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
Teşekkürler!