Page 190 - Tourism The International Business

9. The management of tourism

for various goods and services combined with some knowledge of size of the local multiplier would enable
administrators to communicate the importance of tourism to the local economy. This will help to gain
community support.

• Knowing types of people visiting your community could be of help in planning for future
operations, understanding some of the problems you are facing, and improving your communications.
Knowing changes in the supply of tourism attractions and facilities in your region, state, and nation could
help you gauge plans for expansion in your community. This may not now be a problem in your area, but it
would be well to know when it might be.
Each community has to decide how much importance to attach to research. The general inclination seems to be

to do too little of it. Making decisions based on inadequate or erroneous information leads to waste. Many
communities never know whether their operations are getting results or not since their research is inadequate to
tell them.
Education and training

Since tourism is a hosting industry, methods of training those who come into contact with tourists are very
important. The development plan should examine ways of doing this most efficiently and lay out a blueprint for its
accomplishment.
A major problem in training employees of service stations, cafes, motels, and retail stores is reluctance of
employers to give them time (with pay) for such training. Even though most of these firms are regarded as part of
the industry, they sometimes fail to identify their welfare with that of tourism. The tourism organization needs good
communication on this point with employers.

In addition there should be methods developed to have a well-informed public. Both of these functions should
be allowed for in the organizational structure.
Data collected on the number of tourists visiting the area, what they do, how much money they spend in the
community, and where the money goes, should be explained to the general public. This assures that the public will
be aware of the importance of tourism to the local economy and that their contacts with tourists could also affect its
success.
For the tourism organization to be effective, it must not only communicate the information the community
wants, but also communicate with the community itself. Here, residents as well as special interest groups must have
a mechanism available for communicating complaints, ideas, and opportunities, and for reporting on changes that

should be made in some aspect of the tourism program. A good mechanism would be periodic public meetings of
the tourism council. Having the tourism director or an associate available for discussion at regular times could also
help.
Promotion

Although promotion is really a part of the overall communications concept, its importance in most tourism
programs indicates that it should be viewed in the organizational structure as a separate and specialized function
requiring professional expertise. It includes:
• advertising
• publicity and public relations

• sales promotion

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