Understanding the Tourism Market

The only feature in terms of its development that makes heritage unique is the conservation aspect that should be made integral to its development. Innovation plays a key role in shaping the product development in heritage.Modification is the prerequisite to make it consumer friendly. Its essential features have to be communicated to the users or consumers. Product life cycle has been the major concern of the marketers i the domain of the promotion process. Jammu’s heritage has to be recognized to be the innovative challenge for the marketers to devise heritage tourism product. Traditional products are governed by the growth, maturity and decline as the major steps that concern the marketers. What makes heritage different from other available products is its all time relevance provided the element sustainability is maintained in the market and that property is inherent in the cultural aspect of the heritage. Jammu’s cultural heritage needs the following features to be developed to be transformed into heritage. And these elements are present in it. The only difference lies in the fact that policy makers have overlooked them. The focus should be laid on the following areas while initiating the process of product development that includes to develop an authentic description of the asset about its historicity, outline the asset to make it visible, Make this process participatory and co creative,make this process participatory and co creative, experience should be made relevant to the visitor. Analyzing these factors above makes it amply clear that sustainable infrastructure facilities, geographical factors of Jammu will shape the viability of heritage assets as products of tourism. Control of experience is the underlying mantra of the product development in heritage tourism. Marketing strategies should be developed on the above basis to promote heritage tourism. American marketing Association while introducing the 21st century definition of marketing termed it as an organizational function that includes a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships that benefit both the organization and stakeholders.It must be said at the outset that marketing is anticipation, satisfaction and management of the demand through exchange process involving goods ,services, organizations, people, places and ideas. Thus what should set the marketers on job in Jammu is to work out the measures to develop demand for the heritage assets and this is not difficult when the cultural properties are already present in substantial amount besides the religious aspect of heritage that is pilgrimage is already being practiced on a vast scale. The need is to set the marketing goals towards the heritage by employing the stimulation required to capture this virgin market. Heritage tourism can use this paradigm to shape the strategies to evolve a product that has the touristic approach with market driven essence; eyes set on the goal of heritage tourism product. Its core philosophy is value based that blasts the myth that marketing is hype driven. In fact this philosophy stands true to the intrinsic values of the heritage. Integrated mechanism can be used to integrate the tourist, host and the asset in the conservation web so that violation of the intrinsic cultural is nipped the bud. Marketers have to be aware that while marketing the heritage product focus should be on integrated marketing and just on selling. It will commodify the product and lead to immense damage to the assets as heritage is not like others products that can be just based on supply and demand.In fact it has to be a two way track just like the complete communication model having staring and end point besides the proper mechanism for feedback; giving credence to input and output. Heritage tourism also needs the overall customer satisfaction but it has to be a case guided by the prior sensitization of the conservation issues.