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Based on the historical development of sustainable tourism and tourism types (including perspectives from industry gurus Ritchie and Crouch, Swarbrooke, and Wearing) relative to sustainability, a number of leading questions explore the sustainability potential of a tourism project.
Social Social sustainability is the initial community participation of the project, the impact on their culture and their willingness to carry it into the future.
- What steps are taken to ensure community/local participation?
- How is local labor utilized?
- How is culture respected and not trivialized?
- What is done to minimize negative social impacts and foster pride?
Economic
The economic sustainability is the impact of the money that exchanges hands.
- Does the endeavor generate enough funds to cover its costs?
- How can the financial outlay of volunteers benefit many, not few?
- How is job security implied?
- What are the wages, salaries and benefits for the local community members?
Environmental
Ecological sustainability is the use of, impacts on, and implications for the natural environment.
- How does the project work towards protecting the natural environment?
- How is money used to promote conservation and preservation?
- How are the carrying capacity / ecological footprint of activities taken into account?
Political The political sustainability explores the politics of the destination and other accountability issues of the project.
- Is the project politically acceptable?
- What governance issues are present – civil vs. state local/regional/national?
- Is certification on the horizon?
An analysis of how Adventure Conservation activites fit into the framework will be posted shortly. |
