Tag Archives: strategic tourism planning

Laying a Solid Foundation for the Future of Tourism

Posted on May 11, 2015 | Leave a comment

As an educator committed to building a better world, I spend a lot of time thinking about how we can equip the new generation to tackle the challenges they will face ( or should I say – the challenges we leave them….)

While it is hard to anticipate the specific skills needed in the world of tomorrow, I believe there are some core values that will be critical to developing a better tourism system in the years to come. My friends at TEFI  – Tourism Education Futures Initiative – have identified 5  important sets of values that make a great foundation on which to build curriculum – and a career. Those value dimensions and their specific values/skills include:

  • Stewardship: sustainability, responsibility, and service to the community
  • Mutuality: diversity, inclusion, equity, humility and collaboration
  • Ethics: Honesty, transparency, authenticity
  • Professionalism: leadership, practicality, relevance, timeliness, teamwork and pro-activity
  • Knowledge: critical thinking, innovation, creativity and networking.

Now – I’ll be the first to admit there may be a few things missing in this list – but it sure looks like a great place to start to me.

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Acquiesce or consent ?

Posted on August 10, 2014 | 2 comments

At a recent conference one of the speakers reminded the audience that tourism takes place at the acquiescence of the community. I thought the statement was eloquent and expressed an important idea…. but it has been bouncing around in my head ever since.

According to my dictionary, the noun acquiescence is tacit assent or agreement by silence. In the legal sense it is ” such neglect to take legal proceedings for such a long time as to imply the abandonment of a right’. It is unfortunate that so often “acquiescence” is exactly what happens in tourism destination communities. 

One of the principles of sustainable tourism is that destination community stakeholders have an active say in the development process. It is interesting that while this principle is applied in developing destinations around the world, it is rarely applied to communities here in the United States. Few CVBs track consumer sentiment toward tourism or reach out to diverse stakeholder groups in developing strategic tourism plans.

So – for the sustainability of tourism and the benefit of destination communities – I will say tourism takes place in destination communities,  not with their acquiescence but with their consent ( and I will continue to work with destination leaders to ensure that is, in fact, the case).

 

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Posted in destination community, Destination Management, Sustainable Tourism, tourism, Uncategorized

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