Integrated Tourism Development Strategies: What Are They?

Integrated tourism planning is a strategy that aims to make tourism the primary industry in a given area by systematically and comprehensively promoting all available economic, social, and tourism resources. Sustainable tourism is a proven tool for development, benefiting communities in destinations around the world. A new World Bank Group report released on World Tourism Day explains that this approach involves integrating tourism into the local economy and spreading the benefits of tourism.

To achieve inclusive growth, the tourism industry needs to be integrated into the local economy and the benefits of tourism must spread. Effective governance can harness the benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and mitigate its risks. This report addresses the changes needed in policies, business practices, and consumer behavior to contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

To achieve sustainable development goals through tourism, it is vital to employ T and T development strategies. Key elements of an integrated tourism development plan include networks, embeddedness, endogeneity, complementarity, scale, and empowerment. Economic developers and tourism professionals must work together to create a cohesive strategy that leverages the community’s tourism potential.

Currently, research on integrated tourism primarily focuses on conceptual discussions, impact and effectiveness studies, and development strategy research. The MoE developed a national strategy and action plan for biodiversity in 1998. The Integrated Tourism Master Plan (ITMP) will support and grow the local tourism industry, shaping economic growth.

In conclusion, integrated tourism planning and development involve merging tourism strategies with urban planning to promote economic growth and develop tourism destinations.

What is integrated development approach?

Integrated development is a strategy that connects the design, delivery, and evaluation of programs across disciplines and sectors to create a lasting impact on people’s lives. It aims to seize opportunities when cross-sector interventions lower costs and enhance systems, services, and products. Devex, in partnership with FHI 360, is exploring the application of integrated solutions to make the development community more effective and tackle pressing challenges in health, education, governance, and other areas.

What is integrated approach in strategy?

An integration strategy is a strategic approach that aims to improve operational efficiency, communication, and collaboration across departments within a company. It eliminates redundancies, streamlines processes, and optimizes resource utilization. The strategy creates a cohesive framework that allows different business segments to function as a single unit, integrating internal processes and external interactions with suppliers, partners, and customers.

The ultimate goal is to create a seamless value chain that delivers maximum value to stakeholders and maintains a competitive edge in the market. Understanding different types of integration strategies is crucial for businesses to streamline operations, enhance synergies, and strengthen their market position.

What are the three aspects of tourism development?

Sustainable tourism development guidelines and management practices are applicable to all forms of tourism, including mass and niche tourism. These principles focus on environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, ensuring a balance between these dimensions. Optimal use of environmental resources is crucial for maintaining ecological processes and conserving natural heritage and biodiversity. Respect for host communities’ cultural authenticity is essential for conserving their heritage and traditional values.

Long-term economic operations should provide socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders, including stable employment opportunities and poverty alleviation. Informed participation and strong political leadership are essential for consensus building. Achieving sustainable tourism is a continuous process that requires constant monitoring of impacts and implementing preventive measures when necessary.

What are the three stages of tourism development?

In their 2009 study, Boniface and Cooper delineate the tourism experience into three distinct stages: anticipation, realization, and recollection.

What are the three types of tourism development?

Tourism is a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon that involves the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes. It involves activities, some of which involve tourism expenditure. There are three basic forms of tourism: domestic tourism, inbound tourism, and outbound tourism. Activities refer to the actions and behaviors of people in preparation and during a trip as consumers. These forms of tourism are essential for the growth and development of the tourism industry.

What are the strategies for sustainable development of tourism?

Sustainable tourism relies on investing in local communities, with hotel companies playing a crucial role in promoting local economic development. This involves hiring local staff, purchasing products and services from local suppliers, and actively participating in community development projects. An example of this is the close relationship hotels establish with small towns and villages, where they not only employ local residents but also buy fresh produce from local farmers and offer guests cultural and craft activities that benefit the community. This investment fosters a sense of belonging and contributes to sustainable economic growth.

What are the key elements in the integrated model of tourism?

An integrated tourism development plan comprises several key elements such as networks, embeddedness, endogeneity, complementarity, scale, and empowerment.

What is the integrated approach in tourism planning?

Integrated tourism planning focuses on making tourism the primary industry in a given area by systematically promoting all available economic, social, and tourism resources. Sustainable tourism planning balances people’s needs with the environment, stating the community’s mission, vision, and unique selling point. This helps local communities plan for the long term, respond to changing markets, trends, and emergencies like the Covid-19 outbreak, and ensures proper resource allocation while ethically and sustainably establishing local communities. Centralized tourism planning is done by a single authority, usually the state or central government, and benefits people and places positively on social, economic, cultural, and environmental fronts.

What are the types of integration in tourism?

Companies often engage in vertical and horizontal integration to achieve greater commercial success and market dominance. Vertical integration occurs when two companies at different levels in the chain of distribution merge or are purchased by another, such as a tour operator buying a hotel or a travel agency. Tour operators own all components in the chain of distribution, controlling the operation and offering better prices to customers. This can lead to economies of scale and forced out of business for smaller operators.

Horizontal integration occurs when a tour operator buys another tour operator at the same level in the chain of distribution. Most major tour operators in the UK are vertically and horizontally integrated, owning travel agencies, airlines, and hotels, along with other tour-operating businesses.

Interdependencies are essential for the effective operation of travel and tourism organizations. For example, a visitor attraction relies on the transport industry to bring customers to the attraction and the services of local and regional tourist boards to promote it. Therefore, no travel and tourism organization can work in isolation.

What is the national strategy for tourism development?

The Ministry of Tourism has launched the Travel for LiFE Initiative to promote sustainable tourism practices and encourage responsible tourism practices among tourists and businesses. The initiative aims to reduce the consumption of tourism resources and promote responsible tourism. The Ministry has also revamped its Swadesh Darshan scheme to develop sustainable and responsible destinations, focusing on tourism and destination-centric approaches.

These initiatives aim to ensure tourism contributes positively to the economy, safeguards the environment, and benefits local communities, as stated by Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

What is integrated tourism development?

Integrated tourism is a type of tourism that is directly linked to the locality and has clear connections with local resources, activities, products, production, and services.