SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DESTINATION MANAGEMENT For executives in sustainable destination management and product development
19th October - 27th November 2009 Brugge Belgium
Sponsored by the Flemish government
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DESTINATION MANAGEMENT For executives in destination management and product development
BASIC DATA
Duration of the course: 6 weeks: 19th October - 27th November 2009 Language: English Number of participants: maximum 16 Geographic target group: South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and Chile
COURSE ORGANISER
WES vzw - Training Department and Tourism Department Baron Ruzettelaan 33 B-8310 Assebroek - Brugge Belgium www.wes.be
[email protected] tel: +32 50 36 71 36 fax: +32 50 36 31 86 WES is a private non-profit research and consultancy agency, specialised in tourism. It is active at regional, national and international level. Besides tourism research and consultancy, WES is also involved in other fields: socio-economic policy, environment and training. As an institute WES is a member of: TRC: Tourist Research Centre TTRA: Travel and Tourist Research Association AIEST: Association Internationale d'Experts Scientifiques du Tourisme The International Academy for the Study of Tourism. The WES Tourism Department has experience in the field of tourism research, marketing and planning in the following countries: Argentina, Belgium, Burundi, Croatia, different Caribbean islands, France, Namibia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Great Britain, Indonesia, Peru, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Thailand, Tunisia, Romania, Poland and South Africa. The WES Training Department has 40 years of experience in organising training courses for government officials and decision makers of the private sector in developing countries.
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WHY A TOURISM DESTINATION MANAGEMENT COURSE ?
Tourism is one of the fastest growing economic activities in the world. In many developing countries, tourism is seen as the pre-eminent economic sector for a differentiation of export earnings, as a major foreign exchange earner, an important generator of employment and an important factor in more equal regional development. A growing number of destinations promote their tourism development in an increasingly professional way, leading to a stiffening competition among tourism destinations. Within this competitive situation, it is important for tourism destinations to develop a consistent planning and management system aimed at sustainability and quality of the tourist products and on the changing demands of the market. Tourism development should not simply follow demand, it should start from a sustainable management of the base capital of tourism: nature, landscape, culture, … This should be connected to the quality of the stay and the perception value for the tourist. Within this context, it is clear that the capabilities and the competences of the public services responsible for the management of tourism destinations and the incoming tour operators need to be developed.
TARGET GROUP
The course is addressed to professionals from public and private tourism actors active in the field of sustainable tourism destination management (national, regional and local).
Function requirements
management or management staff of national, regional or local tourist authorities responsible for sustainable destination management and product development; managers or management staff of private incoming tour operators actively involved in the development of market oriented sustainable tourist products.
Educational background
“Bachelor” level certificate.
Professional experience
participants should have a work experience of three years in destination management or product development; the course aims at persons who are active on a middle management level.
Age requirements
Preferable age is between 25 and 45 years of age, with a preference for the 30 to 35 year age bracket.
Knowledge of the working language
A good command of the English language is a requirement.
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GEOGRAPHIC CRITERIA
This training programme is only addressed to participants from following countries: South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana , Swaziland and Chile.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of the course is to increase the professionalism of persons responsible for tourist destination management and tourist product development. The course benefits for the participants are: acquiring knowledge about current approaches in the management of tourism destinations and sustainable product development; sharing experiences, new ideas and strategies with colleagues from southern Africa; building professional networks; becoming motivated managers within their tourism destinations who also can inspire other people in the destinations; getting more personal professional respect and industry recognition; developing a personal development project under the guidance of the resource expert team. The course benefits for the participant organisations are: to get hold of a stronger knowledge and understanding necessary for successful destination management; realising an added value in the organisation by investing in the development of the participant.
DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE CONTENT
The training course is subdivided into 6 thematic modules each dealing with the divers aspects of sustainable tourism destination management. In the different modules we pay attention to theory as well as to methodology. It concerns cases and examples from the tourism sector in Europe and in developing countries and practical site visits. The participants are motivated to actively participate in each of the course parts. Next to the input from sector specialists, we also provide time for personal input from the participants by means of a personal project about potential sustainable tourism product development in the region where the participant works. This project is started up during the course and gets a follow-up during maximum one year after the course.
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Using the framework below, developed by WES, as reference, we divided the course into 6 modules.
Module 1 Context of destination management
the tourism destination within the tourism and economic system: concepts; market trends and characteristics in the most important European tourism generating countries; structure and developments in the European tourism industry; destination competitiveness; developments in aviation and consequences for the competitiveness of destinations.
Module 2 Planning and development of a tourism destination
the strategic planning process of a tourism destination; strategic planning applied on place marketing; project management within strategic planning; strategic planning as part of the individual project of the participants (including coaching).
Module 3 Tourism destination management issues
quality management in tourism; tourism management information and a basic marketing information system for a tourism destination; techniques of research design; marketing for a tourism destination (with a focus on communication); product development for a tourism destination (incl. MICE); public-private co-operation; visit: product development by a generalist (visit to an outgoing Belgian tour operator); visit: product development by a niche tour operator (visit to an outgoing Belgian tour operator); visit to the World Travel Market (professional fair) in London.
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Module 4 Sustainability and tourism (product) development
sustainability in tourism destinations: principles, actors, identification of indicators, sustainable tourism enterprises, eco-labels, visitor impact management, carrying capacity; case study: carrying capacity and park management; case study: sustainability in the accommodation sector; case study: sustainable tourism product development and community-based tourism; visit: sustainability in a nature park …
Module 5 Personal project
presentation techniques; personal project document and presentation delivery.
Module 6 Support to the effective execution of a tourism project
after terminating the course WES wishes to play a part in the local application and effectiveness in execution by developing a balanced scorecard for tourism destinations and companies; the aim is to assist the participants and their organisations to monitor the effective execution of their project or other project within the growth strategy of a destination; e-coaching and continuous access to an online learning platform is incorporated.
ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING THE MODULES
Study visits and trips Visits are organised to destination management authorities of different levels and to representatives of tour operators in Flanders, in order to give the opportunity to the participants to have direct discussions with professionals in the field. The visit to the World Travel Market in London offers the participants a unique chance to get acquainted with the international tourism context. Cases/exercises The participants work out a case, plan or project related to the course that is directly connected to their individual needs and situation. The goal is to translate the theoretical concepts and methodologies of the course into practice.
TEACHING METHODS AND LEARNING MATERIALS
Methods such as presentations, case studies, discussion rounds, exercises and the exchange of experiences lead to diversified forms of learning. The participants receive the following supporting training materials: syllabi and lecture hand-outs; other documentation material related to the visits; access to the WES-library specialised in tourism matters; access to an online learning platform with relevant training material and references, also after the end of the course.
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ENTRANCE QUALIFICATIONS
Candidates are required to have the following qualifications to be eligible for this course:
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
they must come from the geographic target area: South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland or Chile; they must come from agencies conform the description given under the “target group”; they must hold a bachelor degree; they should have at least a three-years' work experience in the field of tourism destination management or tourism product development; they must reasonably expect to be posted back into positions where the acquired knowledge/skills can be applied to the development of tourism in the countries they represent; they should be able to express themselves fluently in English, both in spoken and written form; they should be between 25 and 45 years of age; their file has to meet all administrative requirements.
1) A WES-application form can be obtained directly from WES, from the WES web site www.wes.be or at the Belgian Embassy in South Africa. 2) The candidate should fill out a complete WES-application set, consisting of the following elements: ⇒ a completely filled out WES-application form; ⇒ a medical attestation indicating the candidate is in good health; ⇒ a copy of your highest diploma (eventually translated); ⇒ an attestation indicating that you have been appointed as candidate by your organisation. 3) The candidate sends the complete application set directly to WES. The application is only valid if we receive it by regular mail. It is possible to fax us your application set but when you do so, make sure to send us the hard copy through regular mail as well. Applications sent by e-mail are not valid and will not be taken into consideration. 4) Only completely filled out sets will be considered eligible for selection at the joint selection meeting of WES and the Flemish government, Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs, the sponsor of the course. 5) Only selected candidates will be informed by WES about the result of the selection meeting. From then on, the selected candidate can apply for a visa at the nearest Belgian embassy (or another Shengen-country embassy in his/her country) and practical arrangements will be made to arrive in Belgium in due time. 6) Some more detailed information on the course will be sent on this occasion.
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DEADLINE FOR ENTERING CANDIDATURES
Please observe strictly the deadline concerning the sending of the candidatures to WES. All completely filled out candidature sets should reach WES before: 27th August 2009 After that date, no candidates for this course will be accepted. WES will inform the selected candidates at the latest on: 4th September 2009 Applications through e-mail CANNOT be taken into consideration. You can fax us your application form together with all the required documents, but also make sure to send the original hard copy by regular mail/airmail.
SCHOLARSHIPS
The selected candidates are entitled to a scholarship which includes: all tuition fees; course expenses and materials; travel expenses within the course; a weekly living allowance that covers the cost of room accommodation (including kitchen) and only part of the personal expense. Participants must arrange for all meals themselves; an insurance package covering illness, hospitalisation and eventual repatriation. The scholarship does not include the international flight ticket to Belgium and back home. This cost has to be paid for by the participant or his/her organisation. This scholarship is financed by the Flemish government, Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs.
CERTIFICATE
Participants, who successfully complete the full course (with full attendance of all activities in the course), will be awarded a "Certificate in Sustainable Tourism Destination Management", issued by WES vzw.
CONTACT
Mr. I. Landuyt, M. Sc. Econ., Head of WES Training Department
WES vzw - Training Departement Baron Ruzettelaan 33 B-8310 Assebroek - Brugge BELGIUM Telephone: +32 50 36 71 36 Fax: +32 50 36 31 86 E-mail:
[email protected] Internet website: www.wes.be
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CONTACT ADDRESS REPRESENTATIVE FLEMISH GOVERNMENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
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Mr. David Maenaut,
[email protected] Ms. Seema Naran,
[email protected] Brookfield Park, 2nd floor, Suite 202, Middel Street 273 Brooklyn 0185, Pretoria SOUTH-AFRICA PO Box 1795, Brooklyn Square 0075 SOUTH-AFRICA Telephone: +27 12 460 07 81/3 Fax: +27 12 460 07 78
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WES vzw • Baron Ruzettelaan 33 BE-8310 Assebroek-Brugge • Tel. +32 50 36 71 36 • Fax +32 50 36 31 86
[email protected] • www.wes.be
