Rationale for Planning Tourism Development - Essay Example

? Sustainable Tourism Development Unit 7 February Hassan Munir Khan [Pick the No. E10186 BTEC Higher National Diploma in Hospitality Management The City College, University House, 55 East Road, London N1 6AH Contents Task 1 3 Understand the rationale for planning in the travel and tourism industry. 3 a)Explain briefly rational for planning tourism development. 3 b)Discuss how stakeholders can benefit from planning of tourism development 3 c)Discuss advantages and disadvantages of public and private sector planning partnerships. 4 Understand the different approaches to tourism planning and development 6 a)Understand the features of tourism development planning at different levels. 6 b)Evaluate the significance of interactive planning systems and processes in tourism development. 9 c)Evaluate different methods available to measure tourist impact. 9 There are certain financial tools and methods available to measure tourist impact on the economy, livelihood and financial prosperity and wellbeing of the region. 9 One such tool is the GDP or the Gross domestic Product. Per Capita income is another financial calculation that is capable of measuring the financial impact of tourism in a certain region. Foreign institutional investment is more when tourism industry is doing good in a particular region and key foreign investment can also be used as a parameter to measure tourism impact. 9 Understand the need for planning for sustainable tourism. 9 a)Justify the introduction of the concept of sustainable tourism development. 9 b)Analyse factors that may hinder or prevent sustainable tourism development. 10 c)Analyse the different stages in planning for sustainability 11 (Pineda, 2004, p.1) 11 Task 4 11 Understanding current issues related to tourism development planning. 11 a)Evaluate methods of resolving conflicts of interest to ensure to ensure the future well being of a developing tourism destination. 11 (Pineda, 2004, p.1) 11 b)Analyse the implication of balancing supply and demand 12 c)Evaluate the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism 12 Task 5: 12 Understand the social, environmental and economic impacts of tourism in developing countries and destinations 12 a)Compare issues associated with tourism development in a developing country and an emerging destination where the impact of tourism is different 12 b)Evaluate the recommendations, future development of tourism in these destinations 13 References: 15 Task 1 Understand the rationale for planning in the travel and tourism industry. a) Explain briefly rational for planning tourism development. Tourism generates significant national and state income. Whether it is foreign or national tourism the amount of income generated through tourist footfall is very high as compared to other government and private profit making enterprises. As a result planning tourism development, optimum utilisation of tourist hot spots, preservation and adequate maintenance of tourist sites becomes very important for sustainable and profitable tourism. Planning tourism development is the first and most important step towards building a strong and formidable foundation for a sustainable tourism industry that is capable of self funding, consistent profit generation, growth and development. The need for planning tourism development arises due to the following factors: 1. It is cooperative in nature due to the involvement of vast and diverse stakeholders a) Natives of the tourist place b) Local state government c) National government d) Transport Authority e) Foreign Exchange f) Law Enforcement g) Roads and Railway etc 2. It is dependent on the cooperation and efforts of multiple state authorities like a.) Ministry of Tourism b.) Ministry of Forests and Natural Reserves c.) Department of Rural Planning d.) Ministry of transport Tourism is a multifaceted department having interfaces interlinked with multiple industries and ministries like: Transport Department, Public Works Department, Forests Department, Environment Department, Foreign Exchange etc. (CPT MTM., 2011, p.1) b) Discuss how stakeholders can benefit from planning of tourism development As discussed, tourism industry involves the cooperation and functioning of multiple and diverse stake holders. A well thought and profitable tourism plan can stand to benefit all stakeholders through income generation from one of the largest industries of the public and private sectors across the globe. Tourism Planning should have provision for and include the following: a) Promotion and value added marketing of regional culture b) Preservation and promotion of heritage sites c) Marketing of the regional and national hospitality specialities and capabilities d) Promotion of transport services and its benefits Etc. (RPA, 2008, p.1) This would lead to interest and a resultant expenditure on regional cultural initiatives, handicraft, handloom, art, traditional art forms (painting, music, and dance), traditional practices etc. Preservation and Promotion of heritage sites would tremendously boost the average net profit of any tourism industry through a steady increase in tourist footfall supported by adequate television, digital and print marketing of heritage sites. (RPA, 2008, p.1) Marketing of regional and national hospitality capabilities and specialities would lead to an opportunity in promoting and building a strong reputation and trust in local and national hospitality services and an opportunity to build on the clientele and launch other hospitality initiatives in other regions of the globe. Tourism industry is one industry that serves as the first touch point to international customers and subscribers. Transport and travel services would also stand to benefit from intelligent marketing, widespread advertising and impressive execution of services. (CPT MTM., 2011, p.1) c) Discuss advantages and disadvantages of public and private sector planning partnerships. Public sector and private sector planning has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. While public sector tourism entities have its own pool of resources and capital for investment, private sector tourism entities have partnerships and tie ups with a host of service providers, ancillary industries and access to the best resources. Listed below are some of the advantage of Public and Private Sector Planning Partnerships: 1. Low cost, efficient and quick delivery of tourism projects 2. Value addition for taxpaying stake holder though optimal risk transfer and risk coverage 3. Synthesis of the best resources in private sector and infrastructure and facilities available with public sector entities. 4. Creative innovation and diversity in providing public services. Disadvantage of public and private planning partnership: Public private partnerships come into existence when there is a consensus between government and private bodies to enter into an understanding, share market, profit and do business together under the umbrella of a joint venture. These partnerships are usually characterised by a sharing of some risks, such as taxes, duties, capital and other financial and executive responsibilities. Some of the disadvantages are as follows: 1. Loss of Control Inability to command full control on a business venture is inevitable. Therefore is of utmost importance that the degree of control held by the partner entity is discussed with full clarity. Due to this there may be considerable delay in decision making, because decision making entities or individual may not be readily available. 2. Sense of Mutual Trust As partnerships are built over a period of time based on trust and confidence, each partner must be able to have faith and trust on the capabilities and commitments of the other partner. In certain instances trust can be dented if profits are not made and commitments are not met. 3. Political Intervention Most public private planning partnerships are high value and accountability projects aimed at serving the nation and its citizens at large. These projects involve delivering services in key areas like national tourism development, ancillary industry development, beautification of tourist spots, tourism infrastructure development etc. Such big projects attract media attention and involve political entities as well. In the back drop of pending elections or political activities the implementation may get affected. If this happens the project may go into the ‘red’ area and get eventually scrapped. Private partners with little or no political clout may stand to lose. 4. Sharing of Costs A healthy partnership is characterised by an equal division of costs amongst partnering entities. Public private planning initiatives should share costs by focusing on contingent and non contingent income. Partners need to be highly responsive to investment needs and be creative in chalking out the investment plan and division of costs. At time one partner may take advantage of the financial situation reneging on the cost sharing agreement. (Robert, 2011, p.1) Understand the different approaches to tourism planning and development a) Understand the features of tourism development planning at different levels. For successful and efficient execution of a tourism development venture it needs to go through several levels of refinement and reviews. Planning tourism development needs to be done at multiple level starting from the grass root level i.e., from the point of view of the tourism entity until the bigger picture of benefitting the state, national income and the citizens are taken into consideration. (Robert, 2011, p.1) Different levels of tourism development are as listed below: 1. International Level 2. National Level 3. Regional Level 4. Destination Level 5. Site Level In an ideal situation tourism development planning should be done in one go in an integrated manner. However the common practice is to plan it at several levels. Each of the above mentioned levels focus on different stages in tourism planning. Feature of Tourism Development Planning at International Level: a) International Travel and Transportation Services e.g.: cost effective, attractive international flight services with value addition and adequate customer delight b) Tour Programming of tourists among different countries c) Development of major attractive features and facilities in neighbouring countries or countries within the same region d) Multi country marketing strategies and promotion programmes e.g.: Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand conducted tourism package Some international tourism marketing, planning and cooperative activities take place at the international level through organisations like WTO (World Tourism Organisation, its regional commissions like: International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), United Nation Agencies and their regional commissions, International Air Transport Association (IATA), PATA, CTO, TCSP, SCDT of ASEAN, TCU, SADCC, tourism committee of OECD. (Robert, 2011, p.1) International planning is relatively harder to coordinate and execute due to the dependency on multiple nations and their agencies, however major milestone activities and events are carried out from their umbrella and they are responsible for funding and promoting large international tourism campaigns and programmes. More recently they are receiving international funding, support and sponsorship for regional tourism programmes. Feature of Tourism Development Planning at National Level are as follows: a) Laying down of tourism objectives b) Policy Framing c) Well-defined plan involving identification of tourism destinations, designation of tourism development regions, international and national access points, internal transportation network and facilities and services. d) Standardizing service levels for different tourism industry components e) Pricing, quality and extent of facilities provided to tourists. f) Robust network of tourist Information systems, kiosks, assistance booths and counters at nodal places. g) Major tour routes in the country and internal interconnecting roadways or railways. h) Understanding and implementing tourism organisation structures, taxation, legislation and investment policies i) Targeted Marketing including development of research strategies and conducting promotional programmes. j) Expenditure on human resource development, education and training programmes. k) Improvement of facility and development standards l) Understanding socio-economic, cultural and environmental factors. Performing an impact analysis m) Formulating long term and short term development plans and strategies n) Continuous learning and research to understand tourism impacts (Robert, 2011, p.1) Feature of Tourism Development Planning at Regional Level are as follows: The regional tourism plan and tourism authority focuses on the tourism services of a particular region, state, province or tourism circuit. The policies, procedures and guidelines are framed in perspective of the broader national tourism authority. However regional tourism development should not be stalled or affected by the lack of a national tourism body. The following features are part of the planning process of tourism at Regional Level: a) Formulating and Enforcing a regional policy b) Seamless regional access and access to internal transportation networks c) Identifying types and location of tourist attractions d) Identifying prospective location of tourism development e) Estimating amount, type and location of tourist accommodation in peak and off-peak seasons as well as estimating for other tourist facilities and services f) Development of supporting industries like hospitality, healthcare, entertainment spots, knowledge parks, libraries, forest and natural reserves etc g) Regional level socio-cultural, environmental, economic considerations and impact analysis h) Education and Training Programmes i) Advertising, Marketing and promotion strategies Etc (Khanal, 2012, p.1) Feature of Tourism Development Planning at Destination Level are as follows: Destination Level Planning is done beneath the regional level, focused at the destination, which could be of immense importance to the state and national tourism treasury. A focused approach is implemented on such a territory. A destination could be of importance due to business or leisure related tourism visits. Features involving destination level tourism planning would include: tourist attraction features, general tourism help services, internal transport services, infrastructure services etc. Feature of Tourism Development Planning at Site Level are as follows: Site Level Tourism is one of the most popular tourism strategies followed across the globe. Site tourism Development planning involves the coexistence if multiple entities and professionals hailing from diverse support backgrounds. In such a tourism planning level entrepreneurs or private or public tourism authorities hire people from architecture, construction, securities, hospitalities, education, legal, event management etc backgrounds and planning and execution is done individually by these expert professionals. (Khanal, 2012, p.1) b) Evaluate the significance of interactive planning systems and processes in tourism development. Interactive Planning systems and Process in tourism development and in general have the following features and significance: a) Information, feedback, consultation and negotiation b) Occurs early on and throughout planning process with full range of stakeholders c) Open participation leading to better decisions d) Planner is treated as value committed advocate e) It focuses on mobilization of support f) In such a planning system, success is measured by achievement of agreement on actions and by consequential change (Khanal, 2012, p.1) c) Evaluate different methods available to measure tourist impact. There are certain financial tools and methods available to measure tourist impact on the economy, livelihood and financial prosperity and wellbeing of the region. One such tool is the GDP or the Gross domestic Product. Per Capita income is another financial calculation that is capable of measuring the financial impact of tourism in a certain region. Foreign institutional investment is more when tourism industry is doing good in a particular region and key foreign investment can also be used as a parameter to measure tourism impact. Understand the need for planning for sustainable tourism. a) Justify the introduction of the concept of sustainable tourism development. Sustainable tourism development is highly necessary for a tourism development venture to exist in changing circumstances with environment, socio-cultural and economic factors in mind. (Green Motion Travel, 2012, p.1) Sustainable tourism is a way of collaborating with local authorities, natives, regional government and tourism agencies to make the most out of tourism ventures and ensure stability and continuity of tourism services in the long run. Sustainable tourism development is important and essential to be included in the tourism development plan at national, regional and site level due to the following factors: 1. Facilitates greater income due to multiple stake holders and participating parties 2. Ensures greater longevity of venture due to involvement of multiple authoritative bodies and collective approval 3. People inclusive and team approach exposes the tourism venture to vast number of possibilities, resources and customer base. b) Analyse factors that may hinder or prevent sustainable tourism development. Some of the factors hindering or preventing sustainable tourism development are as follows: 1. Resettlement or relocation of native settlements, native tribes and population at large 2. Legitimisation of acquired land for tourism development 3. Demolishing old architecture, hindering construction, buildings to clear way of erection of new hospitality establishments, tourist houses etc. 4. Getting government directions and court orders passed for successful establishment of tourist hubs at selected places already having human settlement ( Green Motion Travel, 2012, p.1) Some of the other factors that may hinder or prevent sustainable tourism development can be: 1. Slow administrative formalities at bordering areas and border crossings 2. Faulty or risky hotel conditions, old and worn out hotels that may overprice themselves as per international standards 3. Lack of proper training and gradually deteriorating quality of services ( Green Motion Travel, 2012, p.1) c) Analyse the different stages in planning for sustainability Following are the different steps included in planning for sustainability: 1. What is to be done? 2. Individuals, entities, organisations who are, could be, or need to be involved. 3. Assessing and analysing the known information and factors 4. Analysis of what makes the region, place or product special to outsiders and tourists 5. Noting down the issues 6. Analysing the issues 7. Formulating principles or objectives to shape and guide actions 8. Gathering ideas or opinions of multiple parties involved in planning sustainable tourism development 9. Deciding on how to go about executing the objectives 10. Formulating and enforcing a statement of directions (Pineda, 2004, p.1) Task 4 Understanding current issues related to tourism development planning. a) Evaluate methods of resolving conflicts of interest to ensure to ensure the future well being of a developing tourism destination. Sustainable tourism development is possible only when all participating, or affected entities arrive at a consensus. Issues such as reduction in taxes, lower land rates, resettlement of affected residents and natives, provision of sustainable income sources and jobs for people forced to vacate land etc can only be solved through an agreement at different levels such as local, state and national level. (Robert, 2011, p.1) Employing an all inclusive, diverse approach in developing tourism on the lines of the objectives of sustainable tourism has the solution of peacefully resolving disagreements arising out of conflict of interests amongst affected parties. The way out of this is to make sure that every entity is benefitted out of the tourism venture and is included within the realm of profits and involvement. Innovative schemes such as employment, resettlement compensation, option to do business within the tourism property or region, opportunity to collaborate and be a part of the supply chain as a retailer, distributor or manufacturer etc could be effective ways to resolve conflicts of interest and amicably settle any disputes. (Pineda, 2004, p.1) b) Analyse the implication of balancing supply and demand Tourism industry witnesses peak seasons and off seasons during different times of the year. These times are faced with a critical demand for tourist facilities like fooding, lodging, entertainment, space for leisurely activities, booking in eateries, restaurants etc. On other occasions during the off season, the demand is less and supply needs to be moderated in order to avoid wastage of unused and unwanted material or resources. Balancing supply and demand, effectively transforming the excesses of one kind of facility to cover up for the shortfall of another kind (for example: transforming unused lawn area for amusement park, into seating area for guests in a restaurant) and reconverting different features of a tourism destination is what counts most in an era categories with rise and fall of tourism footfalls. (Forsyth, 2012, p.1) c) Evaluate the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism Enclave tourism involves conducting tourism development and tourism activities within a selected community and sharing profits and benefits within the fringes of the secluded or “enclave” region. Few of the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism are as follows: 1. Profits shared amongst investors and larger tourism eco system neglected 2. Is not all inclusive in nature often leaving groups neglected and outside the business chain 3. Has lesser accountability towards the larger interests of the community outside the enclave in which tourism is being propagated and practised. (Forsyth, 2012, p.1) Task 5: Understand the social, environmental and economic impacts of tourism in developing countries and destinations a) Compare issues associated with tourism development in a developing country and an emerging destination where the impact of tourism is different Tourism development in developing countries and emerging destinations face different issues due to the economic conditions, political situations and other social and cultural factors. Issues surrounding tourism development in an emerging destination are as follows: 1. Unorganised nature of industries 2. Unregulated market 3. Prices and qualities not standardised 4. Service levels and objectives not fixed 5. Disagreement between stakeholders 6. Lack of benchmarks and revenue targets Issues surrounding tourism development in developing nations are different in nature. Some of them are as mentioned below: 1. Disagreement in profit sharing between national and state governments 2. Resettlement of native residents of tourism spot 3. Issues related to taxes and duties levied on goods sellers, services providers within tourism region (Robert, 2011, p.1) The nature of issues faced by developing nations and emerging tourist destinations are different. The issues faced by emerging tourist destination are those that may be faced by any state or private body during the nascent stage of tourism development. On the other hand, the nature of problems and issues surrounding developing nations are ones that have grown out of months and years of tourism. Those issues are impending ones that have existed over years and need to be gradually tackled. b) Evaluate the recommendations, future development of tourism in these destinations Emerging tourism destinations need to identify tourist destinations within its region. As a newly emerging tourist spot it needs to fortify its foundation, tie up with the national government and formulate objectives. Standards need to be established at par with international tourism and hospitality standards. Internal transport network needs to be worked out and cooperation at multiple levels and from multiple government bodies would be needed for successful operation of tourism industry. Heritage and cultural sites need to be identified and major tourist income should be generated by banking on the national specialities of those regions, cultures and heritages. (UNWTO, 2012, p.1) A proper plan should be put in place keeping in mind the benefit and experience of the tourist in top priority. For tourism in developing nations a robust conflict management and resolution plan should be in place to manage and resolve conflicts. New and innovative ideas must be generated to keep steady levels of income coming from the tourism industry. References: 1. RPA Railway Procurement Agency., 2008. What are the advantages of public private partnerships? Retrieved From: http://www.rpa.ie/en/rpa/ppp/Pages/AdvantagesofPPPs.aspx 2. Robert, C., 2011, Nov 8. Advantages and Disadvantages of Public Private Partnerships. Retrieved From: http://www.ehow.com/info_12184767_advantages-disadvantages-public-private-partnerships.html 3. CPT MTM., 2011. Unit 6 Approaches to Tourism Planning. Retrieved From: www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/35771/1/Unit-6.pdf 4. Forsyth, T., 2012. What is Sustainable Tourism? Session 1. The London School of Economics and Political Science. Sustainable Tourism. Retrieved From: http://www.fathom.com/course/21701788/session1.html 5. Sustainable Tourism. Sustaining Tourism. 2012. Retrieved From: http://www.sustainabletourism.net/ 6. Pineda F. D., 2004. Sustainable Tourism. Retrieved From: http://www.witpress.com/978-1-85312-724-3.html 7. Sanabria, Ronald , Skinner, Elizabeth, Font, Xavier, Maccarrone-Eaglen, Agata , Sallows, Margot and Frederiksen, Morten., 2003.Human Development Resource Net. Raising the standards and benefits of sustainable tourism and ecotourism certification. Retrieved From: http://hdrnet.org/323/ 8. Green Motion Travel., 2012. Sustainable Tourism Benefits. Retrieved From: http://www.greenmotiontravel.com/2012/04/sustainable-tourism-benefits/ 9. Sustainable Tourism Concepts, 2012. Retrieved From: sanctuaries.noaa.gov/management/.../day1_concepts_manual.pdf 10. United World Tourism Organisation. 2012. Sustainable Development of Tourism. Retrieved From: http://sdt.unwto.org/en/content/about-us-5 11. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2009. Division for sustainable development. Sustainable Tourism. Retrieved From: http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/susdevtopics/sdt_susttour.shtml 12. Sustainable Tourism for Rural Development. 2012. Presentation of child and youth educational tourism. Retrieved From: http://rs.one.un.org/strd 13. Khanal, B. R., 2012. Community Based Ecotourism. Retrieved From: cuts-international.org/HRC/pdf/PB-1-07.pdf 14. World tourism organisation UNWTO. 2012. Promoting tourism for sustainable development and poverty reduction Retrieved From: http://www2.unwto.org/en/event/promoting-tourism-sustainable-development-and-poverty-reduction 15. Centre for Sustainable Tourism. 2012. Retrieved From: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/sustainabletourism/ Read More