New Sales Promotion Kavita (repaired).docx

1. INTRODUCTION

The study is about sales promotion activities of VEENA WORLD. VEENA WORLD is a well known travel agency in INDIA. They organize tours on domestic as well as international level. They provide specialized and customized tours. The ultimate goal of the study the project is to understand the behavior of customers or travelers , how they like to travel , how often they travel etc The importance of the study work is to make avail best services to the customer and make customer satisfied with services. The benefit received from the project was I came across lot of customers and understand their need and desire and clarify them and provide the best traveling services accordingly.

The detailed information of sales promotion is explained further: Sales promotion is the process of persuading a potential customer to buy the product. Sales promotion is designed to be used as a short-term tactic to boost sales – it is rarely suitable as a method of building long-term customer loyalty. Some sales promotions are aimed at consumers. Others are targeted at intermediaries and at the firm's sales force. Sales promotion offers a direct inducement to act by providing extra worth over and above what is built into the product at its normal price. These temporary inducements are offered usually at a time and place where the buying decision is made. Not only are sales promotions very common in the current competitive market conditions, they are increasing at a fast pace. These promotions are direct inducements. In spite of the directness, sales promotions are fairly complicated and a rich tool of marketing with innumerable creative possibilities limited only by the imagination of promotion planners. Sales promotion is often referred to by the names of ‘extra purchase value’ and ‘belowthe-line selling’. Today we find companies in almost all sectors offering some sort of a promotion scheme. These sectors range from automobiles to beverages, from financial services to foods, from household durables to services, from household products to business products, from personal care to textiles and apparel. Sales promotion is one of the five aspects of the promotional mix. (The other 4 parts of the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations.) Media and non-media marketing communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Examples include contests, coupons, freebies, loss leaders, point of purchase displays, premiums, prizes, product samples. Sales promotions can be directed at either the customer, sales staff, or distribution channel members (such as retailers). Sales promotions targeted at the consumer are called consumer sales promotions. Sales promotions targeted at retailers and wholesale are called trade sales promotions. Some sale promotions, particularly ones with unusual methods, are considered gimmicks by many.

1.2 DEFINATION OF SALES PROMOTION Sales promotion includes incentive-offering and interest-creating activities which are generally shortterm marketing events other than advertising, personal selling, publicity and direct marketing. The purpose of sales promotion is to stimulate, motivate and influence the purchase and other desired behavioural responses of the firm’s customers.

Sales promotion implies a wide variety of promotional activities. In the current marketing practices, the role of sales promotion has increased tremendously. Companies spare and spend millions of rupees to arrest consumer attention toward products and to arouse purchase interest. Sales Such efforts seem inevitable in today’s marketing situation. It can also reduce the degree of consumer dissatisfaction. Nowadays, sales promotional efforts are undertaken for variety of purposes. It is among the most critical and expensive marketing decisions. promotional efforts also improve firm’s competitive position. Sales promotion includes incentive-offering and interest-creating activities which are generally short-term marketing events other than advertising, personal selling, publicity and direct marketing. The purpose of sales promotion is to stimulate, motivate and influence the purchase and other desired behavioural responses of the firm’s customers. Sales promotion offers a direct inducement to act by providing extra worth over and above what is built into the product at its normal price. These temporary inducements are offered usually at a time and place where the buying decision is made. Not only are sales promotions very common in the current competitive market conditions, they are increasing at a fast pace. These promotions are direct inducements. In spite of the directness, sales promotions are fairly complicated and a rich tool of marketing with innumerable creative possibilities limited only by the imagination of promotion planners. Sales promotion is often referred to by the names of ‘extra purchase value’ and ‘below-the-line selling. In recent years, sales promotion has been used widely to supplement and coordinate advertising and personal selling efforts. Various sales promotion tools such as free samples, premium on sale, prize contests, dealer incentives, coupons and gifts, etc., are being used to stimulate market demand for products of daily use. The basic purpose is to stimulate on the spot buying through short term and non-recurring incentives.

CONCEPTS OF SALES PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES. The sales promotion activities are Money off coupon Competition Discount voucher Free gifts Loyalty cards Advertisement Demo Exchange offer Loan Extended warranty Social Media marketing

Money off coupons customers receive coupons, or cut coupons out of newspapers or a products packaging that enables them to buy the product next time at a reduced price. This money coupon helps the customer to avail the discount on the next or upcoming purchases. Competitions buying the product will allow the customer to take part in a chance to win a prize. The customers are provided a chance to participate in a competition and win an exciting prize. Discount vouchers a voucher (like a money off coupon). Discount vouchers are same like the money voucher. Free gifts a free product when buy another product. The customer is provided with a free gift at a time of purchase in order to retain the customer and provided better purchasing experience . Point of sale materials e.g. posters, display stands – ways of presenting the product in its best way or show the customer that the product is there. Loyalty cards e.g. Nectar and Air Miles; where customers earn points for buying certain goods or shopping at certain retailers – that can later be exchanged for money, goods or other offers. Advertisement is an audio or visual form of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are often businesses who wish to promote their products or services. Advertising is differentiated from public relations in that an advertiser usually pays for and has control over the

message. It is differentiated from personal selling in that the message is non-personal, i.e., not directed to a particular individual. Advertising is communicated through various mass media, including old media such as newspapers, magazines, Television, Radio, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as search results, blogs, websites or text messages. The actual presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement or "ad". Commercial ads often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through "branding," which associates a product name or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. On the other hand, ads that intend to elicit an immediate sale are known as direct response advertising. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Advertising may also be used to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Demo A demonstration of a product or technique. Exchange offer An exchange offer, in finance, corporate law and securities law, is a form of tender offer, in which securities are offered as consideration instead of cash. Loan A loan is a debt provided by an entity (organization or individual) to another entity at an interest rate, and evidenced by a promissory note which specifies, among other things, the principal amount of money borrowed, the interest rate the lender is charging, and date of repayment. A loan entails the reallocation of the subject asset(s) for a period of time, between the lender and the borrower Extended warranty An extended warranty, sometimes called a service agreement, a service contract, or a maintenance agreement, is a prolonged warranty offered to consumers in addition to the standard warranty on new items. The extended warranty may be offered by the warranty administrator, the retailer or the manufacturer. Extended warranties cost extra and for a percentage of the item's retail price. Occasionally, some extended warranties that are purchased for multiple years state in writing that during the first year, the consumer must still deal with the manufacturer in the occurrence of malfunction. Thus, what is often promoted as a five-year extended guarantee, for example, is actually only a four-year guarantee.

Social Media Marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Most of these social media platforms have their own built-in data analytics tools, which enable companies to track the progress, success, and engagement of ad campaigns. Companies address a range of stakeholders through social media marketing including current and potential customers, current and potential employees, journalists, bloggers, and the general public. On a strategic level, social media marketing includes the management of the implementation of a marketing campaign, governance, setting the scope (e.g. more active or passive use) and the

establishment of a firm's desired social media "culture" and "tone". To use social media effectively, firms should learn to allow customers and Internet users to post user-generated content (e.g., online comments, product reviews, etc.), also known as "earned media", rather than use marketer prepared advertising copy. While social media marketing is often associated with companies, as of 2016, a range of not-for-profit organizations and government organizations are engaging in social media marketing of their programs or services.

1.3 PROFILE OF TOURISM INDUSTRY Travel and tourism is the largest service industry globally in terms of gross revenue andforeign exchange earnings. It is also one of the largest employment generators in the world. Ithas been a major social phenomenon and is driven by social, religious, recreational, knowledge seeking and business interests and motivated by the human urge for new experience, adventure,education, and entertainment. Tourism is both cause and consequence of economic development.It has the potential to stimulate other sectors in the economy owing to crosssynergistic benefitsand its backward and forward linkages. The industry is expected to improve in 2014, as most of the leading economies are exiting therecession since end-2009. However, it is expected to be gradual as corporations, households and governments slowly recover. Given the improvement in global economic conditions, theUNWT O forecasts a 3-4% increase in international tourist arrivals during 2010. Asia is expectedto continue showing the strongest rebound, while Europe andAmericas are likely to recover at amore moderate pace.

The expected rebound in tourism materialized in the first four months of 2010. This is reflectedin the 7% increase in international tourist arrivals during January-April 2010. The Ministry of Tourism plays a crucial role in formulating national policies and programmes as well as coordinating and supplementing the efforts of the State/Union Territory Governments and private sector in improving the quality of tourism Industry. As regards the domestic market, the Ministry aims to popularize the culture and natural beauty of different regions, pilgrim sites and various new tourism products. The Ministry has a public sector undertaking, namely the 'India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC)' for carrying out its various functions. This particular industry in India is substantial and vibrant, is at verge of becoming a major global destination. Travel and tourism industry in India is one of them most profitable industries in the country and credited with contributing a substantial amount of foreign exchange. As during 2006, four million tourists visited India and have spent US $8.9 billion. In India the disposable income has gone up by 10.11% annually from 2001-2006, where much of that is being spent on travel. Indian tourism Industry has also helped the growth in other sectors like horticulture, handicrafts, agriculture, construction and even poultry.

In the ancient times travel used to be for recreation and education mainly. Later on the privileged class traveled for pleasure.During the early 1920s tourism was also known as Fremdenverkehr- a term that emerged in Germany, dealing mainly with business and economic problems. For example Herodot during 485-424 B.C was a writer who loved to travel across continents and initiated the first type of knowledge travel. Around 300 A.D Romans traveled for pleasure more so due to good road network. The medieval times saw travel mainly due to business or craft. European educational institutions like in England, France and Italy became famous. The foundations of modern tourism were laid in the late 19th and early 20th century when the socio economic factors of the developed world played a major role in leisure travel. Though railways were not developed for the sole purpose of tourism, yet it became more popular among the rising middle class of the world especially among the travelling writers, journalists, artists etc. Various instruments came into existence that enhanced tourism among masses like guide books, Cook’s contribution to opening up of travel agencies. During the first world war the concept of providing the workers a break from their usual work came into being. However the growth of tourism after the slump of World wars started slowly as the economies started developing and opening up to the world. Today tourism is a major means of earning for many nations including India and has newer nuances to it like experience related holidays, club holidays, traveler groups breaking away from traditional holiday purposes.

MARKET OVERVIEW : In the last five to six decades many countries have opened their doors to tourism and hence it has become one of the main elements in the economic progress of the countries worldwide. Its one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world.

The tourism has continued to grow from 25 million tourist arrivals in 1950 to 1078 million in 2013 and is expected to grow at a pace of 3.3% per year from 2010 to 2030 as per UNWTO’s (United Nations World Tourism Organization) long term forecast. The emerging economies are expected to increase tourism during this period twice the rate of developed economies. Asia and the Pacific have shown stronger growth ( 6%) in 2013 than Europe and Africa.

This is followed by the Americas while the Middle East recorded the least growth. China has spent $129 billion USD on tourism and has emerged at the topmost tourism source market in the world. As per the data of UNWTO 2013, more than half of travelers traveled by air while 40% or so by rail, 2% by rail and 5% over water. Air transport is growing at a much faster pace than the other means.

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES: India is filled with abundant land forms, historical monuments, cultures and traditions thus providing ample opportunities for both domestic and international tourism. While an abundance of temples and historical monuments in the North of India, wild life sanctuaries, Himalayas, the varied flora and fauna are a fertile ground for eco tourism, vacationing and the like. For example the Himalayan terrain like in Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir help promote the medical and health tourism, to spend an ideal Summer or a ground for Adventure sports in the mountains.

MARKET DRIVERS:

As per the expert reports the main drivers of tourism in India can be divided into domestic growth drivers and international growthdrivers. The domestic market drivers are mainly the changing lifestyles of middle class, more disposble incomes and purchasing power and better route connectivity while the international ones are: a value for money destination that is India, variety of purposes that can be fulfilled starting from an open economy, business as well as pleasure, better connectivity of Indian air routes to other countries, Incredible India presented as a lucrative brand to invest in, government initiatives and policies that help inbound tourism, India being a host for major international events like sports. 65% of Indian population fall under a young age group of 18-55 and are more open to new destinations. Diverse product offerings of tourism industry are driving different sections of the society into the industry.The availability of credits and easy financing has enhanced the growth. In 2013 the FDI in tourism has been USD 3.2 billion hence boosting the same. Government has initiatives like 100% FDI in order to further boost this industry.

MARKET RISKS 

Safety and security: As per World economic Forum T&Ts competitive report India ranks 74 among the top 140 globaleconomies of the world in terms of safety and security. One of the main initiatives to counter this problem has been the introduction of police for the tourists. Kochi in Kerala has the first tourist police station in the country set up in 2010. With the rise of women travellers India needs to counter its problems on women safety as soon as possible especially in the metros.

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Lack of proper transportation facilities in the interiors: Though India boasts of an extensive road and railways connections yet there are many roadblocks in the development of those.To start with the poor road network in the interiors of the nation makes it difficult for an enthusiastic heritage tourist to tour the place at ease. Compared to the international standards the travel becomes more time consuming in India. The traffic laws are frequently violated and there is a lack of regulation leading to accidents and delays. Indian railways have to revamp the facilities in order to counter overcrowding. The conditions of the roads in many places are pathetic inspite of the funds being allocated towards their development. The vicious circle of corruption has a major role to play in these roadblocks.

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Proper accommodation facilities: Good quality accommodation has to support the cost effectiveness or else the price would lose its edge over the competitors. Many five star hotels have the issues of water scarcity and electricity even today.

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Hygiene: Adequate sanitation, toilets at frequent spots on the highways, maintenance and cleanliness are still factors that pose hindrance to the growth of tourism in India especially for foreign tourists. The behavior of locals need to change towards keeping the surroundings clean. The food habits of Indians need to incorporate hygiene and health as priority apart from taste. For example the easy availability of mineral water seen in remote areas would boost the influx of tourists.

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Secondary entertainment and man made facilities: The world has opened up to an era of experience tourism where family vacations form a major part of the make believe world like Disney Worlds across various countries. India needs to have more amusement parks apart from the already available forms of tourism. This would boost tourism as well as increase employment.

1.4 TOURISM STATISTICS

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Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries at present and holds the status of the world's no. 1 industry.

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The tourism industry as a whole is presently estimated to earn over US$3.5 trillion worldwide.

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The industry creates a job every 2.4 seconds with every one of those direct jobs creating another 11 indirect ones.

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Spending on tourism amounts to 5%-10% of total consumer, spending in a year worldwide.

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India's share of the total market is a pittance at 0.51%. The non-touristcountries like Malaysia and Indonesia get much more tourists than India.

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However, the average duration of stay of foreign tourist in India is one ofthe highest in the world. On an average, it exceeds 27 days in the case of non-package tourists and is 14 days in the case of package tourists.

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Tourism has the distinction of being the third largest export industry aftergems and jewellery and readymade garments in India..

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The Tourism industry's foreign exchange earnings in India are around $3.2billion. Tourism is the highest foreign exchange earner if we consider the fact that net value addition in Gems and Jewellery is less than 30% whereas, in tourism it is more than 90%.

1.5 GLOBAL SCENARIO OF TOURISM INDUSTRY Travel and tourism is one of the fastestgrowing industries and a leader in manycountries. It is expected to have generated around 9.4% of world GDP and 8.2% of totalemployment in 2009. The contribution of the industry to the global economy remains highdespite a 4.38% decline in 2009. During the year, travel and tourism investment too declined bymore than 12%. International tourist arrivals rose from 682 million in 2001 to 920 million in 2008. Theglobal travel and tourism industry experienced a downturn in 2009 due to the global economicand financial meltdown. The industry was affected by low business volumes and consumer confidence, given the uncertainty about factors such as availability of credit, exchange rates,employment, and the H1N1 virus. Consequently, tourist arrivals fell 4% worldwide in 2009. Nevertheless, tourist arrivals increased 2% in the last quarter of 2009, led by recovery in the AsiaPacific and the Middle East.

Tourism has been a major social phenomenon of societies all over the world. It is driven by the natural urge of every human being for new experiences, and the desire to the both educated and entertained. Tourism today is a leisure activity of the masses. People today travel to national and international destinations to break the regular monotony of life. They are mainly attracted by either the scenic beauty of its nature or by fascinating leisure, sports and adventure activities offered by the destination . Over the last two decades, Travel and Tourism has played a more and more important role in the economic development of many countries. Increased travel across the globe has been driven by growth in real incomes; greater amounts of leisure time; improved and highly accessible transportation systems; ongoing globalization of business linkages, including supply chains; highly effective communication systems that facilitate marketing; and a significant number of new tourism services. Tourism is four dimensional activities. First, it is environment friendly. Second, it generates employment in the country. Third, it brings substantial amount of foreign exchange to country’s exchequer, fourth it further generates revenue for the country’s economy and fifth it creates most effective and efficient backward and forward linkages among different components of Tourism sector.

Tourism has emerged as one of the world’s largest service industries with sizeable economic benefits and immense opportunities. With the emergence of technological advancement, and competitiveness in service-based industries the tourism sector is playing a vital role in contributing to improve gross domestic product (GDP) and creation of employment across the world economy. It is one of the leading job creators in the world. The industry employs more than 98 million people directly, representing over 3 percent of all employment.

When indirect and induced impacts are included, the industry contributes to around one in every eleven jobs worldwide. While tourism generates a significant amount of foreign exchange earnings that also contribute to the economic growth of developed countries.

Tourism is an important and flourishing industry in the world and it is termed as a useful measure for employment generation, poverty alleviation and sustainable human development in India. The objective of present paper is to investigates the status and development of tourism globally and Indian context. It also examines the trends of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India which is followed by state-wise analysis. Despite turmoil in different parts of the country, world tourism registered an increase of 4% in the first half of 2015.

Tourism destination world over has got nearly 538 million tourists from January and June 2015, a rise of 21 million as against the figure of 2014 [4]. Caribbean and Oceania have emerged as the most popular tourism destination. Table 1 indicates the trends in international tourist arrivals in different continents of the world.

1.6 INDIAN SCENARIO OF TOURISM INDUSTRY

Tourism is the largest service sector industry in India. The industry provides heritage, cultural, medical, business and sports tourism. It is expected that the tourism sector contribution to the country’s gross domestic product will grow at the rate of 7.85 yearly in the period 20132023. It accounts for one-third of the foreign exchange earnings of India and also gainfully employs the highest number of people compared to other sectors. This sector also attracts the domestic tourist and foreign tourist in an enthusiastic way which resulted in improving well balanced economy for the nation like in India . Tourism industry in India has several positive impacts on the economy and society. Following are the significance and importance of tourism in India. India’s bounteous heritage includes not just breathtakingly beautiful architecture, rich traditions and diverse cultures but also mesmerising and scenic landscapes. From the challenging snow-clad peaks of the Himalayas and the cool hill stations of the north, to the alluring beaches on the western and eastern coasts and the ornate temples of the south, India has the variety to satiate the interests of all those travelling through the country. In fact so popular is the country as a global tourist hot spot that the ‘Conde Nast Traveler’, one of the ace travel magazines, profiled India as the most preferred tourist destination in recent times.

It is true then, that tourism is an important and flourishing industry in the country. It accounts for one-third of the foreign exchange earnings of India and also gainfully employs the easily the highest number of people compared to other sectors. According to the World Tourism Organization, by the year 2020, it is expected that India will become the leader in the tourism industry in South Asia, with about 8.9 million arrivals. The RNCOS-formulated report titled "Indian Tourism Industry Forecast (20072011)”objectively analyzes the current scenario and future prospects of the Indian tourism industry, focusing on different parameters of the industry such as: inbound and outbound tourism, expenditure by inbound tourists, and medical tourism in India. It helps analyze the opportunities and factors, which are crucial to the success of the tourism industry in India. The key findings of the report are: ● Inbound tourist expenditure per head in India, is third highest in the world and even more than the global average tourist spending. Healthcare tourism is on the rise in India. Visitors can avail several private healthcare

 facilities. The number of tourists visiting India for medical treatment is expected to reach one million by 2012, representing a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 28.09% since 2007. During 2001-2006, disposable income grew at a CAGR of 10.11%, which led to an  increase in domestic as well as outbound tourism. More than 50% of the revenue earned by the Indian hotel industry comes from room rents. Over the five-year period spanning 20072011, Indian outbound tourist flow is expected to increase at a CAGR of 12.79%. It is expected that the tourist influx to India

1.7 TRENDS IN TOURISM INDUSTRY

During the last decade, the tourism industry has seen many important changes that will have a significant impact on future tourist demand. Mohamed Derouiche investigates. On the one hand, the rise of e-tourism, the democratisation of travel and the tendency to book and to make up one’s trip online rather than to buy a standard tourist package proposed by a tour operator, stood out with regard to the new traveller’s preferences On the other hand, natural disasters such as tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes as well as health issues, such as avian and swine influenza, have changed our perception of holiday and leisure. Therefore, it would be interesting to hypothesize about the future trends in travel that we can expect to see over the next decades. These can be divided into eight important trends New emerging inbound destinations Eastern Europe, with many countries joining the EU, Asia and South America will play a major role as leading inbound destinations since they excite and arouse the interest of many travellers. On the other hand, North Africa is threatened with a decline if it does not innovate and diversify its tourism product.

As an example of emerging inbound destinations in Eastern Europe, we can cite Bulgaria, Croatia and Ukraine that hosted respectively in 2010 6,047 million tourists, 9,111 million tourists and 21,203 million tourists, thus marking growth rates compared to 2006 of respectively 17 per cent, 14 per cent and 12 per cent. In Asia, apart from well-known destinations, Azerbaijan (western Asia), Uzbekistan (central Asia) and Qatar (Middle East) are good examples although their numbers of inbound visitors are still low. However, if we look at their inbound tourism growth rates between 2006 and 2010, we notice that they reached respectively 87 per cent (1,280 million visitors in 2010), 74 per cent (975 000 visitors in 2010), and 97 per cent (1,866 million visitor in 2010). In South America, Argentina that reached 5,325 million visitors in 2010 (+27 per cent compared to 2006) and Chile whose inbound in 2010 was 2,766 million visitors (+22 per cent compared to 2006) can serve as examples among others (1). We can predict that competition between destinations is going to be fiercer in the future. Each country should therefore look for a competitive advantage that it can develop and exploit. New emerging outbound markets Among the biggest emerging outbound markets, we can cite here China and India with over a billion people each, many of which are starting to travel internationally. If we look, for instance, at the number of Chinese people who travelled abroad, it rose considerably between 2006

(34,524 million travellers) and 2010 (57,386 million travellers) thus marking a 66 per cent increase over the four years (2). Indian travellers, however, reached 12,988 millions in 2010 while they did not exceed 8,34 million in 2006, which gives an increase of more than 55 per cent over the four years Green tourism Green tourism, also known as nature-based tourism or sustainable tourism, is in great demand and will continue its growth in the future since many travellers are now aware of the negative impact tourism might have on the environment and have, therefore, become more responsible with regard to sustainability. Climate change and alternative future transport When thinking of the warming of the planet, the erratic weather patterns and the natural disasters that will likely occur and are occurring already, we can describe global climate change as one of the worst disasters to hit the humanity. Furthermore, destinations should expect climate change to have an impact on tourists’ purchasing trends. We will gradually see new means of transport gaining ground to the detriment of air traffic: Will tourists be willing to fly across the ocean if they consider the carbon footprint of their flights? Travellers may opt for journeys made by train, boat or coaches especially that these modes are nowadays offering more comfort, great web accessibility and timetables suitability. In addition, shorter trips within the same continent or the same geographical region will more likely outweigh the long ones. Travel with a mission Another important future trend is travels that incorporate an added-value rather than just a classic lazy sun and see vacation: Many travellers are nowadays looking for real travel experiences that enrich their culture and let them live and feel the authenticity. Furthermore, they seek out travels that involve volunteering (e.g. providing support to a population in need, humanitarian actions, etc.) or that include a particular mission, for instance, learning a new language, exploring new culinary techniques, attending a seminar, a concert or an event, etc. As a result, tour operators are now becoming specialists rather than generalists: Some are positioned as experts in golf vacations while others are specialized in cultural tours and so on. Social media Social media includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue between organisations, communities and individuals. The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented rise of social media in many different forms: Collaborative projects (e.g. Wikipedia), blogs and micro-blogs (e.g. twitter), content communities (e.g. YouTube), social networking sites (e.g. Facebook), etc

KEY MARKET TRENDS 

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Type of visitors: Two categories are rising in India that would constitute the major chunk of tourists in future: Women and Senior citizens. Owing to more working women, the business women travelers are on the rise and the nation needs to work a lot on their safety, health and security. Secondly post retirement the senior citizens mostly are caught in an empty nest syndrome and hence constantly feel the need to travel in and out of the country. The senior citizens who travel were around 1.3 million in 2011 and are expected to rise in number to around 7.3 million by 2030. Purpose of Tourism: The highest contributors are the travelers travelling for family or social reasons and for religious purpose. The second category belongs to people who holiday for leisure and social visitors abroad.

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Different products offered: Today the tourism industry is offering various products like eco tourism, medical tourism, cruises, rural tourism and the like that caters to different mindsets of the tourists. Apart from these there are customised tour packages coming up to suit individual tourists.

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Geographical trends in India: The following graph clearly shows the comparative status of various states in India in terms of market share of respective states as found in 2012. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are clearly the highest among the statesbecause of being a domestic pilgrimage destination. However the northern states like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and even the southern state of Kerala witnessed decline inspite of huge spends on tourism. This might be because of poor allocation of funds and promotional activities. The infrastructure in these states need imporvement. Though Kerala has highest literacy yet due to lower levels of urbanization, tourism is not taking off as expected. Marketing and promotions involved with better infrastructure can help improve the situation like in Gujarat the promotional campaigns on mass media by celebrity Amitabh Bacchan has given its tourism a face lift.[2]

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Growth Trend of North India: As per 2012 report during the period of 2008-2012 the market share of northern states of India including Punjab, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Rajasthan grew by 10.5 % domestic and 3.2 % in terms of international tourists.

1.8 SWOT ANALYSIS OF TOURISM INDUSTRY

STRENGTH

WEEKNESS

 Internationally recognized standard for accommodations.

 Most facilated hotels located in city area.

 Higher Historical and cultural diversity.  Diverse Land Scope.  Wide range of Terrestrial and Aquatic ECO system.  High Bio diversity.  Existing tourist market.

 Lack of nation policies to the development of tourism industry.  Absence of onsite interpretation education specialties.  In appropriate management of tourism destinations.  Continues focus on traditional tourism product.  In Adequate infrastructure to support the growth of the tourism sector.

 Attractive place and comfortable weather condition.

 Higher intervention of Government. 

OPPORTUNITY

THREATS

 Good chance for advance meant or progress.

 High competition from other Asian countries

& Improving security and economy in the country research

. & Under developed infrastructure

. Lack of diversification in tourism products.  Opportunities for law cost accommodation. tourism product. & Introducing new threads of tourism by assign resource.development.

Affect of world oil price.  In direct competition from other substitutes. social cultural degradation due to mass tourism.

1.9 COMPANY PROFILE VEENA WORLD Veena World is a Mumbai, India based online/offline travel company established on 18 June, 2013. It was founded by Veena, Sudhir, Sunila& Neil Patil. It’s Corporate Office is at Vidyavihar, Mumbai. Apart from Vidyavihar, they have 8 sales offices spread across Mumbai & Pune. The sales offices are located in Prabhadevi, Borivali, Ghatkopar, Vashi, Thane, Dombivali, Vasai & Pune. Veena World is active across every travel segment i.e. Family Group Tours, Speciality Tours, Inbound Holidays, Customised Holidays, Corporate Travel, Flight & Hotel Bookings & Destination Weddings. Life has come full circle for Veena Patil. After devoting 19 years to Kesari Tours, she ventured out to form Veena World with her husband Sudhir and sister-in-law Sunila. A defining moment in her life, Veena World was launched on June 18, 2013. Forty-eight thousand customers have travelled with Veena World in eight months since tours began in September last year. Patil believes her weekly columns in Marathi dailies have created an emotional connect with the readers. “My writing style is simple and people relate to me. This has helped build the Veena World brand,” she states. For Patil, who is scheduled to travel for tours 260 days this year to destinations like Goa, Kashmir, Kerala, Ladakh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Dubai, USA, Europe and Mauritius, it comes as no surprise she was born a day prior to World Tourism Day i.e. September 26, 1964. She stepped into the industry at the age of 20, right after completing a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from Somaiya College. Having studied in schools across Saphale, Vasai and Vile Parle, she was accustomed to building new relationships. Therefore, while launching Veena World, she was clear that they needed to bring new suppliers on board. Not one to mince words, Patil says, “We were having family problems while running Kesari. I decided to come out of my comfort zone and separating from Kesari helped us realise our true capabilities.” Her elder son, Neil (23) who studied at Monash University, Melbourne, joined the company in December 2013. Raaj (16), Patil’s younger son, is studying in Mumbai’s Poddar College. Patil was instrumental in realising the potential of different travel segments, and with Veena World she has continued the legacy of targeting them. Veena World’s niche tours like Women’s Special, Student’s Special and Senior’s Special have evoked great response and these continue to be the core of their offerings. Since Patil and Sudhir will be completing 25 years of marriage this year, she has launched Jubilee Special tours for couples having completed 20 to 30 years of marriage.

CORPORATE STRUCTURE

Veena World is owned by its holding company Veena Patil Hospitality Pvt Ltd. which is a private limited company. The head office is located in Vidyavihar, Mumbai and the sales offices are also in Prabhadevi, Borivali, Ghatkopar, Thane, Vashi, Dombivali, Vasai and Pune. Veena Patil is the Managing Director of the company. Sudhir Patil, Sunila Patil and Neil Patil are the Directors. As of 2016, 700 employees work in the company which includes 350 Tour Managers .

Operations

The company started its operation on 18 June 2013, from its Kandivali office and with more than 50 preferred agents located all over India. Within one month after opening of its head office, most of the offices located in Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune Metropolitan Area commenced operations. As of 2016, Veena World has its Corporate office in Vidyavihar, 8 sales offices along with more than 150 Preferred Sales Partners across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, etc. Veena World also has its Forex office cum sales office at Dadar.

Establishment

In 2013 Kesari Tours faced a management crises in its leadership. Veena Patil who was Managing Director of the company at that time was forced to leave her position from the company due to the allegations of misuse of the company assets. She then sold her Shares from the company and was starting to set up a new firm along with the other board of directors from Kesari Tours, Sudhir Patil and Sunila Patil.[1][2]

Under the brand name of Veena World with the motto of Travel, Explore, Celebrate, the Holding company Veena Patil Hospitality Pvt Ltd was Established on 18 June 2013. Its first sales office was opened on 18 June 2013 at Kandivali, Mumbai, which was inaugurated by Shri Raj Thackeray.

1.10VISION AND MISSION OF VEENA WORLD VISION ● Your travel our promise. ● To develop largest diversified travel organization. MISSION ● To be the travel services industry benchmark.

1.11 NEED OF THE STUDY.

➢ To understand service problems . ➢ To analyze the problem regarding services . ➢ To collect maximum data and maintain relation with customers through follow up.

1.12 AIM & OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

Aim of the study

To study and analyzethe effectiveness of sales promotional activities of VEENA WORLD.

Objectives of the study To measure the effectiveness of the sales promotional activity . To understand the customer perception about the various promotional activities. To study the promotional practices adopted by the VEENA WORLD.

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOY 2.1RESEARCH DESIGN • Descriptive research design • Casual research design In this study, the descriptive research design is used to carry out the study. It helped us to differentiate the people opinion about the occurring events

2.2 Sampling Sampling allows concentrating our attention upon a relatively smaller number of people and hence, to devote more energy to ensure that the information collected from them is accurate. Sampling Design A sample design is an infinite plan for obtaining a sample fro, given population. It refers to the technique or the procedure that the research would adopt in selecting items for a sample.

2.3 Data Collection Method Quantitative and Qualitative Data collection methods. The Quantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into predetermined response categories. They produce results that are easy to summarize, compare, and generalize. The method of data collection includes two type of study, such as primary data and secondary data. Primary Data Collection Methods Primary data is received from first hand sources such as: direct observation, interview, survey, and questionnaire etc. On the other hand, secondary data is received from secondary sources such as: printed material and published material etc. Here, we will only discuss the primary sources of data collection.

Methods of primary data collection Observation Method This is a method of primary data collection in which researchers collect data based on their personal observation. For-example if a researcher wants to collect data about the employee’s job

satisfaction in any organization. For this purpose researcher will interact with employees to observe their behaviour in order to assess their job satisfaction. Take another example, suppose in case of textile industry, investigator wants to identify job satisfaction of machine operators and different workers; he/she would select the respondents through random sampling.

Personal Interview This is a method of primary data collection in which questionnaire is used as a data collection tool. Several interviewers are sent to the respondents with interview questionnaire under the guidance of research in defined interview environment. It is described in terms of time, place and numerous other factors which have influence over interviewees. Personal interviews are categorized into self-administered questionnaires; door-to-door interview, mall intercept surveys, executive interview and purchase intercept technique.

Mail Survey Mail survey is a primary data collection method in which questionnaire is used as a data collection tool. In mail survey, researchers mail questionnaires to the respondents. The respondents then fill the questionnaire and return at their convenience. Some of the important advantages of using mail survey for data collection are given below: • Less time and cost of data collection.

• Greater population coverage. • Absence of the interview’s bias. Reaching out to the customer was difficult in the study. In this study, I have used, personal interview and mail survey to collect the data or information required to conduct the study. Many customers are happy with telephonic schedule interview as they allotted some valuable time of theirs to answer all my questions.

Tools used for data collection To make a research, various surveys are conducted. They are as follows:

The various data collected are from primary and secondary source through the questionnaires: books, journals, old reports and annual report were used. Personal interview was really helpful to understand the emotions and expectation of the customer of the company

SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION METHODS The secondary data are readily available from the other sources and as such, there are no specific collection methods. The researcher can obtain data from the sources both internal and external to the organization. The internal sources of secondary data are:

➢ ➢ ➢ ➢

Customer details, like name, age, contact details, etc. Company information Reports and feedback from a dealer, retailer, and distributor Management information system.

There are external sources from where the secondary data can be collected . ➢ Internet, where wide knowledge about different areas is easily available

In the study, secondary data was much helpful to analysis about the company and peoples opinion about the company

2.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The study conducted may have information given from the customers. The information obtained or the collection of data is limited. The geographical limit of the study was restricted. The time given to collect the sample was limited. The information was not filled properly by the respondents

3. REVIEW OF LITERTAURE

Sales promotion is one of the five aspects of the promotional mix. (The other 4 parts of the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing and publicity/public relations.) Media and non-media marketing communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Examples include contests, coupons, freebies, loss leaders, point of purchase displays, premiums, prizes, product samples, and rebates. Sales promotions can be directed at either the customer, sales staff, or distribution channel members (such as retailers). Sales promotions targeted at the consumer are called consumer sales promotions. Sales promotions targeted at retailers and wholesale are called trade sales promotions. Some sale promotions, particularly ones with unusual methods, are considered asgimmiSales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to provide added value or incentives to consumers, but many of These efforts can attempt to stimulate product interest, trial, or purchase. Examples of devices used in sales promotion include coupons, samples, premiums, point-of-purchase (POP) displays, contests, rebates, and sweepstakes.

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPERTATION

Descriptive analysis

4.1AGE OF Age Below 18 19-40 Above 40 Total

Frequency 33 96 44 173

Percentage 19.1 55.5 25.5 100

RESPONDENTS

Age of Respondents

Inference From the it is inferred Respondent 19-40 years, respondent years, 19.1% are below 18

55.5

60 50 40 30

25.4 19.1

20 10 0 Below 18

19-40

Above 40

above graph, that 55.5% are rom age 25.4% are above 40 respondents years

4.2 GENDER OF THE RESPONDENTS

Gender Male Female Total

Frequency 121 52 173

Percent 69.9 30.1 100

Gender

Female 30% Male 70%

Inference From the above graph it is inferred that 70% respondents are male and 30% are female.

4,3 OCCUPATION OF THE RESPONDENT Occupation Business Employeed Professional Other Total

Frequency 42 73 21 37 173

Percent 24.3 42.2 12.1 21.4 100

Occupation of the respondent 45 40 35 30 25

42.2

20 15

24.3

21.4

10

12.1

5 0 Business

Employed

Professional

Other

INFERENCE From the above graph it is inferred that 42.2% respondend ae employed. 24.3% respondent are from business background. 21.4% respondent are professionals. 12.1% respondent are from other background.

4.4 INCOME OF THE RESPONDENTS Income Below 25000 25000-35000 35000-50000 50000-75000 Above 75000 Total

Frequency 24 21 19 44 65 173

Percent 13.9 12.1 11 25.4 36.6 100

Income 40 36.6 35

30 25.4 25

20 13.9

15

12.1

11

10

5

0 BELOW 25000

25000-35000

35000-50000

50000-75000

ABOVE 75000

INFERENCE From the above graph, it is inferred that 36.6% respondent earns above 75000. 24.4% respondent earns from 50000 to 75000. 13.9% of respondent earns below 25000. 12.1% of respondent earns from 25000 to 35000. 11% of respondent earns from 35000 to 50000.

4.5 Have you ever travel with veena world?

23%

77%

Yes

77

No

23

INFERENCE 77% of the people from our country prefers to travel with Veena World and rest 23% travels with others.

4.6 Tour selection

Sales

Domestic International

Domestic

75%

International

25%

INFERENCE 75% of the sales in veena world comes from domestic tours while 25% comes from International sales.

4.7Package selected Simple

10000-20000

47%

Executive

20000-40000

33%

Luxury

40000 above

20%

Sales 50 40 30 20 10 0 Simple Excecutive Luxury

INFERENCE The packages are divided into three types Simple, Executive and Luxury. 10000 to 20000 comes under simple 47% prefers simple package. 20000 to 40000 comes under executive 33% prefers executive and 20% prefers Luxury package which is above 40000.

4.8 PURPOSE OF TRAVEL Sr. No

Purpose

Frequency

1.

Holiday

28

2.

Business work

52

3.

Religious purpose

20

Purpose of travell 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Holiday

INFERENCE

Business work

Religious people

4.9 SERVICE QUALITY

Sr. No

Rating

Percentage

1.

Bad

2%

2.

Average

9%

3.

Good

29%

4.

Excellent

60%

Service Quality 60 50 40 30 Service Quality

20 10 0 Bad

Average

Good Excellent

INFERENCE

4.11 Which promotional activity does attract you to choose Veena World

Sr. No

Promotional Activity

1.

Print advertisements

2.

Internet

3.

Bill boards

frequency

4.12 How often you travel

Sr No

period

Frequency

1.

Once in a year

70

2.

Once in 6 months

13

3.

Once in 3 months

10

4.

weekends

7

Sales

Once a year Once in 6 month Once in 3 months Weekends

INFERENCE

4.13 Does Veena World gave you extra service than other travel agency

Sr No

Frequency

1.

Yes

70

2.

No

0

3.

Maybe

30

Extra services 70 60 50 40

Extra services

30 20 10 0 Yes

No

Maybe

4.14 Experience of the trip

Sr. No

Rating

Frequency

1.

Good

31

2.

Bad

6

3.

Excellent

44

4.

Not so good

19

Experience of the trip 45 40 35 30 25

Experience of the trip

20 15 10 5 0 Good

Bad

Excellent

Not so good

4.15 QUALITY OF SERVICE

Sr. No

Quality

Frequency

1.

Good

77

2.

Bad

3

3.

Average

20

15 QUALITY OF SERVICE 80 70 60 50 15 QUALITY OF SERVICE

40 30 20 10

0 Good

Bad

Average

FINDINGS

Conclusion

It is the concluded that sales promotion is important to improve the sales of the company and to reach new customers. Each and every organization should have a good strategic plan for their promotion to withstand in the market with huge competition. The discounts and loyalty program in the company will improve the sales by attracting new customers. The best sales promotion will help the company to fulfil the organizational objectives. The sales promotion is must to improve their sales in every organizations. The sales is monitored based on the promotional activities practiced by the organization, the company should have better promotional activities practiced in the organization to estimate the sales.

Therefore, the sales promotion plays a vital role in the organization to fulfil the organizational goals and objectives. The company should frame the best strategic plan to meet the competition in the market and fulfil the customer needs. Many authors has proved that the sales promotion is the key that helps the company to achieve the sales. According to Philp Austin said that “sales promotion is a force that attracts humans to consume the products” This explains that how sales promotion influences the customer to buy a product.

APPENDIX