Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(2000a) in a review of the role of government in New Zealand tourism identified three
government agencies with primary responsibilities with respect to tourism policy and
over thirty agencies with secondary responsibilities, with there typically being very little
formal tourism policy co-ordination between the various agencies. Such a situation
though should not be surprising, since the nature of tourism means that it cuts across a
range of government responsibilities which make policy and planning co-ordination
inherently difficult unless a lead agency is clearly identified.
WHAT IS TOURISM PLANNING?
What is planning? 'Planning is a process, a process of human thought and action based
upon that thought—in point of fact, forethought, thought for the future—nothing more or
less than this is planning, which is a very general human activity' (G. Chadwick
1971:24). Similarly, according to P. Hall (1982a:303), planning 'should aim to provide a
resource for democratic and informed decision-making. This is all planning can
legitimately do, and all it can pretend to do. Properly understood, this is the real message
of the systems revolution in planning and its aftermath'. P.Hall's (1982a) observation
reflects Johnston's (1991:209) comment that underlying the geographer's involvement in
planning and policy is 'the basic thesis that geographers should be much more involved
in the creation and monitoring and policies', yet, as he went on to note, 'what sort of
involvement?', a point discussed in Chapter 1.
As a general field of research, tourism planning has mirrored broader trends within the
urban and regional planning traditions (e.g. Getz 1986a, 1987; C.M.Hall 2000a) primarily
because it has been focused on destination planning rather than individual tourism
business planning. Moreover, planning for tourism tends to reflect the economic,
environmental and social goals of government and, increasingly, industry interests, at
whichever level the planning process is being carried out (C.M.Hall et al. 1997).
Planning for tourism occurs in a number of forms (development, infrastructure,
promotion and marketing), structures (different government and non-government
organisations), scales (international, national, regional, local and sectoral) and times
(different time scales for development, implementation and evaluation). However,
planning is rarely exclusively devoted to tourism per se. Instead, planning for tourism
tends to be 'an amalgam of economic, social and environmental considerations' which
reflect the diversity of the factors which influence tourism development (Heeley
1981:61). In contrast, recreational planning has assumed a more integrated form, being an
integral part of most public sector planning schemes alongside other fundamental themes
such as housing. As Chapter 5 demonstrates this is very evident in urban areas. In this
respect, recreation is often a local need-based activity or a regional planning function to
deal with the impacts, needs and effects of visitors on the host community. The
contribution of recreation to quality of life issues in the local and visitor population,
particularly in park, national park and natural areas, remains a well-developed planning
activity as described by Patmore (1983) and contributions in Lavery (1971c) (also see
Chapters 4 and 8 which note the contribution of geographers to natural area and
wilderness planning activities). Therefore, recreational activity has emerged as largely a
public sector exercise where geographers have not made major contributions to the
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