Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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1.2. Sustainable Tourism Strategies
In an attempt to address the economic, social, and environmental impacts of tourism, destination
sustainability strategies cover several areas. These strategies include increasing awareness of
sustainability issues at the destination level, the protection of natural and cultural heritage assets,
management of environmental impacts (e.g., use of non-renewable resources, pollution reduction,
waste management, and planning of future tourism development and activities), managing demand
and seasonality effects, and ensuring community well-being and tourist satisfaction. The following
figure illustrates how various strategies address sustainable tourism goals and tourism impacts. In
this section, examples will be provided of the various sustainable tourismstrategies in these areas.
Figure 4: Sustainable Tourism Strategies
Source: DinarStandard Analysis
Increasing Awareness
A number of strategies including the provision of guided tours, information at visitor centers,
and awareness and educational programs have been used to increase awareness among local
communities, tourists, and tourism businesses of the importance of sustainable tourism and
local community well-being. In Colombia, outreach programs conducted at schools and with
tourism businesses increased the understanding of the importance of wetlands for Bogota’s
water supplies and environmental quality. In Kenya, a large scale environmental education
program is conducted for 100,000 school students each year, in addition to conducting low-cost
wildlife viewing tours of national parks for residents.83
In New Zealand, the Ministry for the Environment published a “Practical Guide on Protecting
and Restoring New Zealand’s Natural Heritage” to increase local communities’ awareness of the
need for protecting and restoring ecosystems, while the Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment published a number of “Sustainability Best Practice Guides” for tourism, to
promote sustainability practices among businesses working in areas of accommodation, food
and beverages, land and marine activities, transport, and visitor attractions. New Zealand’s
Ministry for the Environment also administers the “Community Environment Fund” dedicated
to raising local communities’ awareness of environmental regulations.84
83 UNWTO. (2012). Destination wetlands supporting sustainable tourism. Retrieved from
84 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. (2013). Sustainable development of tourism destinations. Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation.