The Tourism Industry Nowadays - Essay Example

Tourism Planning Discussion Paper Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Literature Review 4 Traditions of Tourism Planning 5 Boosterism 5 Economic Tradition 5 The Physical or Spatial Approach 6 Community – Oriented Approach 6 Sustainable Approach 7 Integrative Planning Approach 7 Destination 8 Tourism Planning Process 9 Long Range and Strategic Planning 9 Public Involvement in Tourism Planning 11 Strategic Planning Principles 11 Steps Involved in Tourism Planning 13 16 Conclusion 17 References 18 Bibliography 20 Introduction Today tourism is no longer the privilege enjoyed by the elite and the affluent. Tourism industry represents the largest global service industry with the global income exceeding US$13 trillion. According to the survey conducted by World Tourism department (WTO), the international travelers are expected to increase by 500 million per annum. The transport and communication development has further enhanced the travelling system. The dawn of 21st century will witness the boom in the traveling industry especially in the developing region like Asia which holds the premium destination spots. Tourism industry seeks to renew the development process, stimulate a country’s economy, encourage the preservation of the cultural heritage and create international peace and harmony. The tourism industry generates potential employment opportunities on a large scale. It pays homage to all the countries in the world characterized by diverse culture and symbolism. Tourism industry is also represented as the multicomponent industry with different industries of economic importance interlinked inextricably. The greatest contribution to this Industry comes from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and World Trade Organization (WTO). There are innumerable political and economical challenges faced by the global tourism industry extending from the terrorism threats to the global recession and that of the Communist Eastern Bloc. The positive impact of tourism clearly justifies the tourism development while the negative impacts of the environment stimulate the need for better and fresh tourism planning (Trade-wings Institute Of Management, 2000). Literature Review The trend followed by the tourism development range from the systematic approach to those of contemporary ones. According to Waterson and Rose, Planning is a complex and ambiguous process. The concept of Physical Planning existed from the early centuries. According to Branch, “cities in India as early as 3000 B.C were divided into the square blocks, oriented to the cardinal points and laid out to allow the circulation between them”. In United Kingdom, the planning was in practice for two centuries as pointed by Cherry. The physical layout plan dates back to Greek and Roman. The physical and social illness caused due to industrialization led to the stimulation for planning in England. With the addition of social and economic dimension to planning, emerged the concept of tourism planning. Jafari observed and acknowledged the fact of changing professional and popular meaning of tourism. Now the most widely accepted definition of tourism is that it is an economic generator. It is of utmost importance for every country to chalk out the plans for tourism as it provides specific direction for the implementation of the process. The tourism literature establishes the impact of tourism into three overlapping categories of environment, social and economics according to Matheson and Wall. These are mutually exclusive with reasonable degree of overlap to understand the impact upon the tourism. Since they are interdependent their interrelations play a critical role in the development of the sustainable tourism planning approach (Gunn & Var, 2002). Traditions of Tourism Planning Gertz and Hall recognized five approaches or traditions of tourism at destination level. They are as follows: Boosterism Boosterism has been the most dominant concept towards the tourism planning. It beholds simplistic attitude that the development of tourism is inherently good and it bestows benefit to the destination. The negative economic, social and environmental impacts are given a minimum consideration based on its simplistic approach of good outweighing the bad influences. It emphasizes on exploiting the cultural and natural resources. According to this approach, the primary problem in the planning is attracting the tourists to the particular spot. However, the residents of the tourist destination are not involved in the decision making process. It is still practiced by those politicians who are of the opinion that economic growth should be promoted. Economic Tradition Economic approach revolves around the economic questions in relation to the role of tourism in the regional and national development. This approach views the tourism as an industry, in which the first step involves the attraction of the tourist and then the development of tourist industry. This is mainly used by the government to foster growth and development in the specific destination. Marketing and promotional tools are applied for this purpose. As a matter of fact economic goals are attached greater importance over the ecological and social concept as a result of which limited attention is paid towards the impact of tourism. The main drawback of this approach is that it fails to explain the satisfied visitors and the positive attitude towards the host communities. The Physical or Spatial Approach The physical approach is defined in terms of environmental concept of destination. It tries to overcome the drawback of the economic approach by considering the ecological basis for tourism development. It often leads to the concentration or the dispersal of the visitors. Visitor management and physical carrying capacity are the most important attributes of this approach. Social and cultural orientation of the destination is given less attention. Community – Oriented Approach The community based tourism approach which started in 1970’s was mainly influenced by the following two factors. Firstly, the recognition of the negative social, economic and environmental impact upon the destination communities. Secondly, is the realization of the facts that the stakeholders should be included in the process relating to decision making. Murphy in his book ‘A Community Approach’ emphasized on the ecological approach, where the key attribute was to satisfy the needs of the local which in turn would lead to satisfaction of the tourists. The approach basically caters to the need of the local people by enhancing their economic condition, preserving their cultural value and natural environment. In broad term, it is socio-cultural approach which seeks the value of alternative to mass approach. It aims to bring about overall balanced development. But this approach too is not completely devoid of loopholes. For instance this approach was considered time consuming and expensive, the outcomes of the plan did not meet the criteria assumed by the economic agendas. It created the misconception of the location of the control in decision-making process (Cooper & Hall, 2001). Sustainable Approach Sustainable development as defined by Timothy is, “promising, lasting and secure livelihoods which minimize resource depletion, environmental degradation, cultural disturbance and social instability” (Webcache, n.d.). Sustainable tourism planning often faces the criticism on account of its pursuit for contradictory goal. The achievement of sustainability requires the fulfillment of the following criteria such as co-operation, coordination, consumer awareness and producer awareness. The important benefit accrued from the sustainable approach is that it encompasses the community based approach as its core value. Any approach towards the sustainable tourism planning must be supplemented with the rich theory to ensure its effectiveness in the long run. Quality tourism is yet another important aspect related with the sustainable development. It is primarily adopted for the two main reasons–first of all it utilizes the marketing strategy to gain success and benefits to the local residents and their environment. Quality tourism attempts to protect the interest of the tourists as well as the local community. It provides the value for money. Integrative Planning Approach In context of the regional development of rural areas of United States, the framework for tourism planning needs to be developed. An integrative approach is one such framework which encompasses economic and social assessment for the development of effective strategies. This works on the basis of the historical perspective of tourism planning. The core concept of integrative planning approach involves the collaboration of stakeholders in the planning process and the overall assessment of the planning enhances the tourism development in the regional areas. The application of this framework guides the tourism planner towards the more comprehensive attitude to be developed towards the rural tourism development It considers all the elements involved in the destination planning such as economic benefit, environmental protection, provision of adequate infrastructure, social implication, marketing impact and preservation of culture and heritage. As all these factors are inter-related to each other hence all these are to be integrated in the process of tourism planning for achieving the desired benefit. Planning for integration helps to eliminate any conflicts that may arise due to the location or resources and support the development of local community through the multipurpose infrastructure project. This integrative approach incorporates the essence of sustainable development with certain degree of flexibility given to the plans and policies so that the development occurs in accordance to the changing trends and perception (Marcouiller, 1997). Destination The tourist destination is located in the central highland of temperate and subtropical island approximately 1 hour by air and 5 hours by ferry from mainland. There is tourism sector on the coast of island but there are many environmental issues hampering the growth and development. The major challenges faced by this particular location are the poor infrastructure and economy. The residents of these location typically comprises of ethnic group deprived of Government aid. The area does not hold favorable tourist spot thus, the attraction of tourists to this particular location is almost negligible. However, the regional government has showed keen interest in exploiting this area for the regional economic development. The tourism development in such area poses lot of challenges in the formulation and implementation of the plans and policies. Tourism Planning Process Long Range and Strategic Planning Long range planning is mainly concerned with deciding upon the goals and objectives that specifies the development pattern in future. The tourism development plans and policies usually cover 10 to 15 years depending upon the future prospects and events in that particular region. A planning approach with relevance to the current destination in question is strategic planning whose emergence have greatly influenced some of the underdeveloped regions and nations. Strategic planning is somewhat different from that of long range comprehensive planning since it concentrates on identifying and resolving the immediate issue. It enables the development of tourism to be in sync with the future aspect by orienting the organization to the changing environment. Thus, it is an action oriented approach which prepares the organization in handling unforeseen events. The strategic approach could be based within the framework of long range planning to get more comprehensive result. Public Involvement in Tourism Planning Planning should encourage active involvement of the residents so as to get the necessary support and this can be done by educating these people about the benefits of establishing the tourism sector. At the national and regional level public participation is achieved through the appointment of steering committee which provides guidance and preparation of draft in relation to the policy planning. The local needs and objectives should be appropriately fitted in the long term strategic planning process (World-Tourism, n.d.). Strategic Planning Principles Some of the principles guiding the planning participants are: Economic Costs and the benefits, distribution of the benefit to the stakeholders, enhancing the quality of visitors’ experience, the infrastructure and marketing development is at par with the benefits, i.e. the taxes paid by the residents. Social Better employment opportunities through the usage of local skill and knowledge, provision of steady employment, satisfaction of local residents, improvement of living standard of local community. Ecological Conservation of ecosystem, environmental resource cost accounting and analysis of environmental impacts. Cultural Tourists activities should not damage the indigenous culture or show disrespect to the sites, the designs should promote and preserve the culture and heritage. Political The community interest should be compatible with the overall economic development, integration of the objectives and plans of other communities and public involvement in decision making. There are number of issues or challenges faced in the process of tourism planning such as physical and environmental issue, economic issue, promotion and marketing issue, conservation issue, socio-cultural issue, investment issue and human resource issue. This concerns other issues like attitudes. Incentive, apportion of benefits, regulation, integration, supervision and strategic issue. A prime importance is land issue related to the location, accessibility, traffic, transportation, landscape, tourists spot and impact of tourism on heritage (United Nations ESCAP, 2010). Steps Involved in Tourism Planning Tourism planning like any other planning is an iterative process which requires a comprehensive approach. The six steps are enumerated as follows. 1) Defining the goals and objectives The tourism development goal should encompass the needs and the objectives of the local community. Each objective should contribute to the sustainable development of energy and water conservation, employment, infrastructure, economic growth, environment and resource protection, development of rural area, culture and heritage preservation, consumer protection, community welfare and business development. In the initial stages the focus could be on the organizational structure to identify the tourist system which later on could be modified into more precise objectives. 2) Identification of the tourist system It is very important to identify the scope and the characteristics before proceeding towards the implementation. This step may be further divided into three parts namely, tourism resource, tourism organization and tourism market. Tourism resource may be natural (wild-life, climate), cultural (monuments, ethnic cultures), human (hospitality skills, drama, art) or capital resource (finance, infrastructure, communication) that can help to attract the tourists. The quality and the quantity assessment are critical in this phase. Tourism organization synchronizes the effort of the diverse interest groups towards the achievement of the common goals. Off site includes the coordination of the federal, state, regional and local factors. On site encompasses development of infrastructure, location accessibility, land management agencies, recreational facilities and support services. The third significantly important subsection is the tourism market segment which includes segmenting the market in accordance to the needs and the preference of the visitors. The aids have to be identified for the products and service to be delivered and the market characteristics. The environmental impacts are to be considered in this regard. The general view of tourism market segments; (1) geographical market area (2) trip categories whether it is a day trip or night trip (3) purpose of visit. 3) Generation of alternatives In this stage, there is a wide range of alternatives are generated since tourism planning involves an interrelated development and marketing efforts such as roles of public, private and local community. The Extension Bulletin E-1959 has specified the key elements related with tourism marketing as segments, product, place, price and promotion. 4) Evaluation of alternatives The critical evaluation of the alternatives is carried out to verify its conformity towards goals. There are two parts (1) Feasibility analysis - The alternatives are screened and those not feasible are eliminated. The detailed assessment is carried out with the remaining alternatives. (2) Impact Assessment - In this stage, both the negative and positive impacts of the tourism on the economic, environmental, social, local Government, resident, business and industry are propounded. 5) Implementation The plans and policies should be enforced by the specific action clearly defining the roles and the responsibilities of the tourism participants. The supervision on continuous basis, the provision for training and collection of information has to be there in the implementation stage. Marketing and promotion are to be applied in full scale. 6) Monitoring and Evaluation The plans and policies during the process of implementation need to be constantly monitored and evaluated to ensure that the progress takes place towards the desired direction. This performs the function of feedback and helps to identify the loopholes if any. This is critical because the plans and policies are often subject to the changing environment (Stynes & Halloran, 1987). Conclusion Successful tourism development should strive to serve the interest of both the community and the local residents. The benefit of the local resident comes prior to that of the tourists. The tourism planning should integrate the local effort with the national one. The tourism planning emphasizes the importance of marketing orientation however on a much broader scale it should try to strike a balance between the different stakeholders. References Cooper, C. & Hall, C., (2008). Contemporary tourism: an international approach. Butterworth-Heinemann. Gunn, C. A. & Var, T., (2002). Tourism planning: basics, concepts, cases. Routledge. Marcouiller, D., (1997). Toward Integrative Tourism Planning in Rural America. SAGE journals. Retrieved Online on September 1, 2010 from http://jpl.sagepub.com/content/11/3/337.abstract Stynes, D. & OHalloran, S., (1987). Tourism Planning. Steps in the Planning Process. Retrieved Online on September 1, 2010 from http://web1.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modtd/33000005.html Trade-wings Institute Of Management, (2000). Impact of tourism. More information. Retrieved Online on September 1, 2010 from http://www.tradewinginstitute.com/world/more.htm United Nations ESCAP, (2010). Sustainable Integrated Tourism Planning. Strategic integrated sustainable tourism planning. Retrieved Online on September 1, 2010 from http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/Publications/TPTS_pubs/Pub_2019/pub_2019_ch1.pdf Webcache, (No Date). Tourism Planning & Development. Today. Retrieved Online on September 1, 2010 from http://gestdestinos.pbworks.com/f/Tourism+approaches+w47.ppt World-Tourism, (No Date). National and Regional Tourism Planning. Approaches to tourism planning. Retrieved Online on September 1, 2010 from http://pub.world-tourism.org/WebRoot/Store/Shops/Infoshop/Products/1015/1015-1.pdf Bibliography Brown, D., (2008). Rural Tourism: An Annotated Bibliography. Research on Rural Tourism. Retrieved Online on September 1, 2010 from http://www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/rural_tourism.html United Nations Environment Programme, (2009). Policy Recommendations on Sustainable Tourism Development. Tourism Planning. Retrieved Online on September 1, 2010 from http://www.unep.fr/scp/tourism/activities/taskforce/pdf/Policy_Recommendations_Sep09.pdf Read More