Myanmar. Within the Mandalay Palace Cultural Museum, over15 hill tribe traditional attires, especially for different festivals and occasions are on display (Htun & Chaisawat, 2008). The museum also exhibits divans, chairs, swords and fans that were in use during the Sawbwa dynasty. Another cultural attraction is Pwe, a traditional theatre, where performances integrate sports, weddings and religious festivals (Myanmar Tourism Services, 2012).
The Mandalay Palace Cultural Museum and the National Museum exhibit ancient traditional cultures of the Myanmar. Mandalay Palace has the inscriptions of the Buddhists scriptures. Twente town host a range of Myanmar cuisines and pottery work (Htun & Chaisawat, 2008). The Chinese are attracted to the Myanmar cuisines as expressed during their visits (Network Myanmar, 2012). Some native Chinese opt to occasionally visit Myanmar as an escape from some of their cultural nuisances that are absent in Myanmar (Network Myanmar, 2012).
Pricing and Partnership Strategies
As a pricing strategy, tourists from China are among those recognized under the visa-on-travel market strategy. This is a gesture to facilitate the visitors’ entry into Myanmar. Myanmar appreciates joint venture and foreign investment. Out-of the 739 hospitality facilities in Myanmar, 22 are foreign owned; while, four are on joint venture (ASEAN-China Centre, 2010). The influx of tourist visitors from China is an index on friendly pricing regime.
A tourist gateway through Yangon International Airport registered a rise of 61,509 in 2010 compared to 2009 tourist arrivals (Network Myanmar, 2012). In terms of partnership, Myanmar leadership intends to rejoin the World Tourism Organization in order to leverage its tourism agenda (ASEAN-China Centre, 2010). This will be a crucial step to reforms since Myanmar is a member of some of the regional integration frameworks in South East Asia.
These integration frameworks are imperative to regional development by fostering free movements of citizens among the member countries as well as the collective marketing (Soa & Morrison, 2004, p.93; Chiang, 1998, p.75). This is an opportunity for Myanmar to tap from the huge populace of China on the pretext of tourist travel.
People
The Tourism Policy in Myanmar takes cognisance of technical education and training of the populace in order to develop competent human capital to run the industry (Oo, 2008). Myanmar is also party to the Jakarta Plan of Action of 1986 on human resource development. In order to realise this, Myanmar set up the Manpower Planning Committee and the National Nucleus Commission for Human Resource Development.
Generally, the highest professional training in tourism in Myanmar are at diploma and certificate levels (Oo, 2008). Thus, compared to other neighbouring states such as India and Thailand, the human resource is undeveloped. The human resource development is also weak in experience to achieve the international standards (Intaravitak & Patanapongse, 2011). A major drawback is the limited training opportunities (Jansen-Verbeke, 1995, p.315).
Place
Automation or electronic ticketing is still nascent in Myanmar. Myanmar relies on only on internet service provider thus making the access limited and expensive for local tourism service providers. This explains why more Chinese are less aware about Myanmar tourism potential as indicated by the Network Myanmar (2012).
Conclusion
Myanmar presents a rich cultural and historical heritage. The Chinese are high spenders thus diversifying cultural and historical tourism products will increase more opportunities for them to spend. Myanmar can diversify through integrating rural life where visitors participate in sleepovers, home stays and engage in demonstrations of cultural activities (such as preparing traditional dishes).
Rejoining the World Tourism Organization is a positive gesture; however, the Myanmar leadership should hasten its pace. People should be trained adequately in the different Chinese languages and high-end skills in providing standard and quality service. Addressing language barrier with tourist from China is an incentive to Myanmar (Sarker et al. 2012, p.279).
Chiang, L. C. (1998). Tourism and hotel industry in Indo‐China & Southeast Asia: Development, marketing, and sustainability. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 3(1), 75-79.
Esu, B. B. (2012). Linking Human Capital Management with Tourism Development and Management for Economic Survival: The Nigeria Experience. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(11), 276-287.
Htun, K. M. M., & Chaisawat, M. (2008). Marketing Strategies For Promoting Cultural Tourism In The Union Of Myanmar: A Case Study Of Taunggyi-Inlay Region, Shan State.
Intaravitak, P., & Patanapongse, W. (2011). Ayeyawady‐Chao Phraya‐Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) – Human Resource Development Programme.
Jansen-Verbeke, M. (1995). Tourism development in Vietnam. Tourism Management, 16(4), 315–321.
Myanmar Tourism Services. (2012). Destinations of Myanmar.
Network Myanmar. (2012). Travel and Tourism.
Oo, A. K. (2008). BIMSTEC-Japan Cooperation in Tourism Development: Myanmar Perspective.
Sarker, M. A. H., Aimin, W., & Begum, S. (2012). Investigating the Impact of Marketing Mix Elements on Tourists ‘Satisfaction: An Empirical Study on East Lake. European Journal of Business and Management, 4(7), 273-283.
Soa, S-I. A., & Morrison, A. M. (2004). Internet Marketing in Tourism in Asia: An Evaluation of the Performance of East Asian National Tourism Organization Websites. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 11(4), 93-118.
Wolfe, M. J., & Crotts, J. C. (2011). Marketing Mix Modeling for the Tourism Industry: A Best Practices Approach. International Journal of Tourism Sciences, 11(1), 1-15.
Xinhua News Agency. (2009). Myanmar to grant cross-border tourists from China to travel deep into country.
If you are looking forward to traveling to the place that has been capturing the minds of the wanderers for years, make a bid at exploring one of the most scenic, miscellaneous and enigmatic pathways in the country and, probably, in the whole world. Lake Waikaremoana Track, with its unmatched 46 km cabin-to-cabin daytrip, residues to be an unparalleled Great Walk. The Lake Waikaremoana Track appears to have the biggest zone of innate woodland in the North Island. This area has been the native land of the Maori society Ngai Tuhoe for centuries. Completely inside the borders of Te Urewera National Park, the tour leads us through the shorelines of this outstanding reservoir for the most part. For several days, the road forces me through the untouched tropical rain forest, rejuvenating shrub land zones of marshland, flows and herb pitch, and an enchanted ‘goblin woodland’, with outstanding waterways, cascades and ethereal gorges of mist on my route.
With every uphill stride, the fastenings on my rucksack pierced my shoulders. I was inhaling sharply as if I did not have enough air. At eye-level, I saw the mud-covered heels of a companion walker’s shoes marching over the dead trees and high grass, as they left the marks in the mud in the form of massive footsteps. My knees screeched as I scuffled my sore legs further up the winding track, foot trudging persistently on. The wind was singing in the crowns of the huge trees as the sunshine filtered through them onto lenient mudstone earth and dank fallen greeneries. The growing feeling about another several hours of this beauty and fatigue leaked into my consciousness, as the drops of sweat covered my clothes and dribbled off my brows. It is at moments like this you cannot help but think whether marching in the very heart of nature is worth the entire struggle; but just one brief glance into the azure eyes of the lake provides the amount of inspiration enough for the hikers to forget about exhaustion driven by the insatiable desire to absorb all of the unspeakable beauty around and preserve it in the heart forever.
The modern people often speak about traveling referring to it as a way to get away from the habitual and boring everyday routines, encounter something new, get some fresh air, and change the atmosphere. A walk to Lake Waikaremoana is a perfect synthesis of all these features. This place is so drastically different from what a contemporary city dweller is used to seeing that it makes a traveler wonder if they somehow wandered into a completely different world without noticing it. What astonished me the most about that hike were its colors. I felt as if I developed an ability to see beyond the traditional palette humans can perceive. In reality, the colors of Lake Waikaremoana and the wilderness around are so striking simply because they are all natural, juicy, and untouched; they are so pure and unique in their beauty I could not help but notice that no city lights could ever replace the innocent glory of nature.
At one point of the walk, I stopped to have a short rest and looked at the shoreline and the rainforest framed by the blue mist clouding at the edge of the green and blue worlds. This was when a surreal feeling of being dissolved in this prehistoric world came to me. All of a sudden, I found myself looking at the gorgeous native trees of New Zealand slowly waving their huge piercingly green leaves in the wind and wondered if all the civilization with its dusty and smoggy metropolises even existed. I stood in the middle of the emerald paradise surrounded by the echoing songs of exotic birds and imagined that regardless of the decade or even a century, that place looked exactly the same. I felt completely disconnected from my past and from the typical everyday life I have had for years, and I loved that feeling
The great walk is not only a fusion of overwhelming sights for the eyes; it also has the ultimate purifying effect on the body and mind as a mesmerizing secluded place where life has been flowing at a slow natural pace for thousands of years. At Lake Waikaremoana nature overpowers humans; it penetrates their hearts and produces a magical healing effect washing away all the worries and stress. The further the walk took me – the deeper was the purification.
As we stumbled upon a small beach hidden in the ever-present trees and bushes, we took a dip into the lake whose water was as clear as glass to wash away the remains of the burdens we carried in our hearts. Nature and its eternal grace took over me. I sat at the shore looking at the sky crowded with the most magnificent clouds I have ever seen and thought of the perfection of the scenery around with its versatile beauty – sometimes rigid and scruffy, sometimes gentle and tender but altogether marvelously breathtaking.
A Great Walk around the Lake Waikaremoana is a fantastic experience for any traveler. It has all one would want from a hike – a refreshing getaway, a soothing experience, a hypnotizing scenery, a meditation combined with an active workout, and a reminder of what we miss out on staying in our big cities for years and forgetting to interact with mother nature. Lake Waikaremoana brings back the feeling of unbreakable connection between a human being and nature that is so often neglected in the modern world.
Over time, tourism has developed and new trends have emerged in the industry. One of these trends has been halal tourism which is a virtually new concept that seeks to create holiday destinations and vacation for the Muslim counterparts under strict principles of the shariah law. Despite the devastating effects of the September 11th attacks on the tourism industry to many countries, this has not been the case in the Arab world. This is due to the fact that many Muslims and Arabs resorted to Muslim favorable nations for holidays, for fear of scrutiny and discrimination in the European countries. As a result, countries in the Middle East and Asia like Turkey and Malaysia have becoming hot spots for halal tourism. The current report is an attempt to evaluate the concept of Halal tourism and its relevance, coupled with its effects, both positive and negative, as a form of business. To do so, the report shall endevours to synthesize various journal articles on Halal tourism.
Halal Tourism
Al-Hamarneh and Steiner (2008) have explored hotels in Malaysia as a site for Halal tourism. According to the authors, Halal tourism is an aspect under the Islamic law and is categorized to include halal food, halal activities and airlines and the subsequent compliant hotels, especially in regards to the shariah law (Al-Hamarneh & Steiner, 2008). In a bid to maintain the Halal status by the hotels numerous challenges and opportunities have emerged in the Malaysian tourism sector. It is therefore due to this concern that the research by Al-Hamarneh and Steiner (2008) was conducted. The number of tourists arriving in Malaysia is mainly from the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Turkey (World Tourism Organization, 2010).
In terms of opportunities related to Halal tourism, there is great potential in the tourism industry. It is estimated that there are approximately 1.57 billion Muslims in over 100 countries all over the world, which is about 23% of the total population in the world (Razalli, Abdullah & Hassan, 2010). Therefore, the application of the Halal concept not only applies to the food industry but to other sectors like the manufacturing industry. In regards to Malaysia, Halal tourism has been the major economic booster in terms of creation of wealth.
Although the September 11th attacks negatively affected the tourism industry, this has not been the case in the Arab countries, which is due to the fact that most Muslim and Islamic tourists are avoiding Europe and North America as tourist destinations, and instead resorting to Muslim–friendly countries like Malaysia for their visits. In the Islamic view, they prefer to tour regions/countries where their spiritual growth could be impacted upon by visiting spiritual places. In these aspect therefore, Malaysia is a vital place as it harbors spiritual prayer places and is the home of both halal beverages and foods. Islamic hotels in Malaysia can be described as having complied with the shariah law. This can be translated to mean that the hotel serves no alcoholic beverages at all, has a staff of only Muslims and positions the bed and toilets in the direction towards Mecca. It also emphasizes that male and female counterparts have different recreational facilities, with female only floors and a strict dress code for the women, among others (Laderlah et al., 2011).
In relation to establishing shariah compliant hotels, it is essential that the service providers seek to do so through niche marketing, where they simply develop the status of their hotels to meet the standards of the shariah law and to be more conducive for the Muslim hoteliers, instead of targeting the general public as a whole (Laderlah et al., 2011). A good example is the Almulla Hospitality in Dubai which generally seeks to give comfort to Muslim hoteliers and has associated its services with a healthy living lifestyle. However, Razzalli (2008) states that the implementation of Islamic hotels could pose to be quite a challenge in the sense that it is quite difficult to prove that there will be enough Muslim hoteliers that would substantially necessitate the development of facilities only for them. Secondly, in most hotels, alcohol has seemed to be the main source of attraction and therefore, restricting it could lead to low sales.
Even though the Middle East is richly endowed with great tourist sites and good cultural endowment, it is quite surprising to note that it hardly attracts many domestic tourists, with the total percentage of Arabs that would in fact consider international tourism adding up to about 3% (Razalli et al., 2010). Most of the visiting tourists mainly originate from European countries. However, after the September 11th attack, many Muslims and Arabs discovered the Middle East to be an ideal tourist destination. This is because they feared to be back lashed upon while in the European destinations and preferred to stay home and tour. After the attacks, most Arab countries have noted an increase in the level of tourists especially from the Persian Gulf. This is due to the redirection and expansion of intraregional flows by the Arab tourists. The number of Iraq nationals that visited Syria during that period was about 68%, with an addition of about 40% of tourists from Qatar and 22% from Kuwait and another 12% from Yemen. The United States experienced a drop in the number of Arab tourists visiting the region by about 50% while those visiting Europe declined by about 30% (World Tourism Global Trends Reports, 2009).
However, The Jordan area witnessed a significant increase in the number of Arab tourists, with about 25% of the visitors originating from the Middle East and about 22.5% consisting of Egyptian nationals. This move is however supported by Al-Hamarneh and Steiner (2004), who note that due to the fact that those alleged to have propagated the September 11th attack were from Muslim and Arab origin, this led to development of racist attitudes towards the same from the western societies.
Moreover, the Arab destinations were easy and cheap to access as they were easily accessible by land (Bhuiyan et al., 2011). It is through the above global awakening that the Arab countries saw the need to develop intra regional tourism among them and sought to lay down strategies to ensure its success. It is therefore under this platform that the Arab league saw the need to highlight the importance investing in intraregional tourism as a way of ensuring growth in tourism. The There is also the issue of opening up air transport routes and infrastructures like roads so as to boost intraregional transport, and by boosting sea transport so as to join the Arab countries to one another. Another recommendation would be to thoroughly market Arab countries in relation to tourism, through the Arab media propagating the broadcast of positive media.
In Turkey, just like in other Muslim countries, any goods or services that have been designed according to the principles of Islam to meet the tourist industry are part of Halal tourism. Due to the political stability in the country, Turkey has been able to attract a wide number of tourists especially in 2010. Duman (2011) states that since AKP took over the government under the leadership of Tayyip Erdogan, the number of tourist hotels applying Halal concept significantly increased from about 5 to 39 in total. However, Halal tourism in Turkey has increased due to the economic and political progress of most of the conservative Muslims who live in Turkey. The ministry of culture and tourism deals with the standardization and certification of the tourism enterprise. Therefore, in order to operate the halal concept in hotels, it is very necessary to obey all the legal requirements and directives that have been stipulated by the ministry. These are among others not to operate discotheques or sell alcoholic beverages in the bars, or use the mentioned rooms’ as prayer rooms (Kalesar, 2010).
In Turkey, there are two types of halal tourist resorts. The first type is the seaside facilities. Even though this concept has been in existence for a longer period of time, they represent a fairly new concept in Turkey, a trend that is immensely gaining popularity (Duman, 2011. The other type of Halal tourism that Turkey is practicing is the hot spa tourism which unlike the sea side tourism is very old and has been used by turkey in the service industry especially in the tourism sector. In turkey, an approximate of about 51 states promotes this kind of halal tourism and regards it as part of their potential (Duman, 2011).
In the Turkish tourism industry, Halal tourism is majorly categorized into three where the first category is compromised of Turkish nationals who live and work in the European countries, most of whom constitute a bigger percentage of the market share for this type of tourism. The second type of category is the middle class upscale customers who are very conservative Muslims and therefore have very conservative Islamic lifestyles. The third type of market for the Turkish Halal tourism sector is the foreign Muslims who generally comprise of nationals from countries like middle and eastern regions. This is because the Turkish Halal products have generally been a preference for most of the Muslims from other countries.
On the other hand, despite the boom in the Turkish Halal tourism sector, various consumer surveys have reflected a negative effect. This is because most of the customers complain about poor service and high prices for the products. They also complain of having to share the beaches with the non-Muslims and also having to share the facilities of the hotels with other non-Muslims, which to them is not halal compliant or shariah compliant. The Turkish tourism industry has also gone a notch further in advertising for halal tourism in the area by using specific terminology to describe the services they offer. For example, Kaplicalar to describe the availability of hot spas, Dini oteller, used to describe religious hotels, and so on.
It is interesting to note that there is limited tourism interest in most Muslim dominated countries, with the state of socioeconomic underdevelopment being a major setback. Most Muslim countries are poor despite the fact that they are the major oil producers. The environment in most Muslim countries has been constantly characterized by poverty and destitution, and is thus not an attraction to international tourists. However, there have been similar problems arising in all the major halal destinations (Duman, 2011).
A major complaint in the Muslim countries is usually the issue of poor access and infrastructural underdevelopment, and is actually a general problem as related to Muslim destinations. This problem is however accelerated by the fact that there is limited capital and unskilled labor to foster developments. However, the issue could be easily solved by bringing in foreign expatriates in the country. Another point to note would be the fact that most Muslim countries have a perceived negative image. Moreover, there has been limited or poor promotion of tourism agreements among the Muslim states. This is because most of the agreements conferred rarely go past the declaration stage. Examples of such agreements have happened in Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey.
Islamic countries are maximizing on tourism as the major market, with Malaysia benefiting from it immensely, due to the fact that it is the 2nd largest foreign exchange earner for the country’s economy (Bhuiyan et al., 2011). Even though Malaysia is not purely a Muslim country, it is considered so because majority of the population comprise of Muslims. Tourism in Malaysia can be categorized into three namely, religious tourism, spiritual tourism, and cultural tourism. Under the religious tourism concept, Malaysia has many mosques that act as an attraction for tourists who are Muslims. Under the spiritual tourism concept, it is assumed that Muslims from other countries may visit Malaysia with the sole purpose of developing their own spiritual growth. Due to the diversity in the Malaysian, many Muslims tend to prefer it as a holiday destination. This is especially due to the fact that the holiday packages offered in Malaysia are appealing to the Islam community and also due to availability of Halal products in the market, just like in the Middle East and Turkey.
The emergence of Crescent Tour Company in 2009 is seen as an attempt to drive the concept of Halal tourism to the next level. The company is selling the idea of halal holidays to Britons, which adhere and operate under strict Islamic principles. Being that the company is a tour company, its vision is to offer high quality halal holidays, with a wide range of destinations, but operating extensively in Turkey. In order to ensure that the customers of the company enjoy high quality Halal destinations, the company conducts tours and visits to their holiday locations to ensure that the services they are offering are up to standard (Crescent Tours, 2012). Being an Islamic based holiday tour company, most of the customers are majorly of the Muslim origin mostly from Europe countries like the United Kingdom and France. However, Muslims from North Africa, North America and the Middle East are also embracing the company’s concept.
There are mainly three holiday types that the tour company strives to offer. They include luxury private villas, which are available in the Mediterranean, heritage tours commonly found in Istanbul and sun and beach resorts. A client therefore makes a booking depending on one of the three types of holiday they would like to vacation at. Services at the onsite facilities are in total compliance with shariah law and therefore alcohol is totally restricted, with facilities separated to suit the needs of both men and women privately, without the women having to expose themselves to men who are not their husbands (Suleaman, 2010).
Since one of the popular areas in terms of destination tours and cultural values is Turkey, Crescent Tours seeks to conduct heritage tours to the country, with the tourists visiting sites like the Topkapi palace of sultans and the amazing views of Hagia Sophia.With the beginning of the year, crescent tour company is seeking to be best among other global brands in the discovery of luxury halal holidays, with new and exciting destinations but with affordable prices, facilitated through an easy online booking system.
Conclusion
It would be ideal to state that based on the evidence above, Halal tourism is the new global trend in the Arab countries and in the Muslim world. From the above context, it is evidently proved that most Arab countries have embraced the idea and the turnover is so far favorable with most of the concepts being similar in most of the countries like Middle East, Turkey, Malaysia and so on. It is also wise to state that the September 11th attacks led to the discovery of this sector in one way or another, with most of the Muslim people opting to visit Muslim friendly countries other than Europe and other global parts. Gradually, the concept of Halal foods, hotels and destinations has gained recognition and is becoming an increasingly high source of foreign exchange for the Arab nations.
Reference List
Al-Hamarneh, A. & Steiner, C. (2004). Islamic Tourism: Rethinking the strategies of tourism development in the Arab world after September 11, 2011. Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 24(1), 175-184.
Bhuiyan, A. H., Siwar, C., Ismail, S. M. & Islam, R. (2011). Potentials of Islamic Tourism: A Case Study of Malaysia on East Coast Economic Region. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(6), 1333-1340.
Crescent Tours. (2012). About Us. Web.
Duman, T. (2011). Value of Islamic Tourism Offering: Perspectives from the Turkish Experience. Web.
Kalesar, M. I. (2010). Developing Arab-Islamic Tourism in the Middle East: an economic benefit or a cultural seclusion? International Politics, 3(5), 1-32.
Laderlah, S. A., Ab Rahman, S., Awang, K& Che Man Y. (2011). A Study on Islamic Tourism: A Malaysian Experience. Web.
Razalli, M. R., Abdullah, S. & Hassan, M. G. (2010). Developing a Model for Islamic Hotels: Evaluating Opportunities and Challenges. Web.
The factors that influence the growth of the hotel industry in the UAE are political ones, including policies and spending; economic ones, including the development of supporting tourism, restaurants, and transportation industries and investments; and legal ones, including tax laws and regulations (Central Intelligence Agency; Geronimo par. 2). In this case, the most influential factors are economic that are associated with the development of tourism, entertainment, restaurants, and transportation industries. In addition, much attention should be paid to the customer’s purchasing capacity associated with changes in the household income rates (UAE Ministry of Economy 5).
Therefore, the analysis of the hotel industry’s progress in the UAE depends on determining the relationship between such variables as the growth of tourism and transportation business in the UAE and changes in the household income as independent variables, and the progress of the hotel industry in the country as a dependent variable. The situation in the hotel industry is also examined with references to the analysis of the relationship between such variables as the hotel industry’s progress and the contribution of the industry to the gross domestic product (GDP).
The most recent data provided by the UAE National Bureau of Statistics is related to the period of 2001-2012. According to the regression analysis of relationships between such factors as the growth of tourism and restaurant business and the growth of the hotel industry, the 20% growth in the tourism sector is positively related to the 17% growth in the hotel industry. The growth of the transportation infrastructure in about 10% is also related to the growth of the hotel industry (“UAE National Bureau of Statistics”).
In this case, changes in tourism and transportation industries as independent variables can be discussed as influencing the growth of the hotel industry in the UAE. In 2012, the buying capacity of tourists increased in about 32% in comparison with the data for 2001-2011, and this factor was related to changes in the hospitality sector in the UAE because of increasing the number of beds in hotels and expanding the hotel chains in the country (“The World Bank”; “UAE National Bureau of Statistics”).
The other part of the regression analysis includes the examination of the relationship between a growth of the hotel industry and changes in the percentage of contributing to the UAE’s GDP. If development of the industry is an independent variable, the percentage related to the growth rate of the GDP is a dependent variable. Having conducted the regression analysis on the growth of the hotel industry in the UAE during the period of 2001-2012, it is possible to state that during the period of 2009-2012, the percentage of the hotel industry’s contribution mostly increased because of positive changes in influencing factors (as it can be observed with the focus on the first part of the analysis), and during the period of 2009-2012, the GDP also changed, demonstrating positive outcomes.
In 2011, the percentage of contribution was 1.9%, and the UAE’s GDP was $38,930. In 2012, the percentage of the industry’s contribution was 2.0%, and the UAE’s GDP was $40,444 (“UAE National Bureau of Statistics”; “United Arab Emirates GDP 1973-2015”).
Referring to the conducted analyses, it is possible to identify such trends as the capacities to promote the development of the hotel industry while facilitating infrastructure and contributing to the growth of tourism and restaurant business in the country.
The article The effects of customer and competitor orientations on performance in global markets is written by Zhou, Brown, Dev, and Agarwal (2007), and it dwells upon an effective management model in the global hospitality market. The researchers consider two approaches, customer and competitor orientation of companies. Zhou et al. (2007) note that businesses operating in better-developed markets have to focus on customers’ needs as these countries have more resources and more demanding customers. At the same time, businesses operating in economically developing markets should exploit competitor orientation due to resource scarcity and unfavorable business conditions.
The use of one of these approaches shapes the financial management of the company. Thus, in more developed markets, businesses have to invest more in developing a wide range of services for customers to meet their needs. However, in less developed markets, it is important to finance specific areas in accordance with the market’s characteristics. For instance, in some markets, there is a lack of highly professional staff, and the company has to invest more in this sphere (Zhou et al., 2007).
The article provides valuable insights into financial management in the global market, and it unveils effective approaches to develop a business. Thus, it becomes clear that in less developed markets, it is ineffective to try to develop a variety of services to meet the needs of demanding customers as it is more effective to provide services or to have characteristics that other competitors do not have. This will increase the competitiveness of the company. It is important to have in mind this understanding since lots of companies make the same mistake and try to adopt a customer-oriented approach even though they operate in a less developed market, which requires investment into particular spheres of business.
Reference List
Sharma, S. (2010). The impact of the adoption of international financial reporting standards on the legal profession. Houston Business and Tax Journal, 38(1), 303-319. Web.
Zhou, K.Z., Brown, J.R., Dev, C.S., & Agarwal, S. (2007). The effects of customer and competitor orientations on performance in global markets: A contingency analysis. Journal of International Business Studies, 38(1), 303-319. Web.
In Italy, the government’s regulations, taxation strategies, directives, norms of leadership, and employment regulations are highly flexible for business. Italy is one of the most promising business places with remarkable expansion in corporate world. The tourism sector, as a product, has taken advantage of the favourable Italia economic condition to expand its market niche. The stable economy of Italy has been a pull factor for the tourisms’ products since the purchasing power of many of its potential customers is high, especially for its leisure and entertainment ventures (Winchester 2006).
Legal
The legal system in Italy is very stable and functions on the pillars of serving the interest of every tourist equally. However, when carrying out business, the tourism products in Italy should be packaged within the needs to comply with all the business laws and federal laws as well. Being a tax compliant sector, tourism products in Italy have fulfilled its legal mandate as a business and have the freedom to do trade within the territories of Italy (Winchester 2006).
Economic environment
Despite the global economic meltdown in 2009, the economy of Italy has recovered from these effects and is currently one of the leading economic powerhouses in Europe. The recent economic boom in Italy has resulted into growth of many businesses due to increased demand for products and services. Being one of the most strategically located businesses, the tourism products positioned to benefit from the economies of scale and improved revenues since it has several brands within Italy (Winchester 2006).
Social environment
Many social issues affect any business sector or industry. However, the tourism industry in Italy has aligned its services with the target market needs by actively participating in series of corporate social responsibility initiatives. Besides, the products and media services provided by the firm are aligned with the socio-cultural needs of customers in Italy. Currently, the sector is investing in areas where socio-cultural factors promote its business such as mountain climbing, cable cars, group tour packages, and subsidized services (Yan, Myers, & Wang 2012).
Technological environment
The Italian tourism sector has successfully incorporated online activities within its operations. As one of the leading retailers of tourism services, the sector has launched the Italia tourism credit card, online booking portal, and live consumer support centre.
Since most of its operations rely on the availability and usability of information technology, the business has applied available technology to develop and maintain the market leader status as a destination within Europe. All aspects of the sector such as sales, purchases, marketing, management, and operations have been aligned to appropriate and sustainable technology (Winchester 2006). This is summarised in the table below.
Political Factors
Strategies for fun and safety
Campaigns for tourism ideals
Labelling and general friendly packages
Business License in different product categories
Economic Factors
Low set-up costs for different tourism products
Growing markets
Support from major suppliers and organizations
Value for money for each tourism product
Franchising facilities set ups for different tour packages
Social Factors
Active lifestyles products that fit different classes of tourists
Social activities that fit expectations of tourists
Technological Factors
Online ordering for different tour packages and products
Investments in technological Innovations to improve on product acceptance
Competitor Analysis
In order to attract potential users who are tourists, the brand design strategy narrow down to tourism services and ideal destinations such as the eastern gorges and dotted sandy beaches. This ensures that accurate information is correctly reflected besides saving time which is of essence to different classes of tourists. The value proportion of this strategy is capable of tracking past records which have been fed in the computer system on tourists turn out and response on service quality and affordability.
In addition, the branding of tourism as a product created direct value for money spent (Sharp, Riebe, & Dawes 2002). As a matter of fact, players in the tourism industry of Italy have been given the opportunity to customize the application to fit into their system and fully control flow of information on tourists’ turn over.
Different models of brand exist from simple to complex models for larger international companies which aim to cut a niche in the competitive market. This has been made possible by technological revolution and inventions aimed at remodelling efficiency, reducing redundancy, and embracing systematic orientations in the Italian tourism products.
Stakeholder Analysis
Internal stakeholders
External stakeholders
Management team
Transporters
Board of governors
Distributors
Employees
Local community
Investors
International community
The executive board
Logistics and technology support providers
Proposed New Tourism Development
There is need to increase the scope of operations through strategic and innovative ideas of tourism service delivery to customers. There is also need to provide efficient, cost effective, and comprehensive tourism transport logistics services to customers (Shimp 2007). This is possible through incorporation of new features to the existing transportation service so as to cater to the changing demands and needs of the targeted customers.
This may be achieved through complete transport chain automation for different tour packages to different regions within the targeted location. In order to succeed with this plan, there is need for excellent marketing, advertisement and promotional strategies to win the confidence and loyalty of the customers in the proposed changes in the transport system (Robbins & Coulter 2012).
The success of the proposed plan will be dependent on soft artful skills which are part and parcel of the current system of management aimed at providing efficient, cost effective, and comprehensive transport logistics services to customers. For implementation of the strategy, the management is to balance both the short term and long term considerations towards decision making to ensure that the goal of increasing scope of operations through strategic and innovative ideas of transport service delivery to customers is achieved at the optimal operational and strategic model.
There is need to incorporate a quality operations management system to guarantee the interests of the stakeholders (Hakala, Svensson, & Vincze 2012). Moreover, balancing act between having to perform optimally at minimal operation and overhead costs is a component of quality in system modelling that must be remodelled to guarantee optimal returns for the stakeholders’ equity.
Besides improved transport system, there is need to introduce o improve the current green services. The notable green practices in the current lodging include paperless services, solar water heaters, natural air fans, underground floor heating system from natural solar, and energy saver bulbs. Besides, the bathrooms are fitted with water saver flashers and showers. The hotel rooms are well lit because of large windows. Thus, electricity for lighting is only used at night. However, the swimming pools in the hotels should be heated by a green energy source.
Reference List
Hakala, U, Svensson, J, & Vincze, Z 2012, “Consumer-based brand equity and top-of-mind awareness: a cross-country analysis,”Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 21 no. 6, pp.439-451.
Sharp, B, Riebe, E, & Dawes, J 2002, “A Marketing Economy of Scale-Big Brands Lose less of their Customer Base than Small Brands,” Marketing Bulletin Journal, vol. 13 no. 1, pp. 1-8.
Shimp, T 2007, Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of integrated marketing communications, Thomson South-Western: Mason, Ohio.
Winchester, M 2006, “Positive and negative brand beliefs and brand defection/uptake,” European Journal of Marketing, vol. 42 no. 6, pp. 553-570.
Yan, R, Myers, A, & Wang, J 2012, “Price strategy, information sharing, and firm performance in a market channel with a dominant retailer,”Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 21 no. 6, pp.475-485.
Democratic and authoritarian political systems as related to international hotel and restaurant industry
The article explores political factors that may hamper economic growth in any country. In particular, the authors discuss aspects such as government stability, bureaucracy, authoritarian rule, and democracy in the overall growth of an economy (Zeaiter, El-khalil & Nassar, 2014). It is evident that authoritarian political systems negatively impact the growth of multinationals. In any case, multinational corporations can hardly expand their operations in regions affected by civil strife as a result of dictatorial rule. This type of political system has a higher tendency of harboring ethnic tensions and also weakening the stabilities of the affected governments. On the other hand, democratic political systems are in a position to preserve peace and consequently spur economic growth.
In regards to the international hotel and restaurant industry, authoritarian rule is a negative factor that inhibits the growth and development of the sector. For example, a dictatorial regime has a higher chance of creating ethnic differences and conflicts. Moreover, such regimes can easily resort to instability and gross state of political dilemma. As a result, both local and international tourists might not be ready to visit war-torn nations or politically polarized regions. It is crucial to mention that security and peace are vital ingredients in the growth of the hotel industry.
The impact of different economic systems on hotel and restaurant globalization
There is a rapid pace of development of modern economies. Bogolib (2013) posits that the past economic systems across the globe have transformed themselves into mixed economic systems within a very short time. One of the attributes of a mixed economic market system is that it is very competitive. In other words, institutions such as the hotel industry tend to compete among themselves in order to gain a larger share of the targeted market. In addition, the author highlights the relevance of the pubic sector in the overall growth of globalized firms. The article emphasizes the fact that the performance of globalized firms largely depends on the regular market performance of national economies. Other types of economic market systems have also been described in the article. For example, the author has laid adequate background in the discussion of planned economic systems and mixed economies.
The globalization of hotels and restaurants is affected by the nature of economic systems in place. Each of the economic systems has its own strengths and weakness to hotel and restaurant firms that desire to expand their operations to other geographical locations. This implies that hotels and restaurants that wish to expand in countries with minimal government policies are highly likely to reap a number of benefits. When the government plays a very small role in controlling the business activities of foreign companies, a rapid pace of development can be attained due to minimal trade barriers. On the other hand, this classification of the economic system lacks central planning.
In other words, an economy is commanded from a central point. The government intervenes in all the major processes, such as pricing of goods and services, distribution, and production. Firms in the hospitality industry may not enjoy operating in such regimes owing to several barriers. However, a mixed economic system exhibits a lot of modesty for hotels and restaurants that wish to globalize their operations because some areas are controlled by the government while others are quite liberal.
The advantages and disadvantages of various market entry strategies in the hospitality industry
According to Fernandes, Gouveia, and Pinho (2014), the entry mode into a foreign market is usually one of the most vital decisions during the process of internationalization. The choice of an entry mode usually determines the level of profitability of a firm. From the article, the possibility of choosing equity entry mode is minimized by cultural distance. An empirical study carried out on a number of Spanish firms in the hospitality industry indicated that the culture of a given geographical location affects the entry mode during globalization. In addition, the available internal financial funds and profitability of a firm should equally be put into consideration by firms that wish to expand to other regions. The entry mode and hotel industry characteristics are key aspects that determine the final success level of internationalization.
Equity is one of the entry modes discussed in the article. This mode of entry is often associated with negative growth factors in the Gross Domestic Product of a country where globalization is taking place. In better terms, the overall profitability of a globalized firm is largely determined by the GDP performance. However, an equity entry mode presents myriads of benefits to the globalizing firm. For example, it makes it easy to recognize the market brand. Besides, reservations can be made in advance with limited hitches.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is also a common market entry mode in the hospitality industry. When an FDI entry mode is used, overseas operations can be controlled in a better way due to direct control. Nonetheless, FDI can be a costly entry mode because it requires direct involvement. The risks can also be high. Finally, foreign markets can be assessed by hospitality firms through export trade. Direct exportation may take advantage of improved international market prices. However, export entry mode may be liable to several cross border tariffs, unstable foreign exchange rates, and unfavorable government policies and restrictions.
References
Bogolib, T. M. (2013). The public sector of mixed economy in the modern world. Equilibrium, 8(1), 125-136. Web.
Fernandes, R., Gouveia, B., & Pinho, C. (2014). Exploring modes of entry into international markets: Direct investment or contractual relations. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 15(1), 56. Web.
Zeaiter, H., El-khalil, R., & Nassar, I. (2014). Politics and economic growth: Regional and income level classification. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 19(2), 315-322. Web.
The most recent issues related to the development and design of hotels worldwide relate to the varying cultural customs. In Wharton’s article (2012), it is clear that cultural customs influence the expansion and design of international hotels. He reports that social considerations are very vital for every hotel to develop in the modern world. He puts forward various regions with different cultures and points on how hotel designs are influenced by the prevailing culture.
Wharton describes how security, creation of private dining rooms, international travels, public wedding ceremonies, and leisure activities influence the development and design of international hotels. On the security issue, the designing of hotels has changed to accommodate the current security measures in the Philippines. The hotel designs have also changed as international travels lead to the gathering of different people from various cultural backgrounds. Therefore, any international hotel to be developed must create space for customers who may need privacy (private dining rooms) and public weddings.
Opinion
The above issues presented by Wharton influence international hotel development and design. The increase in international business and tours impacts on the designing of new international hotels to accommodate the different cultural backgrounds of the customers. Considering the cultures evident in different regions, the hotels have to be developed without infringing on the belief of any customer. Privacy is worth noting in any international hotel development and design. It provides a good reputation for any hotel as most people may prefer such rooms to have private dinners or even during special days in their calendar.
These issues, therefore, relate directly to an international hotel to be developed or designed for worldwide business. They are on the increase due to the developments in the hospitality industry propelled by several factors. It is right that security, increase in public wedding ceremonies, international travels, and privacy relates directly to international hotel development and design.
Reference
Wharton, S. (2012). Hotel News Now: Varying cultural customs impact hotel design. Web.
Internationalization and Financial Health in the US Hotel Industry focuses on the trend towards the internalization of the American hotel industry (Seoki & Yoon, 2014). The article highlights two major theories with respect to the internationalization of the hotels from the late 20th century to the present (Seoki & Yoon, 2014). According to the author, international American hotels are economically better compared to local American hotels. In the mid of the article, the author evaluates the second theory.
The theory asserts that international US hotels experience a number of financial problems when they try to venture into foreign markets. As such, the article attributes the challenges to the unknown factors in the foreign markets. To overcome these challenges, the article offers some recommendations (Seoki & Yoon, 2014). The author suggests that by adopting internationalization strategies, the hotels will gain more benefits as they expand. The strategy’s benefits outweigh the cost of internalization. Therefore, the implementation of the strategy will result in a U-shaped relationship.
After reading the article, I noted that a number of international hotels had conquered numerous challenges over the last two decades in their bid to break into foreign markets. Through the article, I recognized that financial challenges are the major issues faced by the hotels (Seoki & Yoon, 2014). I believe that if international hotels implement the strategy proposed in the article, the challenges would be addressed. In this regard, I recommend that the article be read by the hotels wishing to expand into the foreign market.
Hospitality 2015: Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Trends appraise the relationship between the travel industry and the hotel and management industry (Deloitte, 2014). The article indicates that in the emerging markets such as India and China, the travel industry will play a huge role in the growth of the hotel and restaurant industry. For instance, the article claims that successful western hotel and restaurant companies in the foreign markets owe their success to joint ventures between them and travel agencies (Deloitte, 2014). The article points out that when evaluating the relationship between travel and the industry, researchers should focus on the travelers’ needs and priorities. For instance, the author notes that Chinese travelers’ dietary needs are dissimilar from American travelers’ dietary needs (Deloitte, 2014).
By doing so, the article encourages international hotels and restaurants to introduce diverse delicacies in their menus to attract diverse travelers. Similarly, the article offers an understanding of the major factors that have affected the travel and hospitality industries in the last few years.
In my view, the above article is very useful for stakeholders who want to appraise the relationship between the hospitality industry and the travel industry. From the article, I noted that international hotels and restaurants could enhance their earnings by liaising with travel agencies. Similarly, I noted that the growth of the travel industry has direct benefits to the hospitality industry. I believe that with improved global traveling services, more individuals would be willing to travel around the world. Because of this, the hotel and the restaurant industry will be promoted since they have to offer essential services to travelers. Equally, from the article, I learned that there are a number of factors affecting the growth of the travel and the hospitality industries. Based on this, I believe that the two industries should collaborate to tackle these challenges with ease.
Strategic Diversity Management Initiatives evaluates the challenges of diverse cultural norms in the hospitality industry (Besler & Sezerel, 2014). The article asserts that technological advancements have allowed individuals with different cultures and from different environments to work together in the hospitality industries. The author notes that the experiences have been exciting and frustrating to some (Besler & Sezerel, 2014). Some individuals find it hard to adjust to both institutional and national cultural differences leading to a drop in their performances. Cultural values have an impact on a range of features in the hospitality industry (Besler & Sezerel, 2014).
According to the article, values and behaviors are specific to national cultures and are never universal. Thus, each worker in the hospitality industry behaves based on his or her values and beliefs. The differences in cultures and, consequently, behaviors have resulted in many challenges in a diverse workforce in international hotels. The article asserts that hotel managers should learn how to tackle the challenges with ease for effective productivity.
With regard to the above article, I noted that it is essential for researchers to investigate hotel management based on cultural context. I believe that if the international hotel and restaurant employees understand and appreciate their cultural differences, they would be in a better position to tackle challenges associated with cultural diversity in the workplace. Similarly, I believe that as the article asserts, culture affects leadership in various ways. For hotels or restaurants with several departments, managers should encourage departmental leaders to embrace diversity. From the article, I also learned that in the past, effective cross-cultural training for hotel managers had been a challenging task demonstrating the need to adopt and understand automatic and schema-based components of perceptions and behaviors specific to a particular region.
References
Besler, S., & Sezerel, H. (2014). Strategic Diversity Management Initiatives: A Descriptive Study. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58(1), 624-633. Web.
Deloitte (2014). Hospitality 2015: Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Trends. Web.
Seoki, L., & Yoon, K. (2014). Internationalization and financial health in the US hotel industry. Tourism Economics, 20(1), 87-105. Web.