TWO SIDES OF TOURISM PLANNING

Tourism planning has evolved from two related but
distinct sets of planning philosophies and methods. On
the one hand, tourism is one of many activities in an
area that must be considered as part of physical,
environmental, social, and economic planning. Therefore,
it is common to find tourism addressed, at least
partially, in a regional land use, transportation,
recreation, economic development, or comprehensive plan.
The degree to which tourism is addressed in such plans
depends upon the relative importance of tourism to the
community or region and how sensitive the planning
authority is to tourism activities.

Tourism may also be viewed as a business in which a
community or region chooses to engage. Individual tourism
businesses conduct a variety of planning activities
including feasibility, marketing, product development,
promotion, forecasting, and strategic planning. If
tourism is a significant component of an area's economy
or development plans, regional or community-wide
marketing plans are needed to coordinate the development
and marketing activities of different tourism interests
in the community.

A comprehensive approach integrates a strategic marketing
plan with more traditional public planning activities.
This ensures a balance between serving the needs and
wants of the tourists versus the needs and wants of local
residents. A formal tourism plan provides a vehicle for
the various interests within a community to coordinate
their activities and work toward common goals. It also is
a means of coordinating tourism with other community
activities.

STEPS IN THE PLANNING PROCESS
Like any planning, tourism planning is goal-oriented,
striving to achieve certain objectives by matching
available resources and programs with the needs and wants
of people. Comprehensive planning requires a systematic
approach, usually involving a series of steps. The
process is best viewed as an iterative and on-going one,
with each step subject to modification and refinement at
any stage of the planning process.

There are six steps in the planning process:
1. Define goals and objectives.
2. Identify the tourism system.
a) Resources
b) Organizations
c) Markets
3. Generate alternatives.
4. Evaluate alternatives.
5. Select and implement.
6. Monitor and evaluate.

STEP ONE: Defining Goals and objectives. Obtaining clear
statements of goals and objectives is difficult, but
important. Ideally, tourism development goals should flow
from more general community goals and objectives. It is
important to understand how a tourism plan serves these
broader purposes. Is the community seeking a broader tax
base, increased employment opportunities, expanded
recreation facilities, better educational programs, a
higher quality of life? How can tourism contribute to
these objectives?

If tourism is identified as a means of serving broader
community goals, it makes sense to develop plans with
more specific tourism development objectives. These are
generally defined through a continuing process in which
various groups and organizations in a community work
together toward common goals. A local planning authority,
chamber of commerce, visitors bureau, or similar group
should assume a leadership role to develop an initial
plan and obtain broad involvement of tourism interests in
the community. Public support for the planning process
and plan is also important.

Having a good understanding of tourism and the tourism
system in your community is the first step toward
defining goals and objectives for tourism development.
The types of goals that are appropriate and the precision
with which you are able to define them will depend upon
how long your community has been involved in tourism and
tourism planning.

In the early stages of tourism development, goals may
involve establishing organizational structures and
collecting information to better identify the tourism
system in the community. Later, more precise objectives
can be formulated and more specific development and
marketing strategies evaluated.

STEP TWO: Identifying Your Tourism System
When planning for any type of activity, it is important
to first define its scope and characteristics. Be clear
about exactly what your plan encompasses. A good initial
question is, "What do you mean by tourism?" Tourism is
defined in many ways. Generally, tourism involves people
traveling outside of their community for pleasure.
Definitions differ on the specifics of how far people
must travel, whether or not they must stay overnight, for
how long, and what exactly is included under traveling
for "pleasure". Do you want your tourism plan to include
day visitors, conventioneers, business travelers, people
visiting friends and relatives, people passing through,
or seasonal residents?

Which community resources and organizations serve
tourists or could serve tourists? Generally, tourists
share community resources with local residents and
businesses. Many organizations serve both tourists and
locals. This complicates tourism planning and argues for
a clear idea of what your tourism plan entails.

You can begin to clarify the tourism system by breaking
it down into three subsystems:

(1) tourism resources,
(2) tourism organizations, and
(3) tourism markets.

An initial task in developing a tourism plan is to
identify, inventory, and classify the objects within each
of these subsystems.

TOURISM RESOURCES are any (1) natural, (2) cultural, (3)
human, or (4) capital resources that either are used or
can be used to attract or serve tourists. A tourism
resource inventory identifies and classifies the
resources available that provide opportunities for
tourism development. Conduct an objective and realistic
assessment of the quality and quantity of resources you
have to work with. Table I provides a suggested
classification to help obtain a broad and organized
picture of your tourism resources.

TOURISM ORGANIZATIONS combine resources in various
proportions to provide products and services for the
tourist. Table 2 is a partial list and classification of
organizations that manage or coordinate tourism-related
activities. It is important to recognize the diverse
array of public and private organizations involved with
tourism. The most difficult part of tourism planning is
to get these groups to work toward common goals. You
should develop a list of these organizations within your
own community and obtain their input and cooperation in
your tourism planning efforts. Setting up appropriate
communication systems and institutional arrangements is a
key part of community tourism planning. (See Extension
bulletin E-1958 in this series)


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