Strategic Planning for International Tourism (Identify a National Essay

Strategic Planning for International Tourism (Identify a National Tourism Organisation) - Essay Example Current paper focuses on the examination of the effects of strategic planning on international tourism. The case of Visit Britain, a British Tourism Organisation, is used for highlighting the effects of strategic planning on the tourism industry. Particular emphasis is given on the branding choices of Visit Britain as these choices affects the performance of the organization but also of the national economy. 2. Visit tourism – choice of branding 2.1 Branding in international tourism – theory, practical implications In the tourism industry, the context of ‘destination’ is of critical importance for the development of effective branding policies. This means that those involving in the design and development of branding strategies in the tourism industry need to understand the content of ‘destination’, as the term is used in the tourism industry. Pearce (1989) notes that in the tourism industry, destination is a term used in order to describe â₠¬Ëœan amalgam of products and services available in one location that can draw visitors from beyond its spatial confines’ (Pearce 1989 in Keller et al. 2006, p.65). Moreover, the motives that are likely to affect the choices of consumers in the tourism industry – i.e. ... Moreover, the use of effective strategic planning techniques in international tourism can lead to the increase of power of the specific industry as a contributor of the national economy, even if this fact is not always recognized by governments worldwide (Duval 2007, p.39). In accordance with Edgell et al. (2007) the international tourism industry enhances various sectors, such as’ agriculture, accommodation and brewing’ (Edgell et al. 2007, p.11). The use of theories and models, which are already tested through appropriate empirical research, could secure the effectiveness of branding policies in the international tourism industries. Two approaches are most likely to be used for evaluating brands: the ‘plus product’ approach, which considers brand as ‘an addition to the product’ (Cooper et al. 2007, p.229) and the holistic approach, which considers brand as the view of the consumer on a particular product/ service. Cooper et al. (2007) note th at it is the holistic approach on which destination marketing is mainly based. Moreover, tourism products are distinguished by the products of other industries in regards to the following characteristics: ‘intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability’ (Shostack 1977, in McCool et al. 2009, p.133). Furthermore, in the context of tourism industry, branding needs to ‘connect the customer with the destination in the present or in the future’ (Morgan et al. 2000, p.216, in Page et al. 2006, p.335). On the other hand, the development of effective branding policies in international tourism can be a challenging task mostly because of the following reasons: branding in tourism industry has many dimensions, as explained above; the identification