ICRT Economic Benefit Methodology Paper Launches

By Harold Goodwin, Founder ICRT global and Professor Emeritus at Manchester Metropolitan University

We are grateful to Professor Xavier Font, one of the ICRT global’s Special Advisors and Professor at Surrey University for authoring this journal paper presenting the ICRT global economic-benefit methodology. “Accounting for local economic benefit in tourism accommodation: a lean methodology for property-level reporting”

The network of the International Centres for Responsible Tourism (ICRTs) has been working to increase the local benefits of tourism since 1998, initially with work on increasing market access in The Gambia with Adama Bah, chair of the Institute of Travel and Tourism of the Gambia. Work continued through the Pro-Poor Tourism Partnership with Caroline Ashley, now Executive Director of Steel Watch, and Dilys Roe an ICRT global Special Advisor, Principal Researcher and Team Leader for biodiversity and natural resources at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Increasing local economic benefit was a major part of the 2002 Cape Town Declaration on Responsible Tourism in Destinations. 

The new ICRT global economic benefit methodology has now been published and many of the earlier references can be found here.

The new paper describes how a range of methodologies have been developed and widely used to estimate the economic impact of tourism at the destination level and national level, multipliers, leakages and input output tables. From the Responsible Tourism perspective these are of very limited use. We needed a methodology which could accurately report the economic impact of particular businesses and their management so that effort and achievement can be encouraged and rewarded. This methodology evolved from work by Harold Goodwin and Glyn O’Leary, CEO Transfrontier Parks Destinations (TFPD) and chair ICRT Southern Africa and a professional accountant, at three properties managed by TFPD using management accounts. The methodology has been throughly tested by TFPD accounting staff and is currently being tested by hotels in Europe.

At !Xaus lodge our brief was to determine the local economic benefit accruing to the ‡Khomani San and Mier communities and to SANParks. At Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge the bief was to determine the local economic benefit accruing to the Batlokoa Community from the refurbishment and operation of the lodge. At Piggs Peak our brief was to report the contribution of the hotel to Eswatini and the Piggs Peak community to demonstrate to the community and government the scale of the value created by the hotel and to protect the hotel from any action on mis-selling by regulators. This method of accurately reporting local economic impact can be added relatively cheaply to accounting processes at the enterprise level and audited by the business’s certified accountants.

Later this year we will additionally publish a White Paper on work we are undertaking with easyJet holidays on the economic impacts on hotels with which they work in Europe. 

Image taken at the launch of ICRT global in 2024 including Harold Goodwin second left, Adama Bah third from left, Xavier Font fifth from the right and Matt Callaghan COO easyJet holidays second from the right.