Sustainable Tourism Development Assignment - London Olympics

Introduction

The aim of this Sustainable Tourism Development Assignment London Olympics is to establish a clear understanding of the issues that are involved in sustainable tourism development. This report involves various developmental issues related to the London Olympics games of the year 2012. The successful bidding for hosting the London Olympics of the year 2012 has several tourism related social, cultural and economic impact on the travel and tourism development of the United Kingdom. This report also deals with the enclave tourism in the Dominican Republic and the problems faced by the local public as a result of the enclave travel and tourism in the sector.

Task 1

P1.1 Discuss how stakeholders can benefit from planning of tourism developments with reference to a current case study

Rationale of planning in the travel and tourism sector: There is a need of involving planning in the travel and tourism sector in order to be able to reach the desired economic, social and cultural impact from the tourism sector (BRAMWELL, B, 1999). By proper planning the positive impact of the development and growth of tourism can be maximized and the negative impacts can be reduced significantly.

Stakeholders in tourism planning

How stakeholders benefit from planning of tourism development for the London Olympiad of 2012?

Stakeholders such as the local communities can benefit from the tourism plan as the plan can be developed keeping in mind the involvement of the local community in the London Olympiad 2012 plan (UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME, 2009).  The public and private firms also benefitted from the development of tourism planning in London Olympiad of 2012 as with planning there was better management and resource allocation between the private and public ownership. This led to better management of the Olympics hosting

Benefits of stakeholders involved in the planning process

By the involvement of the stakeholders the London Olympiad planning authority could ensure the stimulation of interest and enthusiasm regarding the project. Carefully planned tourism development with stakeholder’s consultation and involvement leads to economic benefits to all the stakeholders, increased tourists’ satisfaction and growth of the social, economic and the physical environment (MACBETH, J., 1997). The participation of the stakeholders in the tourism planning of London Olympiad would ultimately lead to sustainable developments and acceptance of the planning projects by the community and equal distribution of economic benefits and transparency

P1.2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of public/private sector tourism planning partnerships, drawing on London Olympic

The London Olympic 2012 hosting was an outcome of lots of planning and implementation of strategies. There was lots of public private partnership. The definition of public private partnership is the collaboration of the public and the private sector in order to achieve a desired goal that is the development of a tourist’s area or a region in case of tourism planning. For the London Olympiad 2012 there were lots of private public partnership for the development of infrastructure such as road, bridges, light rail, water, air traffic control systems and sanitation systems. The adoption of the European Commission in the year 2004 the Green Paper of Public- Private Partnership Community Law came into force. That governed the principle of the PPP (MEIDUT?, Ieva and Paliulis, Narimantas Kazimieras, 2011).

Advantages of PPP

• With the private and public partnership in the London Olympiad there was the proper utilization of resources and cost reduction.  This also enables risk sharing and covering of the capital costs. The joint ownership leads to sharing of risks, there can be better control established (VOICU, Daniela and Voicu-Olteanu, Cristina, 2009). With the PPP in the London Olympiad 2012 they shared beliefs and achieved implementation of the initiative by making the UK a leading sporting nation of the world.
• The earning and economic benefits are also increased as a result of PPP (VOICU, Daniela and Voicu-Olteanu, Cristina, 2009); The London Olympiad helped at least more than two million citizens of the UK and lead to building of about 9,000 new homes.
• The PPP increases the economic benefits and also increases the employment opportunities to the local community (JOWELL, Rt Hon Tessa, 2012)
• The PPP in the London Olympiad transformed communities and transformed prospect by creating jobs and employment opportunities for more than 20,000 jobless people in London.
• This also brings about better management of resources and efficient application

Disadvantages of PPP

With the Private and Public sector partnership the control of government in the development of tourism is decreased. The risks were shared between the public and private partners for the London Olympiad and all important decisions were jointly taken leading to loss of the control of the government

• It can give rise to certain political and issues and labour and manpower related negative impacts
• In the London Olympiad the public were not well aware of the arrangement of the services as the involvement of government was decreased due to the PPP
• The partnership between the public and private sector for the London Olympiad decreased competition. With decreased competition the changes and competitive forces were not operating (Jowell, 2012)

Task 2

P2.2 Evaluate the significance of interactive planning systems and processes in tourism development with reference to London Olympiad

Interactive tourism planning deals with the involvement of the local community in the process of tourism development. It was proposed by Gunn in the year 1994. There is high significance of having an interactive planning of the tourism. The interactive planning of tourism is based on systems thinking approach (ANDRIOTIS, K., 2005).

Features of interactive planning
Developing planning layers
National tourism planning

It is the tourism plan for an entire country which might include specific objectives for a region of the country. The plan is inclusive of the following components;

• The policy of tourism
• The strategies for marketing
• The determination of the taxation and revenue structure
• Determining the incentives and the schemes
• The laws regarding the employment, and distribution of profits
• The tourism related development of infrastructure
• The development of the internal as well as the external system of transport
• The training and programs that needs to be implemented

Regional or local tourism planning

These are planning of tourism dealing with specific issues affecting a tourism area within a country. The planning issues vary significantly from region to another. These are the tourism plan specifically for a state, city or a resort. It considers the transfer of tourism related information to the tourists. For regional or local tourism planning there has been the development of;

• Visitor orientation centres and information centres for the tourists. 
• Brochures for advertisement, maps and magazines
• Guided tours both self-guided and guided officially
• Print hand-outs and posters

Features of tourism planning at different levels for London Olympiad
Significance of interactive planning for London Olympics 2012

• The interactive planning of tourism in the London Olympiad of 2012, lead to the achievement of increased coherence and great strategic decision making. The community involvement and private and public sector partnership in the London Olympiad of 2012 lead to the strong leadership and management of resources.
• In the London Olympiad the decisions were made collectively considering the opinion and the consideration of the local communities and the stakeholders leading to greater involvement
• The goals of establishing a sustainable tourism was more achievable by interactive tourism planning (Jowell, 2012)

P2.3 Evaluate different methods available to measure tourist impact with reference to London Olympiad

In order to measure the impact to the tourists with reference to the London Olympiad various methods can be used; these are qualitative and quantitative, Cambridge Economic Impact and Sport Tourism Economic Assessment model.

Qualitative Methods to measure tourist impact of the London Olympiad

In this method elaborate information in the form of tests are used to evaluate the impacts.

• The qualitative evaluation of the London Olympiad impacts are that the Olympiad lead to enhanced tourism development. The Zero Waste and Zero Carbon emission initiatives led to the sustainable tourism development
• The inflow of outbound tourists increased after the London Olympiad games of 2012
• The conversion of the Olympiad site in the Queen Elizabeth park added a new tourist site in the United Kingdom
• The games led to the creation of more employment opportunities and enhanced economic benefits (International Olympic Committee, 2012)

Quantitative Methods to measure tourist impact of the London Olympiad

• This method measures the impact of tourism by the use of number, statistics and mathematical figures.
• The quantitative impacts are the London Olympiad lead to the historical development of 32,000 houses for the local community
• The construction community was subjected to an economic growth of £7.3 billion
• The unemployment rate as a result of the games was brought down to a level of 1.2%  (INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE, 2012)

The Sport Tourism Economic Assessment Model: By the model the economic impact on the host country as a result of hosting a sport is assessed. It is also known as STEAM. The economic impacts of the London Olympiad 2012 would be assessed in this model of evaluation.

The Cambridge Impact Model: Using this model the London Olympiad authority would assess the net worth and net volume of the tourist inflow. This model evaluates tourism impact by the help of statistics and survey data (CANADIAN SPORT TOURISM, 2013).

Task 4: Understand the current issues

P4.1 Evaluate methods of resolving a conflict of interests to ensure the future wellbeing of a developing tourism destination such as Casa do Campo region in the Dominican Republic.

In the Dominican Republic the Casa de Campo is located in the south east coast in the region of La Romania. These resorts where developed converting 7,000 acres of sugar mills into enclave tourist’s resorts. The Casa de Campo region is suffering from various current issues that are impacting the wellbeing of the tourism development in the region.

Analysis of the current issues in the CASA DE campo region

• Limited or no access to the local community to the Casa de Campo region – The growth of tourism sector in a region is expected to bring economic growth benefitting the local community but contrary to this, in Casa De Campo region the local community of the Dominican Republic is denied of access and entry. Casa de Campo has become a region of access only of the rich and the tourists.
• Racial discrimination – more than 90% of the locals having a dark completion cannot access the CASA DE CAMPO. It has limited access only to the whites and Americans.
• Fear of intrusion – the region is guarded by private security force of the region. This has instilled fear amongst the residents of the Dominican Republic to entry the area.
• Corruption – the Drug Lords have caused lots of corruption, money laundering and other problems in the area.
• Social and moral ethical issues are due to the corruption and drug abuse has risen. Other social issues are that in the region the prostitution is rising and mostly kids and children are forced in to prostitution (FANJULBROTHERS, n.d).                             
• GOVERNMENT has failed to tackle the issues of social and economic misbalance in the Casa de Campo region.

Resolving conflicts in the CASA DE CAMPO region

• In the region in order to resolve the conflict s, there is a need of development of cooperation and coordination between the government and the management of tourism. This would help to resolve the issues such as corruption, money laundering and forced prostitution.
• Development of legislative framework in the Casa de Campo this would ensure the management of the disorderliness sin the region and the development of a sustainable tourism.
• Setting policies in the region would enable the region to provide employment opportunities to the locals and create equal distribution of wealth and also waste management and water pollution in the region can be controlled

Training and educating the locals and the tourism management would ensure a combined approach to work to resolve the conflicts

P 4.2 Analyse the implications of balancing supply and demand with reference to the case study assigned for task

The balancing of the demand and supply of tourism is an ethical issue. Tourism has market led demand which needs strategies that are oriented to the supply to establish a proper balance. In the case of Casa de Campo the balance is not established as there is no proper and regulated involvement of the public and private sector, the non-profit bodies and the local residents of the region. The management of the tourism supply in the Casa de Campo region is not regulated leading to supply imbalance as the region has limited access to tourists and the indigenous population (FONT, Xavier and Ahjem, Tor E.).

For balancing the demand with the supply in Casa de Campo region there is need to;

Promote the infrastructure projects and develop them for the growth of tourism. Also private public partnership and private investments must be encouraged in the region in order to balance the demand with the supply

Social Carrying capacity

The World Tourism Organisation defines social carrying capacity as the maximum number of people that a tourist destination can accommodate at the same time without causing any destruction or harm to the physical, economic, social or cultural environment of the tourist destination. For balancing the supply and demand of the tourism the determination of the social carrying capacity of any region is very important as it would lead the Dominican republic to hold and have influx of the amount of the tourists at any given point of time that the region can hold without any hindrance or destruction to the establishment of a sustainable tourism in the region. The ministry of tourism in the Dominican Republic must cooperate in the initiative of development of tourism in the region (Sambrook & Kermath, n.d.)

The figure above shows that in order to match the demand with the supply in the Dominican republic there has been a substantial increase in the hotel room capacity so that the tourists due not suffer an imbalance of accommodation according to the demand. In order to balance the tourism demand and supply the government of Dominican Republic has taken planning and development of international tourism in the region.

P 4.3 Evaluate the moral and ethical issues of enclave tourism of the Hotel resort Casa do Campo

In casa de Campo region the enclave tourism exists. Enclave tourism is defined as the type of tourism in which there are resorts that are self-equipped and contained. All the necessities of life are provided in tourism in these resorts. They are also known as cities in a city. Mostly, these tourist destinations are situated near tropical and coastal areas.

Moral and ethical issues in enclave tourism

• High concentration - Enclave tourism being highly concentrated form of tourism leads to be completely enclosed and self- contained.
• Limited or no benefits to the local community - It exists as a partition forms the existing local communities of the region that has limited or no access to the tourism destination.
• Cultural gap - It creates a cultural gap as the lifestyle of the area in which the enclave tourism is developed is highly different form that of its surroundings. 
• Unequal wealth distribution - It leads to the unequal distribution of wealth as all the tourism related revenues are divided amongst the rich and the indigenous population of the region have no access to the revenues.
• Economic instability - Enclave tourism leads to heavy dependence of the economy form foreign businesses and revenues.

Another moral and ethical issue in this type of tourism is that the local goods and services are not used. The employment generated by enclave tourism is seasonal in nature.

Enclave tourism in Casa De Campo region is associated with many moral and ethical issues they are;

• Little or no interaction existing between the local community and the outbound tourists
• Wages paid to the staff in the enclave tourism here is very low
• No direct benefit and growth opportunity of the local community of the Dominican Republic. All the economic benefit restricted to the rich and the influential and the drug lords that have high dominance in the region

• There is political instability in the region, there is lots of corruption and violence and so these are a turn off for the tourists that have safety concerns
• Casa de Campo region is losing the heritage and cultural value of its own and has adopted a transitional culture as  a result of tourist intrusion
• The region has become a victim of forced prostitution and under age children are forced in to. Crime rates have increased and there is a threat of transmission of sexual diseases.
• The waste recycling and disposal is improper causing environmental and water pollution in the region of Casa De Campo (FULLER, Anne, 1999)

Task 5: Understand the socio-cultural, environmental and economic impacts of tourism in developing countries and emerging destination

P5.1 - Compare current issues associated with tourism development in a developing country and an emerging destination where the impacts of tourism are different for the chosen destination.

I am selecting India as an emerging tourist destination.

In developing economies like India tourism has become one of the chief contributors to the economy. A large portion of the income of the economy is derived from travel and tourism. 6.23% of the GDP contribution is derived from travel and tourism. World Travel and Tourism Council predicts that during the period of 2009-2018 India will be the hotspot of tourism (H.Lalnunmawia, 2013).

                           

• Economic Impacts – Tourism in India has brought growth in economy. IPL an international event for sports has also boosted the economy to a great extent. The Common Wealth Games have also helped the economic growth of tourism in India. Tourism has become a source of generation of employment and additional income for India. It has also important contribution in the eradication of poverty and sustained development of the local communities. 8.78% of the employment contributor in India is tourism, Tourism has been a reason for foreign exchange in India – tourism has led to a significant amount t of foreign earnings in India. This is causing balance of payments (H.Lalnunmawia, 2013).
• Social – owing to development of tourism the heritage and cultural value of the nation is being preserved. Several places of historic and cultural significance in India have been preserved for the growth of tourism. Taj Mahal, Ajanta and Elora Caves are to name a few (H.Lalnunmawia, 2013).
• Peace and stability - by providing growth and development opportunities, employment and education tourism in India has also helped in establishing stability and peace
• Environmental Impacts - Infrastructure development – means of transport, accommodation services and restaurants, roadways and air connectivity has developed in India to support travel and tourism. These infrastructures support and aid the local communities as well. As a result of tourism development ion India in many tourism sites such as the river Ganga and Goa there are growing environmental concerns for environment protection and conservation  (H.Lalnunmawia, 2013).

Negative impacts of tourism in India

• Social impacts - Tourism has created a social change that is not desirable in India and established a transitional culture. Example is GOA a tourist destination in India that adopted the hippy culture in the 60’s and 80’s. The area is a victim of drug and human trafficking. There have been many cases of harassment of tourists in India tarnishing the image of India as a hospitable country  (Kakkar, 2012)..
• Economic Impacts - Antipathy – majority of the tourism revenues are left in the hands of the airlines, tour operators with little earnings left for the local community in India that are the guides, handicraft sellers etc  (Kakkar, 2012)..
• Environmental impacts - Environmental degradation is also a side effect of tourism in India. Solid waste dumping is increasing in India as a result of tourist’s intervention (Kakkar, 2012). In India the growth of tourism has been unplanned and unrestricted leading or adverse effects on the environment. In India the demand of visitors has been higher than the use of resources leading to environmental instability.
• Carrying capacity – In India the carrying capacity in terms of the environment and the resources are at a stake of misbalance. The environmental resources are suffering from maximum use and abuse. There has been a loss of the biodiversity of India and many animals and birds have become endangered including the National animal Tiger as a result of the excessive use of the land and the water resources beyond their carrying capacity.

P5.2 Evaluate, with recommendations, the future development of tourism in these chosen destinations

India requires intensive tourism planning to ensure a sustainable tourism in the country.  India needs to develop the tourism industry benefitting the economy and the local community to the maximum extent and driving off the negative impacts.

Evaluation of the future development of tourism in India

India has a bright prospect of growth of travel and tourism industry in future. The industry is developing and India is offering variety of tourism packages emerging as a one stop destination. The government of India is also taking initiatives to develop travel and tourism. India in future will be a tourism hot spot as it offers,

• Eco Tourism
• Dark tourism
• Adventure and cultural tourism
• Wildlife and medical tourism

India is one amongst the few countries offering variety of tourism experiences to suit the needs of all types of visitors. With the speedy implementation of tourism projects in India and development of rural areas the prospects are bright also the visa policy of India will also be modified enabling an electronic online visa.

Recommendation for future development of tourism in India

• Tourist’s destination in India must conduct a SWOT analysis and identify opportunities to market themselves better and overcome the weaknesses to establish a sustainable tourism
• There is a need of marketing strategy for Indian tourist destination by promoting via the modes of advertisement such as video advertisement, travel magazines and tour websites.
• India needs to encourage the involvement of local community and spread awareness for a sustainable tourism in the nation. Proper waste treatment and disposal is very important in India as pollution is very high.
• There is a need to increase tourism distribution network in India
• Safety awareness is also needed as the threat of crimes and safety concerns is decreasing tourist revenue in India
• India needs to be active in distributing their tourism brochure and information widely
• Internet is emerging a strong tourism marketing tool which h India needs to use to their advantages           

Conclusion

This report stresses on the need of striving for the development of sustainable tourism. A responsible tourism is one in which the government, private bodies and local communities share responsibilities and initiatives. Tourism development requires proper sequential planning and management. There is a need to access and evaluate the economic, social, cultural, moral and ethical impacts of tourism in every destination.

Bibliography

Andriotis, K., 2005. Community Gorups' Perceptions of Preferences to Tourism Development.. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 29(1), pp. 67-90.
Ap, J., 1990. Residents perceptinos on the social impact of tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 17(4), pp. 610-616.
Bramwell, B., 1999. Collaboration in local tourism policymaking. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(2), pp. 392-415.
Font, X. & Ahjem, T. E., n.d. Searching for a balance in tourism development strategies, s.l.: s.n.
H.Lalnunmawia, 2013. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT OF TOURISM INDUSTRY IN INDIA. [Online]
Available at: http://www.trcollege.net/articles/74-development-and-impact-of-tourism-industry-in-india
[Accessed 6 February 2015].
International Olympic Committee, 2012. Final Report Of the IOC Coordination Commission, London: s.n.
Jowell, R. H. T., 2012. Before, during and after: making the most of the London 2012 Games, London: s.n.
Kakkar, L., 2012. IMPACT OF TOURISM IN INDIA. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MARKETING FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MANAGEMENT RESEARCH, 1(4), pp. 2277-3622.
Macbeth, J., 1997. Planning in action: A report and reflections onsustainable tourism in the ex-shire of Omeo. In: J. J. a. G. C.M., ed. Tourism Planning and Policy in Australia and NewZealand: Cases, Issues and Practice. Irwin, Sydney: In Hall, pp. 145-53.
Meidut?, I. & Paliulis, N. K., 2011. Feasibility study of public-private partnership. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, pp. 264-266.
Sambrook, R. A. & Kermath, B. M., n.d. Tourism Growth Poles Revisited: A Strategy of Economic Development In the Dominician Republic, Kentucky, USA: Eastern Kentucky University.

Locus Assignment Help UK is the top assignment writing company in UK, We provides of courses assignments help at affordable prices to help the students in best any easiest way.