About

Summary

This study was implemented as a part of the World Bank Group’s Sustainable and Resilient Tourism on Small Islands and in Coastal Destinations project funded by PROBLUE, a new Multi-donor Trust Fund that supports the sustainable use of ocean resources. 

The aim of the project was to improve the World Bank’s understanding of how small island developing states (SIDS) and small coastal nations can increase their tourism competitiveness in the wake of COVID-19 through more sustainable and resilient tourism practices. Specifically related to this consultancy, the project sought to support SIDS in adopting solutions to improve the circularity of their economies and reduce single-use plastics.  This was achieved by identifying technical solutions to establish loops in the use of resources in connection to tourism and other main sectors, as well as identifying firm level intervention to increase the tourism sector’s sustainability.  Project activities were piloted in three West African countries: Cabo Verde, The Gambia and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Our Approach

Acorn’s role in the study was to provide our significant tourism expertise to analyse the status of tourism in each of the three countries, identify key stakeholders (mainly accommodation, restaurants and tour operators) to consult with, and develop and implement qualitative and quantitative data collection.  Key stages in the work included:

• Identification and appraisal of tourism strategies, master plans, statistical reports, lists of businesses, and any ecotourism accreditation in place in each country.
• Identification of key stakeholders for consultations.  This involved the compilation of lists of businesses (gathered from tourism associations, government records and online directories) and stratification to select a sample of businesses distributed by size, geographical location and type.
• Development of a script for face-to-face consultations with selected businesses.  These are organised in advance and a strict timetable of interviews was developed and implemented.
• Development of an online survey for quantitative surveys to be distributed to all selected businesses in each country.
• Analysis of primary and secondary research findings to establish level of single use plastics,  general waste, and energy and water usage, as well as individual business aspirations to embrace sustainable alternatives.

Outcome

The outcomes of the consultancy provided:

• An improved understanding of how the circular economy can leverage the tourism industry and other industries to promote a more sustainable blue economy on SIDS.
• An improved understanding of how the tourism sector can transition to and benefit from a shift to a circular economy, with a focus on single-use plastics usage and disposal.
• An improved understanding of the tools that policy makers should modify or introduce to support such a transition.
• An improved understanding of how to minimize the use of single-use plastics through plastics alternates in the tourism industry.
• An improved understanding of what is required to increase resilience and circularity in the target countries’ economies through strategic infrastructure (water, energy, transportation, waste and wastewater management) investments.