9. Govern Tourism Through Shared Data, Clear Accountability and Adaptive Management
Sardinia does not start from zero. The Regional Tourism Observatory manages the SIRED/ROSS1000 system, publishes dashboards, reports and open data, analyses tourism trends and visitor satisfaction, and supports regional policymaking. The strategic challenge is to turn this valuable statistical base into an integrated destination-management system that connects visitor flows with the environmental, social and economic conditions that tourism affects.[regione.sardegna]
Problem
Tourism decisions are often made with partial information. Arrivals and overnight stays are essential measures, but they do not show whether a destination is becoming more sustainable, resilient or beneficial for residents.
A municipality may record rising stays while facing water stress, worsening traffic, high waste peaks, declining ecosystem condition, unaffordable housing for workers, resident dissatisfaction or leakage of visitor spending outside the local economy. Conversely, a lower-volume destination may create strong local benefits with limited environmental impact.
The key governance gap is therefore not simply a lack of data. It is the lack of a shared framework that links data to decisions, assigns responsibility and enables policy to change when outcomes fall short.
Existing foundation
The Regional Observatory already provides a practical institutional base:
- SIRED/ROSS1000 collects monthly information submitted by accommodation providers on tourism movements and accommodation capacity.[osservatorio.sardegnaturismo]
- Its public platform provides interactive tourism-flow dashboards from 2015 onwards, recent monthly comparisons, periodic reports and editable open datasets dating back to 2013.[info.sardegnaturismo]
- The Observatory’s remit includes analysis of tourism phenomena, visitor-satisfaction measurement and dissemination of data to institutions, universities and other bodies.[regione.sardegna]
This foundation should be expanded into a cross-sector destination intelligence capability—not replaced with a parallel reporting system.
Proposed direction
Create a Sardinia Sustainable Tourism Observatory and Accountability Framework, bringing together tourism, environment, infrastructure, labour, housing, culture, health and community data.
Priority measures should include:
- Establish a shared regional indicator framework, with a limited set of mandatory core indicators and optional destination-specific indicators.
- Combine tourism-flow data with water use, wastewater capacity, waste generation, mobility, emissions, housing, employment, accessibility, biodiversity, beach condition, wildfire exposure and resident sentiment.
- Publish a public destination dashboard at regional and municipal or destination-cluster level, while protecting personal and commercially sensitive information.
- Produce annual “State of Tourism and Destination Resilience” reports that assess outcomes against agreed targets—not only changes in arrivals and overnight stays.
- Require major tourism plans, public investments and accommodation developments to publish baseline conditions, expected impacts, mitigation measures and follow-up monitoring.
- Use early-warning thresholds for high-pressure locations, such as peak visitor density, water use, waste overflow, traffic congestion, housing pressure, erosion, wildfire risk or visitor-satisfaction decline.
- Create formal data-sharing arrangements between the Region, municipalities, utilities, protected-area managers, ports, airports, transport providers, public-health authorities and research institutions.
- Build analytical capacity within municipalities and destination organisations so that data supports local action rather than remaining a regional reporting exercise.
- Involve residents, workers, businesses and civil-society organisations in interpreting data, setting priorities and reviewing outcomes.
- Publish both successes and areas requiring corrective action, with clear time-bound improvement plans.
Governance model
The framework should operate at three levels:
| Level | Core role | Key outputs |
|---|---|---|
| Regional | Set standards, maintain core data infrastructure, coordinate agencies and allocate funding | Common indicators, annual report, open-data standards, regional risk maps and funding criteria |
| Destination or municipal cluster | Interpret local pressures, agree priorities and manage visitor demand | Local action plans, seasonal operating plans, public dashboards and stakeholder forums |
| Site or business | Deliver practical measures and report relevant operational data | Water, waste, energy, accessibility, workforce and visitor-experience actions |
Governance must also include accountability. Each strategic priority should have a named lead body, partner organisations, baseline, target date, budget route and public progress measure. Without this, the strategy risks becoming an aspirational document rather than a delivery framework.
Data principles
The system should follow six principles:
- Useful: collect data that directly informs decisions, rather than measuring everything possible.
- Comparable: use consistent definitions and reporting periods across destinations.
- Timely: provide seasonal data rapidly enough to inform operational decisions.
- Place-based: report at a scale that reflects actual tourism pressure, not only regional averages.
- Transparent: publish methods, limitations, assumptions and progress clearly.
- Participatory: combine administrative data with resident, worker, visitor and business experience.
Relevant stakeholders
Regional Department of Tourism and the Tourism Observatory; Regional Departments for Environment, Transport, Labour, Health, Planning and Culture; ARPAS; municipalities; destination-management organisations; water and waste utilities; protected-area managers; ports, airports and transport operators; ISTAT; universities and research institutes; chambers of commerce; tourism and business associations; trade unions; resident organisations and environmental groups.
Possible indicators
| Indicator group | Examples |
|---|---|
| Visitor economy | Arrivals, overnight stays, length of stay, spend, occupancy, repeat visits and market mix |
| Environmental pressure | Water use, wastewater load, waste per guest-night, transport emissions, beach condition and ecosystem indicators |
| Social outcomes | Resident sentiment, worker housing, employment quality, accessibility and community benefit |
| Economic value | Local procurement, local ownership, seasonal business continuity and visitor spending retained locally |
| Resilience | Heat, wildfire, drought, flood and coastal-risk exposure; preparedness and disruption outcomes |
| Governance | Data completeness, reporting timeliness, target delivery, funding allocation and stakeholder participation |
Delivery horizon
Immediate. Convene a cross-departmental governance group and agree a small core set of indicators within the first implementation year. Build on SIRED/ROSS1000 and existing open-data systems, beginning with a pilot dashboard for priority destinations. Expand only after the data are demonstrably used to guide funding, planning approvals, service operations and visitor-management decisions.