The Bahamas Destination Stewardship Initiative: A Conversation

The Bahamas Family Islands have created not one but four destination stewardship councils and consistent communication, collaboration, and community engagement has been the key to their success. In 2023, the Bahamas Destination Stewardship Initiative won the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Destination Stewardship Award. GSTC Program Director Kathleen Pittman discusses the initiative with Janel Campbell, Senior Project Manager at The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.

Kathleen Pittman: Congratulations to The Bahamas Family Islands on this prestigious CTO Award. Why is destination stewardship so important to the Ministry of Tourism and communities in The Bahamas?

Janel Campbell: The COVID-19 tourism stoppage hit local communities especially hard. The Ministry of Tourism has long prioritized empowering communities to take a greater leadership role in the development and management of tourism within their communities. Harnessing tourism for good and getting this recovery right is a top priority for the Family Islands, and the recent fiscal crisis has made a boot-strapped, cross-sector, and everybody-come-to-the-table approach more critical than ever before.

The crystal clear waters and the natural beauty of the Bahamas Family Islands continues to attract visitors from all over the world. [Photo by Jorge Fernando]

Tell us about The Bahamas Destination Stewardship Initiative.

The Bahamas partnered with GSTC in June 2020 to provide structural support and training to establish Destination Stewardship Councils (“DSCs”), following GSTC Destination Criterion A1. The Tourism offices on each island initially acted as the Council Secretariat, guiding them in GSTC-led orientation, stakeholder mapping, and preparations for Council establishment. Through webinars, Councils are exposed to capacity building in tourism planning and development. The Ministry of Tourism has provided seed funding for the first projects that the Councils could then leverage to seek additional financial support. This approach has put communities in the driver’s seat for rebuilding tourism on their terms. It also boosts resilience to future shocks, including regular changes in government, by putting civil society at the helm of destination stewardship.

Which islands have installed Destination Stewardship Councils, and how did these communities recruit the wide-ranging stakeholders needed for a thriving Destination Stewardship Council?

Four of The Bahamas Family Islands have Destination Stewardship Councils thus far: Eleuthera, Exuma, Harbour Island, and South Andros / Mangrove Cay. GSTC’s Stakeholder Mapping Tool was used to identify the many stakeholders across government, private sector, and community leaders we wanted to bring to the table. They were invited to a GSTC training and orientation on destination stewardship and DSCs, which piqued the interest of many. Once we had some core champions involved from each sector, and once they identified priorities from the GSTC Destination Criteria for their Councils to advance, they conducted targeted outreach to bring more organizations and community members to the Council.

Council Priorities identified aligned with various GSTC Criteria such as D9 which involves sustainable solid waste management, B7 focusing on the safety and security of visitors and residents traversing the streets, and C3 focused on the protection of intangible cultural heritage through documentation of destination history by consulting elders within the community.

What are some of the positive outcomes you and the communities are most proud of so far?

We at the Ministry of Tourism envisioned what success would look like at this early stage of the project, and we are very pleased with the progress. Four independent Destination Stewardship Councils are robustly operating on our islands with wide cross-sector stakeholder representation and partnerships. In addition to legally incorporating and effectively branding themselves and regularly engaging their community members, the Councils are well on their way with a mix of short- and longer-term projects that advance the GSTC Destination Criteria in their communities.

The volunteer crew from a recent community clean up project. [Photo courtesy of Ocean Aid 360]

Initial projects included sustainable waste management partnerships, protecting and interpreting cultural sites and assets, enhancing safety and security by installing solar streetlights, and more. The Councils are also engaging in innovative marketing based on stakeholder involvement, strengthening resident buy-in and engagement while raising awareness of the Councils and destination sustainability. For example, one of the Councils held a competition to generate their Council’s logo, which enhanced the Council’s visibility as well as marketed the destination’s sustainability initiatives. After two years of this initiative, some DSCs have already secured grants and/or partnerships with international NGOs for the execution of project work.

A year after forming, the Councils instituted simple monitoring and evaluation indicators to measure their performance in key areas based on input from their membership. The results of that exercise were positive, also yielding recommendations for improvement, which the Councils are following. The monitoring indicators focus on the level of stakeholder engagement, Council stability, and effectiveness of capacity-building exercises conducted during the project. The indicators are standardized across Councils, which further enhances communication and collaboration among Councils as well as good practice sharing and troubleshooting support where needed. The monitoring indicators also serve as a ready data set for Councils to communicate progress to external audiences, including actual and potential donors and the public. Importantly, the progress measurement has helped the Councils identify areas where their members would like to see improvement and keeps communities and membership at the center of decision-making, which is fundamental to the sustainability of this effort.

Lastly, I’ll mention that we bring the Destination Stewardship Councils together every six months for a Conclave to share their progress, challenges, and lessons learned. This peer-to-peer sharing has been tremendously valuable to inspire, energize, and mentor each other. Every presentation from the Councils at the Conclave spark pride in communities taking ownership of destination stewardship and accomplishing so much in so little time, and I am confident the best is yet to come.

You said the best is yet to come, what can we expect next from The Bahamas Destination Stewardship initiative?

Involvement and empowerment of tourism stakeholders in decision-making about their community development and management are at the heart of The Bahamas Destination Stewardship Initiative. The initiative engages cohorts of Family Islands on a staggered basis—so we can replicate and scale the approach, applying lessons learned. Currently, we are continuing the support of the original cohort of Councils, while working with GSTC to build capacity for the launch of an additional four Destination Stewardship Councils this year. We hope to work with yet a third cohort of Family Islands to set up Destination Stewardship Councils after that—with the aim of supporting as many communities as are ready within The Bahamas to adopt and become part of our growing network of communities taking charge of their community’s development, practicing responsible tourism and encouraging environmental conservation for better stewardship of their patrimony and preservation of that patrimony for the next generation.

A Malaysian District Collaborates Lest Tourism Run Wild

Destination Stewardship Report – Vol. 3, No. 1 – Summer 2022

Why would a place with relatively manageable tourism create a sustainable travel destination coordination group? While many destinations around the world are reeling from the impacts of over-tourism, including environmental degradation, a few are heeding the warning and proactively putting a plan in place. One such is the Mersing District in the Malaysian state of Johor, just north of Singapore. Cher Chua-Lassalvy discusses what it took to rally the district’s numerous, varied stakeholders and create the collectively managed Sustainable Travel Mersing Destination Coordination Group.

Aerial view of small green island, with sand flowing into crystal blue-green water.

Aerial image of Pulau Goal, Mersing, one of Malaysia’s nearly 848 islands. [Photo courtesy of Mohd Farithrizal Bin Md Zain, Jurufotografi B19, MBIP]

Mersing? Where’s that?

I have a friend who goes by the name Mersing Guy on Facebook. He was born and bred in Mersing and runs the local recycling business in town. Mersing Guy (true to his name) loves showing his visiting friends the hidden gems in his beautiful home district. A few weeks ago, we stood in front of the gold-domed Masjid Jamek looking out across the charming coastal town and beyond to the coral-ringed islands that dot the emerald sea. Mersing Guy always says that he is truly lucky to call this place home. It is a sentiment I have heard echoed many times from locals and it is easy to understand why.

The stunning hilltop mosque, Masjid Jamek Bandar Mersing, illuminated at night. [Photo courtesy of Chan Hyunh Photography]

However, the natural beauty of the area is a double-edged sword. It attracts tourists like bees to honey, but the ecosystems in Mersing’s mainland and islands are also extremely fragile and susceptible to damage from human pressures. This biodiversity is not only the pride and joy of the local communities but also a key contributor to their livelihoods and well-being as a source of tourism revenues, employment, coastal protection, and food resource. Furthermore, an influx of tourists and unmanaged growth of tourism development could have an effect on the current, much-loved, laid-back way of life, cultural assets, and land use. Herein lies the often-seen challenge of balancing the benefits of tourism with the desire and need to protect these wonderful landscapes.

Mersing District is located along the east coast of peninsular Malaysia’s southernmost state of Johor. It is the third largest district in Johor and encompasses a land area of 2,838 square km (including the offshore islands). Mersing is most famous for its eco-diverse islands described in the Lonely Planet as:

“a constellation of some of Malaysia’s most beautiful islands. Of the cluster of 64 islands, most people only know of Pulau Tioman, the largest, which is actually a part of Pahang. This leaves the rest of the archipelago as far less-visited dots of tranquillity.” The Lonely Planet

Besides the islands, Mersing is host to other natural wonders including long stretches of untouched mainland coastal beaches, mangrove-lined rivers, and pristine and little-visited rainforest reserves. Endau-Rompin National Park in the north of the District is the second largest national park in Peninsular Malaysia, encompassing 870 square km and protecting the only remnant of native lowland tropical rain forest in southern peninsular Malaysia and mainland Asia.

Given its rich nature and biodiversity, Mersing attracts both domestic and international tourists. However, according to the Mersing District Council, Mersing remains comparatively undiscovered, with the District receiving approximately 250,000 tourists per year pre-Covid, a little lower than the 270,000 tourists registered annually at the better-known, single island of Pulau Tioman in nearby Pahang.

Why Does Mersing Need a Destination Coordination Group?

As Mersing sees relatively little tourism, one questions the need for the district to have a destination coordination group to focus on sustainable travel. Many local stakeholders including government, businesses, and residents nevertheless recognise that without guardianship and management, our fragile ecosystems risk being damaged. Many of us have seen how mass-tourism and over-tourism destroyed natural wonders in destinations close to us. We did not want this to happen on our own turf and wanted to put measures in place to manage tourism sustainably.

word cloud with words like beach, small town, food, relaxed, peaceful, tourist attraction. These words are used to describe the district of Mersing in Malaysia.

Word map based on the question asked via an online survey of Mersing’s community “What is your favourite thing about Mersing?” An exercise undertaken as part of Cultural and Bio-Asset Mapping of Mersing 2020. [Image courtesy of Majlis Daerah Mersing, Think City Malaysia and KakakTua Guesthouse & Community Space]

A study commissioned by the East Coast Economic Region Development Council on the Endau Rompin Park concluded that “a more holistic, landscape-scale approach should be adopted, with Endau Rompin forming part of a wider strategic economic zone based around sustainable tourism and land management”.

How Sustainable Travel Mersing Came About

In 2019, the idea of a mixed stakeholder sustainable destination working group was mooted to the Mersing District Council (Majlis Daerah Mersing) by several local stakeholders. The group would be led by the Council, and lined-up into the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture’s National Ecotourism Plan 2016-2025 which proposes that Destination Coordination Groups (DCGs) be set-up across the 60 eco-tourism clusters across the country.

As a local stakeholder group composed of government, NGOs, private sector, and community leaders, our working group developed and took the proposal to set up a Mersing DCG to multiple meetings across government agencies at Federal, State, and District levels as well as to receive the blessing of the Johor Palace, which houses the royal Sultan of Johor.

In mid-2019, after six months of presentations, awareness-raising and persuasion, Sustainable Travel Mersing STM DCG was founded. Its aim is to support the development and growth of tourism that allows communities and businesses to thrive alongside healthy ecosystems. As a stakeholder group, STM uses the Global Sustainable Tourism Council Destination Criteria to guide its work. The goal for the destination is to become certified as a sustainable destination by 2025.

A group if people in side a guesthouse in Mersing District. People are on couches looking at their phones and on a screen out of the frame.

Launch of Cultural and Bio-Asset Mapping of Mersing 2020 Project by Majlis Daerah Mersing, Think City Malaysia and KakakTua Guesthouse & Community Space. [Photo courtesy of KakakTua Guesthouse]

The Work

STMDCG has since created work plans based on priorities guided by the four pillars of GSTC’s Destination Criteria. The on-ground work has included:

Development of a DCG and Secretariat with Terms of Reference in place
Scheduled monthly meetings to brainstorm strategy, work plans, apply for funding, and present work completed
Holding town halls and focus group discussions for local stakeholders and collecting input, thoughts and opinions on sustainable tourism in Mersing
Collating feedback and relevant available information, then using these to create priorities for STM
Co-writing the first iteration of a sustainable tourism strategy largely based on the GSTC’s Destination Criteria. The strategy is currently out for consultation.
Collectively applying for funding on a collaborative basis to meet the aims of STM.

In addition, individual government departments, NGOs and private sector participants also continuously push forward with individual projects around marine and terrestrial conservation, stakeholder engagement, up-skilling, capacity building, creating guidelines, and mapping, which collectively add to the goals of STM.

Whilst Covid has delayed outputs and progress of STM, the activities and advocacy so far have resulted in some subtle changes. For instance, the Malaysian government increasingly cites and labels Mersing district as an eco- / nature tourism hub within Malaysia. This has resulted in steps by various players, including a pilot project by Majlis Daerah Mersing in partnership with a local university for an online tourism registration, monitoring, and governance portal. Though still in its early stages, it highlights the government’s will and interest in managing tourism and its impacts.

There has also been increased interest in Mersing from external agencies and funders in supporting post-Covid economic recovery, in particular the development of resilient, sustainable, and community-led tourism in the District.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

STM’s progress was greatly hampered during the two years of Malaysian Covid lockdown. In addition to being unable to meet physically as a working committee, we were also set back because we could not conduct training and stakeholder consultations in a community uncomfortable with digital interfacing.

Besides the Covid years, the work across multiple stakeholders and varied geographical landscapes has posed various challenges. However, these challenges have provided us with some important learnings outlined below.

Ground-up initiatives can get off the ground if there is enough patience, perseverance and will.
Every location needs a different approach to sustainable tourism, but we can learn deeply from other destinations journeying on the same path.
We currently run STMDCG without a full-time project management team. All participants give their time voluntarily. To forge ahead in the journey towards certification, we feel that we need a funded full-time project team to truly propel the project forward. We feel that this needs to be led by a project manager with one or two junior officers.
Human connections are key. It is a top priority to have STM’s aims more widely disseminated to tourism operators, resort operators, owners, and other community stakeholders. We believe this is best done through a mix of more formal town halls and focus groups as well as small group informal meetings and coffee or “makan” (eating in Malay) sessions.
A diverse stakeholder engagement team is essential, as different ethnic or gender groups in communities feel more comfortable speaking to different members of the group.
Co-creation with multiple stakeholders can be a lengthy process requiring a lot of patience, however this leads to joint ownership of the project’s directions and is a worthwhile exercise.
The diverse mix of landscapes (islands, rainforest, mainland coast) creates challenges, and we are still grappling with how to best tackle them. For now, we include trips to remote small islands and indigenous communities (which can be costly) as well as mainland stakeholders.
Creating a recognised DCG working on sustainable tourism has amplified interest in Mersing as a sustainable tourism destination. This has brought increased funding and projects focused on biodiversity conservation and responsible tourism into the area.

Today as I finish off this article, we have come out of our first physical post-Covid STMDCG meeting here in Mersing. How wonderful to finally sit around a table, eat local snacks, connect on a human level, and physically put our heads together again. I look forward to post-Covid reopening with optimism and hope the work we are planning will make Mersing Guy proud.

——————–

Cher Chua-Lassalvy is Co-founder and Managing Director of Batu Batu – Pulau Tengah, a sustainably-minded off-grid island retreat in Malaysia with a focus on generating profits through tourism to create positive impacts in the local area. She is also the President and Founder of Tengah Island Conservation, a Malaysian non-profit biodiversity management NGO working within the Johor Marine Park. Batu Batu and TIC together were the proud winners of the World Travel Market Responsible Tourism Silver Award for Best in Conservation & Wildlife (2019).

Doing It Better: Big Bay, Michigan

[Above: Fall colors along a Big Bay road. All photos courtesy of CREST.]

Destination Stewardship Report – Vol. 2, No. 4 – Spring 2022

How does a low-population, outdoorsy locale go about convening a destination stewardship council after the extractive industries it once depended on have wound down? CREST’s Kelsey Frenkiel relates how remote Big Bay, Michigan, USA created their own council from scratch. Apparently, a good consultant can help. This is the ninth in the Destination Stewardship Center’s “Doing It Better” series on collaborative destination management in the spirit of GSTC’s Destination Criterion A1.

The Outdoors Unplugged: Building a Destination Stewardship Council on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Sven Gonstead came to Big Bay, Michigan, the way most people do: via County Road 550, the 30-mile expanse that links the town, as if by a thread, to the city of Marquette, Michigan. A driver can do a lot in 30 minutes. He can count the shades of gold and auburn that rise as if ablaze in the distance; he can tweak his mind’s radio dial until the static fades and clarity seeps in; he will almost certainly lose GPS signal by about mile marker 20.

For some, the distance is a deterrent. For locals, being at the precipice of one of America’s longest dead-end roads makes their town special. Says Sven, “On that drive was when I decided I was moving to Big Bay.”

Sven is the Chairman of the Big Bay Stewardship Council (BBSC), a non-profit that supports efforts to make Big Bay – a small town located in Powell Township – a wonderful place to live and visit. Sven and other community members, with the help of the Center for Responsible Travel (CREST), built the organization largely from scratch, with many lessons learned along the way.

About the Place

The name Big Bay seems to make an amusing comment on size, with only 800 residents scattered throughout the dense, partial old-growth forest. But what it does not have in population, it makes up for in personality, both culturally and in the natural landscape, with towering trees, booming waterfalls, and abundant wildlife. Its “biggest” asset by far is its location next to 31,000 square miles of Lake Superior; the town counters with almost 2,000 grand, watery acres of its own, interior Lake Independence. Big Bay, and the whole Upper Peninsula for that matter, does not show up on the hand that Michigan residents will raise to depict the shape of the state. The U.P. is a finger that points perpendicular to “downstate” (how UPers – “Yoopers” – refer to the rest of Michigan), and the landmass is actually connected to Wisconsin and nudges into Canada.

Some other things Big Bay has to its name: an infamous killing depicted in the black-and-white film Anatomy of a Murder, with two historic locations featured in the story still operating, the Thunder Bay Inn and the Lumberjack Tavern. It was an early vacation getaway for Henry Ford, who owned 313,000 acres of timberland and a sawmill that still looks out over Lake Independence. The town’s bar-goers are also the inspiration for the Big Bay Shuffle, a song and dance coined by actor and musician Jeff Daniels.

Snowmobiles park at the historic Thunder Bay Inn, seen in the film Anatomy of a Murder.

Residents can be impressively hardy and capable – entrepreneurs, artists looking for a backcountry muse, and Do It Yourself-ers, some of whom built their own homes or parts of them (sometimes with the intention of going off-grid). They also have a strong sense of community and family, Big Bay being the place where they can spend time with loved ones and truly get away from it all. “Camps,” or rustic dwellings, often without Wi-fi or other amenities, are used as second homes where people can recharge and reconnect with each other

About the Council

The Big Bay Stewardship Council is working hard to protect this unique sense of place, encouraging developments that are good for their micro-economy while also retaining the strength of their cultural and natural environment. This involved, in partnership with CREST, efforts to shepherd more responsible forms of travel. Tourism is already occurring in large numbers. Visitors share Big Bay’s trail systems, stay in short-term rentals or the hotels and motels, use boats and kayaks on the lakes, frequent local campgrounds, and take part in seemingly all types of year-round recreational activities, both motorized and non-motorized.

The BBSC focuses its work around six major goals:

Enhance Sense of Place
Expand Outreach & Partnerships
Support Infrastructure & Asset Enhancement
Provide Entrepreneurial Support
Support Authentic Experiences & Events
Measure What Matters

Organizational Development

Each year, the BBSC conducts planning sessions to determine what activities will be accomplished that year to achieve these goals. They currently have three committees and hope to establish more as they gain capacity: the Steering Committee for overall governance, the Marketing Committee to maintain their partnership with the destination marketing organization Travel Marquette in telling Big Bay’s story, and the Placemaking Committee to conduct on-the-ground projects. The BBSC recently achieved non-profit status through the IRS, which means they can accept tax-deductible donations and apply for grants more easily.

To support this project in the early stages and determine that a destination stewardship council was needed, CREST conducted a scoping study to understand the region’s opportunities and challenges and collected baseline data about the impact visitors were having on the economy, the environment, and resident quality of life. They also helped to develop a marketing brand, Discover Big Bay, with a logo and associated tagline, “the outdoors unplugged.” The Lundin Foundation and Eagle Mine also partnered on the project as part of their work to strengthen communities where they operate.

The initiative has already ticked the first box for sustainable management of tourism destinations, according to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Destination Criterion A1: having “an effective organization, department, group, or committee responsible for a coordinated approach to sustainable tourism, with involvement by the private sector, public sector and civil society.” This type of cross-sector collaboration has been elusive for even the most developed tourism destinations. Sven explains how they got there:

Background

You’re not originally from Big Bay. What prompted you to move there, and what is so special about it?

Long story short, I came to participate in the first Noquemanon Ski Marathon in January of 1998. It was the first time I had spent any amount of time in Marquette County, and I found love. It was incredible. The day after the ski race, I drove County Road 550 from Marquette to Big Bay, and on that drive was when I decided I was moving to Big Bay. It had all the elements I was drawn to on the dead-end road. It was the people that were looking for an alternative to the normal existence in this country, I guess. People that are looking for something a little different… that are looking for more resonance with nature and the water. And of course, I love skiing in the winter. I moved in August 1998.

What is it about Big Bay that keeps people there?

A big part of it is the people. It draws folks that are independent and strong. That think of the world in a different way. And we’re obviously all drawn to the physical beauty. With Big Bay it doesn’t jump out at you right away when you pull in. You will see these places that are amazing after you arrive – Alder Falls, Black Rocks, Yellow Dog Plains, and the Yellow Dog River…. Both [my wife] Marcia and I have so many places we want to visit that we haven’t yet. A lot of hidden morsels.

Sunset highlights one of Big Bay’s many lakes.

What are some of the challenges the region faces economically, environmentally, or with tourism or quality of life?

That’s the ironic thing. A lot of the things that draw folks to Big Bay, they preclude economic development in the usual context. We’re at a dead-end road, it doesn’t really make sense for any manufacturing. It can also be hard to find healthy food in our community. So those things that draw people to Big Bay are the things that can make it difficult to live here. A micro-economy that is successful is a difficult dance. CREST was important in helping us determine that sustainable tourism could help us diversify our micro-economy.

Big Bay was a community that was developed through using natural resources like logging, mining… And some manufacturing thrown in there too. The Ford Mill, the Brunswick Mill. Our roots are in harvesting lumber. There’s a lot of environmental issues that have arisen through the years, and today there are significant threats to our natural and cultural resources. The dichotomy of development in the context of our natural environment is interesting. There’s a prospective spaceport that could be [here] in Powell Township, and of course there are issues environmentally with that. It feels like there is always pressure to keep developing. We have to figure out how to have a micro-economy that’s not going to threaten our way of life. It’s a real challenge to re-tool a little bit and look to the future in different ways.

How Big Bay Built Their Council

How did the Big Bay Stewardship Council get started?

Things got started when a few community members got together and started talking about what this community can do differently that can carry us into the future. As stated earlier Big Bay has been dependent on boom-and-bust industries, like mining. Thankfully, the Lundin Foundation and Eagle Mine recognize that their presence has the potential to initiate that cycle again. Fortunately, they’ve been great partners to help us figure out a way that we can buffer this boom-and-bust cycle that has occurred during the last 100 years. Working with CREST, we completed a scoping study and got some baseline data [such as number of people employed by tourism, trail user counts, and funding raised by existing events] to build off of.

What are some examples of projects that address the above challenges?

An issue is that we didn’t have a conduit for the community to communicate. That was one of the biggest challenges. Folks are doing their own thing, saying, “wouldn’t it be great to do this or do that”. Without a conduit, it was tough to have an organized effort to a) understand what the community wants as a whole and b) determine what it will take to accomplish those goals and c) follow through and finish them out. It’s pretty neat we have the structure [through the Big Bay Stewardship Council] now that we can look to. The Big Bay Fall Fest is a great example. It’s a representation of what the BBSC is all about: bringing in everybody from the community, the artists, the gunsmiths, farmers, non-profits, food vendors, and the people of all ages. It’s about just being together, initiating the conversation, and understanding that we’re in this together.

Tell us about the people of the BBSC. Who do you have on the Council and why?

It’s such a wonderful and diverse group. I’m excited for the future in that regard. The BBSC at its best is intended to be as diverse as possible. We’re doing a good job of that. We have a couple of nonprofits with the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, Bay Cliff Health Camp. Then we have for-profit businesses like the Thunder Bay Inn. And local government… It’s incredible to have something new for this community, where we can have a conversation about what’s a sustainable direction that preserves the character of Big Bay.

Accomplishments

What have been some of your greatest successes so far?

This diverse group that’s well-represented. We’re able to really communicate in a way that’s productive.

Another success, with CREST’s assistance, is the scoping study and the baseline data collection that we were able to do. In my opinion, [data collection] is one of the most important things that the BBSC is doing. By keeping tabs on what’s going on, we have a shield against any potential overtourism issues that pop up, to make the right decisions going into the future. We’re armored with this knowledge. It’s becoming more obvious to me how important it is as we progress. I don’t know any neighboring community our size that has the ability to do that right now. To collect resident input, and use that data to inform our activity planning.

And the Fall Fest. It was like a big old barbecue… It was so great to see everyone hanging out. To be able to support other businesses and people that are starting little projects or hobby businesses, to have a platform for them to try it out, even if it’s just a booth at our Fall Fest.

Lessons Learned

What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned in the 1.5 years that the BBSC has been operating?

First, the importance of data collection. It’s absolutely critical.

Second, that we should always be thinking about our capacity and be reasonable [with our activity planning]. We have to always keep in mind what’s achievable. The biggest issue is that making a living in Big Bay… that’s a full-time job in itself. A lot of people have skill sets to help with what is needed to run an organization like this, but a lot of those people are retired. People come here to relax, to get away from it all, to fish and stuff. There’s a limited amount of folks that are willing to help and that can help. It makes it really difficult. But there’s a lot of untapped talent and potential in our community. As we grow and people understand the value [of the BBSC], we’ll see an uptick in membership and volunteer help. We’re thinking about launching a membership model, but we need to do preliminary projects to get people to understand the value of our work first. If they understand that, they’ll jump in.

Bar-goers hang out at the historic Lumberjack Tavern.

Being such a diverse group, a community that communicates together is going to see greater results. Other communities did not do as good a job communicating early on and they got overwhelmed [with tourism]. And that is a big lesson for us. With Marquette evolving as a tourism destination and the rate it’s growing, it’s very possible something could happen in Big Bay, and we could get rolled over beyond our capacity. It’s good to have data and communication so we can keep tabs on that and react as needed.

What are you most excited about tackling in the future?

First, working to expand the membership and the volunteer core, and watching the organization grow. It will be a slow but steady process.

I’m also really excited to actually tackle a larger project [like collaborative trail building or installation of streetlights] that we couldn’t begin to consider before the BBSC existed. We didn’t have the structure to even think about the bigger picture and tackle some things that people talked about that would improve our community.

I also think we can support the artists and musicians in our community more. We have many artists here, but there’s not a framework for them in the community. They’re living here but pursuing their work remotely. We hope to find ways to support them, maybe do an artists-in-residence project or gallery to create an environment that’s appealing for artists to live here.

I’m excited to see the Fall Fest grow and evolve.

Finally, I hope we will be able to assist Powell Township with large projects such as improving curb appeal, a community center, and building a Historical Trail. This will be a great opportunity to bring the community together in a way that embraces its past, helps its future, and provides practical improvements for residents and visitors alike.

You can support the Big Bay Stewardship Council by making a donation and following along with their work via their website, bigbaystewardship.org.

Winter Issue of the Destination Stewardship Report Released

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Jonathan Tourtellot

The new Destination Stewardship Report (2022 Q1 Vol.2, No. 3) includes some excellent changes. You’ll see a freshened design, courtesy of GSTC’s Tiffany Chan. The Center for Responsible Travel (CREST) has now joined the DSR partnership, and CREST’s Ellen Rugh has provided immeasurable editorial help.

Articles in this issue include the eighth in our series profiling places with effective approaches toward achieving the destination stewardship council model: Snæfellsnes, Iceland. Tim O’Donoghue provides a multi-year journal of what took to bring Jackson Hole Wyoming, USA to certified status. We have a community-tourism success story from Jeju Island, Korea, and two more from Green Destinations’ Top 100, one in Peru and one in Bosnia. And your editor provides a review of the New York Times’s selection of 52 “Places for a Changed World,” an encouraging mass-media panorama of enlightened stewardship as part of the travel picture. Plus our usual service elements. Please enjoy this issue, please comment, and please consider contributing a story or an opinion.

Doing It Better: Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland

Posted on February 14, 2022 by Tiffany Chan

[Above, the Snaefell shield volcano rises above a beach. Its capping glacier, Snaefellsjokull, is the centerpiece of its namesake national park at the far western end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. [Photo courtesy of Visit Iceland]

On a long, skinny Icelandic peninsula, five small municipalities have teamed up to create a modest destination stewardship council and supporting network. Tiffany Chan, with Jonathan Tourtellot, explores the Snæfellsnes model of sustainable collaboration – a work in progress that has already earned a platinum sustainability rating.

A Council-and-Network Approach to Destination Stewardship

Iceland’s narrow Snæfellsnes peninsula pokes out 90km westward into the far North Atlantic from a point partway between Reykjavík and Vestfirðir (the Western Fjords). Its wild and diverse landscapes offer a blend of culture, nature, and history – waterfalls and lava fields, black and white sand beaches, an archeological site, a glacier-capped strato-volcano in Snaefellsjokull National Park, and rich cultural heritage woven into Icelandic folklore and history. The peninsula is a two-hour drive north of Reykjavík, putting it within day-trip range of tourists based in Iceland’s capital city.

Lots of tourists.

Iceland, “Land of Fire and Ice,” draws visitors from around the globe to observe the country’s gleaming glaciers, active volcanoes, erupting geysers, and cascading waterfalls. They come to hike in Icelandic parks and admire the dance of the Northern Lights. However, mass tourism did not reach this island nation until the last decade. According to the Icelandic Tourist Board, Iceland received just under half a million foreign visitors in 2010 – still larger than the country’s population of about 330,000. Thereafter, growth of foreign overnight visitors increased annually, peaking at a high of 2.3 million in 2018 and around 2 million in 2019, right before the global pandemic – almost seven times the number of inhabitants. Iceland’s overtourism can contribute to ecological damage of the wild landscapes that visitors hope to see. Further, coachloads of tourists are not conducive to the wilderness experience itself.

The dramatic peak of Kirkjufell rises above the Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall, a location on the northern side of the peninsula made popular by the influence of Instagram. [Photo courtesy of Visit Iceland]

To disperse the masses, Iceland encourages visitors to explore more of the country, to go beyond Reykjavik and nearby day trips. Traveling slower and staying longer in each region is the responsibility of the traveller, but creating incentives to do so, and do so sustainably, fall to the destination itself. Snæfellsnes (“snow mountain peninsula”) has been at the forefront of sustainable destination development in Iceland. Certified by EarthCheck under Global Sustainable Tourism Council criteria, this regional standout employs a collaborative approach to sustainable tourism and destination stewardship.

Sustainability is Rooted in Nature

A significant portion of the Snæfellsnes population still lives on small farms. [Photo courtesy of Visit Iceland]

Unsurprisingly, the rapid growth in number of visitors through 2019 has affected Snæfellsnes. However, environmental protection and social responsibility are deeply rooted in this region of Iceland. Fishing is a very rich part of their cultural heritage. Residents relied on the fishing industry until tourism took over a couple of decades ago. The five Snæfellsnes municipalities, each different in size, form a small and connected community of less than 4000 residents. While most residents live in the towns, some 200-300 continue to live on farms, including one of the municipal mayors.

Overall, Snæfellsnes has taken a collaborative approach to various areas of sustainable development, including creation of Snæfellsnes Regional Park. The regional park was founded in 2014 by the five municipalities, nongovernment organizations, and other stakeholders to channel cooperation and share the area’s unique attractions with visitors and residents alike.

Additionally, for Snæfellsnes, destination certification was a step towards meeting sustainability goals. Snæfellsnes was the first European destination to receive an EarthCheck certification, in 2008. The certification program has been an effective project, keeping the environment, society and economy top of mind. According to the 10-year review on Snæfellsnes as an EarthCheck Destination, waste in landfills has been reduced by almost half, greenhouse gas emissions and energy performance are much improved, and the development of environmental programs and social initiatives have increased. Snæfellsnes Peninsula is now a certified platinum destination under the EarthCheck system.

Collaborative Governance

Collaboration in Snæfellsnes is based on an informal network of overlapping organizations.
• Byggðasamlag Snæfellinga is the destination stewardship council, made up of mayors from each of the five municipalities –- Snaefellsbaer, Helgafellssveit, Grundarfjörður, Stykkishólmur, and Eyjaog Miklaholtshreppur.
• Natturustofa Vesturands (the West Iceland Nature Research Center) manages Umhverfisvottun Snæfellsness (the Snæfellsnes Sustainability Program).
• The Snæfellsnes Regional Park, West Iceland Marketing, tourism unions, and the private sector are all involved in sustainable development as well.

Within this web of stakeholders, two particular individuals drive the sustainability effort in Snæfellsnes. Guðrún Magnea Magnúsdóttir, at the West Iceland Nature Research Center, is the Sustainability Program Manager. She coordinates sustainability programs and projects, including the EarthCheck Certification. Ragnhildur Sigurðardóttir, the Regional Park Manager, is equally involved in spearheading sustainability initiatives, as well as regional planning.

The Snæfellsnes EarthCheck Green Team celebrates 13 consecutive years of certification. [Photo courtesy of Guðrún Magnea Magnúsdóttir]

Although several tourism councils and stakeholders make up this informal network, they all share common goals when it comes to the future of Snæfellsnes. To address issues in the region, meetings are called, often in neighboring farms. The community comes together, and the discussions begin. As Ragnhildur puts it, “the beauty of our work is cooperation. ‘Þetta reddast’ is a common slogan in Iceland, meaning ‘it will work out.’” The community is committed and invested in the sustainable development of Snæfellsnes. Ragnhildur continues: “Those who have moved to Snæfellsnes and are involved with tourism have never seen such strong tourism collaboration in a rural area. This is especially true of those who come from other rural areas. They are impressed with the work that we’ve done.”

Sustainable Management as a Community

Oftentimes, political changes alter the course of sustainability progress. In Snæfellsnes, an election is held every four years. If not re-elected, the mayors all change at the same time, which can delay certain initiatives, but it does not impact the destination management plan in a significant way. However, multi-stakeholder involvement doesn’t come without challenges. Every municipality is different in size, funding and resources, with the smallest being 66 people with a tiny budget. There has been formal and informal dialogue about the potential of combining two municipalities, possibly even all five.

Regardless, sustainable management involves broad cooperation of parties and public participation. Snæfellsnes Regional Park (not to be confused with Snaefellsjokull National Park), is a joint effort by the municipalities and tourism stakeholders. The governing bodies include a Founder’s Council, under which a Steering Group and Working Group work in collaboration. Additional consultants assisted with landscape assessment, regional plan development, and project management.

Sharing a common vision allows for cooperation through environmental conservation and promotion.

Multiple parties are also involved in regional planning. Over 200 people from various groups and stakeholders come together, including the five municipalities, a local planning committee, and a local steering committee. The five municipalities appoint a regional planning committee to overlook zoning under their supervision. Every municipality has an individual plan, which must also align with the regional plan.

The snowy destination of Bjarnafoss receives an environmental award in 2018. [Photo by Heimir Berg]

The municipalities are financially responsible for the social services and schools within their own community but collectively take care of the Visitor Center, the history museum, and the sustainability program, including the EarthCheck Certification.

The regional park is funded by municipalities, the tourism union, the workers union, and farmers associations. Through the regional park, Ragnhildur Sigurðardóttir is responsible for training staff and running the Visitors Center. Guðrún Magnea Magnúsdóttir oversees the EarthCheck Standard and sustainability program, holding courses at the center. The Visitor Center is located at Breiðablik, the entrance to Snæfellsnes. It is open daily and provides tourists with trip planning information to help guide their visit within the region.

Most residents share an understanding that protecting natural resources benefits the entire community, but there are limits. “It would be great to have more happening in the Visitors Center, but once the work has been done, reality hits. You have to hire employees, pay for electricity costs and all that comes with running the center,” says Ragnhildur. “When the five municipalities come together, they also have to consider money that is needed elsewhere, such as building a kindergarten.”

Projects & Activities

The Regional Park is working on two important projects:
• Taking the initial steps for applying to become a UNESCO Biosphere destination.
• Destination branding and marketing under the “Choose or Stay” policy.

Choose or Stay is a national strategy for converting daytrippers from Reykjavík into overnight visitors. In Icelandic it rhymes: veldu eða vertu. It encourages visitors to travel slower, either by choosing just one site for a day trip or staying longer to see more. The approach helps create a circular travel route around Snæfellsnes while avoiding congestion due to large tour buses.

To further disperse tourists, a categorical system was created whereby a list of 28 popular locations is labelled A, B, C or D, based on various risk factors for the environment and the visitors. Visitor-ready locations with appropriate infrastructure in place are labelled A, while B is still in progress, C is a wishlist of places that they want to market to be visitor-ready or at least heading in that direction. D is for sensitive places where they don’t want visitors. This system helps manage the number of people visiting each location. Overall, it is going well and helps manage crowding by spreading people out.

Búðakirkja, the Black Church of Búðir, has become a popular destination for photographers, who travel to the rural southern side of the peninsula to capture its beauty. [Photo courtesy of Visit Iceland]

Measuring Progress in Rural Iceland

When asked how Snæfellsnes measures success, Ragnhildur responded: “We discuss results at our annual meeting. We ask everyone at the meeting for input. We work together and see Snæfellsnes as a whole, which is better when it comes to funding and finishing projects. At the same time, Guðrún and I often reject projects because we have to be selective.”

Additionally, there are plenty of evaluations. Following an action plan of what Guðrún and each municipality is doing, there is an evaluation at the end of the year to discuss how each project will proceed, with environmental and social factors in mind. The EarthCheck certification also requires an annual third-party performance audit. The benefit of being one of two areas in Iceland with certification (the other being the municipalities in the Westfjords), is the joint effort within the entire community. Many decisions in Snæfellsnes are directly linked to being certified, ensuring continued progress toward sustainability.

Commentary

As a council made up of mayors, the Byggðasamlag Snæfellinga seems to serve technically as the core of the informal network of overlapping organizations that address destination stewardship in Snæfellsnes. Threats of overtourism are weighed against a desire to grow.

“Twenty years ago, there was little tourism. Residents lived off the fishing industry, along with farming and agriculture. We are traditional and old fashioned, but we have deep roots. We want new inhabitants and companies to come to Snæfellsnes. This is the luxury of having a low population of residents,” says Ragnhildur.

The Iceland Regional Affairs Conference held in Snæfellsnes in 2018. [Photo courtesy of Guðrún Magnea Magnúsdóttir]

Tourism started to increase about 20 years ago, but more rapidly within the last 10. Sustainability seems to have proceeded as well, if haltingly. Snæfellsnes tourism enterprises that are certified have seen results, such as savings from energy efficiency and other best practices. However, getting business to become certified is a challenge, according to the two managers. Businesses are small and mostly rely on busy summer periods. It is costly and takes time and resources to get certified and audited. Since there is little competition, it is not very compelling.

Economic, cultural, and ecological factors all come into play. “With elections bringing in a new board of municipalities, it is kind of political,” says Guðrún. She lists the major challenges:

Politics
Budgets to finance the program
Mobilizing the community
Reaching out to inform visitors – Mainly because of budget limitations, the villages don’t have the resources, the marketing, the informational signs, nor anyone for managing tourism.

Some say it would make sense for the regional park to manage all of it, but that will take more resources and collaboration. Meanwhile the certification consultant, EarthCheck, provides some measure of continuity, if tipped strongly toward environment over social and cultural sustainability. Snæfellsnes’s current governance arrangement may seem somewhat messy, but the destination is of manageable size, there is broad cultural support for sustainability, and the outlook encouraging. Perhaps that Icelandic aphorism does apply: “It will work out.”

Achieving Collaboration in Västerbotten – A Swedish Tale

Hiking in Hemavan, Västerbotten. All photos: Region Västerbotten

After the Västerbotten regional tourism authority developed its sustainable tourism initiative, it then faced the hurdle of how to get stakeholders on board. Annika Sandstrom, Region Tourism Chief, explains how they not only overcame this challenge, but also encouraged other destinations in the county to commit to better destination stewardship.

Västerbotten Brings Together Stakeholders to Highlight Nature and Culture

The county of Västerbotten, in Northern Sweden, extends from the Gulf of Bothnia west to the Norwegian border and comprises one eighth of Sweden’s total land area. The sprawling county, roughly the size of Denmark, offers “grand mountains, deep forests, mighty rivers, and … sea breezes,” according to Visit Sweden. It has around 250,000 residents and welcomes about two million visitors every year. People come to Västerbotten to enjoy nature and culture. More than 75% of total visitors come from within Sweden, mostly during the summer months.

In 2015, Region Västerbotten Tourism (RVT), which is responsible for regional development and growth in Vasterbotten County, recognized the need for many businesses to have a more sustainable approach. RVT looked to VisitScotland, Scotland’s National Tourist Organization, as to how they have approached sustainable tourism development. RVT was inspired by the way that VisitScotland approached quality and sustainability assessments and star ratings of tourism businesses in a well-developed scheme.

Dogsledding in Lycksele, Västerbotten.

Based on the Scotland model, RVT formed a regional sustainable tourism initiative that was directed to local destination organizations, municipalities, and tourism businesses. The initiative is based on the GSTC Criteria and directly linked to several of the 17 goals in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

RVT developed assessments on tourism businesses and organizations based on the GSTC Industry and Destination Criteria, in addition to a few criteria of their own. The team at RVT conducted the assessments. They used the same method to assess municipal offices in order to address development needs in planning, permits, waste management, etc. As an incentive to get tourism businesses to participate, RVT offered those who had been assessed to take part in business and product development, digital skills and marketing knowledge free of charge. These offerings were directly based on needs that were noticed during the assessments.

Canoeing in Skellefte river.

The Västerbotten Experience

RVT developed an additional incentive called Västerbotten Experience, which is a seal granted to businesses after passing an assessment. Businesses that have received the Västerbotten Experience seal must be role models in environmental considerations, climate-smart solutions, and local responsibility. The business is re-assessed by RVT every two years to maintain the level of sustainability and quality.

This initiative aims to instill a sense of pride for these businesses in their work and their products. It also serves as a platform to communicate the best of Västerbotten’s nature and culture to visitors. The featured experiences encapsulate Västerbotten’s sense of place, lifestyle, and hospitality.

Building the Program

One of RVT’s challenges was how to get all the region’s tourism businesses on board with the Vasterbotten Experience program. In the beginning, only the local DMOs were interested in participating, but eventually several municipalities became interested as well. Many tourism businesses thought it was a pointless effort, so RVT focused on those who did want to take part.

Västerbotten cheese.

Progress was slow at first, so RVT decided to focus on those early adopters and gave them extra incentives to do more, such as opportunities to go on study trips, feature in special promotions, or be part of a film project. At some point those already involved started to become ambassadors for Västerbotten Experience, incentivizing others to sign on. RVT then decided to involve the local destination organizations even further by educating them in the method of assessing businesses, and this has made them great ambassadors of the Västerbotten Experience as well.

Horse riding in Grönåker.

Four Guiding Principles

Sustainability work has become the core of Region Västerbotten Tourism’s mission and has brought together the region’s municipalities, local destination organizations, and the 80-plus tourism businesses that have joined. Several municipalities and destinations have now launched their own sustainability initiatives as well, all with the GSTC Criteria as a starting point.

Thanks to this consensus, four basic principles have been developed on which different actors in Västerbotten can build their activities. The goal is to develop a long-term sustainable hospitality industry which:

Is good for residents
Is good for visitors
Creates jobs and viable businesses; and
Takes place within the conditions of nature and culture.

By focusing on and the four guiding principles, RVT’s regional tourism strategy has furthered collaboration among regional tourism organizations, local destination organizations, municipalities, and tourism businesses.

What’s Next

The leading politicians in the regional council will formally endorse the Västerbotten Experience strategy in December 2021, underlining the importance of the joint initiative for sustainable tourism.

The next step for RVT is to begin re-assessing all the Västerbotten Experience businesses to make sure that they are still up to date on their sustainability work. The same will be done for the municipalities to encourage them to keep sustainable tourism development in focus.

Biking in Tärnaby, Västerbotten.

RVT has recently formed a green team consisting of representatives from all municipalities, from the local destination organizations, and from regional tourism projects. The goal is to identify joint actions that the team can address to further enhance sustainable tourism in Västerbotten. RVT believes that through motivation and education on the benefits of sustainable tourism development the county of Västerbotten can pick up the pace and achieve more together.

By Annika Sandstrom, Region Tourism Chief, Region Västerbotten Tourism.

Doing It Better: The Pennsylvania Wilds

[Above: Sinnemahoning State Park, Pennsylvania Wilds. Photo: Jonathan Tourtellot]

It’s a destination described by one expert as having “one of the greatest, rural, natural resource-based economic development programs in the U.S.” The remarkable Pennsylvania Wilds joins our ongoing “Doing It Better” series on places with a holistic approach to destination management in the spirit of GSTC Destination Criterion A1. Over the past three years two DSC volunteers, Ellen Rugh and Jacqueline Harper, have been collecting and documenting information on the region’s remarkable PA Wilds Center. Here is their report, as featured in the Summer 2021 issue of the Destination Stewardship Report.

Holistic Destination Regeneration, from Conservation to Design

This forested multicounty region in northwest Pennsylvania, once known as the “timber capital” of America, was depleted of its trees and wildlife by the beginning of the 20^th century. Poor forest management and increased demand for lumber led to raging wildfires and floods. The elk population went extinct; the whitetail deer nearly so. With the timberlands denuded and an oil boom played out, the region went into decline. The government ended up buying the land to create state and national forests. Now, after 100 years of conservation, the elk are back, and the rebranded “Pennsylvania Wilds” has been restored, hosting a rich, thriving forest that educates others on the importance of responsible forestry.

One opportunity for regenerating the depressed region was tourism, focused on the area’s rejuvenated landscape, rich human history, and living artisanry. Facilitating that vision has been the Pennsylvania (PA) Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship (often shortened to the PA Wilds Center).

Breathtaking fall foliage behind an old PA Wilds barn. [Photo by Cameron Venti]

We believe the PA Wilds Center (and its associated Planning Team) constitute a good example of a destination stewardship council because to this organization, tourism and sustainability go hand in hand. This is not just stated in the organization’s mission statement or values, but also demonstrated by its actions. The organization goes beyond the normal scope of work of a Destination Management Organization (i.e., focusing on accommodations and operations) to integrate tourism as an important element of rural economic development. TED speaker Ed McMahon, a national expert on sustainable community development, calls the PA Wilds Center’s effort “one of the greatest, rural, natural resource-based economic development programs in the US.”

The PA Wilds initiative was launched in 2003 by then Governor Ed Rendell to coordinate the efforts of various state agencies and local stakeholders in an initiative to marry conservation and economic development. Ten years later, the non-profit PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc. was founded with support from the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and PA DCED. The PA Wilds Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with the mission to “integrate conservation and economic development in a way that strengthens and inspires communities in the Pennsylvania Wilds.” Currently, the PA Wilds acts as the coordinating entity among local partners to promote a sustainable form of nature-based and heritage tourism, seeking to “celebrate and nurture our natural wonders by connecting people with nature.” According to their website, tourism in this region pre-pandemic has accounted for about 11% of its economy with a visitor spend of approximately $1.8 billion annually.

The largest wild elk herd in the Northeast lives in the Pennsylvania Wilds. [Photo by Matthew Schwartz]

This non-profit shows that integrating conservation and economic development goes beyond a mission statement; it is incorporated into every aspect of their operations. The PA Wilds Center’s Brand Principles include ‘stewardship of the land’ as a guiding value and include many references to the importance of cultivating a healthy relationship between people and the environment. The organization believes that all its staff share responsibilities that impact sustainable tourism, whether in the realm of marketing, conservation and stewardship activities and partnerships, education, grants and funding, and promotion of local businesses and products, among others.

Geographic Context

The Pennsylvania Wilds jurisdiction comprises 12 ½ counties in North-Central Pennsylvania and is one of the 11 official tourism regions designated by the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) Tourism Office. Although the PA Wilds cover over a quarter of the state, it is home to a mere four percent of the state population. It covers 2.4 million acres of public land (more than Yellowstone National Park), most of which is working forest. The Pennsylvania Wilds boasts two National Wild & Scenic Rivers, 9 state and national forests, 29 state parks, the largest wild elk herd in the Northeast, and some of the darkest skies in the country. It has a rich heritage in oil and lumber. Now however, with the coordination of the PA Wilds Center, many local partners are involved in the growing push towards nature-based and heritage tourism to create jobs, diversify local economies, inspire stewardship, and improve quality of life.

Source: PA Wilds Center website @ https://www.pawildscenter.org/about-us/

Activities

The PA Wilds Center uses strategic, coordinated regional planning to protect the region’s scenic quality, natural resource preservation, and individual community character. Several activities support this approach.

Bicyclists head south for a ride on the Pine Creek Rail Trail. [Photo courtesy of PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship Inc.]

• Marketing – The PA Wilds Center receives dedicated funding to market the region’s distinct character to visitors, as well as to promote and enhance community character and pride for residents. Launched in 2018, the region’s first paid advertising campaign in nearly a decade promoted the Pennsylvania Wilds lifestyle – its beautiful landscapes and journeys, experiences, destinations, and distinctive place-based businesses. The organization provides information for tourists to discover what they can see, do, and experience when they travel to this wild landscape. There’s also a dedicated blog that features guest editorials showcasing the Pennsylvania Wilds lifestyle. For example, blog posts from 2020 highlight suggestions on spending time immersed in nature, where to explore historic ruins, and even visit the mysterious Ice Mine at Coudersport. The PA Wilds Center’s sustainably built gift shop, the PA Wilds Conservation Shop, features locally made products. Profits from this brick-and-mortar shop are invested back into the Center’s mission.

A charming Pennsylvania Wilds barn. [Photo by Ellen Rugh]

• Visual Appeal – The PA Wilds Center wants new development to protect the region’s sense of place and community distinctiveness – whether that growth is due to tourism or other industries. With this in mind, the organization created the landmark PA Wilds Design Assistance Program, publishing in 2017 the extensive PA Wilds Design Guide for Community Character Stewardship.

“Build to build to fit the landscape”
—PA Wilds Center CEO Ta Enos

This free, downloadable guide promotes protection of scenic views, energy-efficient building designs, architectural styles, and other stewardship actions, highlighting how local communities can choose to protect or enhance their unique character as they grow.

• Entrepreneurial Assistance – The PA Wilds Center also offers assistance to businesses in the region through grants and free consulting services. The Center is the point of contact for two in-house business development programs, the Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania (WCO) and the PA Wilds Licensing Program. They act as a consultant to provide aspiring local businesses with connections to lenders, technical assistance providers, marketers, and other resources. The Center also offers mini grants to local organizations, providing financial aid for projects that tie into regional strategies, such as signage, interpretation, façade upgrades, etc. More information about past and present grants can be found on their website.

• Events – The PA Wilds Center does not play a direct role in routinely creating and hosting catalyst events, with the exception of a Buyer’s Market, a tradeshow for regional makers and businesses to promote their products to retailers in the Pennsylvania Wilds and the PA Wilds Conservation Shop. Instead, the Center has created partnerships with certain event organizers and will provide a platform for promoting events.

Community Engagement

PA Wilds Center works with local, state, and national partners from the public and private sectors. These include entrepreneurs, small businesses, corporate leaders, land and waterway managers, conservation organizations, non-profits, tourism and heritage, and economic developers. For example, the PA Wilds Center created an entrepreneurial ecosystem and business development program, Wilds Cooperative of Pennsylvania (WCO). The WCO includes a membership network of “creative makers” and place-based businesses. This arrangement contributes to the value-chain of local products and services tied to the PA Wilds lifestyle brand. Additionally, the PA Wilds Center has a process in place for collecting comments from people and partners in the PA Wilds that will help inform the work. By listening to community members’ feedback, the Center can work out any kinks in future programs and plans.

Managing Sustainability and Stewardship

Because of its unique natural resources, the Pennsylvania Wilds region is designated one of seven Conservation Landscapes in Pennsylvania. The PA Wilds Center works closely with the PA DCNR to coordinate activities by the many local partners involved in the conservation landscape work. This aims to grow nature and heritage tourism in the region while creating jobs, diversifying local economies, inspiring stewardship, and improving quality of life.

Building relationships with nearby farming communities enables businesses to source local food products. [Photo by Cameron Venti]

One example is the PA Wilds Conservation Shop’s online and physical gift stores. The Conservation Shop focuses on selling locally made and value-added products. By sourcing local products, it helps reduce the products’ transport-related carbon footprint and benefits the rural economy, minimizing economic leakage and keeping profits local. Products in the Conservation Shop are sourced from the WCO’s network of more than 100 local producers, artists, and craftspeople from across the PA Wilds. To boost stewardship, shoppers can add a donation during check-out. The proceeds help the PA Parks and Forests Foundation fund projects in the local state parks and forests.

The PA Wilds Center goes beyond traditional destination marketing by taking action to be sustainable, such as making their buildings energy efficient. West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund (WPPSEF) has been a major investor in the PA Wilds. WPPSEF has helped fund energy-efficient upgrades to have high-performance buildings across the region. This collaboration shows that sustainable energy investments can drive local economic development in rural communities. The PA Wilds Center offers resources such as a brochure for both visitors and residents on (1) how to build energy-efficient visitor centers and (2) how to travel smarter while reducing their environmental impact. The PA Wilds Center and WPPSEF raise awareness about the difference energy-efficient technologies can have on the environment and on an organization’s bottom line. Their financing and grant programs help many communities in the region tackle such projects.

Every year, the PA Wilds Center recognizes outstanding local Conservation/Stewardship efforts through the PA Wilds Champion Awards program, honoring individuals, groups, organizations, communities, and businesses that made significant contributions toward nature tourism alongside economic development and conservation goals. The awards include Outstanding Leader Award, Conservation Stewardship Award, Artisan of the Year Award, Inspiring Youth Award, and Event of the Year.

The Center has no formalized language for explicitly de-emphasizing mass tourism. The council does claim that by promoting the authentic character of the vast rural and forested region, the area naturally lends itself to more individualized tourism experiences.

There are two components of PA Wilds Center’s organizational structure. The first is the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship and the second is the PA Wilds Planning Team.

The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship is governed by a Board of Directors, which is made up of 11 members from various public and private organizations in the region. The organizations in the region that have a member on the Board of Directors include Straub Brewery, Warren County Planning, Tioga County Planning, and Williamsport-Lycoming County Chamber and Visitors Bureau. The final authority on decisions lies with the Board of Directors and the Executive Director. The Board of Directors works alongside the PA Wilds Planning Team. As of 2018, the PA Wilds did not have a leadership succession plan, however, they were in the process of creating one as the organization is committed to longevity and believes that their work is generational.

The unique architecture of the Warren Business District. [Photo courtesy of PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship Inc.]

Although it is still housed under the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, the Planning Team largely functions as its own entity. It encompasses a 13-county stakeholder group, giving local stakeholders a voice in the PA Wilds Center work. This group is made up of county planners and dozens of organizations from across the PA Wilds in addition to three executives: Chair, Vice Chair, and Treasurer/ Secretary. The Planning Team was formed in 2006 through an Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement, largest of its kind in Pennsylvania. Under that agreement, the Planning Team shapes its own projects and has been the force behind the PA Wilds Champion Awards, the PA Wilds Design Guide for Community Character Stewardship, and the mini grant program. This team meets monthly to share information and to undertake activities that will capitalize on economic gains, without harming the region.

DIAGRAM: Source: PA Wilds Center @ https://www.pawildscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-PA-Wilds-Center-Org-Chart.pdf

Funding

Several core donors support the Center, including the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, PA Department of Community & Economic Development, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and the region’s 12 county governments. Additionally, the PA Wilds Center’s work is sustained through program fees, philanthropic giving, government grants, and entrepreneurial activities related to the Pennsylvania Wilds brand. As of June 30, 2018, the PA Wilds Center received $697, 720 in grants; $41, 572 from corporate, foundation, and individual contributions; and $210, 1050104 in program income. Between 2017 and 2019, the PA Wilds Center received more revenue than they spent on expenses. This non-profit seems well-funded, and based on the recent financial statements, the organization demonstrates stable funding.

In May 2020, the PA Wilds Center released a white paper entitled, “Early Impacts of COVID-19 on the rural Pennsylvania Wilds Initiative”. While the paper discusses funding challenges from local conservation groups and DMOs with PA Wilds’ territory, how COVID-19 has directly impacted PA Wilds Center’s organizational funding was not yet specified.Ta Enos, Chief Executive Officer of the PA Wilds Center, encouraged small businesses within the PA Wilds to apply for the COVID-19 Relief Statewide Small Business Assistance Program. This program provided grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to small businesses with 25 or fewer employees and that have an annual gross revenue of $1 million or less.

Things could have been worse. The pandemic actually resulted in a 22% increase in state park visitation, as tourist sought the relative safety of outdoor experiences. “We’re in a position for a strong recovery, because of the kind of destination that we are, because we are rural, we are outdoor based. Coming out of this crisis, people are kind of looking for those experiences,” Enos told local TV station WPSU. “The pandemic has not slowed that at all, the overall scope of what we’re trying to accomplish in the long term. If anything, it’s sped it up. I think it’s shone a new light onto it.”

Measures of Success

The PA Wilds Center uses metrics generated both in-house and by their partners to measure success. Some of the in-house indicators include the number of members in the WCO, multiple revenue streams, Conservation Shop sales, and employment statistics from the WCO. Additionally, other data sources come from reports generated by the US forest service, state tourism office, and the PA DCNR.

Some highlights include:

Overnight visitor trips to the Wilds grew 57% from 2010-2015
From 2009-2016:
- visitor spending in the region grew an average of 37%
- tourism employment increased by 19%

Beyond these basic metrics, the PA Wilds Center has a guiding strategy known as BUDS:

BRING visitors to the region to boost local economies, attract investment, and improve quality of life;
UNIFY partners around the PA Wilds Work;
DELIVER programs and services to our businesses and communities; and
STEWARD our region’s public lands and natural assets, rural lifestyle, and unique community character, while sustaining our organization and vision for future generations.

Each of the four function areas has six to nine key performance indicators (KPIs) used to guide and track progress both short term (< 3 years) and long-term (10-30 years). A KPI under Unify, for instance, is to have 2,000 small businesses participating in the WCO annually within the next 10 years. A KPI under their Steward strategy is to raise $25,000 annually for conservation through their charity checkout campaign at the PA Wilds Conservation Shop. The KPIs are not set in stone and are reviewed annually to ensure they are still relevant, essential for post-pandemic planning. To learn more about PA Wilds Center’s KPIs, download their Strategic Plan.

The Nature Inn at Bald Eagle State Park incorporates Design Guide principles of green technology and local artisan products into its building design. [Photo courtesy of PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship Inc.]

Commentary

Coming from a once depleted forest – or perhaps because of it – this organization is remarkable in how strongly sustainability is incorporated into its business strategy, ranging from selling products made by local businesses to incorporating energy efficiency into building design to creating the Design Guide for Community Character Stewardship. PA Wilds Center not only talks the sustainability talk, it walks the sustainability walk: “Here – conservation is not just a buzzword. Stewardship of the natural environment is our way of life,” they say. Their business strategy strongly connected to sustainable development, and it’s working. Between 2009 and 2017, visitor spending in the Pennsylvania Wilds grew an average of 42.6% and tourism employment increased by 20%. This is a great example of how good destination stewardship can marry the idea of economic growth and sustainable development.

The PA Wilds Center is also proficient in its engagement with local businesses. It is rewarding to see a non-profit source all the products in its gift shops from local businesses, thereby keeping money in the rural economy, supporting local jobs and entrepreneurs, leaving a smaller energy footprint, strengthening community ties, and finally, giving tourists something unique to bring home and better remember their trip. Since the Conservation Shop opened in August 2016, the high demand for regionally made products has generated more than $1 million in sales. The PA Wilds Center demonstrates how buying local is a great way to support the community, complete with tourist support.

One concern regards the apparent lack of a succession plan. Even though the organization is fortunate to have full-time staff and stable funding, it is vital for it to have a plan to pass on the reins and ensure the continuation of its sustainability efforts. A succession plan allows for a smooth transition if any individual in a leadership role (including the Chief Executive Officer) must part ways with the organization. With no succession plan in place this wonderful example of a functioning destination stewardship may not be able to capitalize long-term on their tourism achievements.

It is often a challenge for environmental organizations (especially in rural areas) to be adequately funded. However, the PA Wilds Center has had a stable funding stream over recent years. One hopes this will help the organization continue to make great strides in the environmental conservation field despite the pandemic in 2020. If this region continues to bounces back quickly, it will show that more organizations should adopt a mission to integrate conservation and economic development in a way that strengthens and inspires both communities and their visitors.

We welcome your comments on the PA Wilds Center and its stewardship.

Spring 2021 Destination Stewardship Report Just Out

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Jonathan Tourtellot

Longest Destination Stewardship Report Yet

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. You can subscribe for free here. Stories in this issue:

The Nisga’a Offer an Indigenous Tourism Model – How to present an indigenous culture “written in the land” to tourists? Bert Mercer, economic development manager for Nisg̱a’a Lisims Government, describes the process of tying together a culturally sensitive tourism experience for visitors to the Nisga’a First Nation in British Columbia, Canada.
Saving Cultural Heritage: The Singapore Hawkers Case – Drives for sustainability may sometimes overlook the endangered arts and traditions that make a place and a culture come to life. The World Tourism Association for Culture & Heritage (WTACH) aims to rectify that. In Singapore, Chris Flynn, WTACH’s CEO, discusses a particularly delicious case – one recently recognized by UNESCO.
Doing It Better: Sedona, Arizona – Prompted by a restive citizenry and a responsive city council, the DMO for the city of Sedona, Arizona, USA, 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.
Japan’s Journey Toward Sustainability – It’s a tall order for a large country to change its national policy and commit to improving stewardship for hundreds of its tourism destinations, but Japan is taking tentative steps in that direction, spurred on by one young official and a lot of collaborators. GSTC’s Emi Kaiwa reports on how this tentative change of heart came about, what’s happened to date, and how far it has to go.
Once Overrun, Dubrovnik Plans for Sustainability – Dubrovnik, Croatia, a UNESCO World Heritage city, is known as the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic Sea’, its historic city center surrounded by original medieval stone walls – and until recently, thronged with cruise ship passengers. In 2017, that began to change.
Opinion: A Chance to Tame Cruise Tourism – Cruise critic Ross Klein argues that now is the time for port cities to gain control of cruise tourism crowds, explaining three ways to do that – and why it won’t be easy. But if not now, when?
Report: “Reset Tourism” Webinar Series – Destination Stewardship – Held on 25 March 2021, the first webinar of the Future of Tourism Coalition‘s four-part “Reset Tourism” series drew 500 registrants. These webinars are intended to help destinations emerge from the Covid crisis with new forms of governance and collaboration that will enable a more holistic and sustainable approach to tourism management and development.
Webinar Report: Measuring Destination Happiness – A massive webinar to mark last month’s “International Day of Happiness” yielded some serious pointers for destinations seeking a broader measure of successful tourism recovery than counting revenue and arrivals.“Covid has shown us we can’t be happy on an unhappy planet” was one message for destinations around the world, report DSC associates Marta Mills and Chi Lo – the point being that local contentment should be part of the tourism equation: “A good place to live is a good place to visit.”
New App to Assess Sustainability of Tourism Communities – Assessing the sustainability of destinations and acting on the findings can be a complex, expensive task. Dave Randle explains the workings of a new app that his Blue Community Consortium underwrote to assist with that process. Some university students gave the app’s first step, assessment, a revealing field test on seven Florida destinations. Here’s what the app does, and what the students found.

To read these stories plus information on announcements, upcoming events and webinars, and publications, go to the Spring (2Q) edition of the Destination Stewardship Report. And please comment! — Jonathan Tourtellot, Editor

Doing It Better: Sedona, Arizona

Posted on April 6, 2021 by Sarah-Jane Johnson

[Above: Sedona red rocks, reflected. Photo credits throughout: Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau]

Prompted by a restive citizenry and a responsive city council, the DMO for the city of Sedona, Arizona, USA, 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.

In Arizona’s Popular Red Rock Country, One CVB Put Community First and So Became Its Own Destination Stewardship Council

For decades the Arizona desert town of Sedona (population 10,000) has welcomed an annual average of 3 million tourists captivated by the landscape of red rock buttes, canyons, and pine forests. They can take advantage of distinctly Sedona offerings – an abundance of outdoor recreation such as iconic mountain biking and hiking, well-coordinated arts and culture including festivals, plus the famous Sedona “vortexes,” a staple for spiritual tourists.

Eventually and perhaps inevitably, red-rock fever took grip: Sedona became a victim of successful marketing promotions, reaching a high point of being “loved to death” in 2016 when droves of Instagram-snapping tourists responded to marketing campaigns spotlighting the centennial of the National Park Service, closely followed by another for the Grand Canyon’s 100^th anniversary. Visitors clogged Sedona streets with traffic and packed local trailheads, much to the dismay of local residents. Leaders at Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Board (SCC&TB), started to question how much tourism much was too much, and what kind of action was needed.

Red Rock State Park, from Schnebly Hill. Photo by bboserup/istockphoto.com

Context of Sustainability

The seeds for sustainability were actually planted 13 years before this watershed moment of overtourism, when Sedona teamed up with four regional DMO partners to form the Sedona Verde Valley Tourism Council, a collaborative effort to coordinate and promote the products and experiences of the entire Verde Valley. An anchor project for this regional partnership was creation of a National Geographic Geotourism Map Guide promoting regional culture, heritage, and ecological diversity, supported by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, which was keen to create value around the Verde River and its watershed through awareness and education. Geotourism has been defined via National Geographic as “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, geology, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.” As a tactical approach, the values informing Geotourism MapGuide became the first introduction to sustainability before any strategy was conceived.

The crunch of 2016 prompted SCC&TB to embark on a Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) assessment. Sedona scored 33 out of 41, placing itself as a leading destination in sustainable tourism management, and only one of two destinations in the United States to undergo assessment (the other being Jackson Hole, Wyoming). So began the Sedona DMO’s transition from Destination Marketing Organization to Destination Management Oorganization.

After the GSTC assessment results, SCC&TB began in 2017 an 18-month-long journey toward defining a concept for tourism sustainability. Working in partnership with the City of Sedona and external consulting teams from the Arizona State University and Nichols Tourism Group, the Sedona DMO engaged community, business, and visitors in a discovery phase and drafting of a final Sustainable Tourism Plan, presented to the City Council for approval in spring 2019.

By pursuing a mission to become a leader in sustainability, SCC&TB has become the closest thing to a real stewardship council for the destination, although not for the entire valley. The process of developing a solid sustainability plan has made community the focus of the organization’s updated mission statement: “to serve Sedona by making it the best place to live, work, play, and visit.” This statement reflects the strong relationships created within the community and the corresponding realization that the tourism mission is broader than economic benefits.

Organizational Structure and Governance

Unlike some other stewardship councils being reviewed thus far by the Destination Stewardship Center, Sedona manages sustainability differently. As the Sedona DMO reoriented to focus on management instead of marketing, it has been working alongside the local government, relying on sustainability support teams, and engaging with a community that has become increasingly skeptical of tourism.

“A lot of DMO’s don’t want to get into visitor management. . . .
But in fragile destinations it’s the only way to be successful.”

“There are really just a handful of communities that are trying to do management rather than marketing. [Sedona] is not a typical visitor and convention bureau. This is really unusual for a CVB,” said Jennifer Wesselhoff, CEO of SCC&TB in 2020. “A lot of DMO’s don’t want to get into visitor management. It’s a debate. Some think it’s a slippery slope. But in fragile destinations it’s the only way to be successful.”

SCC&TB is a membership organization. It is guided and overseen by a volunteer board of directors composed of local Chamber members elected by the Chamber membership. They include local businesses, nonprofit organizations, government, and community organizations. The Board employs a President/CEO who implements the policies established by the Board, administers Chamber programs, and supervises the Chamber’s budget.

To oversee the Sustainable Tourism Plan’s implementation and strategy, a Sustainable Tourism Advisory Committee (STAC) helps direct the City Council and the SCC&TB Board, while evaluating the Plan’s progress on an ongoing basis.

Success-tracking metrics for every tactic in the Plan have been refined through the direction of the Sustainable Tourism Action Team (STAT), a body of 22 members representing tourism businesses, the city of Sedona, US Forest Service, and numerous nonprofit organizations including Red Rock Trail Fund, the Sedona Verde Sustainability Alliance, and Keep Sedona Beautiful. SCC&TB’s President/CEO and marketing director spearhead the organization of the STAT and the STAC meetings and report on the status of the work to City Council every quarter.

Setting the agenda is a joint process between the City Council and the Chamber. The January city council work session sets priorities, and SCC&TB then drafts its plan of priorities to be approved by its own board and presented back to the City Council, which approves funding for tourism management and promotion. While there is no dedicated sustainability manager, many different Chamber and City staff members will have sustainability tactics attached to their job descriptions. The marketing director has oversight and coordination of scheduling meetings and tracking metrics.

To make sure SCC&TB is not the only one taking the lead, each tactic has a lead person or organization. Every lead is on the STAC and provides a quarterly update. The City has a part time sustainability coordinator, who also leads the City’s climate action plan, currently under development.

Hiking the red rock country is a popular Sedona area activity.

Community Engagement

Integrating the Sedona community into the process for developing and implementing the Sustainable Tourism Plan was – and continues to be – an unprecedented collaboration. Sedona Chamber describes how thousands of community members were involved over 18 months in planning, and several organizations continue to lead or support current tactics.

In the Plan’s development stage, the team conducted the following action steps for research surveying and feedback:

Interviewed hundreds of residents.
Analyzed hundreds of business-survey responses.
Conducted focus groups with area non-profit organizations.
Brought land management agencies together.
Talked with tourism industry companies operating tours, lodging facilities, and restaurants.
Included local arts and spirituality communities.
Collaborated with governments and industry ranging from Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) and the Forest Service to Arizona State Parks (APS.)
Provided status updates through regular communication tactics including blog posts, social media, radio spots, guest columns, and presentations. Public meetings were held to review findings and get more input.

Beyond the Plan’s development, the SCC&TB ensures continuing engagement with the community about sustainability and the Plan itself. The STAC advisory council is made up of residents and local business owners, who determine the overarching metrics of success for the entire plan.

The DMO’s communication with residents is frequent, including updates to the community on the Sustainable Tourism Plan via e-blasts and local media op-eds. “We talk about the STP all the time. We constantly remind the community of how the things we are doing align with the Plan,” said Wesselhoff.

Managing Sustainable Tourism

Sedona’s community-based sustainability plan has been divided into four strategic pillars that list objectives designed to implement sustainability:

Environmental Objectives: Lead the tourism industry in implementing sustainability principles, positioning Sedona as a national and international leader in destination stewardship.
1. Implement new waste prevention, reduction, and diversion strategies focused on visitors and their impacts in the Sedona region.
2. Expand programs that encourage minimal water usage and protect water quality.
3. Create new programs to help businesses and visitors moderate energy use and use alternative forms of energy.
4. Launch initiatives that lessen impacts on lands (including noise, air, and light pollution), and stimulate efforts for long-term sustainability.
5. Educate and engage businesses and visitors on sustainability initiatives, encouraging visitors to be sensitive guests during their stays.
Resident Quality of Life Objectives: Protect and enhance the quality of life by mitigating negative impacts of tourism.
1. Implement new infrastructure and multi-modal solutions to facilitate visitor traffic flows and enhance access to key destinations.
2. Expand use of technology to help solve transportation challenges.
3. Deepen engagement with Sedona residents, expanding their knowledge of tourism and efforts to manage it so as to achieve an effective balance.
4. Develop new sustainability-focused experiences that resonate with both Sedona residents and visitors.
5. Manage current and future accommodations in ways that increase long-term sustainability.
6. Launch initiatives to maintain local quality of life by lessening undesirable tourism impacts on residents including noise, air, and light pollution.
Quality of the Economy Objectives: Shape the Sedona economy in ways that balance its long-term sustainability and vibrancy.
1. Monitor and adjust levels of economic activity for needy periods and moderate congestion by dispersing visitors.
2. Expand interagency collaboration among diverse Sedona organizations.
3. Monitor and adjust tourism marketing to achieve a balance between quality of life and a healthy economy.
4. Pursue innovative approaches to employee housing and training.
Visitor Experience Objectives: Continue to provide an excellent visitor experience that highlights Sedona’s sustainability values and keeps visitors coming back.
1. Deepen understanding of existing experiences, how best to access them, and how to apply sustainable practices while visiting.
2. Work to disperse visitors across the broader Verde Valley region to help moderate congestion at key Sedona experiences.

Activities

Some specific destination programs which have been developed prior to or grown since the implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Plan include:

Walk Sedona which encourages people to get out of their cars in an effort to decrease road congestion.
Sedona Secret 7 which encourages visitor dispersion to less populated areas.
The Sedona Cares visitor pledge is an educational tool to encourage better visitor behavior.
An initiative led by Sedona Lodging Council to providephotos and b-roll footage oflesser known areas and encourage them to stop using photos of “over loved” areas.
Front-line worker and concierge training to discourage promotion of overly used areas.
Sedona Recycling Quiz designed for visitors and locals to understand how to manage trash.

Voluntourists can help with trail work.

Additionally:

Visit Sedona promotes voluntourism opportunities to visitors while also offering coordination and promotion for local businesses and organizations.
Sedona has created a Love Our Locals campaign to drive local businesses. This campaign provides an opportunity to connect residents and visitors to locally owned and operated businesses, promote “made in Sedona” products, offer promotions and discounts to local residents.
Green meetings are a direct alignment of the Sedona brand, and care for the environment.

Areas of Sustainability and Stewardship

The implementation part of the tourism sustainability plan contains more than 30 tactics. Each is tracked and managed according to these parameters:

Description: An explanation of the tactic providing insight and key elements.
Timeline – How long it will take to achieve: Short (12-18 months), Mid (2-3 years), Long (4-5 years).
Pillars affected: If more than one objective is involved.
Lead partner: The entity (or entities) primarily responsible for moving the tactic forward.
Supporting partners: Other partners who will help implement the tactic.
Prospective metrics: Examples of the types of metrics and targets (if appropriate) that will help evaluate the effectiveness of the tactic.

Below are four examples of tactics from the Sustainable Tourism Plan, highlighting the level of collaboration, planning, and measurement.

Funding

Implementation of SCC&TB Sustainable Tourism Plan is supported with appropriate funding for each of the four pillars of the Plan. The City of Sedona provides primary funding for SCC&TB from the collection of sales and lodging tax. Visitor spending makes up 77% of all sales tax collected. Sales and bed tax rates are each currently at 3.5%. In 2014, Sedona’s lodging industry agreed to increase bed tax by .5% on the condition the SCC&TB would receive 55% of the total collections. A statewide change in law to allow short term rentals in Arizona significantly contributed still more to the budget, as the 1,000 short term rentals such as Airbnb in the area also pay bed tax. This pushed the tourism budget from $500,000 in FY14 to $2.4 million in 2019.

As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the SCC&TB’s FY21 budget is expected to focus on rebuilding the economy. The budget in FY21, as allocated by sustainability objectives, shows a lop-sided tilt toward post-Covid economic recovery:

Economy $1,800,000
Environmental $171,000
Quality of Life $271,000
Visitor Experience $27,000

Measures of Success/ Results

Transparent tracking of the impact of the sustainability process is key. Using each objective, SCC&TB has developed baseline data points and measures the following, presented publicly and also reported into the City:

Environment—through perception of sustainability. Metrics include volume of trash collected, number of miles maintained by trail keeper resources, number of visitors signed on with educational programming.
Resident Quality of Life—a citizen survey is conducted by the City to measure perception from locals of quality of life.
Quality of the Economy—sales and bed-tax collections, measured throughout the year and not just in key tourism seasons.
Visitor Experience—visitor satisfaction, via survey, and whether it’s going up or down.

Some other key sustainability achievements in Sedona include:

Fly Friendly: In 2020, helicopter tours operators ceased overflights within Sedona’s city limits and over neighborhoods, sensitive prehistoric sites and resorts outside the city limits as part of a new Fly Friendly policy.
Transportation Improvements: In 2020, the City of Sedona completed Uptown traffic improvements, making vehicle and pedestrian flow more efficient, easing congestion, and contributing to the area’s aesthetic appeal; roundabouts that eliminate U turns and give access to new off-street parking; and a median with locally designed artwork that prevents mid-block pedestrian crossing and left-hand turns. Like Fly Friendly, the Uptown Improvements address all four pillars of sustainability.
Sustainability Certification: Low water use, energy conservation, recycling and using local products are hallmarks of sustainable business operations. Dozens of Sedona-based businesses and government offices have achieved sustainability certification, as determined by the Sustainability Alliance, a Sedona Verde non-profit organization that leads sustainability projects.
Governor’s Award: In 2019, the SCC&TB was honored with the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Arizona Cultural and Historic Preservation for its efforts in creation of the Sedona Sustainable Tourism Plan. The Award recognizes the year’s “most significant contribution to the cultural and historic preservation of the natural, cultural or aesthetic legacy of Arizona that inspires visitation to the state.”

Sedona’s “Fly Friendly” policy keeps helicopter tours away from the city and other sensitive areas.

Final Commentary

Sedona’s effort to research and create a truly comprehensive plan stands out against other Destination Management Organization efforts for several reasons. There are resources; there is a solid partnership with the City and elected officials; plus there has been intense dialogue and listening within the community to create a truly community-based sustainability plan. There was an 18-month planning process, with investment, resources, and then structure to see out the objectives. Wesselhoff believed the plan is solid for five years, with a possible few adjustments to tactics around climate change to be added in the future. She would expect a further GSTC assessment toward the end of the 5-year plan, as a means to benchmark overall progress.

Also striking is the way this plan has been designed to build tourism around the needs of the community, placing residents first and foremost. The planning process has helped the DMO shift its focus from the visitor to the resident as the number one client, including local business owners.

From listening came soul-searching for Wesselhoff. “Previously I was the biggest advocate and cheerleader for tourism. I believed it was really good for our community – the benefits drastically outweighed the inconveniences of tourism. But I don’t think I honestly and genuinely listened to complaints, because they were [merely] inconveniences, and [because] 10,000 people depended on tourism for their jobs – every single resident could have a job in tourism if they wanted to. This process allowed me to embrace the tradeoffs in a more thoughtful way and consider how we can positively impact those negative tradeoffs.”

Wesselhoff also believes the Sustainable Tourism Plan has already led to significant tactical wins for the local community. She cited the Fly Friendly program’s no-fly zone for air tours over residential areas – one of the legacies she will leave from her personal efforts as leader. For 18 months, the City and County (which operates the airport), tour operators, and other stewardship entities in the community came together as partners to create solutions to control helicopter noise. “Helicopter noise has been a pinch-point for locals,” she said. “Without the Sustainable Tourism Plan we never would have gotten there; it provided the framework to say ‘this is what the community wants.’”

While Wesselhoff was readying at the time of this 2020 interview to move into a new role as CEO at Visit Park City in Utah, she felt confident that Sedona’s stewardship efforts will continue, in large part because the Plan is positioned as something the entire community has bought into, bigger than just one person or one organization.

Having steered the process to create what she feels is a truly community-oriented tourism plan and meaningful engagement with residents, Wesselhoff offered words of wisdom for other DMOs: Engage with residents and recognize your potential role as community builders: “We need to listen to our residents as much or more than we listen to our visitors or our businesses. I learned so much through this process. The value of listening to that perspective was really meaningful.”

Appendix
The following community partners participated in the Plan development process:
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Arizona Department of Transportation
Arizona Game and Fish Department
Arizona Public Service
Arizona State Parks and Trails
City of Sedona City Council
Coconino National Forest
Friends of the Forest Sedona
Friends of the Verde River
Keep Sedona Beautiful
Local First Arizona
National Park Service – River and Trails
Northern Arizona University Climate Program
Northern Arizona Climate Alliance
Northern Arizona Council of Governments
Oak Creek Watershed Council
Red Rock State Park
Red Rock Trail Fund
Sedona Airport Authority
Sedona Compost
Sedona Events Alliance
Sedona Heritage Museum
Sedona Lodging Council
Sedona Mountain Bike Coalition
Sedona Recycles
Sedona Sustainability Alliance
Sedona Verde Valley Tourism Council
Sedona Verde Valley Sustainability Alliance
US Fish and Wildlife Service
US Forest Service
Verde Front Collaborative

Just Out: the Autumn Destination Stewardship Report

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Jonathan Tourtellot

Welcome to the GSTC/DSC
e-quarterly
Destination Stewardship Report Autumn 2020
Summer 2020 – Inaugural Issue

How can destinations plan better for a post-Covid recovery? What have we learned about tourism during the ongoing crisis? The Autumn edition of the Destination Stewardship Report addresses both those questions with examples and practical guidance, providing links to these feature stories:

From sustainability leaders and destination mangers worldwide, a white paper laying out ten practical ways to plan a more lasting, regenerative, and community-compatible tourism recovery.
From Korea, the example of how a hard-working industrial city saved a natural bamboo habitat for migrating egrets, creating a new ecotourism attraction that revitalized the impoverished neighborhood next door.
From Serbia, its borders closed during the crisis, a look at what happens when a sudden influx of resort-pampered Serbs discover their own hinterland: lots of profits for rural residents – at a cost. [One anecdote reports a similar pattern in the US state of New Hampshire over the summer. —Ed.]
From Mallorca, Spain, plans that attempt to anticipate and prevent overtourism as travel restrictions loosen, with mixed opinions on the likelihood of success.
From the Columbia Gorge, USA, the fourth in our series of “Doing It Better” profiles about destinations working toward holistic management – in this case, a tourism alliance that unites the two states bordering the Columbia River.
From another thought leader, a better way to calculate return on investment as destinations emerge from the crisis, demonstrating that by using data science you can measure the hidden benefits of good stewardship. “Not everything that counts is counted,” goes the saying, but now it can be – affecting policy accordingly.
Plus, selected news stories and the latest on the Future of Tourism Coalition, which now has over 300 companies, agencies, and NGOs as signatories to its Guiding Principles.

Please read the latest Destination Stewardship Report here, comment, and propose your own contributions by contacting us.

This jointly sponsored e-quarterly is a collaboration between the Destination Stewardship Center and Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) – and in time, maybe others. Our goal is to provide information and insights useful to anyone whose work or interests involve destination stewardship. It’s an all-volunteer experiment, so its success will depend on your interest, feedback, and content contributions. Join us, and help each other. You can subscribe for free here.You can read the e-mail version here and the feature articles on our webpages. —Jonathan Tourtellot, Editor

For more information and participation please contact us.

About the Global Sustainable Tourism Council GSTC establishes and manages global sustainable standards, known as the GSTC Criteria. There are two sets: Destination Criteria for public policy-makers and destination managers, and Industry Criteria for hotels and tour operators. The GSTC Criteria form the foundation for accreditation of certification bodies that certify hotels/accommodations, tour operators, and destinations as having sustainable policies and practices in place. GSTC does not directly certify any products or services; but it accredits those that do. The GSTC is an independent and neutral USA-registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization that represents a diverse and global membership, including national and provincial governments, NGO’s, leading travel companies, hotels, tour operators, individuals and communities – all striving to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism. www.gstc.org
About the Destination Stewardship Center The DSC is a volunteer-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the world’s distinctive places by supporting wisely managed tourism and enlightened destination stewardship. We gather and provide information on how tourism can help and not harm the natural, cultural, and social quality of destinations around the world. We seek to build a global community and knowledge network for advancing this goal. Join us and learn more at www.destinationcenter.org.

Destination Stewardship Center

Extending the work of the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations.

Tag Archives: destination stewardship councils

The Bahamas Destination Stewardship Initiative: A Conversation

A Malaysian District Collaborates Lest Tourism Run Wild

Mersing? Where’s that?

Why Does Mersing Need a Destination Coordination Group?

How Sustainable Travel Mersing Came About

The Work

Challenges and Lessons Learned

Doing It Better: Big Bay, Michigan

Winter Issue of the Destination Stewardship Report Released

Doing It Better: Snæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland

Sustainability is Rooted in Nature

Collaborative Governance

Sustainable Management as a Community

Projects & Activities

Measuring Progress in Rural Iceland

Commentary

Achieving Collaboration in Västerbotten – A Swedish Tale

Doing It Better: The Pennsylvania Wilds

Spring 2021 Destination Stewardship Report Just Out

Doing It Better: Sedona, Arizona

“A lot of DMO’s don’t want to get into visitor management. . . .
But in fragile destinations it’s the only way to be successful.”

Just Out: the Autumn Destination Stewardship Report

Mersing? Where’s that?

Why Does Mersing Need a Destination Coordination Group?

How Sustainable Travel Mersing Came About

The Work

Challenges and Lessons Learned

Sustainability is Rooted in Nature

Collaborative Governance

Sustainable Management as a Community

Projects & Activities

Measuring Progress in Rural Iceland

Commentary

“A lot of DMO’s don’t want to get into visitor management. . . . But in fragile destinations it’s the only way to be successful.”

“A lot of DMO’s don’t want to get into visitor management. . . .
But in fragile destinations it’s the only way to be successful.”