Planeta Forum

[planeta]

Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch

In the past few years experts have reported a high failure rate of internationally funded tourism projects, particularly in the realm of 'sustainable' travel and ecotourism. Precise figures and stats are hard to come by as institutions provide little public evaluation of this work.

It is time to ask financial institutions to be more effective and that requires improved communication.

Ecotourism and sustainable tourism have long been touted as key tools in conserving wildlife and developing local economies. The United Nations declared 2002 the "international year of ecotourism" and while there were a number of agreements and declarations, follow-up work since 2002 has been uneven.

Development banks are rarely aware of independent concerns about projects they have funded as they only hear from the project coordinators. The coordinators evaluate themselves and rarely inform funders of criticisms.

What could be different? Financial institutions could make the contract process and the evaluation available in a reader-friendly format on the Web. They could post in-depth project development reports and offer access for stakeholders to comment about work in progress.

To build a constituency for such innovative work, Planeta.com has launched the Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch (STBW) to bring together multiple stakeholders -- including donors, communities, operators and media -- to review current financing of sustainable travel and ecotourism offered by International Financial Institutions (IFIs).

In its first two years Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch has published a half dozen original in-depth Q&As with bank staff at the Inter-American Development Bank Sustainable Tourism Policies, the World Bank and USAID. The project also links to resources published elsewhere on the Web, including criticisms of ecotourism certification prepared by Indigenous Tourism Rights International and questions raised by the Ethnotourism Project Mesoamerica.

The STBW is not the typical 'watch dog' organization that distances itself from the institutions. The approach we have chosen is one that is more inclusive.

Institutions financing ecotourism, sustainable travel and responsible tourism are highlighted on Planeta's Financing Sustainable Tourism index, a reference guide developed for the international Financing Sustainable Tourism Conference.

To their credit, many financial institutions do provide information such as basic details of projects in the pipeline. What is lacking are details such as request for proposals and project evaluations. Tracking information of existing projects or identifying new loans remains difficult.


HOW THE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM BANK WATCH WORKS

WHO IS INVITED? -- Anyone who is interested! In particular, we extend the invite to bank representatives and stakeholders who work with the banks, including owners of tourism businesses, consultants, government and ngo officials and academics.

GUIDELINES -- Participants need to follow the Planeta Forum guidelines which encourage peaceful engagement and global understanding.

COST -- We request a financial contribution. Whatever supporters can pay will be channeled to improving this work. Those who are not in a position to pay, are asked to help a local environmental or social development project. Pay it forward.

TRAINING -- Planeta offers our popular Web Seminar to individuals and institutions. While banks and development agencies have not taken up this offer, it's important to emphasize that bank staff need to learn how others view and use their websites. Banks need to learn how to use other websites and forums as information has greater value when it is actually communicated.

REFERENCES

Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/bankwatch.html

Business and Financing Forum
http://forum.planeta.com/viewforum.php?f=16

Financing Sustainable Tourism Conference
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/ecotourism_financing.html

Financing Sustainable Tourism Index: A Spotlight on Institutions
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/ecotourism_fspot.html

Reflections from the World Bank
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/worldbank.html

[mskaye]

As well as banks I think foundations bear watching. The Ford Foundation, for example, has not seemed to be a paragon of transparency in it's funding of ecotourism projects.

[planeta]

True, foundations have been less than forthcoming ... but it's part of an institutional culture that does not value sharing information in a democratic fashion.

As to foundations, Planeta has an index of those working in the field online
>> http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/links/foundations.html
>> http://forum.planeta.com/viewtopic.php?t=205

Rumors are that Ford is backing out of funding sustainable tourism projects. But when I wrote a review (basically rating the foundation websites), Ford did well in putting basic info on its own website
>> http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/rmader/rmcharities1.html

That said, what remains missing from the puzzle is a public call for projects. A foundation or bank that explains what has been funded is doing a good job, but foundations or banks that explain the process of receiving funding and evaluate what has been funded would be doing everyone a favor.

Ron Mader

[mskaye]

Perhaps I have gotten my foundations mixed up. Which foundation funded BEST and the TIES projects on green certification?

[planeta]

Ford Foundation is responsible for funding a large chunk of the programs in favor of certification. This in turn has generated interest (and funding) from Interamerican Development Bank.

Details and the Planeta critique are posted online
>> http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/certification.html

This topic -- Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch -- is intended to focus attention on the bigger picture. What are banks funding in the realm of 'sustainable tourism?' We have reports of billions spent and numerous failures. We can't afford this!

My hope is that by publishing the Spotlight -- http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/ecotourism_fspot.html -- we improve the odds for success. I sincerely hope that bank officials and foundation execs participate. Let's change the way things are done.

Ron

[Meganew]

The question of bank policies is a subject I have been pursuing since I helped launch 2 Ecotourism Development Policy Forums in the 1990s as President of TIES in which a variety of bank representatives were asked to present their existing policies and case studies of model ecotourism projects were presented to them. The results of these forums have been published. The first by Don Hawkins of George Washington University in the Ecolodge Sourcebook, TIES, 1995. The second in Ecotourism, Principles, Policies and Practices for Sustainability - under Development Banks - UNEP and TIES, 2002, Megan Epler Wood author available online at the UNEP Industry and Environment site.

The second forum in particular began to look at the problem of "failure" of bank projects, and there were numerous examples presented of why bank funding has not been appropriately targeted, and solutions are also presented in my book, that were discussed with World Bank and IADB at that time. These solutions are still relevant. A study was also done by Sylvie Blangy at that time for a consulting firm called SECA in French on the French GEF, which found a high failure rate of projects in the 1990s. This document is perhaps available through Ms. Blangy.

I have continued to track this topic in my role as writer, researcher and consultant. The information on how much development banks have funded has also been vigorously pursued by George Washington University (GWU).

Here is one key reference on this topic which relies on the GWU research for the section on development banks.

Christ et al, 2003. Tourism and Biodiversity, Conservation International, Washington, D.C... This publication does not speak of success or failure rate. It documents that there has been an investment in tourism development projects by donors of $5 billion over 5 years, in approximately 320 tourism-related projects. It is noted that only 17% of these projects include tourism in their title. The authors note, "that development agencies do not seem to fully recognize the importance of oturism as a sustainable developmetn tool, or they are concerned about criticism resulting from poor environmental track record of tourism development projects in the 1970s and 80s. This lack of definition makes it more difficult to study the scope and volume of tourism-related conservation projects."

This same study suggests that a group of 35 international experts surveyed in 2002 believe that bilateral and multilateral aid agencies and government entities will most likely be the leading source of funding for sustainable and ecotourism development (no dates given). Development agency staff surveyed found their role to be much less important that the experts did, indicating that development agencies may be unaware of their role in influencing actors on the ground during critical phases of development.

Megan

[planeta]

A brief about Planeta's feature about the Bank Watch forum has been posted online the Development Gateway
>> http://topics.developmentgateway.org/aideffectiveness/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1002310


>> http://topics.developmentgateway.org/aideffectiveness

[planeta]

MADAGASCAR: Projects to boost food security, conserve environment - IRIN

JOHANNESBURG, 13 May 2004 (IRIN) - Madagascar is to benefit from two funding initiatives that aim to boost food security and harness the eco-tourism potential of the island.

On Wednesday the World Bank announced that it had approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant of US $40 million, as well as a Global
Environment Facility (GEF) grant of US $9 million, to support the
implementation of Madagascar's National Environment Action Plan.

>> http://www.irinnews.org/
report.asp?ReportID=41035&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa&SelectCountry=MADAGASCAR

[planeta]

Forwarding news bulletin

IDB Procurement Workshop:
Business Opportunities with Latin America and the Caribbean through the IDB Group

The Bildner Center for Western Hemisphere Studies (The City University of
New York) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) would like to
invite you to attend Business Opportunities with Latin America and the
Caribbean through the IDB Group, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, June 8, 2004 at The Graduate Center in New York City (365 Fifth Avenue).

The seminar will cover an overview of the IDB, project cycle (how to track
business opportunities), sources of information, current lending
priorities, procurement opportunities, opportunities in the private sector
financing activities by the IDB Group and remittance. In addition, there
will be one-on-one sessions in the afternoon to discuss issues of your
interests with IDB Group representatives.

The IDB is the largest multilateral provider of development financing for
Latin America and the Caribbean, with a cumulative lending of $118 billion,
offering substantial business opportunities to the private sector. The Bank
has an annual lending capacity of $8.5 billion and is generating business
opportunities in the form of approximately 13,000 activities.

For information on the speakers and the preliminary agenda for this event
please visit
>> http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dept/bildn/bildner/events/2004Events/IDBEvent/04-06-08.htm

REGISTRATION: To register for this event please fill out the following form
>> http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dept/bildn/bildner/events/2004Events/IDBEvent/registrationform.pdf

>> http://www.bildner.org

[planeta]

Trade and Development at the Development Gateway
Title: Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch Encourages Transparency, Accountability and Success

This content is now on the Gateway:
>> http://topics.developmentgateway.org/trade/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1002311

Thank you for making this content available to Gateway users.

[planeta]

Headlines
http://www.planeta.com/headlines.html
Tiny†businesses in Guatemala†join†forces to win tourist dollars - Roger Hamilton/IDB

MejÌa is not alone. He and some 50 other small-scale tourism entrepreneurs in Antigua are have a partner in a nationwide Tourism Microenterprise Program, created in 2001 by the Guatemala Development Foundation with the help of a $520,000 grant from the IDBís Multilateral Investment Fund. In Antigua and in three other touristically strategic areas in the country, the program has set up Tourism Enterprise Centers specifically designed for microbusinesses. For a nominal membership fee of $5 a month, the businesses receive training and consulting services to upgrade their operations, and a chance to meet for networking sessions where they can make alliances among themselves.
>> http://www.iadb.org/idbamerica/index.cfm?thisid=2789

Also, tourism hotspots in Guatemala
>> http://www.iadb.org/idbamerica/viewimage.cfm?thisid=2789&artid=31350&

[planeta]

Good news!

The Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch is a featured news item in the Totem Tourism Marketing Newsletter
>> http://www.totemtourismmarketing.org/newsletter_form.htm

[planeta]

Adding the following resource to the FST Index

International Finance Corporation - Environment
http://www.ifc.org/enviro/EPU/STourism/stourism.htm

Excerpts

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, is a global investor and advisor committed to developing a sustainable private sector in emerging markets.

regulation, IFC's environmental and social requirements have become the global benchmark for investment in emerging markets. Our reputation and international standing as a member of the World Bank Group allows us to bring communities, governments and non-governmental organizations together with the private sector to develop innovative approaches to complex issues.

To help our clients succeed in a changing global environment, IFC has developed world-class environmental, social development and insurance expertise. We offer this expertise, which complements IFC's traditional strength in project finance and business risk management, to our client companies as part of our investment and capacity building services.

>> http://www.ifc.org/enviro/EPU/STourism/stourism.htm

[planeta]

http://www.packard.org/index.cgi?page=grants&year=2004&id=consci

Institute for Policy Studies
Washington, D.C.
$75,000 to develop a sustainable tourism plan for the Gulf of California

[planeta]

George Washington University hosts a major meeting on tourism policy and investment. Results will be delivered from the survey generated by the Development Assistance Network for Tourism Enhancement and Investment.
>> http://www.dantei.org

REFERENCE

Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch
>> http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/bankwatch.html