Reference no: EM132975113

DESTINATION MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

Based on the analysis of destination presented in Part A, students will develop Part B, i.e., a destination management plan, for their chosen destination. Part B has an individual component worth 15% and a group component worth 25%. Part B includes three key elements, plus introduction and conclusion (total 4,500 words):

i. Summary of Destination Analysis - An overview of Part A findings, summarising the policy and operational environment of the destination, key stakeholders, tourism demand, key product experience themes, and issues the destination is facing.

ii. Experience Audit and Competitor Analysis - Provide an overview of the concept "experience economy" (including transformative experience), and describe how this approach can improve tourist experience offering and thus improve operator competitiveness. Conduct an audit of the existing experiences/settings/tourism providers of the destination and identify providers that can potentially develop exceptional experiences. Undertake a destination competitor analysis of tourist experiences and present the summary of that analysis.

iii. Planning and Management Strategy - Identify existing tourism strategies and policies that align with the destination management strategy of your destination. Provide a destination management strategy that focuses on one potential market for proposed experiences in the destination.

Part B: Destination management plan report format:

1. Introduction (Group)
In 100 words or less, name your destination, the target market for the management strategy, and outline the key sections of the report.

2. Destination Analysis (Student A)
Provide a summary of the key findings of Part A

3. Experience Audit and Competitor Analysis

3.1 Overview of the experience economy concept (Student A)

Write a description of the "experience economy" concept (including transformative experience), and describe how this approach can improve tourist experience offering and improve operator competitiveness.

3.2 Key target market (Student A)
Identify a key target market for your destination (e.g., intra-state retired couples, backpackers from South East Asia, corporate travellers from Europe, etc.). Describe this target market in relation to transformative experience (e.g., the type of experience they would find meaningful given their motivations or needs). Support with references.

3.3 Audit of existing tourism providers and experiences (Student B)
Provide an audit of the existing tourism providers and experiences in your destination, in relation to the chosen target market. The audit includes a description of the tourism experience and your evaluation of its level of transformation. A minimum of 4 providers and their product experiences are required. The audit should be presented in a table to reduce the word count.

3.4 Undertake a destination competitor analysis (Student B)

Identify two other destinations competing for the same target market as your destination. The competitor footprint should be included (see Figure below).
Discuss the competitor footprint (similarities/differences between these destinations), and highlight what is unique about your destination (i.e., unique selling proposition) in terms of offering particular experiences.

3.5 Recommendations to improve experiences (Student B)

Make three recommendations on how to improve the provision of transformative experience offerings in your destination.
Recommendations should be based on your audit and competitor analysis. For example, if you identify tourism experiences that are only semi-transformative or not transformative, you can suggest improvements to the providers. You can also suggest the development of relevant transformative tourism experience based on the identified unique selling proposition for your destination.

4. Planning and Management Strategy

4.1 Existing tourism strategies and plans (Student C)

Identify existing strategies or plans that relate to the management strategy that you are developing for your destination. A tourism strategy/plan can range from branding, vision, guidelines for product development and stakeholder collaboration, etc. It is helpful to broaden your search to identify not only your destination's tourism strategy or plan but also relevant local art/cultural/event policies, as well as regional/state/national development policies. A minimum of 2 strategies/policies is required. Use a table to reduce the word count. Below is an example.

4.2 Potential target market for management strategy (Student C)

Identify and briefly describe a potential target market for the management strategy. This can be the same as the target market in section 3 but can also be a new target market. Justify the choice - for example - is this a market that has declined/grown significantly in recent years, hence the need for a destination management strategy.

4.3 Destination management strategy (Student C)

Create a new tourism product/experience range or modify existing tourism products/experiences to cater to the identified potential target market. Provide guidelines in point form for the implementation of the transformative experience (e.g., describe the proposed product and provide a promotional strategy, or a collaboration event between relevant stakeholders, development of new facilities, etc.). Please ensure that your proposed tourism experience is a sustainable one.

5. Conclusion In approx. 150 words, summarise the key points of your report.(Group)

6. References Please use APA referencing style. There should be at least 7 academic references and 7 industry references in that list. Remember that a reference is a source that is actually cited within the text. (Group)