外文翻译原文--目的地竞争力：可持续发展目标的战略规划和愿景

外文翻译原文--目的地竞争力：可持续发展目标的战略规划和愿景Destination Competitiveness MeetingSustainability Objectives Through StrategicPlanning and VisioningLisa RuhanenThe University of Queensland The School of Tourism and Leisure Management11 Salisbury Road Ipswich QLD 4305 Australialruhanencom1 IntroductionDestinations whether national state or local areincreasingly takingtheir role as tourist destinations very seriously as evidenced by the al-location of considerable funds towards tourism promotion and market-ing Much of this funding is being directed towards the enhancementand development of their touristic image and attractiveness RitchieCrouch 2000 With so many destinations competing for the touristdollar both on an international and domestic level competition is erceand destinations are looking to capitalize on all of their assets to dier-entiate themselves from their competitors This increasing level of com-petition has highlighted the need for destination planners and managersto adopt a more strategic focus to ensure this share is sustained in thefuture Faulkner 2003 Ritchie Crouch 2000 As Ritchie 1999273notes the growing level of international competition in the tourismmarketplace and the length of lead times for developing the major fa-cilities necessary to meet this competition have made strategic levelplanning increasingly imperativeA destinations competitiveness has traditionally been viewed in eco-nomic terms However the advent of triple–bottom line accounting inboth the public and private sectors has placed increasing pressure ondestination planners and managers to give due consideration to thesustainable management of the environmental and social resources ofthe destination This has further highlighted the need for tourism des-tinations to proactively and strategically plan for future developmentsin order to secure both the long–term sustainability of the destination134 Lisa Ruhanenand continuing market competitiveness as the cumulative eects of to-days development decisions will have impacts well beyond the lifetimesof those making the decisions Ritchie 1999While the notion of destination strategic planning itself is not newincorporating the requirements of sustainability into the planning pro-cess has proven to be more of a challenge Ruhanen 2004 To address this cases are emerging where the strategic planning methodology hasbeen revised to incorporate a strategic visioning phase with the objec-tive of developing a vision for the future of the destination A recognizedcontributor to successful organizations in the private sector the formu-lation of a destination vision aims to develop consensual guidelines onappropriate forms of development which are consistent with the valuesand goals of the destination community while taking into account theopportunities and constraints of the market Ritchie Crouch 2000This paper will examine the notion of destination competitivenessand the more recent incorporation of sustainability objectives into thiseld of research To meet these objectives the strategic planning andvisioning approaches to tourism destination planning will be discussedThe appropriateness of these approaches will be conceptually critiquedin light of their contribution towards sustainable development goalsand destination competitiveness2 Destination CompetitivenessIncreasing globalization and the shift from commodity–based economiestowards economies driven by knowledge development innovation andcommercialization have seen the issue of competitiveness rise in im-portance Competitive advantage is considered imperative to the suc-cess of organizations whether private or public and for regions statesand countries Porter 1980 It is an issue that is receiving increasingattention from industry government and academia and is an interna-tional phenomenon not restricted to any particular countries KimDwyer 2003 As with other elds competitiveness has become a keyarea of focus in the tourism destination literature with research focus-ing on such factors as destination attributes image price consumerpreferences and perspectives of experience quality andperformancesee Ahmed 1991 Dwyer Forsyth Rao 2000 Goodrich 1977 HaahtiYavas 1983 Kim Dwyer 2003 Kozak Rimmington 1999Laws 1995 Pearce 1997 Similarly much emphasis has been placedDestination Competitiveness 135on the development of models and tools for enhancing and measuringa tourism destinations competitiveness see Bordas 1994 Evans FoxJohnson 1995 Faulkner Opperman Fredline 1999 Hassan 2000Kim Dwyer 2003 Ritchie Crouch 2003Tourism destination competitiveness can be dened asa generalconcept that encompasses price dierentials coupled with exchange ratemovements productivity levels of various components of the tourist in-dustry and qualitative factors aecting the attractiveness or otherwiseof a destination Dwyer Forsyth Rao 2000 9 It can also be saidthat destination competitiveness is the ability of a destination to de-liver goods and services that perform better than other destinationson those aspects of the tourism experience considered to be impor-tant by tourists Dwyer Kim 2003 The destinations resources areundoubtedly an important source of comparative and competitive ad-vantage in tourism Comparative advantage would relate to climatescenery ora fauna etc while competitive advantage would relate tosuch items as the tourism infrastructure hotels events attractionstransport networks the quality of management skills of workers gov- ernment policy etc Kim Dwyer 2003 58Buhalis 2000106 adopts a slightly broader perspective and denesdestination competitiveness as including the sustainability of local re-sources for ensuring the maintenance of long–term successas well asthe achievement of equitable returns–on–resources utilized to satisfy allstakeholders Ritchie and Crouch 2000 support this view and notethat competitiveness is illusory without sustainability and that to betruly competitive a destinations tourism development must be eco-nomically ecologically socially culturally and politically sustainableA destinations competitiveness and success in the tourism marketplacehas traditionally been measured in economic terms and while this islikely to continue to be the most eective and prominent indicatortriple bottom line accounting is increasingly forcing attention towardsthe environmental and social aspects of the destinationEntering the sustainability concept into the discussion on destina-tion competitiveness reects the recognition that economic issues can-not be given undue precedence over environmental and social issues AsMihaliˇc 2000 reects tourism planners an d managers have generallyonly been willing to incorporate environmental measures into manage-ment strategies if they resulted in lower costs andor higher protsHowever consumers increasing environmental consciousness and de-mands for better quality products coupled with increased competition136 Lisa Ruhanenhave seen environmental and social issues become an important man-agement consideration Mihaliˇc 2000 Further reason for the addi-tion of sustainable development concepts to destination competitive-ness considerations is that sustainability is at the forefront of the po-litical agendas of many countries Berke 2002To ensure both the long–term sustainability of the destinationandcontinuing market competitiveness tourism destinations must proac-tively and strategically plan for future developments Ritchie 1999As Chon and Olsen 1990213 state todays tourism environment isincreasingly competitive and complex and tourism organizations atnational state and local levels must make estimates about the whatis likely to happen in the future and decide how to adjust to futureevents In the 21st century the world tourism environment is not onlycompetitive and complex it is also politically unstable and continu-ously changing and in order to make better estimates of future eventsand sound management decisions the strategic planning process shouldbe formally incorporated into the structure of operations ChonOlsen 1990 Similarly Faulkner 1994231 notes that in any coun-try the emergence and continuation of tourism as a dynamic and vi-able industry is dependent upon the adoption of a strategic approach toplanning and marketing Hudson Ritchie and Timur 2004 commentthat attractive well functioning and highly competitive destinations donot exist by chance but are the result of a well–planned environmentwhere appropriate forms of development are encouraged and facilitatedTherefore when planning for the current and future development of thedestination the principles of sustainable tourism must be adopted sothat only those options which satisfy the needs of all destination stake-holders including residents and visitors as well as preserve the naturaland cultural assets of the region and are economically viable should beconsidered Faulkner 2003 Hall 1998 Inskeep 1991 Ritchie 19993 Sustainable Tourism PlanningThe sustainable approach to tourism planning stemmed from broaderinternational concerns over ecological issues The concept of sustainabil-ity was formally recognized by the 1987 World Commission on Environ-ment and Development WCED which dened sustainable practicesas those which meet the goals of the present without compromising theability of future generations to meet their own needs WCED 198743Destination Competitiveness 137Sustainable development has been advocated for the tourism sector asa possible solution to the environmental and social degradation of theindustrys resources and due to the fact that tourism is a resource indus-try which is dependent on natures endowment and societys heritageCooper 1995 Murphy 1994 Simpson 2001 identies two key pre-cursors in achieving sustainable tourism destination planning which arepertinent to this discussion the need for a more strategic and long–termorientation in tourism planning and multiple stakeholder participationin the planning process4 Strategic PlanningThe concept of strategic planning is a cornerstone of conventionalmanagement theory and has proven to be an essential prerequisite insuccessful and competitive organizations since the 1950s The impe-tus for strategic planning in the business environment arose as cul-tural economic and political events began to change the dynamicsand demands of the marketplace forcing organizations to reconsidertheir practices and products Anso 1979 Joyce Woods1996Macmillan Tampoe 2000 The solution was seen to lie in strategicplanning– a rational analytical thought process taking into accountthe opportunities oered by the environment the strengths and weak-nesses of the organization culminating in a detailed specication ofboth the long–term aims of the organization and the specic strategyfor achieving these aims Anso 1979 Heracleous 1998Strategic planning has been described as a comprehensive plan ofaction that sets a critical direction and guides the allocation of re-sources to achieve long term objectives Schermerhorn 1996160 Itcan also be dened as the process of developing and maintaining astrategic t between the organizations goals and capabilities and itschanging marketing opportunities It relies on developing a clear com-pany mission supporting objectives a sound business portfolio andcoordinated functional strategies Kotler Adam Brown Armstrong2001 Strategic planning is used in an attempt to understand an or-ganizations external and internal contexts so that eective strategiescan be developed to link the two and respond eectively to changes inthe environment Wortman 1979 Bryson 1995 David 1999 StokesWechsler 1995While a number of approaches have been discussed and debated seeDavid 1999 Macmillan Tampoe 2000 Porter 1980 an eective138 Lisa Ruhanenstrategic planning approach is generally recognized as beginning withthe identication of critical stakeholder values using these values toarticulate a broad vision for the future establishinggeneric goalswhich will contribute to a realization of a dened vision establish-ing specic objectives to bridge the gap between current status andgeneric goals and assigning priorities responsibility and control sys-tems to monitor implementation eectiveness Bryson 1995 SchendelHofer 1979 Simpson 2001 Such activities are undertaken with theobjective of providing an organization an understanding of its posi-tion in the marketplace a direction and purpose improve communi-cation and motivation throughout the organization enable aproperfocus on key issues such as quality production and customers and tohelp the organization deliver the required results and achieve targetsof protability Birla 2000Strategic planning for a tourism destination is not dissimilar tothat of an organization where a sequence of choices and decisions aremade about the deployment of resources to commit a destination to anagreed agenda regarding future development and management Keane′O Cinn′eide Cunningham1996 Tourism destination strategic plan-ning also is designed to be deliberate and integrative allows for for-malized higher order planning and permits the destination to adaptquickly to changing situations and develop information planning andcontrol systems to monitor and respond to change Cooper 1995 Thebenet of a strategic approach for tourism destinations is that it forcesdestinations to look outside their articial geographical boundaries andfocus on the external environment something which tourism destina-tions have not done well to date Hall 1998 found that by doing sodestinations can more readily accommodate for changing circumstancesand have an increased receptiveness to opportunities in the externalenvironment5 Stakeholder ParticipationThe second identied prerequisite of a sustainable tourism planningapproach identied by Simpson 2001 is the engagement of multiplestakeholders in the planning process Tourism destinations are broadand diverse with a range of stakeholders and constituents to considerinsetting a strategic direction all of whom have legitimate interests in thefuture of the destination Therefore to meet sustainability objectivesDestination Competitiveness 139strategic tourism destination planning must not only be proactive butit must also be responsive to stakeholder needs This requires the adop-tion of a participatory model involving the meaningful engagement ofthe community along with industry stakeholders and relevant govern-ment agencies in an attempt to lead to agreement on planning direc-tions and goals Faulkner 2003 Dutton and Hall 1989 claim thatthis has forced traditional decision–making bodies such as governmentsto actively seek and take into account host community attitudes totourism whereas in the past stakeholders may have been consultedif at all minimally near the end of the process leaving little chancefor meaningful input Here eective strategic planning is a collectivephenomenon typically involving a diverse set of stakeholders sponsorschampions facilitators teams and task forces in various ways and ata various times Bryson 1995 Bryson Roering 1987The notion of stakeholder participation and collaboration in strate-gic planning is an important caveat to the sustainable approach totourism planning and management Simpson 2001 as the strategicdirection set for a destination will have far greater repercussions thansimply imising return to company shareholders as is the case in theprivate sector For sustainable strategic planning to be eective stake-holder cooperation and collaboration is necessary to lead to agreementand ownership of planning directions and goals which in turn increasesthe likelihood of success and long–term support required for tourismmanagement programs Hall McArthur 1998 Further if a destina-tion can overcome its traditional hindrances of stakeholder fragmenta-tion and un–coordination it will greatly increase its ability to competemore eectively in the tourism marketplace Jamal Getz 1995 Minca Getz 1995 Ritchie 1999 Ritchie Crouch 19936 Strategic Visioning for Tourism DestinationsThe importance of integrating sustainability objectives into destinationplanning and management is recognized as crucial for long–term suc-cess and competitive advantage It has been discussed that strategicplanning and stakeholder participation are two requirements in meet-ing sustainability objectives However incorporating these requirementsinto the traditional strategic planning process has proven to be a chal-lenge Ruhanen 2004 One possible solution also stemming from themanagement literature is the concept of strategic visioning Visioning140 Lisa Ruhanenis a process that can be broken into three distinct stages the envision-ing of an image of a desired future state articulated and communi-cated to followers and the empowerment of the followers to enact thevision Westley Mintzberg 1989 Essentially visioning is the abilityto create a positive image of an organization in the future ThomsGreenberger1998 which is then used as the foundation and guide forthe more traditional strategic planning processIncreasingly the practice of strategic planning has been extended toinclude a strategic vision which has been hailed as a key to manag-ing increasingly complex organizations Westley Mintzberg 1989Shipley and Newkirk 1998 note that management thinkers have al-most always talked about vision as a tool to increase productivity andcompetitiveness and according to Mintzberg 1994 it is a more exi-ble way to deal with an uncertain world Vision sets the broad outlinesof a strategy while leaving the specic details to be worked out Inother words the broad perspective may be deliberate but the specicpositions can emerge So when the unexpected happens assuming thevision is suciently robust the organization can adapt andchange ismore easily accommodated Mintzberg 1994 Critics of formal plan-ning argue that we live in a world in which uncertainty complexityand ambiguity dominate and in which small chance events can havea large and unpredictable impact upon outcomes In such an environ-ment even the most carefully thought out strategic plans are prone tobeing rendered useless by rapid and unforseen changes in the environ-ment In an unpredictable world there is a premium on being able torespond quickly to changing circumstances and the ability to alter thestrategies of the organisation accordingly Such a exible approach tostrategy making is not possible within the framework of the traditionalstrategic planning processNot only has strategic visioning being credited with contributing toa more responsive and in turn competitive organisation Nanus 1992actually suggests that the right vision can actually jump–start thatfuture by mobilizing people into action toward achieving it Nutt andBacko 1997 nd that visioning is most successful when the vision isdeveloped with ideas drawn from many people At the heart of build-ing shared vision is the task of designing and evolving ongoing pro-cesses into which people at every level of the organization in everyrole can speak on what really matters to them and should be heard by both senior management and one another The quality of this processDestination Competitiveness 141will determine the quality and power of the results The content of atruly shared vision cannot be dictated or prescribed it can only emergefrom a coherent process of reection and conversation Senge KleinerRoberts Ross Smith 1994As with the private sector strategic tourism destination planningprocesses are beginning to be revised to include a strategic visioningphase that is the formulation of a destination vision Even thoughthe direction for tourism development is implicit in strategic planningstrategic visioning has a stronger emphasis on nurturing appropriateforms of development through a publicly driven process based on stake-holder values and consensus as opposed to a more private expert–driven process based solely on market forces Ritchie Crouch 2000Faulkner 200355 notes that a strategic vision is a succinct state-ment of the essential ingredients of the preferred future of the desti-nation The vision for the preferred future of the destination is thensupplemented by a series of more detailed statements strategic planswhich articulate the benchmarks for specic issues such as infrastruc-ture development and marketingA key benet of strategic visioning is the emphasis on the futureGenerating a vision for a destination is seen to be important because itdemands a future perspective the development of goals and objectivesand it is from that platform the strategic plans are modeled Korac–Kakabadse Kakabadse 1998 Vogel Swanson 1988 As strate-gic visioning places considerable emphasis on determining appropriateforms of development with the process providing a framework that setsthe guidelines as to the kinds of major facilities events and programsthat the stakeholders desire for the destination or as Ritchie 1993nds are most consistent with stakeholders values and aspirations forthe long–term development and well being of their community As Getz and Jamal 1994 state any type of development requires a plan whichclearly delineates the type and pace of tourism development capac-ity and growth management policies socio–cultural and environmental considerations as well as supplydemand parameters A strategic visionfor a tourism destination aims to address these issues by determiningthe nature of long–term major developments Major developments suchas resort infrastructures are often irreversible so the choice of visionis absolutely critical as it will set in motion thedevelopment of thedestination for many years to come not to mention the nature of thedestination product Ritchie 1993 Therefore the destination vision142 Lisa Ruhanenshould ideally be identied before development is permitted to occurand should be the rst step in the development of a destination strate-gic plan Ritchie 1999 Ryan 2002The strategic visioning process also places considerable emphasison the concept of stakeholder collaboration and participation in deter-mining the future of the destination which is an important caveat tosustainability Even though there may be varying opinions on the des-tinations future the objective of the process is for all stakeholders tobe involved in determining appropriate forms of development througha publicly driven process based on stakeholder values and consensusFaulkner Noakes 2002 A well–articulated vision that has beenconstructed in a manner that ensures it represents consensus amongstakeholders can provide a focus for the strategic planning process andact as a vehicle for mobilizing cooperative action Faulkner 2003 Aswas mentioned previously the ability for destination stakeholders tocollaborate is considered an important ingredient for the long–termsuccess of the destination and its ability to compete more eectivelyin the tourism marketplace Jamal Getz 1995 Minca Getz 1995Ritchie 1999 Ritchie Crouch 1993 The involvement of key playersis crucial in the development of the strategic direction as they will needto demonstrate consistent and visible support for the change Hackett Spurgeon 1996 This was noted in a study of the competitiveness ofCanadian ski resorts by Hudson et al 2004 who found that the mostsuccessful are those that are owned by an organization that places con-siderable emphasis on a planning process that involves a visioning pro-cess with stakeholders at the community level involved in the planning and decision making processAlthough authors are increasingly claiming that visioning is an im-portant prerequisite for strategic tourism planning Jamal Getz 1995Ritchie 1999 Ritchie Crouch 2000 Ryan 2002 there have beenfew documented cases where the visioning process has been applied totourism destinations There are even fewer studies that have evaluatedthe success of the approach in meeting sustainability objectives or theimpact of the approach on destination competitiveness However oneof the most extensive strategic visioning processes undertaken to datewas for the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia The Gold Coast hastraditionally been one of Australias most popular international and do-mestic tourism destinations However a range of indicators proposedby Faulkner 2003 highlighted the fact that the destination wasfacingDestination Competitiveness 143decline emphasis on high–volume low yield inclusive tour market andmass tourists a decline in visitors length of stay the destination iswell known but no longer fashionable diversication into conventionsconferences and man made attractions market perceptions of the des-tination becoming over–commercialized and declining prots of majortourism businesses Faulkner 200343 therefore concluded that theGold Coast was a mature destination showing some early signs of stag-nation paralleling the experience of coastal tourist resortselsewhere inthe world and that given this it is clear that a fundamental shift in theapproach to destination planning and management is necessary if theregion is to rejuvenate and remain competitive in the longer term How-ever regardless of the stage the destination has reached the pressures ofan increasingly competitive global environment point to the necessity ofa more comprehensive approach that embraces sustainable developmentprinciples as a framework for tourism development Thus the impetusfor employing a strategic visioning approach for the Gold Coast wasto examine the impacts and opportunities of sustainable tourism forthe Gold Coast community while creating a more strategic perspectivetowards tourism policy planning development and marketingAs the visioning project was only completed in 2002 it is too soonto determine the full impacts of the exercise However the processdoes oer a general if somewhat theoretical model to assist destina-tions in overcoming the challenges of remaining competitive and at thesame time ensuring that the management of tourism is consistent withthe principles of sustainable development Faulkner 2003 Despite thefact that there is no one right way to formulate a vision and undertakea strategic visioning process the outcome of the process should ulti-mately be agreement amongst destination stakeholders that the nalvision statement provides a meaningful and operational picture of thefuture of their destination while reecting the values of the destina-tion stakeholders and appreciating the realities and constraints of themarketplace Ritchie 1993 Ritchie Crouch 20007 Discussion。