Destination Stewardship Report
Spring 2023 January-April (Volume 3, Issue 3)
The Destination Stewardship Report is a collaboration between the Destination Stewardship Center, Center for Responsible Travel, and Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Our goal is to provide practical information and insights useful to anyone whose work or interests involve improving destination stewardship in a post-pandemic world. Subscribe HERE.
Tourism in Colombia Sails Towards Peace
Jungles once controlled by FARC guerillas are now being explored by tourists. What does it tourism look like in Colombia post-conflict and how has it transformed the lives of communities? Arvey Alfonso Granada Calderon explains.
Regenerative Tourism: A strategy for reconciliation and the pursuit of peace
There have been many years of conflict in Colombia; however, the situation has changed to the point of seeing tourism projects with a community foundation, which have been developed in territories where it was not possible to transit years ago. Nowadays, it is possible to sail across a jungle river beside people without masks, telling their real names and stories, thanks to the “industry of human encounters”… READ MORE →
Regenerative and sustainable tourism in the Willamette Valley
Overcoming community divides and pandemic challenges, the Willamette Valley Visitor Association has been working to change the conversation, rebuild trust, and spark connections within their community. The Willamette Valley Visitor Association talks more about their work, including the barriers they’ve faced and how they’re working to overcome them.
A vision of sustainability for the Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is a vast and bountiful landscape sandwiched between the Cascade and the Coastal mountains in northwestern Oregon, USA. Stretching nearly 150 miles long and 60 miles wide, the Willamette Valley offers an abundant agricultural scene, including a world-famous wine country. Hiking, cycling and adventuring of all kinds is available to visitors, and the Willamette Valley is home to the first nationally recognized water trails in all of the northwest. Fed by mountain tributaries south of Eugene, the Willamette River flows northward for nearly 200… READ MORE →
Highlighting Destination Stewardship in Seville: Collaboration, Standards, and Good Policy
Good destination stewardship planning requires more than good intentions. It requires genuine and diverse community collaboration, setting and following rigorous standards, and good public policy that enables action. Tiffany Chan, Destinations Program Coordinator at GSTC, describes the key themes and main takeaways from the 2022 Global Sustainable Tourism Conference.
Sustainability is only effective if it is a collaborative process
After a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s (GSTC) 2022 Global Sustainable Tourism Conference resumed in person on December 12th-15th in Seville, Andalusia, Spain at FIBES Sevilla, the city’s Exhibition and Conference Centre. With 350 delegates from 61 countries and hundreds of viewers joining the livestreams, it was the largest GSTC conference yet… READ MORE →
Building a community-centered destination stewardship initiative
Care for communities that make up the fabric of destinations is critical. But how? A destination stewardship approach can help tourism stakeholders – including community members – create their shared future in a collaborative and mutually beneficial way. Samantha Bray, PhD candidate at the University of Waterloo, shares her expertise. This post was originally published on the Center for Responsible Travel’s website.
What Does Destination Stewardship Mean and Why Does It Matter?
Translating the concept of destination stewardship to action requires a structure that supports bringing all of the stakeholders around the table. It also requires giving them a real voice in tourism planning, policy, and management… READ MORE →
The rising tide raises all boats – how can we all be better destination stewards?
Tourism is roaring back as pandemic-era restrictions fade away and destinations welcome visitors back. But how can destinations and businesses promote help create more responsible stewards? Dr. Rachel Dodds, Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, shares a few practical steps.
Travel is different now
When I took my daughter to Disneyland last past spring, I noticed two things: how many people there were and how much garbage was being produced with single-use everything. My daughter, however, noticed how many cool rides there were and how hard it was for me to find…READ MORE →
Two Winners from the Top 100
Every year, Green Destinations organizes the Top 100 Destination Sustainability Stories competition, which invites submissions from around the world – a vetted collection of stories spotlighting local and regional destinations that are making progress toward sustainable management of tourism and its impacts. From the winners announced this year, we’ve selected two more stories, this time from Australia and Japan, that showcase different reasons for engaging the local community. Synopses by Samantha Bray.
People Power: Rebuilding a Region with ECO at Heart in Australia
Top 100 submission by Whitney Edwards, Marketing Officer, Marketing & Tourism, Central Coast Council.
The need for a sustainable tourism strategy
Just 90 miles north of Sydney, the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, offers an eco-tourism wonderland of national parks, state forests, bushland, nature reserves, beaches, inland waterways, and mountains. The landscape wonders are enhanced by thriving communities and Aboriginal cultural sites numbering in the thousands, some between 7,000 and 20,000 years old. However, in 2020 it was recognized that something important was missing – a sustainable tourism strategy to effectively promote and protect the region’s greatest assets… READ MORE →
“Agriculture x Tourism” Helps Protect Thousands-Year-Old Grassland in Aso, Japan
Top 100 submission by Akinobu Ishimatsu, Manager, Tourism Division, Economy Department, Aso City Hall.
Stewarding the land using traditional practices
A symbiotic relationship between people and the land has existed in Aso, Japan, for 13,000 years. Featuring an active volcano and the largest grasslands in the country, locals have long stewarded the area through traditional agricultural practices of animal grazing and grass harvesting. However, in recent years the grasslands have rapidly converted to forest, as rural communities face difficulty in maintaining their livelihoods, the number of grazing animals decline, and access has been limited over…READ MORE →
Bookshelf
Anna Irimis (2023) The Youth Tourist: Motives, Experiences and Travel Behaviour. Emerald. Maps out the heterogenous segments of the youth market – oversimplified as “money poor and time rich” – to help illustrate significant differences in social status, interests, and consumer behaviour.
Iñigo Sánchez-Fuarros, Daniel Paiva, Daniel Malet Calvo, editors (2023, Kindle edition, due April 28) Ambiance, Tourism and the City. Routledge. Case studies offer new academic insights into the impact of tourism on cities and their atmospheric qualities. For those with an interest in urban ambiances, tourism, cultural geography, and urban planning.
Peeters, P., Papp, B. (2023). Envisioning Tourism in 2030 and Beyond. The changing shape of tourism in a decarbonising world. The Travel Foundation. Research report aims to help policymakers and tourism industry understand what a global, thriving, decarbonising tourism industry could look like by 2030 and through to 2050.
World Economic Forum (2022). Ten Principles for Sustainable Destinations: Charting a new path forward for travel and tourism. White paper provides guidance, best practices and possible tools for stakeholders to collaboratively and effectively reconsider how they manage destinations and tourism practices.
Destination Monitor
Notable News on Stewardship Developments Around the World
➢ Controversial Dominica Cable Car To Move Forward | Dominica News Impact on World Heritage site raises concerns
➢ Gujarat To Create Wetland Ecotourism Destination, Improve Habitat | Times of India
➢ Amsterdam To Urge Rowdy Visitors to Stay Away | 10play Another tourism campaign against visitors
➢ Developers Must Rebuild Razed Pub from its Own Rubble | Washington Post
➢ Cambodia Evicts Ankor Residents | Skift
➢ Bali Cracks Down On Unruly War Refugees | Daily Mail Badly behaved tourists spark visa tightening
➢ Biden Names New National Monuments | CNN
➢ Greenland Hopes for Balanced Tourism | NY Times Seeks Goldilocks visitation levels to diversify its extractive economy
➢ Downeast Maine Becomes New U.S. National Heritage Area | Maine Monitor
➢ Faroe Islands’ Tourism Strategy Ticks All the Boxes | Sustainable Brands “Preservolution” approach engages locals and tourists
DSC’s Destination Monitor and Travindy offer continuing selections of news stories.
Sponsored by:
Executive Editor – Jonathan B. Tourtellot
Associate Managing Editor – Alix Collins
Assistant Editor – Amber Smith
Illustrations Editor – Gabe Gerson
Scheduling, design & distribution – Tiffany Chan
Siobhán Daly, Lucy Matthews, Shelby Luzzi
Editorial assistance – Samantha Bray, Siobhán Daly, Cindy Linnell, Lucy Matthews, Martha Mulokoshi
