Introduction to Planning

General Concept of Planning

• Planning is the process of organizing the future to achieve certain objectives, involving predictability and envisioning the future.
• It involves selecting objectives and determining the means to achieve them.
• Planning is crucial, as absence of planning or short-range planning can result in serious malfunctions and inefficiencies.

Tourism Development Planning

• Tourism development planning shapes the foundation of creating sustainable, culturally rich, and economically beneficial tourism destinations.
• It defines objectives, policies, and practices that guide the growth and development of tourism, maximizing benefits for all stakeholders.
• It maintains a delicate balance between promoting tourism for economic development and preserving the environmental, cultural, and social integrity of the destination.

Tourism Planning and Policy

• Both tourism planning and policy deal with the future development of a tourism destination or region and emphasize strategic dimensions of managerial action.
• However, policy formulation is more focused on the "big picture" and has a long-term strategic emphasis, whereas planning is more practical and attention to detail.

Characteristics of Good Tourism Planning

• Certainty and predictability
• Transparency
• Flexibility
• Shared vision
• Targeted approach
• Technical skills
• Multidisciplinary approach
• Creativity
• Clarity
• Poise
• Expertise

Purpose of Tourism Planning

• Provides clear understanding of what to do
• Guides in prioritizing and making decisions
• Considers global, national, and local contexts
• Guides action and provides reference for major actors involvement
• Integrates tourism into overall development policies and patterns
• Shapes and controls physical patterns of development
• Provides framework for effective coordination among stakeholders
• Provides a coherent guide for day-to-day implementation
• Allows to focus on limited resources on actions
• Increases overall satisfaction level of visitors
• Inspires development of infrastructure, recreation, and leisure facilities
• Raises and balances economic, environmental, social benefits and costs
• Saves time and money; establishes guidelines and standards
• Provides a baseline for continuous monitoring of progress

Major Types of Planning

• Economic development planning
• Physical land use planning (for town/country or urban planning)
• Infrastructure planning for transportation facilities and services
• Social facility planning (for educational, medical, and recreational facilities and services)
• Park and conservation planning
• Comprehensive planning (integrates economic, physical, infrastructure, and social planning)
• Corporate planning

Types of Tourism Planning

• Spatial Tourism Planning focuses on the physical space of tourism, analyzing landscapes, resources, and infrastructure within a destination.
• It involves developing transportation networks and managing carrying capacity of natural attractions.

Sectorial Tourism Planning

• Divides a region into different tourism sectors based on themes or activities.
• Focuses on developing specific tourism products within each sector, catering to different tourist preferences.
• Examples: developing cultural tourism experiences in historical towns, promoting adventure tourism options in mountainous regions.

Integrated Tourism Planning

• Aims to develop tourism holistically, considering all aspects of the destination.
• Examples: developing local handicrafts training programs, establishing waste management systems specifically for tourism areas.

Strategic Tourism Planning

• Focuses on the long-term vision for tourism development in a destination.
• Analyzes market trends and identifies potential opportunities and challenges for the destination.
• Examples: developing a 10-year tourism master plan, defining target tourist markets for a specific region.

Local Level Tourism Planning

• Focuses on the specific needs and challenges of a particular locality within a larger destination.
• Involves local communities in the planning process, ensuring their concerns and aspirations are addressed.
• Examples: creating a community-based tourism management plan, organizing training programs for local tour guides.

Importance of Tourism Planning

• Coordinates the role of public and private sector.
• Directs development, demarkets areas for development, and determines types of tourism to be promoted.
• Prevents negative impacts, regulates, and legislates tourism.
• Improves quality of tourism, trains human resources, and markets a destination.

Planning Process

• Study Preparation: identifying the project and its terms of reference.
• Determining the Goals: setting objectives and goals of the project.
• Surveys: having an inventory of the development area in terms of the prevailing situation.
• Analysis: analyzing and synthesizing survey outcomes to determine the approach required.
• Plan Formulation: formulating a policy for development and operational aspects.
• Recommendation: seeking technical expertise.
• Implementation: putting the plan and recommendation into operation.
• Monitoring: continuous feedback on implementation.
• Evaluation: checking whether things are going in the designed direction.
• Modification & Reassessment: analyzing whether changes are required.