The Blue Tourism Resource Portal is an online interactive library designed to help tourism professionals, like you, make destinations sustainable and resilient. The Portal includes strategic tools and resources to deal with the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and to advance sustainable tourism, especially in coastal and island communities. Here, you can find practical recovery pathways for developing, managing and monitoring sustainable tourism in your destinations.
This website is designed for tourism industry decision makers, managers, and operators from all sectors. Some groups that may find this website helpful include:
- Destination management and marketing organizations;
- Public officials and government agencies;
- Tourism associations;
- Micro, small, and medium tourism businesses;
- Multinational corporations;
- Industry professionals;
- Non-governmental and community organizations; and
- Other organizations that support sustainable tourism development and management.
You can find useful resources including but not limited to guidelines, toolkits, good practices and case studies. The Portal includes global resources from around the world, in multiple languages and across dozens of topics within sustainable tourism. The site also features other platforms created for tourism professionals, including learning and action networks.
On the Resources page, you can find resources and tools by using the search bar or filters on the left side of the page. We recommend starting with the search tool for quick navigation. You do not need to be registered in order to search for resources.
On the left hand side of the Resources page, there are numerous filter options to choose from. First you can check a box for specific categories. Below this are a series of drop down menus for other search options (e.g. resource type, topics, geographic region, etc.) accessible through the blue check marks.
There are five main sustainability categories of the Portal. To find resources related to any of the five categories, check the boxes in the filter on the Resources page.
Management: Support planning, development, and management of sustainable tourism in destinations and businesses.
Environment: Support tourism while protecting and conserving the natural environment.
Socio-Economic: Improve the local economy and quality of life with sustainable tourism.
Health: Make plans to handle public health issues or deal with a crisis or natural disaster so your destination is more resilient.
Culture: Create sustainable cultural experiences, educate visitors, and protect and revitalize your destination’s cultural heritage.
There are numerous “tags” to help you find the resources you need on the Portal. Using the filters on the Resources Page, you can find resources and tools by type:
- Books
- Case Studies
- Good Practices
- Guidelines and Toolkits
- Monitoring and Evaluation Tools
- Policies
- Principles
- Reports and White Papers
- Standards and Certifications
- Strategies and Plans
- Training Resources
There are numerous “tags” to help you find the resources you need on the Portal. Using the filters on the Resources Page, you can find resources and tools by language.
The majority of resources and tools available on the portal are in English. However, numerous resources are included in over 35 languages. If you have resources in languages other than English, we encourage you to register and add them to the Portal.
There are numerous “tags” to help you find the resources you need on the Portal. Using the filters on the Resources Page, you can find resources and tools by geographic region:
- Africa
- Arctica & Antarctica
- Asia
- Europe
- Global (if resources are applicable globally)
- Latin American & the Caribbean
- North America
- Oceania & the Pacific
There are numerous “tags” to help you find the resources you need on the Portal. Using the filters on the Resources Page, you can find resources and tools by the type of stakeholder audience the resource is intended for including:
- Academia
- Community Organizations
- Destination Organizations
- Financial Organizations
- Private Sector
- Public Sector
- NGOs
There are numerous “tags” to help you find the resources you need on the Portal. Using the filters on the Resources Page, you can find resources and tools by the topics they cover. Topics are intended to cover all main areas of sustainable tourism. Resources often are tagged to multiple topics.
- Capacity Building
- Circular Economy
- Climate Change
- Communications
- Community Development
- COVID-19
- Crisis and Risk Management
- Cultural and Creative Industries
- Cultural Heritage and Traditional Knowledge
- Destination Governance and Management
- Digital Marketing and Social Media
- Economic Contribution
- Ecosystems and Biodiversity
- Enterprise Development
- Environmental Conservation
- Food
- Gender
- Health and Wellbeing
- Hospitality
- Human Rights
- Infrastructure and Facilities
- Intellectual Property
- Interpretation
- Investment and Finance
- Legislation and Regulations
- Light Pollution
- Product Development
- Property and User Rights
- Protected and Managed Areas
- Purchasing and Supply Chain Management
- Resource Management
- Safety and Security
- Solid Waste
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Standards and Certifications
- Strategic Planning and Action Planning
- Sustainable Management Systems
- Taxes and Incentives
- Technology and Data
- Transportation and Mobility
- Value Chain Management
- Visitor and Customer Satisfaction
- Visitor Management
- Wastewater and Harmful Substances
- Wildlife Protection and Interaction
- Workforce
The acronym “SDG’s” stands for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and refers to the The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, and strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
Users of the Portal can search for resources that address specific Sustainable Development Goals using the SDG filter. Once in a specific resource, users can also click on one of the SDGs listed to view all resources related to that SDG.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council Destination Criteria (GSTC-D) is a set of criteria to measure sustainable tourism at the destination level. The criteria reflects certification standards, indicators, criteria, and best practices from different cultural and geo-political contexts around the world in tourism and other sectors where applicable.
Users of the Portal can search for resources that address specific GSTC Destination Criteria using the GSTC-D filter. Once in a specific resource, users can also click on one of the GSTC-D criteria listed to view all resources related to that criteria.
To add a resource you will need to first register. After completing the registration form, you will receive an email with a link to activate your account. If you do not see a confirmation email please check your spam or junk folder.
To rate a resource, you must first register or log in. Then, navigate to the resource you would like to rate. You will see an area with five blank stars on the resource’s page where you can indicate on a scale of 1-5 (1 being worst, 5 being best) rate the resource.
The collective results of the rating will appear at the top of each resource with 1-5 stars. Ratings will only appear after an administrator for the site verifies the reviewer, this may take 2-3 business days.
If you do not see a confirmation email please check your spam or junk folder. If you still do not see a confirmation within 5 days please email us at info@blue-tourism-resource-portal.com.
To report an issue with the website or a specific resource/platform please contact our team at info@blue-tourism-resource-portal.com.
You can also use the “Report Entry” button located at the bottom right of each resource page to report an issue.
It will typically take 5-10 business days for a new resource to be reviewed, verified and added to the Portal. If you submitted a resource and do not see it on the Portal after 10 business days please contact our team at info@blue-tourism-resource-portal.com.
After registering and activating your account, you will see a “Dashboard” option appear in the top menu of the website. The Dashboard is your unique space to view and manage resources and networks/platforms you have added to the portal. Please note, only resources that have been reviewed, verified and published to the site will appear in the Dashboard. Pending resources that have been submitted will not appear in the Dashboard until published.
Blue Tourism Partners take an active role in promoting and further developing the Blue Tourism Resource Portal and will be recognized as a Partner on the portal and in promotional materials. The Ocean Foundation / TACSO supports Blue Tourism Partners with:
- A promotion toolkit that will contain a suggested schedule and content for social media.
- Feature the partner organization as a Blue Tourism Partner on the resource portal
- Provide quarterly updates to partner organization on featured tools and resources to integrate into promotional efforts.
- Provide opportunities to partner organization to co-host special social media and educational events in collaboration with TACSO.
If you are interested in becoming a partner, contact our team at info@blue-tourism-resource-portal.com.
The site also features other groups and websites created for tourism professionals, including learning and action networks that will help you build skills and make valuable connections in the industry. These are presented in the “Other Platforms” page of the website.
Users can add and manage information presented about platforms by registering and going to the Dashboard area of the website.
Please contact our team at info@blue-tourism-resource-portal.com.