Sustainable tourism indicators as policy making tools: lessons from ETIS implementation at destination level

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the roles sustainable tourism indicators (STIs) play in policy making processes at destination level through a three-dimensional framework: 1) instrumental (direct use of information for decision-making), 2) conceptual (awareness raising) and 3) symbolic (legitimate decisions). The European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) is taken as a reference system as the only common framework developed by the European Commission to measure and monitor tourism sustainability. Our empirical research follows a three-step approach. Firstly, we analysed ETIS to investigate its potential to be linked to tourism policy. Secondly, we took Zuid Limburg, the Netherlands as a case study, to assess the role of ETIS pilot implementation at the destination. Finally, we performed a comparative analysis of 11 destinations that have tested ETIS, to better frame the weight of the indicator roles in local policy making processes. We conclude that so far the STIs developed within ETIS have had limited instrumental and symbolic use, while their conceptual role, related to the social learning process resulting from their implementation, can be considered a pre-condition for other roles to emerge. Moreover, the indicators’ role within policy making is closely linked to the specific governance context, influencing and being influenced by it.