Tourism Planning National Strategies and Plans

Question: Describe about the Tourism Planning for National Strategies and Plans. Answer: Position Statement The work is done for the Australian Government Agency which works for the development of the tourism industry of Australia. The level it works for is international, national as well as local as it operates in all the three levels because the tourism is both domestic and international. The roles and responsibilities of the agencies are to analyze the issues and challenges which are experience by the Australian tourism industry and to implement solutions and policies which can help in minimizing those issues. The interests and the values of the agency are to provide competitive advantage to the tourism industry of Australia and to have increase number of visitors. There are few external as well as internal influences over the agency which includes influences from the Australian governments, the regulation and laws, domestic market, other Asian countries who are the competitors of Australian tourism industry. The main goals and objectives of the plan or policy which needed to be impleme nt is to increase the number of visitors, enhance service standards and customer experience of the tourism sector. The plan will address this by strategically using appropriate approaches and instruments for the effective implementation of the plan and by adopting correct monitoring and evaluating techniques and sufficient amount of investment to incorporate the plan. Background Context Challenges and issues faced by tourism sector in Australia In present situation Australia is experiencing a sizeable shift in its business of tourism because of various reasons. Following are some of those major issues which are required to get solve for boosting up the tourism sector once again: Tourism infrastructure The infrastructure is one of the major issues behind the downfall faced by the Australian tourism. Tourist visits to a have a lifetime experience but the poor and inappropriate infrastructure of the destination reduced the number of visitors (Ruhanen, Mclennan and Moyle, 2013). Service standards The service standard and the hospitality of the Australian tourism industry is declining in last few years. The first most attraction of any tourism destination which attracts and facilitates the customers is their service standards and hospitality. Because of the poor service standards the visitors have given a negative feedback for the Australian tourism industry. Shortage of skills The employees of Australia are deprived of the competitive skills and competencies which can offer the customers best of the services. This skill shortage is one major issue in dissatisfying the customer and their travelling experience. Increasing competition Tourism industry is boosting increasing with time. Every country try to offer best possible packages and affordable travelling experience to the visitors. Australia is much expensive in comparison with its competitors. This creates a line of difference in the selection of destination by the customers. The aviation charges are also too high and as a result tourist prefer to visit any other destination instead of Australia (Buhalis and Laws, 2001) Health issues A vital element which affects the number of visitors is the health issues prevailing in the nation. There are various health issues which the customers are facing such as risk of avian flu and other several diseases due to climatic change. Shortage of labor The shortage of labor in the peak season of tourism decreases the standard and availability of the services to the visitors. This dissatisfies the tourists and imposes a negative impact of the Australian tourism which in turn decreases the number of visitors from future perspective. Understanding customer needs Every tourist destination is required to understand the preference and needs of their visitors, and then only it can be considered as a favored tourist spot. But the Australian tourism industry lacks this quality and competence and thus it becomes the cause for the decline in the visitors rate. Shortage of investment Instead of number of drawbacks prevailing in the tourism industry there is lack of investments and thus no innovation and modernization could be approached. This tendency of going on with same impression kills the attraction for new customers (Theobald, 2005). Opportunities for tourism sector in Australia There are number of opportunity doors which are open for the Australian tourism sector which can attract the visitors and once again hike the increase the number of visitors. It includes the following: Exclusive wine and food experiences Australian tourism sector can increase its customer base by offering an exclusive wine and food experience to the visitors. The food must be according to the preference of customers so that they can get attract with the services and hospitality (Faulkner, et al., 1994). Innovation possibilities There are huge opportunities available to the tourism industry as by implementing innovative strategies and policies to attract customers and retain its exclusivity and uniqueness to facilitate the customers. Increasing investment By increasing the investment in the tourism sector there can be huge development of the infrastructure, service standard, hospitality services and innovative practice and all this can lead to generation of customers and hence opportunities can be increased for the tourism sector (Dinnie, 2010). International aviation policy The global aviation policy also has a vital support in increasing the tourism business for Australia by decreasing the flight charges and providing subsidies to the aviation industry so that more number of customers can visit foreign destinations and increase the customer base of tourism industry. Emerging digital technologies The emergence of technology has changed the picture of tourism. If the Australian tourism sector implement 100% digitalized technology then it will be able to achieve the highest number of visitors globally. Digitalized technology such as online booking etc. attracts the customers at higher pace (Mowforth and Munt, 2015). Relevant employment and income issues There are number of income and employment issues prevailing in the tourism industry of Australia. Following are few of these issues: Work Force of 50+ Most of the workforce in Australian tourism industry is of 50+ age which has both negative as well as positive impact for the industry. But the issues generally create due to negative impacts such as lack of enthusiasm and willingness to perform in an innovative and fast manner. Transient Work Force It is one of the issue created due to elderly workforce as this type of workforce wants to work as little as possible as well as take excessive number of small breaks from their work and thus new work get delayed every time. Taking of knowledge and skills by the ageing workforce As the ageing workforce is moving towards the age of retirement, the competencies and the knowledge is also getting retired with them as there is no transferring of skills and abilities to the new employees for handling the tourism sector (Deery and CRC, 2006). Facing of difficulties by the younger people due to bureaucracy As the maximum number of employees were elder ones so there created an environment of bureaucracy for the young people, it creates a lot of complexities and problems for them to work as per the aspiration of senior ones without their own interest. Difficulty in training because of short staffed One major issue which takes place in the employment is the short staffed and because of this no adequate training could be provided at proper time as the number of staff varied per day (Sharpley and Telfer, 2014). Retention issue Another issue exits is related to the retention of the existing and key employees. The retention rate is low as there are no such good retention strategies and practices implemented by the tourism based organizations. Poor work ethic Particularly in the youth there exists poor work ethic, individuals are not serious for their job in the tourism sector. They are several issues which occur continuously because of poor work ethic. Wage structure The basic cost of living is usually high in Australia but as compared to other industries and sectors the wages provide are much higher than the wages provided to the employees of tourism sector (Deery and CRC, 2006). Number of visitors In last 2 decades the Australian tourism industry has significantly grown i.e. in 1992 it was 2.5 million and in 2014 it has reached to 6.7 million (Commonwealth of Australia, 2015). But because of various reasons and causes this industry has faced a severe decline in past few years such as a decline of 20 percent in the rate of international visitors in Queensland. There was a total of 7.85 million visitors arrival in the year June 2015 to June 2016 which shows an increase of 10% in comparison with the previous year (Tourism Australia, 2016). Issues Drivers Economic The economic issue drivers include the lack of physical resources, lack of investment and high rules and regulation. Social cultural There are social cultural issue drivers such as the domestic and regional market dependency over the tourism sector, imposing of higher prices is the general notion of Australian tourism sector which put negative impact from competition perspective. Demographic The demographic issue driver comprises of unskilled labor, incompetent workforce and elderly aged employees (Dredge, et al., 2013). Environmental Environmental issue drivers encompasses of diseases prevailing in the nation which can harm the tourist, the change in the climate and the other communicable infections. Political Political issue drivers include the negative impact of bureaucracy powers of the political parties and the government. Technological The technological issue drivers are the lack of updated technological devices such as digitalized marketing of tourism sector for example online booking etc. Institutional/Agency The agency issue drivers are the policies and plans as per which the Australian tourism industry has to work. The tourism has to follow the rules and policies, it cannot work independently (Ruhanen, Whitford, and McLennan, 2015). Examples from research From the research there has been analyzed various reports and studies which have shown a severe downfall in the tourism industry of Australia from past few years. There have been states that because of financial crisis the number of visitors increasingly declined and there was high shortage of labor, investments and quality service standards (Ruhanen, Mclennan and Moyle, 2013). Issues and problems behind implementing a new policy Behind implementing a new policy the major cause which is experiencing by the tourism industry is the global financial crisis. The tourism sector is the one which has experienced the greatest negative impact of the crisis. There was analyzed a complete deterioration in the local tourism market which is considered as the backbone of the tourism industry of Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009). Statement of need Why is the plan needed? The downfall experienced by the tourism industry because of the global financial crisis is one of the major reasons behind the requirement for any plan or policy. The regional areas of Australia have realized a great decline as they were highly depended on the tourism business for their employment. The figures of August 2009 has revealed that the overall global visitation was declined by 65,000 visitors or by 7.8 % as well as the domestic visitation was declined by 470, 000 visitors or 12.8%. This Global crisis has displayed a strong picture of dying tourism (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009). What is the role of government? Government plays a significant role in this situation as the impact of global financial crisis is the fiscal and economic issue where the support of Government is highly needed to stable to the condition prevailing in the tourism sector. For example the TQUAL Grants funding program initiated by the AusIndustry and the Government offered various support to the tourism industry such as development of innovative systems, services and products, high contribution towards the economic development of the host regions and support as well as develop the service and experience quality of the visitors. The quantum of the funding for the grant program was also increased by the Government so that the regional business of tourism can be benefited by that. There are several other programs offered by the Australian Government to the tourism industry such as Export Market Development Grants Scheme which is managed by Austrade (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009). Who are the stakeholders? The stakeholder for the Australian tourism industry is the Tourism Australia. It is the Australian Government Agency which is specifically responsible for facilitating the global visitors to Australia. It mutually performs with other stakeholders too for ensuring a shared approach towards the successful promotion as well as marketing of Indigenous tourism. By co-chairing the ITCP i.e. the Indigenous Tourism Champions Program and ITG i.e. Indigenous Tourism Group extensive collaboration and consultation is facilitated (Tourism Australia, 2013). What are the key trends that influence this issue? The key trends which influence the issue of global financial crisis includes various elements such as constricting US economy which when combined with the crisis gave rise to domestic mortgage defaults, fall down of the ASX i.e. Australian Stock Exchange, the job losses, increased competition, downfall in business activities, social issues etc. made the situation worse and the problems in the tourism sector up surged (Commonwealth of Australia, 2009). What are the challenges and how can the agency respond? Challenges faced by the tourism industry due to the financial crisis Decrease number of visitors The first and the most impactful challenge which was faced by the Australian tourism industry was the decreased number of visitors. The financial crisis affected the tourist as the aviation charges were too high and the expenditure for foreign tour was also too expensive. Thus the Australian tourism experienced a high downfall. Job losses Financial crisis led the highest impact over the employment. The jobs were taken away from the employees. There were great job losses which resulted in economic pressure and decline in tourism based organization and industries. Deduction in wages Another challenge faced by the tourism sector was deduction in the wages of employees as because pf financial crisis, companies eliminate their employees who were at higher wages or in many cases their wages were reduced (Chon, 2013). Respond by the agency The Australian Government Agency responsible for the tourism industry can respond in a manner through which it can be able to solve the issues and challenges prevailing in the tourism industry. The agency can provide various grants and subsidies to the tourism industry so that the prices of the services can be lower down and more visitors can be attracted by the diminished prices. The agency can implement various grant programs for the regional Australia as it is completely depended upon the tourism business for its living and employment (Boukas and Ziakas, 2013). What are possible reasons for government intervention? The various possible reasons behind the intervention of the Government can be to make the tourism industry stable once again, to save the domestic market from the international competition, to secure the employment of the regional Australians, to have economic development and to make the industry sustainable from future perspective (Ruhanen and Shakeela, 2013). What are the likely desirable effects, benefits and/or outcomes from the plan? The plan is likely to have several outcomes and benefits for the Australian tourism industry such as with implementation of the plan there can be higher increase service standards of the tourism industry, effective hospitality, increased wages of the employees, higher retention rates, increased satisfaction of the visitors and higher number of visitors (Dredge and Jamal, 2015). Scope of the proposed plan What are some possible policy/plan approaches? Some of the possible approaches of the plan or the policy are economic approach which facilitates the confidence in the tourism industry, land-use approach which facilitates the use of resources which are not used effectively, the environmental approach which reduce the concerns related to the environmental issues, community approach which helps in providing positive impacts over the community and eth individuals and the sustainable approach which facilitates the long run and sustainable growth of the tourism industry from future perspective (Wilson, Harris and Small, 2008). Which instruments might be appropriate for your plan? For the plan the instruments which might be appropriate are evaluation instrument and price break instrument. The evaluation instrument will be implementing to evaluate and analyse the effectiveness of the planning approaches of the regional tourist places. This evaluation instrument will also help in identifying the gaps existing in the planned and actual results. Secondly the instrument which will be appropriate would be price-break as the Australian market possess higher rates and prices of the services offered by the tourism sector so to increase the customer base it is essential to have competitive price so that customers can be attract and choose Australia as its visiting destination (Moyle, et al., 2014). Could several instruments be used more effectively? (advocacy, money, government action, law) Why? Yes various instruments can be used more effectively such as advocacy, law, government action and money because these instruments offer more effective and successful implementation of the plan as if higher number of instruments are there for any plan then maximum requirements can be fulfilled as the plan is based or grounded on all the aspects which are necessary for any plan to be successfully execute. What types of resources are required? For the plan to get accomplish, there require various resources such as physical resources which includes equipments, land, information technology etc which can assist in the progressing of the plan. Secondly the resources which are required are human resources which involves the competent and skilled employees to fulfil the planning requirements, thirdly the environmental resources which can help the tourism industry to give a sustainable environment to the visitors so that they fell safe and secure. What are the advantages or disadvantages of the policy/plan? There are various advantages and disadvantages of the plan such as the policy will help benefits like increased number of visitors, sustainability of the tourism industry, increased GDP and higher employment. The disadvantages could be increased completion. How can the policy/plan provide direction? The plan or the policy can provide a direction as it directly emphasize on the various segments where the tourism industry needs to focus and where there exist any sort of lag in the way towards success. Proposed process What is the planning process? Planning process includes identification of the areas where there needs any improvement or development regions, examination of the changing contexts related to environment, government or the industry it relates to. Next the goals are set for the plan to be achieved by the tourism industry i.e. increase number of visitors, allocation of resources and implementation of the plan How will it be done? It will performed by decreasing prices, increasing service standards, facilitating teh customers with valuable services and hospitality. Who will be consulted? The authorities which are required to be consulted include the Government, market authorities, agencies regulating tourism industry and the stakeholders. How will the plan/policy be implemented? The plan or the policy will be implemented by deciding the budget, timeframe and authorities responsible for the plan. It will be implemented by adopting various effective approach and strategies. How will it be reviewed? The policy will be reviewed by the analysts and experts on various segments such as from monetary perspective it will be seen as whether the investment done are appropriate or less, from competition perspective that whether it possess negative impact over the domestic players or not. How will the success or lack of success be determined? The success or lack of success can be determined by evaluating the various similar plans and policies implemented in past in same nation or in different countries. By evaluating the results and the reasons of lack of success the plan can be redesign and implement in such a manner that it proved positive outcomes only (Moyle, et al., 2014). 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