Travel and Tourism (9395) | Developing and managing destinations

Welcome to Topic 7: Destination Development and Management!

Hello! This chapter is where everything you've learned about the travel industry comes together. Developing and managing a destination is like running a huge, complex city-sized business, except the goal isn't just profit—it's ensuring the place remains beautiful, the people are happy, and the money keeps flowing for future generations.

This topic is critical for A Level Paper 4. We will focus on the different players involved (from governments to local NGOs), the activities they perform, and the complex impacts tourism creates.

Why is Destination Management so Important?

The core aim of destination management is simple:
to minimise the negative impacts of tourism and maximise the positive impacts.

7.1 Organisations Involved in Destination Management

Managing a destination requires many different organisations, often with competing interests, to work together. Think of them as members of an orchestra, each playing a vital, but different, instrument.

(a) Governments, Ministries, and National Tourism Organisations (NTOs)

These are the big-picture planners. They operate at the national level and set the overall direction for tourism in the entire country.

Roles and Priorities:

• Strategic Development: Creating long-term plans (e.g., a 10-year plan for tourism expansion).
• Research, Funding and Budgets: Allocating national funds for infrastructure (like airports or highways) and conducting large-scale market research.
• Setting Priorities/Objectives: Deciding *what* kind of tourism they want (e.g., high-value luxury tourism over mass tourism) to achieve sustainable benefits.
• Minimising Negative Impacts: Creating national policies and legislation (e.g., environmental protection laws).

(b) Local Authorities and Regional Tourism Organisations

These groups handle the day-to-day decisions on the ground, ensuring national strategy works at the local level (e.g., a city council or a regional tourism board).

Roles and Priorities:

• Land Use Planning and Control: Deciding where hotels, resorts, or attractions can be built. They issue permits and enforce zoning laws.
• Local Infrastructure: Managing local roads, utilities, public services, and sanitation systems needed for tourists (and locals).
• Regional Promotion and Marketing: Promoting specific specialised markets or products within their area (e.g., promoting wine trails in a specific region, not the whole country).
• Visitor Management: Handling traffic flow, managing queues at major attractions, and ensuring security in tourist areas.

(c) Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)

NGOs are non-profit bodies often focused on specific issues, such as environmental preservation or community welfare. They act as independent voices and deliver specialist projects.

Roles and Priorities:

• Research and Fund-raising: Securing grants and managing projects that governments might overlook (e.g., restoring a specific heritage site).
• Training and Education: Assisting in training local communities for tourism jobs.
• Promoting Awareness: Raising public and political awareness of environmental or sociocultural issues related to tourism.
• Guidance: Providing specialist knowledge (e.g., ecological experts advising on eco-tourism development).

Example: The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) advising a coastal destination on marine conservation practices.

(d) Commercial Organisations

These are the private, profit-driven businesses that provide the actual products and services tourists consume.

(i) Overseas/Inbound/Outbound Travel Agents and Tour Operators:

• They select, package, market, and sell tours and products to specialised markets globally.
• They act as the main link between the destination and the tourist.

(ii) Local Businesses:

• Accommodation providers (hotels).
• Transport operators (taxis, airlines).
• Attractions and Guiding services.
• Their priority is to develop and provide high-quality products and services profitably.

(e) Destination Management Companies (DMCs)

DMCs are specialist commercial organisations that focus on managing and delivering *ground services* for tourists, especially MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) groups.

Analogy: Think of a DMC as the local wedding planner. They don't own the venue (the hotel) or the catering company, but they coordinate all those services seamlessly for the client.
Roles: Providing ground services like transportation, accommodation, catering, activities, and excursions. They are crucial for conference and event organisers.

7.2 Developing and Managing Destinations

Destination Management is not a one-off task; it involves continuous activities and is guided by a set of long-term objectives focused on sustainability.

(a) Destination Management Activities

These are the actions organisations take to run the destination effectively:

• Sustainable Policies and Practices: Implementing rules that protect resources (e.g., limits on water use in hotels).
• Product Development: Creating new products to keep the destination fresh and appealing (e.g., developing a new museum or specialised adventure tour).
• Visitor and Traffic Management: Controlling crowds, managing peak season pressure, and ensuring smooth movement (e.g., creating pedestrian-only zones).
• Partnership of Organisations: Ensuring commercial bodies, local government, and NGOs collaborate, not compete.
• Planning Control: Enforcing rules on building height, architectural style, and density of development.
• Regular Environmental Impact Auditing: Periodically checking the environmental damage or benefit caused by tourism activities.
• Encouraging Responsible Tourist Behaviour: Providing clear information on ethical conduct and respect for local customs (e.g., signage or codes of conduct).
• Supporting the Local Economy: Encouraging tourists and providers to use local produce and services.

(b) Objectives of Tourism Development and Management

Destination management efforts are measured against four key sustainable objectives. Don't worry, we can remember these using a simple structure:

The Four Objectives: SEEP

1. Sociocultural
2. Environmental
3. Economic
4. Political

1. Economic Objectives

These focus on maximising financial benefits while ensuring local communities profit.

• Maximisation of Visitor Spending: Encouraging tourists to spend money locally and stay longer.
• Retention of Spending: Minimising leakages (money leaving the destination economy) and maximising the multiplier effect.
• Investment: Using tourism income to invest in public and social projects for local communities (e.g., building a new school or hospital).

2. Environmental Objectives

The core goal is to preserve the natural and built environments that attract tourists.

• Minimisation of Negative Impacts: Reducing pollution, land degradation, and erosion.
• Preservation and Conservation: Protecting local environments, flora, and fauna (wildlife).
• Regeneration: Restoring damaged areas (e.g., clearing litter from beaches, replanting native species).
• Sustainable Use of Resources: Managing water and energy consumption responsibly.

3. Sociocultural Objectives

These ensure that tourism benefits the community and respects local heritage.

• Protection of Local Culture: Safeguarding traditions, customs, and crafts from being damaged or commercialised.
• Community Involvement and Empowerment: Giving local people a voice in how tourism is developed.
• Provision of Employment: Creating jobs and staff development opportunities for the local population.
• Education of Tourists: Teaching visitors to be environmentally and culturally aware, promoting respect.
• Widened Access: Ensuring locals can also use new facilities and assets built for tourists (e.g., a new road or park).

4. Political Objectives

These focus on improving the destination's external standing and reputation.

• Enhanced Image and Reputation: Promoting a positive, safe, and desirable image globally.
• International Relations: Improving relationships with other countries, potentially leading to easier visa requirements or trade agreements.

Key Takeaway for 7.2: Destination management is a proactive effort that uses planning, control, and partnerships to achieve balanced (SEEP) sustainability goals.

7.3 Impacts of Tourism

Tourism is a powerful force that creates both benefits (positive impacts) and challenges (negative impacts). A destination manager must constantly weigh these trade-offs.

(a) Economic Impacts

(i) Positive Economic Impacts

• Income Generation: Money earned by businesses from tourism.
• Increased Foreign Exchange: Currency from international tourists entering the local economy.
• Job Creation and Training: Providing employment across various skills levels.
• Development of Infrastructure: Tourists fund better roads, communication links, and utilities (benefiting locals too).
• Multiplier Effect: The concept that money spent by a tourist cycles through the local economy multiple times (e.g., tourist pays hotel, hotel pays local supplier, supplier pays worker, worker spends money locally). This boosts overall income.

(ii) Negative Economic Impacts

• Leakages: Money spent by tourists that leaves the local economy immediately (e.g., imported food, profits sent back to the foreign headquarters of an international hotel chain). This weakens the multiplier effect.
• Over-dependency: The destination relies too much on tourism; if global travel halts (like during a pandemic), the economy collapses.
• Seasonality of Employment: Jobs are often temporary and concentrated during peak season, leading to unemployment or low income during the off-season.
• Increased Living Costs: Demand for housing and food drives up prices, making life more expensive for local residents.
• Low Skills / Low Pay: Many entry-level tourism jobs are unskilled and offer minimum wage.

(b) Environmental Impacts

(i) Positive Environmental Impacts

• Conservation and Preservation: Tourism revenue funds the protection of natural and historical assets (e.g., National Park entrance fees fund anti-poaching units).
• Regeneration: Old industrial sites or neglected historical areas are restored to become tourist attractions.
• Building Regulations: Governments introduce sustainable practices or strict building controls to protect natural vistas.

(ii) Negative Environmental Impacts

• Pollution: Air (flights, traffic), water (sewage from cruise ships/hotels), litter, noise, and visual pollution (ugly constructions).
• Pressure on Local Resources: High water and energy consumption by hotels and golf courses, diverting resources from local residents.
• Traffic Congestion: Overcrowding of roads, especially in small destinations.
• Erosion and Land Degradation: Footpath erosion from hikers, destruction of natural wildlife systems and breeding patterns due to construction or constant presence of visitors.

(c) Sociocultural Impacts

(i) Positive Sociocultural Impacts

• Preservation of Customs and Crafts: Local traditions and unique crafts are kept alive because tourists demand them (e.g., traditional weaving or dance shows become viable businesses).
• Strengthened Cultural Identity: Local people gain pride in their culture when tourists appreciate it.
• Provision of Community Facilities: New facilities built for tourists (e.g., museums, upgraded transport) are also used by locals.
• Empowerment of Local Community: Locals are involved in managing tourism, leading to greater self-determination.

(ii) Negative Sociocultural Impacts

• Loss of Cultural Identity: When a culture changes only to please tourists.
• Commodification and Staged Authenticity: Turning genuine cultural elements into commercial products (Commodification). This results in Staged Authenticity—experiences that look traditional but are performed solely for money and are no longer genuinely part of daily life.
  Example: A traditional religious ceremony is moved to a specific time and location so paying tourists can easily watch it.
• The Demonstration Effect: Local people adopt the consumerist behaviour, values, and dress of the wealthier tourists, leading to dissatisfaction with their own traditional lifestyle.
• Conflicts with the Host Community: Tourists’ behaviour (e.g., public drunkenness, inappropriate dress) may clash with local social norms.
• Social Problems: Increased begging, crime, and drug use linked to rapid tourism development.
• Damage to Artefacts and Heritage Sites: Wear and tear caused by high visitor numbers (e.g., fading frescos in ancient temples).