As promised, here is the part 2 of the article on how South Korea can be considered as a benchmark for tourism planning, development and management.

Some of the items included here may be a bit hard to swallow for some because they know for themselves that they have been doing the same or beyond what are listed here. Just the same, the intent of this article is to perhaps introduce one or two ideas that may have slipped the sharp minds of destination planners and managers. Who knows, this could enhance their discernment in considering how tourism in their areas could be appropriately developed.

If you missed the Part 1, you can read it HERE.

There are so many lessons when one has the humility that he can still learn from the successes and realizations of other areas. Tourism is still an evolving industry and yet it has proven itself that it can be a huge, huge hammer in defining the way of development (or decline) of an area. Not only South Korea, there are still other countries and cities can provide realizations how new destinations can develop or perhaps be rebranded.

Without losing our way beating around the bush, here are some of the lessons we can learn:

Create your legacy

Everybody who is in the altar of power or policy making is in a great position to create a legacy that can last many generations. That legacy may come in the form of creating policies and standards how the local environment can be developed and protected at the same time. Would that be allowing structures to intrude towards the beach area and causing erosion? Or would it be setting up measures to keep the beach area clear of any unwanted structures thereby keeping its quality and attractiveness for many decades?

It’s the community

Unknown to many, the main reason why tourism should be developed is not to make the tourists benefit from the destination. The primary goal of the travel industry is to provide business and employment benefits to the locals.

A happy and financially contented community would not go out of their way inviting strangers who would demand many things from the hosts. Tourism oftentimes evolves due to the need to provide livelihood to the locals as the population and standard of living as well as demand for jobs increase.

However, tourism is a highly professional industry requiring high degree of product and service quality and the locals must subscribe to that reality. Their assured quality of tourist experience as regards their exposure to their target tourist attractions must be fulfilled and maintained which can be done if the attractions are protected and properly managed.

Go easy on development

Stakeholders in many emerging areas tend to become over-excited when they realize the commercial value of tourism. A good number would want to open up various attractions at the same time or even allow development that would damage the attraction. There must be careful planning and allowing only the most viable sites to be opened up at a time so development can go hand in hand with the growth of the travel market.

Go all out on open spaces

So many sites in the Philippines have lost the tourism potential of their public areas such as beaches and forests, pocket parks and rights of way because those sites were sold to private firms and individuals.

Open spaces have now started to provide the intrinsic or even up-front value of developed areas. Keep those open spaces for they could become not only the fresh part of an urban site, but they can also become a primary events place or social amenity that defines the quality of living or doing business in the area.

It’s INVESTMENT, not cost

For many people who can influence the development trajectory of their areas, it is unfortunate that the valuation of development is based on the cost or the value of money. In some cases, institutions are more proud on the money saved which could have been spent to ensure the improvement of their site and their people. Appropriate and sustainable tourism development must be regarded as an INVESTMENT to provide for the present generation and protect the future of their communities. Tourism must be seen on a macro scale wherein the sphere of economic influence goes beyond the peripheral fence of the attraction. An 800 square meter property that has become a major tourist attraction can influence the financial status of thousands of families and revenues of several government units.

Culture, History and Arts deserve their places higher than profits

In any city or county, much of their legacies are defined by the arts that often reflect their culture and history. There is always a finiteness in space. These things must never be relegated to the margins in order to give way to commercial development.

I do hope you appreciate this article. If not, I would like to think that you have become challenged to do something better for the site where you can have a role in tourism planning and development.

You can also read the article on Urban Mobility
Check out my online course on practical carrying capacity
as well as the ebook on Practical Ecotourism