A Study of Stakeholder’s Perception Regarding Destination Branding Strategies of Maharashtra State, India

The paper aims to study the perceptions of tourism stakeholders of Maharashtra regarding effectiveness of branding and marketing strategies. It is the state which is receiving maximum number of foreign tourists in India. For this study, a survey of 178 tourism stakeholders was conducted. A structured questionnaire was used for rating the branding strategies of the destination. Data was analysed with the help of important performance analysis method and paired sample t-test was applied. Results of the study showed that, though the Maharashtra Tourism is successful in projecting a simple, appealing, believable and distinct image with help of ‗Unlimited Maharashtra‘ brand, there is need of innovative advertising tactics for effective branding of the Maharashtra Tourism to attract more international tourists

International Tourists\u27 Perceptions Towards Destination Brand Image: A Case Study of Socotra Island, Yemen

The influence of brand image on consumer behavior is widely recognized. It affects how tourists make pre-purchase decisions, making destinations with more substantial images more likely to be chosen. Additionally, the destination needs a strong brand image to maintain its position in the competitive business world. Product differentiation is crucial because Socotra Island, the research area, has a unique landscape, botanical, marine, and bird biodiversity, and cultural and heritage features and offers tremendously attractive destinations. Purposive random sampling was used to gather data from 410 international tourists at the sample locations for this study, which intends to examine how tourists perceive their expectations and experiences after visiting Socotra Island. Descriptive statistics and pair t-tests were used to analyze the data collected. The findings show that solid waste management, tourism infrastructure, and capacity building for tourism providers all need to be improved. The study has also suggested that tourism products, e.g., cultural heritage, Nature-based tourism, and Adventure sports, must be positioned and promoted aggressively

Tourist Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty: A Case study of the World Heritage Site of Ellora Caves

The willingness of Tourists to revisit a destination is strongly influenced by tourist satisfaction which plays a vital role in improving destination loyalty. The present research aims to study destination loyalty of the tourists based on their satisfaction at the world heritage site of Ellora caves in India.The sampling group of the study consisted of 60 tourists who visited Ellora Caves in July 2019. Pearson correlation analysis was applied for data analysis. The study concluded that there was a positive and strong affiliation between tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty. Constructive suggestions like adherence of strict rules & regulations and quality training programmes for service providers were given to improve tourist’s delight at Ellora Caves. The suggestions given are applicable for destination planners, and tourism authorities for future revisits

SWOT Analysis of Marketing Strategies Applied by MTDC for Promotion of Maharashtra Tourism

With the increasing role of the Internet in Marketing, Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) are focusing on the application of the Internet in destination promotion activities. The present study aims to evaluate the application of Tourism Internet Marketing Strategies by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), India. Data Triangulation Method was used for detailed understanding of the phenomenon. Further, the researchers have provided a SWOT Analysis of these strategies, which would be helpful for destination planners and marketers in improving destination competitiveness

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Strategies for Sustainable Eco-Tourism Development

Tourism growth is one of the greatest success stories in recent times and is expected to become the largest export industry in coming years. In recent years there has been increasing warming, the deterioration at some destinations, the overwhelming of some cultures, bottlenecks in transport facilities. This overriding concern for the industry must be to seek out ways to enhance rather than degrade its core product, the Environment upon which all of humanity must depend for survival. The paper examines the overall development of tourism and suggests strategies for sustainable tourism development

Mapping dream and favourite destinations’ perceptions: The Indian tourists’ brands spatial scales

Understanding the perceptions of tourists is a key element for predicting their behavior and providing them the tourist experiences that are part of their expectations. This study aims to assess destination preferences of Indian tourists, using a new methodological approach to investigate the brand equity of tourism destinations competing in the globalized world. Using the top-of-mind approach, respondents (N = 697 Indian citizens) were asked through an online questionnaire to inform their “dream destinations” (destination they did not visit yet but they desire to visit in the near future) and their “favorite destinations” (destination they have visited and liked the most). Results confirmed both study hypotheses: (1) “dream destinations” are mostly located far away from India; (2) “favorite destinations” are mostly domestic or located in the neighboring countries. Furthermore, the study shows that local (municipal) scale is more frequently used to categorize destinations related to the following motivations: ecotourism, cultural, rural, mountain, creative tourism, city tourism, and shopping tourism; but sun and sea is more frequently framed by regional scale; however, the country scale is more frequently used to designate dream destinations as well as wellness tourism destinations. Finally, the study delivers useful managerial insights, particularly for DMO aiming to attract repeat Indian tourists.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Cerium(III) with Liquid Anion Exchangers from Malonate Solutions

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Proficiency of Foreign Languages: A Study of the Approved Tourist Guides of Aurangabad Region

Human resources development for tourism industry is one of the most important issues for accelerating tourism growth. The need of human resource development is underlined by the fact that the tourism industry is a hospitality function and the qualify of service provided by the personnel engaged in the industry has direct bearing on the hospitality function. The service is provided from people to people and it directly reflects the attitude, knowledge and orientation of engaged personnel. Therefore, though the Aurangabad region has got two of the most unique and historically important World Heritage Sites of Ajanta and Ellora; the comparable visitation experience can only be achieved if the caliber of guides is in tune with the available tourism products