Lecture responsible tourism unit 8 responsible tourism impact monitoring for sustainability

Responsible tourism impact monitoring ensures tourism development is strategic Identifies indicators Sets targets Promotes effective monitoring Requires evaluation of results Fosters ad

By the end of the unit participants will be able to:

• Explain how to apply research skills and analyse

captured data

• Explain how to design success criteria and

performance indicators for monitoring and

evaluating tour products and services

• Explain how to interpret research output on impacts

of tourism products and services

• Explain how to implement principles of continuous

improvement in monitoring and product

development

Topics

1 Overview of responsible tourism impact monitoring for sustainability

2 Planning & organising a monitoring programme

3 Developing monitoring indicators

4 Implementing , adapting & improving a monitoring programme

IMPACT MONITORING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

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• Tourism markets and

destinations are always changing

evaluating and managing change

effects of tourism

needed and where change is

occurring

to remain competitive

4

A tourism world without monitoring…

• Without data of tourism conditions and trends that monitoring provides, planners and managers:

– Cannot assure stakeholders of the reliability of their decisions;

– Cannot respond to public concerns and criticisms; and

– Cannot properly fulfil their responsibilities or judge the effectiveness of their actions.

• Moreover, if planners and managers do not undertake the monitoring, someone else will – and such monitoring may well be biased Adapted from: Eagles, P., McCool, S & Haynes, C 2002, Sustainable Tourism in Protected

Areas: Guidelines for Planning and Management, IUCN Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK

Picture source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevendepolo/4605621230/

1 Responsible tourism impact monitoring ensures tourism development is strategic

Identifies indicators

Sets targets Promotes

effective monitoring

Requires evaluation of results

Fosters adaptation & continuous improvement

2 Responsible tourism impact monitoring ensures sustainable tourism objectives are met

Environmental objectives

Social objectives Economic

objectives

3 Responsible tourism impact monitoring

ensures objectives are SMART

SMART OBJECTIVES

Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely

Others

The different objectives of stakeholders in

monitoring tourism

COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Want to know how tourism is affecting their livelihoods, culture and environment

INDUSTRY

Want to know changes in tourism markets and implications for business growth

NGOs

Want to know the impact of tourism on their particular area

of concern

LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Want to know how tourism is performing and how well it contributes to local development goals

NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS

Want to know the economic and social value of tourism and how it contributes to national development goals

The benefits of responsible tourism

impact monitoring

IMPACT MONITORING BENEFITS

Progress &

effectiveness

making

Decision-Accountability

Planning Policy-making

& advocacy

Monitor tourism impacts because prevention and early intervention is always better than cure!

In tourism, symptoms of

negative impacts

can be gradual…

After a negative impact has been identified

opportunities

to manage become more limited…

“Gosh where did all these tourists come from?

I don’t remember seeing so many a few years ago!”

“I thought we were able to handle all the tourists unit I saw some kids acting like foreigners and it occurred to me just how much our culture has changed!”

“When we started running tours to the nearby cave some tourists damaged the beautiful rock formations Now

we have lost them forever”

“We really have too many tourists here but with so many businesses now depending on them reducing the volume would never be supported”

• Establish a monitoring steering committee or group

• Plan a monitoring programme

DEVELOPING MONITORING INDICATORS

• Review existing indicators

• Shortlist and select indicators

IMPLEMENTING A MONITORING PROGRAMME

• Evaluate feasibility and data collection methods

• Collect and analyse data

• Communicate and report results

ADAPTING & IMPROVING THE MONITORING PROGRAMME

Learn and adapt from wins and losses

TOPIC 2

Preparing for a tourism impact monitoring

programme of sustainability

1 Establish a tourism monitoring steering committee

or group

2 Plan the tourism monitoring programme

of sustainability

1 Establishing a monitoring steering committee or group

has the Who has the leadership to drive & co- ordinate the programme?

Who has the skills to review and adjust the programme?

Who has networks to disseminate results?

Who has the knowledge to develop programme objectives and areas

of focus?

Who has the resources to implement the programme?

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Involve stakeholders according to where they

fit best into the monitoring process

PLANNING PHASE

DEVELOPMENT PHASE

DATA COLLECTION PHASE

IMPLEMENTATION PHASE

Local officials, planners, development consultants, donor agencies, community groups

Community members for assessment of key issues and indicators

Community members and tourism industry representatives

Multi-stakeholder group

• Other ministries & agencies in areas affecting tourism (e.g

environment, health)

• Agencies with an interest in the planning or maintenance of specific attractions

• Air, road, sea and river transportation services

• Guides, interpreters, information providers and outfitters

• Suppliers to the industry

• Tourism and trade organisations

• Business development organisations

NGOS & OTHERS

• Environmental and conservation groups

• Other interest groups (hunters, fishermen and sports/adventure associations)

• Communities and local community groups

• Native and cultural groups

• Traditional leaders

• Tourists and organisations representing tourists in their origin country

• International tourism bodies

Source: Adapted from Miller, G & Twining Ward L 2005, Montioring for a sustainable

tourism transition: The Challenge of developing and using indicators, Cabi Publishing

co-C Set vision, goals and objectives

D Consensus

on what will

be monitored

A Agreeing on the need for a tourism impacts monitoring programme of sustainability

What? Destination stakeholders need to understand importance of

tourism impacts monitoring

Why? To create ownership, facilitate support and gain participation

How? Stakeholder meeting with full representation

• Agree on leadership position

or examine other options

• Ensure structure meets the needs of the tasks, members and stakeholder groups

• Ensure structure is inclusive, accountable and transparent but also effective

• Consider need for additional structural components according to collaboration size

• Determine functioning rules

• Development process allows stakeholders to identify their expectations from tourism and consider how they might be met

• All goals should follow SMART principles

GOALS What we

hope to achieve

OBJECTIVES

How we will achieve it

Example of tourism sustainability

goals and objectives

To contribute to poverty alleviation in XX village

• Reduce the proportion of people living below the poverty line to less than 10% in

5 years

• Increase the number of people employed in tourism by 25% in 3 years

To encourage extensive local participation in community-based tourism

• Ensure 100% households have access to running water in 2 years

• To increase the number and range of community members attending planning meetings

To improve the situation for women in XX village

• To increase the number of opportunities for involving stakeholders in CBT

• Increase the number of women involved in tourism planning to 50% or more of all those residents involved

• Increase the number of women entrepreneurs working in tourism

• Increase the proportion of women in supervisory positions to 25% or more

Source: SNV Vietnam & the University of Hawaii, School of Travel Industry Management 2007, A Toolkit for

Monitoring and Managing Community-based Tourism, SNV Vietnam & the University of Hawaii, USA

• Can be geographical (location) as well as subject

related (issues and / or

assets)

• Boundaries may be predetermined or unset

If geographic boundaries are not set, then they

Example of scopes of study in a tourism monitoring programme of sustainability

Geographical scope

cultural issues

Socio-Economic issues

mental issues

Environ-VILLAGE

cultural issues

Socio-Economic issues

mental issues

Environ-TOWN

cultural issues

Socio-Economic issues

mental issues

Environ-REGION

Subject related scope

Examples of key issues to consider when

scoping tourism sustainability

Gender equity & social inclusion

• Family well-being, equal employment opportunities, gender roles in traditional communities, access to loans and credit, control over tourism-related income

Poverty reduction / economic development

• Income, employment, entrepreneurship, quality of life

Capacity development

• Tourism awareness, tourism business training, local control of tourism operations, participation in local governance

Environmental protection

• Waste management, energy use and carbon emissions, access to water, biodiversity protection, protection from natural disasters

Cultural preservation and promotion

• Preservation of traditions and values, maintenance of cultural significance and meaning, maintenance of cultural heritage sites

Social gains

• Quality of life, crime, access to resources, access to heath care, access to education, limitation of rural to urban migration

TOPIC 3 DEVELOPING MONITORING INDICATORS

UNIT 8 RESPONSIBLE TOURISM IMPACT MONITORING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

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regular basis to measure changes

include arrival numbers, length of stay, and expenditure

on the link between tourism and sustainability issues

FOCUS OF INDICATORS FOR MONITORING SUSTAINABLE

TOURISM

• Issues concerning the natural resources and environment of a destination

• Concerns relating to economic sustainability

• Issues relating to cultural assets and social values

• Broad organisation and management issues within the tourism sector and broader destination

The focus of indicators at different levels

in the tourism sector

National level

• To detect broad changes in tourism at the national level, compare with other nations, provide a baseline for the identification of changes at more localized levels and support broad level strategic planning

Regional level

• As input into regional plans and protection processes, to serve as a basis for comparison between regions and to provide information for national level planning processes

Destination level • To identify key elements of assets, state of the tourism

sector, risks, and performance

Tourist site level

• For decisions on site control, management and future development of tourist attractions where management level indicators can support site planning and control

Tourism companies

& establishments

• To feed strategic planning process for destinations, To monitor the impact and performance of their operation

Source: World Tourism Organization 2004, Indicators of Sustainable Development for

Tourism Destinations: A Guidebook, World Tourism Organisation, Madrid, Spain

Types of indicators

• Early warning indicators

• Indicators of stresses on the system

• Measures of the current state

of industry

• Measures of tourism development sustainability impacts

• Measures of management effort

• Measures of management effects

INDICATORS MEASURE

Impacts

Outcomes Outputs

Qualitative indicators

IMPACT

Category indices Normative indicators Nominal indicators Opinion-based indicators

Raw data Ratio Percentage

TYPE OF INDICATOR TYPE OF MEASURE

Benefits of good performance indicators

Inform decision making

Measure progress, achievements, and trends

Ensure legitimacy and accountability

Ensure consistency of activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts

Help assess project and staff performance

Use participatory approach to evaluate and prioritise issues

Ensure input from all key stakeholders

Agreed list of key issues for which indicators can be developed

Dissection of an sustainability issue into

indicators

IS SU

E CO MP ON EN T

….

SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE

Example of tourism indicator development

process for sustainability

INDICATORS COMPONENTS OF

ISSUE

KEY SUSTAINABILITY ISSUE

Environmental protection

Waste management

Number hotels with a recycling programme

Biodiversity protection

Number of threatened

or extinct species as percentage of all known species

Perceived value of forest resources to tourism

Don’t reinvent the wheel!

Use and / or adapt existing indicators

Many organisations have already developed and refined useful indicators for monitoring tourism impacts on sustainability

World Tourism Organisation Indicator Guidebook

Pressure, State, Response Indicators

UNEP Environmental Indicators

IUCN Indicators of Resources Management

Example of environmental and economic sustainability indicators in tourism

ENVIRONMENTAL Number of threatened or extinct species as percentage of all known species

Perceived value of forest resources to tourism Number of days tourists spend on nature tourism activities out of total number of days Number of hotels with environmental policy

Environmental awareness campaigns conducted Number hotels recycling 25% or more of their waste products Demand/supply ratio for water

Number of hotels with 50% or more of total toilets as dual flush

% of energy consumption from renewable resources

ECONOMIC Average wage rates in tourism jobs rural/ urban

Number of local people employed in tourism (men and women) Revenues generated by tourism as % of all revenues generated in the community

% of visitors who overnight in local tourist accommodation

% of hotels with a majority local staff

% of GDP provided by tourism Change in number of visitor arrivals Average tourist length of stay New tourism businesses as a percentage of all new businesses

Example of social and project / business sustainability indicators in tourism

SOCIAL % of tourism operators who provide day care to employees with children

% of tourism operators who have commitments regarding equal gender opportunity Women/men as a % of all tourism employment

% women/men employees sent on training programmes Satisfaction with volume of tourists visiting the destination

PROJECT / BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Sustainability Management Plan exists All personnel receive periodic sustainability management training

% of purchases of services and goods from local providers

% of purchases that are fair trade purchases Number of facilities built using local material Code of conduct developed with local community

% of women and local minority employees

Ensure indicators are descriptive rather than evaluative

Ensure indicators are easy to measure Ensure you start with only a few key variables