The Role of Shopping Centers in the Development of Domestic Tourism

Transcription

1 The Role of in the Development of Domestic Tourism Dr. Abolghasem Mira, Faculty Member Faculty of Management Tehran University Iran; Nima Sabetfar, M.A. Faculty of Marketing MBA Kish International Campus of Tehran University Iran; Abstract: Today tourism makes up a big part of economy in different societies. Therefore, tourism marketing may have an important role in the development of societies. Kish Island is one of the areas which thousands of domestic tourists visit annually. One of the tourism attractions in Kish Island is the presence of shopping centers. Also, tourists satisfaction plays an important role in the development of tourism in each area. The present study aims to investigate the effective factors on the tourists satisfaction of shopping centers in Kish free zone. The data have been collected using questionnaires during the third and fourth seasons of Using Friedman method, the present study has ranked the variables of 4p model of McCarthy and Gilmore. The results indicated that the architecture of shopping centers, environmental attractions, tourists' needed products, prices of products in shopping centers and promotions of shopping centers which are among the most important and effective factors in tourism demand in Kish free zone, have the highest rank and score according to domestic tourists in Kish shopping centers, respectively. Key Words: Tourism,, Kish Island, Freidman Method, Questionnaire 1. Introduction After the Second World War, international tourism turned into a widespread phenomenon. This spread and development took place following the industrialization, growth in the level of life standards, reducing in work hours, increasing paid holidays in these countries and also rapid development of transportation; we should also add to these factors the increased motivation for traveling (Cohen 1996). The study of tourism is based on a categorization of all types of tourism including the form, content, dominant goal and its factors. Based on a general perception, tourism refers to the effects resulted from foreigners travelling and residing in special places, when this is a temporary residence and not a journey for work; a journey satisfaction, enjoyment and refreshment. Accordingly, tourism can fall into four categories as follows: domestic, foreign, national and international (Zooti, 2000). In the recent decade, more than one million tourists have travelled annually to Kish, out of which are domestic tourists. For most of the countries, tourism is considered as an important source of business activities, earning income, employment and foreign exchanges (Haber and Lorner, 1998). Meanwhile, tourist satisfaction is of high importance and it is related to the quality of travel and tourism experience. Tourist satisfaction deals with a tourist comparing his/her experience of the destination where he/she has been to and what he/she has expected from that (Fauster and Traung, 2005). Services quality, facilities quality and received and perceived values directly affect travel quality, tourism experience and their demand level in future (Yisal, 2003). Meanwhile, the presence of tourism attractions is very important in regard with tourists' satisfaction and their future demand level. markets are among the most important tourism attractions in Kish. Kish markets have a special attraction for the travelers who travel mostly for tourism. Currently, Kish Island contains 11 international markets, business centers and small markets which offer a variety of products from different countries to sell. Meanwhile, tourism marketing is considerably important. Historically, marketing has the role of advertising places to attract more tourists for tourism development. Thus, the present study focuses on the role of shopping centers and excludes other effective factors on tourism demand in order to maintain generalability of the research and properly examine the role of shopping centers in attracting tourists to Kish. Given the importance of markets and shopping centers in attracting tourists and its significance in the 56

2 development of tourism industry, it is necessary to determine the role of markets and shopping centers in attracting tourists. Therefore, the aim of present study is to identify solutions to promote the role and status of shopping centers in attracting tourists to Kish Island. Hence, tourism marketing can emphasize on positive aspects of shopping centers in convincing potential tourists. Objectives of this research can be summarized in two main categories, as follows: 1) To identify and determine effective factors on domestic tourists' satisfaction with shopping centers of Kish Island. 2) To prioritize effective factors on domestic tourists' satisfaction in shopping centers. 2. Theoretical Basics Tourism development as a series of business activities is very effective in reinforcing economic bases of the societies and the role of tourism as a new source of employment, earning income, more taxation incomes, attracting currency and reinforcing social infrastructures leading to growth and development of other industries, has been confirmed in many studies. Today's new and fast changing tourism requires continuous researches in order to create and introduce improved competitive strategies which are compatible demand changes in this industry (Milan and Steban, 2004). Therefore, tourism marketing can play a key role. Buell notes that " marketing is a current in which sellers and purchasers provide a environment together to be able to exchange their goods and services or price them (purchase and sale) " and Cutler who is another example of managers defines marketing as follows: " marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups supply their needs by exchanging goods and services to each others." (Mira and Sabetifar, 2003). Contrary to the above mentioned opinions, some of the experts put more on management method or producer rather than on consumer. Therefore, marketing can be considered as a kind of social and managerial process by which people and groups can remove their needs and demands, regardless of common geographical and racial borders, by producing and exchanging products and values with others. Limer and Jorgan (2009), in their research, considering especial properties of tourism product, found that marketing of tourism industry plays an outstanding role compared to that of other industries and the effective employment of tourism marketing tools is necessary for a country or an area because marketing can provide potential tourists with information on what a certain area can offer and can convince them to visit it. In the process of tourism marketing, paying attention to shopping centers is vital since it is one of the factors in tourism demand. One of the important tools in the field of tourism for marketers is also to be aware of tourists' comments and determining feedback. This can give a great help in attracting tourists by marketers. Factors in a country or a territory which attract tourists are called tourism attractions. Those factors which may influence on tourists attraction are categorized into two groups: 1) Natural factors; including desired whether, favorable landscapes, seas, religious areas, forests and animals. 2) Artificial and made-up factors: ancient works, museums, places or buildings and shopping centers (Mira and Sabeti Far, 2013). Given the theoretical background and experimental background of the research along with considering theoretical and experimental researches conducted in regard with the investigation of factors affecting on attracting tourists to Kish Island and the role of its shopping centers, the research model is presented based on the review of literature as shown in figure 1. The formation basis of this research conceptual model is a mixture of Gale Moore's and McCarthy studies findings. According to the Gilmore's research model (2002), emphasis on using traditional architecture in building shopping centers and developing proper architectural infrastructures can lead to increasing tourist attraction and developing tourism industry. According to 4p model of McCarthy (2001), four elements of travel and tourism products are as follows: product, price, place and promotion. Here, product mostly focuses on the level of adaptation of product and its properties with requirements and demands of the customer. Product includes product variability, design quality, properties, brand, package, size, services, guarantees, support etc. Price means product pricing strategies which include price list, discount, especial aids, payment period, credit condition etc. Distribution is also to deliver products to customer in different regions. Distribution 57

3 systems can be a key factor of success or failure of a product and as a result company and organization. Distribution includes distribution canals (wholesaler, retail, agency, and branches), covering area, combination and matching products, inventories, transportation, supplies etc. Promotion includes attempts to communicate with customers. This communication occurs to create positive emotions and understanding in target customers. It is worth noting that, break-even point analysis as well as values added by customers following promotional programs is particularly important for promotional activities of the company. Promotion means activities done by the company to provide customers with good information on value and desirability of the product, so that customers buy the product supplied by the firm among other products of the industry. Promotion includes advertisement, public relations, sale promotion, personal sale and direct marketing ( Mira and Sabet Far, 2013). In general, weaknesses and strengths of tourist attraction factors can be determined if marketers and economic authorities decide to develop tourism in a certain area as Kish free trade zone. One of attractions of Kish Island's market for tourists is shopping centers of the island. Thus, it is essential to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of these centers on customer satisfaction because determination and scaling them by taking necessary measures allow tourist satisfaction of shopping centers. By referring to tourism attraction, it is possible to say that satisfied tourists most probably recommend others the places where they have gone which is one of the cheapest and most effective way of marketing and development (Krousby, 1998). World Tourism Organization defines customer satisfaction as "a psychological concept which includes happiness feeling and enjoyment resulted from obtaining whatever one hopes for and expects from a product and/or service (Chee, 2005). Considering the measurement of customer satisfaction in tourism industry is caused by destinations competitive positioning in the world market. Measuring customer satisfaction mainly leads to providing information; information concerning how one destination currently meets tourists needs (Vang and Love, 2003). However, various opinions have been proposed in regard with customer satisfaction. Parasoorman, Zitamel and Berry (1994) believe that general customer satisfaction may be related to their evaluation of not just services quality (such as respect, responsiveness etc.) but also product properties such as hotel room size etc. and price. Understanding the general level of satisfaction requires evaluation of not just general satisfaction but also satisfaction with special properties which forms the general satisfaction. This awareness allows managers to prioritize the properties and allocate the resources with effective and efficient methods in order to increase the general satisfaction (Huang and Sarigollu, 2007). Hence by explaining the properties and prioritizing tourists' satisfaction with different aspects of Kish Island shopping centers, the present study attempts to guide tourism marketers toward acting more successfully in attracting potential tourists by putting more emphasis on the benefit and strength of Kish Island shopping centers like environmental and architectural attractions of shopping centers. 3. Review of Literature Considering importance of tourism and effective factors on tourism demand, many studies have been conducted on the subject. Some of these studies are deal with here. Gilmore (2002), in a research, found that maintenance, repair, more interest in tourism attractions, emphasis on traditional architecture of tourism attractions and proper infrastructures can increase tourists and develop tourism. Williams (2006), in a research, found that the situation of historical places and ancient works, accommodation facilities and building marketing offices and informing are among the effective factors of tourism industry development. Uzama (2008) showed that tourism development involves considering development aspects in all personal levels, directing capitals, orienting technological advance, structural and institutional changing which is consistent with current and future needs of tourists. Hessie (1997), based on the results obtained from his own analysis, said that services provider can determine those product properties which most probably have the most effect on the satisfaction level of target market. In addition, the provider can receive proper feedback from his/her customer in regard with his/her performance in those important properties. Maryam Javaheri (2008) analyzed factors of increase in tourist attraction of Kish free trade zone for economic development of the area. After investigation and calculation of the data, factors of marketing mix for four groups of participants in order of ranking are as follows: 1) advertisement, 2) 58

4 price, 3) product, 4) place. Golnaz Motamedi Masoudieh (2007) carried a research titled as events and international tourist in Kish Island. This study has dealt well with the role of strategic planning in holding these events with the help of literature review. Several strategies and frameworks which should be considered in these programs have been studied. 4. Research methodology In studies of behavioral sciences, most common sampling methods are simple random sampling, clustered sampling and stratified sampling. To select samples required to complete questionnaires in this research, clustered sampling method has been used. The present research questionnaire includes two main parts; first part (initial explanation) explains purpose of data gathering by questionnaires and required cooperation of respondents to provide necessary data. In this case, the value of data collected by questionnaire is emphasized and respondents are asked to answer accurately. Second part (items) includes two sections: a) special items: items were developed to be understandable. The study used Likert s 5-point scale which is one the most common measurement scales. All scales are interval; b) general items: items gather generally demographic information on respondents. The questionnaire measures 5 variables including: 1) price discount, 2) offering business cards, 3) discount due to customer purchasing size, 4) broadcasting written advertisements in place, 5) offering sample products. In the present study, 228 customers of the sample Kish Island shopping centers have responded the questionnaire; this number is a good size for this research. In order to determine reliability of the research tools, the reliability was calculated by Cronbach's alpha method with the aid of SPSS 16 and was obtained for all of the questionnaire questions. This number shows that the questionnaire is reliable enough. 5. Estimation model and results Some of the descriptive statistics are shown in table 1. Maxi mum Table 1 descriptive statistics Mini mum Stand ard Devia tion Me an Observa tions Variable 228 Promotio ns of Shoppin g 228 Architect ure of Shoppin g 228 Needed 228 Prices of Shoppin g 228 Environ mental Attractio ns In order to analyze the answers to the questions, t- test was used to see the situation of variables on average. In this test, the proposed hypothesis in regard with population average is studied at error level of = 0.5. in the obtained results, if Sig statistic is below the significance level of 0.5 and t is above 1.96, it is concluded that average responses to the questions with number 3 is significantly different and above this number; H1 is confirmed and the factor is effective in attracting tourists. Table 2 t statistics of variables Situation Sig Df T Variable Appropriate Architecture 7 2 of Inappropriat e Environmenta l Attractions Inappropriat Needed e 2 7 Inappropriat Prices of 59

5 e Inappropriat e Promotions of As can be seen in table 2, architecture of shopping centers variable has a significant difference in comparison with the average and given the questionnaire variables shown in table 1, it is a variable for tourists that they are satisfied with its quality. In contrast, variables of environmental attractions, needed products, prices of shopping centers, promotions of shopping centers are among the variables which do not have an acceptable quality since the average obtained for these variables is significantly below average level. In order to determine the rank for each index and their significance level, Friedman test has also been used. In this study, five factors including architectural attractions of shopping centers, product, price, place and promotion have been taken into account. The present study tries to investigate the five mentioned factors affecting tourism demand of Kish free zone and their ranking. Table 3 Friedman test ranking Mean Variable Observations Variables Rank Rank Architecture of Tourists' in Environmental Attractions of Prices of Promotions of Table 4 Friedman test statistics Asymp. Sig d.f Chi-square As table 4 shows statistic of chi-square has been doubled equaling and the significance level is below 5% which shows that zero hypothesis of Friedman test has been rejected. Therefore, difference among averages is significant and variables priority is not alike. Given the results obtained from the Friedman test and the mentioned averages rank shown in table 3, variables rank in order of priority from maximum to minimum in the table are as follows: 1) architecture of shopping centers, 2) tourists' needed products, 3) environmental attractions, 4) prices of shopping centers products and 5) promotions of shopping centers. This study showed that tourists had the lowest level of satisfaction with promotions of shopping centers and tackling this weak point is of high importance. On the other hand, the tourists have had the highest level of satisfaction with architecture of shopping centers variable. 6. Conclusion With no doubt, one of the tourists' aims to travel to Kish Island is the presence of shopping centers in this island. But, it should be noted that what factors lead to the tourists' satisfaction with shopping centers of this island. It is evident that the most of tourists' satisfaction with shopping centers play a key role in tourism development in this area. This research is based on the models proposed by McCarthy (2001) and Gilmore (2002). The present study has been conducted with the questionnaire method and 228 questionnaires completed by the tourists have been usable. To study the reliability of questionnaire, Cronbach alpha method has been used. The calculated coefficient for all of the questionnaire questions was which shows the reliability of questionnaire. Friedman test was also used to prioritize the model variables. It showed that variables including architecture of shopping centers, environmental attractions, needed products, prices of shopping centers products and promotions of shopping centers have the highest score and quality 60

6 in the viewpoint of domestic tourists and visitors of Kish Island. t statistics concerned with the variables showed that architecture of shopping center variable had a higher average than average level and this difference is significant. In fact, this variable has a proper quality in tourists' viewpoint. Tourists' needed products variable had also no significant difference with the average level and variables including prices of shopping centers products, environmental attractions and promotions of shopping centers had a lower average than average level and this difference is significant. Obtained t statistic shows the credit of this conclusion as well by rejecting zero hypothesis. Thus, it is recommended that issues like promotions of shopping centers including price discount, discount due to customer purchasing size, offering business cards to customers, broadcasting written advertisements in place and offering sample products be paid more considered so that tourists' satisfaction rises by tackling issues concerning this variable. In fact, it is possible to observe proliferation and advancement of domestic tourism in shopping centers and generally that of Kish Island by promotions of shopping centers in Kish Island developed by officials. Accordingly, tourism marketers can act more successfully in attracting potential domestic tourists by putting more emphasis on the benefit and strength of Kish Island shopping centers like environmental and architectural attractions of shopping centers. A) Persian Sources: [1] Javaheri,M (2008). The factors in increasing tourist attraction in Kish, an analysis of factors in increasing tourist attraction in Kish to develop the economy of the area, MA thesis, Mazandaran University of Science and Technology. [2] Motamedi Masoudiye, M. (2007). The analysis of events and international tourist in Kish Island, MA thesis, Isfehan University, Isfehan. English Sources: [3] Gilmore, J. H. (2002), "Differencing Hospitality Cooperation, s via Experiences ", Cornell Hotel and Restaurant: Quarterly, 43 (3), [4] Laimer, P and Juergen, W. (2009), "Portolio Analysis as a Strategic Tool fortourism Policy", Tourism Review, 64(1), [5] Uzama, A. (2008), "Marketing Japans Tourism to the World", Paper Presented at theannual Conference of British Association of Japanese Studies in University of Manchester, [6] Williams, A. (2006), "Tourism Hospitality Marketing: Fantasy, Feeling and Fun", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 18 (6), [7] Mira, A and Sabetfaar, N (2013), "Effective Factors on Domestic Tourism Marketing in of Kish Free Zone", Global Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology, 6 (1), [8] [9] Millan, A. and Esteban, A. (2004), Development of a multiple-item scale for measuring customer satisfaction in travel agencies services, Tourism Management, 25 (5), pp [10] Hsieh, W. C. (1997), Chinese tourists in Las Vegas: Flow and the evaluation of an intercultural gambling tour, Doctoral Dissertation, the Pennsylvania State University. [11] Cohen E. (1996) sociology of tourism In sociology of tourism. (ed) Yarghos Apostolopoulos (et. al) London: Routledge. [12] Zotti G. (2000) "Tourism In Encyclopedia of sociology" (ed) edgar F. Borgotta London: Routledge. [13] Haber, S and Lerner, M (1998), "Correlates of Tourist Satisfaction", Annals of Tourism Research, 25( 4), pp. 197_201. [14] Foster, D and Truong, T-H (2005), "Using HOLSAT to evaluate tourist satisfaction at destination: The case of Australian holidaymakers in Vietnam", ELSEVIER. [15] Crosby, A. (1993), "The tourism development in rural areas", Cefat, Madrid. [16] Wong, J. and Law, R. (2003), Difference in shopping satisfaction levels: A study of tourists in Hong Kong, Tourism management, 24, [17] Uysal, M (2003), "Satisfaction Components in Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Settings", e-review of Tourism Research (ertr), Vol. 1, No. 3, pp [18] Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E (2007), Assessing satisfaction with core and 61

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