Towards destination stewardship

Achieving destination stewardship through scenario & governance diagnostics framework

In this study, we present four scenarios for Destination Stewardship arising from various levels of engagement from both the public and private sector. Additionally, we introduce a governance diagnostics framework aimed at supporting destination stewardship in a more effective manner.

Reason

In recent years, there has been a growing need for and interest in greater destination stewardship. By “Destination stewardship” we refer to the approach that balances and meets the needs of a destination and its communities and operates with legitimacy and consent under a participatory. governance model.

Problem solution

Destination stewardship requires full collaboration between the public, private, and community sectors to succeed. Achieving a high level of collaboration is a challenge.

The project team consisted of:

Christopher Imbsen: Director of Sustainability, World Travel & Tourism Council
Stefan Hartman: Head of Department at European Tourism Futures Institute (ETFI) at NHL Stenden University, The Netherlands
Bernadett Papp: Project leader of this project and researcher at European Tourism Futures Institute (ETFI) at NHL Stenden University, The Netherlands
Ben Lynam: Head of Strategic Communications at the Travel Foundation

Approach

The team utilized a scenario-planning session to create four scenarios for destination stewardship. These scenarios were then tested in multiple workshops, with a wide range of experts in attendance.