Assessment of ICT Practices for Their Management at A Typical Tourist Destination in India
ABSTRACT:
Rapid growth of internet practices and resulting web portals necessitated the author to find out inherent design patterns for developing easy navigation practices for effective management of ICT systems at a typical tourist destination. Alexa seven parameters index along with Australian five star judging criteria are selected for analyzing the design and developmental patterns of different websites and for evaluation of relative rankings of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). The data pertaining to traffic statistics, search analytics, clickstreams along with demographics are investigated by comparing with an analogous destination – St. Peter’s Basilica – for assessing their relative rankings. In addition, systematic studies have been carried out for finding out the nature and volume of internet subscribers, technologies involved and their rural and urban distribution along with foreign investments for examining their viability. The results of these studies revealed that internet practices in Tirumala are lagging far behind those of the Vatican in terms of percentage of users. Further the analysis of relative rankings of these destinations go on to show that young adults and males are the main driving force behind the visits to the Tirumala while the visitors to the Vatican are mostly senior citizens and women. Furthermore, the high traffic ranking of the website observed on the Vatican which is contrary to Tirumala is attributed to their functionality and content rather than the originality and inherent design. In the light of low literacy rates, high population figures and high quantum of mobile users irrespective of their literacy rates necessitated the author to study the suitable tool for advancing the internet by propagating through an appropriate media for their effective use. These findings suggest that mobile internet is an alternative conjunctive and cost effective technology to increase internet traffic for promoting a typical tourist destination along with the existing ICT practices.
Keywords: Destination, Demography, Traffic Stats , Functionality, Mobile Internet
INTRODUCTION
A destination is a geographical region from where someone is going to return to the original place and is an aglamation of tourism products, facilities and services [2]. When the word tour and the suffixes, –ist and –ism are combined, they suggest the act of leaving and then returning to the original starting point resulting in a round trip giving rise to the words ‘tourist’ and ‘tourism’. Tirumala is regarded as a typical tourist destination in India by virtue of its location, antiquity, history, assets and large-scale attraction. It is situated in the thickly wooded Eastern Ghats in the group of seven principle peaks each of which has a special significance and is an object of reverence. According to ancient Indian scriptures, Lord Vishnu himself descended on to the earth to reside on the holy hill Tirumala. Honours were rendered to the presiding deity by the rulers of ancient dynasties of southern India by embellishing the temple with offerings of silver and gold ornaments and contributions.
The consort of the presiding deity along with several other satellite temples of mythological significance are situated at the bottom of the hill side at the temple town Tirupathi: The twin temple complexes at Tirupathi and Tirumala along with their allied and associated institutions are administered and managed by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board. The Trust Board is exercising its benign role as a part of its objectives by funding Vedic and oriental education besides supporting several other institutions of emerging education including engineering and health sciences. In addition the Board also undertake various other social, economic and environmental services. The unique characteristics of the temple that qualifies with its significance are analyzed, codified and presented in the Table 1 along with those of the analogous religious destination at the Vatican City.