Public Relations and Tourism in Lebanon - Thesis Example

Background International tourism is one of the most important sectors in the world today as expenditure on tourist goods and services represent some8% of total world export receipts and 5% of world GDP (Lanza & Pigliaru, n.d.) while the Arab world attracts only 3% of international tourist arrivals and receipts (Hazbun, 2003). Most countries that specialize in the tourism sector have made good economic progress. The progress is largely dependent on how the destination has been marketed. Public relations play a vital role in constructing images of a location and the activities that the location offers (L’Etang, Falkheimer & Lugo, 2006). This has become important as tourism today has been categorized as adventure tourism, conference tourism, eco tourism, health tourism, spa tourism, event tourism, religious tourism or cultural tourism. Lebanon as a destination has much to offer to tourists. It has a diverse patchwork of Mediterranean-lapped coast, rugged alpine peaks, and green fertile valleys over an area of 225 km. long and 46km wide (Destinationlebanon, n.d.). The Lebanese coast has the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the Mount Lebanon Range to the east. Apart from these it offers multi-sport adventure and archaeological wonders but tourism has been adversely affected in the last decade for various reasons. Much of these has been attributed to the image that been created by the media. Hazbun (2003) contends that of late Lebanon has been proactive in promoting tourism. The author suggests that Beirut’s urban redevelopment efforts will not be able to attract the western tourists as Lebanon carries an external negative image, is gripped by fears of regional instability and attracts high prices. Lebanon can only count on its cultural and archeological heritage when the external image improves. At the same time, according to Tourism Highlights 2005, Lebanon has enjoyed a growth of 6% on tourist arrivals since 2003 (Hazbun, 2003). It has been suggested that the government of any country plays a vital role in projecting the right image of the destination by maintaining excellent public relations. Destination branding and public relations is a very scantily researched area. The possible reason could be that till recently tourism has mostly been considered a leisure activity. It thus becomes essential to study the relation between public relations and tourism. Literature review Literature from different authors and researchers demonstrate that tourist destination image is very important as it influences the decision making process. Tourist destination image is important because they not only influence the decision making process of the potential tourists but they also convey the satisfaction level of the tourists (Jenkins, 1999) and they influence people’s perception of place (Bramwell & Rawding, 1996). Tourist may have widely inaccurate images of a destination and this is where the role of public relations becomes important. The right image has to be created and target to the right customers through the right channels which can be decoded and fetch the right responses, suggests Jenkins. All the countries are competing in the international market place to attract tourists. Thus the importance of promotion is highlighted. Dore and Crouch (2002) contend that promotion of a destination can be undertaken in a number of ways of which promotion is one such method. Publicity is a tool by which public relations objectives are carried out. While the other aspects of marketing mix like advertising, direct selling and sales promotion can be found, their research revealed that publicity and public relations has often been ignored in the case of destination marketing. L’Etang et al (2006) contend that tourism has not received much attention from PR researchers. Through their research they have brought out a global and multi-cultural perspective on tourism and public relations. The growing social, political and environmental impact of tourism on national, global and local arenas raises the issue of community relations and social responsibility. Tourism is a vulnerable industry and very easily affected by global events and incidents. The industry thus needs a PR practice to engage with such issues and relationships between tourists and hosts. Dore and Crouch (2002) conducted a research to gather the extent of efforts undertaken by the national tourism organizations (NTO) to generate publicity to stimulate tourist demand. The study across continents and covering ten NTOs found that on an average 17% of the budget allocation for promotional activities was spent on publicity. They found that promotion involves considerable costs and the travel agents, the journalists and even the food writers have to be engaged. Much of positive image building comes through write-ups given by the journalists and the food writers and at times they fetch a better response than the paid advertisements. Nevertheless, the publicity programs run third behind direct selling and advertising as far as expenditure is concerned. Fall (2004) concentrates on public relations in travel and tourism and found that communication strategies have to be altered in the face of crisis like the September 11 attacks. The theoretical framework was based on the situational theory and she studied how the messages had been restructured. Since a crisis threatens to harm the organization and the stakeholders, most public relations practitioners view crisis as an opportunity, she contends. This study was conducted among the convention and visitors’ bureau (CVB) managers from all over the USA. It revealed that public relations continue to serve as key strategic crisis communication function. Organizations have retooled their promotional campaigns after 9/11. Kirat (2005) focuses on the public relations practices in the Arab world. This study found that the practice has encountered problems like lack of professionals, confusions in tasks and prerogatives and lack of transparency in operations in the Arab world. Nevertheless, the author suggests that in the field of tourism effective PR can be found. Kirat contends that public relations require an atmosphere of freedom and democracy. According to the author the concept and practices of PR would differ across nations and cultures. The author discusses the challenges and the prospects faced by the Middle East countries in the field of PR. Hazbun (2003) found that tourism in the Arab world has been severely affected due to political instability. The perceptions of the region are negative and the countries have failed to exploit the full potential of tourism for sustainable economic development. The author described the extent to which tourism can boost the economy of these countries and details the tremendous potential that this region has in the field of tourism. Hypothesis for the study The Arab world has experienced challenges both in the field of tourism and public relations. Lebanon has seen growth in the last few years. Based on this, the following hypotheses will be tested in the study: H1: The Lebanese government has employed public relations tactics in the last decade to promote tourism in the country more than it has done before. H2: The public relations activities employed by the Lebanese government have yielded benefits despite the negative image the region carries. Research Questions 1. To what extent has the Lebanese government employed public relations tactics to improve the image of Lebanon? 2. To what extent has media been responsible for damaging or re-imaging Lebanon as a destination? 3. What is the proportion of promotional expenditure that the government allocates for public relations activities in promoting tourism? Primary and secondary research Secondary research would be collected through literature review as it helps to synthesize what has been done and what needs to be done. It forms the basis of the study to be conducted. While literature is available on public relations and its connection to tourism in general, no data concerning public relations and tourism in Lebanon is available. Primary research would be conducted through surveys and interviews. Survey questionnaires would be sent out to domestic and international airlines operating through Lebanon, to travel agents and journalists. Survey questionnaires would be sent out through emails as it is an inexpensive mode of data collection. Interviews would be conducted of select hotel authorities to determine the length of stay and increase/decrease in tourist arrivals at different times. Two public relations department authorities in the Lebanese Tourism would be interviewed to understand how the government has been operating and intends to operate in the future. Prior to interviews emails would be sent out seeking appointments. Data would also be collected from the government departments regarding the tourist arrivals in the past ten years. Data would also be collected on the expenditure by the government and the other tourist organizations and travel agents. Chapter Plan The study would be divided into six chapters. 1. The Introduction would carry the background of public relations and tourism in general and then lead to Lebanon in particular. 2. Literature Review will discuss the different aspects that have been considered by different researchers. Definitions of public relations, destination image, and relevant words would be highlighted. Based on the literature review the framework for the study would be formed. 3. Methodology chapter would highlight the research methodology to be adopted. 4. Data collection chapter would collect the data through surveys/interviews. 5. Findings and Discussion 6. Conclusion and recommendation References: Bramwell, B. & Rawding, L. (1996). TOURISM MARKETING IMAGES OF INDUSTRIAL CITIES. Anna1.r of Tourism Research, Vol. 23, No. I, pp. 201-221, 1996 Dore, L. & Crouch, G. I. (2003). Promoting destinations: An exploratory study of publicity programmes used by national tourism organization. Journal of Vacation Marketing 2003; 9; 137 Fall, L. T. (2004). The increasing role of public relations as a crisis management function: An empirical examination of communication restrategising efforts among destination organisation managers in the wake of 11th September, 2001. Journal of Vacation Marketing 2004; 10; 238 Hazbun, W. (2003). A New Agenda for Tourism Development in the Arab World. Availabe from: http://hazbun.mwoodward.com/NewAgenda.pdf [accessed 02 June 2008] Kirat, M. (2005). Public relations practice in the Arab World: A critical assessment. Public Relations Review 31 (2005) 323–332 Jenkins, O. H. (1999). Understanding and Measuring Tourist Destination Images. Int. J. Tourism Res. 1, 1-15 (1999) Lanza, A. & Pigliaru, F. (n.d.). On the fast economic growth of small countries specialised in tourism. Available from: http://www.feem.it/NR/rdonlyres/C2687016-C30E-409D-AD93-5EE3A91528D8/317/7398.pdf [Accessed 01 June 2008] L’Etang, J. Falkheimer, J. & Lugo, J. (2006). Public relations and tourism: Critical reflections and a research agenda. Public Relations Review 33 (2007) 68–76 Website of Lebanon Tourism: http://www.destinationlebanon.gov.lb/eng/LebanonProfile.asp Read More