AN EVALUATION OF TOURISM INDUSTRY OF ANDHRA PRADESH THROUGH SWOT ANALYSIS

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International Journal in Management and Social Science (Impact Factor- 5.276)

AN EVALUATION OF TOURISM INDUSTRY OF ANDHRA PRADESH THROUGH SWOT ANALYSIS

Dr.Zia Ur Rehman

M.Com., M.B.A., M.Phil., Ph.D

Associate Professor and Head, Department of Management Studies NRI Institute of Technology, Visadala (P.O)

Medikondur Mandal , Guntur-522 438 , ANDHRA PRADESH

ABSTRACT

In Present paper an attempt is made to adopt the SWOT analysis to tourism industry in Andhra Pradesh. SWOT is a very popular tool to evaluate a firm. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats are the four factors frame the SWOT Matrix. SWOT analysis provides an efficient way to evaluate the range of factors that influence operation, and can give valuable guidance in making decisions about what to do next for growth and development of tourism Industry in Andhra Pradesh.

Key Words: Tourism, SWOT, Growth and Development.

INTRODUCTION

Tourism is a major engine of economic growth and a direct multiplier for employment and poverty eradication strategies. Tourism in India has a strong relevance to economic development and employment generation. It creates huge employment opportunities, provides equitable distribution of wealth, helps to acquire the much needed foreign exchange, brings out a speedy development and improvement of infrastructural facilities, improves international understandings by bringing diverse people together and helps to create a social, cultural, political and educational understanding among the people. Developing countries have given a special importance for the development of tourism, for it is the main source of earning foreign exchange; thereby the economic status of the country goes up.

Tourism helps to create national integrity and it also provides employment opportunities. Tourism also tends to give support to local handicrafts and cultural activities, both in urban and rural areas. Expenditure by tourists has a multiplier effect and also generates considerable tax revenue for Government, both in the Central and State sectors. It is also relevant that the various multifaceted socio-economic benefits of tourism are achieved with a relatively low level of investment.

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church, the first Islamic mosque with 5000 year- old civilization, five seasons every year, religious and harvest festivals, 7516.5 kilometers of Ladakh, the fantasy of Central Asia and 1652 spoken languages from colorful feathers in the cape of our country.

The beautiful beaches of Goa and Kovalam architectural elegance of holy timeless and ageless charm of heritage-monuments like legendary Taj Mahal, the lure of snow-clad mountains, grandeur of the mighty rivers like Ganga and the Brahmaputhra, awe- inspiring sand dunes of the exotic beauty of various medieval forts and royal places have in their own inimitable ways, been beckoning the travelers foncenturies. India’s amazing diversity offers foreign tourists everything one could ever want in a holiday. The rate of success in the tourism sector is highly influenced by the instrumentality of supporting industries, such as hostels, transportation, communication, banking or so. Hence, due to the possibility of vast development in these fields, there is a tremendous scope for tourism in India.

There are a number of industries that play a pivotal role in the development of nations. Tourism being one such industry that has emerged as the largest global industry in the 20th century and is projected to grow even faster during the current century. As in the case of development, terminology in tourism has metamorposised. Today we have terms like ‘Sustainable Tourism’, ‘Responsible Tourism’, and Participatory Tourism and so on.

Tourism is a priority sector because, among others, it is able to maximize the productivity of India’s natural, human, cultural and technical resources; it is labour intensive and cottages or mall industry based providing employment; it is capable of being primarily focused on rural areas with appropriate and relatively low cost programmes and it has extensive forward and backward economic linkages that build overall income and employment, especially for women and youth.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To study the internal strengths and weaknesses of Indian tourism industry in general, specific on Andhra Pradesh.

 To explore the external opportunities and threats of Andhra Pradesh industry.

 To suggest measures to Ministry of tourism, Government of India as well as Andhra Pradesh to boost tourism based on SWOT Analysis.

SUNRISE ANDHRA PRADESH

Andhra Pradesh is the State of Opportunities. The State now targets to be among the top 3 states in India by 2022 and a developed state by 2029. With the second longest coastline of 974 kilometers in the country, a rich historical and cultural heritage, ancient and spiritual temples, serene valleys and hills; the new state of Andhra Pradesh with 13 districts holds vast tourist potential, hitherto. Andhra Pradesh is strategically located on the south-eastern coast of India and is a natural gateway to East & South-East Asia. The state has a population of 4.93 crore (Census - 2011), accounting for 4% of country’s population.

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SUNRISE ANDHRA PRADESH

MISSION-BASED APPROACH TO DEVELOPING TOURISM IN ANDHRA PRADESH

Government of Andhra Pradesh has envisaged a Mission-based approach to firmly set Andhra Pradesh on the path of sustainable development and growth. Seven missions have been identified to provide support in managing externalities and enhance inter-departmental synergy for improving outcomes and reducing delays. The Service Sector Mission would focus on enhancing job opportunities and providing further fillip to sectors such as tourism, construction, hospitality, financial services, education, IT and other allied activities. The Tourism sub-mission will work under the ambit of the Service Sector Mission.

The Tourism sub-mission will primarily focus on two key aspects:

1. Theme-based development: It will focus on developing tourism projects under themes of beach & water-based, eco-tourism, Buddhist, religious, heritage, MICE & infrastructure development, recreation/adventure, spiritual/wellness and medical.

2. Destination-based development through Hub & Spoke model: It will focus on developing tourism circuits on a hub & spoke model. The emphasis will be on developing five important tourism hubs (Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Rajahmundry-Kakinada and Srisailam-Nagarjunasagar) by 2020, and all other district headquarters as tourism hubs by 2029.

HISTORY OF SWOT ANALYSIS

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Strengths- Internal attributes, which are helpful to the organization to achieve its objectives. Weaknesses – Internal attributes that are harmful to the organization to achieve its objectives. Opportunities – External factors which are helpful the organization to achieve its objectives. Threats - External factors which are harmful to the organization to achieve its objectives.

SWOT Analysis

TOURISM SWOT ANALYSIS (INDIA):

The specific strength and weakness of the product in relation to the market segments indentified are analyzed along with the existing opportunities and threats. A typical SWOT analysis matrix in case of India in reaction to competitive destinations is as under:

Strengths

 Vast geography.

 Country of rich heritage and traditions having a vast and varied history with a historical backdrop of 5000 years. India is one of the big package of culture and legend that never fails to captivate the imagination of the visitor. Along with endless natural splendors like the mighty Himalayas, the vast indo Genetic Plains, Lush tropical jungles and a long coastline. A visit to the country is a changing spectacle of religions, customs, festivals, sights and sounds.

 Unity in diversity i.e. multicultural people staying together in the same country.

 Increasing literacy rate among the local people and improving infrastructure leading to increase in tourist arrivals.

Helpful to achieve the

objectives

Harmful to achieve the

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 India has been maintaining good and cordial relationship with different countries which helps the people of those countries to get the visas easily to visit India.

 Good number of technical and non-technical people available as manpower resource.  Powerful spiritual strength (Yoga-Ayurveda-Healing-therapy services).

 Manpower costs in the India hotel industry is one of the lowest in the world. This provides better margins for Indian hotel industry.

 India offers a readymade tourist destination with the resources it has. Thus the magnet to pull customers already exists and has potential grow.

 Trains like palace on wheels provide a fell of Indian majesty of the days gone by.

 India has a good rail network and which makes it convenient for tourist to travel and at a very less cost as compared to their countries.

 Travel agents and tour operators form the backbone of the industry. They play an important role in promoting the country as a tourist destination. Here the travel agencies not only provide the picture of the country to interested parties but also lure them to visit a country by the attractive packages.

 India had good base for winter tourism like in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.

 Yoga being practiced in India at large makes it world preferred destination and every year large number of tourists are benefiting from yoga. Some are taking the proper training to learn and teach it when they are back to their home countries.

 Scenic beauty of the country makes it feel like in heaven for the tourists.  Terrain is ideally suited for various adventure activities.

 Well known Indian hospitality.

Weaknesses

 Inadequate standard hotels in the country leading to the problem of accommodation for the visiting country.

 The cost of land in India is very high and acts as a major deterrent to the India hotel industry.  High tax structure in the industry makes the industry worse off.

 Lack of awareness in the market about the tourist product.

 Lack of network and synergy among public and private organization.  Progress in the India is uneven.

 Incidents of local people harassing and torturing the visiting tourists especially the foreign tourists in different parts of the country.

 Poor health, lack of hygiene and proper sanitation among majority of people especially in the rural parts of the country.

 Inefficiency of the domestic airlines-there is number of instances of flight being cancelled or delayed.

 Frequent strikes by the pilots and railway employees.

 The condition of the roads is bad and unexpected to the tourists while travelling.  Heavy road taxes.

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International Journal in Management and Social Science (Impact Factor- 5.276)  Safety.

 Lack of technological advancement in tourism industry.  Inadequate marketing and information channels.

Opportunities

 There are many places to be explored as a tourist destination.

 Demand between the national and the inbound tourists can be easily managed due to difference in the period of holidays. For International tourists the peak season for arrival is between Septembers to march when the climate conditions are suitable where as the national tourists waits for school holidays, generally the summer months.

 Unique experiences in heritage hotels.

 The organization and arrangements of the International games in India will motivate the people from other countries to visit India.

 People are going for sightseeing at particular places. We had an experience from the commonwealth games 2010.

 Development of tourism, definitely a major source for the government.  Increased privatization.

 Go green initiative. International student.

 Increased tourist arrival neccessasiates to identify their requirement and travel agencies can tap this segment.

 Availability of high quality human resource.

 Potential for private sector’s investment in tourism projects.

 Asian development bank is preparing a sub-regional plan for development of tourism in India.

Threats

 Terrorism has an impact on the psyche of the visiting tourists.

 The increasing Naxalite activities and constant Maoist attack in the country is not helping the cause either.

 Crime rates increasing in the country ranging from petty thefts to serious murder cases.

 Diseases in recent years such as dengue, chikungunya and Swine Flu are causing the tourist to stay away from visiting different parts of the country.

 Increasing competition from other exotic countries e.g. Singapore, Hongkong etc.

 Women especially western women get harassed by and local men making it unsafe for women and elderly tourists.

 Better facilities and price by other countries.  Economic slowdown.

 Disorganized tourism development.

 Environmental factors have imposed a threat.

 With the advent of internet the role of travel agents is changing and the whole industry faces a threat of extinction unless they change to meet the need of tourists.

TOURISM SWOT ANALYSIS (ANDHRA PRADESH)

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the resources gap and develop the economy on self-sustaining basis. A massive reconstruction/rehabilitation process of state economy for sustainable development has been launched. The Government is very seriously looking at the economy of the state with a view to restructure it. Under this approach, each and every sector of the economy is being analyzed with a view to explore possibility for its further expansion/improvement.

Strengths

 Rich Culture, Heritage.

 Two distinct Regions with diversity viz., costal and Rayalasima.

 Flora, fauna, lakes, mountains, pilgrimage places, springs, palaces, monuments, horticulture, handicrafts, handlooms toys etc. had make the state a major attraction for visiting the state.  Andhra Pradesh is the paradise: Sunrise state of India

 Andhra Pradesh people are excellent to extend hospitable.  Various kinds of tourism available to be exploited.

 Local people experienced due to past tourism booms.  High Awareness of Andhra Pradesh as Tourist Paradise.  Wide range of costal corridor.

 Tourism generates employment, though it is difficult to measure or calculate the employment generation as these jobs are scattered across many sectors and cannot be identified without a proper survey. However, according to some rough estimates, 20 percent of people get direct and indirect employment from Tourism Sector.

 Tourism is one of the important revenue earners for people in the state. Though the industry has suffered a lot due to law and order problems, but there are definite signs of its revival.

Weaknesses

 Andhra Pradesh is a high cost mountain economy and has a number of characteristics that poses special developmental challenges.

 It suffers from limited capacity in the public and private sectors.  Tourism policies are there (AP tourism) but not effective.

 So many areas are in Andhra Pradesh still are underdeveloped destinations.  No proper/ poor connectivity.

 Low awareness level.

 Low/Poor promotional activities.

 Less economical resources Government Spending to develop the tourism.  Poor Coordination between departments.

 Stress only on few developed sites.

 No diversion of tourists from specific tourism to other type of tourism.  Less tourist’s diversion to new places.

 No sufficient tourism research.

 No capacity building of stakeholders for better services.  Complacency and non customer friendly.

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Opportunities

 The lush green forests (nallamala), perennial rivers, picturesque alpine scenery, great cultural heritage sights and pleasant climate of Andhra Pradesh wait for making the state, internationally acclaimed tourist destinations.

 Can cater to almost all Tourist Tastes.  High returns from tourism industry.  Development of Circuits.

 Unexploited to a good extent.  Pilgrimage centers.

 Package tours.

 Higher spending of people on recreation, entertainment.  Linkage with specific circuits in other states.

 Professional approach.

 Government role as care taker and facilitator.  Customer oriented and friendly.

 The state has sufficient potential to exploit for more and more revenue generation from tourism sector.

Threats

 The State is situated on seismic Zone which is vulnerable to natural disasters like earthquakes. Natural disasters cause high volatility in its State Domestic Product and can reduce the arrival of tourists.

 The state has witnessed a two decade long turmoil, making it difficult to maintain law and order situation which lead to high growth in administrative/security related expenditures, besides, resulting in loss or opportunities for growth of economy and generation of employment.

 Security.  Competition.

 Diversion of tourists to other safer places.  Better facilities from competitors.

 Low information dissemination, access and training.  Non awakening of Government, complacency.  Non treatment of tourism as service industry.

Looking at the importance of SWOT, the tourism industry needs SWOT for the sustenance and the smooth growth. If the analysis will be done for the tourism industry in India especially in Andhra Pradesh to see the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of it, then there is surely development of this growing industry. Much has been done for its development but much has remained to be explored and need to develop more and needs serious concern from the government.

SUGGESTIONS TO DEVELOP THE TOURISM

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 To provide for effective marketing and advertisement of India as a global tourist destination through promotional campaigns that project India as a whole and not merely a combination of states.

 Regarding domestic tourists, majority of them are from the adjoining states of Andhra Pradesh. It only shows that the people of northern status are not quite aware of the tourists potential here. So, wide publicity must be given and if possible Andhra Pradesh tourist information centers are to be established even in northern states.

 The educational nature of heritage sites should not be forgotten. Theatres showing educational videos about the heritage site and its history should be available and cost should be included in tour costs.

 While an international tourist is in India he needs to be provided with good quality accommodation at reasonable prices in nearby localities of tourist spots.

 Food and restaurants are required at tourist sites. The restaurants should be able to serve a variety of global cuisines to suit all tastes and also have stress for local food. Restaurants should be able to supply mineral water to the health conscious tourist of the day.

 Every tourist spot should be equipped with a primary healthcare centers to provide first aid and amenities to minimize stress and fatigue relief.

 Most tourist locations require Bank and ATM facilities. Nationalized banks can be directed to provide ATM facilities nearby heritage/tourist sites.

 India’s government should be cognizant of the different types of tourists that may want to visit India eco-tourists, history buffs or those seeking meditative retreats. India should take advantage of the West's intrigue with Indian culture, including yoga, ayurvedic medicine, Hinduism and meditation, and market itself accordingly.

 Private and government sector should collaborate to improve and modernize India's infrastructure. Not only will this increase tourism, but it will also increase foreign investment. CONCLUSIONS

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