Planning in Tourism is an essential activity for every destination area because:
Firstly, planning is paramount to avoid situations caused by haphazard developments. It is required to ensure that the natural and created assets are conserved and protected to maintain their tourist appeal.
A number of tourist destinations have experienced a cycle of intense building activity and capital investment, witnessed a tourist boom, hit a hay day and then began to decline. To avoid eventual decline responsible planning and management are essential.
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Secondly, there are numerous examples which show the consequences of the unplanned development of destination areas.
These relate to the negative impacts of the lack of planning particularly on the physical environment leading to the permanent damage, alteration or degradation.
Thirdly, tourism development involves heavy outlays and investments. The resources of the state are, in most cases, limited and also required for several other competing development activities.
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The developing countries have scare resources and, therefore, particularly need to undertake tourism planning in order to ensure the proper utilization of the finances so that maximum economic and other benefits may be derived.
Fourthly, both the public and private sectors have important roles in the development of tourism which is not always clearly demarcated.
The success of tourism development to a large extent depends on the availability of the appropriate facilities at the right time and in the right place. The tourism planning aims to arrive at such a balanced growth of demand and supply.
Fifthly, most countries, to a lesser or greater degree, have planned economies. Tourism development can be most effective if it is undertaken within the context of a plan and forms a part and parcel of the national economic development programme designed to lead to the optimum growth of the economy of the country as a whole.
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Hence, the tourism sector of the economy should also be subject to planning. In brief, as observed by Pearce, planning is necessary to coordinate and synchronize the development of the different sectors, to balance competing and sometimes conflicting claims on the same limited resource base, to maximize the positive impacts of tourist development and to minimize its adverse effects.