TOURISM DEVELOPMENT PLANNING DIGEST

Local tourism development plans must be prepared into a tourism development

planning digest. This document summarizes the tourism development plans of cities and
municipalities and serves as a communication tool among stakeholders, decision makers, and
potential investors. The digest is prepared and distributed to all planning participants prior to
discussions/consultations.
The tourism development planning digest consists of eight pages, the sample layout
of which is shown on pages 46-53 of the DOT-JICA Guidebook.
PART I.
REGIONAL SCOPE INVENTORY
1. Background of the plan and the outline of presentation.
2. “Present Condition and Identification of Development Issues” in tabular format showing the
following information:
a. Location (region, province) and location map
b. Land use area composition
c. Population
d. Employment
e. Major Industries
f. Accessibility
g. Top five tourist attractions
h. Estimated number of overnight visitors during the previous year
i. Seasonality: peak, lean, or off-season months
j. Accommodation establishment’s supply data (number of rooms, number of
establishments, employment data)
k. Accommodation establishments’ demand data (number of guests check in, guest-
nights, length of stay, average occupancy rate)
l. Number of visitor arrivals at the port of entry broken down into residents/visitors,
foreign visitors/domestic visitors according to overnight or same day visitors
m. Visitor profile according to origin and characteristics and market segments. Origin may
be domestic from what region, foreign from what country, age, sex, etc. Market
segments may be by group, activity, or purpose.
n. Tourism service industry (number of tour operators, travel agents, tour guides,
handicraft shops, etc.)
o. Conservation of attractions (policies)
3. Tourist attraction maps for beaches, festivals, structures, wildlife, etc. (with photos and
descriptions)
4. Formulation of development frame and strategies showing:
a) Direction, policy, and strategies related to tourism according to policy levels – national
(DOT, NEDA), regional (DOT, NEDA), local (PPFP, CLUP).
b) Population
c) Employment
d) Development direction (descriptions of visions, mission, goals, image)
5. Target Markets and Market Segments (select and describe each)
6. Tourist sites by municipality or city (names and descriptions)
 This section can contain diagrams, charts, photos, and maps with accompanying
descriptions.
7. Ongoing and proposed projects and programs by name, profile, location, period (year) to
complete project, development body in charge (national, province, LGU, private, NGO, etc.)
cost, and target beneficiaries. This should be accompanied by maps, diagrams, schemes, and
descriptions.
Example of Project/Programs:

• Airport, seaport, road, water supply, other infrastructures

• Promotion of private investment, such as hotel/resort/commercial/theme park
development
• Promotion of CBT and/or eco-, agro-tourism project
• Promotion to potential tourists (website, pamphlet, trade fair, etc.)
• Promotion to potential investors (brochure, investment guide)
• Promotion of MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference, Events)
• Landscape/townscape control, zoning regulation, tourism code
• Waste management campaign
• Development and promotion of souvenir, handicraft
• Human resource development
• Institutional and organizational improvement
• Implementation of basic and/or visitor surveys
8. Action plans, such as capacity building, advocacy for community tourism awareness,
private-public partnership promotion

PART II.
SWOT ANALYSIS
The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis is
something that all tourism students should be familiar with. As you know, it is a grid used to
identify and organize internal (SW) and external factors (OT) that have potential to affect your
destination.
STRENGTHS
These include all the things your destination is best in, as well as all the controllable
factors: attractions, local infrastructure, festivals, specific foods, beach quality,
accommodation capacity and quality, strong tourism policies, etc.
Strengths can be developed around aspects of the destination that are (1) unique, (2)
excellent, (3) authentic, (4) indigenous, (5) original, (6) historic, and (6) have superlative
characteristics (highest, longest, smallest, etc. (de Leon n.d.).
A strength can be the basis for the destination's comparative and competitive
advantage(s). A comparative advantage is an attribute of the destination that gives it a distinct
edge over other places in a particular aspect of tourism. For example, Siargao has a
comparative advantage as a surfing destination because of the superior quality of its surf. This
advantage is attributed to its location along the Pacific Coast of the Philippines where the
winds whip up the iconic tubes that appeal to highly experienced surfers. Another example is
Dubai's strategic location which makes it the ideal hub to serve Africa, Europe, and Asia. Mt.
Everest's location in Nepal made the country the mountain-climbing capital of the world.
Likewise, Malaysia's affinity with the Arab world makes it a favorite destination of Middle
Eastern tourists. A destination must utilize this advantage to fully benefit from it. For example,
person who is seven-foot tall would be better Off developing his basketball playing skills if he
could play in the NBA than studying to be an engineer. Likewise, Maldives was able to exploit
its comparative advantage by specializing in beach/marine tourism.
Competitive advantages are what people can do to make use of the comparative
advantage or Offset a weakness. For example, destinations which do not have distinct natural
tourism assets can still acquire competitive advantage by manipulating price, human
resources, infrastructure, environment, and technology (Pike 2008). Las Vegas was just a
desert town before it found its niche in gaming, and later family entertainment. Singapore has
few major natural assets but makes up for this deficiency through constant innovation and
service quality. Japan was able to compensate for limited summer/beach season by having
artificial beaches which could be covered in case of inclement weather.
WEAKNESSES
These are internal factors that are under your control but need improvement, such as
lack of experienced or knowledgeable staff, security issues, lack of infrastructure, or
transportation access dirty environment, and lack of local tourism plans.
In analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a destination, the following use of the
As of tourism as a framework is recommended:
1. Attractions: natural and cultural resources
2. Advantages: existence of tourism resources not found anywhere else
3. Access: location of the destination, travel time, transportation, terminals, infrastructure;
connectivity
4. Accommodation: hotel, homestay; camp sites; etc.
5. Amenities: banking, shopping and health facilities
6. Activities: what can be done at the destination
7. Atmosphere: peace and order situation; safety
8. Ability. quality of human resources for tourism, such as marketing and service skills
9. Administration: presence or absence of a tourism organization; ordinances affecting
tourism; data gathering system for tourism planning
10. Attitude: acceptance and support for tourism by local stakeholders
11. Affluence: financial muscle of the destination
12. Affordability: relative prices of goods and services in the destination
13. Arrival: visitor traffic
OPPORTUNITIES
These are external factors that can enhance the viability of a destination, such as
robust growth in key source markets, national level support for tourism program; growing
interest by the international market in tourism products offered in your destination.
THREATS
These are uncontrollable factors that could place your destination at risk, such as lack
of up-to-date statistics from national government, new competitors, war or economic downturn
in the source markets, and climate change.
Aside from the SWOT analysis, you may also use:

• PEST (political, economic, socio-cultural, technological) — a tool for analyzing

the macro-environmental forces that affect tourism in the destination. A
variation of this framework is STEEPL (Socio-cultural, Technological,
Environmental, Economic Political, and Legal).

• Butler's Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) — can help identify the stage of the
life cycle a destination is in.

• Ansoff Matrix — a tool for analyzing whether a destination is facing a challenge

of market development, product development, or both.

• Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Growth-Share Matrix — a portfolio planning

model for categorizing products into star, problem child, cash cow or dog,
with implication on whether to harvest, maintain, or divest the product. The
BCG Matrix was developed by BGC's Bruce Henderson in the 1970s. It
classifies a company's business units based on combinations of market growth
and market share in relation to the largest competitor. Market growth
represents industry attractiveness, while relative market share stands for
competitive advantage. The matrix locates the business units within the grid
constructed from these two important determinants of profitability (www.
netmba.com).

• VRIO model — a tool that analyzes tourism resources in terms of their value,
rarity, inimitability, and being organized (e.g., if it is already part of tour offerings
of tour operators). One that gets a nod in all four criteria can be considered a
competitive advantage, and one that gets a no in all four criteria is a competitive
disadvantage.
 PART III.
CONCLUSION

PART IV
RECOMMENDATION
Your recommendation should be Sustainable Development Goals centric.
(https://www.e-unwto.org/doi/pdf/10.18111/9789284417254)
You may dwell or discuss on AT LEAST three or more of these:

• Gender and development

• Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation
• Infrastructure Development
• Investment in Tourism Infrastructure
• Tourist Safety and Security
• Research and Development
• Human Resource Development
• Tourism Marketing
• Tourism Product Development
• Policy, Regulatory, and Institutional Framework

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YOU MAY REFER TO THESE DOCUMENTS TO HELP YOU IN CREATING YOUR
MASTER PLAN.
http://www.tourism.gov.ph/Guidebook_Manual/TourismGuidebook.pdf
http://nro11.neda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Davao-Regional-Development-Plan-
2017-2022.pdf