Tourism planning traditions and sustainable tourism development
The aim of this essay is to critically evaluate the potential contribution of any two of the four traditions of tourism planning introduced by Getz (1987). This essay includes analysis of sustainable tourism planning and why it is important, it also states the complications in implementing sustainable tourism planning. Getz (1997) identified four broad traditions of tourism planning, These traditions are: - Boosterism tradition, Economic tradition, Physical/Spatial tradition and community- oriented tradition. These four traditions are used to facilitate tourism planning and avoid future problems. Boosterism is a simplistic attitude that tourism development is inherently good and automatic benefit to the host. Residents of tourist destinations are not involved in the decision-making and planning process surrounding tourism development. Economic Tradition, tourism is seen as an industry which can be used as a tool by governments to achieve a certain goals of economic growth and restructuring. Employment generation and regional development through the provision of financial incentives, research. ... Government uses tourism as a mean to promote growth and development in specific areas such as employment growth. Physical/ spatial approach refers to planning with a spatial, or geographical, component, in which the general objective is to provide for a spatial structure of activities or land of uses which in some way is better than the pattern existing without planning. (Hall 1992:4) Community Oriented Tradition is a response to the need to develop more socially acceptable guidelines for tourism expansion.