Framework for destination stewardship: Advancing towards the optimal model
In the evolving landscape of global tourism, effective governance is pivotal to achieving sustainable and inclusive growth. Destination stewardship governance involves the systems and structures that shape how tourism is managed and developed, ensuring that the needs of local communities, businesses, and visitors are harmoniously balanced. This governance approach underpins the transition to responsible tourism, addressing pressing challenges such as resource depletion, overcrowding, and the need for community inclusion.
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In the evolving landscape of global tourism, effective governance is pivotal to achieving sustainable and inclusive growth. Destination stewardship governance involves the systems and structures that shape how tourism is managed and developed, ensuring that the needs of local communities, businesses, and visitors are harmoniously balanced. This governance approach underpins the transition to responsible tourism, addressing pressing challenges such as resource depletion, overcrowding, and the need for community inclusion.
To support destinations on this journey, the Destination Stewardship Governance Diagnostic Framework provides a comprehensive tool for evaluating governance practices and identifying areas for improvement. By encouraging collaboration across stakeholders, this framework offers a pathway towards achieving the ideal model of stewardship.
Pillars of destination governance
Destination governance encompasses seven critical aspects, each requiring alignment between the public, private, and community sectors. These include strategic vision, implementation, collaboration, resource mobilisation, influence, legitimacy, and data management. Together, they define how tourism policies are developed, enacted, and monitored.
For governance to be effective, it must ensure inclusivity, transparency, and accountability. This requires participation from all stakeholders such as government bodies, businesses, and local communities, whose perspectives and needs must be integrated into the decision-making process. Unlike traditional governance models focused on managing tourism growth, destination stewardship governance prioritises sustainability and resilience.
Destination Stewardship Diagnostic Framework
The framework is a structured tool designed to guide stakeholders in assessing and improving their destination’s governance practices. It enables a collaborative approach to addressing governance challenges, helping stakeholders identify gaps, set priorities, and implement effective strategies.
- Preparation phase: Defining scope and stakeholders
The first step in applying the framework is defining the scope of the enquiry. This involves identifying the key issues or destination needs, such as environmental sustainability, social equity, or economic resilience. For instance, concerns may range from waste management and visitor capacity to heritage preservation.
Next, stakeholders determine the governance system under review, whether it pertains to a specific policy, programme, or destination-wide initiative. Finally, the framework emphasises the importance of involving diverse stakeholders, including government agencies, tourism operators, community representatives, and knowledge institutions.
- Implementation phase: Step-by-step evaluation
Using the framework, stakeholders evaluate the governance system through guided questions across the seven governance aspects:
- Strategic vision: Does the destination have a clear, co-created vision for the future, with measurable goals that balance the needs of residents, visitors, and the environment?
- Implementation: Are policies and programmes transparent, aligned, and adaptive to changing circumstances?
- Collaboration: Are roles and responsibilities clearly defined across public, private, and community sectors? Is there a mechanism for regular dialogue and cooperation?
- Resource mobilisation: Are resources, financial, human, and technical, sufficient, efficiently allocated, and equitably shared?
- Influence: Are leadership and decision-making processes inclusive and effective? Do stakeholders share ownership of the outcomes?
- Legitimacy: Are governance actions transparent, lawful, and responsive to community needs?
- Data and knowledge: Is reliable data available, shared, and used effectively to inform decision-making?
The framework encourages a collaborative process, such as workshops or structured discussions, where stakeholders work together to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement.
Advancing towards the ideal model
The goal of destination stewardship governance is to achieve a high level of engagement and alignment among all stakeholders, moving towards a scenario of full public-private-community collaboration. This optimal model, often referred to as business as unusual, redefines success in tourism beyond traditional metrics like visitor numbers. Instead, it focuses on creating value for all stakeholders, ensuring destinations are better places to live and visit. However, advancing towards this model requires addressing common barriers, such as fragmented decision-making, inadequate resources, and conflicting priorities.
Destination stewardship governance is a transformative approach that prioritises sustainable and inclusive tourism development. By using the Governance Diagnostic Framework, stakeholders can identify and address weaknesses in their current systems, paving the way for more resilient and harmonious destinations.
