Selling Experiences in Hospitality

“Athithi Devo Bhawa” This must have been the very first brand image that Nepal wanted to promote in tourism through Sanskrit axiom during seventies and eighties. Though never official this brand was quite popular and is immensely used among fellow entrepreneurs and professionals even today. What does Athithi Devo Bhawa indicate or mean can be a long discussion. However leaving all philosophical details behind it just means treatment to guests like gods. Why are they gods? Why should we treat them as goods, can again entertain unending paraphrasing for clarifications. Looking at our cultural practices it wasn’t wrong at any point to promote what we have. It gave ethical and moral empowerment to the industry and of course a good thought to go along with. Since the terminology is Sanskrit it is commonly used in Hindu philosophy giving way out to embrace ethics into practice.

Impressions were good during those times in seventies and eighties. Tourism was at its move looking forward to expand even when it was distinctly not clear on its course. Moments of truths and happiness were plentiful despite lots of hurdles an inaccessibility seen in the industry. Limited hotels and luxury that this industry offered had lots of positive word of a mouth spread among its potential clients which at the time was only the major marketing tool to promote Nepalese hospitality industry to the outer world. Though many things were not up to the requirement at least available facilities were up to the standard.

After 1990’s like all the industry tourism too was there to face all the ups and downs bestowed by the time.  Initial political practices after 90’s and immaturity did contribute to destabilize this industry without anyone’s notice. People’s revolution of maoist did add more to worsen the situation of hospitality industry which was looking forward to move ahead. People at the time were not conscious and aware enough to realize and calculate the loss that these political hurdles brought to the industry.

Introspection of all these years after 1990’s can give us multiple thoughts and ideology on the direction we have undertaken from the tourism perspective. It’s been twenty six years that we are in the process to make Nepal a better nation through peoples participation. Well there is nothing wrong with that, however if we account all the Nepal Bandha, Chakka jam, haadtal, and other bitter experience in total we have created pretty much nuisance in this country to spread enough obstacles for the hospitality Industry. This also means for all these years we have created enough negative impression about our country. The generation which collected best of Nepal in the past do not exist at present vibrant market to spared goodness of Nepal and help us grow with our tourism economy. Those people who visited this country for all these years and could have talked about their good memories are now talking about their poor experience during their stay. It is not a fluke when you meet people abroad they do praise the beauty of Nepal as well as share their bad experience that they have in their mind in a very positive way. “I did stay in your five star hotel and it had a good power back up” dose not only indicate the great achievement of the managerial expertise but also indicates that the person had awkward experience being in the country where we had terrible power cuts in the city and did not meet his expectations. Similarly the chairman of famous Blue Elephant chain restaurant in one of his conversations mention about the garbage problems that he had seen during his stay in Nepal. These are just few representative examples to imagine of how many and to what extent we have lost our potentiality and possibilities that could have possibly been earned in the industry. What are we selling now in Nepal? Of course the world renowned heritage and natural beauty are there but in case of life time experience as compliment, and beautiful moments of truth that we expected our tourists to share to their countrymen is what we have failed to cash. What matters most in the present world to the tourist is not the commodities, goods nor service, in total it matters how good experience tourist is able to carry along with them. Yes sometimes all the chaos and disorder too can be an experience for the foreigner to understand the country like ours, however those experience are not sellable and are not productive enough for future references.

Gone are those days when one used to sell their commodities, goods and services. Now the era has already taken a long leap towards experience. The world is moving towards experience economy and is already much ahead in the global picture. There were times when one used to organize a wedding party at home and was helped by family members and friends, it used to be cheap and reasonable later commodification emerged, people looked for tent, cooks and few materials to outsource to complete their occasions and now we have Party Palaces where you pay fixed amount of money and get everything ready along with few complements being able to collect all the fun you need.

Who may explain better than those who have enjoyed Disneyland as a life time experience rather than just being in the business property? This does not necessarily mean that everyone needs to visit once. Nepal collectively is more than any business offered to anyone in any part of the world. Once I came across a person who was sharing his experience about his own incident as a tourist guide. He had to take the tourist for a trek in the mountain region and had unfortunately failed to guide him as he had an urgent call from his home. He decided to take the tourist in his house where his wife was prepared to give a birth to a child and was unable to attend the barren field to grow crops. Confused and in trouble the guide used the tourist to plough the field where bulls were used and involved him in his housework which was highly unethical but not illegal as we have no such laws to address the issue. He was prepared to face the worst at his travel agency. After couple of days of work he collected the guts to ask the tourist about the stay. To his surprise the tourist was more than happy and was excited about what he had just experienced. The tips and his remuneration was not only rewarding but brought his wild experiment to a new level of insight. This was not intentional nor was it supposed to happen. Many of these similar incident collectively has given a new start to creative thoughts and practices in Nepal. Inviting tourists to plant rice during monsoon, giving a wash to the elephants in Chitwan, developing the concept of homestay in Nepal are just the few commercialized experience among many that we can possibly develop. These practices that has been unknowingly initiated has shown us the possibilities of untapped opportunities that we can bring it forward to commercialize. This paves the way forward for us to conduct more and more research in the days to come and help nation to really boost its economy through creating incredible experiences in Nepal.

Recent research carried out by the Route Happy indicates that the travelers in UK are happier to travel in the airlines with multiple features rather than in the low-cost airlines with less facilities. Another research conducted on tripadvisor in the reasons behind the selection of best destination, amazing facts were revealed. It was found out that the selection of new destinations were rather based on their inquisitiveness for new experiences. That was the reason why more new destinations were getting popular rather than the traditional destinations of Europe and America. Harvard Business Review during 1998 had already written various articles based on experience economy, however the impact is realized now in the global market. Realizing the fact about experience, Hotels in Los Vegas Casino used the voice record of various stars who had performed in the hotel to give a wakeup call to provide new life time experience and it did work very good. Hospitality globally has already created a long epic on these professionalism. However in the context to Nepal we do have experiences that can be commercialized, abundance among various ethnic culture and society.

Experience that we can create with accessibility, product and service in itself is a powerful marketing tool to brand Nepal as powerful source destination. Sometimes doing nothing in comparison to trying everything can be a powerful message to promote tourism. What is doing nothing can be generalized in terms of not organizing Banda Chakka Jam and haadtal and other similar events that can damage our brand image rather than trying to do lots of things? Nepal a poor economy if only can remain stable, will achieve an unachievable goals in hospitality industry without any new investments. Concerned stake holders need to realize this in time. We don’t need any new investment to share our cultural practices in to touristic experience. Most importantly keeping Nepal peaceful, clean, secured and pristine does not need any new investment. Only the strong political commitment to keep tourism away from all the possible disturbances can do more than a billion dollar investment to enhance hospitality industry in the days to come.

Experience that Nepal offers is beyond ones imagination. 

Visiting durbar square in Kathmandu is not only to visit the historical monuments but is to enjoy live museum where one can experience primeval practices still helping people in the location to live their life. The beauty of the destination is beyond what it offers as heritage sites. The mystery behind tourists increasing in Nepal despite all these difficulties and discomfort is not because we have only monuments and sites, of course they do play a significant role however the experience that one gets beyond what is expected is the major driving factor.

It’s not amazing to find a stall at floating market in Bangkok where after paying twenty baht you can feed a goat. Well in Nepal too one can feed fish in Siddhipokhari and many other similar sites and can also feed pigeon in durbar square sites for free. “Honey hunter” chapter of Nepal did not only amazed the world but also proved the fact unanimously that the local experience from various ethnic group too can be a very strong sellable experience to offer internationally. What we all need to do as said earlier is to be able to find out our pristine practices and trends that can possible be accounted for the growth of national economy.

Will we be able to always sell the same experience?  We are looking forward to open new trekking routes and are desperate for it? Side by side are we able to introduce new product for memorable experience? If we are not able to design memorable experience on our product and are looking forward to continue similar experience we may not be serving anything new on the table. So just willing to open a new trekking route because the old one is having less repeated guest may not offer sustainable solutions to the business. It will not be wise enough to expect same tourist to visit similar trekking routs again and again.

Let’s for an example imagine that if a tourist in the trekking will have night halt in various hotels themed under various culture, or will pay separately for the natural hot water springs and water falls, goes feeding yaks after paying, pay separately for using animal rides, get culturally dressed to various ethnic groups may not only contribute to the direct income of the people but also will provide memorable experience that one can share with their circles.

What we need to do more in the days to come is, find out more tradable opportunities from the indigenous practices so that people can really feel the diversification of Nepal not only in words but also in practice.

References

Anderson, T.D. (2007). The Tourist in the Experience Economy. (Sweden: Goteborg University).

Gilmore. H.J., and B.J. Pine II (2002). “Differentiating Hospitality Operations via Experiences: Why Selling service is not enough”. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 43 (3):87-96.

Khanal, R. (2001). Democracy in Nepal: Challenges and Prospects. Kathmandu, Smriti Books

Pine, B.J. II., and H.J. Gilmore (1998). Welcome to the Experience Economy. Harvard Business Review.

Sharma, P.R. (1983). “Nepali Culture and Society: A Historical Perspective”. Contribution to Nepalese Studies. 82(10), 1-2.

http://welcomenepal.com/promotional/press-release  

Understanding Tourism Destination

It is indeed a very well-known fact that Nepal holds the finest potentials in tourism development leaving behind all odds and complications. In terms of destination and its development there is no doubt we need to work harder to understand better. So far we have been only promoting those destinations that are promoted on their own without any significant effort from concerned stakeholders leaving exception to Pokhara. The terms such as destination management, brand, marketing, tourism destination, sustainable tourism, may have little value without knowing what exactly the term destination means. Looking forward (Pechlaner, 2003) defines destination as an area offering touristic services and activities, which has special attractions and can be chosen by a tourist for a trip. From a geographic point of view, the destination could be a continent, a country, a region, or any kind of place, and its border is determined by the distance of the home country of the tourists. In an optimal case, the destination operates as a management entity in spite of its numerous and heterogeneous players.

The destination should be seen as a concrete touristic service supplier, a “multi-product company” (Krippendorf, 1971). The definition of Flagestad (2002, p. 4) is the closest to the author’s interpretation, as he handled a destination as an entire entity of area: “A geographical, economic, and social unit consisting of all those firms, organizations, areas, and installations which when combined are intended to serve the specific needs of the visitors”.  

Whatever the destination must have been in case of understanding there is no doubt that Nepal needs to have a concrete research on tourism destination to enhance and boost its brand on national and international arena. We have multiple locations that are vibrant in terms of beauty and geographic appeal however lacking’s in appropriate support from human resource in infrastructure has kept many of our heavenly location isolated to that of underworld.

The success of tourism destinations in world markets is influenced by their relative competitiveness. Tourism destination competitiveness is becoming an area of growing interest amongst tourism researchers (see particularly Crouch & Ritchie, 1999; Pearce, 1997). The contention is that destination competitiveness has ‘‘tremendous ramifications for the tourism industry and is therefore of considerable interest to practitioners and policy makers.’’ (Ritchie & Crouch, 2000, p.6). Dwyer, Forsyth, & Rao (2000, p.10) reinforce this view, stating that it is ‘‘useful for the industry and government to understand where a country’s competitive position is weakest or strongest’’ and hence that it is important to know how and why competitiveness is changing.

The world has already figured out competitiveness in tourism destinations but in case of Nepal we are yet to build destinations, so the urgency for the policy makers in case of global scenario is already felt necessary.

The level of consciousness in case of destination can be followed as per the WTO, which indicates destination as a place, which possesses appropriate attractions, infrastructure, and touristic services, so as to be the place for touristic stay, and appears as an entire market player for the tourist (World Trade Organization [WTO], 1993). Destination in terms of definition may be very appropriate to what WTO indicated however in terms of the market, the destinations are sites of consumption and can be seen as the unit of touristic competition (Bieger & Laesser, 1998), and like this, it should operate as a strategic business unit, be independent from political limits, offer the guests the needed facilities for stay and experience, and have an obligation for brand and sales system building (Bieger, 1998). In the Nepalese context where we lack adequate study on tourism dynamics and on its value, destination profile study no doubt will have a very long-term importance moreover most important question is: “How should this strategic business unit, this multi-product company, be managed?” The “meta-management” or the overall management of the destinations appeared only in the last decades (Sainaghi, 2006) and can be defined as follows:

(...) Destination management is the strategic, organizational, and operative decisions taken to manage the process of definition, promotion, and commercialization of the tourism product [originating from within the destination], to generate manageable flows of incoming tourists that are balanced, sustainable, and sufficient to meet the economic needs of the local actors involved in the destination. (Franch & Martini, 2002; as cited in Presenza, Sheehan, & Ritchie, 2005, p. 3)

On the ground where we are yet to come across the study, the necessity for research and its strategic plans are vital and is only the means to uplift tourism market and brand of the country.

Policy and Developments

George lebrec a French national in 1959 suggested Nepal in his “General Plan for the Organization of Tourism of Nepal” to prepare with brochure, poster, postage stamp covering Himalayan peaks flora fauna and documentaries to promote tourism activities in Nepal, which even at present after all these years is still a vital strategies to put it in our priority. Thomas Cook and Sons who brought 60 tourists in 1955 and made us realize the necessity of systematic tourism activities management and development in Nepal. (Shrestha & Shrestha, 2010). Well we may be quite mature in case of policy and documents, there is no doubt, however new emerging nations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, have tremendous achievement in their tourism industry.

Tourism Department in 1962 started keeping record of tourists and started the mileage on statistics. Nepal tourism development committee in 1969 started making tourism policy and strategies. Establishment of Nepal Airlines in 1958 and NATHM in 1972 were significant steps to enhance tourism in Nepal. Tourism master plan in 1972, Tourism Policy 1995 and establishment of Nepal Tourism Board in 1998 were all the best effort made to promote tourism in Nepal. (Shrestha, 2000). Our initial thoughts and our plans despite having excellent foundations did not come up with visible achievements.

Significance

There is no doubt if the study on destinations will be conducted it will be the beginning of Golden History in the tourism sector of Nepal. It is quite awkward that we as a nation without any distinct research are trying to implement tourism policy. It is now that we have no idea about the number of destination, their potentiality that we can possibly brand nor we have any marketing strategy associated with it. So it is irrelevant to complain NTB on its marketing policy. Is the concerned stakeholder equipped with appropriate tools and mechanism to enhance their objective? 

Tourism entrepreneurs, government of Nepal, concerned ministry, policy makers and scholars may find destination research useful. The research which may come along with grave information can be the guideline for future Nepal and in its National Planning Commission, Nepal Tourism Board, Tourism Department can make this research as their major task to incorporate the strategy needed for marketing various destinations as a product of Nepal in the global market in the longer run.

However even after all these years lacking in well versed research and extensive information to promote our destinations hinders national objective and priority, no matter how hard nation has been trying to promote itself in the international arena success is only possible once the nation has enough information to market and brand its destinations in appropriate manner which it lacks at present.

References

Bieger, T. (1998). Reengineering destination marketing organizations: The case of Switzerland. Tourism Review, 53(3), 4-17.

Bieger, T., & Laesser, C. (1998). Neue Strukturen im Tourismus—Der Weg der Schweiz (New structures in tourism—The way of Switzerland). Bern: Pauln Haupt.

Crouch, G.I., & Ritchie, J.R.B.(1999).Tourism, competitiveness, and social prosperity. Journal of Business Research, 44, 137–152.

Flagestad, A. (2002). Strategic sources and organisational structure in winter sport destinations (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Bradford, UK).

Franch, M., & Martini, U. (2002). Destinations and destination management in the Alps: A proposal for a classification scheme in the light of some ongoing experiences. In Presenza, A., Sheehan, L., & Ritchie, J. R. (2005). Towards a model of the roles and activities of destination management organizations. HTL Science Journal, 3, 13.

Krippendorf, J. (1971). Marketing in Fremdenverkehr (Marketing in tourism). Bern: Peter Lang AG.

Pechlaner, H. (2003). Tourismus-Destinationen im Wettbewerb (Tourism destination in competition). Wiesbaden: Deutscher Universitats-Verlag/GWV Fachverlage GmbH.

Ritchie, J.R.B., & Crouch, G.I. (2000).The competitive destination: A sustainability perspective. Tourism Management, 21(1), 1–7.

Shrestha, Hari Prasad (2000), Tourism in Nepal: Marketing Challenges, Nirala Publication, New Delhi, India.

Shrestha, H.., & Prami, S. (2012), Tourism in Nepal: A Historical Perspective and Present Trend of Development, Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology-Vol. V (2012)

World Trade Organization [WTO]. (1993). Sustainable tourism development: Guide for local planers. Madrid, Spain: WTO

Tourism! What Next in Nepal?

Eighty two years back when Kathmandu was in tremor there was virtually nothing for tourism industry to loose. Cultural heritage and property had their own significance, however we had not learnt to earn from our cherished assets that were laying on our backyard. Bringing heritage and property back to its formation was a matter of pride and honor to those rulers and so were the priority as the accountability towards people were none. Earthquake which devastated Kathmandu valley back in 1934 was never an issue as  tourism industry didn’t exist until 1951. This industry was yet to take the shape with the support of its own aviation fleet in 1958 as RNAC, which emerged as major and inevitable contributor in Nepalese tourism economy.

According to tourism employment survey 2014 this industry contributed two percent in GDP. Tourism Industry after all these years with 178,000 employees and more are in perfect dilemma due to recent earthquake. Industry which served 797616 tourists in 2013 with expectation to rise in 2014 comes to a total halt this year as the earthquake shook not only the ground but also shook the nourished thoughts of millions of prospective visitors looking forward to visit Nepal. 

Present scenario is another painful strike to all the professionals and amateurs in the industry which had just recovered from the downfall in business due to maoist insurgency for more than a decade. Despite huge experience and maturity in the region this industry never got an opportunity for its full growth. There has always been some visible and invisible hindrance contributing to its negative growth and this time visibly and physically this industry is challenged never like before.

Will this industry which helped Nepal collect nearly 43 billion rupees according to Nepal tourism statistic 2013 rise soon like before? If so how will it come back to life? What can be done to bring tourism back to track? It is indeed not only the question of one individual who is panicked from the trauma but now is national issue and has become quite significant to know about its future.

There is no doubt that we need long-term and short term strategy to overcome this crisis.

Offering Visit Nepal Year in the near future can be the perfect vision to revamp our national economy back to track. Working tradition is not effective, trend is critical and the jobs do not get accomplished in the given date. This sluggishness can be addressed if this industry gets a mission, time frame and reason to work. There is no doubt that this industry needs time to rebuilt itself and shine on its own better than before. So organizing systematic time-frame and monitoring accordingly will make our purpose more meaningful. Offering visit year will be the perfect motivational factor to encourage entrepreneurs, investors, visitors and other related stakeholders to regain their confidence in a given time. This effort will not only tell our people that we are back to business but also will deliver positive message to those millions looking forward to visit Nepal. 

Mission Visit Year will not only bring energy amongst all the stakeholders but also will give us a strong challenge to accomplish jobs within time limit. Mission to beautify Nepal and its infrastructure can be supported by the nation and it’s helping hands along with our skilled people. There is no other option than to build nation, it is a task that we need to accomplish no matter what, so building tourism friendly constructions and infrastructure not only will sustain economy but also will have multiple benefits in saving ways of life, business and culture. It is clear that without building earthquake resistant infrastructure people are not going to feel safe and secured so once we are ready let us tell the world what and how we are prepared. 

Cultural heritage and sites have their own blueprint to follow, however if the villages in effected area follow typicality of architecture following their own culture and tradition, home-stay can reimburse their loss in longer run and can always be used as a tourism asset in multiple means in the days to come. So rebuilding houses must be more than immediate survival kit. All the traditional houses damaged in the valley and other heritage sites can be encouraged to use typicality to save our identity rather than building concrete jungles. We in Nepal have abundance of local resources. There are lots of houses where rooftops are made of stone slates and this tradition is followed for years there is no logical point in replacing them with modern materials replacing our indigenous knowledge and an opportunity for our locals to earn. This is more than an opportunity to make Nepal tourism friendly country than to panic on what we have lost.

The government loan which is expected to come on lower interest facilities should encourage houses on heritage site to become not only heritage friendly but also should reflect the beauty of our woodcraft and our typical architecture. Which in multiple way can be fruitful to harness the tourism business.

Resettlement's are the compulsion now but can be used as an opportunity to enhance town and city development in appropriate manner. If only little understanding is shown in the resettlement process priority can be given to locations with scenic view which will give plenty of reason to develop tourism in the longer run. If the district center was given to Banepa and not to Dhulikhel the ability to cash the beauty of Dhulikhel would have gone in vain. 

Short term strategy for immediate recovery too needs a plan in a simple and effective way to overcome this standstill.

Of course our heritage will take some time to stand back to shine but our natural beauty is as beautiful as always. Simple way is to give interview in national papers about the natural beauty in Nepal and our ambassadors abroad can make effective use of it. However advertisement about Nepal in the papers must be used to revive business with positivity. Using paper advertisement is quite fast and effective measures to introduce a country when necessary, travel agencies hotels and corporate houses can do this together to uplift the name and fame of the nation.

As a matter of fact even after the quake our natural beauty, national parks, and many destinations are sound and good ready to welcome guests, so it is very important to advertise and let people know about our strength. Whether you like it or not Nepal did get international coverage in almost all the media that governs the global mainstream so it is indeed very important to cash the earthquake brand into positive one by providing beautiful and admiring information to many curious minds that may be willing to accept more information about Nepal now when they are familiar and curious about the country. 

Normally advertisement is focused more on BBC and CNN as it is a priority, however using local popular channels in their native language too can be of higher significance in various countries and cheaper to larger extent. It is indeed very important to let our prospective visitors know that our whole nation was not effected by earthquake, moreover our natural resources and beauty waits them as good as before.

Sending cultural group for performance and participation can also be the cost effective measure to enhance tourism marketing. Most importantly social media cannot be ignored in advertising Nepal in global scenario, only if we strike beautiful pictures or organize a competition on beautiful pictures of Nepal, we may be miles ahead in changing the perception about Nepal.

Little things should get started at our own effort on our own place. Domestic tourism is always a vital stream to keep industry lively. Motivational strategy and packages can help industry survive and that should come professionally sound and in healthy manner.