Learning Objectives:

After reading this module, you should be able to:

● explain the concept of tourism product and identify its components;
● distinguish the prerequisites to tourism product development;
● describe each step in the tourism product development process

Topic 1: The Tourism Product

● a bundle of activities, services, and benefits that constitutes the entire tourism experience; bundle
consists of five components: destination attractions, destination facilities, accessibility, images, and
price (Medik and Middleton 1973)
● elements of Smith’s Tourism Product Model
❖ services ❖ freedom of choice
❖ physical plant ❖ involvement
❖ hospitality
THE TOURISM PRODUCT COMPONENTS (DOT 2013)

TANGIBLES INTANGIBLES
✓ Natural Environment ✓ Image
✓ Hotels ✓ Hospitality
✓ Restaurants ✓ Courtesy
✓ Resorts ✓ Friendliness
✓ Food ✓ Helpfulness
✓ Support Facilities ✓ Ambiance
✓ Infrastructure ✓ Security

TOURISM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

- a process whereby the assets of a particular destination are molded to meet the needs of national and
international customers (UNWTO and ETC 2011)
Topic 2: PREREQUISITES TO TPD

1. Accessibility – the presence of adequate transport infrastructure and independence from foreign
operators
2. Resources/existing products – the range and quality of tourism resources, diversification, geographic
concentration or distribution of tourism resources, supply and quality of human capital
3. Demand – the scale and trends of current market demand, forecast growth rate, ability of destination
to offer products matching the tastes and characteristics of the market etc.
4. Policy and government – stability, openness to tourism, priority given to tourism development, form of
government which indicates level of participation allowed in decision making, policy on tourism
investment, etc.
5. Tourism in relation to destination’s overall economy – share of tourism to GDP, percentage of jobs
created by tourism, destination stage in TALC, level and quality of entrepreneurship innovation and
education
6. Acceptability to stakeholders

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7. Adherence to nationally accepted standards (accreditation)
**ACCREDITATION – a certification issued to a tourism enterprise that officially recognizes it as having
complied with the minimum standards for the operation of tourism facilities and services (DOT)

During our discussion, we have identified six essential elements for a tourism product. Give examples of each in a
form of a picture.
Elements Examples
1. Accessibility

(Please paste the picture here)

2. Resource/Existing products

(Please paste the picture here)

3. Demand

(Please paste the picture here)

4. Policy and government

(Please paste the picture here)

5. Tourism in relation to the

destination's overall
economy

(Please paste the picture here)

6. Acceptability to tourism
stakeholders

(Please paste the picture here)

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Topic 3: Tourism Product Development Process

STEPS IN TPD:
1. Identify tourism assets
2. Match assets with potential markets
3. Make the product more inviting, such as by providing infrastructure
4. Develop activities around the tourism assets
5. Develop tour packages
6. Communicate benefits to target markets
7. Develop a destination marketing organization (DMO)

There are two types of TPD: EXISTING PRODUCT IMPROVEMENT and NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT.

Topic 4: Tourism Product Development Principles (UNWTO-ETC 2011 Handbook on TPD)

➢ RELEVANCE – should be done in the context of overall tourism development strategic planning
➢ SUSTAINABILITY – should follow the principles of sustainable tourism development
➢ CIRCUITS AND ROUTES – an approach for organizing attractions, transportation,
accommodation, food, activities, etc. by geographic location or by themes
➢ MARKET KNOWLEDGE – keen understanding of the profile, characteristics, tasks and trends of various
market segment
➢ PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE – full range of tourist resources that your place has to offer, take advantage of
what you have and develop activities around the natural assets of your destination
➢ PRODUCT-MARKET MATCH – identify products that may satisfy the needs and wants of the target
markets
➢ HUBS AND SPOKES – identify areas within the destination; develop flagship attractions or hubs and
create different supporting attractions or activities or spokes
➢ VARIETY – incorporate diverse activities to heighten visitor satisfaction and to make the destination
seem to be new all the time
➢ TOURIST INVOLVEMENT – tourists are becoming involve as they contribute to the preservation of a
place’s environmental and cultural integrity
➢ CENTRAL ROLE OF GOVERNMENT – government acts as investor, promoter, and facilitator.
➢ IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs) – LGU play a vital role in
bringing TPD to fruition and require strong current knowledge of changing tourist demand
➢ DEDICATED TPD FUNCTION – destination tourism authorities must also build capacity to carry out tourism
product development activities
➢ STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION – consultation, coordination, and collaboration
➢ LONG-TERM PLANNING – TPD plans requires long-term vision, mid-term strategy and planning, and short
term action plans, which lead and support responsibility for each task identified
➢ ZONING – diving a destination into separate TPD zones can be effective in (a) expressing the strengths
of each region, thereby creating a set of identities within the country and (b) spreading the
socio-economic benefits of tourism around the whole country

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➢ INVESTMENT PROMOTION – encourage investment by formulating a cohesive and integrated
development plan for all tourism products and disseminating a product investment portfolio
➢ CAPACITY-BUILDING – facilitate implementation by creating vocational training and managerial
educational programs that produce the human capital needed by the planned tourism product
development
➢ COMPATIBILITY WITH DESTINATION BRADING – tourism product mix elements do not create conflict
➢ HOLISTIC APPROACH – tourism products can only succeed if the other elements of the destination are
taken into account (access, accommodation, community attitudes to tourism, etc.)

Components of Tourism Product Development Plan

• Development strategy
• Development zones
• Scale and from development
• Policy and intervention initiatives
• Economic analysis
• Marketing plan
• Action plan

TOUR PACKAGING
🞆 TOUR PACKAGE – a combination of “a number elements in a region into a themed experience –
accommodation, transportation, food, attractions and education/interpretation” (EGS 2012)
🞆 Combination of tangible and intangible products that will satisfy different market segments
🞆 “pre-assembled to bundle the best experiences”

Possible Product Diversification Opportunities

➢ Nature Appreciation
➢ Land Adventures
➢ Water adventure
➢ Air adventure
➢ Cultural Experiences

Enhancing the Tourism Experience

🞆 Provide infrastructure and facilities
🞆 Interpretation
🞆 Customer service – hi-touch approach
🞆 CUSTOMER SERVICE – integral part of tourism

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES

🞭 Design activities that are suitable for the place’s natural assets
🞭 Take advantage of the terrain and other natural features
🞭 Take advantage of man-made features
🞭 Turn disaster into tourist product: dark tourism or voluntourism
🞭 Create products from events

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🞭 If the place has no distinctive natural assets, develop man-made attractions
🞭 Hi-touch strategy – personalize service quality and develop service styles
🞭 Hi-tech strategy – use technology to create exclusivity and an aura of sophistication
🞭 Invent a new product class
🞭 Find use of negative attribute
🞭 Use the “eco-brand” in places that are infrastructure deficient
🞭 Advocacy. Appeal to the tourists’ sense of justice, compassion, and ethics
🞭 Localize. Go native
🞭 Celebrate local products
🞭 Complement-do not compete
🞭 Incorporate other activities into the main activity
🞭 Find a niche: differentiate
🞭 Provide certificates with accompanying photographs to create a sense of reaching a milestone
🞭 Discover the story behind the attraction and use it for interpretation
🞭 Use unlikely places and materials

Topic 6: Examples of Product Development Practices

There are several practices that is being adopted to create a destination product. As well, there
has been a demand for unusual but authentic tours. With such, we have identified some of those practices
ranging from activities that are suitable to the natural asset of the destination itself, taking advantage of
the natural features to hi*tech strategy to cope up with modernization into inventing new products.

---It's time to share you experience with us!

Identify a tourist product that you have experienced and discuss your observation with their
practices.
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