Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage Areas and Assets
Several strategies are used to preserve natural areas and assets including limiting access or
limiting the provision of facilities for sensitive environments. In Brazil, tourism activities in the
Abroholos are confined to designated dive sites and a 1.6-kilometer nature trail on the island of
Siriba. Furthermore, entering the park’s waters is limited to 15 medium-sized vessels daily,
which limits the maximum of visitors to 225 per day. By limiting the provision of facilities for
visitors (such as toilets, souvenir shops, and food and beverage facilities), tourists can be
directed to areas where they cause less damage to sensitive environments.85
Designation is one of the key strategies in preserving natural and cultural heritage sites and also
raising financial resources for ongoing maintenance. Designation as a national cultural heritage
site attracts tourists, which can help generate the revenues necessary for maintaining the site.86
Furthermore, such designation (e.g., as a UNESCO World Heritage Site) bestows international
legal protection and also enables site managers to get support and guidance on planning and
implementation of sustainability practices.87 In New Zealand, 28 natural and 120 cultural sites
were designated as World Heritage Sites. Furthermore, several regulations concerned with the
protection of cultural heritage assets, including the Heritage Historic Places Act of 1993 and the
National War Memorial Act of 1992 have been established.88
Managing Demand and Seasonality Effects
Destinations have used marketing tools, including product/service offerings, pricing and
promotion, as well as regulations to manage tourism seasonality and to help tourism remain
within the destination’s carrying capacity. Product/service offerings and price can be used to
attract different types of visitors; depending on the carrying capacity of the site, DMOs can target
high numbers of low budget tourists or low numbers of high budget tourists. In Slovenia, the
Skocjan Caves facilities, including its visitor center and walkways, are built in a way to make the
caves accessible to a large number of tourists safely while preserving the caves at the same time.
In Colombia, the DMO in coordination with various stakeholders, including the Foundation
Humedal La Conejera (FHLC) and the local community, worked to develop a regulation manual
on sustainability of the wetlands in La Conejera. The manual, which was developed using a
participatory approach, included guidelines for managing the wetlands within a carrying
capacity framework and demarking public access areas. Promotion is used to attract visitors
during off-peak seasons as well as encouraging them to visit areas of that have low traffic. In
Kenya, the KenyaWildlife Service is launching a program to encourage tourists to visit Rift Valley
lakes to help decrease the pressure caused by high visitor traffic at Lake Nakuru. 89
85 UNWTO. (2012). Destination wetlands supporting sustainable tourism. Retrieved from
86 UNWTO. (2013). Sustainable tourism for development guidebook. UNWTO.
87 The Economist Intelligence Unit. (2017). The sustainable tourism index: Enhancing the global travel environment. Retrieved
from
88 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. (2013). Sustainable development of tourism destinations. Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation.
89 UNWTO. (2012). Destination wetlands supporting sustainable tourism. Retrieved from