Thursday, 29 December 2016

COLLABORATIVE DESTINATION MARKETING: THE CASE OF BUDDHIST CIRCUIT
CASE ABSTRACT
            This case study examines collaborative destination marketing in the context of Buddhist Circuit (BC) in India. The Buddhist Circuit is a religious network of destinations, based on the footprints of the Lord Buddha across the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. This iconic circuit includes High Significance Holy Sites (HSHS) where the Buddha actually spent time. The complex cultural landscape of Buddhist Circuit incorporates a wide variety of stakeholder interests. Some of the prominent stakeholders are international Buddhist community, local and regional authorities, urban and tourism planners, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, vendors, agricultural labourers, NGOs and domestic and international travellers.  This religious network of destinations marked a turning point in the transformation of destination’s spatial landscape from a contested site of religious faith to an international Buddhist destination. To promote the Buddhist Circuit as a single tourist destination, all the tourism stakeholders are giving attention on Co-branding, joint advertising campaigns and public relations exercises in major tourist-generating regions, offering thematic packages and itineraries, promotional prices on tour packages and  jointly participation in travel marts/fairs and road show.
PEDAGOGICAL OBJECTIVES:
After completing this case study, learners should be able to:
·       Provide a comprehensive understanding to and explanation of the collaborative marketing as a core concept to the marketing of a tourist destination.

·       Identify the stakeholders and their roles in collaborative destination marketing.
·       Assess the relationship between destination marketing and networking, in developing collaborative marketing strategies.

·       Analyse the factors that influence collaborative destination marketing among the stakeholders.

CASE POSITIONING AND SETTING:
            This  case study can used in MBA, MBA (Tourism), PGDM (Tourism & Travel) and Certified Destination Management Executive (CDME) Programmes and in the teaching the nuances of collaborative marketing to senior destination managers and tourism planners.

Keywords: Buddhist Circuit, Collaborative Marketing, Networking, Stakeholders.

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