Relationship between Tour Operators and Tourists towards Development of Tourism in India - A Study on Mysore District, Karnataka

Tourism is one of the fast moving businesses in the world. Due to different reasons, people plan for tour for getting some different exposure in the environment. This study focus on how tour operators and tourists build relation for development of tourism industry. Tour operators and tour guides are major stakeholders during production and operation of organized package tours. However, the relationship between them received little attention in tourism literature. This study intends to identify the dimensions of the relationship between the two parties and importance attained to different guiding roles both by tour operators and guides. It also explores the attitude gaps between tour operators and guides on various guiding attributes. Numerous differences in perceptions were identified regarding importance attained to foreign language skills, group cohesion, holiday experience creation, entertainment, representation skills, contract compliance, image creation, itinerary compliance and identification with tour operators.