Assessment 2: Critique and Comparison of Two Tourism Discussion Papers

This document presents a critical analysis of two discussion papers related to tourism. The first paper, issued by the UNWTO, focuses on sustainable tourism for development, while the second, from the National Trust, addresses national heritage tourism. The analysis evaluates the structure and conten...Read More

Running head: TOURISM DISCUSSION
Tourism Discussion
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Authors Note:

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TOURISM DISCUSSION
Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................2
Identification of two separate discussion papers:............................................................................2
The key issues in the discussion paper:...........................................................................................2
Critical analysis of structure of the discussion papers:....................................................................3
Critical analysis of content:.............................................................................................................5
Comparison of two discussion papers:............................................................................................7
Reflection on the discussion papers:................................................................................................7
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................8
References:......................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction:
Analyzing two separate discussion papers on tourism with the objective of identifying key issues
addressed in these discussion paper is main purpose of this document. Critical analysis of the
discussion papers shall be conducted to provide a 360 degree views of these discussion papers on
the relevant topic to which they relate. Critical analysis of the structure as well as content of two
discussion papers shall be helpful in understanding the objective and purpose of these document
better.
Identification of two separate discussion papers:
The two discussion papers on the relevant topic of tourism identified for critical analysis are as
following:
Discussion paper 1: Sustainable tourism for development issued by the United Nations World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 2017.
Discussion paper 2: National heritage tourism summit by National Trust in April, 2018.
The above two discussion papers shall be analyzed critically to provide a descriptive discussion
on the structure and content of these two papers to provide rational perspective on the issues
discussed in these two papers.
The key issues in the discussion paper:
The key issues highlighted in UNWTO’s discussion paper:
The sustainable tourism for development highlighted the following key issues in the discussion
paper:

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I. The correlation between tourism and economic growth.
II. Current and potential scope of tourism in contributing to the sustainable development
of economic growth.
III. The factors that affect the ability of tourism to contribute to the sustainable growth
and economic development.
IV. Identification of changes in the factors affecting tourism industry including policies,
practices and consumer behaviour (Cf.cdn.unwto.org, 2019).
The key issues identified in the discussion paper issued by National Trust in April, 2018 on
National heritage tourism summit:
The key issues highlighted in this paper are as following:
I. Highlighting the social and economic benefits from heritage tourism.
II. The potential of heritage tourism in increasing the number of tourists.
III. Strategic direction to enhance the scope of National Heritage Tourism in Australia
(Clarke, 2018).
Critical analysis of structure of the discussion papers:
Sustainable tourism for development issued by the UNWTO
In the international year of sustainable tourism for development, i.e. 2017 the above underlined
discussion paper was issued by the UNWTO to provide a descriptive view on the topic. The
structure of discussion paper lacks effectiveness and efficiency as a result the outcome of the
paper has not been effective to make a lasting impression on the minds of the readers. The
discussion paper at the beginning of the document has provided a long paragraph on structure,
scope and purpose of the paper instead of directly reflecting on key issues to be addressed in the

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document (Gössling, 2017). Immediately after discussing the score and purpose of the document
the paper elaborate in significant details the five aspects of sustainable development for tourism,
these are as following:
The discussion on each of the above five aspects is to elaborate resulting in loss of interests to
the readers. As a result the discussion paper is too long hence, the document should have been
more precise on the five important factors affecting tourism and sustainability.
National Heritage Tourism Summit by National Trust
The above discussion paper has been quite different as opposed to the first discussion paper as it
is more precise and to the point while discussing on various issues in relation to the National
heritage tourism. However, the above underlined discussion paper also have significant structural
flaws. The executive summary of the paper is extremely long and contains significant details
thus, at the later stages of the document number of aspects have been repeated. The paper also
give too much emphasis on defining National heritage tourism instead of focusing solely on how
to improve and develop the National heritage tourism. The challenges and opportunities have not
been properly structured in the document to provide a clear understanding on the challenges and
opportunities faced by this particular branch of tourism.

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Critical analysis of content:
Sustainable tourism for development issued by the UNWTO
Sustainable economic growth:
The focus in this part of the document was more on where are the current tourism industry is
instead of the way forward for sustainable economic growth of the industry. The steps mentioned
in the document about things to be done to achieve sustainable economic growth is quite general
and not specific to the needs of tourism industry (Hall, 2019).
Social inclusiveness:
The fact that sustainable growth for tourism will result in increase of employment is already
known thus, focusing on the social inclusiveness by mentioning the importance of sustainable
development for tourism on increasing employment and reducing poverty was not necessary.
Resource efficiency:
Importance of efficient utilization of resources to ensure appropriate protection to the
environment has been clearly depicted in the document. Thus, this aspect of tourism industry has
been well drafted and presented in the discussion paper. This will help the readers to understand
the important practices to be followed to ensure proper protection to the environment (Johnston,
2017).
Cultural values:
The cultural values and diversities mentioned in UNWTO discussion paper lacks the clear and
distinct steps to be taken to align sustainable development for tourism with the diversity and
cultural differences in different places for tourism.

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Mutual understanding:
The importance of peace and security is extremely important to the development and growth of
tourism industry in any part of the world. Though the discussion paper has touched on the
importance of peace and security to the growth and development of tourism industry but no
specific measures have been recommended for the tourism organizations to improve security.
National Heritage Tourism Summit by National Trust
Setting the scene:
At this stage of the document the discussion solely focus on describing National heritage
tourism. Significant portion of the discussion paper focusses on defining and describing National
heritage tourism. Thus, stretching the document longer than what was required. There was no
need to provide such detailed discussion on understanding heritage tourism as it is not something
new rather detailed focus should have been on revitalizing the National heritage tourism
(Kharazian, 2015).
Research and trend by visitors:
The scope of research could have been much broader than undertaken for the discussion paper as
it lacks significant details about different aspects of National heritage tourism including the
historic pattern of changes in economic flows from National heritage tourism and contribution of
such tourism to the overall revenue generated in tourism industry. The discussion on nature
based tourism and its impact have not been properly documented in this part of the document.
Opportunities for growth in the industry has only shown the expected growth that National
heritage tourism can achieve in the future but no specific steps have been recommended to

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achieve these growth targets in the future. It is easy to predict the future growth of an industry
but the difficult part is to pave a way to achieve such growth in the future. The research and trend
section of the discussion paper lacks in this respect (Knudsen and Greer, 2018).
Challenges and opportunities:
Challenges and opportunities identified in the discussion paper are mostly general in nature.
Most of the challenges and opportunities mentioned in the document are general to the tourism
industry and not specific to National heritage tourism. Thus, specific attention to the branch of
tourism is missing in the discussion paper (Sigala, 2018).
Comparison of two discussion papers:
Since, the two papers are on two different subjects hence, it would be not prudent to conduct a
comparative analysis of the two discussion papers. However, the content and structure of the two
discussion papers show that comparatively the discussion paper on National heritage tourism has
a better structure and content than the discussion paper on sustainable tourism for development
(Nyberg, 2017).
Reflection on the discussion papers:
Sustainable tourism for development provides a detailed discussion on the future of tourism
industry and the steps to be taken to pave a way for the industry to prosper in the future. Though,
the discussion paper has number of flaws in its structure as well as content but the effort to
discuss the importance of sustainability and growth in tourism industry is fully visible and
appreciated.
The discussion paper on National heritage tourism summit on the other hand is extremely tight
on its structure and content. The paper clearly illustrates the need to give due importance to

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National heritage tourism as it has number of benefits for the growth of tourism industry specific
to the country (Nationaltrust.org.au, 2019).
Conclusion:
Taking into consideration the discussion from the above it can be concluded that both the
discussion papers have significant strengths as well as weaknesses. Though the papers have
number of flaws in their structure and content but the honest effort to disclose the opportunities
challenges for sustainable tourism for development and National heritage tourism is beyond any
question.

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References:
Cf.cdn.unwto.org. (2019). [online] Available at:
http://cf.cdn.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/iy2017_discussion_paper_executive_summary_en.
pdf [Accessed 16 Aug. 2019].
Clarke, A. (2018). The semiotics of heritage tourism. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 11(5),
pp.431-432.
Gössling, S. (2017). Tourism, tourist learning and sustainability: an exploratory discussion
of complexities, problems and opportunities. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(2), pp.292-
306.
Hall, C. (2019). Constructing sustainable tourism development: The 2030 agenda and the
managerial ecology of sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(7), pp.1044-
1060.
Johnston, C. (2017). Towards a theory of sustainability, sustainable development and
sustainable tourism: Beijing's hutong neighbourhoods and sustainable tourism. Journal of
Sustainable Tourism, 24(3), pp.195-213.
Kharazian, P. (2015). Assessment of Geo-Tourism Structure in Bojnoord City Sustainable
Tourism Development. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 4(2), pp.12-34.
Knudsen, D. and Greer, C. (2018). Heritage Tourism, Heritage Landscapes and Wilderness
Preservation: The Case of National Park Thy. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 4(2), pp.18-35.
Knudsen, D. and Greer, C. (2018). Heritage Tourism, Heritage Landscapes and Wilderness
Preservation: The Case of National Park Thy. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 4(3), p.18.

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Nationaltrust.org.au. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/wp-
content/uploads/2018/05/National-Heritage-Tourism-Discussion-Paper-for-Summit-3.pdf
[Accessed 16 Aug. 2019].
Nyberg, L. (2017). Destination 21 — A discussion contribution on a scheme for sustainable
tourism development. Tourism Review, 59(1/2), pp.54-56.
Sigala, M. (2018). Industrial heritage tourism. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 13(4), pp.327-
328.