Consumer preferences and expectations from an upcoming eco resort in Sundarbans 1.1 Introduction Tourism in Bangladesh is a slowly developing foreign currency earner. The sector needs attention from entrepreneurs and as well as from the government to become the major foreign currency earner sector as there is a great scope. Tourism is one of the most potential industries in Bangladesh which has enough scope for expansion in terms of both economic return and social benefits. The sector can account for 3-4% of the total export earnings by the year 2020 (ETO, 09).1 The sector can play a significant role in the economy of Bangladesh in terms of its contribution to export and domestic market. Focusing into the growing demand of the world tourism and the increasing acceptance of Bangladesh in the world market as a tourist destination, Bangladesh intends to develop its range of Tourism products to penetrate new market segments. Thus this report focuses on the initiation of an Eco-resort and its operation in the near future. Spellbound Advertising Ltd. is an upcoming leading communication agency of Bangladesh. Under the parent company, there are many different business wings available in this organization. One of the wings is Spellbound Tourism Ltd. The management of Spellbound was planning to launch a full-fledged eco resort in Sundarbans – “Sundarbans Eco Resort”. In my study, I will be trying to find out the feasibility of the project from the prospective consumer’s perspective.
1.2 Bangladesh tourism Industry Tourism Industry of Bangladesh has been an untapped sector for a long time both nationally and globally. Only in recent times, the government has discovered the potential of tourism industry and has started taking necessary steps to promote it globally. According to the state mechanism of Bangladesh, the industry operates under the Ministry of Civil Aviation & Tourism of Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh. The government affiliated national tourism organization is known as “Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.” On World Travel and Tourism economic impact report 2009 by WTTC, it is mentioned that the industry contributes directly 1.7% to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009 (BDT103.4 billion or US$1,466.3 million). The T&T (Travel & Tourism) Economy contribution (% of total) is leveled at 4.0% (BDT244.8 billion or US$3,470.3 million). It generates 2,301,000 jobs till 2009 which is 3.2% of the total employment. The market share of the industry in South Asia is 5.08% and globally 0.08%.2 Though the impact of Bangladesh’s tourism is very less in terms of regional and global tourism, it has enormous potential because of its pristine natural beauty and a truly authentic people’s culture.
1
Shamsuddoha, M, Exploring Tourist Spots for Promoting Investments in Tourism Industry of Bangladesh, Journal of Tourism, No. 6 2
World Travel and Tourism economic impact report 2009 by WTTC
According to the data provided by Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, total number of foreign visitors arriving in Bangladesh in 2009 (last available data) was 2,254,578.3 The purpose of the visit is not only travelling for these foreign nationalities. The purpose can be classified into few segments – business tourism, leisure/travel tourism, religious tourism, office tours, study purpose, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) tourism and other.
Domestic Tourism It involves the residents of Bangladesh traveling within the country. The present scenario of domestic tourism is getting better day by day. As more people are working in the service sector, they have more disposable income and savings. And as they take holidays within the country, domestic tourism keeps flourishing. Moreover, nowadays a certain age group (23-35 years) is showing great enthusiasm to travel their own country which is very good for the domestic tourism.
Outbound Tourism This involves the residents of Bangladesh traveling to other countries for purposes like leisure travel, business, service, study, pilgrimage, health etc. Nowadays a good number of people prefer to go abroad for holidays and health issues and the number is increasing every year. But by improving tourism and healthcare facilities, this number can be reduced.
Outbound Travels by Purpose of Visit, 20094 Purpose of Visit Month
Total
Tourism Business
Offic Study Religion Service e
Others
January
46,380 7,092
101
2,857 3,405
103,080
48,965
211,880
February
48,958 7,757
101
3,605 2,500
99,999
44,874
207,794
March
51,206 5,438
106
746
102,151
47,266
209,490
April
42,463 10,668 79
2,523 1,994
94,273
45,808
197,808
May
44,403 10,065 249
2,444 1,814
102,101
45,586
206,662
June
50,338 9,577
480
2,756 1,771
89,856
41,482
196,260
July
63,059 9,592
264
2,421 1,716
95,510
33,558
206,120
August
36,883 7,886
113
2,567 1,493
73,668
43,954
166,564
September 31,752 7,096
132
2,495 1,507
62,813
40,068
145,863
October
33,876 9,526
112
2,427 1,495
90,449
58,580
196,465
November 14,691 8,560
111
2,482 1,622
60,154
68,363
155,983
December 19,065 8,887
103
2,527 1,712
85,246
36,149
153,689
1,059,300
554,653
2,254,578
Total
3 4
2,577
483,074 102,144 1,951 29,850 23,606
http://www.parjatan.gov.bd/tourism_2009.php http://www.parjatan.gov.bd/tourism_2009.php
Foreign Exchange Earnings from Tourism & Other Travels5 (2001-2010) (Million Taka) Month 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Jan 273.80 297.50 259.00 457.00 450.42 653.71 561.13 749.28 649.24 495.98 Feb 218.10 260.60 327.00 393.70 502.73 554.11 624.04 585.06 579.46 496.98 Mar 196.10 336.20 355.90 425.90 468.50 538.94 471.90 527.79 518.90 565.97 Apr 219.00 312.50 241.10 309.40 335.56 411.62 387.22 459.35 473.85 427.37 May 240.50 282.70 226.30 305.00 347.95 452.02 449.95 423.06 538.21 342.11 Jun 221.70 313.00 288.00 279.70 301.23 394.96 366.17 509.52 417.71 473.03 Jul 207.10 267.50 302.30 303.60 296.98 398.14 346.63 461.98 453.03 320.97 Aug 170.50 251.50 232.00 285.90 354.61 424.16 363.72 417.30 439.32 431.37 Sep 193.40 245.90 217.30 293.10 334.14 362.29 342.54 464.46 350.65 368.06 Oct 187.00 205.00 265.10 247.90 332.67 327.95 359.68 415.67 361.99 525.26 Nov 234.80 277.70 224.20 250.42 324.45 444.50 440.25 519.39 461.28 477.14 Dec 291.80 262.50 371.80 415.94 444.65 568.25 551.96 591.66 518.60 638.46 Total 2653.803312.603310.003967.564493.895530.655265.196124.525762.245562.70 % Change1.02 24.82 -0.08 19.87 13.27 23.07 -4.80 16.32 -5.92 -3.46
1.3 Objective of the Study The tourism industry in Bangladesh has started to bloom in the last 5 years. Since then, a good number of tourism management organization and many different hotels have grown in many different tourism spot of Bangladesh. Also the consumers of this sector have been much more aware regarding their preferences due to the availability of the various tourism options. Also, the concept of eco-resort is still new in Bangladesh, where launching a new venture comes with a high amount of risk in this sector. So, the Spellbound management decision problem regarding the project was whether to launch the resort or not and the research problem for this project is to determine consumer preferences and expectations for the proposed eco resort. There are some several objectives behind carrying out this research work. The broad objective was:
To determine whether the consumers of Bangladesh are potentially beneficial for the upcoming eco resort in Sundarbans This broad was built on some specific objectives: •
5
To find out the current consumption behavior of the consumers in the tourism sector.
http://www.parjatan.gov.bd/tourism_2009.php
• •
To determine the preference of the consumers for the available and the upcoming tourism services. To determine the expectation of the consumers from an upcoming eco resort.
1.4 Significance of the Study This research is important to the employers as they are ready to start a new business venture based on the findings of it. This is a matter of profound gravity. Also the management team of the tourism concern is highly optimistic on this eco resort as their future growth is dependent on it. Moreover, the target market, which is the society at large, is highly benefitted from the resort in terms of recreation. Also this eco resort opens up a new path of country’s economic sector. The study will give the company an insight of the consumers mind. This consumer will help both the companies to understand the difference between expected and actual outcome of the communication activity that will be done for spellbound tourism. Through which the employees will have a vivid idea – what are the insights that was not addressed properly. Thus it will eventually help them to create a communication strategy which will address the consumer properly. The insights gathered in the study will show how a smallest of communications can be crucial for the company. In 2010 Bangladesh’s Travel and Tourism was expected to generate BDT 266 BN (US$ 3,786MN) of economic activity. The report outcome can help tourism the company to understand what eco tourism can actually deliver and why it gained the market in Bangladesh. What are the things that target market is looking for before buying a personal transportation. What essential procedures that other competitors can take in order to improve their position in the industry and to attract the buyers whose they actually even target for.
Figure: Key facts and figures of Bangladesh Tourism Industry6 Also from the development prospect of the country, this study can play a significant role. There is a lot of opportunity in the tourism sector in terms of HR development, foreign resource earning, community development, GDP growth etc. Here is some of the information regarding how the country will be developing if the tourism sector flourishes.
1.5 Limitation of the Study • • • • • • •
As the research and survey is limited in area, it will not represent the entire population. The research survey was mainly conducted on the people from Dhaka of required income level. Buying preferences can be different outside Dhaka. Time and cost are the key constraints of our report. Due to lack of time and increased cost, total sample size was small. Therefore lower sample size means more estimation error. There is no way to determine whether the answers given by the respondents were genuine or vague. They might have filled up the questionnaire without getting into the subject matter properly, which created response bias. The research looks at initial preferences. Further research can take place in creation of a strong brand inquiry. There always remains the uncertainty about the cooperation of people at all level of this research. Influencers among the family and friends play an important role in choosing a tourist spot Bangladesh. But due to some constraints it couldn’t be assessed.
2.1 Company Profile Company Name: Spellbound Advertisement Ltd. Location : House # 121, Road # 19/A, Block E, Banani, Dhaka – 1213, Bangladesh. Website
: www.spellboundbd.com
Spellbound Advertising Ltd. is a collaboration of young entrepreneurs which is a young but experienced firm working in diverse areas relate to marketing communications and event management which stands out from the crowd with its quality and efficiency. Being a relatively new player in the fiercely competitive market, Spellbound has been able to establish its name amongst the leading firms within a very short period of time. Spellbound is a young but experienced communication agency working in diverse areas related to marketing communications, events-activation, printing, logistic supports, tourism, 6
http://www.wttc.org/eng/Tourism_Research/
and other diverse fields of work which stands out from the crowd with its quality and efficiency. Spellbound is a Bangladeshi company which believes in its country’s pride, glory and history and works continuously to promote it around the globe. Spellbound has a sincere interest in promoting Bangladeshi culture and heritage around the world and help in the progress of the country in every way possible. For that reason, the company always springs forward to grab any opportunity that helps the cause of its country’s pride. Spellbound is one of the upcoming leading marketing solutions firms of Bangladesh. Being a relatively new player in the fiercely competitive market, Spellbound has been able to establish its name amongst the leading organizations of its kind within a very short period of time. This has been possible due its strong commitment to deliver the best solution to its clients’ needs at the most competitive price. Composed of a group of young and enthusiastic marketers, Spellbound has always been innovative and effective in its field of work. Based on the company philosophy of “Stand Out from the Crowd”, Spellbound has always tried to be different from its competitors. This has made possible the realization of the tagline ‘We do Things Magically’ as the clients would testify. The success of the company has also been influenced by its well-established network of suppliers and affiliates who work side by side with Spellbound to stand up to the expectations of the clients. Spellbound has been successful in developing and maintaining long-term relations with its suppliers as well as the clients.
2.2 Concerns of Spellbound Diversification has been a motto of Spellbound. That is why it has not kept itself limited to only one field of operation. Rather, the focus has been to create an organization that can satisfy a wide range of needs of the market. Now, besides communication, Spellbound successfully works in the fields of printings, events, activation, PR, wedding management.
Two more new concerns will be introduced in a short period of time – “HR Inline” and “Sundarbans Eco Resort”. ToraiBadhaGhorar Dim, a gifts and souvenir shop, is also run by the company to bring forward the Bangladeshi culture in gift giving exclusively bangle cards.
Currently, Spellbound is working from its 4,000 square feet (370 m2) corporate head-office located at Banani in Dhaka. The company is operating all its activities with 48 permanent office employees. A full time team, along with a pool of quality part-timers of Spellbound, is specialized in managing events at national, regional and international level. Successful holding of meetings, brainstorming sessions, workshops, roundtables to disseminate successes and lessons learned are some of the major area of event management. Spellbound has specialization for providing quality services in the area of advertising, media and communication. Development of advocacy and communication strategies and plans, conducting research, analysis, media campaign; production of print, television and radio commercials, providing PR support are the basic activities of the Communication Department of Spellbound. 7 The tourism segment of spellbound has not yet started its operation completely. Spellbound is coming up with a completely new concept to be implemented in Bangladesh with its “Sundarbans Eco Resort”- preparing itself for presenting Bangladesh to the outer world at a different dimension.
2.3 Management Profile of the organization Spellbound was founded by three individuals in the early 2008. The following section focused on their brief history of forming the organization.
CEO &Director Sadequl Arefeen Mr. Sadequl Arefeen is an NSU BBA graduate. During his years in NSU, he has been a very dynamic person. He led a club of the university named “NSUSS” for a long time and also was the President of the Debate club. He worked in different Medias like ProthomAlo, RTV for a long time. He is considered as one of the youngest producer in the industry.
Director Ariful Haque Mr. Ariful Haque is business graduate from Dhaka University. While completing his graduation, he started a small business of a printing house. The venture turned out to be a very successful one. Eventually after making a big client base, he saw an opportunity of opening a full-fledged agency. This way the journey of Spellbound started.
Director Gazy Golam Sarwer Mr. Gazy is also an NSU graduate and was a member of NSUSS. He and Mr. Sadequl Arefeen were blood brothers in NSUSS. When Mr. Arif came up with the plan of forming an
7
Please see attached CD of Spellbound Advertisement Ltd. Company Profile
agency, all of them consented in the proposal. In the industry he is quite well known by the name “GG�.
2.4 Mission, Vision & Value of the Organization For any organization, there core belief is the life lone foe running the business. Those of for Spellbound are mentioned below: Vision Profit making is and should not be the only purpose of doing business. At Spellbound we build relationship on the basis of loyalty, truthfulness and believe. Being proactive, positive, passionate business partners we go above & beyond, being accountable for everything. Mission We provide customer oriented service with the passion, pride and finest quality. We listen and learn about the commercial challenges our clients face and goals they wish to achieve with a set target. Value We value corporate ethics, integrity, creativity, efficient action and encourage motivated employee and team work. Guided by this value we provide superior service to the clients.
Figure: Client List of Spellbound Advertisement Ltd
2.5 Organizational Structure
Figure: The organizational structure of Spellbound Advertisement Ltd
2.6 Functional Departments of Spellbound Advertisement Ltd. Firms in the advertising and public relations services industry prepare advertisements for other companies and organizations and design campaigns to promote the interests and image of their clients. This industry also includes media representatives—firms that sell advertising space for publications, radio, television, and the Internet; display advertisers—businesses engaged in creating and designing public display ads for use in shopping malls, on billboards, or in similar media; and direct mail advertisers. A firm that purchases advertising time (or space) from media outlets, thereafter reselling it to advertising agencies or individual companies directly, is considered a media buying agency. The structure is quite same in Spellbound; There are 6 departments in this advertising agency –
Client account Service Media Production
Business Development Creative Finance and Accounting
Client account service department The account service, or the account management department, is the link between the Spellbound and its clients, depending upon the size of the account and its advertising budget one or two account executives serve as liaisons to the client. The account executive’s job requires high degree of diplomacy and tact as misunderstanding may lead to loss of an account. The account executive is mainly responsible to gain knowledge about the client’s business, profit goals, marketing problems and advertising objectives. The account executive is responsible for getting approved the media schedules, budgets and rough ads or story boards from the client. The next task is to make sure that the agency personnel produce the advertising to the client’s satisfaction. The biggest role of the account executive is keeping the agency ahead of the client through follow-up and communications. Media department. The responsibility of the agency’s media department is to develop a media plan to reach the target audience effectively in a cost effective manner. The staff analyses, selects and contracts for media time or space that will be used to deliver the ad message. This is one of the most important decisions since a significantly large part of the client’s money is spent on the media time and/or space. The media department has acquired increasing importance in an agency’s business as large advertisers seem to be more inclined to consolidate media buying with one or few agencies thereby saving money and improving media efficiency.
Creative department To a large extent, the success of Spellbound depends upon the creative department responsible for the creation and execution of the advertisements. The creative specialists are known as copywriters. They are the ones who conceive ideas for the ads and write the headlines, subheads and the body copy. They are also involved in deciding the basic theme of the advertising campaign, and often they do prepare the rough layout of the print ad or the commercial story board. Creation of an ad is the responsibility of the copywriters and the art department decides how the ad should look.
Production department After the completion and approval of the copy and the illustrations the ad is sent to the production department. Generally agencies do not actually produce the finished ads; instead they hire printers, photographers, engravers, typographers and others to complete the finished advertisement.
For the production of the approved TV commercial, the production department may supervise the casting of actors to appear in the ad, the setting for scenes and selecting an independent production studio. The production department sometimes hires an outside director to transform the creative concept to a commercial.
Business development section The business development section in Spellbound is mostly there for searching out the potential new business opportunities available in the market. There is a wide range of business opportunities that the department works on. The concept of launching the eco-resort was solely the brain child of this department. The CEO & The managing directors of the company run this section on their own.
Finance and accounting department Spellbound is providing services and must be managed that way. Thus, it has to perform various functions such as accounting, finance, human resources etc. it must also attempt to generate new business. Also this department is important since bulk of the agency’s income approx. 65% goes as salary and benefits to the employees.
2.7 Advertising Agency in large scale Advertising is a large and highly competitive industry occupying a very important position in most developing and developed economies. With a plethora of brands on offer, the need to inform, persuade and convince the customer is becoming increasingly important. This is where the tools of Advertising and Advertising Agencies that use this tool step in! More precisely what is an Advertising Agency? An Advertising Agency or ad agency is a service provider that works for clients to create an effective and goal oriented advertising campaign aimed at representing the Company positively in the eyes of its target customers. Businesses hire advertising agencies to connect with their target customers. In the face of stiff competition, every Co / brand wants to break through this clutter and create a favorable space for itself. Ad agencies help clients to do just this by creating attention grabbing, persuasive and unique ad campaigns that make the brand stand out in the minds of customers. A number of Businesses, Corporations, Government Organizations and Non Profit set-ups hire advertising agencies to advertise their products, brands and services to present and prospective customers. Advertising agencies vary in size in Bangladesh & abroad - from a couple of people handling all responsibilities to a medium or large sized agency that hires specialized professionals to function each department. It has been generally seen that Full Service Ad Agencies are well equipped to plan and create advertising campaigns for a range of media including TV commercials, Radio jingles, print advertisements etc. Depending on the budget, client's select their agency.
2.8 Nature of the Industry According to a research by Khalid Hasan PhD, Managing Director, Nielsen Bangladesh, in the year between 2001-2010, there were about more than 200 advertising and public relations services establishments in Bangladesh whereas only 20-22 have become successful in becoming mainstream agencies. About 40 percent write copy and prepare artwork, graphics, and other creative work, and then place the resulting ads on television, radio, or the Internet or in periodicals, newspapers, or other advertising media. Within the industry, only these fullservice establishments are known as advertising agencies. About 18 percent were public relations firms. Many of the largest agencies are international, with a substantial proportion of their revenue coming from abroad affiliations directly. Most advertising firms specialize in a specific market niche. Some companies produce and solicit outdoor advertising, such as billboards and electric displays. Others place ads in buses, subways, taxis, airports, and bus terminals. A small number of firms produce aerial advertising, while others distribute circulars, handbills, and free samples. Many agencies have created units to better serve their clients' electronic advertising needs on the Internet. Currently, online advertisements link users to a company's or product's Website, where information such as new product announcements, contests, and product catalogs appear, and from which purchases may be made. Some firms are not involved in the creation of ads at all; instead, they sell advertising time or space on radio and television stations or in publications. Because these firms do not produce advertising, their staffs are mostly account executives. Companies often look to advertising as a way of boosting sales by increasing the public's exposure to a product or service. Most companies do not have the staff with the necessary skills or experience to create effective advertisements; furthermore, many advertising campaigns are temporary, so employers would have difficulty maintaining their own advertising staff. Instead, companies commonly solicit bids from ad agencies to develop advertising for them. Ad agencies offering their services to the company often make presentations. After winning an account, various departments within an agency—such as creative, production, media, research, and planning though these can be distinguish from agency to agency - work together to meet the client's goal of increasing sales. Widespread public relations services firms can influence how businesses, governments, and institutions make decisions. Often working behind the scenes, these firms have a variety of functions. In general, firms in public relations services advise and implement public exposure strategies. For example, a public relations firm might issue a press release that is printed in newspapers across the country. Firms in public relations services offer one or more resources that clients cannot provide themselves. Usually this resource is expertise in the form of knowledge, experience, special skills, or creativity; but sometimes the resource is time or personnel that the client cannot spare. Clients of public relations firms include all types of businesses, institutions, trades, and public interest groups, and even high-profile individuals. Clients are large and small for-profit firms in the private sector; State, local, or Federal Governments; hospitals, universities, unions, and trade groups; and foreign governments or businesses. Public relations firms help secure favorable public exposure for their clients, advise them in the case of a sudden public crisis, and design strategies to help them attain a certain public
image. Toward these ends, public relations firms analyze public or internal sentiment about clients; establish relationships with the media; write speeches and coach clients for interviews; issue press releases; and organize client-sponsored publicity events, such as contests, concerts, exhibits and sporting and charity events. Lobbying firms, a special type of public relations firm, differ somewhat. Instead of attempting to secure favorable public opinion about their clients, they attempt to influence legislators in favor of their clients' special interests. Lobbyists often work for large businesses, industry trade organizations, unions, or public interest groups.
2.9 Competitive condition of Spellbound When Spellbound started its journey, only two companies gave out such service in activation. Now there are 108 advertising agencies in Dhaka alone. Now Spellbound is faced with numerous competitions. The SWOT analysis of the agency is listed below: Strength: • Handled numerous brands • Equipped with the latest technology • Have other ventures to support the business • What is promised is delivered • Able to provide 360 degree communication Weaknesses: • Young management – sometimes feels difficulty to gain attention/reliability • Organizational structural mismanagement Opportunities: • Companies are getting more and more aware about promotion. • New client companies are emerging. • Importance of both 360 degree communications is realized Threats: • More and more companies are getting into the industry. • As the global market is cutting down on costs, promotional budgets are being cut. Scope of business is getting narrow. • Business are built with favors and connections
2.10 Strategies & Tactics of Spellbound Spellbound Group is the mother company of different new ventures. The main reason to set up other small ventures is that spellbound advertising is opening up many different types of business such as the tourism project. It has been only two years since the company was formed. In such short time, this company is experiencing a tremendous growth in the advertising industry. From the beginning, the motto of the management has been to spread their business in various directions. On that note, the
management has begin to expend their business to many different sector such as, tourism, IT, supply chain etc. To take care of the upcoming business, the management prefers to use the existing HR to run the managerial operation of the upcoming businesses. From one single management team, all the concerns of Spellbound will be managed. The main branch of the organization is located in Banani of Dhaka. From this office all the business of advertisement is handled. There are some sub-offices in different locations of Bangladesh to organize the countrywide activation. To maintain the tourism project, there is zonal office in Khulna which is maintained under the direct supervision of Dhaka office.
3.0 Methodology During the proper research paper plan, It is a framework for the research plan of action. For this research purpose, both quantitative and conclusive research design have been done. After doing exploratory research to find the initial problem, detail and more depth research technique had been done, which are descriptive and causal research. Descriptive research also helps to find out the users attitude towards the eco resort.
This Research design plan has few stages. Problem discovery and definition: After going through exploratory research, I have defined the problem more accurately giving rise to the problem that whether the consumer will be potentially beneficial enough to launch an eco resort. Planning the research design: The sample was designed in such that I will select current tourist and find out about their preference and consumption behavior. Selecting sample & Gathering: The residents of Dhaka city was surveyed who actually falls under the target market of the eco resort; here I have used convenience sampling under the non probability sampling technique. Data processing and analysis: The statistical software named MS Excell and SPSS has been used to process and analyze the data. Conclusion and report writing: Conclusion is drawn based on the research findings and in-depth interpretation of the statistical figures.
Description of the Data
This research is designed as a primary study of the consumer preference for an upcoming eco resort. In order to attain the aims of the study quantitative basic research methods are used. Two types of data have been collected to conduct the entire study.
Primary Data: The primary data consists of surveys and interviews that conducted to help us analyze the findings. To accomplish the goals of the study, each respondent Ire surveyed with a questionnaire containing all dimensions of our research objective. Some of the items will be measured by responses on a five-point Liker scale of agreement with statements other questions will be designed in the MCQ and preference ranking format, to get a clear understanding of the sample’s perceptions. Secondary Data: Secondary data will include information from: Internet Documents Marketing books and related documents In house data Survey Data Summarization Following methods were used to analyze and summarize the gathered data: Frequency Frequency distribution tables used to summarize the gathered data. This is a process where we recorded the number of times a particular value of a variable occurs. Chi Square test Chi-Squared test is performed to understand whether the variance of the population has a pre-determined value which further explains if they are dependent on one another. Correlation Correlations are performed to understand the relationships between the different variables. This helped us to form the composition of our research since linear regression proves or refutes the hypothesis developed.
4.0 Data Analysis Sample size - 120 Age on average - 24 Gender - Female (40%) Male (60%) 15% 28%
38%
19%
no. of respondent
1000 20000 23
21000 40000 46
41000 60000 33
above 60000 18
According to the survey, 38% of surveyed people have a monthly income in between BDT 21,000 and BDT 40,000. 1. How many times a year do you go on a vacation tour in Bangladesh?
18% 20% 28%
34%
no. of respondent
1 time
2 times
3 times
41
34
24
more than 3 times 21
2. Which time of the year do you go on a tour usually?
35% 10% 23% 32%
Jan - Mar no. of respondent
39
Apr June 27
July - Sep Oct - Dec 12
42
3. With whom do you go on a tour?
3% 34% 49% 14%
Single no. of respondent
17
Friends & Peers 59
Family
Colleagues
41
3
4. Your overall expenditure per tour is (in thousands)? – Average: BDT 8,000
5. How do you select the tour spot? 18% 24% 40% 18%
no. of respondent
Self info search 21
Past Word of experience mouth 29 48
Advertise ment 22
6. How do you select the tour accommodation (Hotel / Resort)?
19% 27% 32% 22%
no. of respondent
Self info search 23
Past Word of experience mouth 32 39
Advertise ment 26
7. If you search information by yourself, how do you search for hotel/resorts?
5% 19% 28% 15% 33%
no. of respondent
Web search 40
Brochures 18
Word of mouth 33
Past experience 23
8. Your mostly used transportation to the destination?
33% 26% 41%
no. of respondent
Public Transport 49
Private Transport 31
Rental Transport 40
9. Have you ever been to “Sundarbans�?
78% 22%
Tour operators 6
Yes
No
no. of respondent 26
94
10. Do you take kids in a tour?
69% 31%
Yes no. of respondent 37
No 83
11. Rank following according to most important to least important in a resort in Sundarbans? Securi Easy Scenic Comf Expens Emergency Food ty Transp Beaut ort es Medical & ort y Service Hygie ne Ran 77 9 4 1 21 7 1 k1 Ran 24 37 9 12 27 9 2 k2 Ran 11 41 14 8 32 13 1 k3 Ran 3 23 11 27 26 17 13 k4 Ran 1 2 28 14 8 29 38 k5 Ran 4 5 24 29 2 33 23
k6 Ran k7
-
3
30
29
4
12
42
According to the survey, 64% of surveyed people ranked Security as Rank 1 (Most priority – Security) 35% of surveyed people ranked Food & Hygiene as Rank 7 (Least priority – Food & Hygiene) 12. Are you aware of the term “Eco-Resort”?
48%
52%
Yes no. of respondent 63
No 57
13. If an eco-resort fulfills your priority on following facilities, would you like to pay a visit? 14. How much are you willing to spend? Average - BDT 6,000 15. How many days are you willing to spend on a tour? Average - 3 days
2.5%
97.5%
Yes no. of respondent 117
No 3
16. What would be your preferable type of accommodation in the resort? Cottage Dormitor Tent Hotel Suits y Room Ran 68 7 41 4 -
k1 Ran k2 Ran k3 Ran k4 Ran k5
39
32
27
6
16
12
36
24
17
31
1
41
28
42
8
-
4
-
51
65
According to the survey, 57% of surveyed people ranked Cottage as Rank 1 (Most priority – Cottage) 54% of surveyed people ranked Suits as Rank 5 (Least priority – Suits) 17. What would be your preferable mode of getting informed about the resort? Online Press ad TVC Radio ad Billboa Brochu ad rd res Ran 45 42 16 4 8 5 k1 Ran 31 26 15 17 5 26
k2 Ran k3 Ran k4 Ran k5 Ran k6
22
37
24
17
12
8
13
9
29
42
23
4
7
2
32
24
38
17
2
4
4
16
34
60
According to the survey, 38% of surveyed people ranked Online ad as Rank 1 (Most priority – Online ad) 50% of surveyed people ranked Brochures as Rank 6 (Least priority – Brochures) 18. What would be your preferable mode of booking for accommodation?
64%
36%
Percentage Analysis Summery Dhaka Office Online booking
no. of respondent 43
Yes
Online
Representative Dhaka office 77
Yes
No No
Yes
No
Yes Rental
Private
Tour operator Past Experience Self info Search
No Public
Word of Mouth
Brochures
Past Experience
Self info Search
Word of Mouth
Past Experience
Web Search Advertisement
Word of Mouth
Advertisement
Colleagues Family
Friends & Peers
Oct-Dec More than Thrice
Jul-Sep Thrice
Apr-Jun Twice
Single Jan-Mar Once
5.0 Key Findings The Key Findings are mentioned below: • People tend to go on a vacation tour at least once a year and the mostly preferable time is October to March. • Most people go on a tour with Friends and Peers. Frequency of the tour and tour associates (with who travels) are dependent on each other. • People who travel with kids do emphasize on spot selection and accommodation of spot. • Selection of tour spots are mostly occurred by “word of mouth” and a “secured” resort or accommodation works as the first priority for selection. • People search online mostly in case of self information search for particular hotel/resort/ accommodation facilities. Also, online ad is most preferable in case of self information searches. • Public and rental transports are mostly used in case of tours. • People have a general perception about eco-resort and they are very much willing to visit one which fulfills their priorities. • People mostly prefer a cottage in an eco-resort as accommodation solution. • Representative office in Dhaka is mostly preferable for booking purpose. 6.0 Recommendation The recommendations are mentioned below: Resort Structure (Accommodations) should be made in such way that it fits for different target groups, those with kids or without kids. Preferable alternative options should be kept; for example, dorms targeting group travelers like students, cottages for the couples and family, tents for adventure lovers etc. A full-fledged website should be launched for the resort to inform the market about it. The advertisement should also appear on online travel websites. As the resort will be situated in Sundarbans, some adventurous activity should be introduced for traveler’s attraction. Such as, fire camping, honey collection, fishing, bon bibi puja, dublarchor rash mela etc.
Eco-friendly Operations should be introduced. Such as composed bin, solar system, bio gas, water bio treatment, rain water reservoir and filtration etc. A dedicated vehicle support from Dhaka to the Resort would be very attractive for travelers. Security issues must be ensured as people are mostly concerned about it. Government involvement could be asked in proper manner as the place is in jungle which gets taken care of by the Forrest department. Also, such accommodation facilities in such place should attract foreign travelers as well whose presence should require high security management. Both online booking system and booking through representative office options should be kept for better booking flexibility. Word of mouth works as a very important communication tool in this industry. The upcoming resort must come up with some buzzing communication ideas to create attention and float it through word of mouth. As online is the most preferable media for information search of this industry, the resort could use popular sites like facebook, youtube, flickr, popular blogs etc to come to the limelight. ATL media would help but too expensive to get proper time value of money back in a short period of time. Association of some activation would help to create awareness. For an instance, an activation could be designed regarding “Vote for Sundarbans” (Sundarbans is nominated for the Natural Seven Wonders of the World) under the banner of the resort which will assure people’s participation which can lead to “Resort – Potential Consumer” interaction. 7.0 Conclusion A country can emerge as an attractive tourist destination through developing infrastructure and creating newer attractions for visitors and Bangladesh has the potential for being such a destination. Bangladesh does have a lot of potential tourism products and also the necessary manpower. But the major drawbacks stand as the false idea of tourism and the lack of initiatives from both the government and the private sector. But if we develop our infrastructure, focus on our strengths and market our products strategically, we could go a long way with tourism. The recent trend indicates that, the average annual growth rate in tourist arrivals to Bangladesh is much higher than what the WTO estimates. The study shows that Bangladesh already has potential number of domestic tourists waiting for the industry to knock. Even
the expenditure mentality over expectation is quite good enough to earn profit for the investors. In such tourism hospitable environment the concept of eco resort is also an attractive option for destinations like Sundarbans. Being quality security and service provider along with proper promotional activities, an eco resort can be the next attraction for a massive number of tourists destined to Sundarbans.