TOURISM MARKETING FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
by Dr. Adarsh Batra*
Abstract The levels of marketing, quite often blamed for changing consumer attitudes, promote a materialistic society where status is derived more from the number and type of destinations we visit and leisure activities we undertake, rather than how good we are as caring members of society. Tourism organizations have continued to encourage ‘anyone and everyone’ to visit a particular region, irrespective of how these individuals may behave when they arrive. As we move into the twenty-first century, there is a growing concern for the protection of the environment and the adoption of business policies that will enable to the earth’s resources to be sustained. The new environmentally aware values now emerging are challenging the underlying concepts of marketing. This paper attempts to put forward measures that can be applied to ensure sustainable tourism through marketing strategies suppress or alter demand once critical limits are approached or have in fact been exceeded. Introduction The attitudinal behavior and approaches of tourists and service providers have undergone significant changes during the closing decades of the twentieth century and beginning of the third millennium from the viewpoint of tourism marketing. Earlier only a small segment of the world population was involved in tourism related activities but now tourism has emerged as a globally popular human activity with considerable social, cultural, political and economic consequences. Mass tourism bringing with it diversity and conflicting perceptions and expectations has dramatically expanded the scope and nature of tourism.
Dr. Adarsh Batra is currently Full time Lecturer teaching Sustainable Tourism Management course at Graduate school of Tourism Management (MBA-TRM) at Assumption University (ABAC) Bangkok. He holds two Masters Degrees, one in M.Sc. (Master of Science in physics, 1991-1993) and other M.T.A. (Master of tourism...