CHAPTER 2

Tourism
Planning

Learning Objectives
• Design planning
• Determine the reasons for tourism planning
• Identify the consequences of inadequate or poor tourism
planning
• Compare tourism in developed countries with that of
developing countries
• Discuss the roles and responsibilities of tourism planning
• Explain the barriers to planning

Activity 1.1
Search for an undeveloped tourist spot or a certain place in your
barangay that you think has the potential to be tourist attraction.
Give the name of your soon to be developed tourist spot. What are
your plans for that undeveloped tourist attraction? What are the
improvements or developments you can make to that undeveloped
tourist attraction. Make a video presentation at the location and
elaborate your plans. Upload your videos on YouTube. Send the link
to our GC.
What is Tourism Planning?
Tourism planning is the process of considering the needs of
people planning a trip and using those factors to determine the
best resources, programs and activities for their trip. Tourism
planning is intended for local residents and businesses of the
location, as well as tourists who travel there.

Planning

Planning is a dynamic process of determining goals. Planning

involves determination of objectives of the business, formation
of programmes and courses of action for their attainment,
development of schedules and timings of action and assignment of
responsibilities for their implementation.

Tourism Planning
Bad Planning
Lead to overcrowding of
local facilities
Destroy the natural
environment
Commodification of local
culture and loss of
cultural identity
Inflate local land
values
Increase prices of goods
and services for local
residents
Good Planning
Increase employment
Raises incomes and
improve the quality of
life
Development of
infrastructures
Stimulate local business
Increase government
revenues
Preserve culture and
natural resources
Promote environmental
protection

Activity 1.2
Research on the effects of bad planning and good planning in
tourism. Give your insight of each effect. Write your answers on
short bond paper with 150 words in 3 paragraphs.

Motives for Tourism Planning

Tourism planning is very important. The slow moving and decline
of a destination or attraction may be due to poor planning.
Tourism planning really can make or break a destination.
According to the destination life cycle define by Plog,
destination areas tend to rise and fall in popularity according
to the whims of those in the predominant “psychographic” groups
to which they appeal at different stages in their development
histories.

Plog’s Allocentric Group

- This group is more adventurous.

- A new and / or exotic destination tend to appeal to this
group.
- The innovators in the travel market who look for less
crowded and unique destinations.
- As destination area becomes more widely publicized and
better known, it loses its appeal to allocentric.

Plos’s Midcentric Group

- This Group is in between, either he/ she is adventurous or

don’t like to travel.
- Plos believes that the midcentric appeal stage in the
destination area’s history is similar to the maturity phase
of the product life cycle where sales volumes are at their
peak.
- At this time, the destination area can be aid to have mass
market appeal.

Plog’s Psychocentric Group

- This Group don’t like to travel because they are afraid.

- Like the allocentric, represent a much smaller proportion of
the population.
- Is the final cycle because it has lost its appeal to both
the market innovators and the mass market.

Plog’s Hypothesis

- Destination areas can ‘carry with them the potential seeds

of their own destruction if they allow themselves to become
over-commercialized and to discard the unique appeals which
made them popular in the first place.”

The main reason?

 - The experience indicate that destination life cycle can be
extended if change is anticipated and if steps are taken to
adapt the change.
- To hold development to a particular level in order to
maintain the integrity of the area.
- To have rigid development plan to which developers must
confirm.
- To develop new attractions to stimulate new growth.

Consequences of lack of Tourism planning or poor

tourism planning

A. Physical Impacts
1. Damage or permanent alteration of the physical
environment
2. Damage or permanent alteration of
historical/cultural landmarks & resources
3. Overcrowding and congestion
4. Pollution
5. Traffic problems

B. Human Impacts
1. Less accessibility to services and tourist attractions
for local residents resulting in local resentment.
2. Dislike of tourists by local residents
3. Loss of cultural identities
4. Lack of education of tourism employees in skills and
hospitality
5. Lack of awareness of the benefits of \tourism to the
destination area.
C. Marketing Impacts
1. Failure to capitalize on new marketing
opportunities;
2. Erosion of market shares due to the actions of
competitive destination areas;
3. Lack of a clear image of destination are in potential
markets;
4. Lack of cooperative advertising among
individual operators;
5. Lack of sufficient awareness in prime markets.
D. Organizational Impacts
 1. Fragment approach to the marketing and development of
tourism, often involving “competitive splinter groups”
2. Lack of cooperation among individual operators
3. Inadequate representation of the tourism industry’s
interest
4. Lack of support from local public authorities.
E. Organizational Impacts
1. Fragment approach to the marketing and development of
tourism, often involving “competitive splinter groups”
2. Lack of cooperation among individual operators
3. Inadequate representation of the tourism industry’s
interest
4. Lack of support from local public authorities.
F. Other Impacts
1. Lack of sufficient attractions and events
2. High seasonality and short lengths of stay
3. Poor or deteriorating quality of facilities and
services
4. Poor or inadequate travel information
services

Activity 1.3
On short bond paper, make a solution of each consequence. Make
sure that each solution will be elaborated and explain well.

Tourism Planning in Developed Countries

The governments in both the developed and the developing
countries are focusing on strategies to achieve sustainable
growth. Tourism has been identified as a major sector in
safeguarding a sustainable future. However, research has shown
that tourism if not properly managed can be cause harm.

 Target countries can be identified as potential tourist

generator through research and market analysis.
  Proper planning includes government assistance in direct
advertising to attract tourist.
 Tourism is important in bringing the much needed foreign
currency to developing countries.

Roles and responsibilities for tourism Planning

 The process of joint participation and close cooperation
of the private and government sector produces the best
result
 The starting point for the tourism planning process in
any country should be the development of the national
tourism policy
 All tourism plans should be given time spans and should
be reviewed and modified at the expiration of their time
spans

Barriers to Planning
The following are the barriers to tourism planning:

1. Many people are against planning in principle, particularly

within the free-enterprise system.
2. It is expensive
3. The tourism Industry is complex and diverse.
4. Tourism is characterized by few large businesses and various
smaller enterprises.

The Tourism Planning Process

Essential steps in tourism planning:

Background- Plan development

analysis phase phase

Detailed Goal setting, strategy

research and selection, and objective
analysis phase setting phase

Synthesis phase
Background Synthesis

Tourism planning process is a situational analysis that

provides the basic direction for the succeeding steps.

The national, state or province tourism policy should be

carefully reviewed, considered and interpreted at the start
of the plan. Tourism policy goals are usually classified
into four, namely:
o Economic
o Consumer/social
o Resource/ environmental
o Government operations

Existing program or activities of both the public and

private sector organizations should also be identified in
the background analysis.

The background analysis should produce and inventory or

list of the area’s tourism resource components. The table
below shows the categorization of the tourism resource
components and their subcomponents

Component Subcomponent
– Natural Features – Landscapes
– Scenery
– Unique features
– Flora and fauna
– Buildings
– Historical and cultural – Sites
features – Themes
– Communities/sub communities
– Attraction

– Tourist operations and – Accommodation

 facilities
– Hospitality Services
– Human Resources
– General Socioeconomic
– Present Land Uses
– Food service
– Events
– Information centers
– Reservation systems
– Commercial stores, and
services(bank, retail stores)
– Transportation systems
(airport, rail, road)
– Underground services
– Population and force work
– Ethnic community
– Attitude Toward tourism
– Employment/unemployment
– industries
– Economic conditions
– Social problems
– Land ownership
– Planning and zoning
regulations
– Feature growth and
development

Review major strength, weaknesses, and problems and issues

within the destination area’s existing tourism industry.

Detailed Research and Analysis

Four distinct areas or research concentration:

1. Resources
2. Markets
3. Activities
4. Competition

Steps in the resource analysis:

• Preparation of map
• Measurement of various tourism resources
• Resources classification

Activity analysis:

• Classify activities according to their range of appeal

• Identify months of the year where activities can be pursued
• Research existing and potential markets for the destination
areas

Research helps determine:

 • The attitude towards future travel
• Levels of awareness of the area’s tourism resource
components
• Image of the area
• The major competitive destinations
• The steps needed to attract potential visitors

It also provides an opportunity to “market test” new tourist

attraction/packaging/activity ideas.

A detailed market research can assist in identifying:

• The most competitive destinations

• Individual strength and weaknesses
• Steps to be taken to make the subject destination area
unique among its competitors

Synthesis
What is synthesis?
Synthesis is a tourism plans provide the “bridge” between the
present situation in a destination area. They provide the means
to an end.

A comprehensive tourism plan will produce conclusions on five

distinct subjects:

Tourism development
Tourism marketing
Tourism industry organization
Tourism awareness
Other tourism support services and activities

Steps in the synthesis phase:

1. Preparation of position statements on each of the five

subjects
2. Determine “where we would like to be” or the desired future
situation

Activity 1.4
Choose a topic from Tourism Planning in Developed Countries until
Steps in the synthesis phase. Research
Goal setting, Strategy Selection, and Objective
Setting
A tourism plan has a relatively short life span of five
years, planning goals should be achieved within that
period
Once the planning goals have been set, there are
various approaches or strategies that can be employed
to achieve them.
The tourism plan objectives come logically from the
selected strategy.

Plan Development
The plan includes the action needed to achieve the objectives,
implement strategy, and satisfy planning goals.

It takes each of the plan objectives and specifies the following:

The program and actions required to achieved each plan

objectives
The roles and responsibility of the public and private
sector in carrying out these programs and actions
The specific development and marketing concepts and
opportunities that will help achieve certain objectives
 The funds required to carry out specific programs and
actions
The sources of these funds
The timetable for carrying out specific programs and actions
within the plan
The method for monitoring the success of the plan on a
periodic basis during its term.

Self Check 1
TEST I. Instruction: The Diagram below is the Essential steps
in tourism planning. Give the 5 steps in tourism Planning.
Write your answers in the box below. (5 Points each)

1.______________ 5. ______________

4._______________________
2. _____________ _________________________
________________

3. _________________
TEST II. Instruction: The goal setting below is very important in
Tourism Planning. What does the ACRONYM SMART means? Write your
answer in the space provided. (2 points each)

1._____________________

2._____________________

3._____________________

4._____________________

TEST III. ENUMERATION.

5._____________________
Give the at least 5 Consequences of lack of Tourism planning or
poor tourism planning. Write your answers below.

1. _____________________
2. _____________________
3. _____________________
4. _____________________
5. _____________________