Nature-Positive Tourism
As tourism rebounds and conservation funding pressures grow, the choices made today will shape ecosystems and communities for decades. This course equips practitioners to design tourism that protects nature, earns trust, and remains financially viable.
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Overview
Across the globe, tourism is expanding into ecologically sensitive and culturally significant places. For many landscapes and communities, tourism is now positioned as both an economic engine and a conservation strategy. But without clear limits, governance, and operational discipline, it can undermine the very systems it aims to sustain.
For conservation and tourism leaders, this course focuses on the operational decisions that determine whether tourism strengthens or degrades a place. You’ll establish clear limits, embed them into day-to-day practice, and build governance and revenue models that protect ecosystems over the long term.
Key Benefits
- Design tourism that measurably strengthens conservation outcomes
- Build financially durable models that thrive within defined ecological limits
- Turn limits into staffing rules, visitor caps, and enforceable systems
- Structure tourism so community authority and profitability reinforce each other
- Build credibility with funders, regulators, and partners
What’s Included
- Step-by-step guidance to build your own nature-positive tourism proposal
- Tools to assess limits, set caps, and redesign experiences
- Real-world case studies of projects that succeeded
- Templates for governance roles, monitoring triggers, and enforcement
- How to effectively communicate trade-offs to stakeholders
By the end, you’ll have a clear, defensible proposal for delivering tourism as a conservation strategy at any organization grounded in limits, operational rigor, and long-term financial sustainability.
Who this course is designed for:
- Tourism and recreation operators redesigning existing experiences
- Destination management professionals overseeing visitor growth
- Protected area and public land managers balancing access and limits
- Conservation practitioners working at the tourism-biodiversity interface
- Hospitality leaders transitioning into sustainability-focused roles
Outcomes
By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:
- Diagnose nature-risk and tourism pressure points
- Establish enforceable ecological and community operating limits
- Redesign experiences to reduce harm while remaining viable
- Identify monitoring indicators and link them to specific management actions
- Align governance, benefits, and profitability under real constraints
- Communicate trade-offs transparently to decision-makers and partners
Practical skills you will develop
This program equips learners with vital skills to thrive in today’s complex workforce. Key skills include:
These skills apply to these careers
Meeting, convention, and event planners
Coordinate logistics, operations, and services for events, tourism programs, and visitor experiences.
Lodging managers
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities of hotels, resorts, and other lodging establishments to ensure operational efficiency and guest satisfaction.
Marketing Manager
Plan, direct, or coordinate marketing policies and programs, including tourism promotion and destination branding efforts.
General and operations manager
Plan, direct, or coordinate operational activities of public or private sector organizations, including visitor services within parks or protected areas.
Urban and Regional Planners
Develop comprehensive plans and programs for land use that help communities adapt to environmental and climate-related challenges.
Natural Sciences Manager
Plans and directs scientific research, including tech integration for environmental programs.
Instructors
Arizona State University
Arizona State University
GishwatiÐMukura National Park, Rwanda
Contact information
Have additional questions?
Please reach out directly to Tye Waggoner ([email protected]) for assistance with the programs content.