Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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tourism strategies. New Zealand presents the strongest example in terms of protecting natural and
cultural heritage through designating them as world heritage sites, with 28 Natural World Heritage
Sites, and 120 Cultural World Heritage Sites. Both Denmark and Italy have community well-being
elements incorporated into eco-certification, which are endorsed by destination management
organizations, of hospitality establishments at their destination. In all examples, tourism sector
players are encouraged through the use of incentives to adopt more sustainable practices. OIC
countries, based on case study examples, have also launched initiatives covering all
sustainability strategy areas, many of these initiatives are still emergent or in the process of
development. Jordan seems to have the strongest initiatives in various areas due to the support
of bilateral and international donors.
Access to Funding: Both public and private domestic sources are used to fund sustainable
tourism initiatives in OIC and leading non-OIC countries. However, it is worth noting that the
ability of the private sector to finance sustainability initiatives is hindered in many OIC countries
by the shortage of resources of tourism businesses and their inability to get loans due to either
absence of collateral or scarcity of financial instruments to support sustainability initiatives. In
terms of foreign funding, both OIC and non-OIC countries have received international funding,
however, while many OIC countries have received bilateral funding, leading non-OIC countries
mainly received funding from regional organizations.
Monitoring and Evaluation of Sustainable Tourism: Leading non-OIC countries have formal
procedures in place for continuous monitoring and reporting on destination sustainability. The
indicators used by the countries, provided as examples in the report, are internationally
recognized and comprehensive; they cover economic, socio-cultural, and environmental tourism
impacts as well as sustainable destination management performance. Examples from the OIC
country case studies are currently focused on measuring the economic and to some extent the
environmental impacts of tourism, however, they seem to lack formal procedures for continuous
monitoring and reporting on sustainable tourism. Nonetheless, this seems to be changing in
some destinations in light of the various initiatives and efforts that are being supported by both
bilateral donors and international organizations.