Marketing solutions to develop tourism in Ben Tre province by 2020 - 2

Appendix 7: List of expert surveys

Appendix 8: List of international tourist surveys

Appendix 9: Survey list of companies operating in the tourism sector

Appendix 10: Comparison table of Ben Tre tourism with other tourist destinations

INTRODUCTION

1. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC

Ben Tre is a delta province located at the end of the Mekong River, bordering the East Sea. Ben Tre has 65 km of coastline and is divided into 3 large islands by 4 large rivers: Tien Giang, Ba Lai, Ham Luong, and Co Chien. In addition to the large rivers, there are many crisscrossing canals, convenient for developing waterway traffic between regions and areas inside and outside the province. With flat terrain, scattered sand dunes interspersed with fields, delicious fruit gardens, and vast green coconut gardens.

The province has many unique cultural and historical relics known throughout the country such as Ben Tre Museum, patriotic intellectuals such as Nguyen Thi Dinh, Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Vo Truong Toan, Phan Thanh Gian,... famous places such as the guerrilla village of Dinh Thuy commune which went down in history with the first Dong Khoi movement in 1960 with the famous long-haired army "Heroic, indomitable, loyal, and courageous", the Vam Khau Bang relic site is the place to receive weapons supplied from the North to the South along the Ho Chi Minh trail at sea,... Typical revolutionary relics of Ben Tre include historical relics that have been recognized as national historical relics.

Ben Tre has quite large tourism resources, so how to develop Ben Tre tourism faster and stronger, how to attract tourists to visit and stay in Ben Tre longer, enhance the position of Ben Tre tourism, ... is an important and urgent issue that needs to be raised and solved. Based on the above reality, the author has chosen the research topic: "Marketing solutions to develop tourism in Ben Tre province until 2020" for his thesis.

2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The topic aims to study the application of marketing in tourism to propose marketing solutions to develop tourism in Ben Tre province by 2020. Specifically as follows:

- Theoretical basis of local tourism marketing.

- Analyze and evaluate the current status of tourism marketing activities in Ben Tre province.

2020

- Proposing marketing solutions to develop tourism in Ben Tre province until 2020.

3. SCOPE OF RESEARCH

- Analyze and evaluate the current status of tourism marketing in Ben Tre province and propose solutions.

Marketing solutions to develop tourism in Ben Tre province until 2020.

- The thesis studies the factors (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, challenges) for the tourism industry of Ben Tre province based on statistics of the tourism industry in the period 2008-2012.

4. RESEARCH METHODS

Using qualitative and quantitative analysis methods, combined with statistical, comparative, analytical, and synthetic methods... to clarify the research problem.

Data collection and processing method: secondary data is collected from annual reports, statistical agencies, magazines, etc., combined with questionnaire interviews to ask for opinions from experts, business units in the tourism sector, tourists traveling to Ben Tre to evaluate and analyze the advantages and limitations of tourism marketing activities in Ben Tre. From there, propose solutions to promote the advantages and overcome the limitations.

Quantitative research with a convenience sample of tourists who visited Ben Tre to collect information and draw out the necessary findings for proposing solutions for the topic.

- For domestic tourists, the author distributed 160 direct questionnaires, received some answers with many blanks so they were eliminated and used 140 survey forms, the survey success rate was 87.50%.

- For international tourists, the author distributed 120 direct questionnaires, collected and eliminated those with many blank answers, leaving 100 survey forms, the survey success rate was 83.33%.

Surveyed 13 more business units in the tourism sector, and surveyed 15 experts at the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ben Tre province.

Data collected in the study were processed using SPSS 16.0 software to analyze basic statistical factors.

5. STRUCTURE OF THESIS

In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the thesis consists of 3 chapters.

Chapter 1: Theoretical basis of local tourism marketing.

Chapter 2: Current status of tourism marketing activities in Ben Tre province Chapter 3: Marketing solutions to develop tourism in Ben Tre province to

2020.

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BASIS OF LOCAL TOURISM MARKETING

1.1 Concepts related to tourism

1.1.1 Concept of tourism

Due to different circumstances (time, area) and research perspectives, the concept of tourism is also different. For example:

- According to the International Association of Official Tourism Organizations IOOTO (1950), tourism is a regular or irregular activity of an individual or a group temporarily leaving the country of residence by peaceful means to another region or country for the purpose of visiting, entertaining, learning, resting,... and will return after a planned period of time.

- According to Clause 1, Article 4 of the Law on Tourism No. 44/2005/QH11 dated June 14, 2005 of the National Assembly: "Tourism is activities related to human trips outside their regular place of residence to meet the needs of sightseeing, learning, entertainment, and relaxation within a certain period of time."

1.1.2 Concept of tourism products

A tourism product is a whole consisting of heterogeneous tangible or intangible components. It can be a specific item, such as food, or a non-specific item such as service quality, atmosphere at the resort. (Michael

M. Coltman, 1991).

According to Clause 10, Article 4 of the Tourism Law No. 44/2005/QH11 dated June 14, 2005 of the National Assembly: "Tourism products are a set of necessary services to satisfy the needs of tourists during a trip."

Tran Ngoc Nam and Tran Huy Khang (2008, page 12) stated that: “Tourism products are a synthesis of many different components, including tangible and intangible objects. Most tourism products are services and experiences.”

Tourism products are based on the needs of tourists. Due to the diverse needs of tourists, tourism products are also very rich. It is a complex whole consisting of many heterogeneous components. That is the resource

natural resources, human resources, technical facilities, tourism service infrastructure and tourism staff. Tourism products include both tangible and intangible products.

The most common thing that tourism products bring to tourists is satisfaction. But it is not the satisfaction like when we buy a material product, but here the satisfaction is due to experiencing an interesting time, existing in the memory of tourists when the trip ends.

1.1.3 Concept of tourism market

The tourism market is the sum of economic behaviors and relations in the process of exchanging tourism products to satisfy the needs and desires of tourists. To exploit the tourism market, it is necessary to start from reality, conduct it in a planned and strategic manner. In which, investigating and predicting supply and demand is an important premise.

1.1.3.1 Demand-driven tourism market

The demand-side tourism market is a complete market, reflecting the needs of customers for a range of tourism-related products. There are three types of tourists that most countries are interested in. They are international tourists traveling within the country (inbound tourism), domestic residents traveling abroad (outbound tourism), and domestic tourists (domestics tourism).

Ho Duc Hung (2005) believes that tourism demand is a system of factors that affect the formation of tourists' trips throughout their journey and stay. Those factors include:

Leisure time: people only travel when they have leisure time. With the increase in labor productivity and vacation regime, workers' leisure time is extended and the number of vacations per year increases. During that time, people often have the need to find a place to rest, go to new lands, have fun, etc.

Income: people with money travel. Travelers must have money to spend on their trips, so people with high incomes travel more than others.

Occupation: closely related to education, income and lifestyle. Based on the level of education and income is an important issue forming the demand for tourism. Occupational characteristics affect the travel of employees in the industry.

Educational level: people who travel are more or less enlightened and knowledgeable about the world. Therefore, when people have access to advanced education, their passion and desire to expand their knowledge will increase and the need to travel will arise.

Trend: Traveling has become a trend these days. Going to many places, to many new lands, and exploring the world is very attractive to everyone in a developed society.

In addition, there are many other factors that more or less influence the formation of tourist trips. Sometimes tourists also come from many different causes, so the demand for tourism can be formed based on synthetic motives. Researchers must find and forecast new trends in forming tours to have comprehensive development programs.

1.1.3.2 Supply-side tourism market

The supply-side tourism market is a tourism industry with many sub-markets and many products designed and provided by many types of organizations. This market is classified as follows:

- Accommodation organizations : resorts; hotels, motels, guesthouses; apartments, villas, condominiums, garden houses; resorts,...

- Tourist attractions : amusement parks; museums, art galleries; wildlife parks; historical and cultural relics; sports and commercial centers.

- Transport organizations : airlines; shipping lines; railways; bus and coach companies; car rental companies.

- Travel organizations: tour operators; wholesalers, tour brokers; direct travel agents; conference organizers; incentive tour organizers.