This document discusses collaboration and partnerships in tourism planning. It defines collaboration as involving face-to-face interactions between stakeholders from different sectors to plan tourism. Partnerships in tourism planning bring together interests from different sectors or destinations to work on related issues. The key reason for collaboration is that it allows different stakeholders to combine their resources and gain a competitive advantage. Collaboration can also help achieve sustainability goals like equitable benefit distribution and consideration of social and environmental impacts.
2. 1.1 Conceptual Background
Collaborative arrangements for tourism planning involve face-to-face
interactions between stakeholders who may be in the public, semi-public,
private or voluntary sectors, including pressure and interest groups.
Partnerships involved in tourism planning usually bring together interests in
the same destination but in different sectors, or else parties in different
destinations but with mutual interests in one issue or related issues.
Key reason: The belief that tourist destination areas and organizations may
be able to gain competitive advantage by bringing together the knowledge,
expertise, capital and other resources of several stakeholders (Kotler et al.,
1999).
All the case study cross-sectoral partnerships are engaged in developing
policies and planning that go beyond basic tourism questions: they also deal
with broader economic, social, and environmental issues.
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3. Specific highlight is to assess the potential for to contribute to the wider
objectives of sustainable development.
In theory, collaborative approaches should help to further the core
principles of sustainable tourism:
Collaboration among a range of non-economic interests might promote more
consideration of the varied natural, built and human resources that need to be
sustained;
There may be greater potential for the integrative or holistic approaches to
policy-making that can help to promote sustainability (Jamal and Getz,1995 and
1996; Lane, 1994);
Might lead to a more equitable distribution of the resulting benefits and costs;
Broad participation could help in democratize decision-making, empower
participants and lead to capacity building and skill acquisition amongst
participants and those whom they represent (Benveniste, 1989; Roberts and
Bradley, 1991).
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1.1 Conceptual Background
4. Because of the complexity of tourism issues, both the resources and
capacities to affect an issue can be dispersed among several stakeholders –
there are potential mutual and collective benefits from stakeholders
collaborating with each other.
‘Collaboration occurs when a group of autonomous stakeholders of a
problem domain engage in an interactive process, using shared rules, norms
and structures, to act or decide on issues related to that domain’ (Wood
and Gray, 1991:146).
The definition can also include partnerships that form around broad
strategic issues as well as around a highly specific concern within an
individual project.
Tourism collaboration ‘may be highly structured, characterized by legally
binding agreements, or may be quite unstructured verbal agreements
between participating organizations’ (Selin and Chavez, 1995:845).
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1.2 What is Collaboration and What are Partnerships?
5. Focused on key issues of its formation, types of alliances, selection of
alliance partner/s, governance structures, and its performance and
outcome in various tourism sectors such as destinations, airlines, hotels and
distribution channels.
Theoretical Perspectives and Conceptual Framework of Tourism Alliance
and Networks:
Resource Dependence;
Corporate Social Performance and Institutional Economics;
Strategic Management/Social Ecology;
Microeconomics;
Institutionalism; and
Political Theory.
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1.3 Alliances and Networks in the Tourism Industry
6. The success of alliance depends on the level of inter-organizational trust,
commitment, interdependencies, coordination, communication and
information exchange.
Morrison (1994) introduced ‘tripartite’ model:
Member-controlled, single-line specialist alliance of HMS alliance; and
Formation of VMS alliance with a multi-line public sector agent.
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1.3 Alliances and Networks in the Tourism Industry
Customer
National Tourism Board (VMS)
Small Hotel Hotel Consortium (HMS) Consumer
7. Tourism System and Network of Inter-organizational Relationships:
Hollaway (1998) described it as the networks and chain of distribution in travel
and tourism businesses involving various components.
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1.3 Alliances and Networks in the Tourism Industry
Product Public Sector
Support Services
Public Sector
Support Services
Accommodation
Man-made
Attractions
Carriers
Tour Operator and Broker
Travel Agents
The Tourist
8. Key Issues of Alliances:
Long (2000) highlight the factors that lead to the development of formal
collaborative arrangements in tourism development.
Motivations for Forming Strategic Alliance in the Tourism Industry:
a) Globalization and Competitive Advantage;
b) Convergence of Consumer Need and Preferences;
c) To Achieve Economies of Scale;
d) Reach and Penetrate Target market;
e) Survival and Innovation; and
f) Resource Dependency.
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9. The Selection of Alliance Partners
Medcof (1997) introduced four (4) referred to as the ‘Four C’s: Capability,
Compatibility, Commitment and Control’.
Choice of partner(s) is an important factor as it contributes to the success of an
alliance and partnership especially in tourism sector, where the sectors are
interlinked and inter-dependent in providing services to travellers.
Governance Structure of Tourism Alliances
The factors that contribute to governance style are social and cultural
environments, the purposes of the alliance, the stages in the life-cycle, financial,
human and operational resources, and size as well as duration of the
relationship (Palmer, 1998).
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1.3 Alliances and Networks in the Tourism Industry
10. Dynamic and Evolution of Alliances and Networks in the Tourism Industry
A Classification of Tourism Partnerships (Adapted from Waddock, 1991)
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1.3 Alliances and Networks in the Tourism Industry
Systematic Programmatic Project
Nature and
focus of
partnership
Usually informal
arrangements to
promote
destination and/or
tourism as an
industry.
Usually time-limited, but
renewable partnerships
that aim to develop and
implement a tourism
development program.
Partnerships
established for the
purpose of devising
and implementing a
specific project.
Examples National and
regional level
advisory groups.
Local and regional
tourism initiatives.
Visitor and traffic
management
initiatives.
Typical
representation
Senior
management from
the tourism
industry.
Local and regional
planners, politicians,
businesses and
communities.
Specialist managers
and steering groups.
11. Tourism Alliances and Networks in Marketing of Destination
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Situation Analysis
Environmental Analysis Resource Analysis
Goal Formulation
Strategy Formulation
Target Market Strategy
Positioning Strategy
Marketing Mix Strategy
Organizational Design
Management Supporting
System
Analysis of Current
Product
Product Market
Expansion
12. Several aspects of alliance formation such as the symmetry and dependency,
and alliance functioning were studied and discussed.
The relevant questions related to those issues are:
What are the types of marketing alliances and network relationships forged
between the NTO, Tourism Malaysia and profit and non-profit organizations in
Malaysia?
What are the factors that influence the development on inter-organizational
alliances in the tourism industry?
Which firms form alliances and what are the criteria used in selecting partner/s?
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Conclusion