MARKETING SUSTAINABILITY - Case Study Example

MARKETING SUSTAINABILITY Question Social Tourism is both directly and indirectly beneficial to leisure facilities and infrastructure (Bushell, Robyn, & Paul 2007, p.126). This is because effective infrastructure is required to suit the visitors and the local people benefit from them as well. Again, tourism encourages people to preserve their heritages such as art, culture, and festivals. Tourism can also have negative effects on the social aspect. First, visitors may influence the natives with negative behaviour and acts such as prostitution.

Governments may also be forced to displace people to pave way for creation of tourist destinations.Environmental Since tourists visit to see nature, such as wildlife and visit exotic places, tourist host destinations preserve nature to attract them. Additionally, the revenue paid by the tourists when they visit such places generates funds for maintaining and upgrading such areas. On the negative aspect, tourism may lead to exploitation of the environment such as overuse of beaches or trespassing in sensitive areas such as coral reefs (Bhatia 2002, p.36). Tourism facilities such as hotels may cause pollution to the seas, and motor vehicles pollute the air from the fumes.

Question 2 Consumption behaviour defines the study of individuals or groups with relation to their process of preferring products or services in order to identify the effects which they have on the society and the consumers (Sarah & Claire 2013, p.11-28). In the case of Costa Rica, the government should be the one responsible for this aspect of marketing. This means that the government should seek to identify which resources are most needed by tourists so that they can devise the best means of satisfying their demands.

In so doing, the consumers (tourists) would be satisfied and comfortable with Costa Rica and this would have a guaranteed positive impact on society. These impacts include development, sustenance of resources, and better reputation. The reason why the government should be the responsible party for this tool is that it has the ability to influence the players in the tourism industry to align with what will be highlighted as factors promoting better tourism behaviour. Question 3 Ecotourism in Costa Rica can be enhanced by segmenting it into two partitions; leisure ecotourism, and educative ecotourism.

By understanding the two segments deeply, it is easier to provide the conditions and/or demands that each market requires for enhancement. The leisure ecotourist has different experiences and benefits from the educational ecotourist. This tourist displays lesser concern and commitment for environmental commitment, has multi-purpose (diversified) reasons for tourism, is physically passive in terms of environmental concern, interacts shallowly with nature, is usually in large groups, and expects services from the hosts.

The benefits of these tourists are that they contribute more revenue. The educational ecotourist on their part has a strong commitment to nature, is physically active in commitment to nature, requires minimal services from the hosts, holds specialized (specific) trips, and are usually in small groups. The benefits of such ecotourists are that they contribute more to the ecological well being of the places they focus on (Ritchie, Neil, & Christopher 2003, p.165).Question 4Tourist service operators in Costa Rica can influence the behaviour of non-eco-tourists by expounding on the ecotourist motto, which goes, “take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time (Sustainability Marketing Challenge n.d., n.p.).

” One of the best methods is to increase the tourist rates for non-ecotourists and lower the rates for ecotourists. This would promote ecotourism. Additionally, the tourist operators in Costa Rica should upgrade or align their facilities to be more eco-friendly. For example, they can develop eco-lodges near the major tourist sites such as parks. This would be effective in that the tourists would utilize the facilities since they are located adjacent to their places of interest. In short, they would prefer using the facilities near the places of interest as opposed to the ones located much further.

Finally, the operators could work with the governments to come up with eco-sensitive policies, which should be emphasized on in all tourist sites. These combined, the industry would turn to a more eco-friendlier state.Bibliography“Sustainability Marketing Challenge Ecotourism in Costa Rica.”Bhatia, Arjun Kumar. Tourism Development: Principles and Practices. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers, 2002.Bushell, Robyn, and Paul, Eagles. Tourism and Protected Areas Benefits Beyond Boundaries : the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress.

Wallingford, UK: CABI Pub, 2007. McKeone, Emily. “Ecotourism in Costa Rica: Environmental Impacts and Management.” Environmental Studies Program. Lincoln; University of Nebraska, 2011.Ritchie, Brent W., Neil Carr, and Christopher P. Cooper. Managing Educational Tourism. Clevedon, Angleterre: Channel View Books, 2003.Sarah, Poupineau & Claire, Pouzadoux. “Internal and External Factors that Influence the Ecoutourists.” Halmstad University, 2013.