Local Value Creation in Tourism

Initial situation

Tourism is one of the most economically significant sectors worldwide and, thanks to its employment intensity and close interlinkage with other sectors such as agriculture, crafts or services, offers enormous potential for local value creation. Through the support of local businesses, creation of local employment opportunities or investment in infrastructure, tourism can be a central driver for improving living standards. However, a standardised, recognised methodology for calculating local value creation from travel to the Global South is currently lacking. Existing approaches are neither comparable nor scientifically sound.

At the same time, traveller demand for socially responsible offers is growing. Transparent reporting of the socio-economic impact of tourism products would both raise customer awareness and enable tour operators to further develop their offers in ways that enhance local value creation, thus gaining a competitive edge. On the other hand, destinations could better identify where and how local value creation can be increased.

Project objective

The aim of the project is to develop a sector-wide recognised methodology for calculating local value creation from travel. This will help increase the economic and social impact of tourism in destinations while strengthening the transparency and credibility of socially responsible travel offers. Through Futouris, forum anders reisen and the DRV, industry stakeholders will be actively involved to ensure broad adoption across the sector.

Core Activities

1.     Development of the Calculation Methodology

Existing national and international approaches to measuring local value creation from travel will be analysed and, in collaboration with tour operators and experts, refined into a unified, practice-oriented methodology.

2.     Tool Development & Piloting

Practical indicators will be developed for use by companies. The methodology will be tested and further refined with pilot companies and 2–3 partner destinations where AWE personnel are present – for both internal processes (product development) and external communication (sales, customers).

Criteria for selecting partner destinations:

• AWE location with a strong tourism sector

• Interest from local companies in the destination

• Interest from GIZ projects in the destination in collaboration 

3.     Sector-wide Transfer & Implementation

The methodology and its development process will be published. In addition, recommendations for action will be provided to ensure broad application across the industry. These outputs will subsequently be made available to the industry through sector events, webinars, online training and social media.

Furthermore, project results will be made permanently accessible and promoted through industry associations (DRV, Futouris, far, etc.) via their respective websites.

Optional: A short training program for professionals and communication materials can be developed within a separate project.