The damage wrought by the pandemic and increasing concern around the impacts of climate change have highlighted the need to strengthen the tourism sector against ongoing and future shocks. Many destinations are now embracing the opportunity to improve the resilience of their tourism product so that they can deliver economic benefits and value for their communities into the future.
We can assist destinations to become more resilient with training, practical tools and resources, as well as mentoring opportunities. We can;
- Provide destinations with the latest market insights and enable them to consider how/where to adapt their ‘offer’ accordingly.
- Help destinations consider potential future impacts, relating to changing tourist demand/expectation.
- As part of our resilience training and support, we can help destinations to understand and manage:
climate action,
destination stewardship,
DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility),
how to support tourism businesses to adapt,
product development and marketing for future-proofing destinations. - Guide destinations towards future-proofing their tourism product against future shocks.
Below are some examples of how we have supported destinations to become more resilient.
Destination Stewardship and Responsible Travel in Washington State
Washington State faces many common tourism management challenges including overcrowding and overuse, environmental damage, negative resident sentiment, increased demand for protected areas, increased demand for “common pool resources”, demand for new products, evolving source markets and market segments, need for more effective inclusion, increasing visitation to lesser-known areas, and increasing revenue and tax contributions.
To deal with this myriad of issues, The Port of Seattle, as the gateway to Washington and one of its most important tourism constituents, helped to jumpstart destination stewardship plans and actions that will ultimately bring a new vision for the state’s tourism to life. We (and Tourism Cares) supported The Port of Seattle by developing a destination stewardship and responsible travel handbook for Washington State. The handbooks helps DMOs to understand tourism’s impacts, both positive and negative, and to better manage them within their local context.
Community Sustainable Tourism & Resilience Planning in British Columbia
We worked with destinations and communities across British Columbia to help them maximise the benefits of tourism for people and place, supporting organisations of all sizes and with varying mandates to create a strong, resilient, and just future for tourism in the province. This included advice and guidance that enables participants to identify and manage potential risks relating to tourism, as well as how to respond to resident, customer, and investor expectations.
The program was run in partnership with the BC Regional Tourism Secretariat (BCRTS), 4VI (Vancouver Island), Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, Kootenay Rockies Tourism Association, Northern BC Tourism Association, and the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association), as well as the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains tourism region of British Columbia.