Details

Attracting tourists can sometimes be seen by decision makers in a place as an easy way of boosting the economy and ‘developing’ a place. Whilst this can be true, there are many other facets to tourism development that need to be considered if it is to contribute to sustainable economic, social, cultural and environmental outcomes. Sustainable tourism development plans (STDPs) are one way in which destinations can strategically address the true value of tourism as a method of development in their specific context. This assignment is aimed to get you thinking about the key aspects of tourism as a strategy for sustainable development in a specific, applied context.

As a group, develop the terms of reference (ToR) for a sustainable tourism development plan for a location of your choice. This document describes exactly what should be covered in the STDP when it is written, and explains why these elements are important. It should consider how tourism as an industry can address the social, environmental and economic aspirations of the community, and detail key issues to be aware of. You can focus on whatever areas you think are important based on the area the plan is for. Some ideas might be to consider things like what makes the place special, why sustainability is important in the destination, how tourism will contribute to the development of the community. Whatever you decide to focus on, you need to explain why you have chosen to focus on these things.

Suggested steps in the process:

1. Using a range of sources online and in the readings of this unit, decide as a group how best to structure an STDP for the destination you are writing the ToR for.
2. In sub-sections, identify the key elements of the ToR and justify why you have chosen these elements so everyone understands why they are writing their section.
3. Divide up the work into sections for each member of the group so each person is responsible for a set section. This should spread the work load for everyone. Decide on uniform formatting and approaches so you reduce editing work at the end.
4. Draw everything together by collating and reading each others’ work and editing to achieve consistent style and communication.
5. Collate the final action plan together based on the outcomes from each section.

Deliverable

Sustainable tourism development plan terms of reference addressing the following points:

Introduction

• Description of place
• Key points of attraction and advantage over competitors
• Why an STDP is needed
• What the STDP should aim to achieve

Structure and rationale

• What key elements the STDP should focus on
• Why you are focusing on these elements based on the specifics of the destination
• Why you are focusing on these elements based on existing guidelines or literature.

Key elements: (developed by the group)

• Could be principle based. Eg: Natural, Cultural, Economic & Social sustainable tourism development
• Could be based on the UNWTO's five pillars of sustainable tourism
• Could be outcomes based. Eg: Poverty alleviation, heritage preservation, ecological health
• Could be economically based. Eg. Principles of economic development (such as the US concept http://www.lgc.org/wordpress/docs/ahwahnee/economic_principles.pdf), and how these produce sustainable outcomes
• There are many ways to approach this. Think about what would be best for the destination you are looking at.

Consultation plan

• An explanation of how the consultation strategy should work for the plan to be completed.

Action plan

• What needs to be done to complete the sustainable tourism development plan.

Formatting guidelines

• As a guideline, the ToR should be around 5000 words, with the basic premise that everyone contributes around 1500 words each plus the consultation strategy and action plan. If however the key points are addressed clearly and concisely and the assessment criteria are met, a shorter plan will still mark well. Excessively long plans (more than 6000 words) will not mark as well.
• Text should be word-processed, with appropriate layout and use of headings/sub-headings.
• Diagrams should be used to illustrate specific aspects - a picture paints ten thousand words! (please ensure that you correctly cite/reference all sources of diagrams used, unless they are original and composed by you, since this is an important aspect of academic integrity).
• Please avoid images with very large file sizes, as this will make your plan too large to upload/download (save any images as lower resolution, to decrease the file size).
• Minimum of 8 academic references. The list of references should form the last page or two, at the end of the assessment. Referencing should be in a consistent APA format.
• Please save/upload your file in either a Word format (.doc or .docx).

Note: further support on writing, referencing, etc. is given on the Moodle site for this unit.

Distance students: Special instructions regarding the practicalities of group work will be discussed at the start of the unit.

Details

The aim of this presentation is for you to assess the challenges for the tourism industry in achieving and managing sustainable development across a range of contexts and relate this back to what current literature is saying. This is an opportunity for you to formulate an educated opinion on whether and how tourism can be used as a strategy for development.

Reflecting on what you have learnt in the unit, consider the realities of tourism development from your personal perspective, and relate this back to what key literature is saying (draw from your lecture readings). Using some form of visual aid (eg. PowerPoint presentation, Prezi, Sway, Poster or other more creative device) share with the class what you think are three key dilemmas of using tourism as a tool for sustainable tourism development, and present your theory on the best way to move forward.

Deliverable

15 minute presentation, with visual aid. 5 minutes for questions.

Assessment criteria will be developed by the class in week 7.

Details

The process of planning for tourism as a strategy for sustainable development is usually highly political and fraught with tradeoffs between key stakeholders in the community, government authorities, investors, other industries, politicians and others. The aim of this assignment is to draw from both of your previous assessments to reflect on the process of developing a sustainable tourism industry in a destination within the UNWTO's five pillars of sustainable tourism (see resources below). You are welcome to use your material from Assessment 2 in this assignment if you wish.

The assignment is in two parts:

Part 1: Practical. Individually, reflect on how the group work process of creating the sustainable tourism development plan in assessment 1 worked in terms of generating an effective outcome. This will be assessed through observation and conversation during group work sessions in class.

Part 2: Written. Drawing on your experiences in the group work, theories presented in the class presentations, lectures and readings in the class, write a reflection on the process of planning for tourism as a strategy for sustainable development from a specific perspective (across contexts - not specifically related to the destination chosen in Assignment 1). It is important that you relate these observations to theories and best practice in the academic and grey literature (grey literature is non-academic, such as UNWTO reports). Key perspectives that could be considered are:

· The impact assessment process – environmental, social, economic, cultural

· Political influence and processes

· Funding and investment strategies

· Community consultation in planning tourism as a strategy for development

· Statutory/legislative processes and influences

Deliverable

Reflective, critical academic essay on the process of planning for tourism as a strategy for sustainable development. Structure should contain:

Introduction

• What the essay is about
• What perspective you are considering the process from and why this is important
• Definition of terms
• Structure of the essay

Literature

• Key literature the essay is drawing from.
• What the literature says and how this relates to the perspective you are looking from

Critical reflection

• Discussion about your observations (first person is ok) of the processes of planning for tourism as a strategy for sustainable development
• Discussion of how these observations fit with the literature you have read. Do these align with your observations or not? Why do you think this is the case?

Conclusion

• What has the essay shown?
• Outline of the main points covered and what you have said.

Formatting guidelines

• As a guideline, the essay should be around 3000 words, Excessively long essays (more than 4000 words) will not mark as well.
• Text should be word-processed, with appropriate layout and use of headings/sub-headings.
• Diagrams should be used to illustrate specific aspects - a picture paints ten thousand words! (please ensure that you correctly cite/reference all sources of diagrams used, unless they are original and composed by you, since this is an important aspect of academic integrity).
• Please avoid images with very large file sizes, as this will make your plan too large to upload/download (save any images as lower resolution, to decrease the file size).
• The list of references should form the last page or two, at the end of the assessment. Referencing should be in a consistent APA format.
• Minimum 6 academic references.
• Please save/upload your file in either a Word format (.doc or .docx)

Note: further support on writing, referencing, etc. is given on the Moodle site for this unit.

Evidence of critical thought about the process of planning for tourism as a strategy for sustaianble development

Evidence of critically thinking about the unit readings

Logical structure of the essay

Grammar and clarity of expression

Referencing effectively and accurately