This page was last updated March 10, 2009
Projects > Certification Research Reports
1. Objective: Engage Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Indigenous and Community-based Operations in Certification
Examine several certification programs specially designed to target SMEs and determine the main technical and financial challenges that these operations face in fulfilling certification requirements. CREST will be responsible for assembling already existing "best practices," codes of conduct, and other criteria designed to both protect the rights and respect the culture of indigenous and local communities involved n tourism, and it will develop a directory of organizations around the world that are involved in local/indigenous communities and tourism, as well as a bibliography of relevant literature. CREST will also examine the need for technical advice and financial assistance for small tourism businesses that are seeking certification, describing the most common technical and skill needs facing community tourism projects, and discuss possible funding mechanisms.
For these purposes, CREST will use online discussion forums and obtain information from ongoing studies on community-based tourism operations. At least one workshop will be held in each of the target countries (Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Ecuador, Brazil) tailored to indigenous groups and community-based operations to finalize the assessment of the challenges of accessing certification processes.
With this information, CREST will develop and field test, in coordination with the Project coordinators, a set of sustainability criteria through consultations with indigenous organizations in Latin America and other key countries in other regions. A report will be produced with recommended strategies to foster SMEs participation in certification processes.
Download full report (PDF)
2. Objective: Develop Market Analysis & Recommendations for Increasing Demand for Certified Products from Industry and Consumers
Development of market analyses in target countries (Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Brazil) to identify the most appropriate market opportunities for sustainable tourism and ecotourism. These studies will examine the commercialization chain (local, regional and international) and tourists' preferences for environmentally and socially responsible businesses and certified tourism products. This effort is also aimed at identifying the most effective communication and marketing targets.
Simultaneously, CREST will survey current marketing strategies and capacities of leading tourism certification programs and will survey the main vehicles (guidebooks; travel magazines; outbound tour operators; university, museum and environmental NGO's travel programs; and Web sites) for promoting the use of certified operations. An examination of how other industries (wood, organic foods, coffee, etc) have built consumer demand will also be conducted.
CREST will undertake a consultation with consumer demand experts and consumer advocacy organizations in the U.S. and Europe (as the major outbound markets for sustainable and ecotourism) as well as focus groups drawn from the tourism industry (particularly outbound operators) and tourism media (particularly magazines and guidebooks). CREST will examine the range of benefits currently being offered to businesses, additional incentives desired by businesses, and current industry support to certification and develop a list of possible incentives that governments and certification programs could offer in order to attract businesses to become certified. Additionally, CREST will conduct one-on-one interviews with business leaders as well as several focus groups to discuss what businesses seek form certification and the range of alternatives that could be offered by government, trade associations, international organizations, the travel media, and outbound operators.
Finally, CREST will produce a report that will document the current consumer demand for ecolabels, the methodology and recommended techniques and incentives for creating demand within the industry for certification, and prepare a draft strategy for building consumer demand for certified products within the tourism industry.
Download “Demand for Certification According to Experts” (PDF)
Download “Demand for Certification According to the Tourism Industry” (PDF)
Download “Marketing Strategies of Other ‘Green’ Certification Programs” (PDF)
Download “Marketing Strategies: Programs in North America” (PDF)
Download “Promotional Vehicles for Certified Businesses” (PDF)
Download “Incentives Offered to Businesses” (PDF)
Download “Business Views and Incentives” (PDF)
Download “Trade Issues in Sustainable Tourism Certification” (PDF)
Download “Certification Lessons from Costa Rica” (PDF)
Download “Analysis of North American Certification Chain” (PDF)
Download “Lessons Learned: Marketing Field Tests” (PDF)
Download “Final Marketing Strategy” (PDF)
3. Objective: Analyze Financial Sustainability of Certification Programs
To develop a strategy for giving recommendations for certification programs' sustainability and to produce a report outlining a range of viable options that can be used to finance certification programs.
To undertake this activity, CREST will develop questionnaires for government officials, representatives of international agencies, certification experts, and tourism businesses. It will analyze the financial structure of leading tourism certification programs, how leading "green" certification programs within the tourism industry as well as other industries (wood, coffee, organic foods, etc.) are financed, how much they cost to create and run annually, what individual businesses pay to go through the certification process, and what additional funding mechanisms are under discussion. With this information CREST will develop a range of possibilities for financial sustainability in the long run, define recommendations for the types of incentives that can be provided by governments and international organizations, and define mechanisms to raise funds from businesses being certified that take into account the financial size and capacity of different business.
A report with this information will be disseminated at a training workshop with representatives from organizations working with or implementing certification programs.
4. Development of Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators and Systems
CREST will develop a framework that would include creating a set of goals, objectives and indicators that would measure the impacts of certification. Some examples might be drawn from the criteria outlined in the Mohonk Agreement for Sustainable and Ecotourism Certification Programs. Social, environmental and economic indicators will be included.
Once the indicators are defined, CREST will develop monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system and protocols to track results and train certification programs in its use. It will conduct field tests in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Belize, and Ecuador with support from other Partners. CREST will also compare certification initiatives in these countries with the successes and shortcomings of tourism certification programs in other parts of the world. It will examine if these initiatives are meeting the requirements for ensuring sustainability, i.e., protecting and providing tangible benefits to both the local environment and local communities around tourism businesses.
CREST will produce a report of all of the above, a guide and training modules for the use of the M&E system. A workshop will be held with other Partners and representatives from organizations working with or implementing certification programs in the region to train them in the use of the M&E system. The objective will be to incorporate the use of the M&E system in the pilot operations to be developed as part of this Project.