Implementation and Governance
The priorities in this paper require a delivery system that can coordinate policy across tourism, environment, planning, transport, labour, culture, health and local government. The central recommendation is a three-level Destination Management Organisation (DMO) model: regional leadership, place-based destination partnerships, and site or business-level delivery.
This direction is already consistent with regional policy. Sardinia’s Regional Strategic Tourism Plan 2023–2025 identifies sustainability across environmental, economic and social dimensions as its overarching objective and provides for annual review in response to sector conditions. Regional documents also set out an intended DMO structure operating at regional, provincial and local scales, coordinated by the Department of Tourism and involving both public and private stakeholders.[delibere.regione.sardegna][files.regione.sardegna][files.regione.sardegna]
Recommended Structure
| Level | Recommended role | Core responsibilities |
|---|---|---|
| Regional DMO | Set direction, standards and investment conditions | Brand stewardship; strategy; data; funding alignment; international positioning; common sustainability standards; monitoring; cross-departmental coordination |
| Destination partnerships | Translate the framework into locally relevant action | Seasonal management; local product development; community engagement; mobility; visitor information; business support; pressure monitoring |
| Site and business delivery | Implement practical changes on the ground | Resource efficiency; accessibility; workforce practice; visitor communication; compliance; local procurement; operational data reporting |
The Regional DMO should not function primarily as a marketing body. Its role should combine promotion with destination stewardship: deciding where demand should grow, where it should be managed, what infrastructure is needed, which outcomes public investment must achieve and how tourism contributes to resident wellbeing.
Regional leadership
Establish a Sustainable Tourism Delivery Board, chaired by the Regional Department of Tourism and accountable for annual implementation progress. Membership should include the departments responsible for environment, planning, transport, labour, culture, social policy, health and economic development, alongside ARPAS, Civil Protection, regional utilities, municipalities, protected-area managers, universities, business associations, trade unions and community representatives.
The Board should have four practical functions:
- Approve the annual implementation plan, budget alignment and delivery milestones.
- Resolve cross-departmental barriers that individual tourism bodies cannot address alone.
- Review destination dashboards, early-warning indicators and independent evaluations.
- Publish an annual public progress report describing achieved outcomes, underperformance and corrective action.
Destination partnerships
Destination partnerships should be formed around functional visitor areas rather than only municipal boundaries. A coastal cluster, island, protected landscape, city–hinterland corridor or cultural route may require shared management because visitor movement, infrastructure load and environmental pressure cross administrative lines.
Each partnership should prepare a rolling three-year Destination Action Plan that includes:
- A baseline of visitor flows, environmental capacity, infrastructure, housing, workforce and resident sentiment.
- A limited set of locally agreed priorities linked to the regional framework.
- Seasonal operating plans for water, waste, mobility, safety, visitor information and sensitive-site access.
- Clearly assigned roles, delivery budgets and annual targets.
- A formal process for resident, business, worker and civil-society participation.
- Public reporting on progress and changes made in response to evidence.
Phased Roadmap
First 12 months
- Form the Sustainable Tourism Delivery Board and establish its terms of reference.
- Confirm the core indicator framework and build on SIRED/ROSS1000 for integrated destination dashboards.
- Select a small number of pilot destinations representing distinct conditions: high-pressure coast, island, urban heritage, inland/rural and protected landscape.
- Complete destination baselines, including water, waste, mobility, housing, labour, ecosystem condition, accessibility and resident sentiment.
- Apply sustainability screening to new tourism-investment calls and material publicly funded projects.
- Establish common standards for water resilience, circular operations, climate preparedness, accessibility and nature-positive visitor management.
- Begin workforce and skills forecasting with employers, education providers and employment services.
- Launch a transparent communication programme explaining the strategy’s purpose, trade-offs and early actions.
Years 2–3
- Expand the dashboard and destination partnership model to priority visitor areas.
- Introduce targeted demand-management tools at high-pressure sites, including booking, permits, parking management, visitor information and low-impact mobility.
- Scale water-efficiency, waste-prevention, accessibility and climate-resilience support for tourism businesses.
- Implement workforce compacts, training pathways and seasonal housing or mobility pilots.
- Align grant, procurement, licensing and concession conditions with sustainable-tourism criteria.
- Launch coordinated shoulder-season product and transport programmes connecting coast, interior, culture, food and nature.
- Publish the first independent State of Tourism and Destination Resilience report.
Years 4–5
- Review outcomes against baselines and revise targets where needed.
- Scale successful pilots through statutory planning, regional funding criteria and destination accreditation.
- Integrate visitor-derived revenues into transparent conservation, mobility, public-service and community-benefit funds where locally appropriate.
- Assess cumulative tourism capacity in the most pressured destinations before supporting further growth.
- Establish Sardinia as a credible Mediterranean leader in accessible, nature-positive and climate-resilient tourism.
Delivery Principles
Five principles should guide implementation:
- Manage demand, not only promotion. Marketing success must be matched by capacity, conservation and community benefit.
- Work at the right scale. Tourism pressures frequently extend beyond individual municipal boundaries; governance must reflect real visitor flows and ecosystems.
- Fund outcomes, not activity. Investment should be assessed by measurable improvements in resilience, resource use, local value and inclusion.
- Make trade-offs explicit. Where visitor growth conflicts with water security, ecosystem condition, housing or safety, decisions must be transparent and evidence-led.
- Learn and adapt. The strategy should be reviewed annually using data, stakeholder experience and independent evaluation—not treated as a fixed document.
Immediate Decision Set
Within the first implementation cycle, regional leaders should formally decide:
| Decision | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Establish the Regional DMO and Delivery Board | Create clear accountability and cross-departmental coordination |
| Adopt core destination indicators | Ensure progress is measured beyond arrivals and overnight stays |
| Select pilot destinations | Test integrated management in representative tourism contexts |
| Approve common standards | Give businesses and municipalities clear expectations on water, waste, climate, nature, work and accessibility |
| Align investment criteria | Prevent public funding from reinforcing unsustainable growth |
| Resource destination partnerships | Enable local implementation, community engagement and seasonal operations |
| Publish the first annual report | Build transparency, legitimacy and continuous improvement |
The OECD’s 2025 assessment underlines why this integrated approach matters: Sardinia’s strong natural and cultural assets coexist with population decline, youth unemployment, outward migration, infrastructure gaps and sharp disparities between coastal and inland areas. It identifies improved resident wellbeing, stronger infrastructure and reduced territorial inequalities as central to the region’s long-term attractiveness for visitors, talent and investment.[oecd]
A sustainable visitor economy can help address these challenges—but only if it is governed as a long-term place-development strategy rather than a short-term growth programme.