Feasibility Of Establishing A Yoga Retreat In Kampot, Cambodia For Domestic And International Practices And Tourists

MKT5AMR Applied Marketing Research

Objectives and recommendations for establishing a yoga retreat in Kampot, Cambodia

The primary aim of the research study was to provide recommendations and a rationale for establishing a yoga retreat in Kampot, Cambodia in order to attract both domestic and international yoga practices and tourists.

The following objectives were formulated towards achieving the above stated general purpose;

1. To determine the major benefits attributed to yoga practices and yoga tourism.
2. To identify the type of products and services that attract and influence international yoga retreats and tourism.

• To determine the communication channels which can enhance yoga retreats and tourism in the global markets.

1. To provide recommendations for yoga studios on international retreats and tourism.

Yoga is an art that has gained a lot of interest among people across the globe. Yoga refers to the combination of physical, spiritual and mental practices. Yoga promotes people’s wellness, in terms of health and happiness (Belikova Zhanna A., 2010).Yoga was developed thousands of years ago in India and its practice has continued to be exercised up to date and gained a worldwide spectrum (Buffet, 1996). Yoga tourism and retreats are expected to create public awareness among most segments of the world’s population on the yoga practice.

Benefits of yoga

Yoga has a wide range of benefits to a country, yoga teacher, yoga studio and yoga student. In this section we shall discuss both economic and health benefits of yoga.

Economic importance of Yoga.

This section shall try to answer the research question on the economic benefits acquired from yoga studios and yoga tourists.

Many benefits can be obtained from yoga, some of which include job and wealth creation. For instance, in the US, yoga has already become a $30 billion industry. The growing perception of yoga as a leisure activity has been converted into an economic industry. Income is a major benefit that one can obtain from any enterprise.

Income is money that an individual or business receives in exchange for providing a good or service or through investing capital. Therefore, yoga can generate income either through work or through investment. Income is used to fund day-to-day expenditures.

Yoga has become a big discipline that has embedded itself in various industries such as entertainment and tourism (Maddox, 2014).

We can formulate the following hypothesis to help us answer the research question on whether yoga is a source of income or not.

H₀: Yoga is not a source of income for yoga studios and teachers.

H₁: Yoga is a source of income for yoga studios and teachers.

Health benefits from yoga

Yoga plays an important role in the physical and mental health of people across the world. Yoga focuses on ones body’s natural tendency towards health and self-healing. The purpose of yoga is to build strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body.

Yoga has both physical and mental benefits on someone’s wellbeing. Physically, yoga increases stability, increases muscle strength and tone, improves respiration, energy and vitality, maintains a balanced metabolism, reduces weight, improves cardio and circulatory health, improves athletic performance and protects one against injury.

Mentally, yoga helps a person manage stress, which is known to have devastating effects on the body and mental wellness. Regular yoga practice can help create mental clarity and calmness.

To assess the impact of Yoga on mental and physical health, we shall try to answer the research question on whether yoga has an impact on mental and physical health. The following hypothesis shall suffice to answer the research question;

Benefits of yoga for economic and health purposes

H₀: Yoga does not significantly play a role in mental and physical health.

H₁: Yoga significantly plays a role in mental and physical health.

Yoga as a wellness tourism attraction

According to (Peris-Ortiz, 2015) the wellness tourism is gaining quick momentum all over the world. Wellness tourism refers to the act of travelling within one’s country and internationally for the purpose of enhancing general mental and physical wellness by taking part in spiritual, psychological and physical activities.

People across the world are looking for new ways of relaxation and re-energizing themselves. Yoga practices shall be expected to meet these increasingly growing needs. Yoga enterprises shall therefore be expected to thrive. (Confederation of National Chambers of Commerce Services, 1987).

The research question on whether Yoga shall meet the needs of wellness tourists can be answered through the formulation of the hypothesis below;

H₀: Yoga is not an attraction for wellness tourists.

H₁: Yoga is an attraction for wellness tourists. 

International retreats

International retreats refer to periods and places off normal schedules for personal relaxation and re-energization. They provide a platform for showcasing products offered by one. International retreats provide the ability to do in-depth research on yoga products and practice (Owen, 2014). Yoga teachers and studios obtain more knowledge concerning yoga as they interact ans observe yoga practice during international retreats.

Public awareness on yoga practices and products is enhanced through these international retreats (Salah Wahab, 5).

Purposefully for this research, we try to establish the impact of international retreats in enhancing global yoga business.

To establish the impact of international retreats in enhancing global yoga business, we shall be guided by the research question on whether international retreats boost global yoga business and we shall formulate the hypothesis;

H₀: There is no impact of international retreats on yoga global business

H₁: There is impact of international retreats on yoga global business.

Impact of social media on tourism

Social media can be described as websites and applications that enable users to create and share information. The use of social media in creating awareness on tourism has led to the rise of social tourism which can be defined as the connections and phenomena related to the participation of people in the countries of destinations as well as of holidaymakers, of disadvantaged layers of society or those unable to participate in tourism, holidays and their advantages for whatever reason.

Businesses spend some amount of their investments in public awareness creation through advertisements (Lynn Minnaert, 2009). As a result, yoga tourism industry can allocate some of their budgets to advocate for yoga retreats and tourism. Advertisement and public awareness platforms such be social media, websites, mails and mobile applications could be used. The below hypothesis can be formulated to help us answer the research question on whether media has an influence on yoga tourism or not.

H₀: Media has no significant impact on yoga tourism.

H₁: Media has significant impact on yoga tourism.

The study aimed to address the established objectives. Information was gathered from respondents concerning yoga by administering questionnaires as the method that was used for data collection. The data that was used was primary data. It was collected from yoga teachers, students and yoga studio operators.

Economic importance of yoga and its potential to generate income

Descriptive research with a cross sectional approach was used to describe the phenomena of interest.  Data was inputted into the statistical software for social statistics (SPSS) for purposes of analysis. IBM SPSS version 23 was used for analyzing the data.

Sample and sampling process

Responses were collected from 99 yoga teachers by administering questionnaires too them.

Data collection

Data collection was accomplished through the completion of questionnaires by the yoga teachers.

Data analysis

The statistical tool used for data analysis, which were collected form yoga teachers through the questionnaires, was IBM SPSS version 23. All collected data was coded and analyzed from the SPSS software. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA and correlation were some of the tools used to identify and validate the relationships between factors and to determine the strength and direction of relationships and associations among different variables. Tables, graphs and charts were used for result presentation.

This section provides findings obtained from data analysis that was done using SPSS.

Sample description.

99 yoga teachers provided responses for this survey. The responses were recorded in questionnaires which contained both open ended and closed ended questions.

Of the 99 respondents, 6 were male representing 6.1%, 67 were female representing 67.7% while 23 representing 26.3% did not respond on their gender. Females therefore formed majority of the respondents as depicted on the below table.

Gender:
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Male	6	6.1	8.2	8.2
Female	67	67.7	91.8	100.0
Total	73	73.7	100.0
Missing	System	26	26.3
Total	99	100.0

Which of the following best describes you: – Other – Text
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid		96	97.0	97.0	97.0
I am a teacher, student & enthusiast but don’t teach	1	1.0	1.0	98.0
I was a YT and SO but now am an academic who conducts research on the global wellness tourism industry	1	1.0	1.0	99.0
Qualified teacher not currentlly teaching	1	1.0	1.0	100.0
Total	99	100.0	100.0

96 of the 99 respondents representing 97% responded to be yoga teachers, 1responded to being a yoga student, one said they conducted research on global wellness tourism industry and 1 responded to be a qualified teacher but currently not teaching.

The age distribution of the respondents is as shown below.

Please specify your age group:
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	18-24	4	4.0	5.5	5.5
25-34	12	12.1	16.4	21.9
35-50	31	31.3	42.5	64.4
Above 50	26	26.3	35.6	100.0
Total	73	73.7	100.0
Missing	System	26	26.3
Total	99	100.0

Is yoga a source of income?

The main benefit that one can obtain from a yoga enterprise is the generation of income from the venture.

The question on whether yoga business is a source of income was answered by seeking responses from the respondents on how important yoga was important to them in growing their income and the following table shall provide the responses.

How important is growing your income from yoga business?
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Not at all important	7	7.1	11.1	11.1
Slightly important	8	8.1	12.7	23.8
Moderately important	20	20.2	31.7	55.6
Very important	19	19.2	30.2	85.7
Extremely important	9	9.1	14.3	100.0
Total	63	63.6	100.0
Missing	System	36	36.4
Total	99	100.0

The study asked the respondents to indicate what they felt about yoga as a source of income. The findings presented show the importance of using Yoga to generate income. The study used a 5-point scale with 1 representing not at all important, 2 representing slightly important, 3 representing moderately important, 4 representing very important and 5 representing extremely important.

Majority of the respondents who tallied to 20, representing 20.2% said that yoga was moderately important in growing their yoga business, 19 representing 19.2% said that it was very important, 9 representing 9.1% said that it was extremely important, 8 representing 8.1 % said that it was slightly important and 7 who were the least number of respondents on this matter, representing 7.1% said that growing income out of yoga business was not important at all. However, not all the participants sampled into the study responded to this question. 36 representing 36.4 % did not provide responses to this question.

Relationship between yoga tourism and income.

Mental and physical health benefits of yoga

One-way ANOVA was performed on the frequency of domestic yoga retreats and international yoga retreats to find out their impact on income. The p-values for domestic yoga retreats and international yoga retreats are 0.487 and 0.548 respectively implying that at the 5% level of significance we reject the null hypothesis that there is no significant impact of yoga tourism on income since these values are greater than 0.05.

ANOVA
	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
How many domestic yoga retreats you have run in the past?	Between Groups	13.963	4	3.491	.871	.487
Within Groups	228.424	57	4.007
Total	242.387	61
How many international yoga retreats you have run in the past?	Between Groups	3.517	4	.879	.772	.548
Within Groups	64.950	57	1.139
Total	68.468	61

What is the effect of type of service offered on yoga international retreats?

The study tried to understand different types of products and services that attract and influence international retreat operators as well as tourists in the current times. For example, the study asked about what students liked about the products and services offered. The findings showed that on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 represents strongly not prefer and 5 showing strongly prefer different products. The analysis results showed that respondents preferred three types of products. They preferred twin share (dual occupancy) (, single occupancy rooms (, and air-conditioning (. However, a majority of respondents showed that they were not influenced by provision of certain products. For example, they were not influenced by dorms(, provision of alcohol (, and Gym (. 

What is the influence of media on yoga international retreats and yoga tourism?

We assessed the correlation between media and international yoga retreats and the following table presents the findings.

Correlations
	Social media (including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)	Website	Direct mail	E-marketing newsletter	Telemarketing	Mobile application	How many international yoga retreats you have run in the past?
Social media (including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)	Pearson Correlation	1	.350*	.094	.337*	.183	.167	.045
Sig. (2-tailed)		.017	.530	.022	.219	.262	.765
N	47	46	47	46	47	47	47
Website	Pearson Correlation	.350*	1	.310*	.503**	.095	.446**	-.015
Sig. (2-tailed)	.017		.036	.000	.529	.002	.919
N	46	46	46	45	46	46	46
Direct mail	Pearson Correlation	.094	.310*	1	.200	.131	.091	-.020
Sig. (2-tailed)	.530	.036		.183	.381	.545	.894
N	47	46	47	46	47	47	47
E-marketing newsletter	Pearson Correlation	.337*	.503**	.200	1	.203	.483**	.101
Sig. (2-tailed)	.022	.000	.183		.176	.001	.502
N	46	45	46	46	46	46	46
Telemarketing	Pearson Correlation	.183	.095	.131	.203	1	.138	-.121
Sig. (2-tailed)	.219	.529	.381	.176		.355	.417
N	47	46	47	46	47	47	47
Mobile application	Pearson Correlation	.167	.446**	.091	.483**	.138	1	-.282
Sig. (2-tailed)	.262	.002	.545	.001	.355		.055
N	47	46	47	46	47	47	47
How many international yoga retreats you have run in the past?	Pearson Correlation	.045	-.015	-.020	.101	-.121	-.282	1
Sig. (2-tailed)	.765	.919	.894	.502	.417	.055
N	47	46	47	46	47	47	62
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The Pearson correlation coefficients for individual media types and international yoga tourism all differ from each other indicating a difference in influence of each of the media types on international tourism.

Social media (Facebook, Instagram, twitter), website, direct mail, e-marketing newsletter, telemarketing, mobile applications and international yoga tourism had a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.045, -0.15, -0.20, 0.101, -0.121 and -0.282 respectively.

Social media and e-marketing newsletter were the two media platforms that were found to impact positively on international yoga tourism while the others negatively impacted on yoga international retreats.

Limitations of the study

There was no 100% response to all questions by the participants.

Conclusion

A booming industry has risen and developed in yoga practices. Stiff competition has emerged among yoga enterprises which offer similar products and services. Specialization and specificity in products and services offered by yoga studios and teachers shall minimize the ever-rising competition in the yoga industry.  An approach plan towards existing and potential yoga clients shall be key in this industry.

 Recommendations

A strong pull mechanism ought to be created. Push and pull approaches are vital in the promotion of activities related to tourism, where push are the internal factors and the pulls are usually the external factors that promote tourism. Currently, yoga tourists are driven by a strong internal factors. The desire to explore one’s spirituality and to seek self peace in life. However, making use of pull mechanisms such as yoga promotion in international fairs and retreats will increase tourist activity.

There is need to make use of social tourism. Advertisements and product promotions through social media and international retreats can be capitalized by the Yoga enterprise to be based Kampot, Cambodia to ensure that its yoga international retreat will be attended by several clients both nationally and internationally.

References

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