Destination Stewardship Center

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

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      • Austria: Wachau/Melk Abbey
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Just Out: the Autumn Destination Stewardship Report

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Jonathan Tourtellot
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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 GSTC/DSC-sponsored Destination Stewardship Report addresses both those questions with examples and practical guidance: Continue reading →

Advice for a Basque Destination

Posted on May 9, 2019 by Jonathan Tourtellot
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How should undiscovered coastal destinations handle sustainable tourism? Learn tips from Jonathan Tourtellot’s interview with Urdaibai, a Basque magazine. Continue reading →

What To Do About Overcrowded Destinations

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Salli Felton
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Salli Felton, CEO of The Travel Foundation in the U.K., shows how mass tourism can get out of hand. There’s a solution, she says: Measure success in terms of impacts, not arrivals. The tools for doing so already exist. But does the will to use them? Continue reading →

Guyana’s Make or Break Moment for Tourism

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Devika McWalters
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A development bank’s well-intentioned report maps out a “critical path” for growing Guyana tourism, but—as is often the case with such plans—fails to lay out the critical stewardship practices needed to protect what tourists would come to experience, as well as a way of life that locals may wish to retain. Continue reading →

Keeping a Destination Clean in Style

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Marco Sepulveda
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Dress her in corks and carburetors—Kaikoura, New Zealand has an innovative way to incentivize trash clean-up and recycling: A fashion show featuring the rubbish itself. Continue reading →

A First: 440 Destinations Rated by Nat Geo Experts Compiled in One Place

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Jonathan Tourtellot
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There has been nothing like them, before or since. For seven years, from 2004 to 2010, National Geographic’s landmark Destination Scorecard surveys recorded experts’ opinions on stewardship for hundreds of places around the world. Now, for the first time, the results are amassed here, with easy-to-understand letter grades. Continue reading →

Tourism Conflict in the Galápagos

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Jonathan Tourtellot
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A squabble over gift-shop tourist dollars on Santa Cruz island, Galápagos, is now threatening the renowned, if often troubled, Charles Darwin Research Station and its conservation work. Could better destination stewardship have avoided this? Continue reading →

Borrego Springs, CA Establishes Stewardship Council

Posted on November 8, 2014 by David Garmon
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Geotourism comes to the southern California desert. In collaboration with the surrounding Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, the community of Borrego Springs has adopted a mission statement and geotourism charter and established a stewardship council to guide development. Continue reading →

Info You Can Use from the Coastal Tourism Symposium

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Tamara Olton
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Presenters offered a lot of useful information at the July 2014 CREST (Center for Responsible Travel) symposium in Grenada. Tamara Olton gives a guide to their presentations, with links. Continue reading →

To Compete in Tourism, Cooperate

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Susan Guyette
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Yes, businesses compete against each other. Yet, cooperating to form a network of exciting businesses creates a tourism draw, and that requires a team effort. Continue reading →

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Make a point with this ironic two-part Nat Geo video on stewardship

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Show the world your destination success story, as in our Sierra Gorda pilot.

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  • The New Overtourism Debate | Travel Weekly
    Pushback against crowds is taking hold – at what cost?
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by Jonathan Tourtellot