20 Aug Getting started

Conversations about sustainability in tourism can seem a little vague. This is particularly true for sustinable destinations. Often there are general conversations about the environment, social issues, and economics that seem to lack action steps or measures. Too often these conversations fail to move to practical steps to getting started.

Sustainable tourism management is both actionable and measurable. The good news is that no destination needs to “start from scratch”. Over the years several organizations have developed sets of actions required to achieve sustainability in destinations. These criteria for sustainability are comprehensive. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Destination Criteria include over 70 specific indicators of destination sustainability. Each of these actions or indicators has metrics to assess progress towards desired goals. The question isn’t “what should we do?” or “how should we measure progress”. We know the answers to these questions.

Comprehensive sustainable tourism management requires many activities to be done, by a variety of people, over the long term. It’s not a simple task – it is complicated and it needs commitment – but it is achievable. The big question is “how will we do these things?” And the answer is in collaboration, cooperation and teamwork. How you do it will be unique to your destination.