PROMOTION OF HIMACHAL TOURISM

Introduction

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The number of tourists has been registering phenomenal growth and it is expected that this number would shortly touch 1.5 billion.

Nature has bestowed Himachal Pradesh with unique beauty and splendour with its lush green valleys, snow covered Himalayan ranges, a serene, peaceful, hospitable and comfortable environment, smiling people and a rich culture heritage – which tourists will not find elsewhere. Being in the lap of Himalayas, this fact becomes its natural and unique USP with global appeal.

In order to increase the duration of the stay of the visitors/ tourists, a special emphasis is being placed on the development of activity- based tourism and opening up new sub destinations. Himachal was earlier known only for the summer season. Efforts are being made to break the seasonality factor and tourism products have been diversified to attract the tourists in other seasons too. Now himachal is known as “ A Destination for All Seasons and All Reasons”

OBJECTIVES

Tourism contributes nearly 8 % of the State Domestic Product. Following are the some objectives:

1) To establish Himachal Pradesh as a leading tourist destination in the country.

2) To make tourism a prime engine for economic development and prosperity of the state and as a major means of providing employment.

3) To promote sustainable tourism, which is not only environmentally compatible but also leads to economic betterment of the rural people.

4) To attract quality tourists and to increase their stay in the State.

5) To safeguard the state’s natural and manmade heritage.

6) To position Himachal Pradesh as one stop destination or adventure tourism.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths:

1) One of the rarest places on earth offering five distinct seasons, thus having the potential tourists throughout the year.

2) Political and economic stability.

3) Recognised as peaceful and hospitable state.

4) Salubrious climate

5) Pollution free environment

6) Rich history and heritage, that has something to offer to all. Its Buddhists monasteries, which are thousands of years old, churches, temples and cemeteries.

WEAKNESSES

1) Negligible air link and rail link in the state.

2) Inadequate flow of tourists.

3) Lack of trained tourist guides at important places and historical tourist sites.

4) Saturation at the establishes destinations.

5) No new major tourist destination.

6) Lack of parking spaces at important tourist places.

7) Very little budget.

8) Problems of land acquisitions.

OPPURTUNITIES

1) Strong potential for activity based tourism such as rafting, paragliding, trekking, mountaineering, water sports, mountain biking, car rallies, etc.

OPPURTUNITIES

2) A strong base for heritage tourism to attract persons from all walks of societies and religious beliefs.

3) To develop an ideal destination for nature lovers by promoting ECO- TOURISM.

4) Position as an ideal for FILM INDUSTRY.

5) Himachal has something to offer to persons of all ages, groups, beliefs and interest.

6) Himachal can become one of the leading adventure destination in the world.

7) Create new destination in yet unexplored but beautiful areas.

THREATS

1) Tremendous strain, leading to collapse at times of civic amenities at leading tourist destination during the season.

2) Haphazard growth and construction threatening the environment, especially at the leading tourist destination.

3) Aggressive competition amongst the leading tourist states and a strong promotion of tourism by other states.

4) Poor garbage/ waste posing threat to environment.

THRUST AREA WHERE TOURISM NEEDS DEVELPOMENT:

1) RURAL TOURISM

2) ECO TOURISM

3) WILDLIFE TOURISM

4) PILGRIMAGE TOURISM

5) ADVENTURE TOURISM

6) PROMOTING UNEXPLORED HIMACHAL

7) HEALTH TOURISM

VARIOUS MEANS OF MASS MEDIA THAT CAN BE USED TO PROMOTE TOURISM :

1) Print media

Metropolitan newspaper Suburban newspaper

Regional newspaper

Magazine

2) Radio

3) Television

4) Internet

ADVERTISING FOR TOURISM

Great advertising talks to customers, not to itself. It makes reader feel good about the product or service advertisement. In tourism we have wonderful advantage. We are selling enjoyment, fun, good times, and who doesn’t want to experience those things. We are also in the peoples business. Travelers returning home are more likely to talk about the people that gave them good service and the friends they made before they get around to the things they saw and did.

Many advertisements lose their impact because of a lack of consistency in presentation. They appear jumbled and often cater to local views rather than giving first consideration to the readers. Typefaces should be easily read and appropriate to the image of the destination or product.

An overall design of the layout of the advertisement should highlight the key points and features. A bland uninterested presentation will not be effective nor will a layout which is crammed with too much details.

STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE HIMACHAL TOURISM

1) Installation of touch screen KIOSKS with full information of the state at important national and international airports and railway stations of the country.

2) Participation in leading national and international fairs.

3) Organisation of tourism events in the state, particularly in the off season in order to attract a large no. of tourists.

4) Providing information through modern means of communication like: website, e-mails, round the clock toll free assistance and helpline.

5) Release of advertisements in print media and electronic media.

6) HOME STAY SCHEME.

MEDIA PLANNINGAdvertisements for print:

The following ads will be published on weekends in the most popular news papers of the region , in the most read monthly and fortnightly magazines for two months, i.e., October and November.

Advertisements through T.V.:

The focus remains on the widely watched channels and broadcasting the commercial during that time when mostly families and friends are sitting together. The target channels will be: national geographic channel, Discovery channel, Travel and Living. News channels: NDTV 24X7, CNN-IBN, Aaj tak, Star news.

The commercial will run on all the above channels. Since budget is not an issue from the side of the government, the T.V. time frame of the commercials can be extended as per requirement.

The timing for the advertisement to be broadcast would be: in the morning 8 a.m.- 12 p.m.. And during the prime time, i.e., 7-8 p.m. and 8-11p.m.

EVALUATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF THE ADVERTISEMENT

Each year most businesses spend sizeable sums on advertising and other marketing, yet no effort is made to measure the effectiveness of the funds spent. Evaluating responses to advertising is not very difficult. It only requires a routine. One simple method is for tourism businesses to ask customers where they learned of their accommodations. All that is necessary is to put a list of recent advertising beside the phone or the reception desk. When customers respond to a question, a simple tick or other entry can be noted on the list. The origin of customers can also be important.

By evaluating results, it is possible to get better returns from future advertising expenditure.

CONCLUSION:

While working on this project I was initially focusing on the clichéd word tourism only. But later, when I researches I found that there are other aspects that are needed to be highlighted, like, wildlife tourism, adventure tourism etc. These are some areas where development is urgently required. Since the government is not restricting itself to a limited budget, these areas can be brought into light.

When I asked people what they like about himachal, their instant answer was landscapes, greenery etc. when further I hinted them that not only the landscapes but adventure sports are also a very important part of tourism there. Immediately they related to it. So the next time when somebody hears the word himachal, the instant reaction should not only be landscapes , but also sports, health, wildlife etc. Through this project I came to the conclusion that, since other states are promoting their states so magnificently, Himachal has to come up with very innovative idea to increase tourist flow into the state. It is high time that the word HIMACHAL be spread in such a way that, when we say HOLIDAYS it has to be HIMACHAL.

THANK YOU