Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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decent employment, and social responsibility. Whereas, in Italy, the Tourism Strategic
Plan aims to better distribute visitor flows to decongest saturated areas and thus reduce
impact on local communities.
In Uganda, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has implemented a revenue sharing scheme
whereby 20% of entry fees to national parks is paid to local government authorities
neighboring protected areas to support the implementation of various community
projects, including building schools. In the Maldives, the government introduced the
guesthouse concept to both diversify product offerings and to benefit local communities.
Only Maldivians were allowed to invest in guesthouses in certain areas. Whereas in
Jordan, the Economic Growth Through Sustainable Tourism Project, with funding from
USAID, seeks to increase the employment of women and youth working in the tourism
sector.
Create a Culture of Sustainable Entrepreneurship: The importance of retaining as
much money in the local economy as a result of tourism activity should not be overlooked.
As with the above, the key is enlisting and enhancing the support of local enterprises in
the delivery of services. The role of local-to-place businesses, and their capacity to change
quickly as circumstances alter, will do much to help build capacity, sustain local
employment and ensure that benefit remains with those people responsible for the
maintenance of the local tourism environment over the long term. Cruise ships come and
go; their financial impact needs to be retained in the local economy as far as possible.
One way of attempting to create a culture of sustainable entrepreneurship is the use of
taxation to promote businesses that employ, retain and encourage local employment, and
that buy local services and goods from sustainable sources. This could be seen to be, in
effect, as a government subsidy for responsible behaviour in the sector.
6. Ensuring Tourist Satisfaction – Destination Level
Take measures to ensure tourist satisfaction: Providing innovative products and services,
ensuring a quality experience, and continually monitoring tourist satisfaction and taking
corrective measures when needed, are some of the ways to ensure tourist satisfaction.
In Denmark, the LOCALHOOD program, initiated by the DMO Wonderful Copenhagen, aims
to rejuvenate the tourism experience by introducing new products and creating an emotional
connection to the Copenhagen brand through content to ensure higher levels of tourist
satisfaction. In Sweden, a four-year initiative was launched in 2012 to improve the quality of
hospitality services as well as the overall quality of the destination. 409
In Jordan, the Economic Growth Through Sustainable Tourism Project, with funding from
USAID, seeks to improve Jordan’s tourism facilities and services to ensure tourist satisfaction
and improve the country’s competitiveness. In Uganda, visitor exit surveys are conducted
annually to establish the level of tourist satisfaction with their experience and enable the
Uganda TourismBoard tomonitor destination performance. Similarly, in theMaldives, visitor
exist surveys are conducted, and a dedicated hotline for tourist complaints is provided.
409 OECD. (2018). “OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2018”.