This is the Final for Principles of Sustainable Tourism (RTM 481) for the Spring Semester, 2020.

This Final is due by the end of Finals week (Friday, May 15th at 5pm Pacific).

This is not a timed assignment, so you are expected to support your work with sources. Only 4 sources are required (instead of the regular 7).

You are welcome to ask me questions about the assignment throughout the week, however I will not be able to review your work before you turn it in.

This final is designed to test your understanding of the class materials as covered from the first day of class (not just since the mid-term).

Assignment Details

You are being assigned a role in a hypothetical town faced with an unexpected explosion of tourism. Please read through the entire assignment carefully before beginning.

You will be writing this paper in the first person, assuming the role of your assigned stakeholder.

Setting the Stage The Current Situation in Destiny, Arizona

The town of Destiny, Arizona has existed quietly outside of Flagstaff near the Grand Canyon National Park for many years. Recently, though, a very well-known celebrity vacationed at the small Destiny Inn B&B in the town and pictures of their wonderful vacation emerged in magazines and websites everywhere. Business is now booming for everyone and the town is overrun with tourists. While the influx of spending is great, it has become clear that growth is quickly on the way and some actions need to be taken to manage it.

Land has already been purchased on the edge of town by a large national hotel chain, and they have proposed the building of a large 200-room eco-friendly luxury resort and conference center. The potential tax income could provide desperately needed improvements in local schools and infrastructure such as roads and a water treatment plant, and will significantly increase the marketing budget of the local tourism marketing office.

To build this resort, though, a great deal of land will undergo construction and clearing, and the property will be located alongside the Destiny River, which is very popular with kayakers.

In addition, the Destiny Riverside Nature Preserve is a 300-acre wildlife preserve with a few rudimentary trails that is exactly opposite the proposed resort on the other side of the river. The resort has proposed a footbridge across the river to access the Nature Preserve, but has offered no funding or assistance with improving the trails or preparing for an influx of new tourists from the resort. The Nature Preserve gets a small annual stipend from the Town to pay for a director and maintenance/upkeep, and it does not currently charge any admission fees or have any other source of revenue.

Many of the residents of the Town of Destiny are older; some who have retired there from other locations and some who have lived their entire lives there. Residents are very polarized on the issue of the resort some see the value of the increased tax income and business growth, some moved to Destiny for its small-town charm and dont want to see that destroyed, and some are extremely concerned with the potential environmental impact that a large resort will have on the beautiful yet fragile local natural environment.

An outside sustainable development specialist has been hired to moderate a major stakeholder meeting which will gain input from key local stakeholders involved in this development decision.

Each stakeholder will bring a different agenda to the table, based on their interests and responsibilities to their own stakeholders (e.g. voting public, business investors, guests, etc.).

Amazingly it just so happens that all of them have, at some point, studied sustainable tourism in college!

The stakeholders at this table are:

Owner of the Destiny Inn B&B
Corporate Manager in charge of the Destiny Luxury Eco Resort development
Mayor of Destiny, Arizona
Director of the Destiny Riverside Nature Preserve
Director of Destination Destiny, the local tourism marketing office
And YOU, who are assuming the role of a prominent retired resident of the Town of Destiny.

The specialist has asked that you prepare a short (up to 3-page) document stating:

1) Your position on the development of the Destiny Luxury Eco Resort

2) Concerns you may have about the impact (if any), and

3) What your best case scenario/outcome is based on the role you represent.

Finally, he asks that you consider the long-term sustainability of the project (and community as a whole) and the likely concerns of the other stakeholders at the table. In your conclusion, indicate some compromises youre willing to make (if any) to address the long-term sustainability of Destiny, Arizona as a tourism destination.