The development of standards and indicators as a means of measuring tourism sustainability is one of the primary recommendations of Agenda 21.

Standards and indicators are a process, which is based on the premise that by following a certain set of procedures and principles acceptable outcomes will result.

Tourism practitioners agree that indicators are a practical instrument that measures progress of sustainable tourism development. They act somewhat as a compass to present a picture of the direction in which a destination is traveling as it journeys on the path to sustainable tourism.

They also convey information about the progress that a destination is making in achieving targets that are desired or that have been set. On the other hand, indicators give warning signals about a situation that is emerging, or an area of concern in a destination. In this way preventative or corrective action can be taken, before the situation deteriorates to a level where it cannot be easily remedied.

These tools are used not only to conceive developments but are also a practical way to actually achieve improvements in the tourism industry.

Agenda 21 identified 12 priority areas in which sustainability can be measured for the tourism industry. These include design for sustainability, partnerships for sustainable tourism, waste minimization, reuse and recycle, management of fresh water resources, as well as staff, customers and community involvement in environmental issues.

The Association of Caribbean States’ Convention establishing the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Greater Caribbean and its protocol also outlines areas for measuring sustainability in tourism.

These include security, as measured by the number of crimes committed against tourists in a destination per year, child prostitution as measured by the number of cases detected involving tourists, and employment which can be measured by the number of persons employed in the tourism industry.

Other priority areas for measurement are quality of water, energy and water consumption, tourist satisfaction, and environmental management. In fulfilling its mandate to establish the zone, the ACS embarked on the process of developing indicators of tourism sustainability. The process started with the pilot study of a tourist destination in Guadeloupe , followed by the development of a manual for trainers on sustainable indicators development.

The ACS’ theoretical approach to indicator development was coupled with the practical methodology designed by the World Tourism Organization.

A field test of the combined methodologies resulted in several lessons learnt, including the importance of information gathering as the basis for indicators use, and the need for cooperation amongst all stakeholders in the process.

The latter is particularly important in multi-use destinations where the resources are used by several users and stakeholders. The development and use of indicators require a high level of commitment by the community.

This can present a major challenge especially as it relates to getting consensus or agreement on the units of measurements, or the actual benchmarks for each of the priority areas identified.

Another constraint is that existing tools are often inadequate in light of the diverse nature of the tourism product, and the broad range of issues and activities, which the industry embraces. It is often easier to find tools for measuring physical and environmental impacts rather than those for measuring social and cultural impacts, as these are more challenging.

In beginning the process, the tourism sector can seek guidance by examining standards both voluntary and mandatory, which have been set. Mandatory standards encompass physical and national policies, development plans and tourism master plans amongst others while voluntary standards include codes of ethics, industry guidelines for compliance, and best practices that have been identified.

Ms. Jasmin Garraway is the Sustainable Tourism Director of the Association of Caribbean States. The opinions expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Comments and reactions can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org

October 12, 2005