A

PROJECT REPORT ON
STUDY OF PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS FOR MEMBERSHIPS OF MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS
AND RESORTS INDIA LIMITED
AT
MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS AND RESORTS INDIA LIMITED (MHRIL)
BY
ADWAIT ARVIND PARKHI
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF
PROF. JAIRAJ SASANE
SUBMITTED TO
SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE
DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)
THROUGH
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
S.T.E.S, SMT. KASHIBAI NAVALE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE.
(2013-15)

DECLARATION
I,ADWAIT ARVIND PARKHI, student-pursuing Masters in Business Administration
(MBA) from SINHGAD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUNE, declare that the Project Report entitled
STUDY OF PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS FOR MEMBERSHIPS OF MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS
AND RESORTS INDIA LIMITED, at MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS AND RESORTS LIMITED
(MHRIL) is written and submitted by me under the guidance of PROF.JAIRAJ SASANE.
I hereby declare that all the information of this report is based on my own observation and the
information provided by the company at the time of my project at MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS AND
RESORTS INDIA LIMITED, from 19th MAY to 20th JULY.

ADWAIT PARKHI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to record my gratitude to MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS & RESORTS (I) LTD. for
providing me an opportunity to undertake internship in their organization. The concepts learnt as a
part of this project are of immense help to understand business concepts in commensurate with
academic learning.

I take this opportunity to record a deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Shashank vishnoi (Venue
Manager), whose kind supervision; keen interest and valuable suggestions went all the way in
successful completion of this work. With immense pleasure I would like to express my sincere
thanks and gratitude for giving me this rare privilege of working with him and completing this study.

I also extend my special thanks to Prof. Jairaj Sasane, for his guidance and co-operation at different
stages in the accomplishment of the project.

I would also like to thank all my colleagues for giving me their precious time and relevant
information and experience I require, without which this project would have been a different story.
Last but not the least I am very much thankful to the support of my friends and family members.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

03

2. INTRODUCTION

05

2.1 CONCEPT OF TIME SHARE

06

2.2 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

2.3 MAJOR GLOBAL PLAYERS

07
08

2.4 GLOBAL INDUSTRY SCENARIO

2.5 MAJOR PLAYERS IN INDIA

10
15

2.6 INDIAN INDUSTRY SCENARIO

2.7 COMPANY PROFILE
2.8 PRODUCT INFORMATION

16
18
21

3. PROJECT PROFILE
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

40
43

4.1 PHASES OF RESEARCH PROCESS

44

5. RELEVANT STATISTICS AND DIAGRAMS

46

5.1. MARKETING & SALES OVERVIEW

5.2. SURVEY STATISTICS

47

5.3. MARITAL STATUS OF SURVEYED POPULATION

48

5.4. GENDER BASED CLASSIFICATION OF TARGET GROUP

48

5.5. PERCENTAGE OF TARGET GROUP IDENTIFIED IN SHOPPING MALLS

48
5.6. PERCENTAGE OF TARGET GROUP IDENTIFIED IN WATCH SHOWROOMS
49
5.7. PERCENTAGE OF TARGET GROUP IDENTIFIED IN CAR SHOWROOMS
50
6. DATA ANALYSIS

51

7. CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORGANNIZATION

59

8. LEARNING

62

9. REFERNCES

64

10. ANNEXURE

66
LIST OF TABLES

TABLE
NO.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

TITLE
Global Distribution of Timeshare Resort
Payment Schemes
Resort Location
Membership Types
Season Classification
RCI Resorts Across World
Survey Statistics
Maritial Status
Gender Based Percentage of Target Group Identified
Percentage of Target Group Identified in Shopping Malls
Percentage of Target Group Identified in Home Appliances Showrooms
Percentage of Target Group Identified in Watch Showrooms
Survey Population Statistics
Occupational Segmentation of Target Group
Income Group Segmentation of Target Group
Percentage of Income Group Classified
Segmentation Based on Cars Used
Percentage of Target Group Based on Cars Used
Holiday Frequency of Target Group
Preferred Holiday Destination of Target Group
Preferred International Destination of Target Group
Lesiure Activities of Target Group
Age Bracket of Target Group
Gender Based Ratio of Target Group
Percentage of Target Group Based on Annual Family Income
Occuational Segmentation of Target Group
Potential Shopping Destination of Target Group
Suggested Data Generation Process
LIST OF FIGURES

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The idea of shared ownership in a vacation property was introduced in Europe during 1960s; today
it is a global multi-billion-dollar phenomenon with presence in over hundred countries. Although
timesharing has been around for about forty years, the industry still holds incredible potential for
developers and investors, from the more mature markets such as North America, to those like Europe
and Asia Pacific where there is a strong and growing base. A timeshare is a form of ownership or
right to the use of a property. These properties are typically resort condominium units, in which
multiple parties hold rights to use the property, and each sharer is allotted a period of time in which
they may use the property. The units will be on a part-ownership or right to use basis, in which the
sharer holds no claim to ownership of the property.
Mahindra Holidays and resorts India limited (MHRIL) is a pioneer in India adopting the concept
of time share based vacation ownership. The main objective of this project is to identify the
concentration of target group for Club Mahindra in Pune and to have detailed information about
occupation, holiday destinations and demographic features. The purpose of study is to focus and
refine the data generation activities carried out by the marketing department of Club Mahindra.
The delineated target group criteria laid out by MHRIL was the outline to decide on the mode of
study. The project was carried to find out the prospects for CLUB MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS. After
identifying the prospective places to carry out the study, the questionnaire were filled by the
prospects so as to get information about them. The concluding part of the study undertaken,
constituted the analysis and segregation of the data and information collected to undergo the the
STUDY OF PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS.
The first stage of the study involved identifying potential destinations to carry out the project.
Interaction with the management and employees revealed information related to the category of
customers visiting various business outlets. A questionnaire was employed for this purpose. Based on
the target group criteria, potential locations where the target group is expected to visit were keyed
out. The second stage of study involved direct interaction with the potential target group within and
outside various business centers identified. Questionnaires were designed to meet the
multifariousness of customers visiting different shopping centers and general characteristics of the
business that they are involved in. The abstract part of study constituted this two stage process of
data collection which continued for forty days.
The segregation of collected data followed by deducting results and inferences to achieve the project
requisites constituted the final stage of the study. The data collected was used to have detailed
information occupation, holiday destinations, leisure time activities and demographic features of the
target group for Club Mahindra. Based on the information revealed, on analysis the data generations
activities can be carried out were identified. Random Sampling technique was used to choose the

samples required to do the analysis. The analysis was done based on the questionnaires that were
chosen and observations were made.
Suggestions and the major findings of the study were in relation to certain change in demographic
features identified during the study. The recommendation were related to preferred next holiday
destination, Holidaying Frequency, Improving communication platform, Tie ups with Corporate
firms, Potential shopping destination in different category of Business outlets

Objective of the study:Primary:

Find out the prospects for CLUB MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS.

Analyze the present information to undergo IMPACT study of prospects.

Analyze the findings and suggest recommendation.

Secondary

Create awareness among people about CLUB MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS.

Get the questionnaire filled by the prospects as to get information about them.

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION
2.1

CONCEPT OF TIMESHARE
A Timeshare offers people the opportunity to purchase time at fully furnished vacation
accommodations for a fraction of the cost of full vacation home ownership. The owners of timeshare
will have great flexibility in their vacation property. For a one-time purchase price and an annual
maintenance fee, timeshare purchasers can own their vacations forever, or for a predetermined
number of years, depending upon the purchase agreement. Therefore, they can choose to either use
this vacation time or rent it out to someone else for use. Resort condominium is the most common
type of timeshare concept in practice. Timeshare owners and renters experience luxurious resort
accommodations that are rarely found in conventional hotel/motel rooms, but for a fraction of the
cost. This is why timesharing is the fastest-growing segment of the global travel and tourism
industry in the world today. In brief Holiday timesharing refer to a holiday offered at a specific place
for a specific period in a particular apartment/cottage for a definite number of years on payment of
the requisite amount along with an annual subscription fee towards maintenance of the resort. With
vacation ownership, consumers have the opportunity to purchase condominium-style
accommodations at quality resorts offering an array of amenities in popular domestic and
international destinations.
Advantages of Timeshare

Economic method of holidaying.

Customer can enjoy an ownership interest in favorite vacation destination.
Offer a great way to spend quality time with family and friends.
Can lock in tomorrow's vacations in today's prices.
Flexibility - exchange or rent.
Variety of destinations to choose from.
Offer more amenities than most hotels.
Annual maintenance cost is shared by all owners and supervised by the managing company,
freeing customer from all related hassles and inconveniences.
Can pass on to heirs.

Hesitations towards buying Timeshare

Concept is new and unfamiliar

Frequency of usage
Cost factor
Annual subscription fee

2.2

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
The global timeshare industry of multi-billion dollar worth with a history of over forty years still
holds incredible potential for developers and investors. The potential lies in the more mature markets
such as North America, to those like Europe and Asia Pacific where there is a strong and growing
base. The Middle East, on the other hand, represents a virtually untapped potential of this industry.
With the entry of global hotel chains in Asia and Europe, market awareness about timeshares would
increase. India and China are expected to be potential targets of vacation ownership developers in the
long-term. The business model of the timeshare industry is quite unique with sales & marketing
expenditure being the largest component of the expenses. Therefore, it is very important for the
developer to efficiently manage sales and marketing expenses.
Worldwide over six thousand resorts operate on time share concept with the highest percentage in
North America. The resorts in Asia contribute to fourteen percentage of global share led by Japan but
with India and Thailand increasingly prominent. The global distribution of time share resorts is
depicted in table 2.1 given below.

Table 1
GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF TIME SHARE
RESORTS1
REGION
PERCENTAGE
NORTH AMERICA

31%

EUROPE

25%

LATIN AMERICA

16%

ASIA

14%

OTHERS

14%

1 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_share

2.3

MAJOR GLOBAL PLAYERS

The vacation ownership industry is dominated by large, established vacation ownership operators
such as
1)
2)
3)
4)

Hilton Grand Vacation Company

Marriott Ownership Resorts
Starwood Vacation Ownership and
Wyndham Vacation Ownership

Wyndham Vacation Ownership

Wyndham Vacation Ownership2, a member of Wyndham Worldwide family of companies, is the
worlds largest vacation ownership business, as measured by the number of vacation ownership
resorts, individual vacation ownership units and owners of vacation ownership interests. Wyndham
Vacation Ownership develop, market and sell vacation ownership interests and provides consumer
financing to owners through its three primary consumer brands, Wyndham Vacation Resorts, WorldMark by Wyndham, and Wyndham Vacation Resorts Asia Pacific. As of January 1, 2009, Wyndham
Vacation Ownership had developed or acquired approximately 150 vacation ownership resorts
throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and the South Pacific that represent
approximately 20,000 individual vacation ownership units and more than 830,000 owners of
vacation ownership interests. Wyndham Vacation Ownership is headquartered in Orlando, Fla., and
is supported by approximately 13,800 employees globally.
Hilton Grand Vacations Company
Hilton Grand Vacations Company LLC3 is a division of Hilton Worldwide, recognized as the leading
global hospitality company. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, Hilton Grand Vacations develops
markets and operates a system of brand name, high-quality vacation ownership resorts in select
vacation destinations. The company also manages and operates two innovative club membership
programs: Hilton Grand Vacations Club and The Hilton Club, providing exclusive exchange, leisure
travel, and reservation services for more than 150,000 Club Members. Hilton Grand Vacations
provides comprehensive on-site management services to all Club resorts, including the operation of
owner rental programs, resort recreational programs and retail outlets. Additionally the company
operates one of the industry's most successful resale programs for its managed resort properties.
Hilton Grand Vacations Club is an innovative point-based reservations and exchange system,
affording Members extraordinary flexibility and leisure-travel opportunities. Club Member privileges
include: exchanges throughout the Club system of resorts; enrollment in Resort Condominiums
2 Source: http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/about/
3 Source : http://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/about-hilton-grand-vacations-club.php

International (RCI) and membership in the award-winning Hilton Honors guest reward program with
access to more than 3,300 participating hotels worldwide. The Club has also created travel
partnerships with distinctive leaders in the travel industry, providing Members with a unique
selection of affiliated resort options. Affiliation agreements have been established with Club
Intrawest, Fiesta Americana Hotels, Grand Pacific and the Hilton Resorts of Scotland.
Marriott Ownership Resorts
The name Marriott4 has stood for quality, service and an uncompromising commitment to excellence
since 1927. Marriott Vacation Club is considered one of the finest in vacation ownership. It provides
nearly four lakh owner families with a lifetime of memorable vacations. Marriott Vacation Club offer
access to more than fifty resorts in some of the most desirable beach, golf and ski destinations
worldwide. It provides members with limitless vacationing options and flexibility. Owners get
priority exchange within the Marriott vacation club network or trade their week for Marriott rewards
points which are redeemable toward many exciting vacation and travel options. In addition, through
membership in Interval International it provides access to more than 2,400 resorts in 75 countries
around the world.
Starwood Vacation Ownership
Starwoods5 is one of the worlds largest hotel and leisure companies which conduct hotel and leisure
business both directly and through subsidiaries. The different brands under Starwood include
St.Regis, The luxury collection, W Hotels, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, Four points, Aloft and
Element. The hotel portfolio of Starwoods includes owned, leased, managed and franchised hotels
totaling to 979 with approximately 2,92,000 rooms in approximately 100 countries. Starwoods have
22 owned vacation ownership resorts and residential properties including 13 stand alone, 8 mixed
use and one unconsolidated joint venture resorts. It employs approximately 1,45,000 people in its
corporate office, owned and managed hotels and vacation ownership resorts

4 Source: http://www.marriottvacationclub.com/aboutus/index.html
5 Source : http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/starwood_vacation_ownership_resorts.jsp

10

2.4

GLOBAL INDUSTRY SCENARIO

Opportunities and Challenges

AFRICA

The Opportunities
The South African vacation ownership market continues to show positive growth in excess of 15% 6
annually despite high market penetration and industry consolidation. Points clubs continue to
dominate sales and are a key to the industrys future with the continued flexibility of the products
being offered. The timeshare market in South Africa today is in excess of US$150 million, with over
230 dedicated timeshare resorts. There are 260,000 families/investors owning around 400,000
weeks/intervals7. Africa has outpaced most other regions, with almost twice the rate of global
growth. The past five years have seen the core exchange product evolve into a suite of innovative
products that are helping to stimulate and rejuvenate interest in the vacation ownership industry,
amongst developers and consumers. The rapid growth of black households entering the middle to
upper income bands has also opened up a virtually untapped new consumer base of people who are
eager to travel. There is huge growth potential and significant development opportunities in the
emerging African market including Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria,
Angola and Zambia. The support of South African conglomerates, including resort and hotel
developers that are investing in the continent, bode well for this new market.
The Challenges
South Africa is facing a very challenging period rising interest rates, the energy crisis and power
cuts due to economic growth outstripping power supply. Many timeshare owners are now realizing
the value of their purchase as the product remains good value relative to other accommodation forms,
and they are still able to enjoy a vacation.

ASIA PACIFIC

The Opportunities
Many markets in the Asia Pacific area offer vast opportunities for vacation ownership as strong
economic growth and rising living standards are sparking an investment boom in Asias leisure travel
industry. In China, in particular, investment in the tourism industry is growing at more than 12
6 Based on annual survey by RCI and verified by Deloitte.
7 As per TISA (Time share institute of South Africa)

11

percent annually and is estimated by the China National Tourism Administration to reach US$230
billion by 20108. Vacation ownership is expected to grow in tandem with the tourism boom currently
underway in Asia. Leisure travel domestic as well as inbound and outbound has been
phenomenal. Growing at a strong Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of more than 7 percent 9 a
year since 2000, Asia aggressively promotes international tourism and in 2007 attracted 174 million
visitors, an increase of over 10 percent vs. 2006. The highest number of tourist arrivals was in China,
followed by Hong Kong and Macau. The status of timeshare within Asia varies from country to
country and is currently at different stages of development, from nascent markets to highly mature
ones. While Australia is a mature market with a few dominant players, timeshare in many countries
is still at a fledgling stage. Although timeshare is still in its infancy in China, the country is emerging
as the future market for the medium to long-term timeframe. The growth of the travel market in
China and India, particularly within the domestic market, is significant and will provide considerable
opportunity for future timeshare development. Emerging markets, such as Vietnam, also show great
potential for timeshare development. Major players believes in the rising affluence in Asia and the
shift in consumer aspirations toward high-end lifestyle products will pave the way for more luxury
leisure real estate models such as fractional and private residence clubs. Moreover, the points-based
product offers greater flexibility over the traditional weeks product and should find favor with the
burgeoning middle class that is becoming more discerning and more demanding of flexible and
innovative travel solutions.
The Challenges
While market opportunities abound in Asia Pacific, there are challenges. A negative image of the
timeshare industry persists, created largely by fly-by-night operators and the bulldozing tactics of
unethical marketers. This is further complicated by false promises from unscrupulous timeshare
resale companies. The inability to resell, or selling at abysmally low prices, leaves owners further
disillusioned. Another stumbling block is the lack of government understanding and acceptance of
the product in some countries, coupled with a lack of regulation. Overall, the growth potential of the
leisure real estate industry in Asia is positive and has attracted the entry and expansion of several
international hospitality companies.

EUROPE

The Opportunities
The timeshare industry in Europe has been established for more than 40 years. During that time, it
has evolved into a diversified and varied business with resorts in approximately 25 countries. The
products currently being offered vary greatly in terms of scale, design, length of ownership and legal
8 http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/gyzg/t263948.htm
9 World tourism organization Report

12

structure. During the first 15 to 20 years of the industrys evolution, the traditional fixed or floating
week offering was the industry standard. The number of traditional timeshare resorts under
construction has slowed from the peak period of the late 80s and 90s and has been replaced by highquality developments offering experiential holidays, primarily in highly established areas, such as the
United Kingdom, the Mediterranean, and Canary Islands, plus the Balkan States, Scandinavia and
Cyprus. During the past 10 years, the timeshare products flexibility has increased significantly with
the introduction of multi-destination points clubs, biannual ownerships and trial memberships.
Fractional ownership is just now beginning to flourish. Coupled with exchange and rental-product
offerings to second-homeowners and further development of short-term trial memberships, these
newer forms of timeshare continue to generate considerable interest. The most significant
development opportunities lie in the emerging Central Europe.
The Challenges
Overcoming a negative perception of the industry in Europe has been a continuing challenge. Group
RCI and the European industrys major players have worked tirelessly with governments to help
create a legislative environment that is balanced and conducive to growth in product integrity and
buyer confidence, and one that fosters commercial growth for those participating. Implemented in
1997, the European Timeshare Directive applies to the 25 member states of the European Union and
is a highly consumer protective piece of legislation that provides buyers a 14-day cooling-off period
and ensures that no deposit monies are taken during that time. Currently, the European Commission
is reviewing the directive and proposed amendments that will incorporate other new consumerprotection instruments. Other challenges facing timeshare companies in the European market are
lead generation, consumer financing, the recruitment of sales and marketing professionals, and the
resale environment. Some regions have had to overcome hurdles in gaining planning approval for
resort development.

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

The Opportunities
The timeshare industry in Latin America shows signs of healthy and steady growth, with a majority
of regional and international hotel companies and large real estate developers having entered the
industry in recent years. Product quality and variety continue to improve each year, with luxury
products growing at the fastest rate throughout the region. This includes luxury all-inclusive
products, fractional, private residence clubs and whole ownership offerings. Mexico and the
Caribbean are among the fastest-growing regions, where average annual sales have grown at 15
percent since 2001. The number of timeshare resorts has increased by four percent annually since
that time, with 381 resorts now operating in Mexico and 268 in the Caribbean10.
10 Group RCI - Latin American fact Book, 2007

13

Mexico, Costa Rica and some Caribbean islands are proving to be attractive markets for high-income
customers seeking new travel experiences. The trend of developers to build mixed-use and higherpriced luxury leisure products is expected to have great appeal for American second-home buyers (a
potential market of 30 million people), especially the Baby Boomer and Generation X market
segments. To continue the growth in the Caribbean region, top vacation ownership developers
recently established the Caribbean Association of Resort Developments (CARD). The organizations
purpose is to promote communication between local resort properties and to work together to help
strengthen tourism in the area. Other active markets include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia,
Uruguay and Venezuela. The timeshare markets in Colombia and Venezuela continue to be strong
and stable with an annual growth of 10 to 15 percent 11, although prices have not increased as in other
markets. In Brazil, vacation ownership sales are growing at approximately 20 12percent year-overyear. In Central America, Belize and Costa Rica are the hottest markets, although Panama, Honduras
and Guatemala are showing positive growth signs.
The Challenges
Recently, there has been a decline in occupancy in some of the major timeshare destinations
throughout Mexico and the Caribbean. This is believed to be related primarily to the current
economic situation in the United States which is a major market for the Latin American industry. On
the positive side, the strong presence and ties among entities involved in regulation, including Group
RCI, the Mexican Association of Tourism Developers (AMDETUR), the Ministry of Tourism and
PROFECO, a consumer protection agency, has contributed to the improvement of the regulatory
environment in Mexico and provided important protections for vacation-ownership buyers and users.
In Argentina a timeshare law was passed to help increase acceptance and confidence in timeshare for
consumers and investors. No legislation exists in Chile and Uruguay, but there are some initiatives
being promoted by the trade associations.

MIDDLE EAST

The Opportunities
Although the timeshare industry in the Middle East is in its infancy, it is strong and robust and poised
to grow. Recent North course Advisory Services research suggests that by 2020 the market in the
Middle East region could support US$1.2 billion per year in timeshare and fractional sales.
Currently, there are approximately 90 timeshare resorts and projects in the region. Two thirds of them
are affiliated with RCI, the most recent being the Ivory Grand in Dubai and the Barka Resort near
Muscat. The majority of existing resorts are located in the traditional legacy markets of Egypt,
Lebanon and Jordan. In the future, the single largest opportunity in the region is for the development
11 Published by ministries of tourism of Colombia & Venezuela
12 Published by ministry of tourism, Brazil

14

of shared ownership in the United Arab Emirates, primarily in the emirate of Dubai and the state
capital, Abu Dhabi. Governments in the region have been making efforts to tap tourisms potential
with improved product development, enhanced funding for tourism and an increase in marketing and
promotion, all of which will help support the growth of the shared ownership industry. Dubai, for
example, is developing family oriented theme parks to attract leisure travelers and entice them to stay
longer. Encompassing 3 billion square feet of land in the heart of the desert, Dubai-land is one of the
most ambitious tourist destinations ever created. Once completed, it is estimated to be twice the size
of all of the Disneyland/Disneyworld resorts combined. A few of the attractions it will include are a
Universal Studios theme park, a DreamWorks theme park, Tiger Woods Gold Golf Course, and a Las
Vegas-style hotel strip with themed hotels and more than 40,000 rooms. Religious timeshare
experiences also have great potential. The concept has received positive responses amongst Muslim
communities, many of whom have a common interest in traveling to Makkah.
The Challenges
Timesharing is now a legal activity in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The Dubai government is very
supportive of timeshare regulations and recently announced that it approved of industry
recommended legislation governing the development, marketing and sales of timeshare/shared
ownership in Emirate of Dubai. Following that announcement, master developers of Dubai-land have
created a new LLC company, Dubai-land Vacation Ownership which will be responsible for
coordinating shared ownership within the master development of Dubai-land. This single milestone
is expected to be the catalyst for many hotel operators and developers to commit to the shared
ownership model in the area. One of the biggest challenges for any leisure travel business in the
Middle East today is finding good quality employees. In addition to new shared ownership projects,
more than 100,000 hotel rooms are predicted to come to market in the Gulf Cooperative Council
(GCC) before 2010, requiring the addition of 1 million employees to operate the hotels and theme
parks13.

NORTH AMERICA

The Opportunities
In the United States, growth of the vacation-ownership industry remains strong, as evidenced by the
State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry: United States Study, 2007 Edition, sponsored by the
American Resort Development Association. According to the research, resorts constructed just over
14,000 new units in 2006. Total sales volume was US$10 billion, a 16 percent increase over 2005. In
North America, the timeshare industry is supported by the American Resort Development
Association (ARDA), a strong and well respected association with the mission to improve and
support the resort development industry. The agency works closely with government agencies, resort
13 According to data from 2007 City-Scape tourism conference, Dubai

15

owners, resort operators, exchange companies and suppliers to the industry. Master plan developers
are beginning to see the marketing and economic benefit of diversifying their product portfolio and
are taking note of the success that major hotel brands are having with this type of development. In
some resort areas, such as the Florida beaches and the Florida Keys and some urban areas, we see
developers looking at the traditional timeshare product as one of the best additions to their product
portfolio. Timesharing is a fast-growing segment in the West, with most of the successful
development due to brands and clubs, especially in states such as Nevada, California, Arizona and
New Mexico. Golf and mountain locations are the prime locations for new development. While there
is great demand for coastal and urban locations, only a few developers can find the land or have the
resources to purchase and develop it.
The Challenges
To sustain healthy growth of the U.S. market overall, industry leaders must continue to educate the
leisure real estate market about the fundamentals and benefits of timeshare, as well as encourage the
entrance of new players and help them achieve success. For example, real estate developers
struggling to sell an oversupply of vacation/second homes and condominium projects could offer
their products as timeshares or fractional plans, assuming their existing declarations or amendments
permit them to do so.

16

2.5

MAJOR PLAYERS IN INDIA

The vacation ownership industry in India is dominated by two major players
1

Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Limited and

Sterling holidays and resorts India Limited

Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd

Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd is a part of the USD 6.7 billion Mahindra Group, one of
Indias leading industrial houses. Started in 1996, the companys flagship brand Club Mahindra
Holidays, today has a fast growing customer base of over 100,000 members and 28 beautiful
Resorts at some of the most exotic spots in India and abroad. The company has followed a two
pronged strategy to achieve market leadership over the last decade rapidly increasing its bouquet of
resorts to provide more variety in holidaying options and enhancing its service levels to its members
to provide delight at every point of interaction. Club Mahindra 14 has established a nationwide reach
by setting up a network of offices. It has nine offices spread across the country with a team of over
two hundred marketing and support executives who are specifically trained on service standards that
Club Mahindra is benchmarking in the industry. The main Club Mahindra resorts are located at Goa,
Coorg, Munnar, Manali, Binsar, Kumbhalgarh and Dharamshala. Club Mahindra endeavors to make
holidays enjoyable.
Sterling holiday resorts India Limited
Sterling Holiday Resorts India limited15 is an India based company operating in the tourism industry.
It operates in two segments: Time Share Sales, and Resorts & Hotel Sales. Incorporated in 1986,
Sterling Holiday Resorts India Ltd (SHRL) operates 11 resorts and 1 hotel aggregating 817
apartments and 263 hotel rooms, some of which are affiliated to the RCI, an international timeshare
exchange. SHRL has branded its time share schemes as Happy Vistas, Heritage, Sterling Crown and
Sterling Grand. The Group's principal activity is to market time-share properties and maintenance of
resorts. The Resorts are located in Ooty, Kodaikanal, Yercaud, Munnar, Darjeeling, Kulu Manali,
Puri, Mussoorie, Goa, Swamimalai and Mahabalipuram. The Company plans to invest in 29 resorts
over the next 4 to 5 years. Construction is underway at Mahabaleshwar, Yelagiri, Coorg, Lonavala,
Camp Corbett and Peermedu. SHRL, which has been facing a resource crunch, postponed the issue
of securities due to poor market conditions. It expects to yield substantial cash flows from its Noida
project. Other plans include arranging of package tours and acting as agents for marketing real estate.

14 Source : www.clubmahindra.com
15 Source: http://in.reuters.com and www.sterlingresorts.in

17

2.6

INDIAN INDUSTRY SCENARIO

Opportunities & Challenges
The Opportunities
The timeshare industry in India is in a vibrant mode today, growing at about 20 16 percent annually.
Currently 40 timeshare companies offer more than 80 resorts in India, with more than 200,000
families having purchased a timeshare vacation ownership product during the last 15 years. The
original fixed-week product has morphed over time, adapting to market demand and consumer
needs. Today, floating weeks, split weeks and points-based products are vital segments in the
timeshare mix. The variety of lodging options also has expanded to include such offerings as villas,
palaces, houseboats and yachts. Rising consumer affluence and the tremendous popularity of
spiritual and experiential holidays, such as heritage experiences, religious circuits, wellness and
medical tourism, and adventure and eco-tourism, combined with the advent of low-cost carriers, is
driving the huge 461 million domestic tourist arrivals, a growth of 13% CAGR 17 since 2000. This
growing trend is providing opportunities for new product innovations in destinations offering these
experiences. For the most part, the large branded players have not taken advantage of the huge
potential for timeshare development in India. Rapid urbanization is also expected to produce a 10
fold increase in affluent middle class from 50 million to 583 million people by 2025 18, resulting in
India being the worlds fifth largest consumer market. In addition, the number of high net worth
individuals (those with at least US1million in financial assets) in India has grown by 1.4 times since
2004 to 100,000 individuals. Fueled by dual incomes, low-fare airlines and a compelling desire to
spend more time with family, the propensity for richly deserved breaks is on the increase. The
opportunity to own a holiday home, at a fraction of the cost of a second home, and have it taken care
of and professionally maintained, can be an attractive proposition.
The Challenges
While the boom in the aviation sector has opened up lesser-known destinations, the lack of proper
infrastructure, such as roads and drinking water in key tourism sectors, and the safety and security of
the tourist population, especially in remote tourist destinations, remain concerns. Lack of established
timeshare sales and marketing companies is a challenge as many individual entrepreneurs and hotel
operators are not in a position to set up their own sales and marketing workforce. Presently, there is
no government regulation of the timeshare industry in India. However, about nine years ago, industry
players banded together to establish the All India Resort Development Association (AIRDA), which
16 Source: Article - Time share concepts will boost resort development in India, 2007
17 Source: All India resort development association (AIRDA)
18 Source: Article - The State of Global Time share Industry, published by RCI.

18

functions as a self-regulatory body. Members of AIRDA follow a strict code of ethics, which
includes giving consumers a 10-day cooling-off period. AIRDA works with the government on
behalf of the industry on varied issues, such as the Capacity Building program, where AIRDA
organizes learning and development workshops for workers who deal with tourists. To provide a
boost to the growth of the timeshare industry and enable timeshare resorts to achieve benchmarking
and standardization of services, AIRDA has secured the Ministry of Tourism of Indias approval for
the classification of timeshare resorts in India since December 2005. The classification is not
mandatory but it is important. Getting a Minister of Tourism rating is along the same lines of the
ratings of traditional hotels. Further, the classification provides AIRDA developer members a chance
to avail themselves of the incentives and tax benefits that are available to hotels. Under the approved
guidelines, the timeshare resorts will be classified in the category of 3, 4 and 5 star and heritage
properties.

19

2.7COMPANY PROFILE
Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Ltd is a part of the USD 6.7 billion Mahindra Group, one of
Indias leading industrial houses. The group has interests in various sectors such as automotive, auto
components, farm equipment, trade and financial services, infrastructure and information technology.
MHRIL is a part of the infrastructure sector of the Mahindra group which brings to the industry
values such as reliability, trust and customer satisfaction. Started in 1996, the companys flagship
brand Club Mahindra Holidays, today has a fast growing customer base of over 100,000 members
and 2819 beautiful Resorts at some of the most exotic spots in India and abroad. The company has
followed a two pronged strategy to achieve market leadership over the last decade rapidly
increasing its bouquet of resorts to provide more variety in holidaying options and enhancing its
service levels to its members to provide delight at every point of interaction.
The vision of MHRIL:
Good Living Happy Families.
The Vision of MHRIL:
We will be Asias No.1 Company in holidays and leisure services for the urban family. We will
achieve this through customer centric practices that ensure service excellence, innovation and
employee pride. We will create wealth for the stakeholders and be a responsible corporate citizen.
Club Mahindra has established a nationwide reach by setting up a network of offices. It has nine
offices spread across the country with a team of over two hundred marketing and support executives
who are specifically trained on service standards that Club Mahindra is benchmarking in the
industry. The accessibility to consumers has been increased significantly by Club Mahindra opening
up new channels in the form of Direct Sales Associates spread right across the country.
RCI Gold Crown Award recognizes resorts that have surpassed standards of excellence in Resort
Quality and Hospitality. This evaluation is based on the RCI member comment card ratings and an
independent assessment of resort facilities, amenities and service. Only a small percentage of RCI
affiliated resorts worldwide achieve this distinction. Club Mahindra resorts at Goa, Coorg, Munnar,
Manali, Binsar, Kumbhalgarh and Dharamshala have consistently achieved this award ever since
their initiation.
Club Mahindra endeavors to make holidays enjoyable. The company trains latent talent across resort
to form a team of Champs, who work on creating a 'comeback value' based on 'experiences.'
Activities are designed specifically to cater to all ages. The ability to anticipate customer needs and
delivering them has been a major strength of the company. The range of activities span adventure
sports, water sports, camping, treks, indoor family games and hobby programs for children and
adults. Apart from those above, specific recreational facilities that include a fully equipped
19 Source: www.clubmahindra.com

20

gymnasium, swimming pool, and ayurvedic center form part of Club Mahindras resorts. The service
in all the resorts is professional and highly personalized from choice of food, holiday activities and
personal touch in dealing with guests. Club Mahindra benchmarks expectations and redefines
entitlements.
MHRIL has made significant investments in state of the art IT systems to streamline their
operations and processes towards smooth, quick and efficient management of its substantial member
base. The implementation of a CRM system has been a powerful tool to track important member
information and preferences, thus providing the ability to greatly enhance the total holiday
experience. As a measure of providing quality customer service, Club Mahindra has established
systems which enable professionalism, efficiency and quality at all times. MHRIL use Timeshareware, a sales and marketing, reservations and resort operations software specially sourced from PCC
Inc USA. Holiday experience profiling is another interactive touch screen facility implemented at
resorts to record online feedback from members/customers on holiday. These facilities help to ensure
consistent standards of service to customers always. Apart from this a dedicated team of holiday
consultants work at the member relations center in Chennai offering easy and direct access for
customers through call centre seven days a week.

21

2.8

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Club Mahindra, a 100% subsidiary firm of Mahindra group, which has built up gilt edged credibility
and an enduring relationship with customers over sixty years, offers a 25 year holiday ownership to
its members by the concept of time share. The members of club Mahindra can enjoy seven nights per
year in five star and seven star accommodations in India and abroad for 25 years by this concept.
This inflation free holiday can be enjoyed by members in twenty eight Club Mahindra resorts in
India and abroad. In addition to these resorts the association with resorts condominium international
(RCI) provides members access to over 5600 resorts including Hilton, Sheraton, Carlton etc in over
129 countries. Keeping its tradition Mahindra has built its resorts to Gold crown specifications of
RCI to offer the best quality in the industry to its customers. RCI has awarded gold crown status to
Club Mahindra resorts in Munnar, Goa, Binsar, Manali and Coorg. As a compliment Club Mahindra
offers two years free RCI membership to every member so that he can access any RCI resort in the
world by paying a nominal exchange fee.
The company provides following facilities to its members
1) Indoor & Outdoor Games
The Indoor activity offered includes table, tennis, snooker etc along with yoga, meditation,
oil bath etc in health club. The outdoor activity involves trekking, paragliding, water rafting,
elephant safari etc depending on the resort location. Various cultural events and evening
parties named Funrover are arranged for the customers to ensure maximum entertainment
and fun.
2) Travel club
Travel club is an integrated part of Club Mahindra which caters to all travelling needs of its
customers. It offers air ticket reservations, foreign exchange, car rentals, pick and drop
facilities to its customers.
3) Food Facility
Club Mahindra offers three dining options to its members
(A) Fun dining: Fun dining is a food package involving breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea and
snacks. The charges for fun dining vary in different locations.
(B) Ala carte: Ala carte is a menu having individual dishes listed with separate prices. The
customers can order food to his taste and requirement. Club Mahindra offers its members
30 to 40% discount in Ala carte.
(C) Kitchenette facility: Club Mahindra offers resorts with a fully furnished kitchen with a
series of cutlery and crockery items to enable customers to cook their food.

22

Flexible holidays
Club Mahindra members are entitled seven nights per year in any destination of his/ her choice.
Mahindra offers amble flexibility in using these holidays. Members can use any of the following
modes:
1) Splitting the holidays
: Club Mahindra members can split and use their seven nights
of holidays in different destinations over a year. If balance days are left in a year those days
will be carried forward to next year thereby ensuring hundred percent utilization to members.
2) Advancing the holidays
: Club Mahindra permits it members to advance holidays from
subsequent year to increase the holidays in current year. Thus a member can enjoy a
maximum of fourteen days by advancing.
3) Accumulation of holidays
: Club Mahindra members can accumulate their holidays for
three years and to a maximum of twenty one days. Any days in excess of twenty one at any
point of time shall lapse
4) Gifting/Renting
: Club Mahindra permits it members to gift holidays to friends
or relatives without any hurdles. Even the owner of holiday can rent out the accommodation.
5) Membership transfer
: A membership can be transferred if there is no dues payable
by the member to MHRIL. The transferee shall produce the document of transfer duly
executed by the previous member and any other document prescribed by MHRIL.
Annual Subscription Fee (ASF)
Member pays ASF for the maintenance and upkeep of the Mahindra Resorts/ Mahindra Associate
Resorts and for providing utilities. It is payable every year & the first ASF payment shall be payable
immediately after the expiry of the waiting period. ASF shall vary from time to time and shall be
fixed by MHRIL based on cost of various materials, items, utilities, manpower etc required for
maintenance and provision of utilities. Revision in ASF shall be effected by MHRIL based on the
average of changes in the wholesale price index and the consumer price index (WPI & CPI)
published by RBI . If the costs increase to a larger extent, we will appoint statutory auditors and
every member will be provided with certificate from the statutory auditors.

23

Convenient attractive and flexible EMIs (CAF)

Club Mahindra offers attractive and flexible payment schemes to its members

TYPE

FULL
PAYMENT

DOWN
PAYMENT
15%

PURPLE-1BR

15%

PURPLESTUDIO

15%

RED -2BR

15%

RED -1BR

15%

RED
STUDIO
WHITE-2BR
WHITE-1BR

5 % DISCOUNT

PURPLE-2BR

15%
15%
10%

WHITE
STUDIO

10%

BLUE-2BR

15%

BLUE-1BR

10%

BLUE STUDIO

10%

6 EMI
& 12
EMI

24 EMI

36 EMI

48 EMI

0 % INTEREST

Table 2

15%
INTEREST
ON
DIMINISHIN
G RATE

15.5%
INTEREST
ON
DIMINISHIN
G RATE

16%
INTEREST ON
DIMINISHING
RATE

24

CLUB MAHINDRA RESORTS AND ASSOCIATE RESORTS

Club Mahindra resorts offers its members with 28 resorts in exotic location within India and abroad.
It offers ten resorts in South India, five resorts in west, one in east and nine splendid resorts in
Northern India. The list of resorts and their locations are indicated in table 4.2 shown below.
Table 3
RESORT

LOCATION
SOUTH INDIA

Lake view

Munnar

Back water retreat

Ashtamudi

Tusker Trails

Thekkadi

Island Resort

Poovar

Derby Green

Ooty

Hill Country

Kodaikanal

Lake Forest

Yercaud

Kodagu Valley

Coorg

Masanagudi (Zest)

Tamil Nadu

Big beach (Zest)

Masanagudi
WEST INDIA

Varca Beach

Goa

Jasminn

Goa

Fort Kumbalgarh
Panchagani
Lake Pavana Resort & Spa

Udaipur
Maharashtra
Tungi

25

NORTH INDIA
Binsar Valley

Uttranchal

Binsar Manipur Resort

Uttranchal

Dancing Water

Naukuchiatal

Nature Trails

Corbett

Hide Away

Corbett

Hill Top

Mussoorie

Snow Peaks

Manali

Kangra Valley

Dharamshala

Whispering Pines

Shimla
EAST INDIA

Royal Demazong

Gangtok

INTERNATIONAL
Club Mahindra @ Elegance Suites
Club Mahindra @ Pattaya Hill Resort
Club Mahindra @ Heritage Suites
Club Mahindra @ Citadines

Resort 1
Resort 2

Bangkok, Thailand
Pattaya, Thailand
Kaula Lampur, Malaysia
Bangkok, Thailand

UPCOMING RESORTS
Theog (Himachal Pradesh)
Vienna (Austria)

26

MEMBERSHIP TYPES
Membership type is based on the season and apartment type selected by the customer. Club
Mahindra offers following combinations to customer for selection. Members can choose any one of
the nine variant memberships offered by Club Mahindra. The nine variants of memberships are listed
in table 4.3 below
Table 4
SEASON
CLASSIFICATION

APARTMENT
TYPE

PURPLE

2 BR

PURPLE

1 BR

PURPLE

STUDIO

RED

2 BR

RED

1 BR

RED

STUDIO

WHITE

2 BR

WHITE

1 BR

WHITE

STUDIO

BLUE

2 BR

BLUE

1 BR

BLUE

STUDIO

The membership category varies with season type and apartment type. Mahindra holidays have
classified seasons into three categories based on the weather and the number of customers who

27

prefer it. There are three seasons namely red, white & blue. The features of each season are listed
in table 4.4 shown below. Apartments are also divided into three based on the floor area and
capacity.
Table 5
SEASON TYPE
PURPLE

RED

The PREMIUM/PRIORITY Season.

The PEAK season for a particular
destination.

WHITE

For a quiet holiday in pleasant weather

BLUE

For a holiday far from the madding crowds

ACCOMODATION TYPE

STUDIO

350 - 400 Sq.Ft Accommodates 3 adults

1 BR

575 - 650 Sq.Ft Accommodates 4 adults

2 BR

950 - 1050 Sq.Ft Accommodates 6 adults

TIE-UPS OF CLUB MAHINDRA FOR HOLIDAY EXCHANGE

(A)

RESORT CONDOMINIUMS INTERNATIONAL

28

Table 6

RCI RESORTS ACROSS WORLD

AFRICA

123

NORTH AMERICA

1681

SOUTH AMERICA

371

EUROPE

2466

ASIA

432

AUSTRALIA AND SOUTH PACIFIC

341

RCI is a global provider of leisure

travel services to businesses and
consumers, and the worldwide
leader in vacation exchange.
Founded in 1974 as an exchange
service for condominium owners
called
Resort
Condominiums
International, Ltd., RCI quickly
became a driving force for growth
within timeshare, and has been at
the forefront of the vacation
exchange industry ever since
inception. RCI's core business is
exchange of vacations. RCI
provides its global community of
more than three million timeshare
owners worldwide with quality
vacation experiences at more than
560020 destinations in 129 countries
through RCI's week-for-week and
points-based timeshare exchange
networks. RCI has been at the
forefront of the timeshare exchange
industry for 30 years, maintaining
the highest standards of quality and
excellence as a growth partner to its
resort affiliates. RCI is a subsidiary
of
Wyndham
Worldwide
Corporation.

20

29

RCI RESORTS IN ASIA

INDIA

83

JAPAN

12

SRILANKA

SOUTH EAST ASIA

159

CHINA, SOUTH KOREA & TAIWAN

85

Facilities offered by RCI

RCI offers three types of facilities to its members.
1

Standard Exchange

Bonus Weeks

Rental Properties

(B) DIAL AN EXCHANGE (DAE)

Dial an exchange (DAE) head quartered in Gold coast, Australia started its operations in the year
1997. It has grown to servicing over 340,000 members at a compounded annual growth rate of over
40%. DAE is a worldwide exchange company with offices all over world. Integrity and honesty is
the cornerstone of DAEs success and is reflected in all its dealings with customers. It offers over
210021 resorts worldwide and continues to grow. DAE is a worldwide time share exchange company
with offices all over the globe. It uses this worldwide presence to make sure that members have
access to a truly international inventory of vacation weeks available for exchange. DAE has grown
significantly since it first opened its doors in 1997. It offers friendly and customer focused exchange
of timeshare week in an easy, affordable and rewarding way. It strives to give members the benefits,
vacation availability and the service they deserve and are looking for from their exchange service.
DAE members can access live availability online 24/7 and can search, hold, book and confirm in real
time, making the exchange process simple. The main advantage is that customer does not have to
wade through a set of complex rules to conduct a transaction with DAE. The main objective of DAE
21 Source: www.daelive.com

30

is to add value to the investment of its members in vacation ownership and strive to better their
products and services to satisfy the growing needs of vacation owners. DAE places its members
needs first and foremost and they achieve this by offering affordable, honest & timely service.
DAE membership benefits include:

FREE membership option.

Receive instant confirmation when the exchange fee is paid

No guest certificate fees

Low exchange fees

Place an exchange on 24-hour hold

Cancellation Protection Option (CPO) offered on all exchange confirmations

Bank and Save option 3-year credit for every banked week

Bonus Time available to members

24/7 live availability online

Priority waitlist facility in case of current unavailability

Excellent customer service

True worldwide vacation availability

Discounted rental weeks in prime locations

Informative monthly e-Newsletter

Club Mahindra members who have been offered special offer international holiday can avail it
through DAE. Club Mahindra members cannot avail bonus weeks with DAE

31

PROJECT PROFILE

32

PROJECT PROFILE

The project titled STUDY OF PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS FOR DIFFERENT MEMBERSHIP

OF CLUB MAHINDRA is aspired to understand and profile the life style of target group for Club
Mahindra and to determine the customer touch points on different membership plans of Club
Mahindra. The project requisites also include identifying higher target group concentration,
understanding their economic levels, occupation, shopping habits, leisure activities, holidaying
frequency and other demographic characteristics.
The ordained duration of the project was for eight weeks. The delineated target group criteria laid out
by Club Mahindra was the outline of project. The target group of Club Mahindra includes potential
customers who meet following criteria:

High income group (Annual income above Rs. 6 Lakh)

Married

Life style conscious

Aged above 35

Interested in leisure activities and

Possessing holidaying habit with family

The overall project was divided into three phases:

1) Understanding the Marketing activities, Product & Preparation (Two Weeks)
2) Analysis of places frequented by target group and data collection (Five Weeks)
3) Segmentation and touch point analysis (One Week)
The first phase of the project involved acquiring knowledge about the product, its features, marketing
and sales activities, modes of data generation, interacting with identified target group by
accompanying customer direct sales officers, observing the interactive sales presentations in holiday
world and identifying category of business outlets to be targeted for the study. On completion of
phase one the research methodology was formulated.
Phase two of the project involved two stages of data collection. Survey of dealers to reassert the
identified potential of various shopping centers and the determination of the peak time of a day was
covered in stage one. This was followed by stage two involving customer oriented survey using

33

explicitly designed Tablets for each category of shopping destinations. The entire data collection
process took slightly over five weeks for its completion.
Phase three involved analysis and interpretation of the data collected as well as observations made
during the survey. The results of survey were consolidated to easily understandable format and
substantiated with logical reasoning and suggestions to achieve the project requisites.
On completion of project an interactive presentation was made with the Club Mahindra officials at
branch and corporate level for assessment. The results of project undertaken are explained in the
sessions ahead.

34

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

35

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 Research Design
Market requires an assessment of customer need through market research and the orientation of all
the firms' activities toward the satisfaction of these needs. Keeping such concept in mind the research
was designed, that taking feedbacks form customers about their needs the firms forthcoming
plans/activities will have a new direction and it should be customer centric. So series of steps are
taken gradually for developing, planning and executing research.

Research design
Research design is done in following steps1. Study the prospective clients
2. Study various places in market where such prospects visit
3. Visit all such places for setting up promotional activities
For research following venues are considered to be the best places where clusters (gatherings) of
prospective clients visit the most these are:1. Mall/Shopping Complex
2. Health and fitness centers
3. Restaurants
4. Show rooms(furniture, jewellery, garments and others)

For marketing a research successful it's a must to develop an effective research strategy or design.
This includes determination of the appropriate data source type of research instrument, sampling plan
and contact method.
A research design forms the framework of the entire research process. If it is a good design it will
insure that the information obtained is relevant to the research problem.

36

2.2 Type of data

There are two types of Data:

2.2.1 Primary data

Primary Data was used for this survey. Questionnaire method had been chosen to collect the data
because of low cost, free from the bias of other interviewer and respondent.
Collection of data through Questionnaire
In this method all the places mentioned above were visited personally and asked prospects to fill the
questionnaire.
2.2.2 Secondary data
Secondary data used for the research was the database provided by the company itself.
2.3 Sample size
The sample size of my project is 304 in which 159 is the target group identified as prospects and 145
are disqualified.

Big bazar 100

Barista 34
D mart 50
Mc Donalds 50
Central 70

2.4 Method of data collection

This stage is the central part of the research activity. In this stage promotional tie-ups methodology
has to be put into practice. Following types of tie ups were offered

37

Out bound promoters activity-In this activity promoters were put at the stores and they
approach customers to fill the questionnaire.

Auto-pilot-in this activities co-branded feedback forms (restaurants) or lucky draw coupons
(shop and win) were issued.

Direct Mailer-The customer of the place is provided free mailing service regarding

its offers and plans. Mainly offered to health and fitness centers. The selection of a
measurement technique is influenced primarily by the nature of the information required and
secondly on the value of information.

2.4.1 Instrument for data collection

The intensively used research instruments were questionnaires

Questionnaire contained following

Name

Marital status

Mobile no.

E mail

Name of the car owned

Bill no.

Bill amount

Signature

Last holiday Destination(In India, International)

38

2.5 Field work

For field work Pune city was selected as there one can find cluster of prospects at mentioned places.
Following activities are done during field work

Visiting the places ,setting up appointments with their marketing manager for promotional tie ups

Supervision of the places where promotional activities are already running.

39

RELEVANT STATISTICS AND DIAGRAMS

40

Data gathering for the project was focused on the data that was given by the company. The data
included the names and numbers of the existing customers and the potential customers. Appointment
had to be fixed with the customers and then the survey was to be carried out by meeting them at their
respective addresses provided by the company itself. Questionnaires were designed to explicitly
derive results from customers by visiting each of them. The customer intercept mode of surveying
permitted easier information probing as well as avoided defects of other unobtrusive data collection
means.

MARKETING & SALES OVERVIEW

5.1

Marketing in Club Mahindra holidays has the following areas in focus.

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Acquisition
Branding
Market research
Member Marketing
Public Relations
Figure 122

Acquisition is the most critical phase in the branch level. It is the process of generating new
customers for Club Mahindra. The core process of generating new customers involves data
generation activity in which this project is focused. The data generation activity can be divided into
three stages as shown in figure below:
22 Source: Marketing Department, Club Mahindra

41

STEP 1: DATA GENERATION ACTIVITY

Data generation begins with initiating tie-ups in locations where footfalls of potential customers are
expected. Activities are carried out in different locations where the frequency of visits by target
group is high so that the marketing team can achieve maximum reach to the target group. To draw in
customers for the data collection process various contest and events are organized. Data generation
activities are generally carried out in following locations:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

Shopping Malls
Petrol Pumps
Parking Areas
Tie ups with Premium car Dealers
Tie ups with Jewelers & restaurants
Clubs & Associations
Creating Social gathering in Flats /Apartments by organizing events.
Member referral

Data generation activities can be carried out in three ways

Autopilot mode
Outpost consultant mode.
Response based activity

Autopilot initiatives are carried out indirectly without involving a Club Mahindra representative for
the data generation process. Generally in this case assistance of firms with which tie ups are made
will be utilized for data collection. E.g. Requesting customers to fill up Club Mahindra lead
generation forms in billing section of an apparel showroom. Outpost consultants mode involves
Club Mahindra representatives who are employed with the assignment of generating qualified leads
to a desired level through data generation activities in locations listed above. Qualified leads are
those prospective customers who belong to the high income category, life style oriented, possessing
holidaying habits and interested in leisure activities. Outpost consultants are employed for monthly
salary with performance based incentives. The entire activities of OPCs are monitored by the
marketing team of club Mahindra.
Response based activity involves lead generation by initiating customer to respond to advertisement
or special offers provided by Club Mahindra. The response of customer is received by marketing
manager and the potential customer information is conveyed to CDSOs.

42

STEP 2: DATA ENTRY

The data collected through autopilot mode and by OPCs will be used to prepare a data base of
prospective customers. Prospective customers are screened based on following parameters:
o Marital Status
o Occupation
o Age
o Vehicle Owned
The data base is forwarded to the telemarketing team in holiday world and branch office.

STEP 3: TELE MARKETING

The database of prospective customers is handed over to the tele-calling department which review
and evaluate the potential of the target audience. The tele-calling department operates separately for
holiday world and CDSOs. To target a segmented cluster it should be identifiable, sufficient, stable
or growing and accessible. On identifying the target group they are invited to holiday world for a
tour or appointments are made for CDSOs.

SALES IN CLUB MAHINDRA

Sales process in Club Mahindra involves four divisions as indicated in figure 5.2 below
Figure 223

1) Customer Direct Sales Officers (CDSO): The CDSO are provided with appointments to
prospective customers by the tele-calling department. In cases where the appointments need to be
confirmed, the CDSOs or team managers talk to customers over phone before meeting the targeted
customer. CDSOs visit the prospective customer and explains the product, its benefits, features, cost
of membership and tries to close the sale and if necessary do the follow up till closing of sale.
23 Source: Marketing Department, Club Mahindra

43

2) Holiday World (HW): The holiday world of Club Mahindra focuses on customer orientation. It
consists of a dedicated team which strives to achieve recognition for the concept of timeshare among
potential customers. The main function of holiday world is to generate sales. Tours are the most
critical aspect in the holiday world. A tour is a presentation in which the holiday consultant will
demonstrate the company, product, benefits, features etc. to customers leading to deal closure.
3) Direct Selling Agents (DSA): Direct selling agents are authorized selling agents by Club Mahindra
who operate independently to generate sales. They find leads of their own, make sales presentations
and close the sale. Club Mahindra does not provide any financial support for the marketing or sales
activities of DSA. The employees working in DSA are selected by the agent subject to the
guidelines defined by Club Mahindra. The DSAs operate on commission basis for the sales they
generate. There are two authorized direct selling agents in Kerala circle one in Trivandrum & other
in Alappuzha.
4) Onsite Sales: All major Club Mahindra resort has an onsite sales office which strives to convert nonmembers, who visit Club Mahindra resort, to members. They demonstrate the product, its benefits
and features to visitors and try to convince them to enroll with Club Mahindra.
The sales process in Club Mahindra is depicted in figure 3 shown below

SALES PROCESS IN CLUB MAHINDRA

The sales process in Club Mahindra begins with identification of prospective customers which can
take place in four ways:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Advertisements (AD)
Data generation activities (DGA) : Auto pilot & OPC Mode
Happy family referral programs (HFRP)
Web leads

The information on the potential customer is transferred to the telemarketing team. The tele
marketing executives talk to the customer over phone, introduces the product and fix an
appointment with the CDSO or to the Holiday World. This is followed by the interactive sales
presentation (ISP) leading to sale closing.

44

Figure 124

HIERARCHY OF MARKETING & SALES TEAM

Figure 425

24 Source : Marketing Department, Club Mahindra

25 Source : Marketing Department, Club Mahindra

45

THE HOLIDAY WORLD

Holiday world is a division of Club Mahindra that focuses on customer orientation. It consists of a
dedicated team which strives to achieve recognition for the concept of timeshare among potential
customers. One of the major functions of holiday world is Tour. Tour is an activity of formally
presenting the company, product, benefits etc. to customers leading to deal closure. However product
sale in holiday world is not restricted within it, Holiday consultants also meet potential customers
outside office after making appointments in exceptional cases. The holiday world is headed by a
Venue manager. There are two departments functioning in this system, marketing & sales. The
marketing department is involved in lead generation activities and tele-calling to map down the
prospective customers. There are two tele-calling teams of four members each operating under a
supervisor. Each tele-caller makes at least forty calls per day. The sales department has two dedicated
tour taking teams under the guidance of a takeover manager for each. The team includes three
holiday consultants. Tour taking team tries to familiarize the customer with the product, time share
concept, features, benefits etc. and generate sales.

TOUR PRESENTATION & SALES CLOSING

Tours are the most critical aspect in the holiday world. These tours are carried in Waves. Waves
involve a cluster of two or three families invited to holiday world in a particular time. Tour is a three
stage process as explained below.
STAGE 1: PREPARATORY PHASE
o Introduction
o Customer psyche evaluation & rapport building
STAGE 2: PRESENTATION PHASE
o
o
o
o
o
o

Company introduction
Explanation of timeshare concept
Product presentation
Features & benefits
Demonstration of Product using videos & photographs
Season & Cottage Size explanation

STAGE 3: ASSIMILATION PHASE

o Cost involved & ASF
o Closing the sale
The duration of tour will vary from 45 minutes to 60 minutes. The preparatory phase and
presentation phase of the tour will be handled by holiday consultant. The holiday consultant builds a
rapport with the customer while explaining the product, its benefits and features. On completion of

46

the first two phases the tour is handed over to the takeover manager for assimilation phase where
he/she familiarize the customer to the cost of product, equated monthly installments and the annual
maintenance cost. The team will strive to close the deal on completion of the tour.

47

5.2 SURVEY STATISTICS

The details of the survey population and the target group identified are listed in the frequency table
8.2 shown below. The total survey population consisted of 304 respondents among which 159 met
the target group criteria of Club Mahindra. The table also provides information on the percentage of
target group identified throughout the survey

Table 7
SURVEY STATISTICS
Response

Frequency

Percentage

Target Group Identified

159

52.30%

Disqualified

145

47.70%

Total survey population

304

100.00%

Out of the total surveyed population 47.7% were disqualified and 52.3% fulfilled the target group
criteria of Club Mahindra.
5.3

MARITAL STATUS OF TOTAL SURVEYED POPULATION

The marital status of the total surveyed population is given in table 8.3
Table 8
MARITAL STATUS
STATUS

PERCENTAGE

MARRIED

85%

BACHELORS

15%

Among the total surveyed population 85% of the respondents were married and 15% were bachelors.

48

5.4

GENDER BASED CLASSIFICATION OF TARGET GROUP

The gender based percentage of target group is depicted in table 8.4

Table 9
GENDER BASED PERCENTAGE OF TARGET
GROUP
GENDER
PERCENTAGE
FEMALE

20.00%

MALE

80.00%

5.5 PERCENTAGE OF TARGET GROUP IDENTIFIED IN SHOPPING

MALLS
For the purpose of identification of target group as of now I chose two of Punes renowned shopping
malls. They are Big Bazaar Mall and Pune Central mall. Both the shopping malls were included in
the study as shopping malls are increasingly becoming a frequented destination with ample branded
showrooms which attracts lifestyle conscious target group of Club Mahindra. The percentage of
target group identified from each shopping mall is evidenced in table 8.9 below.
Table 10
PERCENTAGE OF TARGET GROUP
IDENTIFIED IN SHOPPING MALLS
BUSINESS OUTLET
PERCENTAGE
BIG BAZAAR MALL
37.5%
KOTHRUD
PUNE CENTRAL MALL,
48.72%
SHIVAJINAGAR
On evaluating the data collected from both the shopping malls it was found that Pune Central Mall
have a higher target group foot fall of 48.7% while Big Bazaar have 37.5% target group foot fall.

5.6 PERCENTAGE OF TARGET

APPLIANCES SHOWROOMS

GROUP

IDENTIFIED

IN

HOME

To study the customers visiting various home appliances showrooms, three business outlets were
identified. It included three exclusive branded shops and two multi brand outlets. The branded outlets
were Sony, LG and Samsung. The percentage of target group identified in each home appliance
showroom is expressed in table 9 given below. Among the surveyed branded showrooms Samsung

49

recorded 100% target group footfall while Sony and LG recorded 50% and 33.33% of target group
foot fall respectively.
Table 11
PERCENTAGE OF TARGET GROUP
IDENTIFIED
BUSINESS OUTLET

PERCENTAGE

LG SHOPPE

33.33%

SAMSUNG

100.00%

SONY

50.00%

5.7 PERCENTAGE
SHOWROOMS

OF TARGET

GROUP IDENTIFIED

IN

WATCH

Watch Showrooms were also considered for the study. Three Branded showrooms in the city were
identified for the survey. The showrooms surveyed include Timex, World of Titan, Time factory. The
percentage of target group identified from each shop is depicted in table 8.12 shown below.
Timex which is a dealer in several branded categories of watches recorded 100% target group foot
fall followed by world of titan with 50% and Time factory with 33.3%.
Table 12
PERCENTAGE OF TARGET GROUP
IDENTIFIED IN WATCH SHOWROOMS
BUSINESS OUTLET
PERCENTAGE

5.8 PERCENTAGE
SHOWROOMS

TIME FACTORY

33.33%

Timex

100.00%

World Of Titan

50.00%

OF

TARGET

GROUP

IDENTIFIED

IN

CAR

50

The vehicle used by customers form main criteria for life style based segmentation of target
group hence car showrooms were also considered for survey. Sixteen car showrooms belonging
to all class of vehicles were surveyed. Customer interaction was permitted only in seven
showrooms and all of them recorded 100% target group foot fall.

51

DATA ANALYSIS

52

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:The analysis to map out target group concentration will be based on following four parameters
1) The percentage of survey population and target group identified from the data.
2) Segmentation based on Occupation
3) Segmentation based on Annual family income
4) Segmentation based on Cars used

53

(A)
PERCENTAGE OF SURVEY POPULATION AND TARGET GROUP IDENTIFIED
FROM DATA PROVIDED
The details of the survey population and the target group identified are listed in the frequency table
below:
Table 13
SURVEY STATISTICS
Response

Frequency

Percentage

Target Group Identified

159

52.30%

Disqualified

145

47.70%

Total survey population

304

100.00%

54

DATA INTERPRETATION:-In the survey done a sample size of 304 prospects have been taken
from which 52.30% is a targeted group identified that comes to 159 prospects and 47.70% are
disqualified that comes to the figure of 145.
(B)
SEGMENTATION OF TARGET GROUP BASED ON OCCUPATION
Based on the different types of occupation, the target group identified can be classified into five
different groups as listed below in table 9.5
Table 14
OCCUPATIONAL SEGMENTATION
OF TARGET GROUP IDENTIFIED
TYPE

PERCENTAGE

BUSINESS

40.88%

PROFESSIONALS

28.93%

WHITE COLLAR

27.04%

MILITARY

1.89%

AGRICULTURE

1.26%

PERCENTAGE

BUSINESS
PROFESSIONALS
WHITE COLLAR
MILITARY
AGRICULTURE

DATA INTERPRETATION:-In the identified target group 40.88% of potential customers were
from Business background, followed by professionals with 28.93% share, white collar with 27.04%
share, military with 1.89% share and agriculture with 1.26% share. It is clearly evident from the table

55

that majority of surveyed population who fulfilled target group criteria of Club Mahindra is from
Business class. The major share of target group identified belongs to three categories namely
business, professionals and white collar.
(C)

SEGMENTATION OF TARGET GROUP BASED ON INCOME GROUP

The income group to which the target group keyed out belongs to can be used for identification of
potential customers. The target group identified was classified into three segments based on their
annual family income. The details of classification is as listed below
Table 15
Sl. No

GROUP

INCOME RANGE

GROUP 1

Above Rs. 10 Lakhs

GROUP 2

Between Rs. 8 to 10 Lakhs

GROUP 3

Between Rs. 6 to 8 Lakhs

On analysis of the data collected it was found that 8.8% of the target group identified belongs to
Group 1, 45.9% belongs to Group 2 and 45.3% of them belong to Group 3. The percentage
contribution to each income group is expressed in table 14 below

Table 16
INCOME CATEGORY TO WHICH
TARGET GROUP IDENTIFIED BELONGS
GROUP

PERCENTAGE

GROUP 1

8.80%

GROUP 2

45.90%

GROUP 3

45.30%

56

PERCENTAGE
9%
GROUP 1

45%

GROUP 2
46%

GROUP 3

57

(D)

SEGMENTATION OF TARGET GROUP BASED ON CARS USED

The type of vehicle owned by target group is one of the major criterions for identification of
potential Customers. On the basis of the worth of the vehicle, cars were classified into three
categories as indicated in Table 9.14
Table 17
Sl. No

CLASS OF VEHICLE

WORTH OF THE CAR

Class A

Above Rs. 8 Lakhs

Class B

Between Rs. 5 to 8 Lakhs

Class C

Less than Rs. 5 Lakhs

Based on the above mentioned criteria the identified target group was analyzed to segment them into
the three categories as shown in table 9.15 below
Table 18
TARGET GROUP SEGMENTATION
BASED ON CARS USED
CATEGORY
PERCENTAGE
CLASS A

17%

CLASS B

41%

CLASS C

42%

58

Sales

CATEGORY
CLASS A
CLASS B
CLASS C

DATA INTERPRETATION:-On evaluation it was found that 17% of the total target groups
identified was using Class A vehicles while 41% of them were using Class B and 42% were using
Class C vehicles.

59

6.1

HOLIDAY FREQUENCY OF TARGET GROUP

The holidaying frequency of target group identified is expressed in the table 9.23 shown below
Table 19
HOLIDAY FREQUENCY OF TARGET GROUP
FREQUENCY

PERCENTAGE

ONCE IN A YEAR

84.91%

ONCE IN SIX MONTHS

10.69%

ONCE IN TWO YEARS

3.77%

ONCE IN THREE MONTHS

0.63%

PERCENTAGE

ONCE IN A YEAR
ONCE IN SIX MONTHS
ONCE IN TWO YEARS
ONCE IN THREE MONTHS

DATA INTERPRETATION:-The holiday frequency of 84.91% of the target group identified is

once in a year while 10.69 % of target group have a holiday frequency of once in six months. Only
3.77% of the target group possesses a holiday frequency of once in two years. This implies that
majority of the target group identified would like to holiday once in a year.

60

PREFERRED NEXT HOLIDAY DESTINATION OF TARGET GROUP

Table 20
PREFERRED HOLIDAY DESTINATION OF
TARGET GROUP IN INDIA
DESTINATION

PERCENTAGE

MUNNAR

26.71%

GOA

15.75%

COORG
OOTY
THEKKADY

14.38%
14.38%
6.85%

KANYAKUMARI

4.11%

WAYANAD

3.42%

DELHI

2.05%

MANALI

2.05%

SHIMLA

2.05%

KODAIKANAL

1.37%

ATHIRAPALLY

0.68%

BANGALORE

0.68%

HEBBE FALLS

0.68%

KASHMIR

0.68%

KUMARAKOM

0.68%

LAKSHADEEP

0.68%

PALARUVI

0.68%

RAJASTHAN
SHIMOGA
VEEGALAND

0.68%
0.68%
0.68%

61

Table 21
PREFERRED INTERNATIONAL
HOLIDAY DESTINATION OF TARGET
GROUP
DESTINATION

PERCENTAGE

SINGAPORE

53.85%

MALAYSIA

38.46%

AUSTRALIA

7.69%

PERCENTAGE

8%
38%

SINGAPORE
54%

MALAYSIA
AUSTRALIA

62

DATA INTERPRETATION:-The target group of Club Mahindra should be people possessing

holidaying habits. The preferred holiday destination of target group includes holiday destinations
within India and abroad. In holiday destinations within India, 26.7% of them marked Munnar as their
next holiday destination, followed by 15.8% preferring Goa & Coorg and Ooty preferred by 14.4%.
When holiday destinations abroad are considered 53.85% preferred Singapore, 38.46% preferred
Malaysia and 7.69% preferred Australia. The tabular representation of preferred holiday destinations
both national and international is given below in table 9.24 and 9.25

TARGET GROUPS LEISURE ACTIVITIES

63

The survey also tried to explore the leisure activities of the target group identified. The leisure
activities identified are classified into four categories and is expressed in table 9.30 shown below
Table 22
LEISURE ACTIVITIES OF TARGET GROUP
ACTIVITY

PERCENTAGE

MOVIE

90.60%

VISIT TO AN AMUSEMENT PARK

27.70%

GOIN OUT FOR A DRIVE

23.30%

ADVENTUROUS ACTIVITIES

6.90%

PERCENTAGE

16%
19%

MOVIE

5%

VISIT TO AN AMUSEMENT
PARK
61%

GOIN OUT FOR A DRIVE

ADVENTUROUS ACTIVITIES

DATA INTERPRETATION:- Among the target group identified 90.6% prefer movies as their
leisure time activity, 27.7% of them prefer a visit to an amusement park while 23.3% prefer to going
out for a drive & 6.9% percent prefer adventurous activities.

6.4

DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF TARGET GROUP

64

The target group was evaluated based on demographic lineaments like age, sex, income and
occupation. The trends revealed are listed below.
Age
The target group identified during survey was classified into different age groups. The statistics
revealed is given in table below.
Table 23
AGE BRACKET

31 TO 40

41 TO 50

51 TO 60

PERCENTAGE

66.04%

25.79%

8.18%

PERCENTAGE
8%
31-40

26%

41-50
66%

51-60

DATA INTERPRETATION:- Among the target group identified 66.04% of population belongs to
the age bracket 31 to 40 while 25.79% of target group belongs to 41 to 50 age bracket. This is an
indication of rising target group majority between the age group31 to 40.

Sex
Among the total target group identified during survey the ratio of male to female is given below.

65

Table 24
GENDER BASED RATIO OF
TARGET GROUP IDENTIFIED
MALE
FEMALE
4

Males formed major share of target group identified. The main reason for this outcome is that 85% of
the surveyed population was married and in general males respond to questionnaires when family
customers are approached in various shopping destinations
Income
The target group identified was classified into three income groups as indicated in table 9.33. Among
the target group identified, 8.81% belong to above Rs.10 lakh annual income group, 45% of them
belong to the income group Rs. 6 to 8 lakhs and an equal percentage of them belong to Rs. 8 to 10
lakhs.
Table 25
ANNUAL FAMILY
INCOME
PERCENTAGE OF
TARGET GROUP
IDENTIFIED

Rs. 6 TO 8
LAKHS

Rs. 8 TO 10
LAKHS

ABOVE Rs. 10
LAKHS

45.28%

45.91%

8.81%

Occupation
Based on the occupation target group was divided into five categories. Among the total target group
identified majority of them belong to three categories namely business, professional and white collar.
The percentage share of each category is given below. The data analyzed reveals that the majority of
customers hail from business background. The percentage share of each category is listed in table
9.34 shown below.

66

Table 26
OCCUPATIONAL SEGMENTATION OF TARGET
GROUP IDENTIFIED
TYPE
PERCENTAGE
BUSINESS

40.88%

PROFESSIONALS

28.93%

WHITE COLLAR

27.04%

MILITARY

1.89%

AGRICULTURE

1.26%

67

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS:-

68

FINDINGS
Based on the survey carried out and the analysis of data collected following findings are made:
(A) Potential shopping destination in different category of Business outlets :
Following are the potential shopping destinations identified in different shopping outlets based on
the percentage of target group foot fall in each category.
Table 27
CATEGORY

BUSINESS OUTLET

Home appliances

Samsung

Car Showrooms

Premium Car showrooms

Watch Showrooms

World of Titan

(B) Tie ups with Corporate firms

Twenty nine percentage of the target group identified were from professional background in which
engineers from information technology and software background form 60% of the target group.
(C) Improving communication platform
According to the survey carried out at different places, ninety percentage of the target group prefer
movies as their leisure time activities.
(D) Holidaying Frequency of target group
The holiday frequency of 84.91% of the target group identified is once in a year while 10.69 % of
target group have a holiday frequency of once in six months. Only 3.77% of the target group
possesses a holiday frequency of once in two years.
(E) Preferred next holiday destination of Target group
In holiday destinations within India, 26.7% of the target group identified marked Munnar as their
next holiday destination while Singapore was the preferred international holiday destination by
38.46% of target group.

69

SUGGESTIONS
Based on the survey carried out and the analysis of data collected following recommendations are
made:
(A) To increase the data generation activity at Potential shopping destination in different
category of Business outlets :
Data generation activities are suggested based on the kind of customers that walks in to the outlet.
Table 28
CATEGORY

BUSINESS OUTLET

SUGGESTED DATA
GENERATION PROCESS

Home appliances

Samsung

Fill in coupons with lucky

draw for free holidays

Car Showrooms

Premium Car showrooms

Tie up with dealer during

Service camps for DGA.

World of Titan

Fill in coupons with cash

refund offer through lucky
draw during peak season

Watch Showrooms

Over 90% of the target group identified during the survey has responded to watching movies as their
leisure time activity, therefore a lucky draw voucher for a movie ticket would be appealing to them.
In premium car showrooms, hundred percent of the customers fulfilling the target group criteria of
club Mahindra were identified. Since interacting with customers would be difficult as foot falls are
barely adequate, hence a tie up with the management for interaction with customers during
promotions would be advisable. Events like test drive or annual service check-up of cars can be
targeted for data generation process.
(B) Tie ups with Corporate firms to extend the marketing activities
It is advisable to extend the marketing activities to corporate firms particularly in Info-park to target
this rising high income group who mainly fall in the age group of 31 to 40 meeting all Club
Mahindra target group criteria.

70

(C) Improving communication platform for better awareness about the product
It would be effective if flash advertisements are displayed in theaters and multiplexes to improve
brand recall. The television broadcast of Club Mahindra advertisements is confined to national
channels. Extension of these advertisements to local television channels (E.g.: Asianet) will improve
brand recognition which would improve the conversion rate of prospective target group to
customers.
(D) Efforts to increase the Holidaying Frequency of target group
It is evident that the annual seven day holiday scheme offered by Club Mahindra will be appealing
to majority of the target group.
(E) Check which is the preferred next holiday destination of Target group
Being identified as the most preferred location, free holidays in Munnar can be offered to families
that are invited to holiday world for tour so that they will get to know the product well. It can also
be considered for lucky draw vouchers for free stay that are used in data generation activities.

71

LEARNING OUTCOME

72

LEARNING OUTCOME
The summer internship in Club Mahindra offered me a period of great learning and experience. The
exposure to this flourishing paradigm of hospitality and tourism industry helped me to understand the
following:

1) Concept of time share : A shared vacation ownership concept that evolved in Europe which is
flourishing currently in Asia and rapidly in India. It gave me an opportunity to understand what
are the advantages & drawbacks of the product that is being offered.

2) Exposure to Marketing & Sales departments of Club Mahindra: The interaction with the
marketing team and sales team in all levels of hierarchy helped me to understand the practical
intricacies and how systematically they approach to tackle them.

3) Understanding of ISP (Interactive Sales presentation): Club Mahindra have a dedicated

interactive sales presentation team in Holiday world where exquisitely refined and wellstructured sales presentations or tours are being carried out to demonstrate the product features.
This helped me to learn how to interact with customers during a sales pitch. It gave an exposure
to the queries raised by customers and how the holiday consultant handles and overcome them.

4) Understanding the importance of market research: The Internship also helped me to learn the
practical significance of market research and its relevance to the business world. It gave me an
overview of a structured evaluation carried out by corporate world to identify untapped potential
markets or even to understand the changes in demographic and psychographic parameters of its
target audience.

73

REFERENCES

74

REFERENCES
Articles

Montaudon Ricardo, Nicholas John Paul and Oei Kendall, Marketing Brief: The state of global
time share prepared for ARDA, Group RCI, April 2008.
Time & Time Again: Buying & selling timeshares & vacation plans, Federal trade commission,
2005.

Text books

Zikmuund G William, Business research methods, Questionnaire Design, (Cengage learning,

2003) pg 329 -360.
Zikmuund G William, Business research methods, Sample Designs & sampling procedures,
(Cengage learning, 2003) pg 368 397.

Electronic media

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_share
http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/about/
http://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/about-hilton-grand-vacations-club.php
http://www.marriottvacationclub.com/aboutus/index.html
http://www.starwoodvacationownership.com/starwood_vacation_ownership.jsp
http://www.rci.com/RCI/
http://www.daelive.com/
http://www.sterlingresorts.in/
http://www.clubmahindra.com/
http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/gyzg/t263948.htm

Reports

World Tourism organization report, 2008

Group RCI Latin American fact Book, 2007
City-Scape tourism conference report, Dubai, 2007
Ministry of tourism, Colombia, Venezuela & Brazil , 2008
Time Share institute of South Africa

Others

75

Marketing Department, Club Mahindra.

ANNEXURE

76

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SHOPPING MALL

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)

Name of Respondent :
Age
:
Marital Status
:
Occupation
:
Vehicle Owned
:
Place of stay
:
Annual Family Income:

______________________________________
______________________________________
Married
Bachelor
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Less than Rs.6 Lakhs
Rs. 6 to 8 Lakhs
Rs 8 to 10 Lakhs Greater than Rs. 10Lakhs

8) In which time slot of the day do you visit your favorite destination :
10AM-2PM
2PM 6PM

6PM

10 PM
9) How often do you go for holidays with your family
Once in 3 months
Once in 6 months
Once in a year
Once in 2 years
10) To which destination would you like go for your next holiday?
_________________________________________________________________
11)Which among the following leisure activities have you taken part in, if yes, kindly mention
the location.
Watching movie
_________________________
Visit to an amusement park
_________________________
Going out for a drive
__________________________
Adventurous activities
__________________________
Others
__________________________
*****************************

77