Tourism in protected areas is a growing economic activity in many countries. By drawing visitors out of tourism hotspots to more remote regions, protected area tourism can bring new benefits to rural communities and indigenous populations.

While protected areas provide significant economic value, there tends to be little data to actually back this up. Without reliable and quantifiable evidence, governments and communities may undervalue these natural areas and the benefits they deliver. As a result, important visitor management and conservation activities may be overlooked. Without these types of sustainability measures in place, tourism growth in protected areas can end up harming their fragile environments.

One destination focused on developing sustainable tourism in its protected areas is Panama. The country’s 121 protected areas cover over 6.2 million hectares of rainforests, coastal reefs, and other sensitive habitats. An increasing number of visitors come to these areas for nature-based tourism experiences, such as trekking, snorkeling, rock climbing, and birdwatching.

In 2017, Sustainable Travel International conducted an economic impact study to determine the value of these natural areas. For this study, our team examined the economic benefits generated by tourism activities within Panama’s protected areas as a way to measure their value.

We began by reviewing Panama’s existing tourism data. This included more general statistics such as national visitor arrivals, protected areas statistics, and public use plans.

To supplement this data, we collected more specific data on tourism revenues linked to protected areas.  We surveyed businesses in Panama’s protected areas and their surrounding buffer zones. Five protected areas were included in this pilot study: Camino de Cruces National Park, Altos De Campana National Park, La Amistad International Park, Chagres National Park, and Soberanía National Park. Survey participants were asked to provide information about their business, including the services they offer and their revenues.

In addition to collecting data from businesses, our team also interviewed visitors to these areas. Through these interviews, we were able to gain a better understanding of who is visiting Panama’s protected areas, what they are doing, and where they are spending their money.    

The study findings paint a fuller picture of the different groups that are operating in and benefiting from Panama’s protected areas. It also quantifies the economic value of protected area tourism. An added benefit of this research approach is that it provides data not only on impacts at the national level, but also on the value generated for local communities.

The real impact of this data lies in its potential to influence destination planning and decision-making. By demonstrating the value of protected areas to the tourism industry, local communities, and the country as a whole, this data helps reinforce the importance of caring for these areas. We hope this data incentivizes improved conservation and leads to better visitor management in protected areas.

Header Photo Credit: Billtacular via Flickr

Encouraging sustainable business practices in Samoa’s tourism industry and enhancing support of local initiatives. 

Located in the Pacific, Samoa is comprised of ten islands, the largest and most known being ‘Upolu and Savai’i. Each island features distinct landscapes from tropical rainforests and volcanic landscapes to crystal clear lagoons and sandy beaches. The tourism industry is critical to the prosperity of Samoa’s economy and the livelihoods of the local people. According to the South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO), over 139,000 tourists visited the islands in 2015. Despite the influx of foreign visitors, authentic cultural traditions and values still dominate every aspect of life on the islands.

As a small island nation, Samoa’s ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to environmental challenges brought on by climate change, unplanned development, and natural disasters. Impacts from mass tourism can also threaten traditional knowledge and cultural expression, which play an integral role in the Samoan way of life.

Sustainably managed tourism has the potential to address these threats by enhancing climate change adaptation, strengthening community resilience, and funding environmental conservation. In addition to environmental protection, tourism also represents an opportunity to conserve the island’s cultural heritage, improve community well-being, and create career options for the Samoan youth.

Samoa has been a regional leader in sustainable tourism interventions, but there is still potential for the destination to further engage tourism businesses and travelers in destination stewardship and be a model for other destinations in the region to follow. Sustainable Travel International is collaborating with the Samoa Tourism Authority to help small and large businesses play a more active role in ensuring sustainable tourism development.

Sustainability Charter

Hotels, tour operators, and other tourism providers have the power to either harm or benefit the destinations where they operate. Their impact depends largely on how they run their business – from who they hire to how they dispose of their waste.

Part of our work in Samoa is focused on guiding these businesses—through the development of a Sustainability Charter—to identify and adopt more sustainable business practices. That is, practices that are respectful of the local people and environment, such as composting food waste and sourcing products locally. Giving local stakeholders and community leaders ownership of this process will ensure that the practices are feasible, appropriate, and impactful within the destination context. The Charter will also help to reinforce business innovation by highlighting and providing recognition to those businesses that are finding creative ways to incorporate sustainability. Widespread business commitment to these practices will contribute to community well-being, economic development, and environmental conservation.

Foundation for a Sustainable Samoa

In addition to encouraging business sustainability, our work in Samoa is also focused on using the power of the tourism industry to strengthen support for local conservation and community development efforts. To accomplish this, we partnered with the community to develop a travel philanthropy fund for Samoa.

The travel philanthropy fund, the Foundation for a Sustainable Samoa, was launched in 2017 with a mission of maximizing community benefits from tourism in Samoa by creating opportunities for local people to improve their well-being and safeguard their natural and cultural resources. The Foundation is dedicated to supporting small-scale destination stewardship initiatives that contribute to the following four priority sustainability causes: youth career development, environmental education, community economic development, and waste management.  By capturing a largely untapped donor base of travelers and tourism businesses, the program will create a new funding mechanism for projects in need of financial assistance. In addition, the fund will raise traveler and resident awareness of key environmental and social issues facing the islands. By educating and uniting destination stakeholders around common causes, the fund will inspire collaboration to more effectively solve these problems. The fund will also be a way for stakeholders to highlight and share Samoa’s commitment to sustainability. By sharing stories of Samoa’s success, not only will the fund inspire activism locally, but it will also provide a sustainability model for other Pacific destinations to follow.

As ecotourism grows within Panama’s protected areas and their buffer zones, it is crucial to ensure minimum quality, sustainability and safety standards in the tourism operations. To accomplish this, Sustainable Travel International worked with the government and local stakeholders to create a sustainability standard for Panama’s tourism enterprises.

This standard will act as a regulatory framework for hotels, tour guides, land and marine transportation providers, restaurants, tour operators and community-based tourism enterprises. It will allow these tourism providers to assess their operations and practices in relation to a set of indicators on issues that affect the local environment, communities, and cultural heritage, amongst others. The standard will also serve as the basis for certification and will help travelers identify environmentally-friendly and socially responsible businesses.

To ensure that the standard is relevant and feasible within the local context, our field team hosted a series of participatory onsite workshops. During the workshops, over 90 business and government representatives provided input on what practices to evaluate in relation to water and energy conservation, business operations, supply chain management, and environmental protection. Once the final standard was established, we held trainings for the local authorities and auditors responsible for implementing it and confirming business compliance.

The sustainability standard has since been included in the national protected area services concessions law – making compliance mandatory for any businesses operating within protected areas. It has also been ​endorsed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry as  the “Panama Tourism Sustainability Standard.”

With the abundance of natural attractions, it may come as a surprise that most of the 2.3 million annual visitors to the country rarely venture outside Panama City. However, until recently, Panama had not actively developed or promoted tourism in its parks, protected areas, and more rural areas. Sustainable Travel International partnered with the Republic of Panama Government to use this opportunity for tourism development as a means to increase conservation and create benefits for local communities.

Rural and Indigenous Communities

In Panama and elsewhere, responsibly developed ecotourism holds the potential to stimulate local economies, benefit indigenous communities, and combat rural poverty. By creating alternative livelihoods for communities in and around protected areas, ecotourism presents an opportunity for indigenous people support themselves and their families as tour guides, food service providers, or handicraft vendors.

Biodiversity and Conservation

Because tourism often flourishes in biodiversity hotspots, ecotourism also has the unique ability to contribute to the protection of some of the earth’s most valuable natural areas and ecosystems. The revenues from park entrance fees and tourism concessions provide added funding that can be channeled into conservation activities and park maintenance. In addition, the income generated by ecotourism provides an economic incentive for local people to protect the natural environment so that it remains a valuable tourism asset. By educating travelers on the ecosystems they visit and their role in environmental stewardship, ecotourism can also increase traveler activism and support of conservation.

In 2015 and 2016, our team worked with local stakeholders to analyze regional opportunities and challenges and map out a country-wide action plan for developing ecotourism in Panama’s protected areas. The resulting plan includes specific strategies for developing ecotourism in a manner that will enhance protection of Panama’s sensitive habitats and wildlife, promote inclusion of rural and indigenous communities and local culture, and foster capacity building and skills development. In March 2016, the Government of Panama and private sector officially adopted the plan and implementation is already underway.