Q You will have a broad array of venues and themes (music, conference, sporting, association, etc.) to choose from in a given location (city or region). This will be your choice how to best orient a tourism marketing program (and of course justify why you would position a marketing effort in that way). Your assignment for the major project is to design a very well researched and completed report and presentation outlining an innovative and thorough marketing program for that city or region for the year 2010. You should do thorough background research on tourism patterns, venue, culture, tourism offerings, economic environment, political environment, physical environment, travel industry role in the venue (meetings, group travel, accomodations, etc.). You may rely on existing marketing information but you MUST create a new marketing concept and program (this is VERY important that you do not merely re-use what is currently being used!) Elements to be sure to consider for the project and report include: Determine the viability of the area for tourism Consider the role of public relations, publicity, promotions and marketing techniques Devise objectives and goals for measuring success of tourism and tourism marketing for the area Evaluate the feasibility of your marketing program in relation to its market Focus on events and venues that are a core of your tourist area marketing Outline basic cost-benefit analysis and possible marketing budgeting Integrate all pertinent aspects of understanding a tourist base: multi-cultural and multilingual topics, emerging technologies, economic and financial conditions and trends, health and safety issues, transportation, managing scalable matters, information systems Present an executable complete marketing plan Demonstrate the effectiveness of the program by including appropriate design, implementation and interpretation of assessment processes, tools and methods This project is the capstone portion of the course. The entire course is directed toward each student integrating learning and experiences to achieve the best possible project outlining a tourism program (issues, features, marketing, operations) of a venue or location in an Asian setting. The project is intended to be comprehensive and detailed. A very important element of the course is the completion of a project that evaluates the tourism program of a particular location or venue in an Asian setting. Students will be allowed to select the location of their choice with no two students selecting the exact same or similar. The project is due the final week of the course and is worth 25% of the total grade. Additionally, midway through the course, students must submit an interim update outline with sources and outstanding questions and issues. This “interim check-in” will serve as the mid-term and is intended primarily as a way for the instructor to guide the student toward completion of the project in optimal fashion. There are guidelines for the major project and the interim update in addition to the information here in the syllabus. Lastly, all students will have the opportunity to view a Power Point presentation by each student as part of the project requirement. This presentation will also be submitted during the last week of class. Students must provide a peer critique of each student’s presentation based on clarity and content. Students completing a satisfactory critique of all other students’ presentations will receive 5% of their grade for this assignment. The project requires a 12-15 page paper, typed, double-spaced; additional pages may be used for any needed accompanying bibliographies and appendices; and a Power Point presentation of findings, conclusions and recommendations. The report itself should also include an executive summary, a report and any supporting or ancillary materials (all in Word electronic format). A list of works cited page is required; this should be properly documented according to an accepted style convention. The summary, report and works cited pages may be included with the 12-15 limit; any appendices should be in addition to that. Students will choose a country of their choice that fits within the descriptions on the list below. Typically. Students will focus on a specific idea for a city or region of that country, a venue, an event, or some combination of these. There are guidelines provided to help the student develop a successful project. No students may choose the same or very similar locations or venues or events. There is a very wide variety of themes and possibilities available and students are encouraged to discuss their preferences and interests with the instructor as soon as possible. Students will be asked to state their desired country choice within the first week of the course. Below are some of the types of venues, locations or events in Asian countries that a student may wish to focus on.