International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 1

ISSN 2229-5518

Marketing Of Asian Countries as Tourist Destination- Comparative Study of India and Malaysia

Dr Reshma Nasreen, Nguyen Toan Thang

Abstract - Tourism has gradually grown over the years as a full fledged industry. Many countries are gaining from this welcome change. The contributions of this sector to the country’s coffers are sizable for some countries, while some countries have a long way to go. This research paper attempts to study the reasons of lack of optimal contribution of this sector in India and also forays into strategies that can be adopted to capitalize on the patterns prevalent in tourist behavior. A country like India with a commendable historical significance and size has not been able to garner as much of tourist attention because of certain factors. India has a lot of offerings to whip the appetite of an avid tourist, but the varieties have either not been promoted, or if promoted lack of associated services have not led to desired synergies. After identifying the gaps between the two countries (India & Malaysia), the paper puts forth the tourists’ patterns of behavior through the data collected. The questionnaire has been administered to tourists in New Delhi and Agra (cities in India). Malaysia on the other hand has had a steady stream of tourists trickling down and benefiting its economy.

Key Words- ASEAN, Eco-tourism, Heritage Sites, MICE, Ministry Of Tourism (India & Malaysia). World Travel.

INTRODUCTION

ourism plays an important role in the economies of a number of ASEAN

as well as other Asian countries. Besides contributing to the national income,

promotion of intra-regional tourism has other beneficial spillovers for trade and

people-to-people contacts. The shared history and culture dating back to several

centuries provides a base for tourism exchanges. A large number of tourists

from Southeast Asia come to centre of

Buddhist pilgrimage in India every year.

With the rise of Indian middle class with higher purchasing power, India has also emerged as a big market for ASEAN countries as a source of tourists.

According to Amrik Singh, instructor at Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, University of Utah, “The Asia and Pacific region will be the focus of the worldwide tourism industry in the new millennium. Over the last decade, tourist arrivals and receipts rose faster than any other region in the world, almost twice the rates of industrialized countries.” Statistics from

the World Tourism Organization (WTO) for 1996 show that tourist arrivals and receipts accounted for a 15.2% and
19.4% share of the world's total
respectively, a significant increase from
1985 as shown in Tables I and 2 (WTO
1997a).
In his paper, Asia Pacific Tourism Industry: Current Trends and Future Outlook, Mr Amrik Singh points out, “that the rapid growth of the tourism industry has been attributed to a number of factors including among others, strong economic growth, increase in disposable income and leisure time, easing of travel restrictions, successful tourist promotion, and a recognition by the host governments that tourism is a powerful engine of growth and a generator of foreign exchange earnings.”

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 2

ISSN 2229-5518

Fig 1: Purpose Of Visit to India (Source: Ministry Of tourism, Government of India)

As per reports in Opportunities in
Malaysian Tourism Industry (2007-
2009)
http://www.marketresearch.com/product/ display.asp?productid=1806312, the key findings include the following.

• Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia are important sources of visitors for Malaysia. Beyond ASEAN, tourist arrivals from China and India will remain an important influence throughout the forecast period (2008-2012) as the majority of Chinese tend to weigh their spending towards consumer purchases as opposed to luxury hotel accommodation.

• The promotion of Education

Tourism will continue to be expanded to expedite the development of Malaysia as a preferred destination for international students. The projected foreign exchange earnings from this potential source of growth are estimated at RM 900 Million by 2010.

• It is expected that expenditure by international tourists in Malaysia will increase at a CAGR of

6.63% during the forecasted
period.

• Increasing disposable income in

Malaysia will open the opportunities for both outbound and domestic tourism. It is expected that per head disposable income in the country will increase at a CAGR of 5.06% during 2008-2012increase at a CAGR of 5.06% during 2008-
2012.

• It is expected that MICE

(Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) industry will be one of the major contributors to the Malaysian tourism industry.
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in its Annual Report, has recognized the need for further promoting India through “Incredible India” campaign. The ministry aims to capitalize on the rich and varied history of India as well as it being the centre of origin of two important religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. Apart from the fact that India has a rich history, at present it is also becoming a preferred location for medical tourism as well as a recognized centre for higher education. The vast coastline of India, along with the charms of Northeast India beckons tourists who are nature lovers. The purpose of visit of tourists coming to India has been summarized in the Table 2:
Although around 50 percent of the tourists coming to India go for leisure and recreation, many

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 3

ISSN 2229-5518

attractive destinations can be promoted apart from the beaches of Goa (a state in Western India) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (chain of Islands in the Bay of Bengal, towards the east of India). In the following table some of the factors attracting tourists as well as facilitating them have been compared between the two countries. As can be clearly seen from the Fig
2, opportunity for attracting tourists
is comparatively more in India than Malaysia. Throughout the length and breadth of Malaysia, not much cultural diversity can be witnessed. India on the other hand is known for its diversities and different cultures. India has got more than double the number of international airports, nine times more the number of heritage sites, three times more the number of beaches, four times more railway connectivity and ten times the area of Malaysia. But still the number of tourists coming to India is substantially less than the numbers coming to Malaysia as is shown in Table 3.

Table 2: Comparison of Attractions and Infrastructural support between India and Malaysia

Table 3: Comparative chart of arrivals and receipts of Tourists in India and Malaysia

(Source: Ministry of tourism, Malaysia; Ministry of Tourism India)

METHODOLOGY OF DATA AND ANALYSIS

Scope of the Study

Tourism is one industry which has been actively promoted in India as
well as Malaysia. India went on to promote itself as a tourist destination
through the “Incredible India” campaign, which was launched at different film
festivals around the globe as well as at

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 4

ISSN 2229-5518

national level through advertisements promoting the different states of India. Malaysia on the other hand has been promoting itself as a tourist destination
- To evaluate the performance of existing tourist facilities in the country.
- To assess the number of outbound tourists to various countries.
Both these countries are developing countries and Asian countries. The study aims to study the difference in the purpose of visit or similarities in the tourist’s decision making process when he/she opts for this as a vacation spot. The study would also be of help to researchers and decision makers as it is both informative and instructive.

Objectives of the study

The survey was conducted with the following objectives:
- To assess demand profiles of the foreign tourists visiting the county,
this may include demand for tourist places, tourism goods and services
including transport and accommodation, travel agencies, cultural services,
recreation and other entertainment services.
- To assess the detailed expenditure pattern of foreign tourists
visiting India, and estimates of total expenditure at all India level on specific
tourism products such as accommodation, food & beverage
services, passenger transport, tour operators and tourist guide services,
transport equipment on rental, cultural services, recreation and other
entertainment services and other tourism related products and services.
- To estimate the average duration of stay of foreign tourists in India.
- To obtain demographic,
economic and social profiles of foreign tourists visiting India and the motivational factors responsible for attracting them to India.

Research Design

Descriptive: Descriptive statistics has been used to describe the basic features of the data in this study. Simple summaries about the sample and the measures have been provided. With simple graphics analysis, the quantitative data has been analyzed.

Sources of data

Secondary: Annual report of Malaysia

Tourism Ministry 2006 – 2008
Annual report of India
Tourism Ministry 2006 – 2008
Annual report of World
Travel and Tourism Council
“Incredible India” report
2006 - Tourism Ministry of India

Primary: Questionnaire –close ended and multiple choice questions.

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 5

ISSN 2229-5518

Research Instrument

Questionnaire –close ended and multiple
choice questions were asked
Questionnaire attached as annexure
Sampling Method: Restricted random sampling

SAMPLE SIZE

A sample of 100 tourists was surveyed.
The sample foreign tourists were contacted for collection of detailed information in a structured schedule at 2 exit points – Delhi and Agra.

Limitations of the study

Language Barrier: Some of the tourists, they come from South Asia countries

likes Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal can speak Hindi very well but they do not
know English.

Time Constraint: Researcher had only

few weeks to do this survey questionnaire, one week in New Delhi and one week in Agra. The availability of foreign tourists for interview was constrained by the time at their disposal Sample Co nst raint.

SURVEY RESULT I. DEMOGRAPHICS

Nationality

An estimated 100 foreign tourists come to India from various country covered in the survey during March
2010. The major countries accounted for
39% of foreign tourist are East Asia, out of America 7%, European 12%, South
Asia countries 17% and Middle East
16%.

Gender

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 6

ISSN 2229-5518

Nearly 62% of foreign tourists who visited India were males. The ratio varied from country to country.

Age

The tourists were classified into
seven-age groups viz., upto seventeen, eighteen to twenty four, twenty five to twenty nine, thirty to thirty four, thirty five to thirty nine, forty to forty four and forty five to forty nine. Nearly 60% of the tourists belonged to the age-group eighteen to thirty, the next highest group
was thirty to thirty five (14%).

Education

The tourists were also classified on the basis of educational levels. The survey reveals that nearly 67% of the foreign nationals visiting India were graduates and postgraduates at higher education or university; only 3% tourist at lower
vocational education.

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 7

ISSN 2229-5518

Total 100%

II. SOURCE OF INFORMATION

Family/friends are major (30%) source of information, followed by Internet (22.4%), travel agents/tour operators (16%), travel magazines/films/T.V. etc. (4%) and
other (13.6%).

III. MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS

The survey shows that 67% tourists visited for leisure, recreation & holiday, 15% for business, study purpose and 11% for religion and pilgrimage, 2% visited to meet friends and relatives in India, remaining 5% visited India for other purposes.

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 8

ISSN 2229-5518

IV. TRAVEL PATTERN

The analysis of travel pattern shows that 30% of tourists traveled alone, 20% traveled with two persons,
22% traveled in a group of 3 persons,
16% in a group of four persons, 12 % in a group of five persons and more.

V. EXPENDITURE PATTERN

The analysis of tourist expenditure shows that 23% tourists spent around 1000 USD, 19% tourists spent around 750 USD, 14% spent around 500 USD and only 8% tourist spent above 2250 USD.

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011 9

ISSN 2229-5518

From data survey we find that 37% of tourists spent 20 USD per day in India – excluding travel and lodging expenses and 18% of tourist spent 30 USD per day, 15% of tourists spent 40 USD, 18% of tourists spent around 50 USD and
12% of tourists spent more than 60 USD.

VI. TRANSPOST USED MOST IN INDIA

The major mode of travel within India used by foreign tourists shows that almost one-third used Rail, remaining one-third used Road and 10% used air
transportation.

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

10

ISSN 2229-5518

VII. NUMBER OF DAYS STAYED

There are 68% tourists have more than one week to four weeks stayed in India, only 3% of tourists stayed one week or less. Around 30% tourists stayed more than one month to
two months in India.

VIII. ACCOMMODATION

There are 60% tourists stayed in middleclass hotel; 3% spending in luxury hotel (4 and 5 stars). 12% tourists come to their friends, relatives or family.

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

11

ISSN 2229-5518

IX. REPEAT VISITS

While 33% of the tourists visited India for the first time, for 27% it was the second visit, 19% third visit and 2% of them had visited India more than five times on earlier occasions.

X. VALUATION OF STAY IN INDIA

The tourists were asked to evaluate their overal satisfaction level as Most satisfying, Satisfying, Average evaluated their overall visit to India as Most Satisfyin Average and only 14% rated it as Disappointing and most

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

12

ISSN 2229-5518

The survey shows that 56% tourists visited for leisure, recreation & holiday, 10% for business, study purpose and 12% for religion and pilgrimage, 7% visited to meet friends and relatives in India, remaining 11% visited India for

other purposes.

XI. MAIN PURPOSE OF NEXT

VISIT TO INDIA

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

13

ISSN 2229-5518

XII. FAVOURITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION COUNTRIES IN ASIA IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS

In total 181 ideas show out, Japan got 38
ideas, Korea South with 26, China with
25, Hong Kong had 20 and Malaysia got
17 ideas - East Asian countries are favorite holiday destinations of tourists.

XIII. WOMAN TRAVEL PATTERN

In 38% of woman tourists to India, only 18.42% one person comes to India, more than 80% of them come to India with group of two, three, four, five persons.
We find that tourists feel not safe, harassment. The inflow of the foreign tourists could be ensured only when they are provided safe and secure

environment.

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

14

ISSN 2229-5518

XIV. MAIN PURPOSE OF NEXT VISIT TO INDIA – TOURISTS

UNDER 30 YEARS OLD

We find the trend of more than
80% tourists under 30 years old would like to come to India for leisure, recreation & holiday; 4.85% for spiritual holiday purpose; around 10% come to India with study, business purpose.

Short Term Measures

Finding: One

i. A vast majority of respondents (63%) had reported over charging, by taxi drivers, lack of manners, ill-informed tourist guides and tour operators, misbehavior with ladies, cheating, etc in many tourist destinations like Agra, Delhi…etc.

Suggestions

i. The police should be given adequate powers and additional staff to enforce discipline and change the mind set of different players in the tourism sector. State governments may examine the feasibility of constituting a special tourist police force to position at different tourist centers/ tourists spots, monuments.

ii. A code of conduct should be framed and publicized for tourist guides, taxi drivers, tour operators, travel agents etc. Concerned associations should be partnered with this proposed activity.

Finding: Two

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

15

ISSN 2229-5518

i. About 90% tourists remarked that there were inordinate delays at immigration counters. These delays were attributable to lack of space and inadequate computerization, coupled with heavy rush during morning hours (midnight to 3-4 A.M.)

Suggestion

i. The authorities concerned at international airports must ensure availability of more space so as to enable the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) to locate additional counters and deploy more immigration officers.
ii. The paper work involved in immigration should be reduced in line with international practice i.e; all outgoing passengers as well as incoming nationals (Indian citizens) should not have to fill in an elaborate form, and incoming foreigners should also be required to fill in only simple forms that are amenable to easy and fast processing for generation of essential input for concerned authorities like Home Affairs, DOT, Civil Aviation etc.

Medium / Long term Measures

Finding: Three

i) Sizeable percentage of tourists (55 %) opined that most of the approach roads in tourist destinations were in bad conditions causing great inconvenience and delays.

Suggestion

i) A comprehensive study should be commissioned by the Ministry of Transport in collaboration with Department of Tourism to ascertain the status of approach roads and prepare a time bound action plan to rectify the defects to make them motorable and travel friendly in major tourist destinations.

Finding: Four

i) The affluent countries of Western Europe, North America, Japan and Australia are very far from India. Several foreign nationals (about 30%) cited that high cost of international travel stood in the way of attracting a larger number of tourists from these countries. The only way to reduce per capita cost of international travel is through group tours and charter flights.

Suggestion

i) Recent steps taken by the government of India by 1) Abolition of the inland air travel tax, 2) scrapping the basic fare and foreign travel tax of Rs. 500, 3) The

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

16

ISSN 2229-5518

reduction in excise duty on aviation turbine fuel to 8% from 16% etc will go a long way in bringing down the cost of travel. Similarly the state governments should relook at exorbitant luxury taxes, sales tax etc. This will substantially reduce package tour cost thus increasing the flow of tourists. Overseas and domestic tour operators should be encouraged to organize package tours with a focus on specific tourism products like medical tourism, spiritual tourism, eco tourism etc.
ii) Efforts must be made to draw ethnic groups other than Indians from Southeast Asian countries to places in India with Buddhist relics and scenic and cultural attractions. Steps initiated recently should be intensified and spread throughout the region. Opening of new air connectivity under the Open Skies Policy and the SAARC agreements should facilitate such flights.

Finding: Five

i) The awareness of unique tourism products like Health tourism facilities are very poor. Suggestion
i) Developing suitable persons/ agencies to bring out directories / brochures on unique tourism products, like Health
tourism, and distribute to Indian
missions abroad, tour operators, travel agents etc. in the target source markets. Finding: Six
Entry fees to monuments and heritage sites are higher for foreigners than collected from the Indian Nationals Suggestion
i) Uniform fares for foreign and Indian nationals should be charged so that wide spread feeling of discrimination is reduced.

Finding : Seven

i) India has not succeeded in attracting family groups to visit India together in large numbers as is evident from the very low percentage of children, housewives and females amongst the tourists (38% woman). There is a great need for attracting tourists to visit India for the pure pleasure she offers. Historical sites, palaces and architectural monuments, hills, beaches and forests, wildlife, religious and folk festivals, music and dances film and theatre, handicrafts of India must be all great attractions to foreigners.

Suggestion

i) Group tourism should be encouraged by devising suitable strategies and promotional measures to attract younger

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

17

ISSN 2229-5518

generations, housewives etc. About 58% of the tourists were repeat visitors. Finding: Eight
i) More than 30 % of the tourists visit India on their own motivation or at the influence of others who had visited India earlier.

Suggestion

i) It is important that the tourists leave India with a good impression in their minds so that they would, in turn, influence others to visit India. Factors, which irritate the tourists, like cumbersome immigration and customs procedures, unethical traders, difficulties in air or rail bookings for travel within India, unsanitary conditions at places of stay and travel must therefore be given high priority for improvement.
The Marketing Strategy should take into account the following factors: The Asian tourism mart is growing at a rapid rate. This makes the case for stiff competition among different nations to attract maximum tourists; Technical assistance is required to draw comprehensive master plans and also to review and improve the existing plans; The competitive tourism trade warrants a constant and consistent marketing of
new and exclusive destinations, which
includes upgrading the existing ones; For a number of years in the past, the emphasis has been on marketing India as a cultural destination with rich and diverse religious history and many pilgrimage attractions. In the present scenario, there is a need to diversify the tourism product and lay more emphasis on projecting India as a modern country for a comfortable holiday with a choice of beaches, historical attractions.

REFERENCES

1. Kotler, Philip. –Lane, Kevin. Marketing Management. (Pearson Publication’s, 13th Edition)

2. Malhotra, K Naresh. Marketing Research, An Applied Orientation, (Pearson Education, 2008)

3. Lovelock, Christopher. Wirtz, Jochen

.Chatterjee, Jayanta. Services Marketing.( Prentice Hall, 2002 ).

4. Annual report of Ministry Tourism

Government of India – 2008-2009.

5. Annual report of Malaysia Tourism 2008 –

2009.

6. World Travel & Tourism council report on

India and Malaysia Tourism.

7. ASEAN Journal on Hospitality & Tourism, February 2009 - Chief Editor: Myra P. Gunawan - Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia

8. Opportunities in Malaysian Tourism Industry

(2007-2009) http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display. asp?productid=1806312 August 25, 2008.

9.http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a

628d1/malaysia_tourism-

Authors: Rashid, Z.A., Mohamed Sharif Bashir Author Affiliation: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, University Putra Malaysia, PM, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

10. Singh, Amrik.Outlook of Asia Pacific

Tourism Industry: Current Trends and Future

IJSER © 2011 http://www.ijser.org

Internatio nal Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research Volume 2, Issue 4, April-2011

18

ISSN 2229-5518

(Singh, Amrik is an instructor, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah email: amrik.singh@health.utah.edu) ll.http://www.tourismstat.com /survey/public/sur vey.

1 --GER IS) 2011

h

tp

/www

ror