1. Best Practices in Ecotourism

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

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

4. Quality

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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

10. Certification

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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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

17. Why is certification important?

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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

23. Essential Components of Conformity Assessment System
Acceptance
Recognition
Accreditation
Assessment
Standard

24. 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

25. Certification Logo & Awards

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

27. 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

28. 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)

29. Process-based Certification Program

30. 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.

31. 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

32. Performance-based Certification Programs

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

38. 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

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

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

41. 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

42. 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

43. 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.

44. 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 as the National Ecotourism Accreditation Program
An example of an ecotourism certification program

45. 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

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

47. 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”.

48. 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

49. 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.

50. 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)

51. 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,

52. 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).

53. 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

54. 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.

55. Ecolabels

56. 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

57. Accreditation

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

59. 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