Resources

RESOURCES


RESOURCES: PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS

Author : Cynthia Messer, Ingrid Schneider & Okechukwu Ukaga
School/Work Place : University of Minnesota, USA
Contact : cmesser@umn.edu
Year : 2007

Communities have a variety of interest levels in tourism overall, including sustainable tourism (WTO, 2002). While we have witnessed increased awareness and discussions about sustainability and sustainable tourism, there is often a lack of shared definitions of means and ends among stakeholders, ambiguities in what is meant by sustainable tourism, and constant debate over specific policy and practice options for achieving it (McCool et al, 2001).

Thus, to enhance understanding and application of sustainable tourism principles and practices, a program based on best practices across the U.S. was developed. The program enhances and facilitates progress in sustainable tourism by addressing environmental, economic or social issues as identified by the community. A case study of program application and evaluation is presented for discussion and replication.

The Tourism Resource Team (TRT) program provides technical assistance to community tourism organizations that have encountered an obstacle to realize their sustainable tourism goals. The University based TRT program is grounded in three principles: 1) active citizenship of local citizens in designing and implementing projects, 2) addressing issues according to sustainable development principles; and 3) a vibrant relationship between citizens and their University. The program’s process includes an invitation to communities to submit a proposal, objective evaluation of the proposal, and, if/when selected, ongoing interaction for more than one year related to the sustainable tourism obstacle.

Upon selection, the community creates a broad reaching community tourism team, provides a packet of information to the TRT and prepares for a 2-3 day visit. Based on the community’s needs, an expert TRT team participates in 2-3 days of site visits and meetings, and prepares a presentation with recommendations to discuss with the community. A final report is crafted within
one month of the visit and presented to the community. Program evaluations are conducted immediately, as well as 6 and 12 months following the visit. These immediate, short and long-term evaluations provide various feedback mechanisms and insight for the program and community.

To date, three iterations of the program have ensued leaving a list of lessons learned and successes from which to build. Issues of concern to the communities are similar to those encountered elsewhere (Nickerson and Kerr, 2000) and include: gateway community tensions with federal and state land owners, seasonality, and integrated community relations. Lessons learned and affirmed from the cases include the necessity for full community participation, need to educate about sustainable tourism, and the delicacy of community relations.

All program implementations met with success and measurable outcomes. Along with an immediate increased understanding of sustainable tourism, community leaders and citizens expressed recognition of the consequences of mass tourism development and development that occurs without public involvement. Longer-term community benefits identified include opportunities for organization, a sense of collaboration, and increased understanding of sustainable tourism. Lessons learned include insight on team formations, community culture, and resource allocation.

The TRT program has proven a valuable tool to address community-driven sustainable tourism issues. The program expands local understanding of sustainable tourism, encourages community participation in using sustainable practices to address local issues, and generates outcomes and long-term impacts for communities. The model can easily be replicated.


List of Articles
No. Subject Views Datesort
354 Think Tank XVII Lack of transparency - a barrier for the diffusion of ... file 533 Aug 17, 2017

Throughout the last two decades, the tourism industry has changed due to the revolutionary development in the realm of information and communication technologies (ICT) (Amaro & Duate, 2013; Law et al., 2004; Minghetti & Buhalis, 2010...

Author: Sven-Olaf Gerdt, Elisa Wagner & Gerhard Schewe 

Year: 2017 

353 Think Tank XVII The Role of Tour guide for Sustainable Tourism with th... file 4140 Aug 17, 2017

The emergence of information technology has a profound impact on tourism industry. Today, visitors are more inclined to have searched the Internet to gain more pre-tour knowledge for the destinations than before. The advances of the various ...

Author: Daisy Suk-fong FUNG 

Year: 2017 

352 Think Tank XVII Managing open rock art sites for tourism, in the centr... file 1057 Aug 17, 2017

Rock art is found across the world and is a unique heritage which is divided into three main categories; rock paintings (pictographs), rock engravings, (petroglyphs), and geoglyphs (natural objects used as designs) (Anati, 1993; Clottes, 199...

Author: Claire Louisa Fordred & Kevin Mearns 

Year: 2017 

351 Think Tank XVII Investigating the impact of climate change on the tour... file 2072 Aug 17, 2017

The tourism sector is vital for the development of small island developing states. However, climate change can negatively impact on tourism demand and affect these economies both on the economic and social level. The purpose of this study is...

Author: Sheereen Fauzel, Boopen Seetanah, Robin Sannassee & Robin Nunkoo 

Year: 2017 

350 Think Tank XVII Investigating the relationship between FDI and Tourism... file 1233 Aug 17, 2017

This paper employs a dynamic time series econometrics framework, namely a vector error correction model (VECM), to investigate the link between foreign direct investment (FDI) and tourist arrivals in Mauritius for the period 1980-2015. The r...

Author: Sheereen Fauzel, & Boopen Seetanah 

Year: 2017 

349 Think Tank XVII Making hotel guests voluntarily waive daily room cleaning file 1021 Aug 17, 2017

Tourism is the fourth largest economic contributor globally and outperforms the growth of the world economy (United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), 2013). But tourism growth comes at a cost. Not surprisingly, therefore, tourism i...

Author: Sara Dolnicar & Ljubica Knezevic Cvelbar & Bettina Grun 

Year: 2017 

348 Think Tank XVII Responsible tourism and innovation practices by touris... file 1407 Aug 17, 2017

Responsible tourism incorporates economic, environmental and social imperatives in accordance with ‘sustainable tourism’ notions (Booyens & Rogerson, 2016a). This research argues that tourism firms need to innovate in order to be economi...

Author: Irma Booyens and Christian M. Rogerson 

Year: 2017 

347 Think Tank XVI Communicating sustainability values of wine producers file 2211 Jul 02, 2016

This paper examines visual design language used in the New Zealand wine industry to communicate values of sustainability. The contribution critically discusses how industry values are physically manifested in and communicated through imager...

Author: Tobias Danielmeier 

Year: 2016 

346 Think Tank XVI Responsible High Performance Sport Travel – Opportunit... file 2038 Jul 02, 2016

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Author: Kerstin Heuwinkel 

Year: 2016 

345 Think Tank XVI The influence of environmental attitudes and concerns ... file 1309 Jul 02, 2016

This study investigates environmental attitudes and concerns of Germans tourists towards climate change. Furthermore it analyses if there are attempts to neutralise air travel emissions by means of voluntary carbon-offsetting. Past research...

Author: Isabell Wulfsberg, Dirk Reiser, Volker Rundshagen & Nicolai Scherle 

Year: 2016 

344 Think Tank XVI Navigating Evolving Global Trends in Financial Crime: ... file 2445 Jul 02, 2016

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Author: Verity Anne Greenwood 

Year: 2016 

343 Think Tank XVI Tourists vs Tour operators Preferences for CSR Policie... file 2361 Jul 02, 2016

There is an increasing concern for environmental and social issues among international travelers. As a consequence, many tourist corporations have been exploring the implementation of Social Responsibility (SR) policies as a tool to gain co...

Author: Jorge E. Araña, Gianluca Goffi & Carmelo J. León 

Year: 2016 

342 Think Tank XVI The role of sustainability communication in the attitu... file 1165 Jul 02, 2016

The extensive growth of the tourism sector entails both beneficial economic contribution and negative environmental and socio-economic impacts. In order to protect the resources tourism is based upon, greater levels of sustainability are ne...

Author: Christina Tölkes 

Year: 2016 

341 Think Tank XVI Tourists’ attitude towards and willingness to pay for ... file 1294 Jul 02, 2016

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Author: Isabel Lissner & Marius Mayer 

Year: 2016 

340 Think Tank XVI The impact of CSR activities of family businesses on c... file 5191 Jul 02, 2016

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Author: Zehrer Anita 

Year: 2016 

339 Think Tank XVI Decolonising tourism education through Indigenisation:... file 976 Jul 02, 2016

Businesses committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR) are guided by policy that focuses on the integration of social and environmental concerns in all aspects of business strategy and practice (Lund-Durlacher, 2015). This paper cons...

Author: Tamara Young & Amy Maguire 

Year: 2016 

338 Think Tank XVI Crowdsourcing – New Ways of an efficient Corporate Soc... file 1779 Jul 02, 2016

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Sustainability (CS) play a more and more crucial role in the development of hotel business. A study of the French hotel company Accor shows, that sustainability is a determining factor of ...

Author: Matthias Straub 

Year: 2016 

337 Think Tank XVI The Act of Giving – Understanding CSR in Myanmar in a ... file 3337 Jul 02, 2016

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Author: Nicole Häusler & Kathrin Dischereit 

Year: 2016 

336 Think Tank XVI CSR and tourism practices in communities near mines: A... file 874 Jul 02, 2016

There has always been a disparity between active mining and tourism mainly due to the socio-economic and environmental impacts of mines on both the adjacent resident communities and the areas taken up by the mining operation. Although herit...

Author: Felicite A Fairer-Wessels 

Year: 2016 

335 Think Tank XVI Third sector organisations and stakeholders in tourism... file 2106 Jul 02, 2016

This paper identifies and explains roles, functions and structures in visitor management of protected areas in nature-based tourism in New Zealand. Establishing the benefits and disadvantages arising from the implementation of any particula...

Author: Julia N. Albrecht 

Year: 2016 

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