Step 2: Assess
Step 2: Assess
A baseline assessment provides insights into current practices and identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
You will almost certainly find that there are more social and environmental initiatives already underway in your destination than originally thought.
Understanding the current state
Baseline assessment
How to get the information needed to make a baseline assessment:
- Destination Sustainability Self- Assessment: Use VisitEngland’s tool to gauge if your LVEP or local authority is a sustainable Destination Novice, Learner, or Leader.
- Destination strategy and initiatives: Review the destination’s current strategies, policies, and initiatives. Are any of the focus areas from the VisitEngland framework and/or the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) already incorporated into the visitor economy brand and plans either for events or tourism?
- Strategy alignment: Find and introduce yourself to the sustainability, climate change and/or waste service lead of the local authority. Through this you should be able to build a picture of local or regional climate action/net-zero, circularity, sustainability, social impact, or food strategies and see where your own plans could align.
- Supplier mapping: Develop a survey to understand and map the sustainability practices of local tourism and events businesses, identifying leaders in the area and potential champions for the work you are planning.
- Resources: Inventory available funds, local expertise and natural or cultural assets for sustainable and regenerative initiatives.
Benchmarking
- Use the results of the self-assessment to benchmark your LVEP against other LVEPs.
- Sustainability benchmarks: Use benchmarks like the GDS-Index or the destination criteria developed by the GSTC, or certification standards such as Green Destinations, EarthCheck or Biosphere.
- Gaps and opportunities: Based on the benchmarks and the information identified in the assessment, pinpoint gaps, and areas where your destination can enhance its performance and use these insights to create an initial action plan.
Frall quote
The GDS-Index brings a rigorous approach to monitoring and measuring the impact of tourism on our destinations. This framework supports improvement and collaboration which has to be at the heart of how we develop and manage tourism for a sustainable future.
Mapping interested parties
Mapping interested parties is an essential step in grasping the full scope of who is affected by and who can influence your destination’s shift toward more regenerative management. This process involves identifying and categorising all parties involved in or impacted by tourism and event activities in the destination.
Organising a small, knowledgeable group of individuals from various parts of the LVEP for an initial mapping session can be highly effective. Whether conducted online or in person, this session should last a minimum of a couple of hours and will provide a solid foundation for ongoing engagement. It is important to continually refine this map, always considering the question, “Who are we missing?”
Steps for mapping:
Identification: List all potential interested parties, including local businesses, community groups, government entities, environmental organisations, tourism operators, and visitors. This example framework highlights potential categories of interested parties.
Categorisation: Organise interested parties into categories based on their role or interest in tourism (for example, service providers, regulatory bodies, community members).
Prioritise interested parties
After mapping your interested parties, the next step is to prioritise them based on their impact, influence, and interest in your destination’s efforts. This helps focus your engagement and resource allocation on those who can significantly promote or prevent progress.
Criteria for prioritisation
- Influence: Interested parties with the power to effect changes or mobilise resources should be given priority. This includes government bodies, major tourism operators, and influential community leaders.
- Impact: Prioritise interested parties who are most affected by tourism activities and sustainability efforts. Often, these are local communities, cultural, and environmental organisations.
- Engagement level: Interested parties who are already engaged or show a strong interest in sustainability initiatives are valuable allies and should be high on your priority list.
Prioritisation matrix
Create a matrix to visualise interested parties based on the criteria above, allowing you to easily identify which groups require immediate focus and engagement. This matrix will guide you in tailoring your communication and collaboration strategies effectively.
