Why destination visitor travel planning falls between the cracks

Abstract

Planning for visitor travel within a destination area presents an obvious opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of tourism, while increasing quality of experience and choice for the tourist and benefiting local residents and businesses. Yet, with a few exceptions, comprehensive planning is rarely undertaken by destination managers and initiatives tend to be isolated and fragmented. Drawing on their extensive knowledge of rural destinations in the UK, the authors discuss the types of scheme which can enhance the visitor experience while bringing local and global environmental benefits. They conclude that the tourism industry's structure, dwindling public funding and the difficulties of aligning multiple agencies to a common purpose prevent the strategic planning necessary for integrated visitor travel planning with a failure to reap the potential environmental, economic and social rewards.