Tourism Planning

Tourism Planning
is the process the process of setting a goal, determining the course of action and
implementing them in order to achieve the aim set.
Planning
Is the process which aims to anticipate, regulate and monitor change to contribute
to the wider sustainability of destination, thereby enhancing tourist experience of
the destination or the place
Approaches Used In Tourism Planning
• Top down bottom up
• Boosterim
• Integrated approach
• Interactive approach
• Supply-led approach
• Market-led approach
• Conventional approach
Components of tourism
• Attraction
• Amenities
• Transportation
• Institution
• Accommodation
Stakeholders In Tourism Planning
• The individual
• Community
• International
• Government
• Private investors
Tourism is generated by the two major powers
• Demand
 • Supply
Demand: demand means requirement of tourism products (goods and services)
at a particular place / market in a given time
Supply : supply refers to provision of variety of tourism products at a particular
place / market in a given time.
Satisfaction: It’s when post-travel experience exceeds pre-travel expectation
Sequentially tourism is planned as follows:
• International level
• National level
• Regional level
• Development area level
• Development site level
• Facility design
Factors that planning should focus on
• Local community
• Environment maintenance
• Employment Rate
• Tourist experience
Tourism as a diffuse activity
When the benefits associated with tourism is spread from the destination of the
tourist to his or her originating points.
Tourism as a complex product
Because it’s contains different components that comes together to make tourism a
complete activity.
SEQUENCE OF TOURISM PLANNING
International Level
Planning focuses on:
• International transportation services
• The flow and tour programing of tourist among different countries
 • Multi country marketing strategy and promotion programme
National Level
Planning focuses on:
• Identification of tourist attractions
• Facility development, design and quality standards
• Overall tourism marketing, education and training program
• Tourism organization and legislation
• The tour route, and their regional connections
• types and quality of tourist facilities and services
Regional Level
Planning focuses on:
• Regional policy
• Regional education and training programmes
• Regional transportation, facilities and service
• Regional level environmental, socio-cultural and economic consideration
and impact analysis
• Marketing strategies and promotion programmes
• Organizational structure and implementation techniques
Development Area
Planning focuses on:
• Land use and transportation planning
•
• Specific assessment of economic, environmental and socio-cultural impact
• Planning for other tourism facilities and attraction
Development site
Site planning is very specific planning for a specific location of buildings and
structures(hotels, restaurant ,resorts) , recreational facilities, and attractions
Facility design
Architectural design and detailed landscaping and engineering plans and
specification must be prepared for resort, hotel, restaurant etc.
Importance of Tourism Planning
• It brings various direct and indirect economic benefit
• It helps ensure sustainability and conservation
• It helps to keep tourism development on track and monitors its progress
• Planning help optimize the benefits and minimize its possible problems
• It makes the coordination of the different sectors that make up the tourism
sector possible.
• It guides the location, types and extent of tourism attraction development,
facilities, services and infrastructure
• It provides a common basis for synergy and deliberation by both the public
and private sector on tourism development.
TOURISM PLANNING PROCESS
• Multiplier effect indicates how many times the money spent by a tourist
circulates in the country’s economy.
• Destination a place that develops resources and activities to be visited by
tourist
• Concept of leakage leakage refers to the outflow of tourism-generated
revenue from a destination to other countries or regions.
• Tourism system refers to the way in which a series of elements are related
to other for the realization of the tourism activity
• Open system refers to a tourism destination or organization that actively
engages with its external environment and interacts with other systems
• Closed system refers to a destination or organization that operates
independently with limited interaction or exchange with external
stakeholders.
Tourist travel to a destination for :
• Something to do
• Something to see
• Something to buy
TOURISM PLANNING PROCESS
1. Study Preparation
2. Determination of objectives
3. Survey of elements
 4. Analysis and Synthesis of Findings
5. Policy and Formulation
6. Consider recommendations
7. Implementation and monitoring of plan
Components of tourism plan
• Tourist attractions and activities
• Accommodations
• Amenities and other services
• Transportation facilities and other services
• Institutional factors
Determination of objectives
The main purpose of the plan is identified : thus
• Is the main plan pursing a sustainable strategy development
• Is it been undertaking in response to a crisis of such saturation
Survey of Elements
The required collection of demand and supply for tourism, the structure of the
local tourism economy, investment and finance available for future development.
Analysis and Synthesis of Findings
Data collected from previous stage are analyzed and incorporated as data when
formulating the plan.
Four principles technique used for analysis and Synthesis
• Market analysis
• Asset valuation
• Development plan
• Impact analysis
Policy and Plan Formulation
The findings gathered are used to establish the various options or developmental
scenarios available for tourism
Acernaza identified three major elements evident in most tourism policies that
germane to the tourist experience
 • Various Satisfaction
• Environmental protection
• Ensuring adequate rewards exist for developers and investors
Consider Recommendations
The full plan is then prepared and forwarded to the planning committee for public
agency responsible for the process
Implementation and Monitoring of Plan
During and after implementation, tourism development must be monitored to be
certain that it accomplish the desire objectives.
Periodic review
This relates the process of reporting back on the progress once the plan has run its
course and been implemented
CONSEQUENCES OF POOR TOURISM PLANNING
• Physical impact
• Human impact
• Marketing impact
• Organizational impact
Physical impact
• Pollution
• Congestion and overcrowding
• Damage of the physical / cultural landmark and resources
• Traffic problem
• Damage of the physical environment
Human impact
• Loss of cultural identities
• Dislike of tourist by local resident
• Lack of education of tourism employees in skills and hospitality
• Lack of awareness of benefits of tourism to the destination
• Less accessibility to services and tourist attractions for the local resident.
Marketing impact
 • Lack of sufficient awareness in prime market
• Lack of clear image of destination area in potential market
• Lack of cooperative advertising among individuals operators
• Failure to capitalize on new marketing opportunities
• Erosion of market shares due to action
Concepts and Issues for Planning and Management
To understand the tourist experience, one needs to consider the following
observations in relations to holidays as postulated by (Ryan, 1997).
1. It has an emotional involvement for the tourist
2. There is a strong motivation for successful and satisfactory outcomes on the
part of the tourist
3. There is a significant long period of interaction between the tourist and the
holiday destination.
4. Manipulative processes are part of the holiday experience and source of
satisfaction.
5. A number of holiday services exist so that the tourist can select among
alternatives options.
6. Holidays have a structure whereby the tourist can play several different
roles.
Why Tourist is considered as a manipulator:
Because they prefer to do whatever they want to do at the destination.
Factors that contribute to tourist satisfaction
• Safety
• Climate
• Traffic
• Noise
• Pollution
Tourist experience : It is the combination of inherent factors and associated
satisfaction in terms of acquired and consumed services during the holistic tourism
experience which determines the overall satisfaction level of tourists.
Factors to consider about tourism experience
• It is impossible to control all factors relating to visitor experience.
 • It should also be recognized that, while a visitor may be completely satisfied
with the core product and the tangible service element, an external factor
such as weather or transport infrastructure may spoil the experience.
• Also, satisfaction is not absolute and depends on individual needs, wants,
expectations and experience.
• Satisfaction threshold inevitably change over time as visitor gain more
experience and industry standards advances.
Why the need to ensure customer satisfaction
• First, tourist satisfaction can encourage regular and repeat visitation, which
is more cost effective for operators and organization than seeking new
visitors.
• Secondly, positive word of mouth recommendation work in favour of
attraction operators since minimal marketing input is required to attract new
visitors.
Service Quality and the Tourist Experience
A number of models have been developed to evaluate quality and customer
satisfaction in business operations. The most notable one is SERVQUAL.
The SERVQUAL model operates based on the following principle.
• Reliability
• Responsiveness
• Empathy
• Assurance
• Tangible
Reliability: ability to perform service dependably.
Responsiveness: willingness to assist customer and provide prompt service.
Empathy: display of caring attitude to customer.
Assurance: Courtesy, trustworthiness, and knowledge of staff.
Tangible: presentation of physical facilities.
In short RREAT
The model of SERVQUAL led to the emergence of other quality assessment
models such as ;
• HOLSAT – which evaluates Holiday experience
• HISTOQUAL – evaluates the quality provided in historic houses.
Gap between the expected and perceived service
(Gilbert & Joshi, 1992) identified five gaps which exist between the expected and
perceived;
• The expected service and the management perception of the consumer
experience –Gap 1
• The management perception of the tourist needs and the translation of those
needs into service quality specification –Gap 2
• The quality specification and the actual delivery of the service –Gap 3.
• The service delivery stage and the organization/service provider’s
communication with the consumer – Gap 4.
• The consumer perception of the service they received and experienced , and
their initial expectations of the service – Gap 5.
Human Resource and the Tourist Experience
What your staff need to do to enhance good tourist experience, Thus your
employees versus the tourist experience
• Employees performance is crucial in tourism, given the dependence of staff
to deliver many elements of the tourist experience.
• Staff ought to add value and delight customers.
• They can make or break tourist experience.
• Positive interaction with customers can transform a negative experience to a
better one.
“Zero defects”- customers have a level beyond which they will complain.
In order to achieve a good tourist experience through your employees, tourism
firms need the three (3) Ss.
• Strategy
• Staff
• Systems
(Graefe & Vaske, 1987) argue that the development of management strategy is
necessary to;
• Deal with problem and condition which may impact on the tourist
experience
• Identify the cause of such problem
• Select appropriate management strategy to deal with such problem.
(Godfrey & Clarke, 2000) advised that, as part of looking after the customer in
terms of customer care,
• Value should be added to the experience
• Increase the length of stay
• Generate positive word of mouth recommendation
• Encourage repeat visit from satisfied customers
• Differentiating the destination from competitors.
Five (5) interrelated themes for retaining tourist.
• A tourist focused organization/industry.
• Authenticity in the experience
• Provision of quality experience and commitment to businesses
• Integration in the tourism sector by cooperation to get strategic advantage
over competitors.
• Innovation, creative thinking and product/service development which can
often be achieved by making small or incremental changes to make a
difference.
Hard standards – where definable standards can be measured to assess progress
and outcomes. Things that can be counted, timed or observed through audit
Soft standards – where measures such as staff friendliness can be assessed. Opinion
Based measures that cannot be observed. Things that must be documented using
perceptual measures.