Sustainable tourism starts with listening. Westtoer interviewed key stakeholders to uncover challenges and opportunities, shaping future pilot actions. Read how their insights are guiding the 3ST project.
Exploring sustainability in tourism: Westtoer’s stakeholder interviews reveal key insights
As part of the 3ST project, Westtoer conducted a series of stakeholder interviews to explore the challenges and opportunities in sustainable tourism. These interviews, involving a wide range of stakeholders—from policymakers to tourism operators—are essential to build a solid foundation for the project’s upcoming pilot initiatives.
Building a shared vision
The stakeholder interviews aim to understand the current issues in tourism around themes like water, energy, and waste. By involving stakeholders from the start, Westtoer ensures that the project addresses real needs and builds solutions that resonate across the industry.
Insights from a diverse stakeholder group
For Westtoer, it was the first time they consulted such a wide range of stakeholders before starting a project. The team started with familiar contacts and then expanded to include new players, such as environmental experts and waste management organisations. This approach provided fresh perspectives on the sustainability challenges facing the tourism sector and deepened Westtoer's understanding of local ecosystems.
One recurring insight was the complexity of current systems, such as waste sorting, which varies widely between Belgian regions. Tourism providers highlighted that visitor behaviour also has an impact on sustainability - underlining the need for solutions that engage both businesses and tourists.
Overcoming challenges in engagement
While conducting the interviews, Westtoer faced some challenges. For example, campground operators were initially hesitant because investing in sustainability doesn't always produce visible results for guests. To address this, Westtoer presented a fictional “Camping Druppel” scenario at a local event, illustrating the positive role campgrounds can play in water management. This approach successfully sparked interest among some operators to participate in pilot projects.
Insights from the interviews have been valuable. For example, hotel managers expressed more interest in learning about circular economy practices than in support for waste sorting, allowing Westtoer to refine the focus of the pilot according to the real needs of the stakeholders.
Moving forward with collaboration
The interviews highlighted the importance of cross-sector collaboration in reaching sustainable outcomes. Westtoer’s approach brought together policy makers, environmental agencies, and tourism operators, fostering a shared commitment to sustainability. These lessons will be shared with the thirteen other project partners to strengthen collective learning and collaboration across the 3ST network.
Looking ahead, Westtoer is keen to translate the input from the stakeholder interviews into pilot actions that reflect a community-driven approach to sustainable tourism. By drawing from these interviews, Westtoer ensures that the 3ST project remains aligned with stakeholder needs and sets the stage for effective, lasting change.