2011 Kathmandu University School of Management

Marketing Plan of Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. Ram Biresh Mahato Assistant Professor, Kathmandu University School of Management

Submitted By: Group 6 Ashish Manandhar Sabina Panthi 1 Samridhi Bastola Saurav Pokhrel

Acknowledgement There are many people without whose help this report wouldnt have been materialized. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge them. Our primary indebtedness goes to Mr. Ram Biresh Mahato, Assistant Professor, Kathmandu University School of Management, for assigning us with a project that really helped us to develop our analytical skills and also helped in enhancing our understanding of the subject. We would also like to acknowledge him for his valuable suggestions in every facet of this project that inspired us to work harder and better. Our sincere acknowledgement goes to Mr. Dhiraj Paudel, Managing director, Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours, for his constant support and coordination in our entire project.

Sincerely, Ashish Manandhar Sabina Panthi Samridhi Bastola Saurav Pokhrel

Table of Contents Page no.

1. Executive Summary 2. Situation Analysis A. Marketing Summary: Market needs/trends/growth B. SWOT Analysis C. Competition D. Service Offering E. Industrial Analysis F. Keys To Success G. Critical Issues 3. Marketing Strategies: A. Mission B. Marketing Objectives C. Financial Objectives D. Target Marketing E. Positioning F. Strategy Pyramids G. Marketing Mix H. Marketing Research 4. Financials: A. Break even analysis B. Sales Forecast C. Expense Forecast 5. Controls A. Implementation B. Contingency Planning Appendixes Photographs of visits Approval Letter 4 5 5 7 7 8 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 13

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1. Executive Summary Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours is a reliable, professional and experienced tour operator led by a group of young people. The team has devoted themselves to the tourism industry for 5 years. The company has designed tours for both the older tourists and young student tourists. The primary goal is to provide excellent service to our/your client. The company ensures that the client will have the experience of lifetime. The environment in which it operates can be summarized as following: Tourism year 2011 in Nepal. Increasing popularity of concepts like ecotourism, community tourism, sustainable tourism, corporate social responsibility and e-ticketing in the western parts of our world. Sustained instability in Nepalese politics having detrimental effects on Nepalese tourism industry. Economic recession and global financial crisis curtailing the consumption of people all over the world having its spillover effects in Nepalese tourism industry as well. Innovative business model of Blaze Mountain that is based on attracting GITs (Group Individual Tourists) through strategic tie-ups with foreign travel agencies. A network of value chain partners who share their business with each other and strive towards creating and maintaining similar standards of performance another innovation of Blaze Mountain that is quite unprecedented in the market.

The product and price strategy of Blaze Mountain will basically involve designing products as per the requirements of different market segments. For instance, ecotourism, community tourism and sustainable tourism will be designed and highlighted to older tourist (generally retirees), who value these concepts, while adventure tourism products will be designed at affordable prices for students who have limited affordability and extensive interest in adventure. Place strategy of Blaze Mountain will be based on its biggest strengths - strategic tie-ups with foreign travel agencies, which helps it cut administrative costs massively, and network of value chain partners like hotels, restaurants, adventure service providers and local communities, which help it in creating synergy and getting more businesses. Promotion will be based extensively on customer testimonials and word of mouth. Positioning strategy of Blaze Mountain will involve creating an image of itself as a socially and environmentally responsible firm by highlighting its products based on ecotourism, community tourism and sustainable tourism. 4

2. Situation Analysis Blaze Mountain travels and Tours has been operating for several years now. The trips have been well received, and marketing is now critical to its continued success and future profitability. Blaze Mountain travels and tours offer concepts like ecotourism and sustainable tourism to older tourists and hard adventure trips to the student tourists. This target market appreciates upscale accommodations, gourmet food, and personalized attention. Blaze Mountain will meet this market need with a variety of trip offerings.

A. Market Summary: Market needs/trends/growth Blaze Mountain possesses good information about the market and knows a great deal about the common attributes of most prized and loyal customers. Blaze Mountain will leverage this information to better understand who is served, their specific needs, and how Blaze Mountain can better connect with them. Market Needs Blaze Mountain is providing its customers with a wide selection of soft adventure trips for aging tourists. Virtually all companies that provide "hard" adventure activities appeal to young tourists. Companies that appeal to a wealthier clientele generally provide "soft" adventure packages. But Blaze Mountain provides choice to its clients. Hard adventure activities involve difficult physical requirements. They carry a higher level of risk than do "soft" activities. Soft adventure activities may involve some physical exertion; however they involve a low level of risk and can be engaged in by non-athletic people. The hard adventure trips are mostly designed for student tourists. Market Trends The travel industry is in an upward growth mode. There are several reasons for this increase. The tendency to travel during vacations has increased even more than before. Quick Facts: Worldwide Adventure tourism accounts for 89 billion dollars (nearly 10% of all tourism receipts and growing). This is good sign for the company like Blaze Mountain In Nepal Adventure tourism accounts for 34 percent of all international tourists arrival. This proves there is a huge prospect for both hard and soft adventure provider like Blaze Mountain. According to the annual report of the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA), the number of travelers in the 16-30 age group surged by 32 percent to 140,805 in 2009 up from 106,596 in 2008. 5

 Nepal has all the conditions for qualifying as the best adventure tourism destination in the world. . - Survey report carried out by the Australian Tourism Authority Nepal is one of the best places to visit before you die. - BBC Holiday Market Growth The revenue generated by Tourism Industry has been increasing significantly year by year. In last year, the industry generated the revenue of almost 26.4 billion. The adventure travel market comprises of almost 30 percent. This is a great sign of opportunity for the travel and tour operating in Nepal. The market is poised for growth. The number of tourists in the first seven months of this year is 20 percent more than the last year. This growth can be attributed to several factors. The first factor is an increased appreciation for travel. More and more people are recognizing the value in spending their free time away from home, participating in activities that they enjoy. Another variable that is contributing to this market growth is that as foreigners continue to work longer and longer work hours, they also are looking for adventure travel vacations that offer a release from their day to day work. The graph below shows number of tourists who visited Nepal from 1990-2005. But the number has increased significantly in the later years (almost 510,000 in 2009 and 580,500 in 2010). The figure seems very impressive in the last two years and is obvious to grow in the coming years because of the promotional efforts made for Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

B. SWOT Analysis The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing Blaze Mountain. Strengths Low customer to employee ratio. High customer loyalty among repeat customers A truly unique service offering: Products like village tours are highly appreciated by customers Promotion based extensively on Testimonials of past customers.

Weaknesses Challenge to find employees who possess the necessary skills and customer-centric attitude. The company has struggled to continuously offer new and exciting trips while maintaining the level of quality that is established over time from repetitive trip offerings. Growing market that has yet to be adequately addressed by the company Emerging and highly valued concepts like ecotourism, community tourism, sustainable tourism, etc present opportunities Strategic alliance with value chain partners like hotels, restaurants, adventure agencies, local communities, etc can be highly beneficial in terms of business sharing A slump in the global economy can affect the entire tourism industry in Nepal. Political instability in the country especially can cost the whole tourism industry a lot of lost tourists (to many of these alternative destinations). Hotels are providing services similar to travels and tours and pose a threat Neighboring countries like India, Laos, Vietnam, etc are offering similar services like Nepal.

Opportunities

Threats

C. Competition Strengths and weaknesses of the competitors: The competitors in this market are of two primary types. First there is the adventure provider who specializes in a single type of hard adventure activity such as white water rafting. Their strength is their expertise in a given sport. Their weakness is that they provide an undifferentiated product in a competitive market. In addition, they do not have the resources, 7

ability or desire to target and/or accommodate a customer demanding more accommodation and a more luxury/adventure oriented service. Companies that offer higher-priced, more luxurious packages generally provide only a "soft" adventure. The activities are more along the lines of sightseeing and low-risk alternatives. But Blaze Mountain provides Choices to the customers. However, the advantages of these companies include established reputations, extensive knowledge of the industry, and key personnel and management. Some have been in operation for more than twenty years. They are familiar with local service providers and have established strategic relationships. They can therefore offer trips at a lower price. D. Service Offering: The services offered by Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours are: World heritage site tours Blaze Mountains world heritage site tours are directed primarily towards relatively aged tourists who are interested in Nepalese art, history, culture and tradition. This product is also directed towards Nepalese students who are interested in ancient Nepalese culture and history. Blaze Mountains world heritage tour sites are Kathmandu Durbar Square, Swayambhunath stupa, Bouddhanath Stupa, Pashupatinath Temple, Changunarayan Temple, Bhhaktapur Durbar Square and Patan Durbar Square in Kathmandu valley. Its out of valley world heritage tour sites are Lumbini, Sagarmatha National Park and Chitwan National Park. Jungle Safari National Parks located specially in the Terai region in Nepal attract visitors from all over the world. A visit to these parks involves game stalking by a variety of means foot, dugout canoe, jeep drive, elephant ride. One is bound to sight s one horned rhino or two at every elephant safari. Besides the rhinos, wild boars, samburs, spotted deer, sloth bear, and four horned antelope are also usually seen. The major national parks and wildlife reserves for jungle safari are: Chitwan National Park, Bardia National Park, Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Sagarmatha National park, Makalu-Barun National Park & conservation Area, Langtang National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area, Shey Phoksundo National Park, Rara National Park and Khaptad National Park. Trekking and white water rafting tours Nepal is considered one of the best adventure destinations in the world. Nepals geography packs an extremely varied landscape into a small area. The immense contrasts in altitude and climates found here support a spectacular mix lifestyles, vegetation and wildlife. Trekking is possible any time of the year depending on where one is trekking. The popular seasons are 8

spring and autumn. During winter, trekking is possible at lower altitudes. During the monsoon season, one can trek in the rain shadow areas north of the Himalaya like Mustang, Upper Mustang and Dolpa. These places are out of reach of the rain clouds because of the high mountains and are unaffected by the monsoon. Major trekking regions of Nepal are: Everest Base Camp Trek (EBC Trek), Lamjung Trek, Langtang Trek, Annapurna Circuit Trek, Journey to Mustang, Manaslu Circuit, Dhaulagiri Circuit, Dolpa Trek, Nepal Kanchenjunga Trek and trek to Humla. Rafting is one of the best ways to explore the typical cross country section of natural as well as ethno-cultural heritage of Nepal. There are numerous rivers in Nepal which offer excellent fating or canoeing experience. One can glide on calm jade waters with magnificent scenery all about or rush through roaring white rapids. The rivers that are best for rafting in Nepal are Trishuli (grade 3 +), KaliGandaki (grade 5-5+), Bhote Koshi (grade 4-5), Karnali River (grade 4-5), Sun Koshi (grade 4-5) and also Marshyangdi. The company also offers the destinations like Tibet and Bhutan to the customers and also offer other adventure sports like Bungee Jumping, Canoeing, etc. But this depends on the demand of the customers. E. Industry analysis Tourism industry has been constantly affected by periods of peace and conflict in the country. The frequency of visits during the year 2002 2005 was quite high but later on, due to the disturbances in the country, it went down. Newer trends are constantly coming into the industry. The trends currently popular are ecotourism, community tourism and sustainable tourism. The industry is also witnessing a change in the way business is done with the increase in popularity of e-ticketing, which requires membership to IATA. There are also some serious issues arising in the field of tourism like that of development vs. tourism. Many popular tourist places have been hurt by development and urbanization in those areas. For instance, Annapurna Base Camp trekking route was recently removed from the exclusive list of trekking routes after an access to road was developed to the place. Nepalese tourism industry at present is said to be ready for another boom, especially considering the platform provided by Nepal Tourism Year 2011. F. Keys to Success Customer focus, customer focus and customer focus.

G. Critical Issues Blaze Mountain is still in the speculative stages as service provider. Its critical issues are: Continue to take a moderate fiscal approach; expand at a reasonable rate, not for the sake of expansion in itself but because it is economically wise to. Continue to build brand awareness which will drive customers to Blaze Mountain.

3. Marketing Strategy Blaze Mountain will use several different forms of communication for their marketing strategy. The first effort will revolve around their Internet site. Blaze Mountains demographic relies heavily on the Internet for information. While Blaze Mountain currently has a website, they recognize that resources are required to maintain the site as well as continually improve it. The website will constantly tested to determine that it is coming up as one of the top results when key words are entered into a search engine. Another form of communication is magazine advertising. The advertising will occur in magazines whose readership has similar demographics as Blaze Mountain. The magazine advertisements will be used to increase visibility of Blaze Mountain and position it as the top service provider in the high-end soft and hard adventure market. As time progresses and a loyal customer base is established, Blaze Mountain will rely on email newsletters and direct mail to the customers that are on the mailing list. The newsletters will share specials (both trips as well as special deals) to this select group of customers. As operations progress, Blaze Mountain will continue to measure our progress relative to competitors and to the growth of the market(s) in which we operate. Though the primary target market has been defined, there may be new possibilities to serve additional segments. The marketing strategy will be to develop long-term relationships with customers. Blaze Mountain will keep a database from which to obtain important demographic & psychographic information. As the business becomes profitable, plans will be implemented to expand. There is virtually no limit to the number and variety of trips Blaze Mountain can provide. The goal is to establish Blaze Mountain as a top service provider in the country. A. Mission Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours has the mission of promoting Nepal as a major global destination for ecotourism, community tourism and adventure tourism by meeting the global standards of responsible tourism.

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B. Marketing Objectives Maintain positive, steady growth each quarter. Experience a growth in new customers who are turned into long-term customers. To be recognized as the premier high-end hard adventure trip provider. Get into strategic alliance with at least one new foreign travel agency (i.e. expand) Double digit growth rate for each future year Reduction of fixed overhead through disciplined growth. Continue to decrease the variable costs associated with the production of trips.

C. Financial Objectives

D. Target Marketing Blaze Mountain will target two different groups. I. Student tourists: Younger people generally go for hard adventure trips. They plan their holidays extensively and meticulously, therefore the level of involvement in the service is very high. Price sensitivity is relatively high for students since they have limited affordability. Therefore, Blaze Mountain creates the image of self as a provider of high quality services at competitive prices for this price sensitive segment. II. Older Tourists: Older tourists go for other soft-adventure trips. They are mostly interested in Nepals bio-geographical diversity and cultures and traditions. They want exclusivity exclusive tours, special guides and great experiences. They are also highly concerned about matters concerning the environment, nature, community and social responsibility. This segment is highly sensitive to the quality of service provided. Price sensitivity is very low for this segment as affordability is high. Therefore, Blaze Mountain creates image of self as a highly innovative and distinct service provider that comes up with the most exclusive and original products through extensive research and development. E. Positioning Blaze Mountain will promote/position itself as a differentiated provider of luxury adventure travel, and will price accordingly within the chosen service niche. Blaze Mountain positioning will leverage their competitive edge: Blaze Mountain intends to use the same service providers but provide more exclusive trips. Accommodations will be primarily in small luxury hotels and resorts. Meals will be exceptional, more like gourmet cuisine. The adventure activities will be better than average because the clients have more disposable income. They won't get stuck with people they don't like; they will get access to the best terrain, sections of rivers, etc. 11

Additionally, Blaze Mountain's competitive edge is customer attention and customer service. Blaze Mountain has a very low client to employee ratio, allowing Blaze Mountain to provide close personal attention to the clients. This is the level of service expected at this price point and Blaze Mountain intends to exceed the customers expectations.

F. Strategy Pyramids The single objective is to position Blaze Mountain as the premier, high-end adventure service provider. The marketing strategy will seek to first create customer awareness regarding their services offered, develop that customer base, and work toward building customer loyalty and referrals. The message that Blaze Mountain will seek to communicate is that Blaze Mountain offers the highest level of service for their high-end hard adventure trips. The message will be communicated through a variety of methods. The first will be their website. The second method will be magazine advertisements; the third method is a direct mail campaign.

G. Marketing Mix 1. Product The product/ services that will be offered student tourists segment are Educational tours, Trekking packages, Rafting and other adventure packages and Jungle safari. The product/ services that will be offered to older tourists segment are World heritage tours, Bird watching tours (Ecotourism), Village tours (Community tourism) and soft trekking These products are sold under the trusted name of Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours. The trust is reinforced mainly by customer testimonials, which are extensively highlighted and by its strategic tie-ups to foreign travel agencies. The company aims is providing exclusive service through differentiation. Product strategy of Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours is based extensively on quality. Maintaining high quality standards is also its guiding philosophy. 2. Price Student tourists segment is generally a price sensitive one, so, packages have to be designed to meet the limited budget constraint of the segment. The approach to pricing is a cost plus margin one. Profit margin for this segment is lesser than that for other segments. It is sometimes as low as 25%.

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The Older tourist segment is not very price sensitive. Instead, it is highly sensitive to the quality of service provided, therefore, the price strategy of this segment is completely different from that of the student tourist segment. Margin is generally between 45 to 55% for this segment. 3. Place There are two major place (distribution) strategies of Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours. a) Create Strategic tie-ups with foreign travel agencies: Blaze Mountain Travel and Tours has created strategic tie-ups with independent travel agencies in different parts of the world. This strategy allows Blaze Mountain to attract GITs (Group Individual Tourists), who are more profitable than FITs (Free Individual Tourists). b) Build Comprehensive network of value chain partners Blaze Mountain has a comprehensive network of value chain partners comprising of hotels, restaurants, adventure agencies providing services like trekking, rafting, kayaking and bungee jumping and local communities. This allows it to share business with its network members, which creates a win-win situation for all 4. Promotion Products are promoted through following sources: Website www.blazemountains.com. Participation in international conferences, meetings, seminars and workshops which serve the dual purpose of capacity building and marketing Direct marketing to prospective foreign travel agencies with the objective of creating exclusive strategic tie-ups Testimonials of past customers - to build credibility

Promotion strategy of Blaze Mountain is targeted mainly towards creating new strategic tie-ups with foreign travel agencies abroad. H. Marketing Research During the initial phases of the marketing plan development, several focus groups were held to gain insight into the customers needs and desires for a high-end adventure trip. These focus groups provided useful insight into the decisions and the decision making process of target consumers. 13

An additional source of dynamic marketing research is a feedback mechanism based on a suggestion card system. The suggestion card has several statements customers are asked to rate in terms of a given scale. There are also several open ended questions that allow the customer to freely offer constructive criticism or praise. Financials, Budgets, and Forecasts This section will offer a financial overview of Blaze Mountain as it relates to the marketing activities. Blaze Mountain will address break-even analysis, sales forecasts, and how those link to the marketing strategy. Break-even Analysis The Break-even Analysis indicates that Rs.105, 000 will be needed in monthly revenue to reach the break-even point. (Break even is reached when there is no profit no loss i.e. when profit = 0)

Break Even
120000 100000 80000 60000 Profit 40000 20000 0 -20000 -40000 -60000 Revenue 55000 105000 155000 205000

Break-even Analysis Monthly Revenue Break-even Assumptions: (Monthly) Average Percent Variable Cost Estimated Monthly Fixed Cost 57% Rs.60,000 Rs105,000

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Sales Forecast The sales strategy is to create long-term relationships with customers through superior service. The intent is to initially target the primary customer group. This group has been defined as persons who have purchased, or are likely to purchase, a "hard-adventure" vacation for over Rs 25,000. The trips planned are designed with the wealthy adventure traveler in mind. Later marketing efforts may include trips geared towards corporate clients, Eco-tourism or hard adventure trips for people who want to spend less money. Target customers will be identified through standard research methods. There are a number of publications available that contain profiles of adventure travelers. Methods by which Blaze Mountain will contact customers will depend on results of marketing/sales research. Blaze Mountain will likely use trade or special interest magazines, direct mail, Web-based communication, and personal selling. In addition printed materials will be made available to customers through travel agencies that cater to the adventure target market. Initially, service will be introduced regionally and, possibly nationally. Sales will be extended into the global market within a few years of operation. Our services are seasonal. Recurring revenue will be dependent upon successful trips involving a variety of activities offered year-round. We hope to promote out of season services through frequent customer contact and through our own publication, most likely a magazine of some sort. We will review up and coming trips, offer highlights of past trips and try to do other creative articles, giveaways, customer profiles, etc. Most sales will occur at the retail level. The sales that occur between customers and travel agencies will be discounted appropriately, approximately 15%. Transactions will occur as the result of customer contact in response to communication efforts. In addition, Blaze Mountain will engage in personal selling. The following chart and table shows Blaze Mountain's expected sales forecast. Sales Forecast 2009 Sales World Heritage site tours Rs. 360,000 2010 Rs. 500,000 2011 Rs. 710,000

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Trekking and White-water rafting Jungle Safari Total Sales

410,000

500,000

640,000

390,000 1,160,000

480,000 1,480,000

620,000 1,970,000

2000000 1800000 1600000 1400000 1200000 1000000 800000 600000 400000 200000 0 2009 2010 2011 Jungle Safari Trekking & White Water Rafting World Heritage Site

2009 Direct Cost of Sales (Rs.) World Heritage site tours White-water rafting Jungle Safari Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales 140,000 130,000 140,000 4,110,000

2010 (Rs.) 200,000 196,000 180,000 5,706,000

2011 (Rs.) 280,000 220,000 230,000 730,000

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Expense Forecast Marketing expenses are budgeted so that there will be advertising activity each month. There will be an increase in spending for the advertisements four times throughout the year to coincide with the times that people will be typically planning vacations. The expenses for the direct mail will be applied throughout out the year, but these costs will be nominal relative to the advertising costs.

140000 120000 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0 2009 2010 2011 Others Printing Material Advertising

Marketing Expense Budget 2009 (Rs.) Advertising Printed material Other 46,400 22,000 10,000 -----------2010 (Rs.) 46,400 22,000 10,000 -----------2011 (Rs.) 74,000 32,000 25,000 ------------

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Total Sales and Marketing Expenses Percent of Sales 5. Controls

78,400

78,400

131,000

6.76%

5.30%

6.60%

The Control process assists the marketing managers by guiding their marketing efforts within parameters established by the environment and internal resources. Marketing evaluation and control processes are necessary to understand the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing activities and how both could be improved. For e.g.: The Managing Director at Blaze Mountain Travels and tours wants to keep his expenses at minimum and urges his staff to save costs. He checks the expense accounts of the company monthly to determine the expenses incurred and takes corrective actions for unnecessary expenses. The control function should be placed on high importance, as it does not only control and evaluate activity, but it also assists managers in developing their skills in order to provide sound management of this function. The purpose of Blaze Mountains marketing plan is to serve as a guide for the organization for proper management and future development. The following areas will be monitored to gauge performance:

Revenue: monthly and annual. Expenses: monthly and annual. Repeat business. Customer satisfaction. Marketing Activities and concepts Staff performance

Controls Chart: Activity Complete Performance evaluation of staff Review salaries and other incentives of the staff Measure financial results against projections Carry out survey to determine customers' satisfaction with the Performed by Marketing Manager Marketing Manager Managing Director / Accountant Internal Audit Date / Frequency Annually Annually Monthly / Quarterly / Annually Annually 18

product and the service quality. Diagnose any gap / shortfall to identify the causes for such gap / shortfall and recommend corrective measures Take corrective action A. Implementation

Internal Audit

As necessary

Managing Director/Staff

As necessary

Marketing implementation refers to the execution of strategies developed in the marketing plan. Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing plans into action assignments and ensures that such assignments are executed in a manner that accomplishes the plan's stated objectives. It is important to accomplish each one on time and on budget. A brilliant strategic marketing plan counts for little if it is not implemented properly. Implementing marketing plans calls for skills in recognizing and diagnosing a problem, assessing the company level where the problem exists, implementation skills, and skills in evaluating the results. Marketing Implementation Schedule for Blaze Mountain Travels and Tours (P.) Ltd.: Activity Contract an advertising agency to formulate an advertising plan Development an incentive program for the staff Select the sales team and Tour operators Train the sales team and Tour operators Provide each member of the office staff with a job description Buy necessary items for office and tour operations Advertise products and services offered in national newspapers and small scale hoarding boards in Thamel area Evaluate the performance of the staff with national tourists Advertise its services and products on international websites. E.g. Facebook.com; yahoo.com Date / Frequency By August 31,2011 By August 31,2011 By August 31,2011 By Mid September 2011 By Mid September 2011 By September 30, 2011 By September 30, 2011 By September 30, 2011 By September 30, 2011

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Advertise new offers and services in leading daily newspapers Check revenue generation and expenses and make corrective actions if necessary Check the trend of customers and measure customer satisfaction B. Contingency Planning

By mid November 2011 Every month till Jan 2012 Every month

Contingency plans outline the steps management would take in response to specific environmental developments, such as price wars or strikes. Contingency planning is necessary because of inevitable and sometimes unpredictable environmental changes; marketers must be ready to update and adapt marketing plans at any time. Difficulties and risks:

Problems generating visibility. An entry to the high-end hard adventure market. Difficulty securing high quality staff and turnovers. A slump in the economy. Decrease in number of tourists Bandhs and strikes

Worst case risks may include:

Determining that the business cannot support itself on an ongoing basis. Having to liquidate assets to cover liabilities.

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Appendixes Photographs of Visits

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Approval Letter

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