Sustainability Practices for Tourism Leaders

This course provides relevant and practical learning material to enable participants to actively contribute to destination sustainability in their tourism destinations. It also allows participants to have a comprehensive understanding of good sustainability practices for destination management as to fully integrate lessons learned in a practical manner throughout their daily work.

The objective of the overall course is to build local capacity of destination managers,
owners and operators of tourism businesses, MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, community-based tourism leaders, tourism decision-makers and practitioners to implement good sustainability practices and projects.

Expected results

The desired results are for participants to have a comprehensive understanding of sustainability good practices for destination stewardship and to be able to fully integrate lessons learned in a practical manner through their daily work.

• Destination managers
• Owners and operators of tourism businesses
• Micro, small, and medium-sized tourism enterprises (MSMEs)
• Women entrepreneurs
• Community-based tourism leaders
• Tourism decision-makers and practitioners

Unit 1

• Introduction to Sustainable Tourism - Tourism Impacts and the Triple Bottom Line.

Unit 2 

• Sustainable Tourism Tools and Strategies.
• Sustainable Tourism Standards.
• Strand A: Tourism Destination Management.
• Strand B: Sustainable Tourism Enterprise Development.

Unit 3

• Strand A: Introduction to Sustainable Destination Management - Tourism Inventory, Vision and Goal Setting.
• Strand B: The Tourism Business Plan.

Unit 4

• Strand A: Auditing the Visitor and Resident Experience - Establishing Partnerships for Effective Destination Management.
• Strand B:Analyzing the Market.

Unit 5 

• Strand A: Developing Destination Marketing and Positioning Strategies.
• Strand B: Sustainability Planning - Sustainable Operations.

Unit 6

• Strand A: Final assignment: SWOT analysis for your destination.
• Strand B: Executive Summary about your business.

The course will be delivered online through the Virtual Classroom of the Educational Portal of the Americas. This online course is delivered under the academic and technical supervision of tutors who guide participants throughout the duration of the course. There is no live activities and participants can enter the Virtual Classroom when is most convenient for them.

After an introductory module the course is divided into two strands. Strand A is Tourism Destination Management, designed for public sector destination managers. Strand B is Sustainable Tourism Enterprise Development designed for private sector service providers. Course applicants will need to choose the preferred track in the registration form according to his/her professional profile.

Cost:

• This course offers scholarships of up to 50% for students who fulfill all the requirements and are selected to receive the financial aid provided by the GS/OAS.
• The tuition cost for the course, without the financial aid, is USD $350 (Three hundred fifty dollars).

Payment Options:

A) International credit or debit card. We accept Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

Requirements to be selected for the course

• Comply with the course target group profile.
• Basic computer knowledge.
• English fluency.
• Internet access.

Requirements to receive the partial scholarship

• All of the previous.
• Apply for the scholarship in the course application form.
• Possess citizenship or permanent residency of any OAS member country.

Evaluation: Participants will be evaluated throughout the course through their participation in the forums and the activities assigned to them in each module.

Certification: Participants who successfully complete the course requirements will receive a digital certificate from the SG/OEA.