Sustainable tourism development performance in the wetland areas: a proposed composite index

Abstract

Purpose Destinations wishing to exploit their natural resources, such as wetlands, for tourism development are wise to reach consensus among their community’s stakeholders on the policies and practices needed to sustainably manage tourism development and activities in their fragile natural environments. Drawing from an old adage that you cannot manage what you do not measure, one of the most important challenges facing policymakers and destination managers is the measurement of tourism to determine if it is meeting its desired objectives. This paper aims to focus on producing a system for monitoring the performance of tourism development on sustainable tourism practices. Design/methodology/approach The proposed system is based upon a qualitative study using the Delphi method involving stakeholders from different areas of expertise in rural economic development and natural resource management. Findings After three rounds in the Delphi stage, the participants reached consensus on the following set of 69 indicators: Environmental (8 sub-components and 19 indicators), Socio-cultural (7 sub-components and 24 indicators) and Economic (8 sub-components and 26 indicators) for sustainable tourism development performance in the wetland areas. Originality/value The provided scale in this manuscript will allow the planners/managers to assess the sustainable tourism development in their area in an easy and reliable way.

Assessment sustainable tourism: a literature review composite indicator

“…Specifically, the indicator based on the environmental dimension of the assessment of sustainable tourism shown in Table 2. [3,17]; Use of resources [3,17] Tourism destination Protection of the natural ecosystems [3,17]; Energy management [3,17] Water management [3,17]; Climate change [12]; Sewage treatment [12] Physical integrity [25]; Tourism diversity [13]; Protective value of the wetland [13]; Land-use change [13] Government Public administrations' expenditure on environmental protection [3,17] Solid waste management [12]; Water management [12]; Energy usage [12]; Wastewater management [3,17]; Management of solid urban waste [3,17]; Management of the visual impact of facilities and infrastructure [3,17]; Intensity of tourist use [3,17] Management Agency…”

“…Resources efficiency [25]; Environmental purity [25]; Systemic introducing of destination [13]; Attitude toward environmental protection [13]; Ambient quality [13]; Biodiversity [13]; Environmental NGOs [13] Indicator based on economic affecting to profit tourism in general economic, competitiveness, branding, local prosperity, tourism flow (volume and value at destination, tourism employs, business enterprise related to destination, and sustaining tourist satisfaction. Indicator of economic basically used to stimulates offer livelihood opportunities, support for preservation of local culture though sale handicrafts, and increases governances' tax base.…”

“…Tourist Tourism-related transport [3,17] Local community Tourism flow [12]; Economic viability [25]; Local prosperity [25] Dependency of income of households around area on tourism [13] Tourism destination Sustaining tourist satisfaction [3,17]; Destination competitiveness [3,17] Quantity and quality of employment [12]; Employment quality [25] Government Development control [3,17]; Gender equality [13]; Hard tourism infrastructure [13]; Branding [13]; Investment volume [13]; The diversity of income sources [13]; Willingness to pay [13] Management Agency Tourist offers-providing a variety of experiences to visitors [3,17] Seasonality of tourism activity [3,17]; Tourism employment [3,17] Tourism enterprise(s) performance [12]; Business enterprises related to tourism [13] Supporting facilities Economic benefits of tourism for the business community [3,17] Indicators of social, cover visitor fulfilment, safety and health, culture richness and exchange, visitor compliance, local interaction, population, psychological, effect on level of well-being in local population, soft infrastructure related to tourism, conservation of cultural heritage, protecting culture and accessibility to inclusion. Social indicator basically used to better understanding and positive social, reaction to facilities or opportunities, improve image and understanding of different culture or communication.…”

“…Specifically, the indicator based on the social dimension of the assessment of sustainable tourism shown in Table 4. [3,17]; Social equity [25] Soft infrastructure related to tourism [13] Government Safety of the destination [3,17]; Effects on national population structure [3,17]; Social carrying capacity of the destination [3,17] Effects on level of well-being in the local population [3,17]; Cultural richness [25]; Population [13]; Tourism supply chain [12] Management Agency Sociocultural effects of tourism on host community [3,17] Gender equality [12]; Inclusion/accessibility [12] Supporting facilities Local community participation in the development of tourism [13] Cultural exchange [13] Then, each indicator is grouped based on stakeholders (tourist, resident, tourism, government, tourism management institution, non-government organization) of tourism which most related to the indicators. The stakeholders in the tourism sector commit to ensuring that the quality of life of future generations and the development of long-term welfare of tourism are guaranteed and not in trouble.…”

“…It is important to balance the needs for economic growth and the exploitation of regional natural resources [8,9], maintain quality of life and development [9,10,11]. More specifically in, a social aspect which: defined through assessing the level of satisfaction, social well-being, and stakeholder relations; an economic aspect which: linked to the economic benefits to all stakeholder, employment, income-earning and profitability [4]; environmental aspect: which represented by the intensity of natural resource use, recycling/reuse, pollution, and land used [3,12,13]. Management of all resources in such a way that economic and social needs can be fulfilled while maintaining the environment (ecological and biodiversity) which is referred to as sustainable tourism [2,14,15].…”