Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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When UNESCO’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development actually reaches 2030 the world will
be a very different place. By some estimates (such as those of the UN World’s Tourism
Organisation) the following may, just may, apply398:
 The majority of products will have become services – why own a car when you can hire
one on demand?
 There will be a global price on carbon – fossil fuels are on the way out and unless
alternatives are found - international travel (such as by long-haul flights) may well be
reduced
 The fully-interactive digital world will be real – why go to Angkor Wat when you can
experience it at home via AI?
 Whilst the dominance of the USA will be over, particularly economically, there will be
a comeback of the notion of the nation-state: this could have profound implications for
international treaties and global remedies to global problems, particularly as global
online companies (especially those providing information and connectivity in real-
time) will be even more dominant
 Two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities; they will then go on to create a
world population in excess of 11 billion by 2100; nearly two-thirds of whom will live
in poverty
 Africa will see a rise in population by over 100%; Europe’s will decline by 5%
 By 2050 Nigeria’s population will be larger than the USA’s
 By 2024 India will have the largest population in the world, outstripping that of China
 Arctic ice could be a memory; Antarctic ice merely a shadow
 Much of coastal Florida could be underwater, followed by many of the world’s great
cities by 2100.
These are just some of the mega-challenges faced by the world as it tries to grapple with
sustainability, and these changes will, in combination – if even half of them become real –
have a major, irreparably long-lasting effect on the world, its people, their activities and their
well-being. Of course, the world’s natural ecology will adapt and prosper as it has done for
the last 4.2 billion years399: where there were once beaches there will be mangroves; close-
to-sea freshwater lakes will become estuaries; deserts will re-green; species will become
extinct, others will take their place.
The down-side is that since much of the world’s cultural history is to be found in cities
vulnerable to sea-level rise (London, New York, Rome, Shanghai, Tokyo, Venice, Alexandria)
as well as, for example some that are not (such as Miami) much of this will be lost
irretrievably. The majority of the world’s greatest ancient cities, places, monuments and
landscapes will be no more. In addition, many of the world’s most significant natural
landscapes are also at risk (such as the Dead Sea as well as the glaciers that are the namesake
of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park400). The loss of such places will seriously
impact the tourism sector, and the economies that currently depend upon them.
From this perspective, each OIC country striving to put in place sustainable tourism policies
must get behind and support every international effort (whatever the perceived immediate
398 United Nations. (2013). Annual report.
399 One estimate Stearns, Beverly Peterson; Stearns, S. C.; Stearns, Stephen C. (2000). Watching, from the Edge of Extinction. Yale
University Press. p. preface x. ISBN 978-0-300-08469-6. Retrieved 30 May 2017 suggests that 99% of all species that have lived
on earth are now extinct.
400 UNESCO. (1995). Waterton glacier International Peace Park. Retrieved from