Best Practices in Ecotourism

OUTLINE Quality & Quality Assurance? Certification Ecolabel Types of Certification Ecotourism certification Certification Criteria Ecotourism Accreditation & NEAP Ecolabel Accreditation

Needs of the tourist Acceptable price for value offered Environmental & Cultural sustainability Quality of experience Accessibility Safety- Health Acceptable price for value offered

Quality

What is Quality? considered a critical factor in the success of destination in tourism business (including ecotourism) many agencies have identified quality and its improvement as a key strategic objective.

Quality in tourism? Quality is the results of a process that implies to the satisfaction of all product and service needs, requirements and expectations of the consumers, at an acceptable price, and conformity with the underlying quality determinants such as security, hygiene, accessibility, transparency, authenticity and harmony of the tourism activity concerned with its human and natural environment

Quality Control Not only limited to satisfying the ecotourist market but also to conduct business in an environmentally & social-culturally sustainable way that goes beyond what is required by government regulation. A means through which ecotourism can attain legitimacy with ‘green’ consumer market, environmental NGOs, local communities, government & other stakeholder groups.

Quality Assurance? Is a planned and systematic activities implemented in a quality system so that quality requirements for a product or service will be fulfilled.

Criteria in Quality Assurance Licences & Permits Insurance Details Customer Service  Business Operating Systems: Human Resource Management Risk Management Economic Sustainability and Financial Systems Environmental Management Code of Practice

Certification

“A procedure by which a third party gives written assurance that a product, process, service, or management system conforms to specified requirements”

Certification ….definition Certification is awarded to businesses or activities that comply absolutely with a set of criteria. As a way of ensuring that an activity or product meets certain standards Being use to promote implementation of standards to reward those who achieve specified standards Serves as an important criteria for distinguishing genuinely responsible companies, products or services

Certification in Tourism A voluntary procedure that assesses, audits and gives assurance that a business, facility, product, process, service or management system meets specific standards & awards a marketable logo to those that meet or exceed baseline standards.

3. Certification In US, Europe & Latin America:- Tourism certification:- is a procedure that assesses monitors, given written assurance & awards a marketable logo to business, attraction, destination, tour, service provider (such as naturalist guide), process or management system that meets specific standards.

3. Certification Confusion……. Currently in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Canada use the term “accreditation” instead of “certification” to refer to system rating products such as accommodation, tour and attractions

Purpose of Certification Indirectly reduce the environmental impacts of tourism OR Ensure that tourism benefits the environment by creating awareness in travelers with a view to influence their behavior and specifically their selection of tourism products & services

Why is certification important?

Benefits of Certification Benefits for certified businesses Helps businesses improved: going through certification process is educational Reduce operating costs Allow easier access to technical assistance & financing to implement new technology Provide marketing advantage, as consumers learn to recognize credible certification brands

Benefits of Certification Benefits for consumers Provide tourists with environmentally & socially responsible choices, Increase public awareness of responsible business practices Alert tourists to environmental & social uses in an area, allowing users to act more respectful Often provide better quality services

Benefits of Certification Benefits for government Help government protect ecotourism destinations, especially when the credibility of the destination is threatened by green- washing, Raises industry standards in health, environmental & safety & social stability, Lower the regulatory costs of environmental protection, Requiring economic benefits to communities, certification can help to reduce poverty.

Benefits of Certification Benefits for environment & local communities Requires businesses to protect the environment or do little or no damage, Requires businesses to respect local culture & provide real economic & social benefits, Offer quality of service to ensure that it is likely to continue offering benefits for the long-term.

Common Elements in Certification Voluntary enrollment, Well-defined standards & criteria, Assessment and auditing, Minimum compliance with legislation, Conform to extra standards & criteria, Written guarantee of compliance (certification) & awards a marketable logo or seal to a product or service, Periodic follow up audits to renew the certification, Continual improvement, & Transparency

Essential Components of Conformity Assessment System Acceptance Recognition Accreditation Assessment Standard

Advantages of Certification Market driven mechanism to influence demand, Place ‘responsibility’ for improving environmental management on individual customers Being a potential source of competitive advantage to business and destination

Certification Logo & Awards

Types of certifications First, second & third party certification Process – versus performance-based system Multiple levels versus pass-fail

First, second & third party certification First-party certification is self evaluation No outside verification of claim Second-party certification is when a purchaser or industry body assures that the product meets the purchaser’s standard Third-party certification is when a neutral, independent third party evaluates the compliance of the product with clearly defined standard Assess by a another party

Process – or Performance Based system Process-based Certify businesses that have established & documented system for ensuring the improvement of quality or environmental performance Do not have any specific performance results If the business complies with the law and has mechanisms in place to ensure that its management system improves relative to itself, it can be certified. Using environmental management system (EMS)

Process-based Certification Program

2. Process – or Performance Based system Certify whether or not a business or activity complies with objective outside criteria, e.g., how many liters of water per guest per night does a hotel consume? Allow direct comparison between 2 companies which one has a better env’tal performance Using EMS and usually socio-cultural and economic criteria, standards or benchmarking.

Criteria main themes Environment Social Low water & energy consumption Proper wage Use of eco-friendly product Proper secondary labor conditions Use of sustainable energy Community involvement Reduction & recycling of waste Community benefits Biodiversity protection Use of fair trade products

Performance-based Certification Programs

3. Pass/Fail Certification/Classification Often considered as a “graded” certification scheme Certification of compliance or not E.g., Five-star system of rating hotel quality Acknowledges a range of differences with an acceptable sustainability framework Strongly motivates companies to work to improve ratings in subsequent audits

3 Types of Tourism Certification Mass Tourism Certification Focus on environmentally friendly & cost-saving processes Sustainable Tourism Certification Measures sustainability according to environmental, socio-cultural & economic criteria Broad, holistic to cover many types of sector & market segments of tourism Ecotourism Certification – covers business involved in ecotourism Sets higher standards with emphasis on ecological sustainability

Ecotourism Certification Ecotourism certification covers businesses, services & products that describe themselves as involved in ecotourism. focus on individual or site-specific businesses standards that are tailored to local conditions largely or totally performance-based

Ecotourism Certification Aims: To encourage businesses benchmark their product against nominated industry standards, To provide a high standard of interpretation To encourage provision of high quality ecotourism experience To strive for best practice environmental management

Benefits to nature tourism & ecotourism operators Competitive advantage in marketing products – image advantage Financial savings - reduce operating cost Baseline criteria for operators to determine to which products meet standards of nature/ecotourism

Benefits to nature tourism & ecotourism operators Opportunity to promote product as a genuine nature tourism or ecotourism A framework within which performance can be improved to a standard recognized as best practice – guidelines for businesses Information on ways to improve the quality products – the process is educational

Benefit to consumers A recognized means of identifying genuine products Provide proven (ethical) choice Show best practices Learning, inspiring, awareness raising

Benefits to protected area managers Improved practices that lead to fewer environmental impacts & more efficient use of natural resources

Benefits to local communities Criteria to assist in identifying genuine products A tool to help determine a mixture of tourism activities that helps to maximize economic benefits & minimize negative impacts

Benefits for government Support policy goals: environment, social Raises industry performance, Show what is technically possible & economically viable, First step towards stronger legislation, It provide good image to the country

Ecotourism certification World’s first National Ecotourism Accreditation scheme was developed and launched by the Ecotourism Association of Australia and the Australian Tourism Operators Network in 1996.

Nature & Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP) Developed by Ecotourism Australia Industry initiative in response to the need for a system to identify genuine nature tourism & ecotourism products in Australia Commitment to best practice environmental mgn’t & providing quality experiences Launched in Jan. 1999 as the National Ecotourism Accreditation Program An example of an ecotourism certification program

Nature & Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP) Designed for nature tourism & ecotourism accommodation, tour & attraction products A product can achieve accreditation at one of the following 3 levels:- Nature tourism Ecotourism Advanced ecotourism

Benefits of NEAP Provide benefits to:- nature tourism operators, ecotourism operators, consumers, protected area managers & local communities

Application in industry sectors NEAP has been developed to apply to two industry sector: Nature tourism Ecotourism NEAP defined nature tourism as “ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus of experiencing natural areas” NEAP defined ecotourism as “ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus of experiencing natural areas that fosters environmental & cultural understanding, appreciation & conservation”.

Assessable products 3 types of nature tourism & ecotourism products Accommodation include: Lodges Resorts Camping grounds Tours include: Bushwalking Driving Caving Snorkeling Attractions include: Wildlife parks/sanctuaries Aquaria Visitor centres

Eligibility for Certification Nature tourism certification under NEAP has been based on the 4 following principles: Focused on personally & directly experiencing nature; Represent the best practice for environmentally sustainable tourism; Consistently meets customer expectations; and Marked accurately & leads to realistic expectations.

Certification Criteria In any ecotourism scheme, the criteria should address standards for sustainable tourism and at least minimum standards for: Focus on personal experiences of nature to lead to greater understanding and appreciation; Interpretation and environmental awareness of nature and culture; Positive contribution to conservation of natural areas of biodiversity; Economic, social and cultural benefits to local communities; Minimal impact on and presentation of local (indigenous) culture. (Mohonk Agreement, 2000)

Certification criteria in NEAP Nature & Ecotourism Accreditation Program of Australia (NEAP) 8 criteria (Chester, 1977) Focuses on personally experiencing natural areas in ways that lead to greater understanding & appreciation, Integrates into each experience opportunities to understand natural areas (cultural component), Represent best practice for ecologically sustainable tourism, Contributes to the conservation of natural areas,

Certification criteria in NEAP Nature & Ecotourism Accreditation Program of Australia (NEAP) 8 criteria (Chester, 1977) Provide constructive, ongoing contribution to local communities, Is sensitive to, interprets & involves different cultures, Consistently meet clients expectations (customer satisfaction); & Marketing is accurate & leads to realistic expectations (responsible market).

Eligibility for certification Ecotourism certifications under NEAP has been based on the following 8 principles: Focused on personally & directly experiencing nature Provides constructive ongoing contributions to local communities Provides opportunities to experience nature in ways that leads to greater understanding, appreciation & enjoyment Is sensitive to, interprets & involve different cultures, particularly indigenous culture Represent the best practice for environmentally sustainable tourism; Consistently meets customer expectations; Positively contributes to the conservation of natural resources is marked accurately & leads to realistic expectations

Categories of certification The nature tourism or ecotourism product: Nature Tourism Ecotourism Advanced Focuses on directly and personally experiencing nature √ Provides opportunities to experience nature in ways that lead to greater understanding, appreciation and enjoyment. Optional Mandatory but not necessarily core to experience Core element of experience Represents best practice for environmentally sustainable tourism Positively contributes to the conservation of natural areas Provides constructive ongoing contributions to local communities Is sensitive to and involves different cultures, especially indigenous cultures Consistently meets customer expectations. Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic expectations.

Ecolabels

Ecolabel award given to business or activity with significantly better performance compared to other businesses in the sector, Only best performers according to establish criteria receive the ecolabel, as industry adopt good practices changes, the requirements for receiving the ecolabel are raised, only obviously better performance is rewarded, Basis on comparison with the best performance (benching marking) rather than compliance with base-line standards

Accreditation

4. Accreditation Accreditation applies to the process of quantifying, endorsing and licensing entities that perform certification Accreditation is certifying the certifier

Differences between ecolabelling & certification Certification determines compliance with a set of “minimum standards”. Ecolabelling is a process by which an award is “given to a business activity” based on a comparison with the “best performance” in the sector. Accreditation is certifying the certifier