Tourism can contribute to preserving your locale—or to degrading it. These links and tools can help your community plan constructively.

These directories are far from complete. Please submit new entries by entering a comment or e-mailing info@destinationcenter.org, 50-word maximum.

General Destination Quality and Civic Initiatives

Change.org Provides a mechanism for residents and visitors to petition about anything affecting the character of the locale, from irresponsible developments to creation of parks or historic districts.

“Choices” The acclaimed 3-minute video (high-resolution version) ironically lays out in two parts the difference between well-stewarded destinations and places that aren’t. A good tone-setter for meetings.

Community Tourism Assessment Handbook An online nine-step guide designed to help determine whether tourism development is right for a given community. Published by the Western Rural Development Center, Montana State University Extension.

Gateway Community Toolkit for towns next door to U.S. national parks.

National Main Street Center This successful U.S. program concentrates on revitalizing downtown areas with an eye to historic preservation and lively commerce.

Overseas Development Institute This British think tank provides a paper on how tourism can be used for poverty alleviation in developing countries.

Travel Unity has curated globally recognized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Standards for Travel and Tourism, which are the foundation for all of its work with the industry. 

UNESCO Creative Cities Network offers unparalleled opportunities for cities to draw on peer learning processes and collaborative projects in order to capitalize on their creative assets and use this as a basis for building sustainable development.

These directories are far from complete. Please submit new entries by entering a comment or e-mailing info@destinationcenter.org, 50-word maximum.