Achieving key dimensions of sustainability: Strategic visioning as a tourism destination planning tool

Tourism has had, and is continuing to have, a profound impact upon destinations, economically, environmentally and socially. The negative impacts of tourism have been attributed, among other things, to inadequate or non-existent planning frameworks for tourism development, and it has therefore been advocated that tourism planning is vital to offset some of these negative impacts. While several different approaches have been supported over the years, tourism planning based on the philosophies of sustainability has emerged as one ofthe most comprehensive approaches. However, two critical concepts have been identified as precursors to sustainable development: a strategic Qrientation towards tourism planning and enhanced levels of multiple stakeholder participation in the tourism planning process (Simpson 2001 ). While both strategic tourism planning and stakeholder participation and collaboration, have received considerable attention in the academic literature, there has been relatively little written about its practical application. However, the somewhat recent emergence of the strategic visioning concept as a destination planning tool may provide the necessary practical framework for incorporating stakeholder collaboration into destination strategic planning and management. This paper will provide a synthesis of the stakeholder collaboration, strategic planning and strategic visioning literatures, before conceptually examining the potential applicability._ of the strategic visioning process in achieving meaningful stakeholder participation and collaboration in destination planning.

The use of strategic visioning to enhance local tourism planning in periphery communities

Tourism has had a profound impact upon destinations worldwide, and although this impact has been positive for many destinations, there are numerous examples where tourism has adversely impacted upon the environment and social fabric of the destination community (Coccossis 1996; Murphy 1985). The negative impacts of tourism have been attributed, among other things, to inadequate or non-existent planning for development (Gunn 1994; Hall2000). This has led to increased calls for tourism planning to offset some of the negative impacts that tourism can have on the destination community. While a number of approaches have been advocated, a collaborative philosophy, based on the principles of sustainability, is more likely to result in acceptable and successful policies and programmes for tourism destinations (Farrell1986; Jamal & Getz 1995; Maitland 2002; Minca & Getz 1995). Such an approach focuses on cooperation and broader based participation in tourism planning and decision-making between stakeholders to lead to agreement on planning directions and goals, with one of the primary objectives of collaborative arrangements being to develop a strategic vision for a destination (Bramwell & Lane 2000). [Extract from introduction]

A hybrid planning method for transmission networks in a deregulated environment

The reconstruction of power industries has brought fundamental changes to both power system operation and planning. This paper presents a new planning method using multi-objective optimization (MOOP) technique, as well as human knowledge, to expand the transmission network in open access schemes. The method starts with a candidate pool of feasible expansion plans. Consequent selection of the best candidates is carried out through a MOOP approach, of which multiple objectives are tackled simultaneously, aiming at integrating the market operation and planning as one unified process in context of deregulated system. Human knowledge has been applied in both stages to ensure the selection with practical engineering and management concerns. The expansion plan from MOOP is assessed by reliability criteria before it is finalized. The proposed method has been tested with the IEEE 14-bus system and relevant analyses and discussions have been presented.

Transmission planning in a deregulated environment

The worldwide trend for the deregulation of the electricity generation and transmission industries has led to dramatic changes in system operation and planning procedures. The optimum approach to transmission-expansion planning in a deregulated environment is an open problem especially when the responsibilities of the organisations carrying out the planning work need to be addressed. To date there is a consensus that the system operator and network manager perform the expansion planning work in a centralised way. However, with an increasing input from the electricity market, the objectives, constraints and approaches toward transmission planning should be carefully designed to ensure system reliability as well as meeting the market requirements. A market-oriented approach for transmission planning in a deregulated environment is proposed. Case studies using the IEEE 14-bus system and the Australian national electricity market grid are performed. In addition, the proposed method is compared with a traditional planning method to further verify its effectiveness.