Inspireco Training Sustainable Destination

Inspireco Training

How to become a Ecotourism Destination Herbert Hamele/ ECOTRANS Egirdir, 10-13 June 2014

Theme 1: How to become a Ecotourism Destination

Objectives of the training The international standards for sustainable destinations form the base for becoming a "Green Destination" through • involving many stakeholders, • assessing the sustainability level, • developing and realizing an action plan for research, • innovation, marketing and monitoring. The training will help to understand the global context and opportunities and to use the European tourism indicators for sustainable destination

8 steps & tools for becoming a Ecotourism Destination (DestiNet Partner Programme)

Join appropriate networks Monitor your progress & benchmark your destination Promote and market your destination Map your green strengths, initiatives & offer

Learn about your topic of interest Get training to make your destination greener Assess your Sustainability Profile Work together & get advice

1

Learn about your topic of interest

Tool/Material:

Destinations Knowledge Base, EEN Knowledge Base

Topic:

Ecotourism

Example:

Ecotourism Destination (2nd EETC Declaration)

Questions:

Which topics are of most interest to you? Are the requirements on „Ecotourism destination“ ok?

Declaration of The 2nd European Ecotourism Conference We agree with the following ecotourism destination concept Ecotourism destinations in Europe should have:  A protected area associated with the destination;  A critical mass of local ecotourism businesses;  A sustainability plan under implementation, in developing ecotourism;  Nature and local culture as the main ingredients in product development and marketing;  Active participation of local communities based on shared values, empowered through education and awareness raising.

2 Get training to make your destination greener

Tool/Material:

INSPIRECO training & coaching

Topic:

Ecotourism: tools for assessing the sustainability level

Example:

ISPARTA multi stakeholder group

Question:

Which stakeholders participate at this training?

3 Assess your Sustainability Profile

Tool/Material:

GSTC for destinations, ETIS, EETLS

Topic:

Destination & Business Management

Example:

Quality Cost/GSTR – Sustainability Profile

Questions:

How far are the criteria/ indicators applicable to ISPARTA? What is the ISPARTA sustainability profile?

The European tourism indicator system - Toolkit for sustainable destinations The European tourism indicator system is specifically intended for tourism destinations. It is designed as a locally owned and led process for monitoring, managing, and enhancing the sustainability of a tourism destination. It has been developed as a result of lessons learned from previously existing indicator system initiatives and finetuned as a result of feedback collected from field testing, in a number of different destinations in Europe. The system is made up of a set of Indicators, a toolkit, and a dataset. It is drawn up as an instrument that any destination can pick up and implement without any specific training. It can be a useful way to track destination performance and make better management decisions, as well as influence adequate policies.

The present system has a structure of 27 core and 40 optional indicators. These can be used on a voluntary basis, together or integrated into existing destination monitoring systems. The system is flexible. It can be expanded or contracted to meet the needs of the destination, the interest of local stakeholders, and the specific sustainability issues that the destination faces. The basic principle of the indicator system is that destination responsibility, ownership, and decision-making is shared. Engaging a group to come together and work together to collect and report information is a powerful way to undertake effective destination management

European Tourism Indicators for Sustainable Destinations Assessment sheet for work groups

Draft work steps: 1.

fill out the table (estimate, interviews)

2.

Make pictures of relevant sites

3.

identify gaps of information

4.

come up with ideas how to fill the gaps

5.

Report your results

4

Work together & get advice

Tool/Material:

ETIS

Topic:

Destination Management

Example:

ISPARTA workshop in May, founding of the ISPARTA ecotourism committee

Questions:

Which role shall the ISPARTA committe have? How to continue this process?

ETIS implementation steps from Awareness Raising to Continuous Improvement

5

Map your green strengths, initiatives & offer

Tool/Material:

Green Destination checklist for mapping

Topic:

Sustainable Tourism Certification and Awarding

Example:

VISTAS, Destination „Werfenweng“/Austria

Questions:

Which „green“ strengths, initiatives & offer are already in ISPARTA? Which certificates/awards are available?

DestiNet Innovation Group • • • •

EUCC - Quality Coast EDEN Association Alpine Pearls Ecotrans

Three decades of sustainable tourism training, development & networking in Europe

ITB 2014: Vision for Innovation in Sustainable Tourism Awards (VISTAS!)

Cascais /PT

Kuldiga /EE

Durbuy/BE

Gozo/MT

Lagos/PT

Werfenweng/AT

6 Promote and market your destination

Tool/Material:

Travel Green Europe marketing package

Topic:

Marketing

Example:

Destination „Werfenweng“/Austria

Questions:

Is such a marketing package of interest to ISPARTA? Which marketing channels is ISPARTA using?

7 Monitor your progress & benchmark your destination

Tool/Material:

GSTR for Destinations

Topic:

Monitoring/Benchmarking

Example:

Destination „Werfenweng“/Austria

Questions:

Is this of interest to ISPARTA? Are there monitoring processes in ISPARTA?

Global Sustainable Tourism Review (GSTR)

 Compares the quality and sustainability performance of 1000 destinations

 Monitors improvements in sustainability, over time.  Encourages DMOs, DMCs to improve their performance.  Presents sustainability indicators that are relevant to tourists.

 Helps holiday makers in selecting destinations and accommodations.

Global Sustainable Tourism Review (GSTR)

A new monitoring system of destinations: Sustainability and quality as percieved by visitors

The GSTR is used by various booking websites, e.g. BookDifferent.com

Use of GSTR data in BookDifferent.com

8

Join appropriate networks

Tool/Material:

EEN Knowledge Base Isparta/Turkey, EEN on Ning

Topic:

Networking

Example:

EEN Germany

Questions:

How can the participants contribute to the ISPARTA/ TURKEY knowledge base? How to organise this?

INSPIRECO - Ecotourism Potential Isparta

Workshop 21-22 May 2014 in Egirdir/Isparta - Herbert Hamele/Ecotrans

Making Isparta a Ecotourism Destination

Join appropriate networks Monitor your progress & benchmark your destination Promote and market your destination Map your green strengths, initiatives & offer

Learn about your topic of interest Get training to make your destination greener Assess your Sustainability Profile Work together & get advice

Making Isparta a Ecotourism Destination

Join appropriate networks Monitor your progress & benchmark your destination Promote and market your destination Map your green strengths, initiatives & offer

Learn about your topic of interest Get training to make your destination greener Assess your Sustainability Profile Work together & get advice

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