Destination Management is a process of leading, influencing, and coordinating the management of all the aspects of a destination that contribute to a visitor’s experience, taking account of the needs of visitors, local residents, businesses, and the environment.
A Destination Management Plan (DMP) is a shared statement of intent to manage a destination over a stated period of time, articulating the roles of the different stakeholders and identifying clear actions that they will take and the apportionment of resources.
In these definitions, ‘manage’ and ‘management’ are taken in their widest sense. Crucially, destination management includes the planning, development, and marketing of a destination as well as how it is managed physically, financially, operationally and in other ways.
The Importance of Having a Plan
- Addressing fragmentation: The visitor economy involves a whole set of experiences delivered by many organizations in the public, private and voluntary sectors. It is essential that they work together and in doing so achieve a better use and management of resources.
- Recognizing, strengthening, and coordinating different functions: Supporting the visitor economy is not just about promotion but must cover a whole range of activities aimed at strengthening the quality of the visitor experience and the performance of businesses.
- Managing and monitoring impacts: Tourism has a range of impacts on society and the environment and is inherently an activity that benefits from management.
- Prioritizing and allocating resources: A key benefit of having a plan is to identify what the real needs and priorities are so that financial and human resources can be used most effectively.
- Winning more support and resources: Well-researched, argued, and presented action plans can strengthen the case for funding and help to identify projects for support.
A DMP can play a very important role in identifying how the full range of local authority policies and services (in planning, transport, environmental management, leisure and recreation, culture, and the arts) can support the visitor economy on the one hand and be supported by it on the other. Showing these links it prevents tourism from being treated in a silo, rather than as a core contributor to economic development.
The destination management plan for Sundarbans not only aims to create jobs and increase revenues but also to develop ways to support the conservation of the Sundarbans. The destination management plan aims to reduce the indirect and direct effects on Sundarbans. Most of these are human-related such as hunting, habitat destruction, firewood collection, poverty, lack of awareness, and inefficient area management.
Sundarbans Forest Reserve holds a unique position in Bangladesh, with the surrounding areas consisting of 76 villages. The Sundarbans needs to increase its marketing and sales capabilities, improve its connectivity to the private tourism sector and add more tour experiences/attractions/activities to attract and keep visitors at the destinations.
- Karamjal Visitor Center Site Enhancements
- Enhance the visitor experience at the Karamjal Visitor Center by improving the signage and creating community-based tourism products and services such as interpretive guides and local craft sales.
- Provide detailed information from local tour guides.
- Karamjal Visitor Center Guided Nature Tours
- Establish an association of certified naturalist guides and implement Eco guides business plan to improve the overall visitor experience at the Sundarbans and increase the economic benefits to locals.
- Collaboration with the Forest Department
- Collaborate with the Forest Department and improve the overall visitor experience at the Sundarbans
- Work on Ticketing system analysis and recommendations
- Provide Forest Department staff training on guards, management, tourism policy, and regulation review
- Develop tour operator training program
- Develop a guide training program
- Ecovillage Network
- Develop a program to identify, protect, develop, and market villages adjacent to the Sundarbans Forest Reserve as a collective brand while encouraging communities to support natural resource management and conservation.
- Create Ecovillage Network, which will provide a long-term umbrella organization for marketing, reservation, and sales.
- BEDS SAVE Travel Program Business/Sustainability Plan
- Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) is already active in the area with many connections. Work with them to develop and participate in SAVE Travel Program.
- Establish Sundarbans Visitor Center
- Offer and collaborate with BEDS to provide a visitor center in Mongla to provide information and promotion of the area.
- Community Tourism Experience/Product Development
- Use the existing and new community-based Eco Cottages surrounding the Sundarbans to attract and retain visitors, develop complimentary guided tour experiences, food service providers, transportation providers, and traditional artisan-particularly women and youth.
- Provide interpretive guide training, lodging, food services training, and artisan training.
- Create new tour concepts such as medicinal plant tours, mud bath tours, overnight boat tours, artisan workshop tours, jungle survival tours, holistic farming tours, and traditional games of Bangladesh tours.
- Sundarbans Sustainable Tourism Certification Program
- Create certification for the destinations to incentivize good visitor behavior and to provide additional marketing benefits.
- Destination Management Organization with TOAS
Tour Operators Association of Sundarbans (TOAS) lacks product differentiation and its members are eager to adopt new cultural and conservation experiences.
- Plan and create a DMMO with TOAS which will be responsible for marketing, managing, and branding the destination
- Improve sustainability and visitor experience
- Provide leadership and coordination of tourism stakeholders
- Increase visitor volume and community pride
- Enhance economic development and growth
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