A Project Report on

By

SABOOWALA SUFYANS.Y.BMS

Roll. No. 690

Atithi Devo Bhava"The perception of what tourism means to a country has to undergo a sea change if India has to move from its current status of 3.3 million foreign tourists arrivals in 2004 to the top10 tourist destinations in the world. People have to be sensitive and aware of the role of tourism; otherwise we will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. When tourism happens, prosperity increases."

- Renuka Chowdhury, Minister for Tourism, India, in January 2005.

THE CAMPAIGN:

Atithi Devo Bhavah Program”-is a nationwide campaign introduced by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, that aims at sensitizing key stakeholders towards tourists, through a process of training and orientation. The endeavour is to boost tourism in India, which in turn would act as a catalyst for India’s economic growth. To launch a national level initiative that works at many levels to address all the above issues.

'Atithi Devo Bhavah' is a Social Awareness Campaign aimed at providing the inbound tourist a sense of being welcomed to the country. The campaign targets the general public as a whole, while focusing mainly on the stakeholders of the tourism industry. The main components of the campaign are training and orientation to taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers, tourist police and other personnel directly interacting with the tourists, while simultaneously creating a brand equity for the trained persons.

'Atithi Devo Bhavah' is a nationwide campaign aimed at sensitising people about India's rich cultural heritage, its preservation, cleanliness, hospitality and bringing out an attitudinal shift among the masses towards tourists. It is a symbolic representation of India's age old hospitality and with this campaign, the Ministry of Tourism is trying to re-install in the stakeholders a sense of pride and responsibility towards tourists and re-enforces the confidence of foreign tourist towards India as a preferred holiday destination thereby positioning India as a popular tourist destination worldwide.

"Atithi Devo Bhavah" involves Sensitisation, Screening, Induction, Training & Orientation, Certification and Feedback of key stakeholders of the Tourism industry in India. The entire concept is designed to complement the ‘Incredible India’ Campaign.

The Ministry of Tourism is thus looking at both the macro and micro perspective by promoting destinations on the one hand and bringing about a sea change in the mindset and behaviour of people, on the other.

SUCCESS REASONS:

The seven point Atithi Devo Bhavah Program:Atithi Devo Bhavah is a 7 point program of hospitality and training

i. Samvedan Sheelta or Sensitization -Here the government sensitizes the various sections of the tourism industry about how each of them can contribute for the growth of the tourism industry and how they will benefit from it.

ii. Prashikshan or Training and Induction -This involves explaining them the needs and expectation of the tourist, how they should respond and behave in order to satisfy their needs and meet those expectations.

iii. Prerna or Motivation -This is motivation to participate in this program through various measures e.g. awards for the best worker in the segment. Because when you are enthused you can do wonders.

iv. Pramani Karan or Certification -Certification to ensure standards shall be done at an appropriate stage in the training program.

v. Pratipushti or Feedback -Feedback shall be obtained from tourists about the Service they have received and the experience they had, in order to improve the training program on a continuous basis.

vi. Samanya Bodh or General Awareness -The mass media communication campaign is undertaken by the government to create general awareness among the public about the necessity and the benefits of the Atithi Devo Bhavah programme.

vii. Swamitwa or Ownership -The Atithi Devo Bhavah program is a movement that government urges all segments of the Indian society to adopt, and look upon as their own.

Brand Ambassador:

To add the so called ‘star’ value to their campaign, the government roped in idol Aamir Khan for the promotion of their initiative. Known to stand up for the right causes, Aamir agreed and tried his bit to help the cause further.

Notably choosy about his products, Khan seems to be a good

judge of ‘value’ and ‘credibility’. He especially ensures that the brands he endorses are stamped with the ‘certified’ mark. Also, before forming an association, Aamir leaves no stone unturned to establish the quality of a given product or company. Aamir being discerning, brings a sense of differentiation, embodies quality and is dignified. He also adds a certain seriousness to the message of the brand.

The ads that we see on the television all have a simple message that is put across as lucidly as ever so that the common Indian can understand the worth of foreigners who visit our land. It inculcates a sense of cleanliness, hygiene and etiquette among viewers and sensitizes not only the stakeholders, but also the common man to protect and maintain our rich and varied heritage, behave in a courteous and polite manner with the tourists and provide service to the tourists with honesty and integrity. Not many would know that a visit/entry to the Taj Mahal in Agra costs an Indian a mere R.s 30, but costs foreigners many times that amount.

ADB-Microsoft Joint Initiative:With its popularity and global reach, Microsoft, along with Initiative, partnered with the Ministry to produce an online advertising campaign across the MSN/Windows Live platform that ran in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific from October 2006 to May 2007.

After developing colorful creative that highlighted India as an exotic destination and generating a compelling media plan that optimized the placement of the creative, the

campaign ran on MSN Homepage and MSN Channels such as Travel, News, and Entertainment using a series of rich media banners. Opt-in e-mail newsletters were sent to Windows Live Hotmail users who had previously expressed an interest in travel.

The India Tourism campaign was successful in reaching the right target audience and branding India as an exciting and attractive travel destination. Microsoft provided the Ministry with direct access to important international markets and helped improve the performance of the overall campaign. Furthermore, the campaign enabled the Ministry to reach out and engage directly with its target audience.

RESULTS:

Microsoft commissioned market research agency Cross-Tab to assess the effectiveness of the India Tourism campaign on MSN/Windows Live. Results showed an increase in favorability and travel intent towards India, positive perceptions towards the country as a travel destination, and revealed that consumers view the Internet as a valuable tool for planning travel.

High recall – 58 percent of those recalling the India Tourism campaign on MSN/Windows Live were more favorable towards having a holiday in India, compared to 34 percent of those who did not recall seeing the campaign.

Positive perception - Over 75 percent of people viewing the campaign agreed that India ‘has many heritage sites’, ‘is rich in culture’, ‘has beautiful scenery/ natural environment’ and ‘is an attractive destination overall’.

Positive attitude towards advertising on Microsoft – 83 percent agreed ‘advertising on MSN is a good way to speak to international travelers’.

Right target audience – 84 percent were decision makers for family holiday travel.

According to figures released by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Government of India (GoI), in April 2007, around 1.42 million international tourists visited India in the first quarter of 2007 (Q1 2007). This was 14.4 percent higher than in the corresponding period in 2006. The foreign exchange

earned in Q1 2007 was Rs.910.24 million4, representing growth of 16.8 percent over Q1 2006. These strong growth figures raised hopes of another good year for the tourism industry in India. The figures came on top of growth of 13.3 percent in 2006 when around 4.43 million tourists had visited India.

Bibliography

http://www.incredibleindia.org/newsite/atithidevobhava.htm

http://www.squamble.com/2010/05/15/foreign-tourist-arrivals-in-india-statistics/

http://www.squamble.com/2009/06/02/aamir-khan-does-an-atithi-devo-bhava-for-incredible-india/

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