TH1907

STEPS AND OPTIONS IN TOURISM STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT

Tourism Development Strategy
Strategy refers to the method of achieving certain goals to gain advantage over competitors. Organizations
head towards this direction to give them a competitive advantage through the right use of resources in a
complex and changing field to meet the needs of their target markets and meet or exceed stakeholders’
expectations.
A destination’s tourism product may be based on a tourism development strategy (TDS). TDS may also serve
as a tool for improving the lives of the destination’s community, their environment, and the tourism industry
in general. Well-crafted strategies often result in the achievement of desired outcomes such as increase in
tourist arrivals, improvements in livelihoods and infrastructure, etc.
According to Tribe, there are three (3) steps in strategy development (Department of Tourism, 2017):
1. Generation of strategic options
2. Evaluation of strategic options
3. Selection of strategy
A general guide in generating strategic options is to think of a product that is cheaper and has better quality
than its competitors. Such criteria as feasibility, suitability, and acceptability may be used for choosing a
strategy. Objectively selecting a strategy ensures that the benefits of its success will be enjoyed by all.
TYPES OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
Price-Based Strategy
This strategy focuses on developing a tourism product that is competitive in terms of affordability. This can be
achieved by reducing the costs of developing the tourism product that is basic, standardized, mass-produced,
and free from aspects that have no effect on its value.
A good example of this strategy is a low-budget hotel that focuses on offering cheap and standard
accommodations for staying and sleeping and is stripped of the luxurious aspects of a full-service hotel.
Differentiation Strategy
This strategy is centered on novelty or uniqueness over competitors employing creativity and innovation.
Tourism products are developed in terms of having better quality or being unique. This can be utilized by
investing in design, innovation, improving quality, and good advertising. It aims to answer the consumer’s
question: Does this tourism product/service have more value over others?
A good example of this strategy is Turtle Surf Camp in Siargao, Surigao del Norte. It capitalized on the
province’s unique tourism resources that it was able to offer a unique type of experience to tourists. The surf
camp took advantage of the big waves surrounding the island by providing accommodation and surf lessons.
This type of package stands out among standard accommodations for its surf lessons and other nature trips.
Hybrid Strategy
This strategy is simply a combination of the two (2) strategies above (price-based and differentiation) but is
rather hard to achieve. Improving the quality of the tourist product/service will require higher costs in tourism
product development and prompt an increase in tourism product price.
A destination that used this strategy is Davao City in which the local government unit, the city malls, and the
Department of Tourism Region 10’s combined efforts enabled the city to offer lower retail prices. This made
Davao City the preferred shopping and dining destination while improving its image as a thriving and
investment-ready city.

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Focus Strategy
This strategy customizes tourism products/services to target a particular market segment only rather than the
mass market. This may be done as well in the form of a price-based or differentiation strategy.
An example of this is the province of Bohol, which was developed as an ecotourism destination. The province
established its market niche of tourists that prefer nature and developed activities such as dolphin and whale-
watching in Pamilacan Island and river tours in Cambuhat River, among others.
Cluster Strategy
Clustering is a strategy that aims to give tourists their value for money. In general, the objective is to give the
feeling that the amount tourists have paid for was worth it. This can be done by looking for the compatibility
of attractions in terms of physical features and the experiences they provide.
Another advantage of utilizing this strategy is that in clustered attractions, the provisions of general public
services such as water, waste disposal, and security is more efficient and easier to plan. The attractions should
be linked in order to establish supporting channels.
Attractions require support from travel services. The travelers’ non-attraction needs must be available at the
closest proximity as possible, such as food services, accommodation, toilets, medicines, souvenir shops, etc.
A version of this strategy is a tourism circuit that develops attractions closer to each other and motivates a
visitor to visit all places within the circuit, and provide them with the highest value for money through diverse
sites, experiences, and tourist activities.
These are the following components of a tourism cluster/circuit:
• Set of compatible attractions
• Nearby facilities such as restaurants, public restrooms, clinics, etc.
• Transport infrastructure and services
• Tourist center and accommodations
An example of this strategy is the Bohol Countryside Tour. This tour package was developed by clustering
compatible attractions and covers several municipalities in the province. Below is a sample itinerary for this
package:
Blood Compact Site (Tagbilaran City) Baclayon Church (Baclayon) Loay Backyard
Industry (Loay) Clarin Ancestral House (Loay) Tarsier (Loboc) Man-Made
Forest (Bilar) Chocolate Hills (Carmen) Loboc-Loay River Cruise (Loboc)
The steps in developing a tourism cluster/circuit are the following:
1. Identify the major attractions in the site and their locations that are prime for tourism development
by using the tourism inventory.
2. Identify secondary attractions that may require little to no development. These attractions can be
located elsewhere.
3. Create possible circuits based on the location of the attractions. Consider such factors as geography,
accessibility, travel time, entry/exit points.
4. Identify circuit themes*.
5. Identify nearby facilities such as restaurants, public restrooms, transport infrastructure and services,
and tourist centers.
6. Identify possible activities for each attraction.
7. Identify which attraction can be developed on a certain timetable (0–3 years, 4–6 years, 7–9 or more).
8. Create a summary of the circuits.

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*Circuit/Destination themes are great tools for promoting a tourism destination. There are unlimited possibilities for
creating themes, such as cuisine themes in Binondo, Manila for its food and delicacies, heritage theme of Intramuros that
is rich in history and offers heritage tour, etc.
TOOLS IN FORMING TOURISM STRATEGIES
Tourism SWOT Analysis
Tourism has been using the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis as a means for
creating strategies for development. Using this tool requires thorough research, creativity, and
experimentation. Strategies are specific for certain areas and are highly dependent on the situation of a
destination. There are strategies that may work for some areas and fail in others. To add, strategies that did
not work in the past should be pulled out. See Table 1 for an example of a SWOT analysis for tourism strategies.

Table 1: SWOT Analysis for Tourism Strategy Formulation

Source: Tourism Guidebook for Local Government Units (Revised Edition), 2017. p. 25

The example above shows how each component of the SWOT analysis is related to the strategies. The
strengths and opportunities generated strategies capitalizing on those, while the listed weaknesses and
threats generated strategies that will eliminate both.
Reference:
Department of Tourism. (2017). Tourism Guidebook for Local Government Units. Retrieved from
http://www.tourism.gov.ph/guidebookandmanual.aspx on November 15, 2019

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