1. Malcolm Bell
Head of
VisitCornwall

2. Background and Depth of The Indicators
Influenced by:
Concept of sustainable development based on 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development’s Agenda 21 - a comprehensive plan of action adopted by 178 governments.
EC reported on basic orientations for the sustainability of European tourism (2003)
UNWTO and UNEP identified an agenda of 12 aims for sustainable tourism (2005)
EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) developed three key objectives given above activities: economic prosperity; social equity and cohesion; and environmental protection.

3. Work to Date
Tourism Sustainability Group (TSG) set up by EC (2004) to address:
Importance of tourism
Aims to make tourism more sustainable & challenges to achieve aims
Recommended processes to overcome challenges
Create a framework for action (indicators) and initiatives to be taken
Mandate for action with stakeholders included providing guidance for local Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to use indicators and monitoring systems
Considerable work into the development of the TSG indicators since 2007
Testing feasibility in NECSTouR and EDEN destinations (2010)
NECSTouR evaluation and report
EDEN evaluation and report by University of Barcelona
Improvements made by TSG

4. EC Tourism Sustainability Group
Established in 2004
Representatives from Industry, Stakeholders and Destinations
Development of Sustainable and Competitive Tourism Report
2007 adoption at Algarve European Tourism Forum
2009 Working Groups – W/G A Sustainable Tourism Indictors

5. Indicators - The Challenges
Gaining Agreement on which indicators are core
Ensure they cover all three pillars
Establishing which are practical and achievable
Can procedures be developed for those that do not exist yet
Gaining partners to pilot
Evaluating application and results etc

6. The Prize To set Destination level targets
Use for Regional/National Bodies
A Benchmarking system
Measuring progress
Trend analysis possible
Assist in the justification of public investment in tourism management

7. Sources of Data Official Statistics/source Visitor Surveys
Business Surveys
Host Community Surveys
New techniques

8. The Indicators Tourism Volume and Value Tourism Enterprise Performance
Customer Satisfaction
Community and Social Impact
Quantity and Quality of Employment
Gender Equality
Equality and Accessibility

9. The Indicators Reducing Transportation Impact Climate Change
Sustainable Tourism Management Practices
Solid Waste Management
Water Management
Energy Usage

10. The Indicators 14. Sewage Treatment
15. Landscape and Biodiversity Protection
16. Light and Noise Management
17. Inclusive Management Practices
18. Development Control
19. Tourism Supply Chain
20. Protecting and enhancing local cultural identity and assets

11. Study to assess the feasibility of a European Tourism Indicator System for Sustainable Management at Destination Level The SUSTAIN System SUStainable Tourism And INdicator system
St Ives 6th September 2012

12. Work to Date
Tourism Sustainability Group (TSG) set up by EC (2004) to address:
Importance of tourism
Aims to make tourism more sustainable & challenges to achieve aims
Recommended processes to overcome challenges
Create a framework for action (indicators) and initiatives to be taken
Mandate for action with stakeholders included providing guidance for local Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) to use indicators and monitoring systems
Considerable work into the development of the TSG indicators since 2007
Testing feasibility in NECSTouR and EDEN destinations (2010)
NECSTouR evaluation and report
EDEN evaluation and report by University of Barcelona
Improvements made by TSG

13. The purpose of this project
…is to investigate the feasibility of a Europe-wide system of tourism indicators for the sustainable management of destinations and To make recommendations to European stakeholders for its implementation.

14. The importance of this project
This is a key element of the work of the European Commission to promote an internationally competitive tourism industry and to enhance the sustainability of destinations across Europe.

15. Benefits to Your Destination
General
Creates vision and guidelines for destination sustainable tourism development;
Creates framework for benchmarking, communications & good practices learning exchange
Economic
Identifies resource and financial savings (e.g. energy, waste, water, etc.)
Identifies data supported resource reallocation needs based on destination goals
Protects destination as a tourist attraction
Develops opportunities for funding
Enhances branding, marketing and communications
Social
Improves quality life for locals; Improves relations between residents and tourists
Supports LT well-being of residents by informing policy / management decisions (E.g. resource reallocation for bringing tourists from resort to rural areas)
Environmental
Preserves ecological integrity of destinations;
Emphasises value and conservation of natural and cultural resources

16. The importance of the Workshops
Purpose :
To introduce you to the SUSTAIN process and indicators
To test the SUSTAIN system
Part of an exclusive group of European pilot destinations
Outcomes:
General stakeholder understanding of SUSTAIN and the process
Generate feedback the project team can use to refine the system
Launch a process that is ongoing and crucial for your destination
Receive data response from destinations 2 weeks after workshop

17. To develop the SUSTAIN System we have:
Researched 35 indicator systems from across the world; Narrowed down to 20 systems and analysed 8 in depth for EU relevance
Included GSTC (future consideration)
Assessed TSG indicators based on expert experience
Assessed NECSTouR and EDEN feasibility reports
Interviewed a sample of NECSTouR and EDEN DMOs
Integrated lessons learned and made recommendations to EC (TSG) based on above assessments for improvements and final Toolkit
Result given significant destination support - a comprehensive system including process and methodology rather that just list of indicators - SUSTAIN

18. The SUSTAIN System – Key Principles
Flexible
Inter-sectoral
Integrated approach
Comes with a toolkit
Simple - with a concise core of indicators
Driven by the Destination Management Organisation (DMO) working with a group of stakeholders

19. SUSTAIN: The 7 Steps Step 1. Raise Awareness
Step 2. Create a Destination Profile
Step 3. Bring together a Stakeholder Working Group
Step 4. Allocate Roles and Responsibilities
Step 5. Collect and Record Data
Step 6. Results Analysis and Benchmarking
Step 7. Ongoing Development and Continuous improvement

20. “Destination” Definition
One of the first things your Stakeholder Working Group will need to do is determine the geographical boundaries of your destination.
For the purposes of this study, a destination can be defined as:
A geographic area that is currently or potentially attractive to visitors/tourists.
A place/area which is recognised and can easily be defined as a visitor destination and has a range of facilities and products in place for tourism purposes.
A place/area which is promoted as a destination and has management processes for visitor related and tourism purposes.
A place/area where it is possible to measure the supply of and demand for tourism services i.e. the visitor economy.
A place/area where the visitor management process usually includes a range of public and private sector stakeholders together with the host community

21. The SUSTAIN Process Steps 1,2 & 3
STEP 1: Raise Awareness
Get involved
Spread the message
STEP 2: Create a Destination Profile
Provides a snapshot of your destination
An overview for you
A summary for those less familiar
STEP 3: Bring together a Stakeholder Working Group (SWG)
Invite stakeholders from relevant sectors
Convene a participatory workshop
Identify core issues and indicators

22. The SUSTAIN Indicators
Divided into 4 categories based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC)
A - Sustainable destination management
B - Economic value
C - Social and cultural impacts
D - Environmental Impacts
Approach
Clear and simple
Tailor the System to your destination through selecting optional indicators
Start with what you can and build up. Lack of data for some indicators is not a problem but shows where work is needed.

23. Some Examples of Core Indicators
Section A: Destination Management Core Indicators
A.1 Sustainable Tourism Public Policy
Indicator A.1.1 Percentage of the destination with a sustainable tourism strategy/action plan, with agreed monitoring, development control and evaluation arrangement
Section B: Economic Value Core Indicators
B.1 Tourism Flow (volume & value) at Destination
Indicator B.1.1 Number of tourist nights per month
Indicator B.1.2 Daily spending per tourist (accommodation, food and drinks, other services)
Section C: Social and Cultural Impact Core Indicators
C.1 Community/Social Impact
Indicator C.1.1 Number of tourists/visitors per 100 residents
Section D: Environmental Impact Core Indicators
D.1 Reducing Transport Impact
Indicator D.1.1 Percentage of tourists and same day visitors using different modes of transport (public/private and type)

24. Some Examples of Optional Indicators
Section C: Social and Cultural Impact
Core Indicator: C.1.1 Number of tourists/visitors per 100 residents
Reason for measuring The density of tourists/visitors in comparison to residents offers a suitable indicator for understanding the social impact of tourism on residents. This is referred to as the ‘penetration ratio’.
Optional Indicators you could also consider:
Optional Indicator C Percentage of residents who are satisfied with tourism in the destination (per month/season)
Optional Indicator: C Number of beds available in commercial accommodation per 100 residents
Optional Indicator: C Number of second/rental homes per 100 homes

25. Group Exercise
To start to form a picture of the indicators most relevant to your destination, stakeholders will be dived into groups and asked to undertake the following exercise:
Identify all the optional indicators relevant to your destination
Of those identified as relevant, prioritise which you would most like to see included

26. The 7 Steps (continued) STEP 4: Establish Roles and Responsibilities
Responsibility is shared so no one is over-burdened
Members collect indicator data according to role
DMO acts as central point of contact for data collation
STEP 5: Collect and Record Data
Members have an allocated amount of time to obtain the data for the indicator they are responsible for
Feed data and any comments back to DMO

27. The 7 Steps (continued) STEP 6: Results analysis and benchmarking
Toolkit has built-in Dataset to collect and store results
Results will show up areas of concern
Agree priorities, benchmarks and a plan of action to achieve them.
STEP 7: Ongoing Development and Continuous Improvement
Meet regularly to review progress against targets
Make longer-term plans, with timelines and agree responsibilities

28. Next Steps…
Responsibility for relevant data collection will be allocated by DMO
Data should then be collected and passed to DMO
DMO collates and records data to generate results for destination
Stakeholder Working Group can meet again and set benchmarks - aim for continuous improvement
Feedback Form should also be returned to DMO
Your collective feedback will be used to develop and refine the final SUSTAIN system for a launch next year.

29. Thank You
Malcolm Bell