How can sustainable tourism balance environmental, social and economic impacts?

Sustainable tourism begins with a comprehensive assessment of its impacts on the environment, society, and economy. This involves evaluating the carbon footprint, waste production, and resource usage of tourism activities. Additionally, understanding how tourism affects local communities, including their culture, traditions, and economy, is crucial. By identifying both positive and negative impacts, stakeholders can develop strategies to enhance benefits and mitigate adverse effects, ensuring a balanced and sustainable approach.

Self-awareness is perhaps the most important first step organisations can take towards contributing to more sustainable tourism. As suggested in the text, many indicators should be considered, and they are a good starting point for structuring the first impact assessment. Companies should sit down with their whole teams and do this exercise to be as detailed and granular as possible. Then, repeat it for any interaction with the supply chain (upstream and downstream). However, this will always be a declarative assessment with a limited, inside perspective of the perceived impact. Thus, it is important to call upon external stakeholders and observers to complement this assessment with their own perspectives.

Sustainable tourism strikes a balance between maintaining natural resources and ecosystems and honouring local cultures and communities. It encourages economic growth by employing good business methods that benefit both inhabitants and visitors. Initiatives aim to reduce environmental impact, assist local livelihoods, and promote cultural preservation. Collaboration among stakeholders provides transparent governance and fair sharing of rewards. Sustainable tourism aims for long-term viability by raising knowledge and encouraging responsible travel behaviours, resulting in good environmental, societal, and economic consequences.

Cette démarche d'évaluation, par delà les idées re?ues, pour regrouper et suivre les indicateurs disponibles, interroger ceux qui le sont moins, perfectionner la lecture et l'interprétation des données accessibles, s'inscrit de tout manière dans le monitoring de destination, le suivi des flux, des capacités réceptives et de transports. C'est une évolution naturelle.

Sustainable Tourism. Think about it as how you want others to behave in your home because every action has an impact (+or-). As travelers, we constantly decide about products, food, tours, transportation, destinations, and more! Our decisions can help others have a better day. For instance, a coffee producer will be happier if you buy locally, take a tour, and recommend his/her place to your friends. Tourism is an economic channel that can benefit more than one business when developed with strategy.

Lo que considero importante es conocer las mejores prácticas y aprender de cada una de ellas. Al aprovechar la experiencia de otros, podemos reducir el camino recorrido y evitar errores comunes y adoptar las mejores prácticas es importante para equilibrar sus impactos y ayuda a minimizar los efectos negativos y maximizar los positivos. El uso de energías renovables, el ahorro de recursos, el reciclaje, el fomento de productos locales y el apoyo a proyectos de conservación son esenciales. Además, es necesario respetar y celebrar las culturas locales, empoderar a las comunidades. Estas acciones no solo benefician al medio ambiente, sino también a las economías locales y a la calidad de la experiencia turística.

Adopting best practices in sustainable tourism is essential to balance its environmental, social, and economic impacts. This includes implementing eco-friendly measures such as reducing energy consumption, promoting water conservation, and minimizing waste. Encouraging responsible tourism behavior among travelers, supporting local businesses, and preserving cultural heritage are also vital. By integrating sustainable practices into all aspects of tourism operations, destinations can protect natural resources, support local economies, and foster positive community relations.

One of the pillars of sustainable tourism is its integration into the local ecosystem. It is therefore necessary to develop your business in synergy with the local economic and social fabric. This may be : - ensure that you use local short circuits - favor local professionals - ensure that local populations are involved in decision -making regarding the use of common spaces - also ensure consultation concerning the common resources of the territory. The sustainable development of a tourism business cannot be conceived without taking into account the entire environment in which it is planned.

Considero que toda forma de turismo tendría que ser sostenible, independientemente del lugar donde se desarrolle (playa, ciudad, áreas rurales, etc.), o de la modalidad turística que se trate (turismo cultural, de aventura, etc.). En este sentido, y considerando los tres pilares fundamentales en los que debe basarse (económico, sociocultural y ambiental), EL TURISMO ES SOSTENIBLE SI: ?es justo, beneficioso y equitativo con relación a las comunidades de destino o receptoras; ?es respetuoso de los bienes culturales, tradiciones y formas de vida del lugar visitado; ?promueve la protección y el cuidado de los recursos naturales, el ambiente y el entorno del lugar.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution, so balance out adopting third-party guidelines and generating internal best practices for your company. On the one hand, international standards are essential to set a structure and give a roadmap thought through by multi-disciplinary experts. On the other hand, they are not in your shoes, so adapt them to your reality on the field. They are not the journey's end but rather a very well-maintained road. This is especially true for labels and certifications. Don't limit them to vanity badges; take advantage of the structure they offer. More often than not, this is where their real value is. Finally, in the process, contribute to these, suggest improvements, and give back to the industry.

Collaboration and communication are key to achieving sustainable tourism that balances environmental, social, and economic impacts. Engaging all stakeholders, including government bodies, local communities, businesses, and tourists, fosters a shared vision and collective action. Open communication channels help in disseminating best practices, sharing success stories, and addressing challenges collaboratively. By working together and maintaining transparency, stakeholders can ensure that tourism development aligns with sustainability goals, benefiting all involved parties.

Il ne peut y avoir d'action significative au sein d'un territoire ou d'une destination sans une dynamique collective profonde, suivie et coordonnée. La communication est donc essentielle, tout comme la transversalité, la curiosité, l'émulation réciproque. Les outils participatifs doivent être au coeur des nouvelles formes de gouvernance sectorielle, dans tous les secteurs d'ailleurs, pas que dans le tourisme.

Colaborar es una palabra que lleva a la acción a partir de la vocación de servicio y eso es lo que caracteriza a los que estamos en la actividad del turismo; colaborar con las zonas de operación donde requieren nuestro compromiso y participación ciudadanas en las tomas de decisiones y programas en bien de la mejora de los destinos es una buena alternativa.

El turismo es una cadena y ésta cadena está conformada por distintos grupos con distintos intereses y objetivos. Establecer objetivos y metas compatibles y comunes nos ayudará a comunicar y colaborar mejor en beneficio de todo el sistema, del territorio, comunidades anfitrionas y viajeros.

El turismo como cualidad otra actividad requiere de constante innovación: Sellos de calidad, reportes de sostenibilidad, huella de carbono, etc. pero al mismo tiempo requiere digitalización, sistematización y automatización de procesos que conllevan a la mejora de la calidad en la prestación de los servicios en beneficio del cliente.

Sino se puede medir no se puede controlar, la sostenibilidad requiere definición clara de indicadores que a?o a a?o son revisados, superados y mejorados. Estos indicadores son la base en la toma de decisiones y garantizan la permanencia en el mercado.

Whenever possible, have the local community to do open governance transparent auditorship of your project, including whistleblowing. They probably have the most important critiques about your touristic projects.

?De qué manera es posible implementar modelos de desarrollo turístico que sean sostenibles para los territorios? Para dar respuesta a este interrogante una de las formas es trabajar en la formación de profesionales que puedan afrontar estos nuevos desafíos. En particular, desde CIF OIT/ITCILO, a través del Curso de Turismo Sostenible y Desarrollo Local en Areas Rurales, hace ya varios a?os que orientamos todos nuestros esfuerzos para sensibilizar, educar e inspirar a perfiles directivos y técnicos del sector turístico, en especial de AL y Caribe, aportando nuevas herramientas que contribuyan a un turismo como motor de desarrollo, generando nuevos emprendimientos y trabajo decente, siempre desde la perspectiva de la sostenibilidad.

As head of sustainability for a premium and adventure travel company, I observed first-hand the benefits of transparency and knowledge sharing regarding good practices. First, we set our own environmental standards, following strong, recognised frameworks that we adapt to the local destination, such as UNWTO's ESG one. We then work closely with our partners in: 1—Training them rigorously both from an awareness perspective and also operationally. 2—Explaining the importance of adhering to the principles despite clients asking to bend the rules. 3—Encouraging them to take these practices to their peers and communities. In the process, we inspire other players in the industry and aspire to improve ourselves with each opportunity.

La mejor forma de educar es con el testimonio y el ejemplo, la mejor forma de inspirar es através de las experiencias. El turismo nos puede conducir a vivir emociones que nos conectarán con los territorios y sus personas, compartir nuestra propia experiencia y camino puede inspirar a otras organizaciones a iniciar su propia transición hacia la sostenibilidad.

The first step to finding “balance” is to look at tourism beyond just leisure and hospitality. The industry isn’t limited to recreation but is an economy of its own. Governments should repurpose tourism bureaus to study the entirety of their visitor economy and begin thorough measurement of its impacts to their nation’s local economy, natural environment, and culture. Often, tourism departments only work on promotions and marketing with the focus of increasing international arrivals. This type of tourism governance is a barrier to sustainability because of the focus on high (tourist) foot traffic. Finding balance starts with data - but what if the tourism bureau’s data is just on international arrivals? That itself is already an imbalance.

Simplicity is key. I often work with very confused clients discouraged by the "monstrous task" of balancing the impact of their activities. Their struggle often stems from wanting to solve everything at once or from overengineering their sustainability processes. I always start by co-defining sustainable tourism for a specific organisation and what it means to the environment in which it operates. Then, we identify low-hanging fruits they can tackle with little effort or knowledge. This helps them experience actual change and fuels confidence to take on bigger initiatives with a harder degree of impact. Remember: it is better to do something than nothing at all, regardless of size, resources and expertise.