Destinations and Itinerary Planning
Destination and its lifecycle
A destination is a place with attractions, access, amenities and an image that a visitor chooses. Butler's lifecycle runs through exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, then decline or rejuvenation.
Rules of itinerary planning
- Never backtrack; make the route circular or linear with no repeated legs.
- Keep daily travel to about six hours or less where possible, and alternate travel days with sightseeing days.
- Fix times against real opening hours: Tiger Hill sunrise, museum closing days, 12 noon check-in.
- Add a buffer for traffic, landslides and weather.
- State inclusions, exclusions, meals, permits and hotel category.
An itinerary is not the same as a tour programme: the programme adds dates, prices and terms.
Worked example
Four nights, Darjeeling and Gangtok, arrival at NJP. Day 1: NJP to Darjeeling, about three hours, evening at Mall Road. Day 2: Darjeeling sightseeing - Tiger Hill at 4 am, then Batasia Loop, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, zoo, tea garden. Day 3: transfer to Gangtok, four to five hours, afternoon free. Day 4: Tsomgo Lake, permit required, or local monasteries. Day 5: departure. Reasoning: the early start sits on a full day, not the arrival day; the long transfer has no sightseeing squeezed into it; the permit-dependent excursion has its own day.
Traps that cost marks
Packing six sights into one afternoon. Ignoring the Siliguri-Gangtok transfer time. Forgetting the Tsomgo Lake and Nathu La permits. Writing a programme with no dates, meals or cost column.