The Tourism Development Plan

A Tourism Plan is a blueprint that provides direction and focus for the local tourism industry, as well as for the community, local business and government. It is a mechanism through which the local industry can assist in accommodating the diverse aspirations of the community.

A Tourism Plan assists with:

Balancing development of tourism throughout the area,
Optimising the tourism industry’s contribution to community income and employment growth,
Forward planning by individual sectors of the industry, the community and local government,
Encouraging sustainable tourism through the conservation of natural and cultural heritage,
Preserving the inherent character of the community and areas of environmental sensitivity,
Ensuring the benefits of tourism flow to all sectors of the community,
Minimising the social disadvantages that may arise.

Undertaking tourism planning should involve an analysis of the key factors for tourism success: both demand and supply related.

Demand related factors include:

Targeting the right target market segments; those who will be most responsive to the product offering of the destination or region,
Achieving and maintaining the right image; determining an image that markets will acknowledge, accept and be motivated by,
Securing the right distribution network; increasing the opportunity for visitors to access travel information, travel packages and booking services,
Securing the right balance in visitation; developing strategies based on visitor numbers, length of stay, expenditure, dispersal of the expenditure and the time of the year they visit.

Supply factors relate to:

Securing the right balance of tourism product; product that is authentic, relevant to overall strengths of the area and is differentiated from other areas,
Providing accessible and reliable transport,
Providing excellence in service,
Providing appropriate accommodation,
Offering a welcoming host community; educating the community on the benefits of tourism, so that interaction between visitors and locals can add to the holiday experience.

The major processes in developing a Tourism Plan should be:

Establish commitment: a commitment by local government; issues that need to be addressed; what will be covered in the strategy; what partnerships need to be developed,
Situation analysis: current industry structure; institutional arrangements; governance structures; tourism product audit; key competitive strengths; current research; existing target markets; existing funding and investment in the industry; social, cultural, economic and political influences. When planning for tourism on a local level, it is important to take into consideration other tourism plans for the region and state, as well as existing research.
Tourism vision and image setting: the desired image and vision for the area based on agreed competitive strengths, preparation of primary goals and objectives, consultation with stakeholder groups and the residential community,
Strategy development: development of strategies to support identified objectives,
Action plan: development of actions emanating from the identified strategies, that include objective, tasks, responsibilities, budgets, funding sources, timing and performance measures,
Implementation: adoption by Council and acceptance by local community and tourism industry; assign responsibilities and identify performance measures,
Evaluation: Review performance targets on a regular basis. The goals should be SMART: Simple. Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

In summary, a well-researched and prepared Tourism Development Plan is about being able to adjust to change and should provide answers to the following questions:

What has our region (or local area) got to offer ?
Who is attracted to our area and what do they do ?
What are we doing at this point in time ?
Where do we want to be in 3-5 years time ?
How do we get there ?
What needs to be done ?
Who will do it ?
How will we know if our efforts are successful ?

Click here (199 kb) to view a case study outlining the process undertaken for the Melbourne Tourism Plan