RESEARCH HORIZONS

Magazine 2017

International Peer-Reviewed Journal

RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

THE STUDY ON POLITICAL BRANDINGAS ACATALYST IN

TOURISM MARKETINGWITHAN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE

DR. SEEMA H. KADAM* ,

DR. SMITHA B. BHATT** ,

CHETNA G. PRAJAPATI***

ABSTRACT

The tourism industry is a lucrative industry with contributing to generate foreign exchange. Tourism has

an important role in employment generation and economic growth of the country. In Marketing terms

when customer is planning to travel to any overseas for holidays if your brand is in the set of selection is

critical. If customer keeps India in set of selection over the world countries then half work is done. The

political branding by Prime Minister may be has some carrying effect on the tourism marketing. The

descriptive research to study statistics of last twelve years data to study relationship between number of

visits made by prime minister’s of India over twelve years and annual growth in percentage for the

tourism. Data to find the relationship between tourism FTA’s and returns with respect to branding of India

and the leaders. The statistical analysis is used are correlation and regression analysis. The data studied

for 2013,2014 and 2015;there is increase per year and foreign tourist arrivals from central and south

america is very less.Over the time it has increased with respect to south asia.Similary there is increase

year wise and percentage share in foreign tourist arrivals countrywise.the chart shows that from central

and south america is very less.Over the time it has increased with respect to South Asia.The statistics

studied for 2013/14 and 2014/15 shows percentage change in arrivals of foreign tourists.The percentage

is negative for Eastern Europe and the countries not classified.As compared to previous years there is

positive change in forign tourist arrivals from North America, Africa and Australia. There is no significant

variance between Number of international visits by Prime Minister’s over the year and annual tourism

growth percentage.yet small variance is observed.

Keywords : Tourism Marketing,Political Branding,FTA,FEE

Introduction

The tourism industry is a lucrative industry with contributing to generate foreign exchange. Tourism has an

important role in employment generation and economic growth of the country. It is accepted as the persuasive

engine for inclusive social economic progress at universal level through its forward and backward linkages and

ability to create employment in the economy. Tourism sector has a very high employment potential with

approximately 90 jobs creation per Rs. 10 lakhs of investment. There is high scope for profuse employment

generation and related activities in the form of accommodation projects, food oriented projects, amusement

parks and water sports etc.The incredible India campaign focuses on creative and innovative strategy for

integrated marketing communication. For Instance E-Visa introduced by Ministry of Tourism from the month of

January 2017 and Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) & FTAs on

e-Visa on the basis of Nationality-wise, Port-wise data received from Bureau of Immigration (BOI).Accordingly,

for the month of January 2017, a growth of 16.5% is observed as compared to January 2016, surpassing the

previous year’s corresponding growth of 6.8% observed in January 2016 over January 2015. Correspondingly,

there has been observed a growth of 72% in the tourists arrived on e-Visa during January 2017 over January

016 by registering a figure of 1.52 Lakhs as compared to 0.88 Lakhs in the month of January 2016.This

indicated that the share of tourists availing e-Visa facility in January 2017 has reached a level of 15.5% as

against 10.4% in the month of January 2016.

The paper is studying the role of political branding in tourism marketing. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has

visited numerous countries in his tenure up to date and results of the visits are questioned by media, opponents

etc.The one thing sure this visits has created is India as a brand and Narendra Modi as a Brand.In Marketing

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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

terms when customer is planning to travel to any overseas for holidays if your brand is in the set of selection is

critical. If customer keeps India in set of selection over the world countries then half work is done. The political

branding by Prime Minister may be has some carrying effect on the tourism marketing

Political Branding

The American Marketing Association uses a conventional definition that a brand is the “Name, term, design,

symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”

But a brand is much more than a proprietary name. It is a complex concept that is comprised of a multifaceted

combination of tangibles, such as a logo, and intangibles.It is an artificial construct that becomes a public

entity that is superficial, manipulated and open to interpretation. The purpose of branding is to provide marketing

efficiencies while building customer loyalty. Branding seeks to add value to a product or service so that a

consumer develops an emotional preference for that choice over the alternatives. To accomplish this, marketers

avail of research intelligence to inform consistent and simple messages across media platforms, and attempt to

reinforce impressions. Priority is placed on visual communication. However, managing the public image and

credibility of a brand is difficult. Reputation is based on many touch points, including consumer experiences,

and organizations may lack integrated communications (Hutton et al. 2001). This is not to say that branding

concepts can be seamlessly applied to politics; we must recall that politicians are not malleable like a product.

The tourism marketing needs qualitative and quantitative knowledge of the tourism markets, identifying market

trends and selecting effective techniques of tourism promotion and its evaluation.

Current International Cooperation on Tourism

A Letter of Intent between the Government of The Republic of India and the Government of the French

Republic for strengthening was signed on 09th April, 2015.

An Agreement between the Government of The Republic of India and the Government of People’s

Republic of China for strengthening was signed during the State visit of the Hon’ble Prime Minster of

India to China on 15th May, 2015.

The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania

signed a Memorandum of Understanding for strengthening cooperation in the June, 2015 in New Delhi.

The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan signed an

Agreement on cooperation in the July, 2015 in Tashkent.

The Government of the Republic of India and the Government of Turkmenistan signed a Memorandum

of Understanding on 11th July, 2015 in Ashgabat.

The Government of the Republic of India and the Government for the Arab Republic of Egypt signed a

Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation on 24th August, 2015 in Cairo.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of the Republic of India and The National Council of Tourism and

Antiquities of the United Arab Emirates signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in

the September, 2015 in New Delhi.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Tourism of the Royal

Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in

the September, 2015 in Phnom Penh.

Literature Review

Tourism Marketing

Ralf Buckley (2012) in this paper social and environmental impact, responses and indicators are reviewed for

the mainstream tourism sector worldwide, in five categories: population, peace, prosperity, pollution and

protection. The main driver for improvement is regulation rather than market measures.

Amitabh Mishra, Nisha Kant Ojha (2014) the present research paper mainly evaluated the need of marketing

of India as a tourism destination. The research paper briefly lists the major promotional schemes of the Government

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of India and examines the performance of the Indian tourism industry in comparison with other major countries

of the world (in general) and Asia-pacific (in particular). The study finally concludes that the marketing and

promotional efforts have resulted in improved performance of the tourism industry in India.

Political Branding:

Holt (2004) discussed how some brands are devoid of any meaning and then there are the others who build

upon the strong image they have developed over the years and reinforce the same in their expansion.

Jevons (2005) asserted that owing to its popularity among politicians, political branding has turned into a ‘big

business’. He is of the view that the singular consumer context, normally associated with branding, has changed

with the advent of political branding.

Needham (2006) explained about incumbent’s effort towards re-election as a telling example of resale of a

product. He has elaborated it further by pointing out that an incumbent who is seeking re-election should treat

it on similar lines as „repeat buy by a consumer for a brand.

Clifton et al. (2009) discussed how brands have become arbiters of social good campaigns. This is indeed

true for political brands as well. Successful political brands bring with them hope for betterment, they connect

with the voters and give them a reason to vote.

Lees Marshment (2009), one of the leading authors in the field of political branding, has highlighted that

political branding successfully differentiates one political party/politician from another thereby giving voters

enough choices to exercise their franchise in an effective manner.

Speed et al., (2015) introduced human branding concept in politics. This is pretty much evident in the connect

(or disconnect) which the consumer-citizen develops with the leaders in terms of them being reliable (or unreliable)

political brands

Amit Kumar et. Al. (2016) This research paper aimed at exploring the concept of political branding in the

Indian context and would attempt to come up with the plausible relationship that exists between political

branding and political participation.

Research Methodology

The exploratory research has been done to understanding the tourism marketing and political branding. The

descriptive research to study statistics of last twelve years data to study relationship between number of visits

made by prime minister’s of India over twelve years and annual growth in percentage for the tourism. Data to

find the relationship between tourism FTA’s and returns with respect to branding of India and the leaders. The

secondary data –external sources is studies and all the data is gathered from government official’s website of

tourism. The statistical analysis is used are correlation and regression analysis.

Data Analysis

The statistics are utilized from annual report of Tourism and Tourism department statics of 2013, 2014 and

2015.The statistical analysis is done by using trail version of IBM SPSS.24 Software package for correlation and

regression analysis. The charts prepared are as follows:

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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

Source: chart made by using Staistics from Bureau of Immigration

The above Chart-1 indicates that there is increaseyear wise and foreign tourist arrivals from central and south

america (Argentina ,Brazil and Mexico and others) is very less.Over the time it has increased with respect to

south asia(bangladesh,bhutan,nepal, shrilanka and others).

Source:chart made by using Staistics from Bureau of Immigration

The above Chart-2 indicates that there is increase year wise and percentageshare in foreign tourist arrivals

countrywise.the chart shows that from central and south america (Argentina ,Brazil and Mexico and others) is

very less.Over the time it has increased with respect to south asia(bangladesh,bhutan,nepal, shrilanka and

others).

Source: chart made by using Staistics from Bureau of Immigration

The above Chart-3 indicates percentage change in arrivals of foreign tourist.The percentage is negative for

Eastern Europe(Hungry,Kazakhstan ,Poland,Russian Fed and others)and the countries not classified.As compare

to previous year there is positive change in forign tourist arrivals from North America, Africa and Australia.

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International Peer-Reviewed Journal

RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

Source : chart made by using Staistics from Bureau of Immigration

Source:chart made by using Staistics from Bureau of Immigration

The chart-4 and 5 indicates Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) in US dollar billion. The month wise chart shows

that it’s highest in December and Jan for the respective year. The chart-5 indicates that percentage change is

positive in January, February, March and May in 2015/2014 for FEE.

Table-1:

Indicated number of International visits by Prime Minister’s and Tourism Annual Growth in percentage

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Model Summary

RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

a. Predictors: (Constant), No. Of visit

This table provides the R and R values. The R value represents the simple correlation and is 0.203 which

indicates a low degree of correlation. The R value .041 indicates how much of the total variation in the

dependent variable Tourism Annual Growth percentage can be explained by the independent variable no. of

visits. In this case, 4.1 % can be explained, which is very small.

Coefficients

a. Dependent Variable: Tourism growth

This table gives linear regression equation as:

Tourism growth = 9.309 -0.166 (Number of International Visits in a year)

Conclusion and Recommendation

The data studied for 2013,2014 and 2015;there is increase year wise and foreign tourist arrivals from central and

south america is very less.Over the time it has increased with respect to south asia.Similary there is increase

year wise and percentage share in foreign tourist arrivals countrywise.the chart shows that from central and

south america is very less.Over the time it has increased with respect to south asia.The statistics studied for

013/14 and 2014/15 shows percentage change in arrivals of foreign tourist.The percentage is negative for

Eastern Europe and the countries not classified.As compare to previous year there is positive change in forign

tourist arrivals from North America, Africa and Australia.There is no significant variance between Number of

international visits by Prime Minister’s over the year and annual tourism growth percentage.yet small variance is

observed.

References :

Amit Kumar, Prof. Somesh Dhamija, Dr Aruna Dhamija(2016), “Political Branding and Political Participation:

The Dynamic Relationship”,International Journal of Science Technology and Management,Vol no. 5, Isuue

no.4,April 2016,pp. 284-293.

Amitabh Mishra, Nisha Kant Ojha (2014) , “Need of Marketing of India as a Tourist Destination: Evaluation

of India’s Performance in Tourism”, Prabandhan: Indian Journal of Management,Volume 7, Issue 8, 2014

Clifton, R. et al. (2009). Brands and branding. New York: Bloomberg Press.

Holt, D. (2004). How brands become icons: The principles of cultural branding. Boston: Harvard Business

School Press.

http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_expenditure/notification/foreign_deputation/index.asp

http://tourism.gov.in/market-research-and-statistics

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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 7 SEPT. 2017

http://tourism.gov.in/sites/default/files/Other/India%20Tourism%20Statistics_English_2015%20Final.pdf

http://www.infoqueenbee.com/2013/10/list-of-international-trips-of-dr.html

http://www.infoqueenbee.com/2015/12/list-of-international-trips-undertaken.html

Jevons, C. (2005). “Names, brands, branding: beyond the signs, symbols, products and services.” Journal

of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 14 Iss: 2, pp.117 118.

Lees-Marshment, J. (2009). Political marketing: Principles and applications. New York: Routledge.

Needham, C. (2006). Brands and political loyalty. Journal of Brand Management, 13(3): pp. 178-187.

Ralf Buckley (2012), “Sustainable tourism: Research and reality”, Annals of Tourism Research, Volume 39,

Issue 2, April 2012, Pages 528–546.

Smith, G., & French, A. (2011). The political brand: A consumer perspective. In P.R. Baines (Ed.), Political

Marketing (Vols. 1-3) (pp. 1-18). London: SAGE.

Speed, R., Butler, P., & Collins, N. (2015). Human Branding in Political Marketing: Applying Contemporary

Branding Thought to Political Parties and their Leaders. Journal of Political Marketing, 14, 129–151.

Assistant professor. The Mandvi Education Society Institute of Business Management and Computer

Studies, Surat, Gujarat State, INDIA .

Email-kadam.seema7@yahoo.com

* Vice Principal & Head,Department of English,Sheth P. T. Mahila College of Arts & Home Science,Vanita

Vishram,Surat, Gujarat State, INDIA.

**Assistant Prof., The Mandvi Education Society Institute of Business Management and Computer Studies,

Surat, Gujarat State, INDIA

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