Tourism Strategy

1. Tourism Strategy Unit 12 Strategy in Action Professor John Tribe

3. Learning Outcomes • After studying this chapter and related materials you should be able to understand: • How to prepare a public strategy document • Strategists • Gender and strategy • Backstage considerations for strategy • Review of strategy • Turnaround strategies • Crisis management strategies • and critically evaluate, explain and apply the above concepts.

4. Case Study 12: QATAR NATIONAL TOURISM SECTOR STRATEGY 2030

5. QATAR TOURISM STRATEGY • Title page • Foreword • Publication details • Contents page • Introduction/endorsement • Executive summary • Strategic analysis • Mission • Strategy • Objectives • Strategic implementation

6. Preparation of a Strategy • A a strategy is a master document which encompasses the main headings of this book and a typical strategy will have the following key parts: • Title page • Publication details and contents page • Introduction / endorsement • Executive summary • Strategic analysis • Mission and objectives • Strategy • Strategic implementation • Appendices

7. Strategic Analysis • A typical format will be: • The external environment • The Political Environment • The Economic Environment • The Socio-cultural Environment • The Technological Environment • The Competitive Environment • Organisational capabilities • The resources and core competences of the organisation • The performance of the organisation • An evaluation of product and services • SWOT analysis

8. Mission and Objectives • Nature of Business • defining the business of the organisation • identifying key strategic business units • Missions and Goals • statement of mission of organisation • objectives set

9. Strategy • This part of the document is likely to cover issues such as • Generic type of strategy, e.g. • Price based • Differentiation based • Hybrid • Directions • Methods

10. Strategic Implementation This final part of the strategy document will address the two key issues of • Organising and resourcing • Monitoring change

11. Backstage Issues • Some aspects of strategic thinking will not be available in the public domain. • First this may be to restrict access to information that would be advantageous to competitors e.g. • Specific targets for take overs. • Sales targets. • Pricing data. • Specific details of product development. • Specific details of plans for market penetration • Second some of the issues may be too sensitive to be made publically available, e.g. • Force field analysis. • Job losses • Plans for achieving compliance (especially tactics for negotiating with Trade Unions).

12. Strategists • There are three main groupings of strategists. These are: • Chief executives • Strategic planners • External consultants.

13. Gender and strategy • Two key issues arise relating to gender and strategy. • The first concerns the representation of women at strategic levels of management • The second relates to any differences in strategic philosophies between the sexes

14. Turnaround Strategies • Turnaround is defined as the action taken to prevent the occurrence of financial disaster. • Key features of successful turnaround strategies include: • Act with speed and precision • Clear focus on the cause of the predicament • Communication of the critical nature of problem to key stakeholders • Ensure financial solvency • Replacement of CEO • Stabilisation of problem • Re-engineer

15. Crisis Management Strategies • Crisis management is the process by which an organisation deals with major, extraordinary, sudden and unforeseen events that can pose a grave threat to their existence. E.g. • Natural disasters • Technology failures • Malevolence. • Confrontation • Skewed management values • Deception

16. Crisis Management Strategies • The six main stages in strategic crisis management are 1. Pre-event stage: Prevention and contingency measures are put into place. 2. Prodromal stage: At this stage the impending crisis is inevitable. 3. Emergency stage: The crisis has arrived and main objective is damage limitation, immediate rescue and clear communications. 4. Short term stage: Restoration of basic functions, utilities and essential services to return to normality. 5. Long term (recovery) stage: Continuation of restoration with attention to non-priority actions. Lessons learned incorporated into revised prevention and contingency strategies. 6. Resolution Stage: Routine strategic management replaces crisis management.

17. Review of Key Terms • Executive summary: A précis of the main features of a strategy. • Backstage issues: Aspects of strategy that are not be available in the public domain. • Strategists: These include chief executives, strategic planners and external consultants. • Gender issues in strategy: These include the representation of women at strategic levels of management and gender differences in strategic philosophies. • Strategy review: Assessment of the success of the new strategy. • Turnaround Strategy: The action taken to prevent the occurrence of financial disaster. • Crisis Management Strategy: Strategy to deal with major, extraordinary, sudden and unforeseen events.

18. Discussion Questions • Discuss which information would be appropriate and which would be inappropriate to include in a strategy document. • Distinguish between a turnaround strategy and a crisis management strategy using tourism examples. • Discuss the relative merits of using the CEO, a strategy planning department or external consultants as strategists for a tourism organisation. • Identify three major recent crises that have affected tourism destinations and discuss common elements for effective crisis management. • How does strategy review differ from performance management?

19. Tourism Strategy Unit 12 Strategy in Action The End