Why is it important to plan tourism?

Tourism benefits the local economy of the city where it is
planned. It generates jobs, increases the sales of local small businesses, and the money
that these small businesses generate goes straight back into the community. This is
because the more they make, the more they can meet demand and
supply.

A strong local economy also increases property
value. Location is one of the determining factors for pricing properties; the more
things there are around a home, the more expensive the home will
be.

Now that we have discussed how tourism helps, let's
analyze why it is so important to PLAN it.

The biggest
mistake city planners make is providing entertainment and leisure for tourism without
first assessing what to do once tourism kicks in and the masses
"expand".

Let's use this example although it is not in the
U.S.

Think of a place like
Australia. 

Any trip to Australia is not only expensive,
but a lot of consideration needs to be given to the time to be spent there, the time it
takes to get there, how jet lag may or may not affect the trip, the changes in seasons,
and where exactly to go once there.

This means that each
Australian state, territory and city must fend for itself and compete as a preferred
destination to attract the international tourists who must make the choices that will
give them the most for their money.

The city of Victoria,
one of the most visited and urbanized cities, tourism is planned from A to Z following a
model that rivals many others:

1. Developing a policy: 
Rules, regulations, capacity, trade rules, minimums and
maximums.

2. Strategy for the municipal community;
direction for the department of tourism.

3. Planning and
extension: What to do after a planning application for local tourism reaches its goals.
What if something is going well...can it go better? Can it jump to be the
best.?

4. Create a mission and a vision that reaches out
through time and create a system of decision approvals made by
councils.

5. Keep tourism as one of the factors for the
city's economy development plan.

Back in America, imagine
one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world, Walt Disney World, not being
planned for?

a. How would they be able to control the
unpredictable amount of tourists that visit the campus every year, at all seasons, and
all year long?

b. Think about parking spaces,
accommodations, places to eat, safety and security. Those are all just some of the huge
factors to take into consideration.

c. Additionally, plans
need to be made on how the  profits will be used for expenses, supplies, and
demand.

These are only the most important factors affecting
tourism, but there is much, much more. Go online to your city's chamber of commerce
website and you will see how your city manager uses tourism (or does not use it) to
boost your local economy.