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Question - Critically discuss need of 'Joined up thinking' and 'Multi agency collaboration' in tourism planning? Contents Introduction: About Joined up thinking and Multi agency collaboration: Theory and practice of strategic planning for the tourism: Objectives of the study: Scope of the study: Literature review on Strategic planning for Tourism and Leisure: a. Roles of Government/Inter-Governmental/ Corporate Governance: Leadership: Bringing collaboration: Resource allocation: Information collection: Monitoring and Evaluation: b. Benefits to the country: c. Roles of Government agencies: Applying TALC Curve: Sustainable Tourism: d. Theory of strategic planning for tourism: Environment scanning: Strategy formulation and implementation: Evaluation and monitoring: e. Practice of strategic planning for tourism in Singapore: f. Future Plans: g. Critical Thoughts: Methodology: Analysis and Discussion: International visitor arrivals: Tourism receipt by major components: Tourism receipt from various countries: International visitor arrivals from November 2013 to November 2014: Highlights of year 2013: Conclusion: Recommendations: Bibliography. Introduction: a. About Joined up thinking and Multi agency collaboration: The concept of Joined up thinking and Multi agency collaboration rose in the tourism industry for the purpose of planning and formulating policies so that more and more tourists can be attracted. Tourism in the present day world has become an essential part of change process in the economy. Unlike the traditional methods of generating money, this sector provides income generation for many people who do not even have the resource for production purpose. That is, the hotel owners earn money by the coming up of tourist on stay at their place, but along with that the cab driver, hotel manager, waiter, sight-seeing helper and even local markets get the benefit from the incoming of tourist. Thus a joined up thinking has been developed so that everyone gets benefitted from the arrival of tourists. The multi-agency collaboration therefore includes development of strategic ties between the communities, social sector organizations, businesses, individuals etc. for the purpose of tourism develo pment. This includes hotel owners, transport officers, local shop owners, airlines etc. coming together to formulate strategic plans for the purpose of promoting tourism in the country (Adriana, 2009). b. Theory and practice of strategic planning for the tourism: The strategic planning for the tourism is the process of formulating policies that could help in promoting tourism in the country. It consists of macro level and micro level planning through which the local level and national level issues and problems are accessed and resolved so that the strategic planning can be made easier for the development of tourism industry. The process of strategic planning includes the identification of the objectives, followed by assessment of the business environment, looking for alternatives and finally coming to formulation of policies that could help in achieving the strategic goals and objectives (Huxham et al., 2001). c. Objectives of the study: The objectives of the study include understanding the concept of Joined up thinking and multi-agency collaboration along with its application in the Singapore tourism development process. Along with that the theory and practice of strategy planning for tourism has been identified through which the Singapore Tourism Promotion Board (STPB) has been able to make Singapore a tourist hub in the 21st century. Therefore the objective is to recognize the policies and procedures that were actually followed to achieve tourism development in the country. Along with that the factors that contributed to the development and the outcome of the development programs are analyzed through the data interpretation method (STPB, 1996). d. Scope of the study: The scope of the study is limited to Singapore as the research is made on the various benefits and gains that the country has earned by achieving joined up thinking and multi-agency collaboration concept in application. The efforts are made for identification and benefits of various strategies that are developed overtime by STPB to achieve consistent growth in the tourism industry in the country. Literature review on Strategic planning for Tourism and Leisure: a. Roles of Government/Inter-Governmental/ Corporate Governance: According to Alonso and Liu (2013), the Government plays a significant role in planning, formulating and executing the strategic plans for the development of tourism in the country. This is done through nationwide policy formulation and directing to the various intern-government organizations to act accordingly (Alonso Liu, 2013). The directions are also given through the changes in the corporate governance rules and regulations to the private organizations so that they can work toward comfort and satisfaction of the tourist. Thus various factors are taken into consideration for this purpose. A number of factors have been identified that have raised the requirements for Joined up thinking and multi-agency collaboration. According to Huxham et al., describes that multi-agency collaboration and joined up thinking comes into action due to the motivational factors in action. The local business enterprises along with various other social factors comes together to promote tourism so that the economic welfare and change process can be initiated for all. This way its actually the development of business relations so that the common goals of earning profits can be achieved (Huxham et al., 2001). 1. Leadership: Proper leadership is developed to bring in social influence in process for the purpose of bringing collaboration between the various business group and individuals. A proper path of action and responsibility is defined so that the tourist coming can be provided with the maximum benefit and support with the minimum interference by the surroundings. This way local communities volunteer in the process of development of joined up hands and multi-agency collaboration for tourism development (Alonso Liu, 2013). 2. Bringing collaboration: Collaboration of the large tour operators is observed in the present day world, which make efforts in formulating tourism plans to offer comfort and security to their clients. The common interest of the tourist along with the tour operators are therefore pre-examined and attained through the appropriate planning process. This way structural changes are brought in the formal and informal framework so that the collaboration of various process during the tourists travel and stay can be achieved (Adriana, 2009). 3. Resource allocation: Various resources are brought together to bring in control over the factors that may affect tourism development. This includes funding and staffing of the various resources such as manpower, transport facility etc. with a purpose to achieve collaboration in various sectors that could result in supporting the tourism activities. Efforts are therefore made to achieve sustainability in the tourism development process and attract more tourists towards the country (Moeller et al., 2011). 4. Information collection: Information collection along with regular monitoring has been done at regular intervals with a view to achieve improvement and perfection in the tourism development programs so that the tourist feels their stay more comfortable. These way effects of social factors and environmental change are accessed in advance to formulate such policies and make arrangements accordingly to offer tourists with a controlled environment (Wong et al., 2014). 5. Monitoring and Evaluation: The work of multi-agency collaboration for the economic development through tourism can be divided in four steps. The first step consists of identification of various requirements and pre-requisites of tourism development. The second step is planning for the arrangements and controls that is required for tourism development. The third step is transition planning so that the implementation process can be well defined to achieve the required output from application. The fourth and final step is implementation of the process that has been planned to achieve the desired outcome (Adriana, 2009). b. Benefits to the country: A number of benefits and gains are actually achieved through the application of multi-agency collaboration which first of all includes jobs creation for local people. These people who otherwise would be unemployed gets job to earn their living and live a better life. The second benefit includes new business creation. This new business creation ensures earning for the employees and comfort for the tourist in the long run. Also the people get assisted in the development of various skills and knowledge that may be required to support the tourism development program. The third benefit is increasing fund leverage for the locals. That is the movement of money in the economy increases with the development of tourism. This way the funds availability with the locals increases manifolds. Fourthly the unused land is brought under use for the development of tourist attraction centers. Also care is given by the local municipal corporation in cleaning the area so that the tourist can be given a he althy environment to move around. This way number of benefits are actually tried to be achieved through the collaboration of multi agencies (Mattessich et al., 2004) c. Roles of Government agencies: The different roles that the government agencies develop help to achieve as per the strategic planning of the government. This includes the followings. Directing organizations toward engagement in fair and equitable practices for supporting tourists by keeping close review of the business process that is followed in the tourism industry. Developing an amiable environment in the country that attracts arrival of more tourists by directing associated people to show better understanding to the tourists. Development of infrastructure to efficiently support the transport of tourists from one place to another. This can be achieved by investing in infrastructure development by making metros to connect Airport with hotels and various important tourist destinations. Giving direct consultation to the tourist so that they can be guided towards best deal and comfortable stay. This can be done by opening tourist help centers at popular places. Promoting tourism sector by advertising in various other countries. This can be achieved by advertising on television shows in different countries about the great life time experience that the tourist in the domestic country have on arrival. 1. Applying TALC Curve: TALC curve stands for Tourism Area Lifecycle. It depicts the theory stated by Butler in 1980 which recognizes the critical range of elements of capacity that includes the folloiwngs. Exploration: At this stage, the number of visitors is just minimal when the tourist come with an idea to explore new markets. Involvement: At this stage the references of the visitors brings in new visitors who come along to explore new areas. The locals start investing in the tourism business. Development: At this stage new visitors join the league after getting positive feedback from the already visited tourist. The government starts making initiatives to develop tourism as the major sector of employment generation and income earning. Consolidation: At this stage the arrivals of tourists increases at diminishing rates. The important business requirements to support tourist activities are already developed. ALos the potential tourist are attracted toward the country. Stagnation: At this stage the number of increase in tourist comes to a halt. This way the number of tourists coming to the country reaches a definite level. Rejuvenation: Through re-orientation, newly developed areas and attraction centers are developed to attract more tourists to the country. Thus with the every stage the number of tourist arrival increases. However until it reaches the consolidation stage the number of arrivals of tourist increases at diminishing rate At the stage of stagnation, a halt is observed in the increase in arrivals of tourist. After this stage, rejuvenation is applied so that the earlier trend of tourism development can be regained. This can be depicted as below. 2. Sustainable Tourism: To achieve a sustainable tourism, the rejuvenation should be made carefully by investing in different required areas so that the outcome results in the increase in the number of tourists arrivals in the country. Any wrong investment or inappropriate step will result in effecting the movement of tourists in the country. d. Theory of strategic planning for tourism: Strategic planning is actually a planning process that is meant to achieve long term objectives and goals. The strategic planning for tourism is actually developed with a view to promote tourism in the country. This way the tourism development method are supported along with policies framed and executed so that the comfort and safety of the tourist is ensured. The various concepts that are used as tools in strategic planning process includes the followings. PEST Analysis. Porter Five Forces Analysis. SWOT Analysis. Growth Share Matrix. Scenario Planning. Various processes are involved in strategy planning. This includes the following of below stated steps in following diagram. This way the above stated various steps help in achieving the best strategic plan for the development and growth of the business. Therefore the main motive is to achieve the following milestones for the strategic planning purpose which includes the followings. 1. Environment scanning: Environment scanning is actually a method of analyzing the business environment which are both internal and external. SWOT analysis helps in analyzing the internal strength and weakness of the business along with the external opportunities and threats that may affect the growth and sustenance of business. SWOT analysis therefore gives and in-depth knowledge of the present state of business through review of internal process and accessing of external environment prevailing in the industry (Chopra Meindl, 2001). PEST analysis further helps in getting detailed information about the political, environmental, social and technological environment that may affect the business operation in future. This way the industry trend is estimated that may affect the business growth and existence in the coming years (Rigdley, 2012). 2. Strategy formulation and implementation: The strategy formulation and implementation is the process through which new bright ideas are identified and brought into application for the purpose of long term benefit. The body organization responsible for the strategy formulation and implementation is STPB Singapore Tourism Promotion Board which is actually a government bodies and has the authority vested to takes formulate such plans and execute them accordingly to achieve strategic development of tourism in the country (STB, 2013-2014). 3. Evaluation and monitoring: Evaluation and monitoring is a method of reviewing the extent of benefit and gains that the strategy execution has resulted. The evaluation is done using the change in data figures after the strategy execution meant to promote tourism. If the number of tourist increases and along with that increase their satisfaction and comfort than the strategy formulate is correct otherwise it needs to be monitored again for flaws and problems for the purpose of bringing appropriate reforms to achieve desired goals. e. Practice of strategic planning for tourism in Singapore: Tourism development has always been a priority of the Singapore government. Various changes have been brought over time to efficiently manage the tourism process in Singapore. A control over the socio-economic factors along with various other political factors has been made in the recent decades so that the tourist friendly environment can be made in the country. After the independence of Singapore in 1965, tourist travel increased in the country by manifolds. This proved to be an opportunity that was wisely tapped by the government at that time. Policy formulation and execution was made to bring in a tourist friendly environment in the country. This process was initiated by cheaper travels, improved services, offering delightful stay places and proper care of tourist. This way the newly independent country gained chance to create employment opportunity and business expansion for its people (STPB, 1996). The various strategies used by the government at different decades include the f ollowings. In the 1970s efforts were made to develop gardens and modern facility hotels so that the tourist can be attracted towards stay. From 1984 onwards the Tourism Task Force gave report on giving special attention was given to the preserving of cultural places and historical sites so that the tourists can be attracted. This included repair and reconstruction of old buildings that had connection with the past. In the 1990s, Ministry of Trade and Industry executed policies that supported the infrastructure development projects. The infrastructure was developed by making metro trains and other travelling modes so that the tourists can be facilitated right from the Airport to hotel and later various sights-seeing. In 1995 various conservation process were initiated under the name of flagship conservation project to redevelop China town as a historic district of the country with a view to add tourist attraction. This way the re-fabrication of the cultural heritage and landscapes was done by improving the conditions of these historical sites. In the start of year 2000, the new policies were executed after the review of the tourism policies by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board. This included relaxation of taxes, passport validation facility at on port arrival and addition of various sites as part of tourist destinations. (STB, 2013-2014) In the 21st Century, Malaysia and Indonesia also started making reforms for tourism development which resulted in bringing hard competition to the tourism business in Singapore. Therefore further plans were made and executed accordingly to promote tourism by organizing trade fairs and adding complementary products and services in the tourist packages. This way all efforts were made to establish Singapore as a tourist hub (STB, 2013-2014). The national policy of relaxation of passport related requirements brought in benefit for the people in other countries in the South Asia. Singapore became the melting pot of all the cultures of Asia. The people from not only the country but from other countries also gained from the employment opportunities that rose in the country (Yeoh Chang, 2001). f. Future Plans: A number of future plans are made by Singapore Tourism Promotion board along with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The future plans include the followings. Remaking of the Orchard Road to make it one of the worlds best shopping streets. Developing Singapore Flyers and making it becomes the worlds largest observation wheel. Rejuvenate Sentosa Island so that it can be made a new age tourist attraction center. Improvements to be brought in the Singapore River, Chinatown and little India so that the tourist feels comfortable and memorable experience. Increasing number of entertainment hubs and resorts so that the customers can find good places to stay during their travel. (MTI, 2011) g. Critical Thoughts: A number of critical thoughts can be given on the development of tourism in Singapore. The Government should not only concentrate on the tourist industry as there are many other industries in the country which needs support and assistance. Tourism has already been developed so much in Singapore that more investment in this industry will only result in extravagant expenditures. Government needs to develop basic industries so that the country can stand at its own. The efforts should be made to ensure enough production of food material in the country as its population is rising at high rate. The number of illegal immigrants has risen since the relaxation of the immigration policy. This has led to rise in unemployment levels for the locals. Tourism brings with it various ethical and moral issues that increases the problems of the government and creates tension in the country. Foreign investments in the country have increased which has led to the downfall of the economic conditions of the nationals. The economic slowdown has resulted in the downfall of tourist coming from America and Philippines. This way the projected tourist rate may raise immensely above the expectation after the improvements in the global economic conditions. Methodology: The methodology used for analyzing the present status of tourism planning in Singapore is done through the secondary method. That is the use of internet has been made to collect information about the government bodies plans for future. The Ministry of Trade and Industry plans for 2015 has been fetched through the government website (MTI, 2011). Also the annual report for 2013-2014 has been downloaded to get the access to information from the Singapore Tourism Board for the achievements and expectations of the government towards the tourist development. This way an extensive use of secondary resources has been made which are well referenced to make them reliable and relevant for the research. This way the data input is backed by government agencies which can be depended upon for evaluation and discussion purpose. Analysis and Discussion: A lot of information has been fetched from that can be used for effective discussion and outcome. The analysis and discussion on information fetched from the STB and MTI is done as below. a. International visitor arrivals: Source: https://www.stbannualreport.com.sg/ From the above data it is very clear that even in the economic slowdown period which is affecting every country around the world, the tourism rate has increased in Singapore consistently. We can observe an increase of 9.7 million tourists in 2009, to 15.6 million tourists in year 2013. This shows that even after the slow tourist movement in other countries in South East Asia like Malaysia and Philippines, Singapore has been consistently able to maintain its growth and development in the tourism industry. b. Tourism receipt by major components: Source: https://www.stbannualreport.com.sg/ From the above diagram, we can identify that the tourism receipt includes components with contribution of accommodation, sight-seeing, entertainment and gaming as 23% each. These components recorded a growth of 6% and 4% respectively. Food and beverage gained 10% of the tourist receipt. The rest of other tourist receipt components contributed to 25%. c. Tourism receipt from various countries: Source: https://www.stbannualreport.com.sg/ From the above chart it is visible that the maximum number of tourist receipts came from China at 2,981 million dollars in year 2013. This trend is followed by Indonesia at 2,978 million dollars and India at 1,224 million dollars in year 2013. However Philippines showed a decline of 11% and America at 5% in tourist receipts coming from these countries. This way mostly the Asian countries were the main tourist receipts of Singapore in year 2013. d. International visitor arrivals from November 2013 to November 2014: Source: https://www.stbannualreport.com.sg/ From the above chart, we can easily observe that the rate of tourist is fluctuating throughout year 2014. It was maximum in December 2013 at 1.37 million and January 2014 at 1.35 million. However the rate of arrival of tourist changed throughout the year and at the end of year it went to 1.20 million in October 2014 and 1.14 million in November 2014. This way a 5% decline was observed in the year end in the tourist arrivals. e. Highlights of year 2013: Source: https://www.stbannualreport.com.sg/ From the above data we can easily conclude the latest tourist development information in Singapore. It is clearly stated that the 5% decline in tourist arrival was observed in fourth quarter of 2014. However 0.7 billion increase in output was recorded in the same quarter. The tourism receipt earned 23.5 billion dollars to the country with 2.9 billion dollars earned by hotel industry. There was 7% increase in number of international visitors in the country which were 15.6 million which is a record high. Conclusion: In conclusion, the joined up thinking and multi-agency collaboration has been well established and used by Singapore government with a view to increase tourism in the country. Various strategic plans are developed overtime to bring in more facilities for the tourist and help the economy gain from the tourism industry. Literature review to support the idea of multi-agency participation has also been discussed along with the critical thoughts. The methodology used for fetching the required information is also clarified. The analysis and discussion helped in understanding the data that was fetched from various government resources. Thus we understand the present status of the strategic planning for tourism development in Singapore. We found out that the government has been taking consistent actions since its independence for improving the economic conditions of the country by investing in tourism industry. The main motive is to create employment and achieve economic stability for the co untry. However this policy of the government has been criticized on the grounds that the other industries face a big setback but still the government policy is giving huge gains and profits to the country (Alonso Liu, 2013). Recommendations: In the end we can give following recommendations for improving the economic conditions of the country and achieving higher gains through the joined up thinking and multi-agency collaboration. The country needs to develop other sectors than just tourism sector. The immigration policy needs to be reviewed. Regular monitoring of the tourism policy is required so that the loopholes cannot be misused by other people. The efforts should be made to avail the employment opportunity at priority to the citizens of the country. The hotel management and staff should be reviewed by government agents at regular intervals. The country needs to develop more trade hubs. Facilities are required to be increased to attract more customers. (Gelderman Van Weele, 2003) Along with that the collaboration of the large tour operators is required in the present day world, which make efforts in formulating tourism plans to offer comfort and security to their clients. The common interest of the tourist along with the tour operators are therefore pre-examined and attained through the appropriate planning process. These way structural changes are required to be brought in the formal and informal framework so that the collaboration of various processes during the tourists travel and stay can be achieved. The work of multi-agency collaboration for the economic development through tourism including identification of various requirements and pre-requisites of tourism development, planning for the arrangements and controls, transition planning and finally implementation of the process that has been planned to achieve the desired outcome. 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