Wharton Journal

Issue date: 1/27/03 Section: News

Last May, three members of the Wharton International Volunteer Program, supported by Merial, the world's leading animal health company, ventured off to Central Asia. There they spent three weeks developing a financial and marketing plan for Hustai National Park, a nature reserve created to save an endangered real wild horse, known as the Tahki or Przewalski Horse. The team, consisting of Sean Fitzpatrick, Huybert Groenendaal and Rebecca Washenberger, arrived in Mongolia with only a vague understanding of the environment and conditions of life in this remote country. They returned to Wharton with a more comprehensive understanding of the challenges facing post-communist economies and an appreciation for the impact basic business education can have on the sustainability of businesses in volatile environments.

The Takhi Horse is the last surviving ancestor of the modern domestic horse. The species once roamed the steppe of Central Asia and Europe, but since 1968 has been extinct in the wild. Hustai National Park's Takhi re-introduction project is part of a worldwide initiative to return the highly endangered species to its Mongolian homeland.

To help replace recent funding losses, the WIVP team sought to help increase the park's profits.

To determine how much money Hustai National Park made from tourism and to identify the most profitable tourists, the WIVP team built a flexible financial model, based on the Park's tourism revenues and costs from 2001. The team gave extensive business training sessions to selected park employees, who can now predict future business needs for changing conditions and expectations. A marketing study also was completed to determine the best way to increase profits by boosting the number of visitors to Hustai National Park.

Rebecca states, "What we did for the park was pretty simplistic compared to many of the concepts taught at Wharton, but it was new for them to learn about how to figure out their profits from tourism, segment the tourism market, and develop strategies for increasing park profits. The goal is for the park to become self-sustaining and I believe our team gave them some skills to help them reach that goal. For myself, I realized just how useful Marketing 621 is. Who would have ever guessed?"

What did the WIVP team achieve? "We learned not only about Mongolian culture and history, but also about life in another part of the world far away from Huntsman Hall," says Sean. "It was the most challenging, rewarding experiences of my Wharton career." Huybert adds how amazing it was to be in a country in which in some areas time has stood still since about 800 years ago when Ghengis Khan reigned over the largest empire in the world's history. "The Mongolians are without doubt still the best horseman in the world, but in the current world knowing Excel is more important. In Mongolia, your horseback riding skills and the value of your horses and other livestock are still seen as a status symbol to many nomads. Also, family and neighbors are extremely important, and they are there to help you not only to survive but to enjoy life; you really see how relative everything we worry about here in the west really is." Finally, Huybert adds that the hospitality of the Mongolians is just amazing. "Never had such good yoghurt with home-made jelly, and they just kept offering me more!"

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