The Case of Sustainable Tourism Development in Alpine Destinations: Importance, Implementation, and the Role of the Local DMO

Figures & data

Table 1. The selected 23 GSTC criteria used in the survey.

Section	Criteria	Item
A: Sustainable management	Destination management responsibility	The destination has an effective organisation with involvement by the private sector, public sector and civil society, which is responsible for the introduction, implementation and monitoring of sustainability measures in all three dimensions
	Destination management strategy and action plan	The destination has established and is implementing a multi-year destination management strategy and action plan that was developed with stakeholder engagement and is based on sustainability principles
	Monitoring and reporting	The destination is implementing a system to monitor and respond to socio-economic, cultural, and environmental issues and impacts arising from tourism
	Enterprise engagement and sustainability standards	The destination regularly informs tourism-related enterprises about sustainability issues and encourages and supports them in making their operations more sustainable
	Resident engagement and feedback	The destination enables and promotes public participation (e.g. surveys) in sustainable destination planning and management
	Visitor engagement and feedback	The destination has a system to monitor and publicly report visitor satisfaction with the quality and sustainability of the destination experience
	Managing visitor volumes and activities	The destination has a system for visitor management that allows to monitor and manage the volume and activities of visitors
	Climate change adaptation	The destination has a strategy implemented that addresses challenges arising from climate
	Risk and crisis management	The destination has a risk reduction, crisis management and emergency response plan that is appropriate to the destination. Key elements are communicated to residents, visitors, and enterprises
B: Socio-economic sustainability	Measuring the economic contribution of tourism	The direct and indirect economic contribution of tourism to the destination’s economy is monitored and publicly reported
	Access for all	Where practical, sites, facilities, and services, including those of natural and cultural importance, are accessible to all, including persons with disabilities and others who have specific access requirements or other special needs
C: Cultural sustainability	Protection of cultural assets	The destination has a policy and system to evaluate, rehabilitate, and conserve cultural assets
	Intangible heritage	The destination supports the celebration and protection of intangible cultural heritage, including local traditions, arts, music, language, gastronomy and other aspects of local identity and distinctiveness
	Visitor management at cultural sites	The destination has a system and guidelines for the management of visitors within and around cultural sites
D: Environmental sustainability	Protection of sensitive environments	The destination has a system to monitor, measure and respond to the impacts of tourism on the natural environment
	Visitor management at natural sites	The destination has a system and guidelines for the management of visitors within and around natural sites
	Wildlife interaction	The destination has a system to ensure compliance with local, national, and international laws and standards for wildlife interactions
	Energy conservation	The destination has targets to reduce energy consumption, improve efficiency in its use, as well as increase the use of renewable energy
	Water stewardship/wastewater	The destination encourages enterprises to measure, monitor, publicly report and manage water usage and ensures that wastes are properly treated and reused
	Solid waste	The destination measures and reports on its generation of waste and sets targets for its reduction and encourages enterprises to avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle solid waste
	GHG emissions and climate change mitigation	The destination has implemented measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourages enterprises to collaborate
	Low-impact transportation	The destination has targets to reduce transport emissions from travel to and within the destination and supports an increase in the use of sustainable, low-emissions vehicles and public transport and active travel
	Light and noise pollution	The destination has guidelines and regulations to minimise light and noise pollution and encourages enterprises to follow these guidelines and regulations

Table 2. Characteristics of the sample.

		N	Per cent
Country	Switzerland	20	25.0
	Germany	12	15.0
	Austria	27	33.8
	Italy	21	26.3
Number of employees (FTE)	1–5	29	36.3
	6–10	20	25.0
	11–20	12	15.0
	>20	19	23.8
Number of overnights 2019	<250,000	24	30.0
	250,000–499,999	17	21.3
	500,000–749,999	7	8.8
	750,000–999,999	7	8.8
	1,000,000–1,499,999	9	11.3
	>1,500,000	16	20.0
Respondent’s position	CEO	61	78.2
	Marketing manager	4	5.1
	Sales manager	1	1.3
	Chairman of the board	1	1.3
	Assistant director	1	1.3
	Board member	1	1.3
	Other	9	11.6

Figure 1. Main responsibility for sustainable development.

Figure 2. Main responsibility for sustainable development (with sustainability mandate).

Figure 3. Attribution of main responsibility depends on the task (DMO perspective).

Table 3. Overview of means regarding current and future importance and current implementation.

		Current importance			Future importance			Current implementation
	GSTC destination criteria	Mean	N	Std. dev.	Mean	N	Std. dev.	Mean	N	Std. dev.
A: Sustainable management	Destination management responsibility	3.36	74	1.18	4.03	75	1.01	2.45	77	1.25
	Destination management strategy and action plan	3.83	77	1.06	4.28	75	0.86	3.27	78	1.29
	Monitoring and reporting	2.88	75	1.24	3.75	76	0.93	1.92	75	1.05
	Enterprise engagement and sustainability standards	3.14	77	1.14	3.87	78	0.81	2.51	77	1.18
	Resident engagement and feedback	3.13	76	1.32	3.65	77	0.93	2.34	77	1.22
	Visitor engagement and feedback	2.84	75	1.15	3.49	78	0.89	2.00	77	1.20
	Managing visitor volumes and activities	2.88	75	1.38	3.77	75	1.12	2.16	75	1.10
	Climate change adaptation	2.88	75	1.25	3.84	76	0.94	2.17	75	1.01
	Risk and crisis management	2.77	73	1.25	3.23	74	1.07	2.08	73	1.18
B: Socio-economic	Measuring the economic contribution of tourism	3.36	78	1.04	3.78	77	0.90	2.72	78	1.24
	Access for all	3.95	79	0.90	4.01	79	0.82	3.43	79	1.01
C: Cultural sustainability	Protection of cultural assets	2.91	77	1.24	3.45	76	0.96	2.49	77	1.18
	Intangible heritage	4.16	80	0.97	4.19	80	0.83	3.89	80	0.93
	Visitor management at cultural sites	3.15	74	1.07	3.48	75	0.88	2.46	74	1.14
D: Environ. sustainability	Protection of sensitive environments	2.93	73	1.13	3.64	76	1.04	2.01	73	1.03
	Visitor management at natural sites	3.11	76	1.08	3.74	77	0.92	2.41	76	1.05
	Wildlife interaction	3.38	72	1.09	3.53	73	0.94	2.86	72	1.28
	Energy conservation	3.00	72	1.25	3.72	74	1.05	2.15	74	1.21
	Water stewardship/wastewater	3.10	72	1.22	3.67	73	1.07	2.50	72	1.30
	Solid waste	2.85	68	1.16	3.51	71	1.04	2.21	68	1.07
	GHG emissions and climate change mitigation	3.04	72	1.12	3.74	73	1.04	2.39	72	1.17
	Low-impact transportation	3.56	75	1.13	4.08	75	0.91	2.96	75	1.14
	Light and noise pollution	2.70	74	1.14	3.27	74	0.98	1.93	74	1.11

Note: The five criteria with the highest rankings are marked in bold respectively. The five criteria with the lowest ranking in italic.

Table A1. Paired sample t-test statistics: current implementation vs. current importance.

Paired t-test of current implementation vs. current importance
	Diff. between means	Std. deviation	Std. error mean	95% Confidence interval		t	df	Sig. (two-tailed)	Cohen’s d (absolute value)
				Lower	Upper
Destination management responsibility	−0.919	1.144	0.133	−1.184	−0.654	−6.911	73	0.000*	0.803
Destination management strategy and action plan	−0.584	1.080	0.123	−0.830	−0.339	−4.747	76	0.000*	0.541
Monitoring and reporting	−0.960	1.278	0.148	−1.254	−0.666	−6.505	74	0.000*	0.751
Enterprise engagement and sustainability standards	−0.636	1.123	0.128	−0.891	−0.382	−4.973	76	0.000*	0.567
Resident engagement and feedback	−0.776	1.184	0.136	−1.047	−0.506	−5.714	75	0.000*	0.655
Visitor engagement and feedback	−0.840	1.209	0.140	−1.118	−0.562	−6.019	74	0.000*	0.695
Managing visitor volumes and activities	−0.720	1.410	0.163	−1.044	−0.396	−4.422	74	0.000*	0.511
Climate change adaptation	−0.707	1.088	0.126	−0.957	−0.456	−5.627	74	0.000*	0.650
Risk and crisis management	−0.685	0.984	0.115	−0.915	−0.455	−5.946	72	0.000*	0.696
Measuring the economic contribution of tourism	−0.641	1.105	0.125	−0.890	−0.392	−5.125	77	0.000*	0.580
Access for all	−0.519	0.932	0.105	−0.728	−0.310	−4.951	78	0.000*	0.557
Protection of cultural assets	−0.416	0.965	0.110	−0.635	−0.197	−3.781	76	0.000*	0.431
Intangible heritage	−0.275	0.656	0.073	−0.421	−0.129	−3.752	79	0.000*	0.419
Visitor management at cultural sites	−0.689	1.019	0.118	−0.925	−0.453	−5.816	73	0.000*	0.676
Protection of sensitive environments	−0.918	1.064	0.125	−1.166	−0.670	−7.370	72	0.000*	0.863
Visitor management at natural sites	−0.697	1.059	0.121	−0.939	−0.455	−5.743	75	0.000*	0.659
Wildlife interaction	−0.514	0.964	0.114	−0.740	−0.287	−4.523	71	0.000*	0.533
Energy conservation	−0.875	1.299	0.153	−1.180	−0.570	−5.714	71	0.000*	0.673
Water stewardship/wastewater	−0.597	1.096	0.129	−0.855	−0.340	−4.623	71	0.000*	0.545
Solid waste	−0.647	1.019	0.124	−0.894	−0.400	−5.238	67	0.000*	0.635
GHG emissions and climate change mitigation	−0.653	1.077	0.127	−0.906	−0.400	−5.144	71	0.000*	0.606
Low-impact transportation	−0.600	1.115	0.129	−0.857	−0.343	−4.660	74	0.000*	0.538
Light and noise pollution	−0.770	1.117	0.130	−1.029	−0.511	−5.932	73	0.000*	0.690

Note: Italic: no to small effect size (no effect: Cohen’s d below 0.2; small effect: Cohen’s d between 0.2 and 0.5).

*p < .05.