Tourism Project Evaluation Toolbox
Last updated:
September 2008
Introduction and Scope
As tourism continues to grow, local authorities in popular destinations are increasingly being approached by commercial developers seeking local authority investment in new or existing tourism projects.
Developers argue that without such investment a project may no proceed, causing the area to become less competitive than its neighbours, and potentially losing opportunities to others. How should local authorities respond to these requests?
This Toolbox provides guidance on the key areas to be assessed and the questions that a local authority should ask as part of its evaluation. The Toolbox could be provided to potential tourism developers to ensure that the essential information required to obtain local authority support is prepared.
Why use this Toolbox?
Tourism is an important economic development tool for many local authorities. To obtain maximum community benefit, TLAs need good systems for assessing commercial tourism projects proposed by developers. For a local authority, there are a number of benefits from taking a systematic approach to evaluating projects:
- No resources wasted on projects which won’t achieve local authority economic and social objectives;
- Investment will be targeted to potentially successful projects, limiting the council’s exposure to risk;
- The local authority retains credibility with its community by implementing a robust evaluation methodology;
- Decision-making is based on sound information rather than emotional commitment;
- The process is transparent and fair for developers.
Checklists
Complete the project evaluation checklist to identify your council’s existing approach to project evaluation, and to ascertain where you may need more information.
Download the Project Evaluation Checklist
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