Destination Industry - Tourism Planning Environment - Assignment Example

? Project Table of Contents Executive summary 3 Overview 4 Comparison of Harbourfront Centre and Banff National Park 5 Harbourfront Centre 5 Brief Overview 5 Tourism Planning Environment 5 Destination Components 6 Tourism Destination Life Cycle 6 Banff National Park 7 Brief Overview 7 Tourism Planning Environment 7 Destination Components 8 Tourism Destination Life Cycle 8 Recommendations 9 Reference 11 Executive summary The world has become a very competitive place because of high connectivity brought forward by the telecommunications technology, internet and the multiple technology based gadgets. The fast paced lifestyle of the masses all over the world automatically increases the level of fatigue. As a result, many people seek relaxation in the form of taking short as well as fairly long vacations to various global destinations. In this case, the focus is on the tourism industry of Canada. The paper intends to make a comparison between two popular tourist destinations of the country and finally make a few important recommendations for the policy maker associated with the tourism industry of the nation. Overview The world of the 21st century is moving at a fast pace. The fast pace of advancement of the modern day world is happening more on the lines of rapid change and tremendous development. It is of high importance to mention that the evolution of the telecommunication technology along with the process of emergence of high speed internet and various kinds of technology enabled gadgets has resulted in the process of playing a tremendous amount of influence in the lives of the masses around the world. It needs to be mentioned that because of the lines of emergence of high speed internet connectivity, the network of communication channels has improved in a drastic manner all over the world. Because of this technology powered transformation of the world around us, there has always been a steady evolution of various kinds of trends associated with the factor of globalization. The trends of globalization, is resulting in the process of evolution of various kinds of new types of consumer demands. These new consumer demands are increasingly paving the way for a significant amount of business opportunity. Because of the rise of business opportunities, many firms located in different global markets are increasingly entering new markets. This is automatically triggering an increase in competition in the market. For the purpose of sustaining themselves, while retaining their competitive edge, the companies are increasing the pressure of performance on the employees. As a result of increasing stress in the workplaces, the people around the world are increasingly looking forward to relax by taking some highly enjoying vacations. The focus of this project is to compare and contrast two different tourism locations of Canada while judging them on the basis of factors like tourism planning environments, destination components as well as relative position in regards to tourism destination cycle. The two popular tourist destinations that have been chosen in this case are Harbourfront Centre as well as Banff National Park of Canada. Comparison of Harbourfront Centre and Banff National Park Harbourfront Centre Brief Overview The Harbour Front Centre is a neighbourhood located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, within the premises of city of Toronto of Canada. The history of the region highlights that the harbour of Toronto has been using since the days of founding of Toronto for industrial as well as shipping purposes. However, the Harbourfront Centre was formed on the first day of the year 1991 as a non profit organization dedicated towards charity. It has a mandate to organize as well as present public events over a regional spread of around 94 acres. As of the current times, the Harbourfront Centre was transformed into a popular all year round tourist destination. The offering of the tourist site comprises of a sizzling blend of culture, arts, recreation along with indoor cafe and outdoor patio. Various events of cultural nature like festivals, dance, musical performance as well as theatre also happen on an annual basis. On a average, the flow of tourists to this particular destination of tourism in Canada amount to over 12 million (Toronto.ca, 2013). Tourism Planning Environment While discussing about the tourism planning environment for the Harbourfront centre, it can be stated that the policies are largely focused on promoting sustainable development for the entire region. Also, since the business is of charitable nature, the policies of charity are somewhat applied in this case while focusing on tourism planning for the region. Destination Components The destination components for a tourist location mainly comprises of the various amenities and services that are offered to the tourists coming to visit the particular destination. In this case, it needs to be mentioned that the Harbourfront centre comprises of a stunning urban playground along with a great waterfront space for the purpose of spending time in strolling, picnicking, gallery hopping, biking, sailing as well as shopping ( Brokaw and et.al, 2011, p. 397). It also has a skating rink (Heller, 2012, p. 28) Talking in a more elaborate manner, the Harbourfront Centre comprises of various significant locations The Queen’s Quay is the departure point for various harbour tours as well as ferry trips to the Toronto Islands. The Queen’s Quay also has a premium dance theatre along with two floors of shops. There are also numerous line-ups of restaurant so as to satisfy the hunger needs of the tourists. The entire Harbourfront is filled with multiple art venues. The Power Plant is a temporary gallery for art exhibition along with some highly excellent shows. Other artistic as well as cultural attractions of the region include Du Maurier Theater Centre, Craft Studio, Bounty Contemporary Canadian Craft Shop as well as the Artists Gardens (Brokaw and et.al, 2011, p. 377). Tourism Destination Life Cycle In evaluating the position of Harbourfront centre on the curve of tourism destination life cycle, it can be stated that the Harbourfront centre will be placed on the consolidation stage. The reason it is being placed under the consolidation stage is because in the current times, the flow of tourists to the region is already over 12 million. Since the entire waterfront is already filled with a large number of small and medium sized businesses offering art and cultural items to the tourists, further expansion will focus on the process of cannibalization of the open space available to the tourists. Also, the businesses need to shift from the main location to a little remote location during the process of expansion which is also a characteristic counted in the consolidation stage of the tourism destination life cycle. Banff National Park Brief Overview The Banff National Park in Canada was created in the year 1885 among the Rocky Mountains of Canada. The oldest national park in Canada is mainly comprised of numerous glaciers, ice fields, coniferous forests of dense nature along with alpine landscapes. This tourist location in Canada is a highly popular destination and attracts a large number of visitors from all over the globe. The park is mostly a hot favourite destination for tourism because of its scenic and highly appealing natural beauty. As of the year 1984, the Banff National Park has been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site mainly because of the stunning mountain peaks, lakes, glaciers, canyons, limestone caves. It is highly important to mention that the flow of tourists to this spot mainly increases during the summer seasons. The upper Lake Louise Area of the park bears the status of Canadian icon. Tourism Planning Environment In discussing about the tourism planning environment of the region, it can be stated that the park is open throughout the year. Various tourism sponsoring industries has grown up in the region. For the purpose of preserving the environmental contribution of the park, the park was covered under the National Parks Act in the year 1988. The Act focused on the preservation of ecological integrity of the parks covered under this particular act. Around the year 1980, many park services were privatized. User fees of multiple facilities and services were introduced so as to effectively release the pressure on the budget cuts. Destination Components In discussing about the destination components for this tourist location in Canada, it can be said that the natural environment of the region was highly attractive. The entire region is highly popular as a spot of scenic beauty. The Banff National Park contributed around 800 million Canadian dollars to the local economy of Alberta in the year 2007. The region has a large number of businesses focused towards the tourism sector. The tourist services present in the Banff National Park comprises of hotels, bed and breakfast inns, restaurant, and other retail businesses. Apart from these services, campgrounds, campsites, service stations, community health units, hospitals and a public library are also present (Jamal and Robinson, 2009, p. 403). The region of Alberta which is close to Banff National Park has a shopping mall in the name of West Edmonton Mall. The mall is highly popular for services if shark sightings from a submarine along with various fantasy services like living a roman fantasy, having a bubble filled spa near a volcano. The mall also has a popular attraction, which is a full scale replica of the ship of Columbus, Santa Maria. The attractions of the mall of Alberta include Ice Palace, Roulette Wheels, and even some theme based parks. Tourism Destination Life Cycle From the point of tourism destination life cycle, it can be stated that the tourist destination of Banff National Park is in the phase of development. In the current times, the tourist destination has a flow of over 3 million visitors on an annual basis. The reason for the tourist destination being positioned in the development phase is mainly because of the fact that a large number of activities like hiking, trekking, skiing, biking, canoeing, horseback riding, fishing, canoeing is available in this particular location, thereby helping the national park to provide attraction, enjoyment and satisfaction to a wide range of tourists with diverse leisure time needs (Brokaw and et.al, 2011, p. 555). Recommendations For the purpose of making recommendations to the policy makers of the Canadian tourism sector, the location of Banff National Park has been taken in to consideration. The reason, it has been considered is because it is a tremendous icon representing Canada in the global stage. Also, the factor, that the Banff National Park is considered a UNESCO world heritage site further boosts up the importance for being considered as an important factor while making recommendation to the policy makers associated with the tourism industry of Canada. The first recommendation that can be made is that the Banff National Park can focus on the development of a rope way infrastructure. The rope way infrastructure can be built over a specific range of the Banff national park. The range will cover the most inaccessible regions of the park and will generally operate between select and very specific points. The development of a new kind of a rope way infrastructure will significantly create a new excitement to the tourists all over the globe. The unique value proposition for the tourists is that they can get a high altitude aerial view of the most inaccessible regions of the Banff National Park. The second recommendation that can be provided to the policy makers of the Canadian tourism is to start a chopper service over the entire Banff National Park. This will create the opportunity to the tourists to view and have a sight of the entire park without having to face a periodic or a season specific restriction related to closure for natural reasons or maintenance works (pg.gc.ca, 2013). Reference Brokaw, L. and et.al. (2011). Frommer’s Canada. USA: John Wiley And Sons. pg.gc.ca. (2013). Seasonal Closures and Restrictions. Retrieved: http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/fermetures-closures.aspx#cont Jamal, T. and Robinson, M. (2009) The SAGE Handbook of Tourism Studies. USA: Sage Publications. Heller, C. (2012). Moon Ontario. USA: Avalon Travel Toronto.ca. (2013). Attraction highlights. Retrieved: http://www.toronto.ca/attractions/attraction_highlights.htm Bibliography Cooper, C. (2005). Tourism: Principles and practice. USA: Pearson Education. Spinelli, M. (2004) Tourism: Engine of Prosperity.USA: Bloomington Read More