Bigger and Complex Is Not Always Better. The Creation of Composite Sustainable Tourism Indicator to Compare Destination Development

Abstract

Destination managers need indicators for monitoring, comparing and decision-making purposes about sustainable tourism development. There have been several initiatives to set the sustainable tourism indicators, however, the indicators are either too complex, data collection is difficult, or the analysis requires expert statistical knowledge. Therefore, this article aims to propose a user-friendly method that allows destination managers and decision makers to process tourism data and integrate them into one composite indicator. To help destination managers in their work, this paper reviews the most used methods to create composite indicators, and with the help of the Delphi method among experienced tourism leaders, it proposes a tool that allows destination managers to compare sustainable tourism development of destinations. The results present the application of simple composite sustainable tourism indicator on the example of eight destinations in Slovakia. The paper provides useful guidance in data collection, analysis and decision-making concerning sustainable tourism development.