Nicole Bornales

TOURISM PLANNING; A DISCUSSION PAPER We are now living in a world that is more uncertain than before; a world where the environment in which we operate keeps changing around us. The absence of a plan will likely result for all to be all over the place and in the process creating unnecessary overlaps and wasting scarce resources. A good plan will guide us to answer questions such as what is to be done; why must it be done; where will it be done; when will it be done; and who will do it. These are important questions to be decided upon in the plan to avoid overlapping and wastage of resources. Having a good plan will therefore be helpful in anticipating future risks. Planning in this context is de ned as an important element to stay focused on the goals despite the constant change of situations around us. It helps to direct and redirect the future for self and others for an e cient living standard. It is a process of setting goals, developing strategies, and outlining tasks and schedules to accomplish the goals. It is the process of deciding in detail how to do something before you actually start to do it. It starts after dreams, needs, desires and ideas take birth in life. In every aspect of our lives planning plays a crucial role. Tourism development refers to the growth and maintenance of the tourism industry in a given locality. And, of course, tourism planning is a very important part of this. On a basic level, tourism development can be de ned as creating strategies and plans to increase, develop and encourage tourism for a destination. If done badly, tourism development can destroy the very environment or culture that it relies on. It can disrupt local economies, cause in ation and negative e ects to local people and businesses. In order to show the relevance of applying approaches and techniques in planning, it is important to consider this statement: “ Making a plan without the right tools is like making spaghetti without a pot”. It does not state but it implies that planning is really just an abstract act until a plan is executed. “If you don’t have a pot, or project management tools, then your spaghetti, or project, isn’t going to get done”. Plans are complicated, like recipes. There are a lot of ingredients you need to keep track of and place in the right order. And the use of approaches and techniques in planning will make it more structured / e ective and e cient. In tourism, when there is a plan and it is a good plan, the objectives and goals of the industry become much clearer to meet. The planning of organizations under this industry are relevant since it will provide them with a clear direction to direct their e orts towards the same objectives, success. This will reduce the risks of uncertainty. Tourism planning has its approaches and techniques. The approaches and techniques include the following: system approach, comprehensive approach, integrated approach, environmental and sustainable approach, community approach, implementable approach and systematic approach. The systematic approach is based on the generalization that everything is interrelated and interdependent. A system is composed of related and dependent elements which when in interaction, forms a unitary whole. It requires that adequate information about the system is available to understand and analyze it. Computer technology is needed to collect and analyze data. This system is simply an assemblage or combination of things or parts forming a complex whole. This approach brings to tourism and the society, in general, broader dimensions of thinking, the awareness interdependency, interconnectivity, and responsibility for the behaviour of a system, which can be observed by feedback loops. The comprehensive Approach analyzes and plans all aspects of tourism development on a broad scope. In this approach, tourism is planned, developed, and managed in such a way that the natural and cultural resources are not used up so that they are available for continuous and permanent use in the future. In an integrated approach, tourism is planned and developed as an integrated system within itself and integrated into the overall plan and development pattern of the area. In an environmental and sustainable approach, tourism is planned, developed, and managed in such a way that the natural and cultural resources are not used up so that they are available for continuous and permanent use in the future. Community tourism planning approach focuses on the social and political context within which tourism occurs and it advocates greater local community control over the development process. Bringing educational elements towards the whole community is also one of the strengths of this approach. In the implementable approach, the tourism development policy, plan and recommendations are formulated to be realistic and implementable, and the techniques of the implementation are considered throughout the policy and plan formulation with the implementation techniques, including a development and action program or strategy. The last approach in tourism planning is the systematic approach. This type of approach refers to an orderly and organized programming of activities pertaining to planning and development. In planning it is important to know what type of plan is e cient and e ective for the organization. In tourism, there are four types of planning. The rst is land use planning, it is the allocation of land to its best use with respect to the environmental condi- tions and needs of the human population. Second is the facility site planning. It is the planning for the tourism facility site which includes individual buildings such as hotels, commercial centers, and visitor facilities. Third planning is the facility design. This is an important component of a tourism business's overall operations, both in terms of maximizing the e ectiveness of the production process and meeting the needs of employees and tourists. The basic meaning of facility is the space in which a business's activities take place. And the last is the special studies, which are often undertaken based on the needs of the area. These studies pertain to environmental, socio-cultural, economic impact analyses, marketing analysis and promotion programs. The types of planning in tourism comes with levels which includes the following; rst is the international level. At the international level tourism planning typically involves; international transportation services; the movement and scheduling of the tours of tourists among di erent countries; the development of major tourist attractions and facilities in neighbouring countries and the working strategies and promotional programs. Second is the national level of tourism planning, it is concerned with tourism policy, infrastructure facilities and a physical structure plan which includes important tourist attractions, selected tourism development regions, international entry points, facilities, and services. Third level is the regional level of tourism planning, it is more speci c than the national planning level. The fourth level is the sub-regional level. The elements of the subregional plan usually include tourist attractions, location of accommodation and other tourist facilities and services, entry points to the sub region, transportation facilities, and infrastructure.