| General description and relevant information |
This subject introduces key concepts as well as analytical and operational methods in destination planning and management, bridging theory with case studies and practical activities. The course is divided in 3 blocks, each consisting of two teaching units.
In the first block wel revise the concept of sustainable development as applied to tourist activity in destination areas (first part) and we will see how the literature has conceptualised destination development in theories and models which offer operational tools to analyse the sustainability of tourism (second part).
In the second block we focus on planning, which is the basic activity of place and space regulation and ordering to which any type of economic activity should abide. When we talk about tourism planning, we need to establish first what should be planned for and why – and apply the general concept to different contexts, problems, and opportunities; we do that in Unit 2.1. Next, in Unit 2.2. we will talk about the ‘how’ – what instruments, methods, ‘philosophies’ we should consider in planning in order to do things as best as possible, and also taking in consideration the complexity of the ‘object’ we want to plan for, which is tourism and the mobile society.
In the third block we focus on destination management. In the first part (Unit 3.1), we analyse the structure and relationships between the agents that define a destination and identify the function of destination management as the ‘glue’ that keeps them all together and optimises their joint behaviour. Then we introduce the role and models of Destination Management Organisations (DMO) and analyse their strategic role in mobilising local resources for tourism through specific management processes (meta-management). In Unit 3.2 we discuss several destination management areas, their objectives, and the management actions that can be carried out to achieve objectives of competitiveness and sustainability.
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Subjects
