Proceedings of the 12th Meeting of
The COMCEC Tourism Working Group
7
sample. Ensuring non-renewable resources sustainability and reducing pollution were at the
end of the list but still with half of the respondents rating it as a high to medium priority area.
In terms of sustainable tourism funding, Mr. Shikoh shared that funding is usually from both
domestic and foreign sources. Domestic funding involves public sources such as local and
national government; and private sources, such as private financial institutions and
conservation organizations. Foreign funding involves bilateral investors and donors, regional
development organizations, and international development organizations, as well as financial
institutions. Some of the innovative financing tools include green bonds and sukuks, energy
efficiency facility loans, smart incentives for eco-certification, enterprise challenge funds,
crowdfunding, and voluntary contributions from tourists.
Mr. Shikoh then discussed sustainable tourism indicators, which usually measure economic,
social and environmental impact, and compared three different indicators developed by the
UNWTO, the Economist Intelligence Unit, and the European Commission. In terms of survey
results, 60% of survey respondents were aware of indicators used at their destination.
Questions & Remarks
Comments: The media can negatively affects the image and tourism development of a
destination.
Question: How the diverse stakeholder profiles was managed and reflected to the report? And
how the different concerns and priorities were reflected in this report?
Answer: Each country has different needs, for example what is necessary for one country
might not be necessary for other. Some countries are mature in tourism sector even in their
sustainability initiatives and others are not mature in tourism. They were grouped in 4 groups
and it will give various countries a guide to use in terms of the practices they can apply.
4. Sustainable Destination Management Strategies: Selected Case Studies,
Main Challenges, Recommendations and Prospects
In his second presentation, Mr. Shikoh shared case study findings, compared tourism
sustainability practices of OIC member states versus global best practices, shared the main
challenges of OIC member states, and provided policy recommendations for the OIC member
states.