Proceedings of the 12th Meeting of
The COMCEC Tourism Working Group
6
In terms of the role of DMOs with regards to sustainable tourism, Mr. Shikoh demonstrated
how DMOs marketing, operational and strategic areas of responsibility involved activities that
served sustainable tourism goals. However, he pointed out that there are many other
governmental and non-governmental bodies involved in the development and implementation
of sustainability goals through regulations and strategies, which operate on international,
regional, national, and local levels.
Mr. Shikoh then explained that sustainable destination management addresses five core areas
or parameters, which include a supportive regulatory environment, stakeholder engagement,
effective tourism sustainability strategies, access to financing tools and monitoring destination
sustainability.
In terms of establishing a supportive regulatory environment, Mr. Shikoh explained that it
involves imposing sanctions, taxation and financial incentives; establishing regulations
regarding land use, and planning and development; rules related to employee rights, tourists’
health and safety, environmental protection, protection of local communities, use of non-
renewable resources, and equal access. A supportive regulatory enviornment also invovled
implementing environmental impact assessments to encourage tourism businesses to monitor
their environmental footprint.
As for engaging sustainable tourism stakeholders, Mr. Shikoh shared types of stakeholders
which need to be engaged. They include DMOs, regional and international organizations,
educational and training institutions, government bodies, NGO’s, the tourism industry, the
local community, as well as tourists themselves.
Mr. Shikoh shared that the survey conducted for the study demonstrated low levels of
involvement and collaboration in tourism sustainability strategies; close to half of the
respondents reported being only informed of strategies as opposed to being consulted or
involved.
Next, Mr. Shikoh shared six sustainable tourism strategies that address each of UNWTO’s
sustainable tourism goals. These strategies are: managing demand and seasonality, ensuring
local community welling, increasing awareness, ensuring tourist satisfaction, protection of
cultural heritage, and managing environmental impact.
In terms of the priority level of sustainability policies, the majority of the survey respondents
felt that ensuring tourist satisfaction should be the highest priority area, followed closely by
planning tourist developments, the protection of natural and cultural heritage, and managing
demand and seasonality. Increasing awareness of sustainability issues and ensuring local
community well-being were rated as high to medium priority areas by more than half of the