Core Values of Sustainability
What is sustainability? And what does it mean for a regional tourism business?
It’s about operating in a way that is balanced, and identifying and reducing areas of negative social, environmental and economic impact.
A little wordy, though the formal, or academic explanation of sustainability from the International Standards Organisation is: a development (ie. business) that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The process provides an enduring, balanced approach to economic activity, environmental responsibility and social progress.
Sustainable development is about integrating the goals of a high quality of life, health and prosperity with social justice and maintaining the earth’s capacity to support life in all its diversity. (ISO 26000:2010, 2.23)
In short, the model of sustainability has three pillars:
- economic
- socio-cultural and
- environmental
All three of these pillars are interlinked, to create a sustainaibility well in which businesses operate optimally within these values …
Why is it important to think about all three pillars?
One: for the future success of your ongoing business in generations to come.
Two: agritourism businesses could influence positive change in small communities by applying practical agri-tourism products which display these three pillars of sustainability.
Three: partnering in the future – if your region attracts business or regional festival events, it is on the rise that local stakeholders are asked for their sustainability measures to ensure their values align with the event client / sponsor’s own values connecting to their own Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Many corporate business are aiming for, or operating at carbon-neutral status – and part of the ongoing benchmarking of this status is to ensure their regional partners are also sustainable, and will then cultivate networks and collaborations to uphold sustainability, ultimately to achieve the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, of which can be loosely summarised down into:
- Continue to be financially successful
- Become more socially responsible
- Reduce the environmental footprint
In a recent ART Friday online catchup, we reviewed the newly published Austrade report ‘Opportunities for the Visitor Economy – a modern, diversified and collaborative path to 2030’ (2021), & discussed a few key points on the future of visitor economy in regional communities:
Socio-cultural pillar: Regional labour & jobs a big issue – local government cannot source tourism staff, with local restaurants / agriculture not having enough staff to be able to open their doors to tourism. Businesses closing a couple of days a week, closing evening dining shifts due to staff shortages. Then there’s the housing affordability issue in regional areas of Australia, needing to look at opening up long-term rental accommodation.
Environmental pillar: Talks at government level on actioning environmental sustainability – this most recent Austrade report had little mention of any areas of tourism being a climate friendly industry – no attention to a post-carbon industry in regional small community area. Though at the recent Australian Tourism Exchange (June 2021) held at the International Convention Centre, Sydney, the main takeaways from the sustainability hub could be relayed to agritourism businesses:
- 10 steps to de-carbonise a regional tourism business
- Reducing energy, water consumption and waste in tourism businesses
- Best practice guidance for working with wildlife in tourism
Economic Pillar: not only in Australia, though worldwide, studies show some limitations and barriers to agritourism development, including fragmentation of tourism promotion efforts among involved farmers and destination management organizations, lack of accessibility of entrepreneurial & tourism / hospitality skills for farmers, and the lack of financial resources. (Ammirato et al, 2020)
Though once tourist visitation becomes regular once again in agriculture regions & these skills & resources are strengthened, agritourism can lead to the reduction of financial distress in regional communities through authentic tourism aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals & the generation employment opportunities, such as:
1. Creating synergies with agriculture and local service provider sectors: creating tourism cluster models, such as farmgate food trails, farm nature & wellbeing trails, where tourist can follow a ‘treasure hunt-style’ map of clustered businesses which are in geogrraphic proximity.
2. Stimulating the development of basic infrastructures such as roads, transport hubs & mobility accessibility
3. Ensuring accessibility: Visitor accessibility and inclusion enhancements. The NSW $30 million Regional Tourism Activation Fund has allocated funds for projects that improve accessibility and inclusion at unique and high impact tourism destinations and visitor experiences.
Examples of types of projects eligible for funding include:
- installing a lift in a multi-level venue
- construction to allow for clear access pathways from a public space into a venue or tourism business
- upgrades to accessible visitor amenity
- upgrades to information technology including the provision of captioning and audio description
- provision of hearing loops and beacon wayfinding technology.
4. Creation of landmarks with nature themes, with existing scenic landmarks being capitalised and featured, such as the construction of infrastructure required to provide new nature-based experiences such as walkways and viewing platforms. The NSW Regional Tourism Activation Fund has also allocated funds for people visiting regional NSW, to encourage more people to plan and book holidays in regional areas.
Unique and high impact visitor experiences
The importance of setting agritourism activities, both for farms and for the rural community, will help revitalise the rural communities through a sustainable development strategy. Australian Regional Tourism in the Tourism Hub Resources has several resources to help find out where to upskill in these regards, alongside initiatives from your DMO’s and State Tourism Organisation, alongside free resources, TAFE courses etc., to upskill in providing sustainable tourism experiences and products. (my previous article outlined popular free resource available to the tourism sector)
To finish, working within these three social, economic and environmental goals are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Once a healthy balance is achieved, sustainable development can then be promoted as a way of expressing the broader expectations of society as a whole. This in turn will attract the new trend of visitors looking for authentic experiences with provenance, and who are already actively seeking out agritourism businesses & regions with these core values to spend their tourism dollars at.
Katrina Denoux is one of the Ambassadors for Australian Regional Tourism. A tourism practitioner with her own business based both in Europe and Australia, she is also a registered health practitioner with postgraduate qualifications. She specialises in wellness tourism, gastronomy & sustainability; and is a lecturer and speaker on the international academic insights circuit. She feels lucky to be able to combine her two loves: travel & education.
References:
Ammirato , S, Felicetti, A , Raso, C, Pansera, B, Violi, A (2020) Agritourism and Sustainability: What We Can Learn from a Systematic Literature Review. Journal of Sustainability.
Austrade 2021, Opportunities for the Visitor Economy report. A modern, diversified and collaborative path to 2030 Retrieved June 25, 2021 from:
International Organization for Standardisation (ISO). 3.3 Sustainable Development. https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/fr/#iso:std:iso:20121:ed-1:v1:en
NSW Government. Regional Tourism Activation Fund. https://www.nsw.gov.au/regional-growth-fund/regional-tourism-activation-fund
Tourism Australia, June 2021, Australian Tourism Exchange, Convention proceedings. https://www.tourism.australia.com/en/events-and-tools/industry-events/previous-industry-events/ate-2021.html
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The 17 Goals of Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/goals