mr_section_2_group_5.docx

7/27/2019 MR_Section_2_Group_5.docx

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2013

GROUP 5

Section 2

How satisfied are Tourists at Mahabalipuram?

FT Number Name

14202 ABHINAV KAPOOR

14215 BHAVANA RAO

14230 ISHAN JAIN

14242 MONA KSHIRSAGAR

14255 RAHUL SHANBHAG14270 SRINJOY PANDA

14284 ARAVIND N S

14297 RAHUL KHANNA

142109 PUNIT NEMA


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Copyright Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, 2013

Prepared ByGroup 5, Section S2, PGPM 2013-14

Guided ByProf. S. Bharadhwaj

S. Bharadhwaj is currently Professor of Marketing. Prior to joining Great Lakes, he worked at

Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras and Nanyang Business School, Singapore. His main

research interests are in the areas of variety seeking behaviour, impulse buying behaviour and theeffect of other marketing variables and phenomena on these behaviors. His secondary research

interests are in search behaviour and integrated marketing communications. His work appears in

leading journals like Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Management and Advances

in Consumer Research. He teaches Marketing Research and Consumer Behaviour. S. Bharadhwaj

holds a PhD in Marketing from the Robert Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and

College Park, USA. He has an MBA from BIM, Trichy and a BSc in Chemistry from Vivekananda

College, Chennai.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Besides the members of our group, there have been a few individuals who have been

instrumental in supporting and ensuring that the project is successful.

We would like to thank Professor Dr. S. Bharadhwaj (Chair Professor of Marketing) for his

guidance at every step during questionnaire formation, data analysis and conceptual inputs. A

special thanks to Nachiketas Sir for additional support during the project execution stages.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all respondents for their unwavering

support, co-operation and precious inputs especially during the primary data

collection stages. Their creative inputs and opinions were vital for the success of thisproject.


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Introduction

Mahabalipuram, also known as

Mamallapuram is a town in Kancheepuram

district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.It was a well established sea port during

the 7th and 10th centuries of the Pallava

dynasty, and has flourished accordingly.

During the rule of the Pallavas, new styles

of art and architecture were pioneered, but

architecture is not the only draw for

tourists in this city. The area is also nestled

in an especially impressive setting.Beautiful white sandy beaches are

plentiful, as are the casuarinas trees that

are found in abundance there.

Mahabalipuram is also known for

providing a fantastic shopping experience.

Exquisite local handmade crafts are readily available in the local shops.

The concern of Tourism has assumed phenomenal significance in

Mahabalipuram. It is the economic activity which provides services to the

tourists including a whole gamut of activities like transport & hospitality;guide and travel services; travel publication and writers; arts and crafts,

etc. In the present era of knowledge and innovations, the whole world has

shrunk in size and all has happened because of spectacular advancement

in the fields of travel and tele-communication. In simple terms, it may be

defined as the sum of phenomena and relationship arising from the travel

and stay of tourists at a particular place for duration of at least 24 hours.

In case of study area, tourism possesses a huge potential and requiresgreater public attention. Throughout the entire state, in the last couple of

years, it has been observed that the tourism is emerging as one of thefastest growing industries.

In this paper, we try to find out what is it that drives satisfaction in tourist

visiting Mahabalipuram. The intention of this study is to quantitatively

analyze the different factors that influence satisfaction levels of tourist,

thereby helping local traders to benefit by providing what is needed by

tourist and helping tourist in getting what they want.

Fast Facts

State: Tamil Nadu District: Kancheepuram Famous for/as: Heritage, Beaches Languages: Tamil, English Best Season: OctMar Weather: Summer 21 to 41C, Winter 17 to 33C Altitude: 12 m

Major Tourist Attractions

Shore Temple. Five Rathas (Pancha Pandava Rathas) Thirukadalmallai Sculpture Museum, Arjuna's Penance Krishna's Butterball Mahishamardini Cave. Varaha Cave Light House


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Literature Review

According to world travel and tourism, India will be the second fastest

growing tourist economy in the world. Tourists are willing to share their

positive travel experiences with their near and dear ones.( Yoon andUysal, 2005). The success of any destination marketing depends on

tourist satisfaction because it affects the selection of the destination, the

use of products and services and the decision to return (Kozak and

Remington, 2000).According to Corrin and Taylor (1992), and Ekinci and Riley (1998)

quality of various services is a part of the tourism experience, leading to

overall satisfaction. An instrument called HOLSAT was developed by

Tribe and Snaith (1998) to capture tourists satisfaction, which

approaches satisfaction-related attributes through the use ofexpectations/performance analysis.

In a highly competitive tourism market, to offer an attractive tourist

destination implies having a deep understanding of the motives that lead

tourists to make their choice among the different alternatives available, as

well as having a degree of satisfaction obtained with the services

provided (Jang & Feng, 2007). Very few studies have analyzed the causal

relationship between tourist motivation and level of satisfaction with the

aim of guiding tourist resort management (Prebensen, 2004; Yoon &

Uysal, 2005).

Components of the overall tourist satisfaction:

Middleton and Clarke (2001) conducted that there are five main

components in the overall product:1. Destination attractions and environment.

2. Destination facilities and services.

3. Accessibility of the destination.

4. Images of the destination.

5. Price to the consumer

K Lalromawia conducted a study on impact of marketing mix factors on

tourist satisfaction amongst 300 tourists. This study evaluated 7Ps of

Marketing Mix which has additional Ps on top of laid 4Ps of marketing

mix. These marketing mix elements are product price place and

promotion, the extra Ps added are People, Physical evidence and

Promotion. As per the study price has no positive relationship with tourist

attraction. While on the other hand except price remaining six elements

have significant relationship with tourist satisfaction.


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The findings also prove that Product has got the most significant

relationship and Process is the second most significant element that this

study reveals. Finally, the mean score of the tourist satisfaction is

explained overall satisfaction of the tourist though shows dissatisfaction

towards price. Tourist satisfaction can be used to measure competitivestrength and weakness by determining tourist perception of competitive

choice. In this study cost of the tourist performed as a sensitive element

towards satisfaction and intention to revisit. So Price sensitivity for the

cost of transportation, accommodation, quality food, coffee, and tea or

other beverages and tour related cost can be determined as competitive

factors for tourist organization.

According to Herzberg (1966) two-factor theory of motivation all

experiences can be classified as either a motivational or a hygienic factor.Motivational factors encourage people to do something viz. travel. For

example, a desire to spend quality time with the family will motivate

people to go on a tour. On the other hand, hygiene factors would not

encourage a person to travel, but its absence would discourage such

travel. A good example is the availability of clean drinking water. Having

this is unlikely to encourage someone to travel, but its absence could

discourage a person to not choose a particular destination. Roger James &

Associates (1996) found that the absence of motivational factors does

not lead to dissatisfaction but rather to satisfaction a sense of

emptiness rather than a sense of anger or disappointment. On the otherhand, the absence of a hygienic factor will lead to dissatisfaction.

All studies till now have focused on the hygienic factors, which are

represented by the measurement of how well the services (hotels,

airports, travel companies, etc.) are provided. Without these hygiene

factors the customer would be very dissatisfied. However, the

motivational factors should also be measured. So therefore the focus

should be to understand the tourists needs and develop a product offeringthat is relevant to them. The benefits derived from the experience will in

turn create satisfaction.

Qualitative Analysis and Takeaways

We conducted Focus Group discussion in order to determine what factors

tourists base their satisfaction on. The group comprised of 3 women and 4

men whose ages ranged from 24 to 27 from well to do backgrounds .The

discussion lasted for 30 minutes and the group was asked to discuss the

prime factors that it would consider while rating the level of satisfactionthey achieved from their visits to Mahabalipuram.


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The highest rated factors that came up during the discussion were as

below

1. Security2. Accommodation3. Transport4. Tourist attraction (Heritage sites)

2 women and 1 man from the group gave security the highest preference.

Accommodation was the main differentiating point for 3 women and 2

men. Transport played an important role in determining the level ofcomfort and convenience with which they could travel. Not surprisingly,

the heritage sites were the primary reason tourists flocked to

Mahabalipuram.

The Focus Group discussion helped us get an overall perspective on the

way tourists viewed Mahabalipuram and the frequency with which theywould like to visit it. Thus, Focus Group discussions enabled us to

conduct a qualitative analysis effectively. It also helped us filter most of

the variables and come up with the most prominent factors influencing

tourist satisfaction in Mahabalipuram.

Variables

Based in the Focus Group Discussions and Depth Interviews conducted

we have identified the following four variables which contribute to

overall tourist satisfaction in Mahabalipuram.

Independent Variable

The following variables were the predominant factors that touristsfelt contributed to their overall satisfaction level during their stay

in Mahabalipuram. A brief description of the factors is as follows:

a) Tourist AttractionsTourist attraction refers to various spots, which tourists visit duringtheir visit to Mahabalipuram. This includes all the natural Heritage

sites, beaches, historical monuments, temples, etc.

b)Transportation/ConveyanceThis variable refers to the different modes of transport, which are

available in Mahabalipuram. This variable also measures the price

and service level provided by the different transportation methods

in Mahabalipuram.


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c) AccommodationThis refers to the various accommodation services present in

Mahabalipuram. This variable will measure the overall satisfaction

with respect to the place of stay, services provided, etc.

d)SecurityThis variable measures how secure tourists feel when travelling in

Mahabalipuram. Security is considered to be an important factor

especially for women when they travel to new places.

e) Cleanliness

This variable measures how tourists rate this place on the level of

cleanliness. People usually prefer visiting places that are clean and

hygienic.

f) FriendlinessThis variable refers to the level warmth and friendliness of locals.

Friendliness is an important factor that determines the frequency of

the visitors, visit to a place.

g) Weather

This variable measures how weather contributes to the overall

satisfaction of the tourists who come to Mahabalipuram.

Dependent Variable

Tourist SatisfactionThis variable measures the overall tourist satisfaction with respect

to frequency of travel, recommending it to Friends and relatives,

feeling at home and overall satisfaction level of the stay inMahabalipuram.

Hypothesis

For the seven independent variables we have come up with the following

NULL and alternative hypothesis:

1. H0: Tourists are not satisfied with Tourist Attractions inMahabalipuram.

H1: Tourists are satisfied with Tourist Attractions in

Mahabalipuram.


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2. H0: Tourists are not satisfied with Transportation services inMahabalipuram.

H1: Tourists are satisfied with Transportation services in

Mahabalipuram.

3. H0: Tourists are not satisfied with Accommodations inMahabalipuram.

H1: Tourists are satisfied with Accommodations in

Mahabalipuram.

4. H0: Tourists have security concerns in Mahabalipuram.H1: Tourists have no security concerns in Mahabalipuram.

5. H0: Tourists are not satisfied with Cleanliness in Mahabalipuram.H1: Tourists are satisfied with Cleanliness in Mahabalipuram.6. H0: Tourists are not satisfied with locals friendliness in

Mahabalipuram.

H1: Tourists are satisfied with locals friendliness in

Mahabalipuram.

7. H0: Tourists are not satisfied with Weather in Mahabalipuram.H

1: Tourists are satisfied with Weather in Mahabalipuram.

Scales for Dependent and Independent variable

Variables may have two types1. Continuous

2. Categorical

Continuous variables: A continuous variable has numeric values such as

1, 2, 3.14, -5, etc. The relative magnitude of the values is significant (e.g.,a value of 2 indicates twice the magnitude of 1).

Categorical variables: A Categorical variable usually has fixed number

of possible values and is used to represent categorical data.

A Likert scale is sum of responses to several Likert items. A Likert Item

is a statement that the respondent is asked to evaluate. The scale is

balanced on both sides of a neutral option, creating a less biased

measurement. The actual scale labels, as well as the numeric scale, mayvary. Since, in our study, we have used variables that are categorical, the


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selection of the scales for the dependent and independent variables was

based on this. We selected Ordinal scale as it is used for ranking, rating

or grading and it shows highest to least preference. Under Ordinal scales

we chose Likert scale, it asks the respondents to indicate the level to

which they agree or disagree with belief statements about a given object.To keep the survey simple and easy to understand for the respondents we

have used 5 point Likert scale namely Strongly Agree, Agree, Neither

Agree nor Disagree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree.

Choice of Method

When we need to market a product, we would like to know whether the

product would be acceptable in the target market. For such purposes

Surveys will be conducted among target population by selecting a samplepopulation, which is a true representative of target population. However,

if one needs to test a product like a newly developed drug, one requires

an experiment. A survey contains random opinions of sample population

about particular product or service while an experiment contains more

comprehensive data, which can be proved. In our study, to measure

tourist satisfaction in Mahabalipuram, we have used survey method of

obtaining information. This method is based on the questioning of

respondents. Respondents are asked variety of questions either verbally,

in writing or via computer. With survey method the information collected

has following advantages-1. It provides structured data i.e. the questions are asked in a prearranged

order.

2. The questionnaire is easy to administer. For major modes are

telephonic, personal, mail, and electronic.

3. Easy to code, analyze and interpret a wide range of information.

4. Questions could be made reliable by limiting them to fixed responses.


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Based on study of literature and our analysis done so far, we have come

up with the questionnaire, which intends to collect data regarding

dependent and independent variables, which will be used in finding the

tourist satisfaction in Mahabalipuram.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire.xlsx

TOOLS USED FOR DATA ANALYSIS

ANOVA:

ANOVA compares two types of variances: the variance within each sample and the

variance between different samples. Significant difference between the samples can

be identified using the p-value. This would have indicated a significant difference

between its population mean and the other population means.

REGRESSION:Linear regression analysis is a technique used to model the relationship between a

scalar dependent variable and one or more exploratory independent variables.

RESULTS

1)CRONBACH ALPHA

Result: The following Cronbach alphas were recorded for each of the 7

independent variables, which indicated that the items measured the

construct under consideration.


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Independent

Variables

Cronbach

Alpha

Accomodation 0.854

Cleanliness 0.846

Weather 0.854

Friendliness 0.731

Tourist Attraction 0.696

Security 0.733

Transport 0.697

2)ANOVAANOVA

a

Model Sum of

Squares

df Mean

Square

F Sig.

1

Regression 30.703 7 4.386 19.814 .000b

Residual 77.919 352 .221

Total 108.622 359

a. Dependent Variable: Touristsatis

b. Predictors: (Constant), Weather, Friendliness, Touristatt, Cleanliness,

security, Accommodation, Transport

Result: As can be seen in the ANOVA table, the level of significance is quite

low which suggests that collectively the variables are doing a good job of

measuring tourist satisfaction.

3)Descriptive Statisti cs


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Results: As can be seen in the descriptive statistics table, overall the tourists

are satisfied with their experience in Mahabalipuram (as the mean of the results

is very high). Also tourists are happy with the overall friendliness and Touristattraction experience at Mahabalipuram.

4)I nter correlation

Result: -As can be seen from the table, there is no significant correlation

between any of the two variables. Hence no factor analysis required.


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5)Regression analysis

Result: - As can be seen in the co-efficient table ( for a given level of

significance):

a) Transport, tourist attraction and weatherhave a significant relationwith the tourist satisfaction in Mahabalipuram and contribute to the

overall satisfaction level of tourists at Mahabalipuram.

b) Cleanliness has a significant impact on tourist satisfaction but touristsare not satisfied with cleanliness at Mahabalipuram.

RECOMMENDATION

We would recommend that the cleanliness of Mahabalipuram be improved soas to ensure tourist satisfaction. Government can come up with various

policies to improve the overall cleanliness in Mahabalipuram by carrying outawareness activities like holding campaigns to create awareness. They can

display banners in public places which emphasize on the importance of

keeping the city clean.

Since, in the results we see that for tourists coming to Mahabalipuram,monuments and historical places form an important criterion while visiting the

place, we can suggest to Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation

(TNTDC) to promote Mahabalipuram as a place of historical importance, with

monuments and sculptures that date back several hundred years.

It is necessary for the locals to be friendly with the foreigners. As per theresult, friendliness is not a very important measure for tourist satisfaction.

However, provision of better accommodation facilities and food options must

be implemented by the locals. The Government could give subsidies to the

locals to enable them to implement these facilities effectively.


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REFERENCES

1. BRUKERT, A.J. AND MEDLIK.S, "The Management of Tourism", William HeinmannLtd. London, 1975.

2. BADAN, B.S., "Impact of Tourism in South India", Common Wealth Publishers, NewDelhi, 1997.

3. BHATIA, A.K., "Tourism Development", Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 1992.4. BHATIA, A.K., "International Tourism Management", Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New

Delhi, 1996.

5. K.K.SHARMA, "Tourism and Development" Sarup and sons, New Delhi, 2005.6. BEZBARUAH, "Indian Tourism Industry" Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 1999.7. CHARLES KAISER AND LARRY, E. HELBER, "Tourism Planning and Development",

CBI Publishing Co.Inc.,Beston, 1978.

8. CHRISCOOPER, JOHN FLETCHER, DAVID GILBERT AND STEPHEN WANHILL,"Tourism (Principles and Practice)", Pitman Publishing, London, 1993.

9. HOLLO WAY, "The Business of Tourism, Longman Limited, New York, 1999.10.MALHOTRA P.K., "Tourism Marketing", Anmoll Publications Pvt., New Delhi, 1998.11.SINGH RATANDEEP, "Infrastructure of Tourism in India" Kanishka Publishers,

Distributors, New Delhi, 1996.

12.American Society for Quality Control,. (1995). American Customer Satisfaction Index :Methodology Report. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, American Society of Quality Control.

13.Arnould, E. J. and L. Price (1993). River Magic : Extraordinary Experience and theExtended Service Encounter. Journal of Consumer Research 20(June): 24-45.

14.Australian Bureau of Statistics, (1997). Framework for Australian Tourism Statistics.Canberra, Australian Bureau of Statistics.

15.Brown, P., J (1988). Quality in Recreation Experience. Outdoor Recreation Benchmark1988 : Proceedings of the National Outdoor Recreation Forum, Tampa, Florida, USDAForest Service.

16.Byrne, N. (1995). Customer Satisfaction Monitoring, National Parks Service, Departmentof Conservation and Natural Resources (Victoria).

17.Northern Territory Tourism Commission, (1994). A Customer Satisfaction Survey ofUsers of Caravan Parks in the Northern Territory. Darwin, Northern Territory

Government.

18.Crompton, J. L. and L. L. Love (1995). The Predictive Value of Alternative Approachesto Evaluating Quality of a Festival. Journal of Travel Research (Summer): 11-24.

19.Driver, B. L. and R. C. Tocher (1970). "Toward a behavioural interpretation ofrecreational engagements, with implications for planning". . B. L. Driver. (Ed) Elements

of Outdoor Recreation Planning. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan: 9-31.

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