Analysis of Chattisgarh Tourism

Analysis of current state of tourism in Chattisgarh (CH) and way forward:

Although Chattisgarh is endowed with a rich cultural heritage, natural diversity, rare wildlife, ancient monuments and many such other natural wonders the number of tourists per year is still low (only 1277 foreign tourists in 2010). Furthermore CH tourism also has all the policy framework in place which shows the positive intent of the government to promote tourism.

The suggested marketing and branding strategy should be able to leverage the strengths of the CH and place it as one of the important destination on the Indian tourism roadmap. CH should also be at a competitive advantage in terms of positioning with respect to other states. Moreover in line with CH policy it should also help in creating large-scale employment opportunity and promote social integration.

CH should target all kinds of customers irrespective of the strata of society both national and international. It should target people travelling for leisure, ecological survey, research survey, geological survey and such other purpose.  

We suggested a Hub and Spoke model to promote CH tourism. Table 1 indicates the various clusters which we suggest. It also shows the primary and secondary target. We suggest that CH should promote the primary targets very aggressively as these places are very unique in what they offer. Moreover they will also have competitive advantage when compared with other similar destination in other states. The secondary destinations can be promoted over a period of time. We expected the secondary destinations to develop over a period of time by consistent and focused government effort.

The government website should have proper information about the all the location with proper historical facts, travelling options, emergency contacts. Effectively we should have a full story for all the places.

We go with current positioning of ‘Full of Surprises’. This positioning encompasses the wide range of offerings unique to Chhattisgarh and is distinct from other states.

Distribution and Promotional Channel (DPC):

We recommend a dual strategy based on use of public relations and advertising.

PR channels: For international market: Write-ups in magazines such as Lonely Planet, Conde Nast Traveller, National Geographic Traveller magazine etc

For domestic market: Local newspapers, travel editions of newspapers, Travel magazines (Outlook traveller)
PR effort through these media will help to position Chhattisgarh in mind of consumers while effectively countering negative vibes arising from issues such as tourism, backwardness by riding on the credibility of these sources.

Advertising: Besides the usual promotion through TV ads, radio jingles and newspapers ads we recommend using unconventional media which are not being used by competitors.

For instance: Youtube videos, Social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter), encouraging blog posts by travel bloggers

Tie-ups: We recommend tie-ups with tour operators such as Thomas Cook, Cox & Kings, Kesari Travels as well as travel operators such as Indian Railways, Bus Operators in adjoining states etc.

Operations/ Distribution Channel:

The channel should aim at both increasing the trial rate and retention rate of the tourists. In order to achieve this all the distribution channels should work in an integrated manner.  The below figure highlights the various stakeholders and schemes in the proposed channel.

The other salient features of the suggested distribution and promotional channel are:

·         Increased coordination between the private players and CH government at various levels to promote effective formulation and adherence of policies and regulations for DPC.

·         Revenue sharing mechanism between private players and CH and also between Service Suppliers and distribution. This would help build confidence among various stakeholders.

·         Aggressive marketing by CH government in leading newspaper, Guidebooks, Media Channels, Travel channels, Travel fairs and consumer association. Moreover inviting them to CH and exposing them to the immense diversities the state which showcases the immense potential of CH as a tourist destination.

The marketing Channels which would be used are:

·         Database Marketing , Internet marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Word of mouth

When an individual suppliers promotes CH tourism along with his own product that is referred to as Affiliate Marketing.

Risks to the proposed scheme:

For the proposed scheme to be successful CH government should look to address certain socio-economic issues which the state faces. These are:

·         Security: CH is one of the most impacted by Naxal problem. Incidents like Dantewada hinders projects a negative image for the state which is not suited for growth of tourism. Tourism in Bastar has been severely impacted because of this.

·         Socio-Economic divide: The Human Development index (HDI) of 0.549 is one of the lowest in the country. For common man to fully appreciate the benefits of promoting tourism and realizing the symbiotic nature of tourism and HDI CH needs to work on improving the literacy rate, eradicating poverty, decreasing the social and cultural divide.

·         Pollution: Raipur is one of the most polluted state in the India. Such issues might be a hindrance in promoting sustainable and safe tourism.

Thanks for your contribution -- Gautam Anil Dhond

View on Cognizant Strategy

Here are my views on the long term and short term strategy of cognizant.

Current strategy is expansion in verticals, however long-term strategy should be to be a substantial player in more industry verticals

Compared to other competitors (Wipro, Infosys, TCS) ,Cognizant operates in less industry verticals. Till now cognizant has concentrated on going deep into the same industry. They should focus on more industry verticals. This would not only open new revenue sources but also help them mitigate risk doing downturn.

Change in revenue model is required

Currently the contracts are geared towards per employee revenue basis. Around 30% of Cognizant’s revenue is fixed bid contracts. In long term they should push for such contracts more. This would provide Cognizant the incentive to improve their efficiency and enhance profit margins. It would also help them to manage their work force more efficiently.

Need to move to business strategy-focused consulting (Incentive Structure)

Although Cognizant seems to be concentrating on improving its consulting practice and using it as a way to improve its relationship with client and build long term relationships. The incentive structure of consulting team  is such that it is linked to amount of IT revenue the consulting practice generates. Linking the salary structure to such a condition would hamper the growth of consulting practice into new areas and new opportunities as employees would be concentrated only on doing routine work to secure their salary.

  Need for diversification – geographical and industry-wise 

They need to diversify their current focus on USA and Europe. This would again help them diversify their revenue risk and have access to more business opportunities.

HR can be used as a differentiating factor (Intra-transfer)

Current policies of Cognizant are at par with industry standard. In an environment were attrition rate is very high, Cognizant can build a differentiating HR model. For e.g. They can have a research division like IBM Indian software labs and can allow for inter transfer of employees based on performance of employees. Such steps can keep the employee motivated and can also ensure that they keep their technical knowledge updated.

They can have a well documented onsite policy.

  Need to spend on branding to increase recall value

Although they are 3^rd largest IT service provider in India their brand recall is low. They are still viewed by companies as a low pricing option compared to other vendors. They need to build their brand name.

For entire analysis your can visit at http://www.scribd.com/doc/64308146/View-on-Cognizant-Strategy