Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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Terre Natural Park. In these cases, mass tourism has become unsustainable for the future of the
destination, for the residents, the environment, and the tourists themselves, and potentially pose
a threat to the sustainability of natural and historical heritage, to the environment, and to the
quality of tourism at the destinations.
The beautiful city of Venice, with a population of 250,000, received just under four million
international tourists in 2016 who spent at least one night274 and an increasing number of day
visitors.275 This makes for an economic environment highly dependent on tourism and entails
negative effects like a decrease in availability of apartments and soaring rental prices for locals,
a labor market almost exclusively dependent on tourism, low wages, and enormous amounts of
pollution and waste produced. Both the GDP and employment in Venice are more than twice as
high as for Italy overall.276 Over-tourism has led to some acts of tourism phobia277 and constant
demonstrations against big cruisers sailing into the canals. Overcrowding makes it very difficult
for locals to carry out their daily lives and mass land and sea traffic strain the resources. This
has also contributed to local citizens moving away from Venice. In 2016 the Venice municipality
established an innovative measure on key festive days sectioning off certain areas to tourists. In
2018, Venice installed turnstiles as a temporary measure to limit massive tourist flow to certain
areas of the city. These measures have not had continuity or any substantial impact, not least
because they were implemented unilaterally by the public authorities, with no participation of
the private sector.
Rome is one of the most famous destinations worldwide because of its high concentration of
history, art, and culture sites combined with all the opportunities offered by the many
conferences, fairs, and exhibitions, with all the opportunities for shopping, medical visits,
education, and business. In 2016, the travel and tourism industry brought $7.8 billion to Rome’s
economy. In the same year, the total number of arrivals to the capital exceeded 16 million. The
ratio of visitor per capita is six arrivals per resident; this is higher than most other European
cities.278 Overcrowding have caused an increase in environmental stress and the competition for
public space use can lead to a decrease in local residents’ quality of life.
Sustainable Destination Management
Destination Governance
The Italian Government Tourist Board ENIT (Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo) was founded in
1919 and has been promoting Italy as a tourist destination for the last 100 years. ENIT functions
under the direction of the TourismMinister. After 2014, and following a change in the statute, it
operates as a public economic entity, with legal autonomy with regards to management,
accounting, and organization.279 Its principal task is promoting Italy as a tourist destination by
marketing its many resources and attractions, both as a whole and of each region. It is therefore
274 Statista. (2018). Number of foreign tourist arrivals in Venice 2011-2016 . Retrieved from
275 Lenassi, A. (2013). Sustainable tourism in Venice. Retrieved from
276 World Travel and Tourism Council. (2017). Tourism Impact Venice 2017. Retrieved from
277 The Local. (2016). "Go away!", frustrated Venice locals tell tourists . Retrieved from
away-frustrated-venice-locals-tell-tourists.
278 World Travel and Tourism Council. (2017). Tourism Impact Rome 2017. Retrieved from
279 ENIT. (2017), Natura giuridica. Retrieved from