Destination Stewardship Report

January – April 2025 (Volume 5, Issue 3)

The Destination Stewardship Report is a collaboration between the Destination Stewardship Center, Center for Responsible Travel, and Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Our goal is to provide practical information and insights useful to anyone whose work or interests involve improving destination stewardship in a post-pandemic world. Subscribe HERE.

Secrets of the Kasbah

Morocco’s renowned Kasbah du Toubkal has racked up a three-decade record for good stewardship and community relations. Few lodges have had such a profound impact on their surrounding communities. During a visit, Jonathan Tourtellot learns how this came to be.

Mountain Lodge Shows What It Takes to Marry Success with Good Stewardship

In the dining room of the Kasbah du Toubkal, we guests have been alerted that there would be some kind of local celebration after dinner. The remnants of lamb and chicken tagine and vegetable couscous have been cleared… READ MORE →

Milky What?

Worldwide, destinations still graced with brilliantly starry skies are discovering they have an increasingly rare tourism asset, one that can draw stargazers, boost ecotourism, and even enhance spiritual travel. A great way to advertise and protect that asset is to obtain an international Dark Sky certification. Ian Vorster explains the process.

Dark Sky International Shines the Light on Destination Stewardship Principles

If you have ever seen a night satellite photo of the eastern seaboard of the United States, you will understand the term ‘light pollution.’ Globally it saw a 50% increase from 1992 to 2017. The concept is simple: Poorly designed… READ MORE →

Self-Assessment Tool Empowers Destinations

A new, user friendly self-assessment tool is making it easier for destinations to evaluate and improve the resilience of their tourism practices. Developed by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), this resource provides a structured approach for all who are committed to destination stewardship to measure progress across four pillars of sustainability. Tiffany Chan explains.

Is Your Destination on the Right Track?

Based on the GSTC Destination Standard (formerly GSTC Destination Criteria), this tool is designed to support a wide range of stakeholders, including but not limited to destination management organizations, policy-makers… READ MORE →

How Marine Protected Areas Address Overtourism

When shorelines, coral reefs, and small islands are involved, tourism can both support and interfere with conservation. When visitation gets out of hand, stewards of these places need guidance. When asked for help, a unique network of researchers, managers, and others – the membership of OCTO – volunteered some responses and examples. Here is what they came up with, summarized by AI and humans, in that order.

A Network of Marine Experts Offers Various Solutions to Setting Tourism Limits

Open Communications for the Ocean (OCTO) is a US-based NGO that connects thousands of ocean professionals to the knowledge and networks they need, empowering conservationists and resource managers to apply… READ MORE →

Two Winners from the Top 100

Every year, Green Destinations organizes the Top 100 Destination Sustainability Stories competition, which invites submissions from around the world – a vetted collection of stories spotlighting local and regional destinations that are making progress toward sustainable management of tourism and its impacts. From the winners, we’ve selected stories from Bolivia and Japan. Synopses by Ailin Fei.

The Tacana Women’s Route, Bolivia

Top 100 submission by the Sustainable Tourism Council of the Rurrenabaque Destination Madidi Pampas.

Towards Cultural Preservation and Women’s Empowerment

The Rurrenabaque Madidi Pampas, in the Bolivian Amazon, spans 80,469 km² and is renowned for its rich biodiversity and cultural heritage. It encompasses six municipalities, two national protected areas, five subnational protected areas… READ MORE →

People-Powered Preservation, Japan

Top 100 submission by the Tono Furusato Shosha Co., Ltd.

A Mountain Town Preserves Its Heritage Through Community Power

Tono is a small mountain city in northeastern Japan, known for its rich folktale tradition and strong commitment to preserving traditional culture. Its landscape is marked by shrines, temples, stone monuments, giant trees, and waterfalls… READ MORE →

Publications

Video Documentary

Destination Stewardship: Reimagining the Purpose of Tourism in Outdoor Communities, American Trails. Learn about destination stewardship and how it has been a transformative model to improve quality of life attributes, enhance visitor experience, and safeguard a sense of place in outdoor communities and be introduced to the Mountain IDEAL program – an assessment and planning toolkit to help destinations elevate their stewardship and sustainability performance.

Community Destination Stewardship Initiative: Workshop #8 Climate Resilience for CDMOs, Destination British Columbia – Corporate. This final workshop of the Community Destination Stewardship Initiative took place on March 26, 2025. Participants learned about the multi-faceted aspects of climate resilience and the importance of taking action together, collaborating with each other to tackle the challenge of our century. Previous CDSI B.C. workshops are available on YouTube.

Books Note: Descriptions are taken from publisher blurbs.

Cacatian, C. (2023). The Future of Destination Organizations: A Guide to a Community-Based Welcome. Lulu.com. The author shares her experiences as a tourism practitioner, economic developer, and public servant, offering case studies to inspire others.

Lusby, C. (2023). Destination Unknown: Sustainable Travel and Ethical Tourism. Common Ground Research Networks. Expert authors from around the world explore ways to develop a more ethical and equitable industry, with contributions from nature-based tourism in Africa, vernacular design of tourism buildings and ecolodges, ethical approaches to volunteering, cruise tourism, and more. Emphasis on intercultural understanding and contributions to community development.

Post-Lundgaard, M., Thomsen, T. G. H., & Dragin-Jensen, C. (2024). Towards Destination Stewardship with Design Thinking. In Nordic Coastal Tourism (pp. 141–158). Springer. Explores how DMOs can transition from marketers to stewards of sustainable tourism through a Destination Stewardship approach. Using Design Thinking as a collaborative tool, workshops in a Danish coastal destination demonstrated its potential to foster cooperation among tourism actors and address challenges. Findings highlight DMOs’ role in participatory governance and the barriers to adopting a stewardship model.