Tourism Strategic Plan: Benefits, Objectives, and Implementation

This report provides a comprehensive overview of tourism strategic planning, particularly focusing on coastal areas. It begins by outlining the benefits of such plans, including policy development, technical assistance, disaster preparedness, capacity building, government support, and the preservation of traditions. The report then delves into the concept of collaborative planning in tourism, exploring its attributes, advantages, and disadvantages, with a specific case study of Broadstairs. It examines collaborative visioning, communication, and stakeholder engagement as crucial elements for successful tourism development. The report highlights how collaborative planning can address challenges faced by coastal towns like Broadstairs, especially in the face of increasing competition and changing tourist preferences. It also discusses the importance of aligning visions and objectives, along with effective implementation strategies to ensure the social and economic benefits for both residents and visitors. Finally, the report emphasizes the long-term development of the town and the need for sustainable practices in the tourism sector.

TLH302 Assessment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
A. Benefits of producing tourism strategic plan for coastal areas..............................................1
B. Collaborative Planning in tourism .........................................................................................1
PART 2............................................................................................................................................3
C Vision and Objectives of a tourism strategy............................................................................3
D. Implementation of vision and objectives...............................................................................5
E. Ways in which strategies will benefit the residents and visitors both socially and
economically...............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality industry is a very broad industry and there are various fields in it. It is also
called service industry which included food and drink service, lodging, travelling and many
more. There are many countries whose revenue has been increased due to number of tourist
visited their country. People nowadays invest very much on travelling and exploring new
countries and there is very good scope in this sector. Coastal areas are getting a good number of
tourist every year which has increased the income of that area. The report includes various
benefits of producing tourism strategic plans for coastal areas and various approaches which are
beneficial for them. The report also includes various issues which Broadstairs is facing and how
objectives can be used to correct them.
PART 1
A. Benefits of producing tourism strategic plan for coastal areas
Tourism strategic plans are those plans which are created for the benefit of the tourist. Tourism
has become biggest source of income for many countries. Countries like Dubai, Europe are
surviving on tourism sector (Aboutalebi, 2016). Tourism sector does not include only hotel and
restaurant but it is a wide term which include many sectors under it. People nowadays like to
visit different parts of the world. They differentiate places on the basis of coastal areas, heritage,
desert and more. Coastal areas are the areas which is in boom nowadays. It consist of 3's which
means Sun, Sand and Sea. These areas are very popular and attracts a lot of tourist every year.
Tourist are very important for every economy and there are various benefits which a company
earns when a tourist comes to visit his country. The local traders and business men are benefited,
foreign currency comes to the country and many more. Some of the benefits are:
1) Helps in development and implementation of local policies: strategic plans will help a
place in development of that place. The place will become more attractive and more
people will visit there (Abu Bakar, 2016.). Strategic plan will develop the native also.
Local policies made by the government can be implemented properly after the strategic
plan has been implemented. Plan will clearly define which policy are to be followed and
which not. Proper strategic plan will develop each and every person and will boost the
income of the people. Broadstairs local policies will be implemented properly if strategic
plans are implemented.
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2) Help in getting technical assistance and guidance to state and local people: Strategic plan
will help the people in getting more technical assistance and people will be more guided
to their development. People will know that hoe they can develop and what strategies
they can follow so that they can get revenue from tourist. Local people can sell handmade
items, local products and many things to the tourist and this will give them profit. People
will know the problems which they can face when certain issues are not handled
properly.
3) Effective plans to prepare people for storms, flooding: Tourist strategic plans will help
the people to know that how they can prepare for foods and storms. Coastal areas are
prone to these natural disaster and they should be always ready for any of these. They
could be given suggestions and ways to reduce loss and how they can make their houses
so that the effect of disaster is minimum (Clark, 2018). Plans will teach people how to
work together in any natural disaster and how they can relocate tourist from the affected
area. The loss caused by these natural disaster are very huge and if the areas are prepared
for these loss then the effect can be reduced to a much extent. Broadstairs is a coastal area
and it is prone to various floods, tsunamis and it is very important to plan strategy so that
it can be developed according to them.
4) Increasing the capacity of coastal areas: Coastal areas like Broadstairs are small in area
and they cannot be crowded as this can lead to loss of human life. The tourist are usually
more comparing to the available resources and services. The destination should be ready
to welcome more people every year as tourist and people are increasing every year. If a
city wants to get benefit from the tourist then it should have proper areas where people
can stay and all the things should be provided to people in the quantity they want.
Tourism strategic plan will help in increasing the capacity of the town. More hotels
should be built but on areas which are safe and natural resources should not be destroyed
to build these (Della Corte and Aria, 2016).
5) Support from Government: Government should always be supportive. It should provide
loans to people so that they can develop their properties and the town look more
beautiful. Funding can be done by the government in helping the natives to start their
business and earn good income. Government can make good public parks and good
public facilities should be given for tourist. Tourist strategic plan will help the people in
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knowing the areas of interest of tourist and they can start their business according to it.
Government will bring new rules and regulations related to tourist so that tourist are safe
and they can enjoy their maximum. There should be proper rules and regulations related
to cleanliness of the coastal areas so that there is no wastage around the town. The
government of Broadstairs is very good and supportive and it does various activities
which can improve the living of people and can develop them.
6) Easy for tourist to find the places: Proper tourist plan will help them in finding the proper
area easily and they will be more comfortable in that (Dodds, Ali and Galaski, 2018).
Strategic plans will bring new technology and it will do the work of tourist easy. New
places can be explored for tourist and different areas can be developed for them.
7) Conservation of traditions and rituals: Tourist are very much interested in seeing the local
traditions. Proper plan will help in conserving the local traditions and rituals. Local
traditions and rituals of Broadstairs are very pure and interesting. Theses rituals are very
important in tourist point of view as many people are interested in them. People have a
high belief on these rituals and they are attracted towards these things. Religious places
should be conserved by the people as they can become a major attractive destination.
8) Long-Term development of town: Tourism sector is the only sector which is on boom
nowadays. Investment in this sector will give profit to the economy whole year. It is a
type of long-term investment as investment in this sector is done once and it gives benefit
for a long term (Dodds, Ali, and Galaski, 2018). The town won't have do do investment
again and again on big projects once it is done. Tourism strategic plan will be made for a
long time spam and this will benefit the town people and tourist. The economic returns
will be more and constant and potential negative effects will be reduced.
Deal is a good example of a destination which has benefited from the tourism strategic plan. It
has properly implemented the plan and is getting a good income from tourist. The services
provided by the people is also good and there is enough place for stay and all the activities can
be done easily. Deal is a small town in Kent, England. It is mainly famous for fishing and tourist.
There are beautiful beaches and resorts in Kent which attract many tourist from the whole
country. There is a good market of tourist and there are many traditional places to visit. Due to
good plan the town has benefited from tourist and many people are employed in this sector only.
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B. Collaborative Planning in tourism
Collaboration between various firms are nowadays increasing and it has become a
common practice. There are various theoretical views regarding collaborative planning in
tourism. It involves two elements that are collaborative visioning and communication. Further, it
also involves different attributes like dispute resolution, deliberation, process of negotiation
between various parties etc (McComb, Boyd and Boluk, 2017). Moreover, to promote
collaborative planning in tourism sector, the behaviour of individual should be guided by their
purpose and way of conduct. The term collaborative planning can be explained as distribution of
tasks among various people in respect of developing plan for promoting tourism. It can also be
described as a joint venture that helps to achieve particular objectives. There are various
attributes of collaborative planning in tourism such as promoting participation in the process of
decision-making, empowerment, connecting stakeholders like government, suppliers etc. For
successful collaborative planning there must be proper stakeholders' engagement at all the levels.
Collaborative planning is very important for tourism industry because it includes
collaboration between various entities helps to cope up with the difficulties and complexities that
are existing in the environment. Further, it also helps to promote sustainable development. This
concept is very important because it helps tourism companies to gain the opportunities that are
existing in the market as well as it also helps the organization to face various challenges.
Moreover, collaborative planning in tourism has become popular because it supports the growth
and development of various destinations in different countries by increasing the number of
tourists that helps in economic development at local, regional and national level (Pearce, 2015).
Collaborative tourism planning also impacts various stakeholders to consider the development of
the destination and how the well-being of people living in the community will be affected by no,
fast or slow development of the destination.
Broadstairs is a town that exists between Margate and Ramsgate. It is currently facing
challenges due to increase in package holidays offered by various travel operators and airfares
that are attracting visitors for foreign travel in another countries. To attract large number of
tourists towards the town, Broadstairs should adopt collaborative planning. With the help of this
approach, it can easily influence the perception of visitors towards the town. Further, it will help
Broadstairs to achieve its vision, objectives etc. Moreover, collaborative planning will help to
change the opinion of visitors, and they will not perceive the town as a threat to environment.

Tourist will enjoy tourism activities that will be conducted by Broadstairs for attracting visitors.
Further, it will result in development of communities and economies. Collaborative planning is
different from other approaches to tourism planning because under this various stakeholders are
involved like people living in community, government of the country, tourists etc (Jamal and
Camargo, 2018.). There are various advantages and disadvantages of involving various
stakeholders in tourism planning. These are as follows -
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Advantages : Benefits of collaborative planning in tourism sector are as follows -
 One of the major advantage of collaborative planning is that, involvement of community
people during planning helps to promote interest, develop enthusiasm and encourage
debate for a particular tourism project.
 Collaborative planning also results in carefully planned tourism activities that leads to
economic benefits, better satisfaction of the visitors and it also helps to reduce the
negative impact on physical environment, social and economic environment (Mason,
2015). Another benefit is that, collaborative planning in tourism helps to improve resource
mobilization, social acceptability and also results in project sustainability. Moreover, it
increases the level of transparency because under collaborative planning society is also an
integral part.
Disadvantages : Limitations of involving different stakeholders in tourism planning are as
follows -
 There are some limitations of collaborative tourism planning such as frustration among
people living in communities, pressure on tourism destination to increase their level of
services, opposition from local business etc.
 It may be possible that certain type of stakeholder does not have enough time to
contribute their efforts in collaborative planning.
 There are some disadvantage of collaborative planning to government also like
involvement in process of tourism planning requires time and it is costly. Further,
involving local people in planning may result in loss of control of the government.
Moreover, there may be possibility that less budget is available for implementing new
projects etc. If, decision are opposed by citizens in that case, it may leads to wrong
decision-making (Liggett and Stewart, 2017).
PART 2
C Vision and Objectives of a tourism strategy
It is necessary for Broadstairs to be clear about the vision and objectives which are to be
created in order to increase its local economy by attracting several number of tourists in the town
that can significantly effect the economy of the town by increasing the businesses which are
existing in Broadstairs. Objectives of the local authorities in order to increase tourism must be
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clear enough so that they can achieve them and make it easier for the economy to perform its
operations in the town.
There are several challenges which are being faced by Broadstairs in order to attract
tourists for the purpose of increasing the local economy of the town and betterment of the
lifestyle in the town. Town has several places including 7 beaches which are beautiful and can
attract more tourists but the promotion is not done up to a mark which is being lacked behind by
the town. As the fares for abroad are decreasing for attracting tourists and there is a sudden rise
in number of tour packages which has made it more easier for the tourists to travel around the
world, but this is not being achieved by Broadstairs as it is not too popular as many towns.
Broadstairs objectives should be planned and significant to implement the strategies
which are being made to achieve the goals and objectives formed. This can be understood with
the help of smart objectives which includes specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time
based. These are the factors which are to be considered while creating objectives for a specific
reason.
 Specific: The objectives which are being created by Broadstairs in order to attain specific
goals must be justified and specific enough to understand the needs of them. This can
help the people involved in implementation of objectives to understand them clearly and
implement it more effectively (Hartman, 2016).
 Measurable: An objective must be measurable in terms of numbers which helps in
determining that the objectives are being achieved in a significant manner. This can be
considered by Broadstairs authorities in order to create objectives and goals to increase
the economy.
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 Attainable: Objectives must be set up to a level till it an be acheived. Not too big
objectives are to be created by the authorities of Broadstairs that it cannot be achieved by
the people involved in implementation of objectives.
 Relevant: Objectives which are achievable by business are based on the current
conditions and realities of the business climate. The objectives created by Broadstairs
must be relevant to the realities of market so that it can be achieved more significantly by
preventing any useless expenses.
 Time Based: It is essential for an organisation to determine the time which will be
acquired in order to achieve the goals which are being created by the organisation.
Broadstairs authorities must keep in mind that the time must be specified while creating
the objectives for a specific vision so that it can analyse that the goals which are being
created are completed on a significant time (Klein and Dodds, 2018).
Vision of the Broadstair is clear that it has to achieve the objectives which are being created by
local authorities of Broadstairs. The vision must be created in such a manner so that the
objectives of the authorities for betterment of local economy are being created much
significantly and can be implemented more effectively (Liggett and Stewart, 2017).
Vision
To see broadstairs thriving with a sustainable, creative and vibrant economy that is based
on local businesses which significantly helps in meeting the needs of residents, visitors and
investors in the town.
Objectives
 to create a sustainable economy in the town
 to increase local businesses
 to increase the sale by 10% till 2020
 to increase the number of tourists by 15% till the year 2020
The strategy which can be used by Broadstairs in order to achieve these objectives can
include various aspects which can help the town to attain their vision and objectives. The local
authorities are coming up with a tourism plan which can help the town's coastal areas to build on
their heritage and advantage of new opportunities for the purpose of developing strong
economies. Town can organise beach side events which can significantly attract tourists as it is a
unique concept of beach party and the town is already famous for its beaches. Broadstairs can
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also target the strategy of offering unique promotions which make it different from different
from other places and attracts more number of tourists in order to achieve the desired objectives.
D. Implementation of vision and objectives
As Broadstairs is facing huge struggle due to the rise of holiday packages and low cost
airfares. And wants to create a sustainable economy which will help in creating a strong local
business which will meet the needs of the locals as well as visitors and investors. Therefore local
authorities will promote the articles about the place from the various mediums or platforms such
as social media, print media etc. The local journals and various websites can be updated which
provides a images of various places at Broadstairs it will help to attract peoples. The holiday
packages should be made cheaper in comparison to others. As in order to attract any people
toward the product, place or service it is highly required that it consists of some strength and
company, state or town should be able to promote that strength to right audience at right
time(Vasiliev and Shmigelskaia, 2016). Therefore one of the major strength of town is that it has
a seven beautiful sandy bays hence more emphasis will be laid on the promotion of seawater.
Also the local authorities will lay emphasis on conducting various festivals along the beachside
which will help to increase the local trade as well as benefits the investors too.
Key stakeholders for delivering this objectives
Local government officials and policy makers are the key stakeholders in the process which
will help in delivering the objectives. They will issue the permits and regulations for introducing
new strategies and conducting festivals or other events in order to attract people toward the town.
As the government officials are the persons who are respected because of their position therefore
there is a high chance that people of town will listen to them and help them for promoting
tourism. Such as government officials can make the local hotels and business related to tourism
to attract people and increase the tourism in the town.
Local people: Local people of Broadstairs are the most important stakeholders. As local people
are the one who help in tourism development. As the locals are least concerned about legal
procedures therefore they will be involved in decision-making process whenever required. Local
people can attract the tourist by promoting their culture and values at town.
Tourists: Travellers such as business travellers and visitors are the most important stakeholders.
As tourist are the one who spend money and may also help to promote the place by word of
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mouth marketing or through social media platform. Therefore it is highly required that tourist
should be provided with the great experience which will result in more increase of tourists.
The other stakeholders which will help to meet objectives are financing sources,
professionals who are working in tourism, tourism educational centres as well as persons who
are specialist in tourism sector.
E. Ways in which strategies will benefit the residents and visitors both socially and economically
PROMOTION AT DIFFERENT PLATFORM
Promotion is the strategy will help the destination to show what they got as the promotion will
promote the awareness among the tourist and the resident hat what they will be getting on
visiting the destination. As the destination will be also using the social media promotion it will
help the destination in promoting the awareness with the help of the photo also which will
eventually help the destination in getting more attraction as if the people will be having the idea
of the thing then only interest will be created in the tourist and residence to go and visit the
destination. Promotion will also help the business in attending the larger number of the customer
at once.
The promotion through social media will help to advertise to a wide amount of customers
simultaneously(Rogerson, 2017). The use of social media for promotion purpose will help to
attract large number of tourists which will result in increase in trade. In promotional strategy the
culture of the town can also be promoted which will help in maintaining the culture of the town
and will socially benefit the organisation. The promotional strategies will highly benefit the town
both socially and economically.
ORGANIZING THE BEACH PARTY AND FESTIVALS
Organizing the beach party and festivals is the another strategy which will be used by the
destination this will help the destination in attracting more younger age toward the destination as
there is a good trend of the parties in the current scenario. Organizing the beach party will also
help the business in presenting the destination in different way in front of the own residence also
as the party will include the touch of the culture of the place. Organizing the party will help the
destination in building the bond with the new tourist as the place is having the great and rich
history which will help them in attracting and catching the eye of the visitor toward the
destination(Wang and et.al., 2016).
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