What was the role of media in tourism promotion.

Tourism is an area where media plays a vital role in particularly all the activities related to it. It encourages the tourism in different ways. For example:

• People are attracted to a destination through the use of media.
• After locating a place of their interest people are helped by media in deciding which airlines to fly.
• They may decide to stay in a hotel whose service and rooms they had seen in a promotional documentary shown by a tour operator.
• They may read about the shopping centers etc. in a news paper supplement.

Different organizations used ‘Media’ to communicate messages that inform, attract attention, create interest, generate desire and persuade others that the communicator and his products are worthy of support and patronage.

Such communications through media are known as promotion, which is widely used by different hotels of  tourism departments of different destinations to attract tourists and in it media plays very important role and its idea is to communicate a message to a potential user of tourism services. AU these messages are referred to as ‘advertisements’.Various kinds of media are as follows:

 Print Media:

It comprises of daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, periodicals, magazines etc. These carry articles, news items advertisements related to tourism. For example, Athithi the monthly journal of Rajasthan Tourism Department provides information to tourists.

Broadcast Media:

It comprises of radio and television. They carry spots, sponsored programmes and commercials etc. These days various tourism related documentaries and services showing various tourist destinations etc. are shown on the television. Through them people may choose the destination of their choice and also get other related information’s such as accommodation and transport etc.

Display Media: It comprises of :

• Hoardings, which are painted and located at public places like busy streets or parks.
• Illuminated signs.
• Wall paintings and posters.
• Panels which are small, painted or printed and attached at various places and vehicles.

Thus the media plays a very important role in the development of tourism in India.