Nature Intelligence and Tourism’s Future – Measuring What Matters

This blog reflects on content and discussions from the Nature Positive Tourism Partnership webinar on Monitoring and Disclosing Nature-Related Risks and Impacts (on April 22nd), hosted by UN Tourism and developed and delivered by ANIMONDIAL. If the tourism sector is to protect itself from the dangers of nature loss, information will be a critical resource …

Tourism depends on nature more than most business sectors. It is what gives a destination its appeal. Meanwhile, natural ecosystem services, like providing freshwater, maintain tourism operations. But without careful management tourism degrades ecosystems, placing pressure on water resources, biodiversity and landscapes, and gradually eroding the environmental and social value that makes places worth visiting.

If tourism continues to grow without properly recognising its relationship with nature, it risks undermining its own future.

“Every itinerary we craft depends on thriving ecosystems – from the coral reefs of the Maldives to the savannahs of East Africa.” – Alison Zacher, Global Managing Director, Scott Dunn

We are already seeing the signs. Destinations like Venice, Barcelona and Dubrovnik have already applied restrictions to manage visitor pressure and others will likely follow as results from these pressures become visible. While damaging to tourism, these measures are likely to help in the short-term, but will unlikely address the underlying cause – nature degradation – unless tourism changes how it operates.

Nature Positive Tourism

Nature Positive Tourism offers a more grounded approach to how tourism does business. Its science-based framework links business performance directly to a destination’s ecological condition. Put simply, it helps tourism businesses and destinations understand how they depend on nature, what impact they have on it, what risks they face if nature declines, and where they can create positive change.

This shifts the focus away from generic sustainability statements and volume management, towards practical, place-informed action.

“Businesses operate within systems that are not always aligned with a sustainable future. Creating the right conditions – through policy, finance, technology, and shared values – is essential to support nature and society.” – Adapted from IPBES Business and Biodiversity Assessment

Working within ecological limits

At the heart of Nature Positive Tourism is a fundamental truth: you can’t manage what you don’t measure. To make better decisions, tourism needs a clearer understanding of the state of nature in each destination – its ecosystem health, species abundance, water availability and climate resilience. Without this baseline, it is impossible to know whether tourism is operating within its environmental limits or exceeding them. With this information, decisions become more informed, more targeted, and more aligned with long-term destination health.

From Awareness to Action

To apply Nature Positive Tourism in practice, businesses need to understand their relationship with nature through four key areas:

• Dependencies – what ecosystem services the business most relies on (like water, biodiversity, or land- or sea-scapes).
• Impacts – how the business activities affect ecosystems both directly and through value chains.
• Risks – how changes to the natural environment, regulation, or resource scarcity could affect business performance.
• Opportunities – where business action can restore nature, strengthen resilience and create better tourism experiences.

Together, these are referred to as the business’ DIROs or Nature-Risk Profile. They help businesses focus on what really matters, for their particular activities and operations, enabling them to make the biggest positive difference for nature and their business.

“Improving transparency, traceability and collaborative action in the value chain can help businesses address impacts and dependencies.” – IPBES

A shift in how tourism operates

So, what does using nature intelligence mean for the tourism sector?

For businesses, it means moving away from broad sustainability programmes and towards targeted, place-based action. This means measuring and managing DIROs, aligning actions with local ecological priorities, and investing in restoration and stewardship where it delivers the greatest value.

For destinations, it means shifting the goal from simply maximising visitor numbers to maintaining ecological condition. Natural assets are treated as essential infrastructure, and tourism growth is aligned with environmental capacity to ensure long-term resilience and appeal.

For travellers, it means increasingly choosing operators and destinations that can demonstrate credible action for nature. Travel experiences become less about volume and more about quality, authenticity and connection to place.

“Travel has the power to create positive change when it is rooted in real connection – between people, place and nature. When done well, immersive travel experiences can benefit travellers and the destinations they visit in equal measure.” – Rochelle Turner, Head of Impact for Intrepid Travel

A nature-intelligence model for tourism

The future of tourism will not be defined by how many people travel or how much revenue is generated. It will be defined by how well the sector understands and manages its relationship with nature.

A nature-positive model helps protect and restore ecosystems, strengthens destination resilience, and supports long-term economic value. It also meets growing expectations from investors, regulators and travellers for transparency, accountability and measurable outcomes.

“New approaches such as environmental DNA (eDNA) are transforming how we understand nature, providing a clearer and more consistent way to measure biodiversity and support more transparent reporting on environmental change.” – Prof Mike Bunce, Minderoo Foundation

Crucially, this approach replaces assumption with evidence, linking business decisions directly to the ecological condition of identified locations.

Tourism does not necessarily need fewer travellers. It needs better information, better decisions, and a stronger connection to the nature it depends on.

“Connecting ecosystem health to business KPIs is essential to move luxury tourism from fragmented sustainability to long-term resilience and value.” – Alison Zacher, Global Managing Director, Scott Dunn

Daniel Turner, Director of Strategy

Find out more:

• Background on Nature Positive Tourism (and link to Nature Positive Tourism In Action report)
• Monitoring & Disclosing Your Nature-Related Risks and Impacts (Nature Positive Tourism Partnership Action Sheet)
• Understand your business’s DIROs with ANIMONDIAL’s full range of Assessment Services
• ANIMONDIAL’s award-winning NATOUR IMPACT Assessment tool