1. Appraisal of current situation1.
Appraisal of current situation
2. Setting
the goal
3.
Developing a tourism strategy
4.
From strategy to action
5.
Pilot project and evaluation
1. Appraisal of current situation
An appraisal of the tourism process requires not only a review of the tourist sector and its development objectives; internal conditions and external factors of all relevant sectors have to be evaluated as well. Sustainability and empowerment require a participatory approach by way of action research, which means giving attention to and being supportive of the ideas and interests of stakeholders and target groups. In this step Retour already shares its knowledge with the target groups.
Setting the goal in tourism development requires the participation of a broad range of stakeholders often with conflicting interests. Through discussion on different levels (national/regional/local) Retour identifies the priority issues. In workshop(s) the objectives are set and a common basis for action is created.
3. Developing a tourism strategy
By developing a strategy, a general concept is created with a clear distinction between development of products, markets and organisational structures. In each segment, the stakeholders differ and each should be approached according to its own responsibilities.
Criteria for evaluation are established.
The strategy leads to a plan of action on an operational level. Within this plan projects are identified and priorities are set in a consultative process.
5. Pilot project and evaluation
To test the strategy and to guide the parties involved, pilot projects are executed under responsibility and with guidance of Retour. Involvement of commercial touroperators is secured by Retour. The pilot project is vital in the evaluation process. Evaluation is carried out according to the criteria set in the strategy and using the results of the pilotproject. Because tourism is a process that depends on many changing external and internal factors, this planning method should be iterative, meaning that it should be repeated in the tourism development process.