Objectives
Getting Organized
Introduction
How to Conduct this Step
TOP| ATTRACTION AND FACILITY INVENTORY |  |
What attractions or facilities have good potential to meet market demand?
Is your community infrastructure ready to satisfy increased use?
| Purpose |
Once you have an idea of your potential market, you need to know what product you have to offer to meet demand before you can start building an industry around it. This step will help you to identify what your current supply of tourism attractions is and what potential others might be. This step also will help you know how ready your community is to take on a new or increased tourism industry, which requires certain supporting facilities and public services.
| Objectives |
At the end of this section, the community action committee will have:
- collected an extensive listing of the diverse tourism attractions that currently exist in the community/area and ones with potential of being developed for different markets.
- assessed the capacity of your community's supporting infrastructure including water, sewer, safety, health and transportation systems.
| Getting Organized |
Put together an Inventory task force to complete this step. These people will be the main group to brainstorm all the things that should be considered as part of your community's existing and potential tourism supply. Be sure that members of the task force have a deep knowledge of the community and surrounding area and personal knowledge of the area's attractions from having personally used them. This group should include well traveled people who can realistically compare your area's attractions to those in other parts of the country and world.
You may choose to split the task force into subgroups to take responsibility for various parts of the Inventory. For example, different groups could complete the attractions, lodging, food establishments, and public services forms.
Summary of Steps
| Step
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 |
Description
Convene meeting to complete attractions, accessibility and public service inventories Survey local lodging and food service establishments Summarize Attractions and Facility Inventory results |
Form # |
| Introduction |
Before we move onto how to collect the information needed to answer the questions listed above let's talk briefly about what we mean by tourism Attractions and Facilities.
Attractions include natural and man made features that interest people to come visit your community. The Tourism Attractions Inventory form included in this manual breaks attractions down into the categories of nature based, recreation, culture and heritage, and special events to help you tally your existing and potential supply.
Read through the lists to familiarize yourself with the vast variety of things that can be considered as part of your community's inventory (Form #6-1).
Facilities means the roads, airports, railways, parking areas, water and power services, police, and hospitals that serve visitors as well as community members. These public facilities and services are necessary to get tourists to your community conveniently and to make their stay comfortable and secure. Another part of facilities is the lodging, restaurants, service stations, and other retail businesses that are needed to satisfy tourists basic needs and consumer wishes.
Note: Be aware that visitors needs are not exactly the same that residents have. Be sure your local economy remains diverse enough to make residents stay there convenient and comfortable, too.