Reference no: EM133690729 , Length: word count:1000

Destination and Visitor Management

Destination Scenario

Role-play activity

Your task
You are required to participate in a group role-play activity and to write a 1000-word proposal based on the negotiations that you have had with your group.

Assessment Description
This group assessment aims to foster students' ability to work together to acquire and convey knowledge and ideas effectively to achieve shared goals in unambiguous contexts. This will enable students to showcase their collective ability to apply learned visitor and destination management theories and concepts from weeks 1 to 9 to a hypothetical business case within a safe learning environment. More importantly, the collaborative work will allow students to practise soft skills necessary for today's tourism and hospitality industry.

Assessment Instructions
During week 7, your workshop facilitator will form the class into groups of three to four members (no more). Once created, you and your group will undertake the team inventory questionnaire to understand each other's preferred working styles. Class attendance is mandatory to a) get acquainted with your group members and b) discuss your team working style by reviewing the results of the team inventory questionnaire. Your workshop facilitator will provide further guidance on the day of your scheduled class.

During week 8, you and your group are required to participate in an 80-minute role-playing activity in which each member is to assume one of the following stakeholders' roles and their stances:

Stakeholder    Stance       
Corporation representative    For development       
Indigenous representative    Against development       
Local DMO representative    For development       
Local council representative    Against development

Once you collectively agree on who will represent the above stakeholders, you must carefully read the hypothetical problem handout that the workshop facilitator will provide at the beginning of the class.

Based on the information presented in the hypothetical problem, you and your group must collaboratively discuss the problem's main implications from the chosen stakeholder group's perspective. In doing so, you must consider the negative impacts of tourism activity on the destination's sustainable development. Remember that each stakeholder has a different set of objectives and arguments as to why they are for or against development; hence, you should refrain from repeating the same opinions as the person with the same stance. Upon the conclusion of the role-playing activity, your group will then be required to provide a 6-minute debriefing speech to the workshop facilitator and classmates by outlining the group's discussion's main points.

By week 9, you must submit an individual 1000-word written proposal based on the role-playing activity. In this proposal, you must provide three feasible strategic recommendations for managing visitors based on the identified implications from your chosen stakeholder groups' perspective. Each recommendation must be supported with relevant sources of information and industry-specific examples that validate what you have proposed.

You must use at least eight (8) sources of information. These may include websites, social media sites, industry reports, census data, journal articles, and newspaper articles. These references should be presented as in-text citations and a reference list at the end of your written proposal (not included in the word limit). Wikipedia and other ‘popular' sites are not to be used.

Problem Synopsis:
In the picturesque Meander Valley of Tasmania, Australia, a foreign developer has acquired land along the coast in one of the region's cherished tourist towns. The developer has recently submitted the initial design proposal for a sustainable resort as part of their official development application, seeking approval to commence construction.

The proposed development has stirred controversy, particularly with the indigenous communities who assert their historical connection to the land pre-dating British colonisation. Despite opposition from the indigenous people, the developers are actively lobbying local officials, emphasising the potential economic benefits, such as job creation and increased tourism, that this resort would bring to the area. The indigenous perspective remains rooted in the sacred significance of the land, advocating against any disruption. Meanwhile, local residents express concerns about potential adverse effects on the community, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing debate surrounding the future of this idyllic Meander Valley site.

As the approval of this proposal will require stakeholder consultation, presume that you and your group members have been asked to attend a local council meeting, during which the hotel proposal will be discussed in full.

In-class Role-playing Activity:
You and your group members will now have 80 minutes to collaboratively discuss the problem's main implications from the chosen stakeholder group's perspective. In doing so, you will need to consider the negative impacts of tourism activity on the destination sustainable development. Upon the conclusion of the role-playing activity, your group will then be required to provide a 6-minute debriefing speech to the workshop facilitator and classmates by outlining the group's discussion's main points.

Use of different sustainability aspects
1 economical
2 social
3 environmental