Developing a Tourism Planning - Assignment Example

? Developing a Tourism Planning Developing a Tourism Planning Planning is a highly dynamic process of exploring several options in attempt to realize set goals and objectives with the least energy. It involves being systematical in making of choices amongst the available alternatives. It needs critical evaluation that is much informed and objective to enable one to opt for one course and not the other (Marcouiller, 1995). Once the choice is made, it is implemented according to the guideless established. The implementation is done over a period of time after which it is assed for the worth it has brought. If it is found not to benefit in any way then another option is picked. In the tourism planning several issues are regarded which encompasses the environment in which the actual planning is taking place. The socio-economic is one important factor, physical and political factors are considered when deciding on the planning. These are either interrelated or interdependent components of the system (Marcouiller, 1995). Just like any other planning, it is also in tourism that the planning aim is to achieve certain goals and objectives. This is the benchmark for any planning activity. The achievement of the goals and objective is done after a careful evaluation of the available resources and the needs of the peoples. This allows one to make efforts of marching the two given the available resources. The planning is a multi disciplinary activity in which a comprehensive and systematic approach is used to reach a comprehensive approach. It involves several steps, which are subject of revision as the process goes on (Reid, 2004). Tourism planning then has the following steps; defining of goals and the objectives, Identification of the system of tourism to adopt, Available resources, organization, Market availability, alternatives, evaluation of the alternatives, selection, and finally monitoring and evaluation. Goals and Objectives Setting the goals and objective in any organization will always allow the management to work in relation to a target. The goals in this case will be set after doing the SWOT analysis (Reid, 2004). This is very important, as it will enable as to appreciate the resources and challenges that we have so that we can define an appropriate goals and objectives to pursue. Before deciding on the goals, we will have to evaluate our past performance and current performance vis a vis the resources we have and the expectations of our customers. In setting the goals and objectives, we have to consider the strategies that are used by the competitors in the market. This will enable us to be at par with them or surpass them in the provision of services (Riley, Ladkin, & Szivas, 2010). Following the above set criterion, we will have to set our goals and objectives as follows; I. To launch an extensive advertisement of our tourist site all over the world and demonstrate that we are the site of choice given the diverse natural flora and fauna in our site. II. Modernize our system to meet the international standards. That is, including indoor pools in to provide services during winter periods. We also intend to improve maintain he infrastructural activities within our site. III. To collaborate with other stakeholders in an effort to create a brand name for our site and at the same time get involved in the corporate social responsibility to increase domestic tourism in to the site. IV. To increase the total revenue collection of the site by expanding both the local and the international market to maintain all round visitation into the site. Tourism System to Adopt In the planning, we are going to couple both domestic and international tourism. This is aimed at widening the market level of the customers. In the resent past, both international and rural tourism has shown remarkable increase and there is need to develop a system that will trap the looming potential of visitors in the site. We therefore want to modernize the rural tourism to attract the international tourists (Riley, Ladkin, & Szivas, 2010). There is a compelling need to make the rural tourism to boost the economy of the area as well as that of the country. Rural tourism has proven to be a key element in the development of the economy therefore has every reason to be popularized in the region. The planning in this case aims at collecting more revenue from tourism (Riley, Ladkin, & Szivas, 2010). Benefits accrued by the locals in due to tourisms have been noted to significantly vary from one place to the other. This is with reference to the rural and the cities. The cities have proven to have their fair share of the tourist visits because of the facilities unlike the rural areas that have been lagging behind. In this regard, there is need to improve the facilities at the rural areas to ensure that they also benefit from the visits. Actually, it has been acknowledged that most tourists’ visits are geared towards experiencing the local culture and heritage. It will therefore be a prudent action to improve facilities for the tourists in these places (Sinha, 2006). It will make the locals have the full trap of the potential that they harbor. The modernization of the rural tourist resorts will have immense benefits as it is approximated that about $ 40 billion will be harnessed annually with increased employment percentage of about 20%. Tax collection is also expected to increase because of business that will develop as supplementary to the tourism activity. In the rural tourism-marketing plan, we target to capture a wide age group by considering all the factors that appeal to them. We intend to work with the age of 20-70, this we consider a wide margin that will provide a strong base for a substantial number of the customers. We also want to consider the diverse groups of the customers and make the necessary arrangement in terms of their diet and all that is peculiar to the anticipated customers. Amongst the very many options that will be available for the visitors are; adventure travels, lifestyle segments, the gateway cities and so on (Sinha, 2006). The intention to provide the plethora of the sceneries that will be able to provide a wide range of services to the tourists. This is the expansive plan to make rural tourism thrive. Available resources Before planning is done, it is advisable to note the kind of services that are available. This will help know which services are needed to be integrated to reach the expected target. The potential of the place in the provision of rural tourism should be done. A critical evaluation of the availability of the resources will also allow for the feasibility study to inform weather the strategic plan that is supposed to be taken will yield anything productive. The available resources allow SWOT analysis to be done. This analysis will allow a firm to strategically plan having the knowledge of all the strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, and strength. The information that is received after SWOT analysis is always useful in planning (Stynes, & Halloran, 2008). Planning must take place from informed grounds otherwise; the planning will not be targeting a solution or increment in the organizations performance. Strengths During the SWOT analysis, we found that publicizing rural tourism would be supported by other inherent factors like the wide recognition that the site has had in the last number of years. The rural tourist site is widely known for the unique bear and this gives as an advantage in selling the brand. The locality also do receive over one million visitors from all over the world who wants come in the region for one reason or the other. This visitation provides the resort with potential customer base that can be harnessed through proper publication and advertisement coupled with elevation of the standards of the area. Bureaucracy associated with the oversight authority is also limited in the area; this interprets that if proper marketing is done then the resort can experience visitors all the year round (Stynes, & Halloran, 2008). Opportunities These are other factors that can be tapped and then contribute to the development of tourism in the area. This is possible after a research study that informs the management the type of facilities needed by tourists. It will then be possible to modify the facilities in a way that they get to be utilized by the tourists constructively. Without proper planning, one can have all the opportunities and they cannot add value to the business. In tourism, planning is centered to what can attract and retain customers, this can only be done when the management is privy to what the competitors offer as an edge to them and what the prospective customers need. Amongst the available opportunities, here are; the radio network for the highway can be used to disseminate the information as a means of advertisement. There is a cordial relationship with other states and cross promotion with other organizations can be arranged to attract more visitors. Weaknesses These are the factors that bedeviled the operation of the organization and tend to negate the achievements suppose to or realized. In our assessment, we realize that the following are our weaknesses; inadequacy of capital to achieve the cost of the plan, there has not been any strategic plans to conform to the needs of the prospective tourist over the years and this has made us lag behind in responsiveness to the customers’ demands. This has contributed significantly in the low visitation experienced in the site. Threats These are factors affect the progress sporadically, whenever they happen there can be total decline in the progression of the business given their potential nature. In this case, threats were identified as the political factors, conflict of interest, and the mushrooming of other areas in the vicinity that offers more or less the same services. Organization In order to achieve the plan, there must be high level of organization. The organizations should though work in tandem and in constant communication to achieve the desired goals. For instance, there are those departments that will be doing collection of useful data and do analysis. Before a plan is hatched, there are several data that needs to be analyzed, this calls for proper evaluation of the important factors considering them after expertise opinion (Taneja, 2006). The execution of a plan thus depends on the kind of useful information that has been collected and to be used in pursuing an agenda. If the data collected is not reliable, then the goals of the plan may not be achieved. For example, a good plan will have the estimates of the visitors expected in the site during weekdays and weekends, during certain season and probably the extent of the visitors generally expected in a year, this information will be used to plan for the organization. If the results are unreliable, it means that the plan will be acting on a false hypothetical figures and this may not augur well with the management. The criticality of every section in the planning is crucial to the extent that the information they give concerning certain facets will work in a cascading manner and affects the decisions made at every stage. There is a sequential flow of information from the very first point to the last. Considering planning for the tourists, the information taken or given by the research team will be used to gauge the extent to which advertisement can be done. The advertisement team will also devise their own unique ways of reaching the targeted population and customers. This needs a lot of information on the lifestyle of the people and their cultural background. The public relation officer will be in charge of ensuring that the targeted audience has been reached in the effort to widen and publicize their unique offers at the resort. It is important to note that in achieving the results of a plan, the organization in charge of executing the plan must work diligently with utmost cooperation to achieve the desired goals of the plan. A plan is hypothetical to some extent and this explains why the operation tact can be changed before the period for completion of the plan is over. This is due to the all time dynamic situations the business operates. The most important thing is the maintenance of the target and the ability to be gullible enough to accommodate changes that comes with the implementation. Market availability A good planning reckons with the availability of the market for the goods PR services they produce. Analysis of the market will then be another factor to consider in this scenario. Every plan does take place with the expectation of what the customer will give at the end of the day. It is then important for the management to do a market analysis and find it that there is a ready market that can be tapped to use the services that they want to offer. Like in the plan for the rural tourists resort, several factors can be used to trap the potential market (Taneja, 2006). The resort is situated in an area that receives visitors throughout the year. Over a million visitors do visit the area from different areas of the world. All these visitors can be made to visit the site if there is proper branding and improvement of the facilities to march the expectation of the visitors. The management having realized that several visitors do come around the facility, they should arrange with their partners to help them provide clear and concise information regarding the resort and its attraction features, the modern lodges as well as the amenities in the region. This is wheat is referred to as information to the visitors. Visitor information will work to the advantage of the business, it should be given both to the potential and those already within. This marketing strategy can help a business for tourists like this flourish, as they will be tapping their customers directly from their business partners (Taneja, 2006). The market availability once realized should be consolidated through adverts and other means of reaching the potential clients. Before the availability is ascertained, there has to be a study on the pattern of visitation expected in the area, this would help the planners to operate form a point of reliable information. A good planning method should also include the locals in the effort to maximize the income (Kaiser, & Helber, 2012). Local tourism can also be promoted alongside those for the visitors; this will help compliment income and maximize the use of the facilities even during low seasons from the external visitors. The need to sustain the customer base should be the driving force in opting for a particular plan. Careful approach should be taken to exhaust all the market potential for the site, this should take the perspective of the domestic and the international levels. All the planning done here is geared towards reaching out to the customer. This informs that the customers’ base is a factor to be considered in the greatest level possible (Kaiser, & Helber, 2012). The planning itself in terms of the facilities and other logistics is pegged on the prospective number of the clients. This explains why it is very important to closely monitor the market availability to help prepare for the highest figure possible. This will avert any possible congestion of the resort during the highest of the peaks. When all these is done, planning for other facilities can commence. Alternatives When planning, there are core resources that a business may want to rely on. This forms the main source of income for the business. Like in the case of the tourism, there are those factors that are given priority in income generation. Likewise, the customer’s base is based on the same principle. There are those that the business majorly targets and those that it targets with not much enthusiasm. A proper planning should embrace both, there should be alternative in all the things that are done, this is referred to as the fall back option. The extent of the alternatives will maintain the tempo of the business for example, in the tourist site, if the main customer are expected to come from other regions, the business should also find it possible to get the alternative for the business in terms of the customers. In this case, the domestic tourism should be highly encouraged (Inskeep, 2012). Alternatives should also be given another approach in terms of the main features in the site. In most cases, tourist sites are endowed with the natural features; flora, or fauna, and other fascinating features like rocks, hot springs and geysers (Inskeep, 2012). Planning for the tourism business will then call for the alternative in the business and not only the naturally given features. The diversity in the provision of the services will attract tourist or make the site comfortable to visit. The alternatives in the planning help spread the risks involved as compared to reckoning with only one option. It is important to factor the need for the alternatives, a good plan should first consider as many as possible options before SWOT analysis to find the ones that can best work for the business. Like in this case, horse riding, golf and other sorts of indoor games can be incorporated. This will also make the business stands out and attract more visitors thereby having a competitive edge over the others (Inskeep, 2012). Evaluation of the alternatives After the alternatives are proposed for implementation, for the sake of proper planning, all the proposals should be evaluated to find out if they are the most suitable. The evaluation process should critically examine all the possibilities of the proposals to opt for only those that can add value to the business. The best alternative can only be reached if there are many of them considered. Reasons why some of the alternatives can be ignored is because of the expenses involved and it is envisaged that it may not likely impact on the business in attracting or retaining the customers. Some of the alternatives can also be considered in the long run as the plan for the site is being implemented. None of the alternatives should be disregarded out rightly (Harrison, & Husbands, 2008). A business plan involves evaluation of very many options to opt for the best. A good plan should then consider as many as possible options to be sure that they reckon with the best. Proper evaluation of the business alternatives before venturing into them will ensure that the undertakings of the business are informed and can be productive in the end. The major reason for planning in such a business as tourism is to ensure that efficiency is improved and that the visitors’ expectation are reached and served to their expectation. It also ensures that the facilities are of the contemporary standards, which can be used by the visitors in the most effective way. Planning helps avoid unnecessary congestion occasioned by sudden rise in the number of the visitors in the site at any time. Planning thus is useful instrument in any business and most important those with the several dynamics as tourism (Harrison, & Husbands, 2008). Select and implement After the evaluation of the alternatives in the business, the next stage is to the selection and implementation of the plan. For example, if a business has opted to include horse racing in the site or construction of an indoor pool, then it means that after all factors are considered in light of the business, it has proven most significant than all the other alternative at least for the priority reasons (Gunn, 2010). The selection of the alternative for the planning purposes should be just and objective, this is because the plan is to outweigh the competitors in the same platform. Planning therefore should opt for the alternative that will threaten the existence of the rivalry groups. In fact, most of the businesses do opt for unique alternatives that have not been exhausted by the competitors. In planning, the selection of one or more alternatives should not mean that the rest are discarded, they can still be considered in the end, it may only be a matter of priority (Gunn, 2010). Implementation of the selected alternative marks the end of the long process of undertaking planning, it involves the actual putting of resources in the best next alternative opted for. As in the tourism planning, it can e opted that other artificial fascinating features are involved and implemented to boost the level visitation (Gunn, 2010). The plan can include having adventurous rides and other site seeing not within the main site. The implementation of the plan remains monitored to track the performance of the new resolution. This is done in terms of the targeted goals and objectives set during the initiation of the plan. A plan is always considered to improve the status of a business and to ensure that the business keep the pace of the competitive trend in the global market. Monitoring and Evaluation After the implementation, the plan has to be closely monitored for the approval of the plan as working regarding the objectives set. Without monitoring and evaluation, the effect of the plan cannot be qualified. One will not know whether the business is operating towards the set goals or not. It is thus imperative to let the business operate under the new plan for a fixed period of time after which an evaluation in the performance in the last period is considered to identify if there is any improvement in terms of performance. If the business records no improvement, the plan can be reconsidered not being considered further. The measurement of the performance of the plan has to be recorded and analyzed, this informs on the need to replace the plan with the other if its performance is considered not to be enabling the implementation of the goals (Hall, 2009). Because tourism planning is a very dynamic process, the evaluation of the performance of the plan is very essential for the survival of the plan. All those factor that were considered in the development of the plan must be evaluated for the productivity they add in the operations (Hall, 2009). A plan must be monitored for its performance, if the performance is not monitored one cannot tell whether there is positive improvement since the inclusion of the plan or not, it informs whether the plan should be changed, modified or dropped (Hall, 2009). The parameters to be evaluated in the monitoring and evaluation should be reliable. Like in the tourism sector, some of the parameters that will be used to evaluate the performance of the business are the total number of the visitors over a period of time, the utility of the facilities of the site and the revenue collection among other will be reliable factors to consider in doing monitoring and evaluation. References Gunn, C. A. (2010). Tourism planning: basics, concepts, cases (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis. Hall, C. M. (2009). Tourism planning: policies, processes and relationships (2nd ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Harrison, L., & Husbands, W. (2008). Practicing responsible tourism: international case studies in tourism planning, policy, and development. New York: J. Wiley. Inskeep, E. (2012). National and regional tourism planning: methodologies and case studies. London: Routledge. Kaiser, C., & Helber, L. E. (2012). Tourism planning and development. Boston: CBI Pub. Co.. Marcouiller, D. W. (1995). Tourism planning. Chicago, IL: Council of Planning Librarians :. Reid, D. G. (2004). Tourism, globalization, and development responsible tourism planning. London: Pluto Press. Riley, M., Ladkin, A., & Szivas, E. (2010). Tourism employment analysis and planning. Clevedon: Channel View Publications. Sinha, P. C. (2006). Tourism planning. New Delhi, India: Anmol Publications. Stynes, D. J., & Halloran, C. (2008). Tourism planning. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University, Cooperative Extension Service. Taneja, R. (2006). Tourism planning. New Delhi, India: Alfa Publications. Read More