Effectiveness of digital marketing in attracting tourists in national parks of West Bengal : An empirical study
DOI
Access Status
This content is available to Open Access.
To download content simply use the links provided under the Files section.
More information about licence and terms of use for this content is available in the Rights section.
Type
Thesis
Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal Editor
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of North Bengal
Statistics
Total views and downloads
Views
23Downloads
18Citation
Saha, M. (2023). Effectiveness of digital marketing in attracting tourists in national parks of West Bengal : An empirical study [Doctoral thesis, University of North Bengal]. https://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/5338
Authors
Saha, Mukesh
Advisor
Bhattacharya, Debasis
Editor
Abstract
Tourist Satisfaction is one of the crucial aspects of any National park operator inviting
mass tourists to their destinations. This study explores the website dimensions of
National parks and tour operator websites and examines their effects on Tourists
Satisfaction. For this study, the data has been collected from tourists who visited the
National park through National park websites or tour operator websites. Convenience
sampling has been used to select the places, and a total of 445 responses (369 are from
tourists who visited through the National Park website and 76 are from tourists who
visited through the tour operator website) have been collected using the snowball
sampling method.
The study considers demographic parameters such as age, gender, academic
qualification, and income to analyse the demographic profile of the National park
visitors. The study found that young adults (age groups between 26 and 40) are more
inclined towards visiting National parks compared to other age groups. The study
findings revealed that males are very keen to visit National parks compared to their
female counterparts. Likewise, the study shows that National park visitors are well
educated and have knowledge of the Internet and online booking. The National Park
visitors fall under the upper middle-class income groups. Multiple regression analysis
has been employed to examine the effects of the Website Usefulness (WU), Tangibility
(TA), Website Friendliness (WF), and Reliability (REL). Design Quality (DQ)
Information Quality (IQ) on Tourists Satisfaction(TS).
The scale developed for the study has been adopted from previous literature and
modified as per the needs of the study. The scales developed have been tested for
reliability and validity, which are prerequisites for any scientific study. The reliability
has been studied by employing Cronbach's alpha, which is a widely accepted measure
for the reliability coefficient. This study reveals that the reliability values are quite
acceptable in the sense that they are higher than the threshold level. To test the content
and construct validity, a factor analysis is employed to examine the factor structure. The
KMO values suggest that the fit of the model is adequate, as revealed by the Chi-Square
value, which is significant beyond p<0.000. The constuct validity is established by the
fact that the dimensions emerged quite distinct and there is no overlap among the
various dimensions.
The study's findings from data collected from tourists visiting the National Park website
revealed that the Website Usefulness (WU). Tangibility (TA), Website Friendliness
(WF). Reliability (REL), Design Quality (DQ) affect Tourists' Satisfaction (TS). The
study has observed that the Website Usefulness (WU) of the National park website has
a more substantial influence on Tourists' Satisfaction (due to the highest beta coefficient
β = 0.377) followed by the other dimensions such as Tangibility (TA), Website
Friendliness (WF), Reliability (REL), and Design Quality (DQ), based on their
respective beta coefficients [(β=0.212, β=0.094, β=0.086, β=0.082)] on Tourist's
Satisfaction (TS). However, Information Quality (IQ) does not influence the tourists
satisfaction.
Whereas findings of data collected from tourists visiting tour operators websites
revealed that the Website Friendliness (WF), Website Usefulness (WU), Reliability
(REL) affects Tourists Satisfaction (TS). The study has observed that the Website
Friendliness (WF) has the greatest beta value (β = 0.334). compared to the other website
aspects. Thus, the study revealed that the Website Friendliness (WF) aspect of National
park websites has a more significant impact on Tourists Satisfaction (TS). The effects
of National park website aspects including Website Usefulness (WU) and Reliability
(REL) on Tourists Satisfaction are also found to be significant, with respective beta
coefficients of 0.329, and 0.204. However, Tangibility (TA), Design Quality (DQ), and
Information Quality (IQ) does not influence the Tourists Satisfaction.
The findings of this study will help National park operators and tour operators
understand the various dimensions of a National park website and tour operator's
website. Moreover, the study's results will allow them to strategically focus on the
relative importance of National park website and tour operator's website dimensions to
satisfy tourists. The website media content providers will be able to know the various
factors influencing tourists satisfaction, and they will develop their content so that it
influences tourists satisfaction. Also, the findings of the study will enable operators of
National parks and Tour operators to strategically concentrate on the relative
significance of website dimensions to please tourists. This study provides a model for
accessing tourists satisfaction based on the website dimensions of National parks and
tour operators. However, this study has some limitations. The study considers only the
West Bengal State National Park website and only seven website dimensions for the
National Park and tour operator. Therefore, the study can be extended by an upcoming
researcher by incorporating other National Park websites across the nation. In addition,
other website dimensions of National Parks and tour operators can be accommodated
to extend this research.
The study findings will help National park managers understand the impact of various
website dimensions on tourist satisfaction. In addition, this study provides useful
information to tour operators to make their tourists satisfied.
Key Words: Tourists Satisfaction (TS), Website Usefulness (WU), Tangibility
(TA), Website Friendliness (WF), Reliability (REL), Design Quality (DQ), and
Information Quality (IQ)
Description
xx, 279p.
Keywords
Digital marketing, National Park, Tourism, West Bengal
Citation
Accession No
311160
Call No
Th 381.1/S131e