Title of Research Project

“A Case Study Of Tajmahal & Visitor Satisfaction and

Carrying Capacity”

Under the supervision of

Mohd Haleem

Research Project Proposal

Submitted To

Institute of Hotel Management, Hajipur

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD

OF

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)

in
Hospitality and Hotel Administration

By
AMLESH KUMAR
NC Roll No.-2041111028

Institute of Hotel Management, Hajipur (Vaishali)

2022
Introduction

Agra is the city of the inimitable Taj Mahal. It was the Mughals who
nurtured Agra with the finest monuments architects could design. Agra
has a reputation of being one of the hottest towns in India; hottest in
terms of both, tourist destination as well as temperature. Taj Mahal is
one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The coveted title of the World
Heritage site is granted by United National Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan, the fifth mughal ruler, in the memory
of his beloved queen Arjumand Banu Begam entitled as Muntaz-uz-
Zamanin or Muntaz Mahal.

The majestic well proportionate mausoleum and other structural

elements of Taj Mahal complex were built in long time span of 17 years
from 1631 to 1648, employing twenty thousand workers. Taj Mahal
represents the finest architectural and artistic achievement through
perfect harmony and excellent craftsmanship in a whole range of Indo-
Islamic sepulchral architecture. Due to heavy crowd at Taj Mahal
premises, lot of problems have being observed resembling pollution, loss
of open space, and degradation of historic site, cultural effects, and
irritation due to tourist behavior. Therefore, this study emphasizes the
satisfaction level of different attributes of the tourists who visited Taj
Mahal.

In fact, the success of the tourism industry depends on the level of

satisfaction given by the tourists. The tourists will be satisfied when they
acquire quality services and warm hospitality. Satisfied travelers will be
pleased to tell friends and relatives about the commendable attitudesand
manners of the operators and the workforce at a ourist spot in dealing
with them.
Literature Review

Rahul (2013) has analysis the customer satisfaction effectiveness on

Taj attracts large number of tourists every year. In 2006, total tourists were about 25

lakhs including 5 lakhs foreigners, whereas In 2011, the number was doubled, which

includes 6.8 lakhs foreigners, registering an overall growth by 110% in last 5 years. Due

to this crowd, a lot of environmental stress is being observed within the premises of

site, despite the best efforts being made by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Kishore (2012) has discussed on

A popular study by Young, Chadburn, & Bedu, (2009) suggested that to develop appropriate

measures for traffic management, public transport network and associate facilities were designed,

safety for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists at road junctions was increased, convenient pickup &

drop off points were identified, speed limits next to the site were reviewed and parking was made

free for pre-booked coaches.

Shukla (2020) has mentioned about

Angkor, Cambodia is one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia and

was designated as the most popular UNWHS globally, ahead of India’s Taj Mahal at number

two (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, tribuneindia.com, indiatoday.in, hindustantimes.com,

2017). In 1993, UNESCO embarked upon an ambitious plan to safeguard and develop the

historical site, carried out by the Division of Cultural Heritage in close cooperation with the

World Heritage Centre. Illicit excavation, pillaging of archaeological sites and landmines

were the main problems. These threats had been neutralised and now the site Angkor,

Cambodia has removed the site from the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2004 (UNESCO,

2004).
Research Problem Statement
The concept of carrying capacity addresses the question of how many people can be

permitted into Taj Mahal without risk of degrading the site and the visitor’s experience

(Graefe et al., 1984). It has generally been broken down into three categories: Physical,

ecological and social (Rastegar, 2010). Physical carrying capacity called “facility carrying

capacity” by the World Tourism Organization mostly has to do with available space the

number of beds available to overnight guests, how many vehicles would fill a parking lot,

how many campers in a campground, seats in a theatre, and so on. Concomitant to such

considerations is the question of fresh water and electricity supply (Rose et al., 2014).

Objectives of Research
The primary objective of the Social Impact Assessment is to ensure that the project addresses the
adverse impacts on the livelihood of the people and that nobody is left worse- off after project
implement and all local inhabitants, including those affected by the project, have access to project
benefits, both during the construction as well as operation phase of the project. Specifically, the
objectives of the study are:

 Documentation of the baseline status of the Project Affected Persons

 To carry out a socio-economic and cultural analysis to identify the project stakeholders and
social issues associated with the project
 Assessment of the extent of asset loss through a questionnaire based survey of potential
project affected people
 Development of a consultation framework for participatory planning and implementation of
proposed Social Management Plan

Scope and Research Significance

A review of literature has brought forth the fact that the tag of the UN World Heritage Site usually
adds to the number of tourist footfalls at a heritage site. In the case of the Taj Mahal, the tag of
UNWHS does not play a major role in visitor’s motivation for visiting the monument. In this case, at
least, being on the UNWHS list is of less concern and being one of the 7 wonders of the Old World is
more important. The site is on UNWHS and the concept of the same needs to be promoted among
the potential visitors, not to value the Taj Mahal more but to promote other monuments in India
who are on the list and not known or as popular among the visitors and tourists. The concentrated
effort of promoting all the UNWHS monuments might be one way of spreading the visitors who
motivated to visit UNWHS. Taj Mahal remains popular in the mind of the visitors for its outstanding
universal values featuring the architecture, artistic blend, and stories of love and promise. Although
differential pricing as a method of visitor management strategy as well as a cap on the number of
domestic tourists visiting Taj Mahal per day has been put in place, there is still more scope to make
heritage accessible to all by making differential pricing time-bound and linked to identity card
through digital ticketing.

Proposed Research Methodology

 Study Area:
 The study depends on surveys and interviews of various constituents of the Indian
tourism industry, including tourists. Surveys had been conducted with purposefully
designed questionnaires, and interview methods. Proper analysis of the government
policies and the data of tourist arrivals and receipts in Taj Mahal were also utilized in
deriving conclusions. Tourist Information was gathered from the state tourism
departments. In order to study the present status of various basic amenities and
facilities/services related to tourists and other stakeholders, a survey was conducted
in January 2014.
Sampling Design:
 The main objective of the study is to figure out the tourism carrying capacity and sustainable
tourism development in Agra. The study is based on primary data collected during the field
visits in Agra city and during 2017 and 2018. Primary data sources include the field
observation of different monuments of Agra through extensive field survey that includes
focused interview and questioners. For analysis of tourism status of Agra city, number of
field visit was conducted during the various peak tourist periods in 2017 to 2018.
 Sample Size:
This study uses a participant observation approach to examine the status of tourism. These
observations base on informal interview and discussion with international and domestic
tourist, government stakeholders, local people, hotel staff, skilled and unskilled workers.
Secondary data of tourist visitors both for international and domestic tourist were collected
from the tourism Department of Uttar Pradesh, Ministry of Tourism, India and various
reports and of tourism from 2001 to 2018.
Questionnaire:
A questionnaire survey was specifically designed to address various issues related to
tourists comfort and their rich experience of visiting Taj Mahal. The questionnaire included
the satisfaction level regarding each service/ facility required/ availed by the tourists inside
and outside Taj Mahal complex (Fredman and Hornsten, 2004). The survey was conducted
hotels and restaurants outside and inside Taj Mahal premises, where tourists could properly
respond to the questions asked for.

 Data Collection Methods:

The interviewer raised questions about the measures adopted by government to curtail
overcrowding in the Taj Mahal and its relative impact on tourist guides. Sample questions
included: ‘Does a three-hour time cap for the tourist changes the style of your guiding?’;
‘How would you describe your role in managing the monument?’; ‘ Do you think
overcrowding is actually present in the destination?’

 Research Tool:
This investigation utilized purposive sampling to identify tourist guide subjects with whom to
conduct qualitative interviews (Denzin & Lincoln, 2000). The respondents were consciously chosen
to represent diversity and were selected on the criteria that they had worked as a tour guide for at
least the past seven years in the Taj Mahal.

Limitations of Research
The limitations encountered other than the high personal expenses involved in frequently visiting
the site, are listed below:
i. The chosen site is the World Heritage designated site and is a 'must-see tourist
attraction and hence could have influenced the results, especially from the visitors.
ii. ii. The tourist season is usually concentrated in the months from April to June &
December to January both among domestic tourists and latter among International
tourists. Therefore, data collection was restricted to these specific months to carry out
the survey process.
iii. There is the involvement of too many stakeholders for the upkeep and running of the
sites, which resulted in a mismatch of figures especially the visitor arrival count at Taj
Mahal
iv. The response to the survey questionnaire from the travel agents, guides/escorts and
NGO’s related to the sites was difficult to obtain because of their busy agendas.
v. Lastly, there was a lack of interest from ASI staff in revealing details on expenditure
and revenue collection at the sites.
Further, the data was collected pre – covid times and the answers from tourists and stakeholders
may vary in present times
Proposed Chapter
Chapter 1 : Introduction
Chapter 2 : Objective
Chapter 3 : Review of Literature
Chapter 4 : Research Methodology
Chapter 5 : Data Analysis and Interpretation
Chapter 6 : Conclusion and Recommendation

Reference
Websites / online newspapers and magazines

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(n.d.). http://tourism.gov.in/market-research-andstatistics. tourism, U. o. (1992).
http://www.e-unwto.org/ doi/book/ 10.18111/ 9789284417292.
 UNESCO WHS. (n.d.). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Former_UNESCO _
World_Heritage_Sites
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