Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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4. Access to Financing Tools – Destination/national/regional level
Apply for international funding for sustainable tourism projects: Several
international organizations offer funding for projects related to sustainability and it would
be wise to apply for funding for relevant projects.
Establish regional organizations to support sustainable tourismefforts and provide
funding: The European Commission, for example, provides funding to projects related to
sustainable tourism. Similarly, a regional or OIC-wide organization can be dedicated to
providing funding to support tourism sustainability projects in member countries.
Facilitate Green Finance: Green finance refers to a range of innovative financial
instruments that encourage green investments. This encourages more private sector
capital to flow to sustainable projects than to non-sustainable projects.
Governments to encourage private sector financing and investment in sustainable
tourism projects: Governments can encourage the private sector to invest in sustainable
projects through subsidies, green loans and by providing insurance for green assets.
5. Monitoring Destination Sustainability – Destination/national/regional level
Monitor Current Sustainable TourismPractices: Perhaps the most important factor for
achieving sustainable outcomes at the destination level is robust and independent
monitoring of current practices on site.
Translating and Implementing Agenda 2030 in a Sustainable Tourism Context: This
is one of the roles that the country-wide advisory and monitory body, proposed above to
monitor performance, can be given real meaning.
Aligning Science, Policy and Capital in Pursuit of Sustainable Tourism: Sustainable
tourism policies need to work at all levels across society, including those of academics,
entrepreneurs and social policy planners.
Develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Sustainability: The OIC should take
the lead in creating and producing a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for
Sustainability for quick and easy use by its Members so that cross-country comparison
can be made.
Establish an OIC-level sustainable tourism monitoring system: Every member
country needs to determine its position regarding its overall tourism climate based on
where it sits in destination life cycle models, what its tourism resources are and what its
total tourism budget it. This involves an on-going process of acquiring valid and reliable
data across these sectors in ways that, ideally, lead to cross-country comparisons. If the
OIC is to truly benefit its members, then as many as possible need to be involved to
improve the quality of the information and hence the decisions that can be based on it.
DMOs to play a role in monitoring performance: The DMO roles should be widened to
encompass a sustainability monitoring role, which is separate from its marketing role.