On 14 April 2021 we were pleased to send out the Spring (2Q) edition of the Destination Stewardship Report, completing its first year of online publication as a joint project with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Here’s a description of the 9 stories in this issue.. Continue reading
Prompted by a restive citizenry and a responsive city council, the DMO for the city of Sedona, in Arizona’s popular Red Rock country, now acts in effect as a destination stewardship council. That’s unusual. For part of our ongoing project to profile places with effective, holistic management, Sarah-Jane Johnson takes a deep dive into Sedona’s story. This is the sixth in the Destination Stewardship Center’s profiles of exemplary places with collaborative destination management in the spirit of GSTC’s Destination Criterion A1. Continue reading
Albert Salman’s Netherlands-based Green Destinations group has released this year’s list of places the won a spot in the annual Sustainable Top 100 Destinations competition. Destinations must submit an application or nomination that meets 30 core criteria and which is then reviewed by sustainability experts. Here are the winners. Continue reading
This border-straddling North American destination council relies on three strengths – a robust local network, core sustainability principles, and a global brand affiliation. See the third of our profiles on destinations with innovative approaches to holistic management as prescribed by GSTC-D Criterion A1 and the National Geographic Geotourism Principles. Continue reading
As tourism moves forward and begins to recover from the Covid-19 global pandemic, a new nonprofit coalition urges the world to re-center around a strong set of principles, vital for long term sustainable and equitable growth. Decades of unfettered growth in travel have put the world’s treasured places at risk – environmentally, culturally, socially, and financially. “Now is the chance to rebalance,” say Coalition leaders. Continue reading
If no good crisis should go to waste, DSC director Jonathan Tourtellot urges destinations to seize this one, forming stewardship councils that can oversee research and planning for the recovery. Plus a personal afterthought. Continue reading
Herewith the second of our profiles of destination organizations that at least partially meet the GSTC-D criterion for holistic destination management. In this post: Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico, which is adopting a multisector, high-tech “Intelligent Destination” approach. Continue reading
VIDEO – Our expedition to the Balkan Adriatic shows what tourism should do—and not do. The rugged coastal regions including Albania and Montenegro have sustainability lessons the world should heed. Continue reading
We offer the first of our profiles of destination organizations that at least partially meet GSTC destination criterion A2 for holistic destination management. In this post: the Thompson-Okanagan Tourism Association, B.C., which has burst out of the usual DMO mold to embrace sustainability and extensive community involvement. Continue reading
How should undiscovered coastal destinations handle sustainable tourism? Learn tips from Jonathan Tourtellot’s interview with Urdaibai, a Basque magazine. Continue reading