Emergence of Destination Tourism Development - Assignment Example

? Destination management Rome Rome, the capital of Italy is rich with its heritage. The is inhabited by 2.8 million people and is the largest city of the country. Rome is the only city in the world that has within itself an entire state, the Vatican City. The city has a history that dates back to the 753 BC. Rome has to offer a lot of places of interest to the tourists and a host of activities that the visitors can undertake during their trip to the city. Emergence of Destination Development Tourism in any country contributes to the GDP and acts as a major tool for economic growth and development. Throughout the world it has been seen that tourism is one of the major source of employment for the people of that particular destination. The aim of destination management is to arrive at state where there would be development of the social cultural and economic activities of the destination. Along with the present day establishment it has to be ensured as well that the future generations can also avail of the resources and can enjoy the place as the way their ancestors did. Research has been carried out in this field to find out the reasons that contribute to the success of sustainable tourism and how the latter can be achieved in the most effective manner. There is a need for planning, developing and marketing a particular destination in a more holistic approach. For proper destination management all the stakeholders have to get involved in the place like the local government, the professionals who have expertise in the field, the tour operators, the airlines, hotels as well as the communities that represent a particular destination. If destination development is done in a proper way it would benefit the entire tourism business in the area and hence would move towards sustainability. Stage of development The destination development for a place takes place through mainly the following phases. The Tourism Area life cycle model that had been devised by Butler would help to analyse the various aspects of tourism in the city of Rome (Butler, 2006). Fig. 1 Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) (Butler 2006) Rome has been a destination of interest among tourist from all over the world. The city had past the stages of exploration and involvement long ago because people have always known the city as something worthwhile to be seen. The city has within it one of the seven wonders of the world that is the Colosseum. Continuous restoration work is undertaken in the place which shows that this place of heritage is in the rejuvenation stage of the development. There are various other places like the ancient temples, archways and channels of drainage throughout the city that are worth visiting (Tooman, 1997). Thus it is necessary for the government and the department of tourism to manage these areas well and ensure the proper maintenance and restoration of the prehistoric architecture. There are also several gardens like the Vatican Gardens, Villa Torlonia and Acquedotto Felice which is less visited compared to the major architectural wonders. The government has to plan tours to help the visitors locate these places and make their visits within their fixed time schedules. Another era of history can also be experienced in the Vatican City. The St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum are popular tourist destination. The city of Rome would never be at a decline stage being the city to house one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This is because the city would always appeal to the people across the world and students studying in the related disciplines like history, anthropology and so on. Approach to destination management Certain things have to be carefully taken care of by the destination managers while planning the tour for the prospective tourists. The public has to easily access the various destinations that would be included in their tour plan. Comfortable, timely and hassle free communication would be a major reason for the success of tourism at a particular place. The city has proper arrangements for Taxi, Bus, Metro, and Tram that would take them to different places across the city. Tickets for the rides are available at affordable rates at various centres making the tour inexpensive (Budruk and Phillips, 2010). The tourist can hire a bicycle and can discover the city at his own will. The travel experience that the tourists are exposed to should be safe. Often the tourists want proper guidance of their tours (Hayes-Roth, Waterman and Lenat, 1983). For that special guides should be employed to take them through a recapitulation of their historic times. The department of Tourism in Rome has arranged for such guided tours so that during the boat cruises or the historic walks the guide is steering the entire experience of the tourists. System of governance Any visitor who intends to visit Rome must have the passport to Italy. However, the citizens of Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino and the countries of the European Union must have their National Identity cards along with them. For a visitor coming for tenure of less than 90 days no visa is required. This flexibility in the regulations on part of the Italian Government has encouraged large number of short term tourists into the city. The government of the country has taken adequate measures to promote the tourism of the place through the proper arrangement of transportation and communication facilities (Cooper, 1990). The government has also spent a lot of fund for the maintenance of the city and to encourage more tourists to come to the place. Research Applications Research has shown that most of the tourism related services like accommodation and restaurants have grown up in the areas surrounding the city centre. Studies have also been conducted in the various places in Rome where there are architectural evidences of the historic era. Most of the scholars come to the place to look for the various new aspects that come of out the places which were previously not found out (Gearing, Swart, and Var, 1974). Tourism Policy & Planning Due to the growth of tourism in Rome a lot of places and sets for accommodation, lodging and food have been arranged in the metropolitan area of Rome. The private sector players have made urban planning in the areas surrounding the main town centre. This may hamper the aesthetic significance of the place (Woodside and Martin, 2008). Thus the town planning has to be done in such a way that the tourists get the proper access to the services yet the fundamentals of the city are not hampered. Stakeholders Figure 1: Stakeholder Pyramid The stakeholders for any destination tourism can be analysed with the help of the VICE Model of sustainable tourism. Rome is visited by people from across the globe. The revenue that is generated from the tourists contributes to the economic and social development of the place. The ambience of heritage that Rome has provided the tourists with a lot of good experience about the place and they make their repeat visits. Thus Visitors are the most important stakeholders in the tourism of Rome (Ritchie and Crouch, 2003). The industry is composed of the transportation, the hotels restaurants and the tour operators who are involved in the service of the visitors. The community includes the local people and the government who take part on the development and maintenance of the tangible and intangible resources that the place is blessed with. All these three aspects contribute to the development of the destination and creation of a sustainable environment (Figure 1). Forms of Tourism The city of Rome has to offer a varied portfolio of tourism option. Since the duration of the visits of the tourists varied between 3 days to 3 weeks to 3 months, there are various activities that the visitors can engage themselves into. There are the Museum tours, the city tours, the Vatican Tours, The bus rides and the heritage walks. There are several theme tours based on a variety of themes like the Archaeological Rome, the Contemporary Rome, and The religious Rome, the Piazzas, the Tivoli and various other destinations. Along with this there are options of availing guided tours like the Boat rides, the bus tours like the Carrani Tours. Application of sustainability indicators The maintenance of the various places of historical importance is importance for the tourism department. The tour operators have to be guided by the government in a proper manner so that a very comfortable atmosphere of hospitality is created. The waste management by these tour operators have to be done so that the tourists do not litter the places and create harm to the sustainability of the place (Dwyer and Kim, 2003). The long term benefits of sustainable tourism can only be reaped if the present generation leaves enough bequests for the future generations. Competition and collaboration An environment of healthy competition has to be created with the tour operators and the other related services. A proper competition would ensure that all the parties are instrumental in providing the best services to the visitors and thereby contributing to the economic and cultural development of the city (Crouch, 2007). A collaborative environment has to be ensured by the government through the implementation of stringent laws and regulations for the sectors that are related to tourism and serve the visitors. Destination Marketing Technological advancement has changed the behaviour of visitors. Internet and social media promotional activities changed the definition of destination marketing. Now-a-days, several travel and tours organizations are using internet and social media as key marketing tools for several tourist destinations. Rome is considered as one of the most popular cities among the tourists around the globe. The city is enriched with several popular tourist spots. However, use of internet and social media will help the city to become more popular among the tourists. The destination management or travel and tourist management department of Rome should use travel guides, tourism offices, and travel and tourism guides as the primary source of information about the city. Then it is the responsibility of the tours and travel department to share valuable travel experiences of several visitors through several social media networking sites, such as Facebook, You Tube and Twitter (Gunelius, 2011). They can use Flicker or Picasa to report the live travelling experience of people. These online marketing strategies will help the tourism department to make their City more attractive for the people around the globe who love to travel and tour several popular tourist spots. Tourism Trends Rome is considered as one of the popular cities among the tourists. It is one of the most visited cities by the tourists around the globe for the past two millennia. Rome was the only powerful city and centre of Western Civilization. Creative architectures and innovatively planned city and advanced life style were the major characteristics of the city during the roman time. The city was impressively advanced during that period of time comparing to the others around the globe. These innovations, development and unique artwork motivate several people to visit the city. People, who visit Rome, try to visit Piazza Navona, St. Peter’s Square and Coloseum. Coloseum is considered as one of the 7th wonders of the world. This architecture or the construction bought the concept of modern city centre where each and every individuals of the city could interact with each other (Triefeldt, 2007). Apart from these things, several art museums attract people to visit this city. The tourism industry achieved significant growth rate during past few years due to adequate strategy implementation by the tourism department. This constant and significant growth of the industry is helping the nation to achieve potential economic growth. Several favourable economic, social and technological drivers are helping the people across the world to visit the city. In addition to this, effective service to the visitors and several differentiated options are motivating the tourists to prefer Rome as one of the best city to tour. Opportunities and Challenges Global tourism sector is becoming highly competitive as government of each and every country around the globe is trying to develop their tourism industry to enhance positive economic growth. It is important for government and tourism department of Rome to develop effective sustainable strategies in order to achieve competitive advantages. People around the globe always have the tendency to visit pollution free and clean tourism places. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government to develop green and sustainable strategies to capitalize on the potential opportunities. In addition to this, the government should motivate several travel agencies and offices to ensure effective service for the visitors (Baker, 2007). Lack of effective service and in adequate food or transpiration quality can affect the growth of the industry. Rome is popular among the visitors for several well recognized tourist spots and developed architectures and transport facilities from the ancient time. Therefore, it is important for the government to focus on service facilities rather than focusing on development process. The building and architectures are quite popular and attractive among the visitors. Therefore, the government can focus on maintain these developments. On the other hand, the government should develop several laws and policies for the existing travel agencies in order to enhance guest service. Last but not the least, the tourism department along with several agencies can use social media and internet as effective marketing and promotional strategies (Redfern, 2013). Putting up live experiences in the website can attract people around the globe to visit the city. However, these strategies need to be developed by the government to capitalize on potential opportunities that are developed due to global trend. Intense market competition, natural calamities, economical slowdown and several unwanted terrorist activities can be considered as the major threat for the city. Slowly and gradually, government of each and every country is focusing on their tourism department as this industry is considered as the major economic growth driver. On the other hand, recent financial crisis and economic recession affected the global economic environment. Low disposable income and limited purchasing power are the major consequences of economic down turn. Low disposable income of people is forcing people to save money and reduce unnecessary costs (Kozak & Baloglu, 2010). Roman architectures and buildings are quite popular among the visitors. These infrastructures were developed way in the past. There is the possibility of collapsing of these infrastructures due to natural calamities. It can affect entire tourism industry. Last but not the least; terrorism has become major political concern among several popular cities. It is important for the government to take care of the security aspect of the city. Any kind of unwanted and unnecessary threat can hamper the growth of the industry and well as the economic growth of the country. Conclusion Rome is considered as one of the most popular and visited cities since the ancient Roman time. The city is popular among the tourists due to its art, architecture and development during the Roman period. Tourism industry of Rome is growing at a constant rate. However, it is important for the government to maintain sustainability and to develop effective strategies to maintain its growth. In addition to this, the tourism department of the country should think about the opportunities and threats before developing any kind of strategy. It is highly required to overcome the possibilities of several external threats. References Butler, R.W. (2006). The Tourism Area Life Cycle: Applications and Modifications. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. Hayes-Roth, F., Waterman, D.A. and Lenat, D.B. (1983). Building Expert Systems. Reading MA: Addison-Wesley. Crouch, G. (2007). Modelling Destination Competitiveness: A Survey and Analysis of the Impact of Competitiveness Attributes. Melbourne: La Trobe University Press. Dwyer, L.and Kim, C. (2003). Destination Competitiveness: determinants and indicators. Current Issues in Tourism, 6, 123. Cooper, C. (1990). Resorts in Decline: the Management Response. Tourism Management,11, 63. Gearing, C., Swart,W. and Var, T. (1974). Establishing a Measure of Touristic Attractiveness. Journal of Travel Research, 12, 5. Ritchie, B. and Crouch, G. (2003). The Competitive Destination: A Sustainable Tourism Perspective. CABI Publishers: Wallingford. Tooman, L. A. (1997). 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