BACKWATER TOURISM
ALAPPUZHA: A POTENTIAL BACKWATER TOURISM DESTINATION
2. Review of literature
2.1 Tourism: A Global Scenario
The W.T.O defines tourism as “tourism comprises the activities of persons
traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more
than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”. In the
above definition, the term “usual environment” is intended to exclude trips
within the place of residence, trips to the usual place of work or education and
daily shopping and other local day-to-day activities. As per WTO definition,
Tourism can be classified into the following forms. These are inbound tourism,
outbound tourism, domestic tourism, internal tourism, national tourism and
international tourism. Inbound tourism means visits to a country by
non-residents of that country. Outbound tourism refers to visits by the residents
of a country to another country. Domestic tourism involves travelling by the
residents of the given country within their own country. Internal tourism
comprises of domestic tourism and inbound tourism. National Tourism
includes domestic tourism and outbound tourism and international tourism
comprises of inbound tourism and outbound tourism. Tourism is one of the
single largest industries in the world, growing very fast and is now considered
as a vital force for the economic development of both developed and
developing nations. The contribution of tourism is multi dimensional i.e., as a
source of foreign exchange earnings, employment generation, exchanging
cultural values, peace keeping and as a whole for the economic development
especially for the developing countries.
2.2 BackWater Tourism
The ‘‘backwaters’’ region with an extensive network of interlocking rivers,
lakes, and canals that center on Alleppey, Kumarakom, and Punnamada also
the city of Kochi, also known as the ‘‘Queen of the Arabian Sea’‘ made Kerala
as important tourist’s destination in the world. There are many forms of
sustainable tourism such as: the ecological tourism (ecotourism), the green
tourism, the soft tourism, the rural tourism and agro tourism, community
tourism, equitable tourism, solidarity and responsible tourism etc. Kerala
Tourism also was piloting implementation Sustainable of Tourism practices at
4 destinations Kumarakom, Wayanad, Kovalam and Thekkady in triple bottom
line - economic, socio-cultural and Environment responsibility- and could
come out of a model which can be replicated to other destinations with active
participation of the tourism industry, local bodies The resulting income and
employment generation help to reduce poverty levels particularly income
poverty of the local residents including the poor.
2.3 Pro-Poor Tourism
‘pro-poor tourism’ discusses various aspects that play a crucial role in tourism
development with a focus on poverty reduction, economic performance,
livelihoods, land and natural resources, food security, environmental
sustainability, climate change, etc. The key message of this study is initiatives
on pro-poor tourism taking in to account realities on the life of local people. It
also scans the effectiveness of Kerala’s tourism in the growth of the economy
of Kerala in particular and its contribution to stringing Indian economy.
Different types of tourism are influential in the alleviation of poverty.
2.4 Residents Perception
The location of the residents affected their perceived impacts on tourism, with
the residents living in Pınarbaşı perceiving higher positive impacts of tourism
compared to residents of Azdavay and Şenpazar. The findings of the study
identified that the residents have both positive and negative perceptions
towards tourism impacts in their community. From a general point of view, it
seems clear that the host community acknowledges the economic benefits of
tourism. The cultural and social benefits are also perceived as an advantage by
residents, but to a low degree. At the same time, it is recognized that tourism
creates different problems, including traffic congestion. If this is indeed the
case, it appears that the community is looking towards tourism as a mechanism
that can, directly or indirectly, stimulate the local economy and increase the
standard of living. The overall positive feelings of residents also identified
some negative environmental impacts of tourism such as traffic congestion and
pollution. The findings show that there was no difference in residents’
perceptions according to their gender, age group, occupation and length of
residency. One of the contributions of this study is that little research is
available which analyzes the perceptions of residents on the impacts of tourism
in protected areas as most of the similar studies have conducted in holiday
destinations where negative impacts of mass tourism can be seen.
2.5 Sustainable Tourism Development
A framework based on sustainable tourism development is required in order to
evaluate economic, socio cultural and environmental impacts. The Triple
Bottom Line-model (TBL) is chosen as the most suitable framework. Adapting
and developing this framework and linking it to other theoretical concepts such
as Carrying Capacities and Capital constructs is one of the thesis’ contribution.
The results show that TBL is a step forward when doing more holistic
evaluations of tourism impacts, but more research is needed in order to find
ways of comparing the results of the different impact dimensions. Being able to
measure, describe and understand tourism impacts, other than economic, also
helps destinations and tourism developers plan and execute steps in tourism
development which is more sustainable.
2.6 Artificial Interventions
A number of artificial interventions, such as large-scale reclamation of water
bodies to form fields for rice cultivation, and unscientific construction activities
have led to the degradation of the environmental status of the Vembanad
Wetlands of Kerala State in India. Increased flood proneness is one of the many
major environmental issues faced in the region during the recent decades. A
dynamic view of spatial changes in the wetland and knowledge on its relation
to the various environmental issues are essential for scientifically planning the
land and water resources management of the wetlands. In this study, through
the development of geographic data sets and their analysis in GIS, benchmarks
are established for the extent of Vembanad Lake and its changes due to
reclamation during the 20th century, the bathymetry of the lake and its area–
elevation– capacity relationship, the wetland topography and its water holding
capacity at different elevations.
2.7 Attitudes of Local residents towards Tourism Development
The attitudes of local residents toward tourism development in some tourist
areas in Alappuzha is Based on the place attachment model, this study seeks to
propose an integral approach to management of the local residents’ attitudes
towards tourism development among local residents are influenced by place
attachment, the perception of tourism impacts and by the perceived and desired
type of tourism. One important contribution of this study to the understanding
of the obstacles to tourism development is the finding that length of residency
strongly influences the development process. Local residents are deeply
concerned about the quality of their life and for the quality of their
environment. Managers and planners should be aware that tourism
development activities could evoke strong emotional responses of some groups
of local residents. To avoid conflicts, local residents should be actively
involved in the decision making process of tourism development. The major
findings of this study have some significant tourism development implications.
The study shows what local residents know about and believe about tourism,
including perceptions and impacts. The study also embraces future
development tourism in the places in this study and reveals some facts for the
control and development and other relations to the other aspects of social and
community life. Flexible attitudes toward tourism development along with the
belief that tourism will bring prosperity to the area are a solid basis for the
tourism development.
2.8 Income and Employment Oppertunities
tourism cannot provide employment and income to all the people in a
destination and hence it cannot be a panacea for economic development. The
result clearly indicates local areas adjacent to tourism destinations appear to
have a comparative advantage in vegetable production and should gradually
move to specialize in this activity. There is also scope to develop the livestock
industry to supply larger quantities of fresh meat and eggs. Although not
examined by the present study, it can be said that tourism can also provide
income and employment opportunities in other sectors e.g., public transport,
wildlife safari, elephant rides, tour guides, restaurants, furniture, and various
types of shops etc. In many places local people are able to perform cultural
shows, and besides earning incomes some are able to promote their local
culture as well. Tourism can help the poor improve their livelihoods, but this
will require concerted efforts – strategies that help establish strong linkages
with the tourism sector. Overall, the study results clearly indicate that tourism
contributes to the local economy providing direct employment and indirectly
by purchasing food and nonfood items from local producers.
2.9 InterLinkages of Tourism to Other Sectors
Economic benefit of tourism over an entire region can be maximized by
providing the best interlinkages of tourism to other sectors of regional economy.
In such a process the various categories and the scale of tourist production and
consumption pattern are adjusted to and integrated within, the regional
production system. Depending on a region’s specific geographic and
socio-economic characteristics, as well as its resource endowment, the entire
resource potential should be analyzed and explored before making choices and
designing appropriate sectoral interlink ages or
integrates activity complexes for sustainable development.
2.10 Tourism Products
2.10.1 Geomorphologically Integrated Tourism
geomorphologically integrated eco-friendly tourism can project Kerala as a
destination which is second to none in international tourism. Kerala is to be
considered a single spot of tourist attraction which is totally a new concept. The
major benefits of geomorphologically integrated tourism in Kerala are uniform
development of infrastructure in the state, uniform spreading of the revenue
from tourism in the state, participation of greater percentage of population of
Kerala in tourism, conservation of ecology and environment and prevention of
uncontrolled pollution in the tourists centres.
2.10.2 Potentiality of Eco-tourism
The potentially of eco-tourism in Kerala is very high due to the number of
national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, backwaters and other uncontaminated
natural and cultural areas . The various strategies for marketing of eco-tourism
are highlighted.
2.10.3 Health Tourism
The present health tourism scenario in the State by analysing the marketing
environment and the marketing system existing in the various ayurvedic health
tourism units of Kerala and the marketing strategies adopted for promoting
ayurveda as an important tourist product. The level of satisfaction of tourists
was evaluated by comparing their perceptions on the ayurvedic treatments of
Kerala with their actual experiences after undergoing ayurvedic care.
2.11 Tourism Marketing
The necessity of marketing tourism products ,as tourism plays a major role in
the economies of the world. The nature and dimension of marketing tourist
product is different. Marketing strategy for tourism should be based on
consumer’s expectations, needs, attitudes, likes and dislikes. It covers the use
of multimedia in tourism marketing, main applications of interest in tourism
marketing such as in marketing research, new advertising techniques in global
marketing importance of relationship marketing for tourism industry role of
MICE in solving seasonality problem of any destination, how the tourism
products are developed by different countries in consistent with expectation of
customers etc.
2.11.1 Market Research
the tourism product, market and market research techniques in tourism and the
function of marketing in tourism. A tourist product can be identified as a
composite product which is a combination of attractions, transport,
accommodation and entertainment. It can either be sold as a package or
assembled by the tourist himself. Through market research, it is possible to
identify the key market segments. Research techniques like desk research, filed
research and motivation research where desk research includes collection and
analysis of all available data on tourist trend, field research based on research
work carried out in tourist generating markets itself. Motivation research
forecasts the psychology of tourists. It helps in discovering the needs of
potential tourists to adopt the tourist supply accordingly and try to satisfy them.
The role of marketing is to create awareness about the product in the minds of
existing as well as prospective customer in the overall market area. In all
tourism promotional activities, an effective and meaningful communication
with the consumer and trade intermediaries is essential. It is possible through
advertising and public relations.
2.11.2 Over Pricing
Overpricing is a handicap that hinders the successful marketing of tourist
product. It is also opined that media publicity, particularly television must be
given special attention in connection with tourism marketing. Further while
promoting a new destination, clarity, coherence and continuity must be there in
the programmes telecasted through the media.
2.12 Ethical Tourism
the need for ethics in tourism and its role in protecting the environment,
cultural heritage, tradition and value systems from the impact of factors related
to tourism. Further they have discussed the measures taken globally to
implement ethics in tourism and also analyzed the direction of tourism
planning in India to see how far the internationally accepted tourism ethics are
followed in India.
