Evaluating an entire destination—both park and gateway—requires weighing such subtle issues as aesthetics and cultural integrity, as well as balancing good points against bad. Since simple numerical measures cannot do justice to the task, we turned to informed human judgment: a panel of some 300 well-traveled experts in a variety of fields—ecology, sustainable tourism, geography, park management and planning, travel writing and photography, historic preservation, indigenous cultures, archaeology.
We asked panelists to evaluate just the places with which they were familiar, using six criteria weighted according to importance: environmental and ecological quality; social and cultural integrity; condition of any historic buildings and archaeological sites; aesthetic appeal; quality of tourism management; and the outlook for the future.
Experts first aired all points of view by filing comments about each park and gateway (anonymously, to ensure objectivity). In a version of a research tool called the Delphi technique, panelists then reviewed the comments and filed their stewardship scores.
The resulting Stewardship Index score, then, is an average of informed judgments about each place as a whole, taking into account its many faces. Like the cards that Olympic judges hold up, our experts' scores incorporate both measurable accomplishment and the intangibles of style, aesthetics, and culture. And like an athlete, each destination has a chance to improve.
To help, Traveler, the Center for Sustainable Destinations, and the Conservation Fund have assembled an online "Community Toolkit" of resources. If you live in a gateway town or visit one often, visit our Center for Sustainable Destinations.
*Simon Williams, Cassandra Cartwright, and many others helped with this study.