ABSTRACT
Just as a traveler must strategically plan his trip through information and education about the chosen destination in order to obtain the optimum value from his travel, so must a nation, community, or destination plan well for the future success of their sustainable tourism programs. From a sustainable tourism perspective it is known that one of the strongest motivations for the traveler is interest in the natural environment, historic structures, heritage, arts, history, language, customs, and cultures of people. The most effi cient way to respond to building a sustainable tourism program for any destination is through a strategic planning process. Utilizing strategic planning for sustainable tourism development evolved from some of the new planning tools of the 1990s. Edward Inskeep (1994), in National and Regional Tourism Planning , had this to say about strategic planning:
A planning approach which has received considerable attention in recent years, and is applicable to some tourism areas, is strategic planning. While the outcomes of strategic and long-range comprehensive planning may be very similar, [strategic planning] focuses more on identifi cation and resolution of immediate issues. Strategic planning typically is more oriented to rapidly changing future situations and how to cope with changes organizationally. It is more action oriented and concerned with handling unexpected events . . . if used within the framework of integrated long-range policy and planning, the strategic planning approach can be very appropriate . . . Emphasis is given to formulating and adopting tourism development policies and plans for an area in order to guide decision-making on development
actions. The planning of tourism, however, should also be recognized as a continuous and fl exible process. 1
Today, the strategic planning process has become a major mainstream planning tool and includes the economic, environmental, and sociocultural factors within a sustainable tourism framework designed to provide direction for a tourism organization or destination. This chapter presents some of the practical steps in the strategic planning process for sustainable tourism.
