Access

Permission, liberty, or ability to enter, approach, or pass to and from a place or to approach or communicate with a person or thing

Accessible

Providing for the ability of individiuals with varied capaibilities the opportunity to reach, participate, or understand

Accurate

Free from error especially as the result of care

Adolescent

Any person under the age of 18 years of age

Annual Gross Income

Wages earned from employment before deductions for taxes or other remunerations

Appropriate Behavior

Behavior of any individual involved in the tourism business that is characterized by respect for the sociocultural and ecological fabric of a location.

Archaeological Artifacts/Properties

Any object manufactured, used or modified by humans. Common examples include tools, utensils, art, food remains, and other products of human activity.

Authentic

Made or done the same way as an original

Authorities

The governing body or a particular geographical or topical jurisdiction; may include local, regional, or national governments as well as supra-national institutions.

Basic Services

Water supply, sanitation, waste management, transportation, energy supply, communication and education

Benefit

To add positive value

Biodegradable Chemicals

Chemicals capable of decomposing naturally within a relatively short period of time

Biodiversity

Variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems

Built Structure

Buildings and infrastructure constructed by human beings

CO2 Offsets

A reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by a project (such as rainforest preservation) that is sold to a purchaser to balance the purchaser’s own emissions. The funds generated by the sale of offsets support the development of additional reductions

Captive Wildlife

Any undomesticated animal species being retained apart from its natural habitat

Carbon Dioxide

A colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that exists in trace quantities (less than 400 parts per million) in ambient air.  Carbon dioxide is a product of fossil fuel combustion.  Although carbon dioxide does not directly impair human health, it is a greenhouse gas that traps terrestrial (ie., infrared) radiation and contributes to the potential for global warming

Carbon Footprint

A cumulative measure of the impact a product, service, activity, company, individual or other entity has on the environment, in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, and measured in units of carbon dioxide. These impacts usually result from energy consumption, pollution, and other sources

Carbon Neutral

A combination of efficiency improvements (resulting in reduced carbon dioxide emissions), and purchases of carbon offsets that balance 100% of a carbon footprint

Certification

A process by which an independent agent verifies that the claims made by a product, service, etc. are valid. Many certification programs exist through which products meeting independent standards may use a label or logo to indicate their claims have been verified

Child

Young human being, boy or girl; person who has not reached age of discretion; son or daughter at any age

Child Labor

Work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely; or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work

Climate Change

Change of climate, which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods

Climate Neutral

The concept of reducing or offsetting any greenhouse gases produced by any entity (individual, business, country, etc.) so as to create a 'neutral' effect on global warming for that entity

CO2 Sequestration

Also known as "carbon sinking", a biochemical process by which atmospheric carbon is absorbed by living organisms, including trees, soil micro-organisms, and crops, and involving the storage of carbon in soils, with the potential to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide levels

Code of Behavior

Comprehensive set of principles to guide tourists on appropriate actions while at a destination

Code of Conduct

Guidelines advising a tourism stakeholder, including tourists, on how to behave in an environmentally responsible manner. Recommended practices based on a system of self regulation intended to promote environmentally and/or socio-culturally sustainable behaviour.

Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Children, both male and female, engaging in sexual activities for money, profit, or any other consideration due to coercion or influence by any adult, syndicate or group”. The profit could go either to the child or to any third party involved in the transaction

Community Consent

Often annotated as free, prior, and informed, consent, community consent indicates approval of any outside incursion or development into community lands or practices. Consent does not require unanimity among all of the members of a community. Rather, consent should be determined pursuant to customary law and practice, or in some other way agreed upon by the community

Community Consultation

Process to examine the perceptions of communities that have the potential to be effected by tourism initiatives

Complete

Having all necessary parts, elements, or steps

Compliance

Fulfillment by a business, community, or individual of its obligations under an agreement

Conservation

The management of human use of organisms or ecosystems to ensure that such use is sustainable

Conservation Management

Formalized actions that includes realistic and integrated approraches to maintain existing genetic diversity and viable populations of flora and fauna in the wild in order to maintain biological interactions, ecological processess, and function

Corrective Action Plan

A documented methodology to reverse any previous activity that has been identified as environmentally, socially, or economically hazardous to the business, destination, or local community

Criterion

A standard, rule, or test on which a judgment or decision can be made

Cultural Artifacts/Properties

Any object manufactured, used or modified by humans that expresses the particular characteristic of a people or peoples, including way of life, spiritual beliefs, or a collective sense of history

Cultural Heritage

The ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions and values. Cultural heritage encompasses material culture, in the form of objects, structures, sites, landscapes and natural environment shaped by cultural practices and traditions over time, as well as living (or expressive) culture as evidenced in forms such as music, crafts, performing arts, literature, oral tradition and language. The emphasis is on cultural continuity from the past, through the present and into the future, with the recognition that culture is organic and evolving

Culturally Important Sites

Structures or locations, built or natural, having significance for, or being representative of, human activities or beliefs

Customer Satisfaction

The level to which a consumer of a good or service feels that expectations were met and the value of the product is acceptable

Destination

A significant place visited on a trip. It may be defined as the farthest point away from home visited (distance destination), the place where the most amount of time was spent (main destination), or place the visitor thinks of the primary place visited (motivating destination)

Development Plan

A documented methodology for the use of resources to improve or enhance a product, service, employed individual, or location

Discrimination

Unequal treatment of persons on grounds which are not justifiable in law

Effectively

The capacity to realise organisational or individual objectives. Effectiveness requires competence; sensitivity and responsiveness to specific, concrete, human concerns; and the ability to articulate these concerns, formulate goals to address them and develop and implement strategies to realise these goals

Emissions

The discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere from stationary sources such as smokestacks, other vents, surface areas of commercial or industrial facilities and mobile sources, for example, motor vehicles, locomotives and aircraft

Emissions Audit

A listing, by source, of the amounts of pollutants actually or potentially discharged. Such an inventory is used to establish and put forth emission standards

Employee Turnover

The ratio of the numbers of workers that had to be replaced in a given time period in relation to the total number of employees

Energy Efficiency

Producing a high level of output or performance relative to the amount of energy consumed.

Environmental Impact Study

Process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse. Although legislation and practice vary around the world, the fundamental components of an environmental impact assessment would necessarily involve the following stages:

(i) Screening to determine which projects or developments require a full or partial impact assessment study;
(ii) Scoping to identify which potential impacts are relevant to assess, and to derive terms of reference for the impact assessment; 
(iii) Impact assessment to predict and identify the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development taking into account inter-related consequences of the project proposal, and the socio-economic impacts;
(iv) Identifying mitigation measures (including not proceeding with the development, finding alternative designs or sites which avoid the impacts, incorporating safeguards in the design of the project, or providing compensation for adverse impacts);
(v) Deciding whether to approve the project or not; and
(vi) Monitoring and evaluating the development activities, predicted impacts and proposed mitigation measures to ensure that unpredicted impacts or failed mitigation measures are identified and addressed in a timely fashion.

Environmentally-friendly

A loose term often used in marketing to inform consumers about an attribute of a product or service that has an environmental benefit. This term does not necessarily indicate all attributes of a product or service is environmentally benign

Environmentally-sound

Technologies and techniques capable of reducing environmental damage through processes and materials that generate fewer potentially damanging substances, recover such substances from emissions prior to discharge, or utilize and recycle production residues

Equitable

Dealing fairly and equally with all concerned

Established guidelines

Rules, regulations, and suggested practice devloped and codefied by an expert institution or governing body

Eutrophication

The process by which a body of water accumulates nutrients, particularly nitrates and phosphates. This process can be accelerated by nutrient-rich runoff or seepage from agricultural land or from sewage outfalls, leading to rapid and excessive growth of algae and aquatic plants and undesirable changes in water quality

Exit Survey

A systematic program to collect information about the perceptions, behaviors, attitudes or characteristics of the survey participants upon the completion of a particular activity

Extinction Risk

The degree to which a species faces the possibilty of no longer existing as defined by expert organizations

Facility

Something  that is built, installed, or established to serve a particular purpose

Fair Price

The price at which an asset would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts

Fair Trade

A certification scheme that evaluates the economic, social and environmental impacts of the production and trade of agricultural products, in particular: coffee, sugar, tea, chocolate, and others. Fair Trade principles include: fair prices, fair labor conditions, direct trade, democratic and transparent organizations, community development and environmental sustainability

Formal

Following or according with established custom, or rule

Functional

Contributing to the development or maintenance of a larger whole

Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria

A set of criteria applicable worldwide to hotels and tour operators that determine whether or not the business approaches sustainability

Governance Level

The degree of exercise of political, economic, and administrative authority in order to manage affairs of a business or government

Gray Water

Wastewater that does not contain sewage or fecal contamination and can be reused for irrigation after simple filtration.

Greenhouse Gas

Atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect and sustain life on earth. Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are altering the habitat humans evolved to thrive in; this is a process called global warming or climate change. Greenhouse gases include: carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, ozone, methane, and CFCs

Gross Turnover

Total revenue before discount

Habitat

The structural environments where an organism lives for all or part of his life, including environments once occupied (continuously, periodically, or occasionally) by an organism or group of organisms of that kind have the potential to be reinstated

Harmful

Likely to be damanging

Hazardous materials

Any substance or item that poses a threat to biological health and the environment. Hazardous materials are toxic, corrosive, ignitable, explosive or chemically reactive

Heritage Area

A place where natural, cultural, historic or scenic resources present a distinct location arising from patterns of human activity

High Biodiversity Value

Historical Properties

Fixed assets that are identifiable because of particular historic, national, regional, local, religious or symbolic significance

Historically Sensitive Sites

Structures or locations, built or natural, having significance for, or being representative of, human activities or beliefs, especially as they relate to the past

Impact

The long-term environmental/biophysical, social, financial, and market-based changes that occur as a result of the maintained behavioral changes from the progra

Impact Assessment

Process aimed at structuring and supporting the development of policies. The Imact assessment identifies and assesses the problem at stake and the objectives pursued while identifying the main options for achieving the objective and analysing their likely impacts in the economic, environmental, and social fields. The Assessment outlines advantages and disadvantages of each option and examines possible synergies and trade-offs."

Indicator

Quantitative or qualitative factor or variable that provides a simple and reliable means to measure achievement, to reflect the changes connected to an intervention, or to help assess the performance of a development actor

Indigenous Communities

Tribal peoples in independent countries whose social, cultural, and economic conditions distinguish them from other sections of the national community, and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions or by special laws or regulations

Indigenous Peoples

Usually considered to include cultural groups and their descendants who have a historical continuity or association with a given region, or parts of a region, and who currently inhabit or have formerly inhabited the region either before its subsequent colonization or annexation, or alongside other cultural groups during the formation of a nation-state, or independently or largely isolated from the influence of the claimed governance by a nation-state, and who furthermore have maintained, at least in part, their distinct linguistic, cultural and social / organizational characteristics, and in doing so remain differentiated in some degree from the surrounding populations and dominant culture of the nation-state. Also include people who are self-identified as indigenous, and those recognized as such by other groups

Infrastructure

Construction needed to support economic development, including: roads, railway lines, harbours, airport runways, water, electricity, other power supplies, sewerage disposal systems and other utilities to serve not only the local residents but also the tourist influx

Innocuous

Not harmful to the physical or mental capabilities of a person, or the enivonmental, social, or economic well-being of a destination and its inhabitants

Intellectual Property

creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. Intellectual property is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and Copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs

Internal Promotion

Increasing the salary, position, or level of responsibility to an individual already employed within the company rather than a non-employed individual

Interpretation

An educational process that is intended to stimulate and facilitate people's understanding of place, so that empathy towards conservation, heritage, culture and landscape is developed, revealing the significance and meanings of natural and cultural phenomena to visitors, usually with the intent of providing a satisfying learning experience and encouraging more sustainable behaviour

Invasive Alien Species

A species occurring in an area outside of its historically known natural range as a result of intentional, unintentional or accidental dispersal by human activities, but not an indigenous species that has extended its natural distribution range by natural means of migration or dispersal without human intervention. Also known as exotic, introduced, non-indigenous, or non native species

IUCN Red List

http://www.iucnredlist.com

Jeopardize

To expose to danger or risk

Land Restoration

Process in which land (usually brownfield) is repurposed, and in many cases decontaminated, for use in new development projects or to be left as green spaces (adapted from Ontario Ministry of Environment - http://www.obviously.ca/factsheets/sheet/land_restoration_and_brownfields/)

Licensed

An individual, business, or organization that has been granted legal permission to do something. The license confers a right which the person or firm did not previously possess and are legal agreements which may contain restrictions as to how the license is employed

Linkage

The connection of one enterprise to another through the exchange of goods, service, or payment

Literature

The body of writings on a particular subject

Living Culture

The activities or by-products of a particular group of people. It is to be distinguished from inert cultural artefacts, perhaps from a now-dead tradition ¾ except as these artefacts are given new life by the descendants of the original practitioners. Living culture is also to be distinguished from the cultural forms learned from members of a community and staged by students or professional performers

Living Wage

The level of wages sufficient to meet the basic living needs (food, water, shelter, healthcare) of an average-sized family in a particular economy

Local

The area immediately around the site of business operations and can vary depending on the density of the location. The business' definition of local (i.e. 10 km radius, within a municipality, etc) as it applies to the criteria and indicator should be decided upon and documented within planning documents

Local Community

Those people living in the immediate area potentially affected socially, economically, or environmentally by a tourism project

Local Residents

residents of local communities who belong to an ethnic group that is a minority in the country and has a lower standard of living than the general population

Local Employee

An employee from an area within a pre-defined geographic area (see definition for "Local") of the tourism business or from an area that is effected by the tourism business' operations

Local Minorities

A social group or category of people from within a specified area from the tourism business (see definition for "local") who are stigmatized and/or discriminated against on the basis of that identity. Refers to situations in which such groups are numerical minorities with respect to dominant cultural or ethnic majorities or to groups that suffer from disparities of power or unequal treatment

Local Supplier

An individual or an enterprise from within a defined area from the tourism business (see defintion of "local") that provides a good or service to the tourism business

Locally appropriate

Commensurate with the sociocultural and ecological norms of a particular area, especially as it pertains to avoiding the damage to local aesthetics, customs, or biodiversity

Low Phosphate Chemicals

Many detergents and other cleaning products have high concentrations of phosphates which can be extremely hazardous to the natural environment. Low-phosphate products are usually products that replace phosphatic compound with high densities of carbonates which deliver the same action, but are less harmful

Management

The collective body of those that direct an organization or enterprise

Management Position

Any position that provides the following three activiites to the business: : supervision and responsibility for increasing the performance of others; allocating labour, material and capital to produce a high return; and decision making

Marketing Materials

Any source of information that convey the tourism business' conception, pricing, promotion, ideas, products, and services

Maximize

To make the most of; to increase to a maximum level

Minimize

To reduce; to keep to a minimum

Native Species

plants, animals, or other living organisms that are found as part of local natural ecosystems

Natural Heritage

Natural features consisting of physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, which are of outstanding universal value from the aesthetic or scientific point of view;geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas which constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation; natural sites or precisely delineated natural areas of outstanding universal value fromthe point of view of science, conservation or natural beauty

Negative impact

The result of a tourism-related activity that it detrimental to the economic, socio-cultural, or environmental fabric of a destination or its peoples

Neighboring Communities

A community that is located tangentiall to a tourism business or to the areas in which the tourism business operates

Non-monetary Sanction

Sactions that are not initially stated in units of currency

Non-verbal Behavior

Any means of communication or activity that does not include the use of language, such as body movements, posture, eye contact, facial expression

Offset

The process of counterbalancing or compensating for another process

Packaging Minimization Plan

A documented methodology to decrease the use of any packaging and containers (such as wrappers, bags, bottles)

Pesticide

Any substance or mixture of substances that is used to prevent, destroy or control pests — including vectors of human or animal disease, and unwanted species of plants or animals. Pesticides may cause harm during, or otherwise interfere with, the production, processing, storage, transport or marketing of food, agricultural commodities, wood and wood products or animal feedstuffs — or that may be administered to animals so as to control insects, arachnids or other pests in or on their bodies

Pollution

The presence of substances and heat in environmental media (air, water, land) whose nature, location, or quantity produces undesirable environmental effects; an activity that generates pollutants

Pollution Management Plan

A docmented methodology to handle and reduce the amount of intoxicating substances or noises produced by the tourism business

Population Inventory

The total process of collecting, compiling, evaluating, analysing and publishing or otherwise disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specified time, to all persons in a country or in a well delimited part of a country

Potable Water

Water that is suitable for consumption by humans

Preferred Supplier Vendor List

A complete list of businesses and organizations that provide the tourism business with goods and supplies

Promotion

The act of furthering the growth or development of something; especially: the furtherance of the acceptance and sale of merchandise through advertising, publicity, or discounting

Properly Managed

Administered in a way that ensures continuity and reduces internal and external harm or destruction

Protected Areas

A legally established land or water area under either public or private ownership that is regulated and managed to achieve specific conservation objectives

Protected Species

Plants, animals, or other organisms whose populations are seriously reduced and which are given special consideration for their conservation by laws, regulations, or international agreements

Public Benefit

Relating to the improvement in quality of life for members of a predefined community set

Purchasing Policy

the tourism business' systems and procedures for acquiring goods and services, including favored or approved suppliers, sourcing, and rules and guidelines

Qualitative

Expressing a certain quantity, amount or range. It makes sense to set boundary limits to such data, and it is also meaningful to apply arithmetic operations to the data

Quality

The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics of a product fulfills customer requirements

Quanitative

Describing a quality which can be measured by numerals

Rare Species

Rare species are taxa with small world populations that, though not at present endangered or vulnerable, are at risk. These taxa are localized within restricted geographical areas or habitats or thinly scattered over a more extensive range

Regular basis

With a routine frequency

Regulated

To be under the control of law or constituted authority

Renewable Energy

A resource that is capable of being replenished through natural processes (e.g., the hydrological cycle) or its own reproduction, generally within a time-span that does not exceed a few decades. Technically, metal-bearing ores are not renewable, but metals themselves can be recycled indefinitely

Renewable Energy

Energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides and geothermal heat—which are naturally replenished, but when utilized to not destabalize ecosystems

Respect

Providing consideration and deference to the actions, beliefs, or existence of another person or thing

Responsible Consumption

A concerted effort to purchase and use goods and services that have low environmental footprints and provide a positive economic impact where feasible

Retention Rate

The ratio of employees who are currently employed (or return to employment at the onset of another season) to those the number of new employees

Sexual Exploitation

Sexual exploitation is the sexual abuse of men and women of all ages through the exchange of sex or sexual acts for drugs, food, shelter, protection, other basics of life, and/or money

Small Entrepreneur

Individual or small group which establishes a business, particularly something new (market, product, innovation) and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome

Social Impact Assessment

The process of analysing, monitoring, and managing the intended and unintended social consquences, both positive and negative, or planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projected) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions. Its primary purpose is to bring about a more sustainable and equitable biophysical and human environment

Soil and Water Management Plan

A documented methodology to monitor the quality and chemical components of the soil and water on the tourism business' premises (or the areas in which in operates) and provide provisions for any changes that may yield negative impacts to the long term health of the area.

Soil Contaminants

Any substance that alters the natural chemical composition of the soil.Common soil contaminants include arsenic, benzene, cyanide, lead and mercury

Solid Waste Management Plan

A strategy to reduce the quantity of solid waste that is delivered to landfills, by reducing the sources of waste and reusing or recycling as much as possible of the remainder. As a management plan, it should have concrete goals and objectives, as well as performance indicators

Special needs

The individual requirements of a person with a mental, emotional, or physical disability

Spiritually Important Sites

A site, object structure, area or natural feature or area, held by national Governments or communities to be of particular importance in accordance with the customs of an indigenous or local community because of its religious, spiritual or cultural significance

Stakeholder

Individuals or institutions (public and private) interested and involved in a process or related activities

Sustainability

Use of resources, in an environmentally responsible, socially fair and economically viable manner, so that by meeting current usage needs, the possibility of its use by future generations is not compromised

Sustainability Management system

Management system (set of iterrelated elements) to establish a sustainability policy and sustainability objectives and to achieve those objectives

Sustainable Construction

Construction that maximizes the use of renewable energy resources, and minimizes noise pollution, erosion of the site and roads, destruction of vegetation by project vehicles, and negative impacts on air, soil, and water

Sustainable Design

A term now in common use in architecture and refers to design that reduces energy and water consumption, uses environmentally innocuous materials, and is in harmony (aesthetic, environmental, and cultural) with the surroundings

Sustainable Landscaping

Sustainable Landscaping should include an attractive environment that is in balance with the local climate and requires minimal resource inputs, such as fertilizer, pesticides and water. Sustainable landscaping begins with an appropriate design that includes functional, cost efficient, visually pleasing, environmentally friendly and maintainable areas. It is Landscape Design that emphasizes native tress, vines, shrubs, and perennials which help to maintain the biodiversity of the region

Sustainable Tourism

Tourism envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled with maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems

Sustainable Utilization

Use in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term degradation of the environment, thereby maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of present and future generations

Temporary Employee

An individual employed with limited or unspecified duration with no guarantee of continuation

Threatened Species

Any species (including animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to extinction in the near future. World Conservation Union (IUCN) is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories: vulnerable, endangered, and critically endangered, depending on the degree to which they are threatened

Training Plan

A documented methodology to address the capacity growth needs of the employees of the tour operation

Verbal Behavior

The activities that include both producing and responding to words, either written or spoken

Visitor Impact

The intended and unintended consquences, both positive and negative, or planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projected) and any economic, socio-cultural, or environmental change processes invoked by those interventions

Visual Check

A means of observation that involves looking at the object or area of land

Waste Management Plan

A documented methodology to address: (a) collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, (b) control, monitoring and regulation of the production, collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, and (c) prevention of waste production through in—process modifications, reuse and recycling

Wastewater

Used water, typically discharged into the sewage system and often contains matter and bacteria in solution or suspension

Water Quality

The physical, chemical, biological and organoleptic (taste-related) properties of water

Water Use Minimization Program

A documented methodology to analyze current water uses, identify means to decrease use, and implement such activities

Where Necessary

In the event that a certain action(or non-action) or the use (or disuse) of a product is required in order to ensure the desired outcome

Wildlife

Living things that are neither human nor domesticated