ABSTRACT
The mandate for effective tourism planning, as accepted throughout most of the world today, is to integrate stakeholders’ concerns, effective management, efficient development and innovative marketing and community interests within the destination’s tourism product. The process of tourism planning takes into account that a destination must be able to adjust to new trends, changing markets and a competitive market environment. Destinations that have planned well for tourism usually have a competitive edge in the marketplace. The planning effort aimed at the future sustainability of tourismwill assure consistent quality of the tourism product(s) and yield the most benefits to the community/destination. In addition, good planning will override short-term goals aimed solely at profit motivations and emphasize many of the important future attributes that are more positive for the entire community. Managing sustainable tourism, recognized as an important aspect of
tourism planning, is now receiving even greater attention. InManaging Sustainable Tourism: A Legacy for the Future (2006), Edgell explains the importance of planning and management in developing sustainable tourism goals and objectives. ‘In general, most studies have found that a wellresearched, well-planned, and well-managed tourism program that takes into account the natural and cultural environment has a good chance of improving the local economy and enhancing the quality of life of residents’. In brief, tourism planning is essential to sustainability in the future and must foster the conservation of the resources that tourism is dependent on and improve the quality of life for most local residents. Tourism planning in the past did not receive the same kind of
attention considered necessary today. There are numerous examples of tourism areas and destinations that deteriorated and failed. Much of this decadence can be traced to haphazard planning and development, motivating modern tourism managers to insist on more careful planning. Even today, with the emphasis on organized planning, one need not travel far to see the negative impact of unplanned tourism development projects. Good tourism planning gives a destination many advantages, five of
which are listed below:
1. There is a close relationship between policy and planning; tourism planning strengthens an area’s tourism policy. Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) discuss in detail the interrelationship of tourism policy and planning.
