If tourism and the businesses dedicated to it represent the demand side of the tourism phenomenon, then the destination itself represents the supply side. That’s not the customary way of thinking, but it’s as real as the view outside a country inn or the street life beyond a hotel lobby.
That calls for holistic stewardship. See below for general destination stewardship resources. This section’s subpages provide different aspects and perspectives needed to make such stewardship possible:
- Communities—resources for civil society, citizens, and governments, including community tool kits
- Valuing Sense of Place—monetary and emotional value of distinctiveness, the tools of advocacy
- Physical destination appeal —aesthetics, landscapes, streetscapes, overall charm
General Destination Stewardship Resources
For helping sustain and enhance the distinctiveness of your locale.
Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Assistance in making golf courses eco-friendly, through case studies, a managed lands database, golf and environment research database, special projects, and events
Blue Flag A well-established international certification program for environmentally clean beaches and marinas.
Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) is a nonprofit policy-oriented research organization dedicated to increasing the positive global impact of responsible tourism. CREST assists governments, policy makers, tourism businesses, nonprofit organizations, and international agencies with finding solutions to critical issues confronting tourism. Founding member, Future of Tourism Coalition.
Centre of Excellence for Destinations Performs detailed destination evaluations based on SMED, a proprietary system of measures.
Destination Stewardship Center You are on just one page of the DSC collaborative website, successor to the former National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations. We help destinations start stewardship councils, monitor destination quality, provide links to stewardship resources, and support the geotourism approach. Founding member, Future of Tourism Coalition.
National Geographic Index of Destination Stewardship (“Destination Scorecard”) rated several hundred destinations from 2004 to 2010, based on surveys of expert opinion using six criteria.
National Trust for Historic Preservation This U.S. organization’s Main Street Center has worked with communities to revitalize their historic or traditional commercial areas.
Ocean Health Index This ambitious alliance seeks to monitor and rate coastlines and offshore seas, country-by-country, on ten criteria. Elaborate website.