Strategy
Planning
Who has time to worry about doing a plan for the future? Phones are ringing, the website needs updating, inquiries need responses, and there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to deal with what needs to be handled immediately. Most tourism businesses are utterly consumed with simply keeping up with today’s challenges ... the future will have to take care of itself.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Like the old “if we built it, they will come” adage, moving ahead without a road map of priorities, plans, future investment and strategies is like flying without an air traffic controller. You can do it, but it probably isn’t a good idea.
Strategic Planning is utterly and completely different from long-range planning. Many of us have shelves of old plans, sitting and collecting dust. Strategic plans are different: they are near-term (three to five years), action-oriented management tools, designed for one purpose only—to help an organization do a better job. Strategic plans can help an organization to focus its vision and priorities in response to a changing environment and to ensure that members of the organization are working towards the same goals.
The process is “strategic,” as it involves choosing how best to respond to the circumstances of a dynamic and sometimes hostile environment. Strategic plans are flexible and always include step-by-step assignments and timelines for future growth. A good strategic plan helps keep an organization on top of things in an orderly way ... and Michael Patrick Destinations & Communications (MPDC) is well-equipped to help tourism companies and nonprofit groups develop strategic plans that incorporate the rapid pace of change which characterizes our industry today.
MPDC works both with clients on planning as “advisors to the process,” guiding management teams and boards of directors through the planning process. The MPDC team has years of experience in facilitating these processes and brings solid industry knowledge to the issues at hand. Every strategic plan is different as the company or organization creating it, but each plan which MPDC facilitates is guaranteed to reflect the client’s goals, culture and style in its strategies and objectives.
The world is changing. Trends come and go faster than any of us could have imagined just a few years ago. Talk to MPDC about a custom proposal for developing a strategic plan for your organization. Learn to better manage challenges and opportunities which can help grow your organization in a controlled and purposeful way.
