People development practices and tourism delivery performances A study with special reference to public sector tourism agencies in Kerala

Abstract

The State of Kerala is considered as the God s Own Country . By realizing the significance of the sector, a number of public and private sector agencies are functioning in the development of tourism in Kerala. From a close analysis, it is revealed that the Department of Tourism, (DoT) and Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (KTDC) are the two key public sector agencies in the forefront of the development of tourism in Kerala. newlineTourism is very much a people based industry where one group of people (host) serves other group (guest). Therefore, significance of people factor is to be well acknowledged while designing and developing the marketing mix. In this back drop, the present study has been undertaken. The extent of practice of the some select measures in developing the people at both supplying and receiving end of tourism delivery is analyzed in the study. Similarly the investigation into actual performance of service people and tourists involved in tourism delivery has also been made. Both primary and secondary data have been used for the study. The primary data have been collected from 375 tourists and 80 service people by administering two sets of pre-tested structured interview schedules. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistical tools have been used. The findings of the study reveal that the extent of practice of select measures by public sector are not found to be given the veritable satisfaction to the beneficiaries as envisaged by the authorities. The performance of people of both the sides of tourism delivery, namely service people and tourists has to be improved for the successful and sustainable tourism development of the State newline