Critique and Comparison of Two Discussion Papers on Tourism Planning Environment

This report analyses two discussion papers on tourism planning environment, namely, Tourism & Transport Forum-Tourism Western Australia Tourism 2020 Discussion Paper and Discussion Paper on Growing Tourism in the Bega Valley Shire Economy. It critically analyses and compares the papers, discusses the policy planning cycle, stakeholders, and provides a reflection on the importance of effective discussion papers.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) – Tourism Western Australia Tourism 2020 Discussion
Paper- Key Issues...................................................................................................................2
Discussion Paper on Growing Tourism in the Bega Valley Shire Economy.........................3
Policy Planning Cycle................................................................................................................3
Critical analysis of the discussion papers...................................................................................4
Comparison and Contrast of the discussion papers....................................................................6
Stakeholders...............................................................................................................................6
Reflection...................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
Policy planning cycle is the set of activities conducted in order to form the relevant policies
for the development of the project (Bardach and Patashnik, 2015). A good policy cycle is
essential as it avoids the risk of the formulation of the ineffective and the inappropriate
policies (US Fire Administration, 2017). The tourism industry is an essential component of
the growth and success of the nation (United Nations, 2017). Therefore, the tourism policies
must be carefully planned. According to the United Nations World Trade Organisation, the
consultative approach is the suitable approach for the formulation of the policies in the
tourism industry (UNWTO, 2018). Consultative approach implies the involvement of the
stakeholders in the policy planning cycle (Dredge and Jamal, 2015). Discussion papers are
one such means of the consultative approach and are widely used in the formulation of the
policies of the tourism industry. The report analyses the vitality of the discussion paper by
considering the following two discussion papers namely, “Tourism & Transport Forum-
Tourism Western Australia Tourism 2020 Discussion Paper” and the “Discussion Paper on
Growing Tourism in the Bega Valley Shire Economy”.
Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) – Tourism Western Australia Tourism 2020
Discussion Paper- Key Issues
The discussion paper is focussed on Western Australia’s Tourism 2020 plan. The discussion
paper analyses the current scenario and reveals that there lies a great opportunity in the
tourism sector of the Western Australia (Tourism and Transport Forum, 2016). This is
because of the prediction of the United Nations, according to which the share of Western
Australia's to the global tourism is estimated to grow 14.4 per cent to 25.4 per cent, because
of the global changes. The paper further examines the role of tourism in the generation of the
employment opportunities, exports and on the regional and the indigenous regions.

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Discussion Paper on Growing Tourism in the Bega Valley Shire Economy
The Sapphire Coast Tourism Ltd has prepared the discussion paper in the year 2014
(Sapphire Coast, 2014). The aim behind the design of the paper is to identify and tap the
potential of the tourism industry towards the social and economic development of the Bega
Valley community. The discussion paper recognises the current successful partnership
scenario between the Sapphire Coast Tourism (SCT), Bega Valley Shire Council and the
various business and the community groups. It further identifies the key areas of
opportunities and development and recommends the action plan to be taken along with the
ways of funding.
Policy Planning Cycle
(Source: PolicyNL, 2018)
Tourism is essential for an economy (Cook, Hsu and Marqua, 2014). According to the United
Nations, World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), an effective policy planning cycle must
essentially involve the following stages. These are vital for the effective policymaking in the
said industry. The various stages are listed as follows.

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 Stage I: The first stage is critical as it includes the preparation of the issue paper. As
evident from the name, the paper encompasses a comprehensive assessment of the
existing policies, scenarios, constraints, and the ways in which how they are being
achieved.
 Stage II: The second stage involves the identification of the current and the future
needs of the stakeholders. This is done by the circulation of the issue paper created in
the first stage among the various stakeholders.
 Stage III: In this stage, a rough policy or the draft document of the final policy is
crafted for the consideration.
 Stage IV: The stage deals with the organisation of a forum for the receiving of the
feedback from the stakeholders.
 Stage V: It deals with the finalization of the policy.
 Stage VI: The stage deals with the implementation of the policy by the formulation of
the action plan.
Critical analysis of the discussion papers
The critical analysis of the first discussion paper is as follows. The paper firstly evaluates the
role of the tourism in the Western Australia. It is found that the tourism is a highly
sustainable industry and therefore is closely linked with the growth and development of the
region’s overall economic and the social conditions. The paper further discusses the
contribution of the tourism in the Western Australia region and thereby examines the
opportunities. It is recognised that the mining is still the state’s pick according to the
importance, but tourism industry also has the potential of yielding the high return on the
investment for the Government’s long-term goals. Identification of the challenges and the
opportunities are a part of the policy planning cycle.

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In the latter part of the paper, the tourism and transport forum recommends that as the
tourism industry holds the potential of providing long-term earnings and development, the
Western Australia Government must invest in the same. In addition to this, the future of the
WA tourism is analysed through the lines of the recommendations made. This is analysed in
terms of the estimated demographical and the economic changes.
While concluding, the various facets to achieve the above goal are evaluated. These are the
need for revamping the infrastructure facilities, challenges in the regional development; areas
for the possibility of the innovation, development of the nature-based tourism experiences
and the indigenous tourism, and engagement in the marketing activities. Thus, the future
course of the actions is identified and recommended, which is the last phase of the policy
cycle. Thus, it is evident that the paper follows the various stages of the policy planning
cycle.
The second paper is based on the development of the tourism and the impact of the same on
the Bega Valley economy. The paper identifies the fact that there are various untapped
opportunities in the tourism of the Bega Valley. There are untouched tourism markets and
potential for foreign visitors travel. However, a few challenges are also recognised such as
lack of the funding for the development.
The next part of the discussion paper describes the strategic direction to be adopted to
achieve the pre-decided objectives. The three major facets of the strategic direction are
recognised i.e. the “nature”, “the coastal experiences” and the “journeys of exploration”. A
digital media strategy has been suggested for the marketing of the initiative. Again, the
effectiveness of the use of the internet has been described with the use of the graph. The
introduction of the wireless hotspots, the journeys program, new product development and
more are determined as the key areas for development. The paper ends with the description of

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the means to achieve the funding for the same. These are accommodation levies, member-
based funding and the special rate levy.
The most striking thing about this paper is that the content was bifurcated in the crisp and
clear short paragraphs, with to the point headings, which makes it easier to understand to the
stakeholders.
Comparison and Contrast of the discussion papers
While the former paper is concerned with the Western Australia region, the latter is focussed
towards the development of the Bega Valley. The major striking contrast between the two
papers is that the latter is much easier to understand as it involves the use of the graphs and
the charts and is therefore simple and clear. The first paper majorly involved the textual
representation of the facts.
Another difference is that the first paper was not structured sequentially unlike the latter
paper. The second paper followed the stepwise procedure, i.e. it examined the current
scenarios first and then moved onto the recommendations and the future action plans. While
the first paper lacked the sequence and thus, was a bit difficult to understand.
Though, both the papers incorporated the various stages of the policy planning cycle and thus
were effective in their own ways, but the clarity of the second paper was striking as it was
quite crisp and clear.
Stakeholders
Consideration of stakeholders interest and sustainability is an essential characteristic of
Australian Tourism (Moyle, McLennan, Ruhanen and Weiler, 2014). Though each of the
paper was prepared with the different set of objectives, the one more thing that was common

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between both the papers was the consideration of the stakeholders’ interest while making the
recommendations. Both the papers invited the feedbacks of the concerned stakeholders, as
well as evaluate their existing needs, interests, the potential, and the future aspirations.
Reflection
Thus, as per the discussions in the previous parts, I would like to conclude that the tourism
sector plays a significant role in the social and the economic development of the region, state
of the nation. Therefore, the formulation of the policies pertaining to the said sector is a
critical aspect. As I understood the framework of the policy planning cycle, I realised that
each and every stage has its own importance. I further realised the vitality of the discussion
papers in carrying out the consultation for the policy formulation. As I evaluated and
researched on the chosen discussion paper, I came to know that the trait of an effective
discussion paper is that it must involve all the stages of the policy planning cycle, i.e. analysis
of the current scenarios, challenges and the opportunities, the recommendations and the
future course of the actions. The discussion papers I chose for the analysis, covered the
various stages of the policy planning cycle and addressed the individual concerned issues.
However, each discussion paper is different from each other. Thus, it can be said that
discussion papers must be carefully crafted to fulfil the purpose of the consultative approach.

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References
Bardach, E., and Patashnik, E. M. (2015) A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold
path to more effective problem solving. New York: CQ press.
Cook, R.A., Hsu, C.H. and Marqua, J. J.(2014)Tourism: the business of hospitality and
travel. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Dredge, D. and Jamal, T. (2015) Progress in tourism planning and policy: A post-structural
perspective on knowledge production. Tourism Management, 51, pp.285-297.
Moyle, B.D., McLennan, C.L.J., Ruhanen, L. and Weiler, B. (2014) Tracking the concept of
sustainability in Australian tourism policy and planning documents. Journal of Sustainable
Tourism, 22(7), pp.1037-1051.
PolicyNL. (2018) The Policy Cycle. [Online] Available from:
https://www.policynl.ca/policydevelopment/policycycle.html[Accessed on 09/08/18].
Sapphire Coast. (2014) Growing Tourism in the Bega Valley Shire Economy. [online]
Available from: https://www.sapphirecoast.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Growing-
Tourism-in-the-Bega-Valley-discussion-paper-25112014.pdf [Accessed on 09/08/18].
Tourism and Transport Forum. (2018) Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) – Tourism
Western Australia Tourism 2020 Discussion Paper[online] Available from:
http://www.ttf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/TTF-Tourism-WA-2020-Discussion-
Paper-2008.pdf [Accessed on 09/08/18].
United Nations World Tourism Organisation. (2018)Policy Planning and Economic
Development. [Online] Available from:
http://cooperation.unwto.org/technical-product/tourism-policy [Accessed on 09/08/18].

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United Nations. (2017) World Economic Situation Prospects. United Nations: United Nations
Publications.
US Fire Administration. (2017) The public policy development cycle. [online] Available
from: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/training/coffee_break/053117.html [Accessed on 09/08/18].