Towards a green economy decision support system for tourism destinations

Abstract

This paper discusses green economy planning in tourism; a process characterized by complexity and high levels of uncertainty, where limited data availability and the absence of existing frameworks hinder the development of targeted and effective strategies. It presents an approach for a decision support system (DSS) to assist destinations address challenges and to seize opportunities in this new situation of change. A multidisciplinary approach drawing on the fields of sustainable tourism, destination management and system dynamics was applied to identify the requirements of such a DSS and to present examples of how it may be implemented. A consultancy study in the destination of Sharm El Sheikh (Egypt) was used to develop a holistic model for the requirements of the proposed DSS. Based on this model, examples were developed in the software program Powersim, to provide an insight into how such a DSS could assist destination policymakers, planners and managers with dynamic scenario modelling and planning to help understand and manage the drivers of change – particularly those drivers that are complex and difficult to quantify such as the opportunities presented by green demand. The proposed DSS is intended to be further developed by applying it to new destination case studies.