Tourism policy structure content and process

The tasks of resource deployment and resource stewardship are linked by the shared need for a tourism destination management information system TDMIS to support policy formulation, stra

TOURISM POLICY STRUCTURE CONTENT AND PROCESS

1. Tourism Policy: A Definition

- A set of regulations, rules, guidelines, directives, and development/promotion objectives and strategies that provide a framework within which the collective and individual decisions directly affecting long-term tourism development and the daily activities within a destination are taken

- The purpose of tourism policy: to seek to ensure that visitors are hosted in a way that maximizes the benefits to stakeholders while minimizing the negative effects, cost, and impacts associated with ensuring the success of the destination

- Tourism policy is very important because it affects the extent to which all the day-to-day operational activities of toursim, such as marketing, event development, attraction operations and visitor recetion programs are successful

2. The focus of tourism policy : The competitive/sustainable destination

Tourism destinations aredefined in terms by recognized political jurisdictions:

• A nation/country

• A macroregion, consisting of several countries/ other groupings

• A province/state within a country

• A localized region within a country

• A city/town

• A unique locale, such as a national park/a historic site …

3. The major parameters of tourism destination management:

The competitiveness of a destination refers to its ability to compete effectively and

profitably in the tourism marketplace Sustainability pertains to the ability of a destination to maintain the quality of its physical, social,cultural and environmental resources while it competes in the marketplace.

Successful TDM involves traditional economic/ business management skills balanced

with environmental management, capabilities The economic business skills required are those related to effective resource development and deployment The include strategic planning for destination development, the marketing of the destination , the management

of the human resourece necessary to deliver quality visitor experience, the management

of the financial resources/investment required to support development, and the ability to develop the organizational capacity to coordinate and ensure the delivery of essential services.

The concept of stewardship has been expanded to encompass management practices designed to both maintain and enhance the commemorative, social, and cultural integrity

of the destination

This human presence has two main compenents: visitor management and resident/community management

The tasks of resource deployment and resource stewardship are linked by the shared need for a tourism destination management information system (TDMIS) to support policy formulation, strategic planning, day to day decision, making and overall performance evaluation

Policy research seeks to gather and interpret macrolevel data related to present values and the evolution of trends of major economic, social, technological, and political factor that bear on the success of the destination

3.1 A model of the competitive/sustainable destination

The purpose of tourism policy is to ensure a common, agreed upon purpose for tourism and to establish the broad parameters for planning and coordinating the efforts of all tourism stakeholders

3.2 A warning: tourism destination and tourism policy do not exist in a vacuum

Tourism policies are but part of the social, economic, and political policies that govern and direct the functioning of the overall society within which tourism exists and functions

In brief, a number of more general policies ( regulation, rules, directives, objectives, strategies) are controlled by governments, as well as other industry sector and organization, and these policies may have a significant effect on the success of tourism and tourism destinations These includes:

• Interest rate policy • Foreign investment policy

/regulations

• Environmental policy • Local zoning policy/bylaw

• Customs and immigration policy • National/provincical/ local policy

pertaining to funding support for major public facilities

• Communications policy • Unfrastructure policy

• Minimum wage policy • Currency exchange – rate policies –

directly affect destination cost competitivenesse

To summarize, a whole range of social, economic,legal and technological policies greatly affects the appeal, attractiveness, competitiveness and sustainability of tourism destionation

 The challenge facing tourism managers is to try to influence global policies where they can, and adapt to them as effectively as possible where they cannot

3.3 The Many Influences on Tourism Policy

Tourism does not exist in a vacuum It can function smoothly only if it shares, cooperates and dialogues effectively with many other sectors of society and of the economy

Each of these interfaces can pose either a threat or an opportunity for tourism The environment sector and the extractive industries have traditionally viewed tourism as a competing force, the technology, entertainment, and transportation sectors most often perceive tourism as an ally or business opportunity

In order to dialogue and to present its case effectively at each interface, the tourism sector must be a capable, as well trained, and as well prepared as the professionals of any specific sector at any given point in time

3.4 The Multidisciplinary Nature of Tourism and Tourism Policy

Tourism is a multidisciplinary phenomenon ( see Figure 1.3) the tourism experience is impacted by a range of economic,psychological, societal, technological, legal, and political forces

3.5 Some Other Characteristics of Tourism Policy

In addition to the multidisciplinary nature of tourism policy, it also possesses several other essential characteristic:

• It must focus on macrolevel policies/ even transnational level

• It must be designed to formulate policies having a long time perspective

• It must concentrate on how critical and limited resources can best respond to perceived needs and opportunities in a changing environment

• It must recognize the intellectual nature of the process of policy formulation As such, it must incorporate tacit knowledge and personal experiences as important sources of information

• It must encourage and stimulate organized creativity so as to avoid policies based

on stereotyped or outmoded perceptions

• It must be constructed to permit and facilitate a continuing dynamic social process requiring inputs from multiple sources

• It must be break down the traditional boundaries between industry sectors in tourism

• It must relate policies of the tourism subsystem to those of the total socioeconomic system of a nation or region of which it is a part

• It must acknowledge the destination roles of both competition and cooperation and seek to identify situations where each is appropriate

4. Tourism Policy: Structure, Content and Process:

4.1 The Structure of Tourism Policy

Figure 15.5: Provides one framework for tourism policy (i.e., a set of guidelines for successful destination development and operations)

Tourism Philosophy

Tourism Vision

Tourism Objectives

and Constraints

Supply Macromanagement Demand

Development Organizational Structure Development

Strategies Stratagies

Operational/Tactical Operational/Tatical Supply Development Demand

Policies/Programs Development

Policies/program

4.1.1 Tourism Philosophy

_ An explicit tourism philosophy is an essential foundation on which to develop a coherent policy

_ A philosophy may be defi ned as a system for guiding life — a body of principles of conduct, beliefs, or traditions — or the broad general principles of a particular subject or

fi eld of activity Íts purpose that indicates the beliefs and values of members of a society concerning how tourism shall serve the population of a country or region

_ Stress the critical role that the values of destination residents exert in determining the context of tourism policy

_ Tourism policies that do not reflect the values of the destination stakeholders, or hosts, will inevitably fail to gain ongoing popular or political support

4.1.2 The Destination Vision

Visions can take many different forms Typically, however, a destination vision is structured as shown in Figure 15.6

Destination Vision

– A Conceptual Framework -

Preamble

Core Vision Elements

of the Vision

Ecology Awareness Visitor Experience Economy

Community Governance

VALUES

On which the Vision Is Based PRINCIPLES

Guiding Implementation of Vision

_ The preamble sector of a vision sets the tone and provides the context and rationale for the vision being developed

_ The core vision, as the name implies, attempts to capture the overall essence of the ideal future for the destination in question

_ The values component of the vision statement seeks to provide an understanding

of the deeply held enduring beliefs of the stakeholders formulating the vision _ Once the core vision and its elements have been agreed upon, it is frequently useful to provide a statement of principles designed to provide guidance as to how the vision and its elements should be interpreted and implemented

4.1.3 Crafting versus Formulating a Strategic Vision

_ Policy formulation is a term refl ecting a traditional approach to strategic planning that can be described as prescriptive in orientation

_ Crafting a strategy is a dynamic, evolving process in which strategies take form

as a result of learning over a period of time, as opposed to being formulated at a fixed point in time

_ Crafting strategy requires dedication, experience, involvement with the material, the personal touch, mastery of detail, a sense of harmony, and integration

4.1.4: Tourism Objectives and Constraints

_Component three of a tourism policy consists of a statement of the objectives of the tourism system

_ The objectives of the tourism system should possess a number of important characteristics

First, because the objectives are formulated in light of the tourism vision, their achievement should clearly contribute to the fulfi llment of this vision

Second, in order that the objectives can be qualified as operational, it is essential that managers are able to measure the extent to which desired results have or have not been attained

Third, we must ensure that the measures selected with respect to each objective are indeed valid indicators of the desired results; that is, they must measure what we truly want to achieve

Fourth, in the common situation where the tourism system has multiple objectives,

it is advisable to indicate an order or priority among objectives

Fifth, the objectives must be related to a given time period as is directly stated in the above definition

Finally, the objectives that are stated must be reasonable

4.2 The Process of tourism policy formulation:

This process is conceptualized as containing distinct stages grouped into four main phases (Figure 15.7 ) These phases are identified as the definitional phase, the analytical phase, the operational phase, and the implementation phase

4.2.1 Definitional Phase

_ Defi nition of tourism destination system

_ Explication of a tourism philosophy

_ Crafting of a destination vision

_ Objectives and constraint

The definitional phase of tourism policy formulation is concerned with the development

of explicit statements that defi ne the content and direction of the overall tourism system

in question

The remaining three components of the defi nitional phase (Figure 15.7 ) involve the explication of a tourism philosophy, the formulation of a destination vision, and the determination of tourism objectives and constraints for the destination

4.2.2 Analytical Phase

Internal Analysis

Review of existing policies and programs

Resource audit

Strategic impact analysis

External Analysis

Macrolevel analysis of current and future demand

Microlevel analysis of current and future demand and behaviors

Review of competitive and supportive tourism development and promotion policie

_ The analytical phase accepts these decisions as a given and proceeds to carry out the extensive collection and assessment of information needed to identify and assess the desirability of alternative means of attaining the destination vision and

to achieve the goals de ned by the vision

_ The overall process of analysis is best viewed as being composed of two major subprocesses: (1) an internal or supply - oriented analysis, and (2) an external or demand - oriented analysis

+ The internal/supply analysis consists of a thorough review and analysis (frequently termed an audit ) of two major elements

The first element relates to existing policies and programs for the development of the various components of tourism supply

A second element of the supply analysis is termed a resource audit A resource

audit should be conducted with two goals in mind First, it should provide acomprehensive cataloguing of the quantity and distribution of tourism facilities and services within the tourism system Such information is basic to an understanding of the current state of affairs of supply development Second, the resource audit should provide some assessment of the quality of existing facilities and services

The third form of internal analysis is a strategic impact analysis This analysis seeks to provide policy makers with well - defi ned benchmarks as to the extent to which tourism is currently impacting the destination in economic, ecological, social, and cultural terms

+ The external/demand analysis is composed of three distinct types of analytical Activity

The first involves macrolevel analysis of data that describes and defi nes the overall nature and structure of current tourism demand as well as those markets having a potential for future demand This form of analysis relies heavily on aggregate statistics measuring the flows of tourists and travel - relateexpenditures within a region

The second type of external/demand analysis is termed microlevel analysis Here, rather than focusing on aggregate trends in tourism demand, attention is directed toward gaining an understanding of the motivations and behavior of the different segments of the total tourism market

The final component of external/demand analysis involves a review and evaluation

of competitive and supportive tourism development and promotion policies and programs

4.2.3 Operational Phase

Identification of strategic conclusions

Implications of conclusions for supply and demand development

Policy/program recommendations

This operational phase is envisaged to contain three conceptually different types of activity

The identifi cation of strategic conclusions flows directly out of the analytical phase, and its goal is to synthesize the large amounts of information obtained into a limited number of major conclusions This process also must attempt to provide conclusions that assess the impact of the trade - offs that inevitably are made when attempting to match supply and demand

The subsequent stage of the policy formulation process is the identifi cation of specifi c “ policy/program recommendations for supply/demand development ”

4.2.4 Implementation Phase

Implementation of strategy for destination of development, promotion, and stewardship Allocation of responsibilities for recommendation implementation

Identifi cation of sources of funding to support competitive initiatives and stewardship programs

Specification of timing for recommendation implementation

Monitoring and evaluation of the results

Finally, for a destination tourism policy to truly succeed, it is essential to include

an implementation phase At a minimum, such a strategy must: (1) identify the

individual groups or organizations that will assume responsibility for each major

dimension of the policy realization, (2) establish initial estimates of the fi nancial

requirements, and (3) provide preliminary timelines for the launching of all major