Policy planning cycle is the set of activities conducted in order to form the relevant policies for the development of the project (Bardach and Patashnik, 2015). A good policy cycle is essential as it avoids the risk of the formulation of the ineffective and the inappropriate policies (US Fire Administration, 2017). The tourism industry is an essential component of the growth and success of the nation (United Nations, 2017). Therefore, the tourism policies must be carefully planned. According to the United Nations World Trade Organisation, the consultative approach is the suitable approach for the formulation of the policies in the tourism industry (UNWTO, 2018). Consultative approach implies the involvement of the stakeholders in the policy planning cycle (Dredge and Jamal, 2015). Discussion papers are one such means of the consultative approach and are widely used in the formulation of the policies of the tourism industry. The report analyses the vitality of the discussion paper by considering the following two discussion papers namely, “Tourism & Transport Forum- Tourism Western Australia Tourism 2020 Discussion Paper” and the “Discussion Paper on Growing Tourism in the Bega Valley Shire Economy”.
The discussion paper is focussed on Western Australia’s Tourism 2020 plan. The discussion paper analyses the current scenario and reveals that there lies a great opportunity in the tourism sector of the Western Australia (Tourism and Transport Forum, 2016). This is because of the prediction of the United Nations, according to which the share of Western Australia’s to the global tourism is estimated to grow 14.4 per cent to 25.4 per cent, because of the global changes. The paper further examines the role of tourism in the generation of the employment opportunities, exports and on the regional and the indigenous regions.
The Sapphire Coast Tourism Ltd has prepared the discussion paper in the year 2014 (Sapphire Coast, 2014). The aim behind the design of the paper is to identify and tap the potential of the tourism industry towards the social and economic development of the Bega Valley community. The discussion paper recognises the current successful partnership scenario between the Sapphire Coast Tourism (SCT), Bega Valley Shire Council and the various business and the community groups. It further identifies the key areas of opportunities and development and recommends the action plan to be taken along with the ways of funding.
Policy Planning Cycle
(Source: PolicyNL, 2018)
Tourism is essential for an economy (Cook, Hsu and Marqua, 2014). According to the United Nations, World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), an effective policy planning cycle must essentially involve the following stages. These are vital for the effective policymaking in the said industry. The various stages are listed as follows.
- Stage I: The first stage is critical as it includes the preparation of the issue paper. As evident from the name, the paper encompasses a comprehensive assessment of the existing policies, scenarios, constraints, and the ways in which how they are being achieved.
- Stage II: The second stage involves the identification of the current and the future needs of the stakeholders. This is done by the circulation of the issue paper created in the first stage among the various stakeholders.
- Stage III: In this stage, a rough policy or the draft document of the final policy is crafted for the consideration.
- Stage IV: The stage deals with the organisation of a forum for the receiving of the feedback from the stakeholders.
- Stage V: It deals with the finalization of the policy.
- Stage VI: The stage deals with the implementation of the policy by the formulation of the action plan.
The critical analysis of the first discussion paper is as follows. The paper firstly evaluates the role of the tourism in the Western Australia. It is found that the tourism is a highly sustainable industry and therefore is closely linked with the growth and development of the region’s overall economic and the social conditions. The paper further discusses the contribution of the tourism in the Western Australia region and thereby examines the opportunities. It is recognised that the mining is still the state’s pick according to the importance, but tourism industry also has the potential of yielding the high return on the investment for the Government’s long-term goals. Identification of the challenges and the opportunities are a part of the policy planning cycle.
Discussion Paper on Growing Tourism in the Bega Valley Shire Economy
In the latter part of the paper, the tourism and transport forum recommends that as the tourism industry holds the potential of providing long-term earnings and development, the Western Australia Government must invest in the same. In addition to this, the future of the WA tourism is analysed through the lines of the recommendations made. This is analysed in terms of the estimated demographical and the economic changes.
While concluding, the various facets to achieve the above goal are evaluated. These are the need for revamping the infrastructure facilities, challenges in the regional development; areas for the possibility of the innovation, development of the nature-based tourism experiences and the indigenous tourism, and engagement in the marketing activities. Thus, the future course of the actions is identified and recommended, which is the last phase of the policy cycle. Thus, it is evident that the paper follows the various stages of the policy planning cycle.
The second paper is based on the development of the tourism and the impact of the same on the Bega Valley economy. The paper identifies the fact that there are various untapped opportunities in the tourism of the Bega Valley. There are untouched tourism markets and potential for foreign visitors travel. However, a few challenges are also recognised such as lack of the funding for the development.
The next part of the discussion paper describes the strategic direction to be adopted to achieve the pre-decided objectives. The three major facets of the strategic direction are recognised i.e. the “nature”, “the coastal experiences” and the “journeys of exploration”. A digital media strategy has been suggested for the marketing of the initiative. Again, the effectiveness of the use of the internet has been described with the use of the graph. The introduction of the wireless hotspots, the journeys program, new product development and more are determined as the key areas for development. The paper ends with the description of the means to achieve the funding for the same. These are accommodation levies, member-based funding and the special rate levy.
The most striking thing about this paper is that the content was bifurcated in the crisp and clear short paragraphs, with to the point headings, which makes it easier to understand to the stakeholders.
While the former paper is concerned with the Western Australia region, the latter is focussed towards the development of the Bega Valley. The major striking contrast between the two papers is that the latter is much easier to understand as it involves the use of the graphs and the charts and is therefore simple and clear. The first paper majorly involved the textual representation of the facts.
Another difference is that the first paper was not structured sequentially unlike the latter paper. The second paper followed the stepwise procedure, i.e. it examined the current scenarios first and then moved onto the recommendations and the future action plans. While the first paper lacked the sequence and thus, was a bit difficult to understand.
Though, both the papers incorporated the various stages of the policy planning cycle and thus were effective in their own ways, but the clarity of the second paper was striking as it was quite crisp and clear.
Consideration of stakeholders interest and sustainability is an essential characteristic of Australian Tourism (Moyle, McLennan, Ruhanen and Weiler, 2014). Though each of the paper was prepared with the different set of objectives, the one more thing that was common between both the papers was the consideration of the stakeholders’ interest while making the recommendations. Both the papers invited the feedbacks of the concerned stakeholders, as well as evaluate their existing needs, interests, the potential, and the future aspirations.
Thus, as per the discussions in the previous parts, I would like to conclude that the tourism sector plays a significant role in the social and the economic development of the region, state of the nation. Therefore, the formulation of the policies pertaining to the said sector is a critical aspect. As I understood the framework of the policy planning cycle, I realised that each and every stage has its own importance. I further realised the vitality of the discussion papers in carrying out the consultation for the policy formulation. As I evaluated and researched on the chosen discussion paper, I came to know that the trait of an effective discussion paper is that it must involve all the stages of the policy planning cycle, i.e. analysis of the current scenarios, challenges and the opportunities, the recommendations and the future course of the actions. The discussion papers I chose for the analysis, covered the various stages of the policy planning cycle and addressed the individual concerned issues. However, each discussion paper is different from each other. Thus, it can be said that discussion papers must be carefully crafted to fulfil the purpose of the consultative approach.
References
Bardach, E., and Patashnik, E. M. (2015) A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold path to more effective problem solving. New York: CQ press.
Cook, R.A., Hsu, C.H. and Marqua, J. J.(2014)Tourism: the business of hospitality and travel. Boston, MA: Pearson.
Dredge, D. and Jamal, T. (2015) Progress in tourism planning and policy: A post-structural perspective on knowledge production. Tourism Management, 51, pp.285-297.
Moyle, B.D., McLennan, C.L.J., Ruhanen, L. and Weiler, B. (2014) Tracking the concept of sustainability in Australian tourism policy and planning documents. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 22(7), pp.1037-1051.
PolicyNL. (2018) The Policy Cycle. [Online] Available from: https://www.policynl.ca/policydevelopment/policycycle.html[Accessed on 09/08/18].
Sapphire Coast. (2014) Growing Tourism in the Bega Valley Shire Economy. [online] Available from: https://www.sapphirecoast.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Growing-Tourism-in-the-Bega-Valley-discussion-paper-25112014.pdf [Accessed on 09/08/18].
Tourism and Transport Forum. (2018) Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) – Tourism Western Australia Tourism 2020 Discussion Paper[online] Available from: https://www.ttf.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/TTF-Tourism-WA-2020-Discussion-Paper-2008.pdf [Accessed on 09/08/18].
United Nations World Tourism Organisation. (2018)Policy Planning and Economic Development. [Online] Available from: https://cooperation.unwto.org/technical-product/tourism-policy [Accessed on 09/08/18].
United Nations. (2017) World Economic Situation Prospects. United Nations: United Nations Publications.
US Fire Administration. (2017) The public policy development cycle. [online] Available from: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/training/coffee_break/053117.html [Accessed on 09/08/18].
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