International Tourism Policy and Planning - Case Study Example

At Paradise Tours our topmost priority is to completely satisfy the changing wants of our valuable customers by planning and executing exciting and stimulating tour plans that are not only highly customizable as per their pockets but also provide best of native entertainment and opportunities for having moments that are eternally cherished. In the same vein, it is important to constantly develop new tour plans which keep pace with latest consumer preferences. Tour customers world over are exhibiting a change in their holiday travel patterns. New destinations are the need of the time and even old ones need to constantly reinvent the wheel to attract tourists. All of the above factors and more have led us to prepare a proposal for an exciting new tour plan namely “Discovering Asia and Middle East”. Following are the comprehensive details of the proposed tour plan: TARGET MARKET The target market for this tour would be first time travelers to the Middle East and Asia. There are numerous such people in the United Kingdom who would wish to explore new destinations and explore diverse cultures that are abundantly spread across Middle East and Asia. Paradise Tours can tap into this consumer demand and do good business. Specific target market demographics would include working couples who save enough to afford an annual vacation as well as businessmen who are willing to both enjoy a holiday as well as explore the multitude of business opportunities available in the Middle East and Asia. Also we can attract families by offering them group discounts for booking a family holiday trip four or more family members. TOUR ROUTE The tour shall start for the United Kingdom. After departing from there, the tourists will embark towards the United Arab Emirates. After the United Arab Emirates the next stop would be Tokyo and that would follow up with Egypt and finally back to the United Kingdom. 2-WEEK TOUR ITINERARY - Departure from United Kingdom and Arrival at United Arab Emirates (1.5 days) - Stay at United Arab Emirates (3 days) - Departure from United Arab Emirates and arrival at Tokyo (1 day) - Stay at Tokyo (3 days) - Departure from Tokyo and Arrival at Egypt (1 day) - Stay at Egypt (3 days) - Departure from Egypt and Arrival at United Kingdom (1.5 days) TOUR OPERATIONS: The tour must be carefully managed as it involves visits of three countries in a small time span. Careful consideration must be taken in following areas: 1. Flight Scheduling: All flights are to be planned and coordinated with arrival time at airport so that the tourist reaches at least two hours before flight time on each airport. This will reduce the risk of missing the flights and hence disturbing all other planned operation. 2. Strategic Alliance with Car Rental Agencies at each Country: The tour bus culture is gradually and surely diminishing, individuals, couples and families all want and demand privacy to fully and openly express and enjoy themselves. Hence it is important to tie up with cheap but efficient car rental agencies in all mentioned countries. We must ensure a long term relationship with these agencies so that it is a cost-effective as well as productive venture. This can be done through profit sharing models. 3. Partnership with Hotels: In long term interests of profit base, we must also look to partner with hotels on a permanent basis. This must be done very carefully however by ensuring that the hotel to be partnered with is affordable, does not compromise on quality and service, has strict safety and health standard and offers a good dining option. Now that we have gone through the tour route, itinerary and operations we will discuss in great detail each destination individually as well as the planned activities for that specific destination: 1. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dubai is globally renowned for improving and building its economy through tourism. It has been attracting thousands of tourists every year although that figure has decreased due to recession. But recession means lesser expenses! Tourists going to Dubai can not only enjoy the shopping at offer via huge malls as well as the annual Dubai shopping festival but they can also enjoy sights such as Burj-ul-Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, Hotel Atlantis, the most expensive hotel in the world themed on the mythical underwater city as well as lots of recreational activities on offer as well as ancient and traditional culture. Dubai is at times referred to as the shopping mall of the Middle East. There is the Mall of Emirates which offers Indoor Skiing for those who cannot go to the Swiss Alps. It also has the famous Gold Souk which offers the latest and the largest variety of jewelry from all around the world. The planned list of activities for the trip in Dubai is as follows: Day 1 at Dubai: The first day at Dubai would ideally coincide in between the Dubai Shopping Festival which is the flagship event of the city. Thus it is most obvious that the first visit will be from afternoon to late evening to the Dubai Shopping festival, where there is lot to explore and shop for as the festival hosts individual cultural and shopping pavilions from a lot of countries, selling their local products. That would follow with a trip to the Gold Souk where jewels from around the world can be bought and also viewed. This way the first day would be a dedicated shopping day where shopping attractions of the city can be covered. Day 2 at Dubai: The second day would begin with a morning off road trip to suns and sands of the deserts. Off road trips are a big part of the culture at Emirates and offer plenty of sightseeing opportunities. This would be followed up in the afternoon to the famous POLO grounds of Dubai which hosts the most expensive annual horse race in the world. On display would be the POLO ground as well as prized stallions in addition to a host of memorabilia of winners and race culture. The evening and night will include trips to the Burj-al-Khalifa and the Hotel Atlantis. The Burj-al-Khalifa has become a global attraction for tourist as it is the largest building in the world today. The Hotel Atlantis, on the other hand, is renowned for being the most expensive hotel in the world and is also based on the famous mythical underwater city of Atlantis. Everything in the hotel is themed as being oceanic. The hotel may be expensive to stay at but not so to visit and tour. Day 3 at Dubai: Day 3 at Dubai will include a trip to the Mall of Emirates in the afternoon for casual shopping as well as recreational activity at its Indoor Ski Resort. The Indoor Ski Resort offers a similar recreated experience as the one in the Swiss Alps and will surely will be a novel experience for the tourists especially couples and families. The evening will include a short cruising trip to the Palm Islands at Dubai. These are high end properties which include artificially created islands and homes and villas on those islands. The night would offer a Sheesha and Kahwa experience along with traditional belly dancing theatre. 2. TOKYO Tokyo is one of the countries who have tourism as its major source of revenue. Globally, tourists have shown a preference to visit Tokyo not only because of the cultural offerings at hand but also because of the use of advanced technology that is used to create entertainment activities based on latest gadgets. The culture of Tokyo is strongly rooted with Temples which are many are located at various lush green areas as well as in the cities. The most notable ones are the Imperial palace and the Meiji Shrine. Also very popular is the Tokyo National Museum which has a rich collection of artwork that qualifies as national treasure. Another attraction is the anime culture at Tokyo which includes comic books, cartoons, fantasy lands etc. The most notable anime center is the Ghibli Museum. The planned list of activities for the trip in Tokyo is as follows: Day 1 at Tokyo: The first day at Tokyo would include a day trip to the famous tourist attraction, the Meiji Shrine. The Shrine is unique as it is more than just a shrine rather a complete cultural experience. The invigorating experience about the trip to the Meiji Shrine is that it is located huge forest which covers extensive land. The area that covers the forest has a collection of a very large and diverse collection of trees which are all unique to each other. The forest has about 300 types of different trees and it is a major attraction for tourists all over as it is a place that offers serenity. The temple includes a memorial art gallery that has murals illustrating some of the famous events during the course of the life of the Emperor. Not only limited to art, the temple also houses the Japanese National Stadium which is considered to be the epicenter of sporting activity. It is also common to observe traditional Japanese weddings as the temple acts as a community centre and the hosts are usually very accommodating and hospitable. Day 2 at Tokyo: The next day at Tokyo would include a trip to the famous Imperial palace which is a serenading amalgamation of moats, bridges, ponds, lakes, gardens and buildings that have been preserved to showcase beautiful Japanese architecture. Another very interesting place to visit in the Imperial Palace is it Music Hall which houses a collection of Japanese traditional music forms and also has digital libraries where you can listen to music. Also Special Japanese music instruments are also on display. This will be followed by a visit to the Tokyo National Museum. The Tokyo National Museum has a large and extensive collection of art as well as archeological objects related not just to Japan but also covering Asian arts as well as Buddhist arts. The museum has five main exhibitions. The most prominent ones are the Japanese galleries and the Asian Gallery which includes art collections from India, Pakistan, China, Korea and many others. Archeological artifacts from these countries are also on display. Next up is the Japanese gallery which offers a general overview of Japanese art and archeology. Day 3 at Tokyo: The third day of the trip would include a visit to Ghibli museum which is a renowned anime center that displays memorable work of the esteemed Studio Ghibli. The museum has an exhibit room which displays the history as well as the science of animation and its origins. The different characters that have been created by develpoers at Ghibli Studio are at display in rotating cubes that try to recreate animation effect. This not only enriches the viewing experience for visitors but also it offers them a chance to see animation in action first hand. The museum also has a mock animation studio which is filled with different equipment and charts that inform about animation. The night will include for the tourist a chance to dine in at the various street cuisines that offer the famous Japanese culinary experience at affordable rates. 3. EGYPT The next spot for the tour package would be Egypt. Egypt is famous amongst the world tourists for being the home to an ancient civilization and also a lot of historical artifacts. Egypt’s capital city Cairo is the African continent’s largest city. And because of the numerous ancient mosques the city has, it is also known as the city of a ‘Thousand Minarets’. Not just this, Cairo is also the ‘Hollywood of the Middle East as Cairo annually hosts an international film festival. Thus, Egypt serves to be an ideal attraction site for tourists who want hands on experience of this African center of learning, arts and culture. The planned list of activities for Egypt is as follows: Day 1 at Egypt The day one of the tourists would be spent in the culturally enriched capital city Cairo. The day would begin by a visit to the traditional Egyptian market in the city: the 700 years old Khan al-Khalili bazaar. This could be followed by a visit to the old establishments of Cairo. The old Cairo also known as the Coptic Cairo is a small enclosed area; is the place from which had a strong hold of the Romans. The place is unique as it has Egypt’s oldest synagogue; where people from three different religions come for rituals. A visit to the Hanging Church and St. Sergius temple would definitely be an attraction for the tourists. In the night, the tourists would be taken for a traditional sail boat (Falucca) ride in the River Nile. Day 2 at Egypt The day two of the tourists would begin by a visit to Luxor. The most comfortable way to reach Luxor from Cairo is by the air-conditioned train. Luxor has three different sightseeing spots for tourists. It has the Luxor museum, which is the world’s biggest open air museum. The museum has a lot of splendid temples and monuments. It also has the mummification museum; where the tourists can learn about the entire process of making mummies. Lastly, it has the Luxor temple, which is another beautiful and historically famous site to visit. The second half of the tourist’s day would be spent at the ancient Thebes at the Valley of Kings and the Valley of Queens. Both these spots are highlighting the life of the Egyptian Pharaohs and have got very limited visitor entry tickets. Thus, making a visit to these places a more unique experience for the tourists. The tourists would spend the night in Luxor, where a decent hotel facing the River Nile costs no more than $75 per night. Day 3 at Egypt The last day of the Egyptian tour would be a visit to the three pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. The pyramids are one of the Seven Wonders of the World. They serve as a great sight seeing spot not only from outside but also from the inside. The tourists would be entertained by a sound and light show around the Sphinx; which teaches them on some interesting facts about the pyramids; and turns out to be a good learning experience for everyone. By night time, the tourists would be accompanied back to Cairo city from where they would leave for their final destination. Bibliography: 1998. Eurail and Train Travel Guide to the World, 28th Edn. Houghton Mifflin. Alistair Mackenzie and Katie Hallett-Jones., 2001, Dubai Explorer, 5th Edn, Explorer Pub. Charlie Shackell, Illya Bracht. 2001, Africa by Road, 3rd: The Bradt Travel Guide. 3rd Edn. Bradt Travel Guides Chris Rowthorn., 2003, Japan, 8th Edn, Lonely Planet. Dan Richardson and Daniel Jacobs. 2007. The Rough Guide to Egypt. 7th Edn. Rough Guides. David P. Silverman. 2003. Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press US. 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