The index does not take into account the environmental
Therefore, this tourism indicator should be evaluated
management practices of tourism enterprises. Recent
in conjunction with other data. Complementary data
trends in tourism indicate an increasing valuation of the
would include direct measures of environmental
natural environment, which promotes, in turn, greater
impact (e.g., erosion, sedimentation, water quality)
protection and management efforts. Ecotourism,
plus contextual information (e.g., regarding the type
for example, is the fastest growing sub-segment
of tourism being developed, such as eco-boutique
of tourism globally and is completely dependent on
establishments marketed exclusively to high-end
environmental quality for its competitive tourism
tourists versus mass tourism operations).
offering5. By definition, ecotourism destinations must
When compared with the baseline-year values, the
be managed and operated for minimum environmental
TDI also provides information on the growth or decline
impacts to maximize the experience of tourists in
of the tourism sector and the relative dependence of
nature.
the local economy on tourism activities.
Status
Status
At this time, TDI values are not available for the MAR.
Data collection for index parameters is underway.
Data
Data Needs
Data regarding the following are needed: type of
tourism development, investment level in tourism,
number of tourism businesses participating in
voluntary environmental performance improvement
programs and number attaining full eco-certification.
Centro Ecologico Akumal
Unit of
Maximum Intensity*
Means of Calculation**
Index Component
Expression
= Ave. Daily Visitors X 100
Ratio of tourist population
% Visitor in
100%
Local Population
to local population (RNR)
proportion to Local
200 rooms/km
Total number of hotel
(level beyond which
= No. Rooms/km
X 100
rooms per km of
Rooms/km
coastal tourism is
200 Rooms/km
coastline (RKC)
considered to be
highly developed)
Use the percentage
Hotel occupancy rates
% occupancy per
100%
(expressed as a value between 0 and 100%)
(HOR)
year
Yearly average daily
US$300 per day
= Daily Expenditure per Tourist X 100
expenditure per tourist
US$ per day
(adjusted for inflation
US$300
(DET)
after base year)
Yearly cruise ship
Ships per year per
1500 per year†
= Yearly Arrivals X 100
arrivals (CSA)
port
1500
TDI Value
Final Index Score
= RNR+RKC+HOR+DET+CSA
5
* Maximum Intensity is defined as the value or level at which development activity is at the highest possible level.
** Any value above 100% is assigned a score of 100.
† Roughly the equivalent of 4 ships per day (above which would be an indicator of very heavy cruise ship activity)
The index scores are compared to a reference or baseline-year set of values (to be established) to determine relative change in
D2
tourism development pressure.
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