Aniesa S. Bafadhal
Conventional tourism business planning approaches often fail to anticipate rapid market changes in the industry, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. In response, the lean business planning approach has emerged, emphasizing agility, marketability, profitability, and inclusivity to support sustainable growth and adaptability in the dynamic tourism industry. This paper explores how lean methodologies can transform tourism business planning, providing a robust framework for navigating the complexities of the contemporary tourism landscape. Lean business planning strategically combines lean methodology—focusing on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste—with agile, iterative processes. This approach fosters flexibility and efficiency by prioritizing continuous improvement, the elimination of non-value-adding activities, resource optimization, and rapid adjustments based on feedback from tourists and other stakeholders. Viewing the business plan as a dynamic "living document" allows tourism entrepreneurs to adapt swiftly to challenges from various stakeholders. Moreover, integrating discrete event simulation and new digital technologies with lean planning methods is suggested to enhance operational excellence. © 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
Tourism Study Programme, Department of Business Administration, Brawijaya University, Malang, Indonesia
