Presentation made at the CBD/IUCN TAPAS Group meeting on "Tourism partnerships and concessions in protected areas: Cooperating for success" meeting in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park

1. Integrating Sustainability
1 June 2017
Time Block 9
Facilitator: Dr Sue Snyman

3. Quadruple bottom line
• Economic: Ensure viable, long-term,
profitable operations
• Environmental
• Socio-cultural
• Socio-economic
Promote positive and mitigate negative impacts

4. Establishing metrics

5. • Holistic approach
• Engages all stakeholders
• Makes good business sense
• Increases efficiency and, over time, profits
• Find areas for improvement
• Responsible tourism
• Balanced business
• Improves reporting
• Information readily available
Why measure the quadruple bottom line?

6. Integrated reporting
ü Holistic approach
ü Financial + sustainability
reporting
ü Accountability
ü Transparency
ü Monitoring and evaluation
ü Stipulate reporting
requirements in contract

7. Components that lead to success

8. Enabling factors

9. Ensuring sustainability at all stages
ü Ensuring sustainability in
the scoping, design,
feasibility and
procurement phases
ü Ensuring sustainability in
the contract management
phase

10. Decommissioning camps
Photos courtesy Wilderness Safaris: Skeleton Coast Camp, Namibia

11. Community: Understanding and engaging
stakeholders

12. Community: Benefit-sharing plans

13. Cultural Tourism
• Integrating culture
• Commodification
• Mutual respect
• Managing expectations
• Respecting cultural
heritage, access and
resources

14. Conservation
• Financially influencing
conserva?on
• Endangered species
protec?on
• An?-poaching
• Reintroduc?on of species
• Research and monitoring
• Understanding
biodiversity footprint

15. Sustainability criteria
& standards
ü Global Sustainable
Tourism Council (GSTC)
ü International
Organisation for
Standardisation (ISO)
ü United Nations Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO)

16. Questions to consider in order promote sustainable tourism (1)
• What are the unique selling points
(USPs) of the destination and what
are the best ways to market them?
e.g exclusive use of concession;
culture, etc. (ECONOMIC)
• What are the desired social,
e c o n o m i c , c u l t u r a l a n d
environmental outcomes of the
tourism development in your
destination? (SUSTAINABILITY)
• What tourism, environmental and
other relevant regulations & laws
e x i s t ? L a n d t e n u r e i s s u e s
(ECONOMIC)

17. Questions to consider in order promote sustainable tourism (2)
• How will these rules and regulations
impact on sustainable tourism
development in the destination?
(ECONOMIC & ENVIRONMENTAL)
• What mechanisms are in place to
encourage private sector investment in
the destination? (ECONOMIC)
• What competition is in the area?
(ECONOMIC & SOCIAL)
• What are the long-term goals of tourism
development (i.e. job creation, increased
incomes, preservation of culture,
sustainability, etc.) in the destination?
(SUSTAINABILITY)

18. • What competitive advantage is the destination trying to achieve and how
will this be maintained over time? (SUSTAINABILITY)
• Community issues, e.g. land tenure, cohesiveness, etc. (SOCIAL)
• Stakeholders in the area (SUSTAINABILITY)
• Accessibility and seasonality (SUSTAINABILITY)
Questions to consider in order promote sustainable tourism (3)

19. DISCUSSION GROUPS
What are the main sustainability issues in your
protected area?
What plans are currently in place to manage/
monitor these?
What plans do you have for integrating and
monitoring sustainability going forward?