DIMENSIONS OF TOURISM POLICY

1
DIMENSIONS OF TOURISM POLICY

• Pauline J. Sheldon

2
OBJECTIVES

• To understand tourism policy and its goals
• To present policy frameworks and contexts
• To highlight the need for integration of between
  private and public agencies and other enterprises
• To understand policy implications for different
  stages of the tourism destination life cycle.

3
What is Policy?

• A course or method of action selected from
  alternatives in light of given conditions to
  guide and determine future decisions
  WEBSTER
• a normative science
• goal-oriented planning
• a means of coordinating objectives to maximize
  benefits and minimize costs.
• has both a micro-component and a macro-component

4
Why is Policy Important?

• To provide overall goal stability in an
  organization or a destination.
• To reduce repetitive thinking
• To improve consistency of decisions.

5
What is Tourism Policy?

• the complex of tourism related decisions which,
  integrated harmoniously with the national policy
  for development, determines the orientation of
  the sector, and the action to be taken.
  Acerenza 1985
• Tourism policy development is a process that
  covers at least 3 elements
• goals and objectives for the destination
• available resources economic, environmental,
  social, cultural, human resources
• consideration of the impacts of tourism on the
  destination and their measurement and monitoring

6
OVERALL FRAMEWORK
NATIONAL POLICIES
TOURISM POLICIES
TOURISM POLICY TOOLS INSTRUMENTS
7
NATIONAL POLICY OBJECTIVES Examples (Adapted
from Baum)

• Generation of foreign revenue/ improve Balance of
  Payments
• Provide employment
• Improve national economy poverty alleviation
• Create awareness about the country generate
  international goodwill
• Support environmental/historic conservation
• Contribute to infra-structural development
• Revive cultural traditions and art
• Contribute to sustainable development

8
National Tourism Policies Examples (Akehurst et
al 1993)

• Reduce seasonality
• Increase certain foreign markets
• Redistribute tourism in the country
• Improve quality of tourism product
• Diversify tourism products
• Improve training and professionalism in tourism
• Encourage joint ventures

9
POLICY TOOLS Examples

• Regulation of enterprises
• Target marketing
• Zoning of land
• Information systems for domestic tourists
• Grants to private sector to develop new products
• Taxation
• Tax incentives

10
The Context of Tourism Policy

• From government as decision maker to government
  as facilitator (government vs. governance)
• Integration of all destination policies
• Shifts in tourism from mass tourism to
  customized, sophisticated tourism
• Policy shift to focus on community well-being

11
Changing Frameworks for Tourism Policy
ENVIRONMENT
DEMAND
INPUTS
MANAGEMENT

• Norms and rules
• Fast economic
• growth
• Uncontrolled
• externalities

• Price competition
• Selling production
• Economies of scale
• Maximize
• production

• Sun
• Massification
• Lack of tourists
• own criteria
• Non-differentiated
• markets

• Isolated technologies
• Cost-saving
• technology
• Labor as cost
• Environmental
• issues irrelevant

OLD

• Competition thro
• innovation
• Product design to
• meet customer
• requirements
• System economies
• Managing capacity

• Integrated
• technologies
• High-tech/high-touch
• Labor key for quality
• Environment is
• key to quality

• Procedures
• Re-structuring
• Internalizing
• externalities

• Complex
• motivations
• Individualism
• High expectations
• Complex
• segmentation

NEW
Source Fayos-Sola, 1996
12
Stakeholders in Tourism Policy Creation
Interest groups
Host Community
Professional associations
Government agencies
Private Industry all sectors
Funding agencies
Tourism Policy
Policy formulation
Volunteer groups
Tourists
Environmental, economic, social, political,
technological arenas
13
Why is Government Involved?

• economic reasons GNP, balance of payments,
  taxation, employment
• resources of tourism belong to residents
• individuals and firms tend to look out for their
  own interests
• tourism is an agent of social change

14
Growth vs. Development

• Economic Growth constant creation of
  enhanced capacity to produce wealth (GDP,
  employment, export expansion).
• Development creation of optimal capacity to
  challenge human abilities, as well as satisfy
  human needs and desires over time.

15
Layers of Government Involvement
Ministry of
Ministry of transport
Ministry of culture arts
local
regional
international
national
16
What is Tourism Planning?

• Most simply - planning is the implementation of
  policy
• brings in the elements of economic feasibility
  and social acceptance.
• a tourism plan is a document that has been the
  focus of political debate and is publicly
  available.

17
WTO Study of Tourism Plans

• Over 1,600 tourism plans were studied
• Approximately one third were not implemented
• It was very rare for plans to give priority to
  social aspects over profitability
• Most plans were not supported by specific
  legislation

18
Five Types of Plans that Relate to Tourism (WTO)

• General national plan - includes tourism
• National infrastructure plan - includes tourism
• National Tourism Development plan
• Tourism Infrastructure Plan
• National Promotion and Marketing plan

19
Approaches to Tourism Planning

• master plan approach
• continuous and incremental approach
• integrative approach

20
Policy Issues at Different Stages of Development

• What is the right number of tourists?
• Who are the right tourist types
• How much contact between residents and tourists?
• How much support to give to private
  sector/entrepreneurial development?
• Who is in control of decision making?

21
Destination Life Cycle
rejuvenation
tourists
reduced growth
stagnation
stabilisation
Critical range
decline
consolidation
immediate decline
development
involvement
exploration
Time
After Butler and Swarbrooke
22
Case Culture and Tourism Policy

• Cultural considerations
• co-existence (when tourism does not dominate the
  economy)
• exploitation (culture is generator of revenue)
• imaginative reconstruction (preservation without
  being overcome by commercialism)

23
Examples of Public and Private Sector Interplay
Denmark Singapore

• Denmark
• Wonderful Copenhagen (WoCo) product service
  development in captial city coordinator of
  networks for industry
• Danish Tourism Board (DTB) national promotion
  information provision
• Singapore
• Singapore Tourism Board (STB) promotion,
  information provision and regulation

24
Contrasting Policies

• Denmark WoCo
• Promotion
• Controls Info centers
• No licensing
• Encourages product development
• Infrastructure builder
• Initiator of networks for industry
• No censoring
• Seeks to use residents tastes as a lead
• FACILITATOR

• Singapore STB
• Liaison w other state agencies
• Licensing of tour guides travel agencies
• Product development
• Cooperation with travel agents subsidizes
  promotional material
• Organizes activies and festivals
• Seeks to balance commercial and cultural
• INITIATOR w CONTROL

25
Sustainable Tourism Development

• is tourism which is developed and maintained in
  such a manner and at such a scale that it remains
  viable over an indefinite period and does not
  degrade or alter the environment (human and
  physical) in which it exists to such a degree
  that it prohibits the successful development and
  wellbeing of other activities and processes.
  Butler 1993.

26
The Concept of Carrying Capacity

• Physical
• Environmental
• Economic
• Sociocultural
• Infrastructure
• Perceptual

27
Role of Tourism Organizations national

• Destination Information Provision
• Marketing and Promotion
• Collection of tourism statistics and data
• Tourism product grading
• Tourism product development
• Training
• Tourism Policy development

28
VENICE CASE