Do you use 'goal setting' processes as you plan your heritage tourism visits for the year? Have you considered it as a great way to make your planning more successful? If not, I'm here today to suggest that you give it a try.
Although I taught 'goal setting' for many years as a university business school professor, I honestly hadn't 'thought much about it' - although I use it regularly - until a couple of days ago. Jennifer Alford, my writing colleague at The In-Depth Genealogist, wrote a 2013 Planning Ahead blog post at her Jenealogy family history blog regarding her use of SMART goals for her family history research and writing. I then followed with my own Springfield Genealogy Examiner article.
For heritage tourism planning, we certainly want to be Specific in where and what we want to visit. Each goal we set must be Measurable. Length of our planned visit - the number of days, would be an example we could use. Attainable is a goal setting parameter that could be problematic in heritage tourism planning. Do we have the time and funds to make the trip we plan? Relevant should be easy - if it is not, why are we thinking of doing it? Timely is important in heritage tourism planning. When will you make that visit? Will that help us reach our goal?
Certainly evaluating and revising our heritage tourism planning will come naturally to each of us. They are a part of the goal setting process that has been added, from experience, since I first taught goal setting. But, shouldn't we each learn new things from experience? Of course we should. Can you give me an example, in the comments, of how you use goal setting in your heritage tourism planning? Thanks, and best wishes.
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I hope you will also subscribe to my series, above or below, as well, if you have not done so already, leave a comment, and share this article with others. You might also enjoy my blogs: Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories, Dr. Bills Book Bazaar and The Homeplace Series. Visit my lenses at: Dr. Bill Tells Exciting Stories. Also see The Heritage Tourist at The In-Depth Genealogist.
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