Local Basic Service Providers
Locally owned businesses supply the tour
Where an operator spends its money matters. This sub-indicator measures how much accommodation, food, transport, and other services are sourced from locally owned businesses rather than national chains or international suppliers — keeping spending circulating in the destination economy.
Whether the operator prioritises using locally based service providers — accommodation, food, transport, and guiding — over national or international chains.
How RTA measures this
The same sub-indicator is assessed from two sides: operators self-assess their performance; travellers rate their experience. Both use a 1–5 scale.
“To what extent did this tour use locally based service providers rather than national or international chains?”
- 1We do not use local services — none are up to our standards.
- 2We are using one local supplier only: local restaurant/bar or transport.
- 3We work with local suppliers — at least two (food and transport, or transport and guide, etc.). Or: in destinations with numerous supplier choices, we try to alternate local suppliers (guides, restaurants/bars, transport) so that benefits from our tour are better spread among local businesses.
- 4We have contracts with local suppliers selected for their good practices and awareness of sustainability (guides, local restaurants/bars, transport) serving mostly local recipes/local drinks and sourcing their products/raw materials locally. At least 30% of the overall benefits of the tour accrue to them. And/or: we take our clients to a vocational training restaurant for the poorest.
- 5We monitor the impacts of this tour (information is available). In addition, we purchased the tour from a local responsible organization fostering best practices so most revenue accrues to locals. And/or: we help locals to develop responsible services and improve their capacities/standards so we can work with them (over 50% of benefits accrue to them).
“How well did this tour support locally owned accommodation, food, and service providers?”
- 1The tour relied predominantly on large chains or international businesses — there was little evidence of local sourcing.
- 2Some local businesses were used but the majority of spending appeared to go to non-local providers.
- 3A reasonable proportion of services were locally provided, though the balance could be improved.
- 4The tour clearly prioritised locally owned providers — most accommodation, food, and services were locally sourced.
- 5Every element of the tour used locally owned providers — the commitment to local sourcing was exceptional and made the experience richer.
Other sub-indicators in Local Economic Footprint & Livelihood
Rate this indicator yourself
Complete a questionnaire and see how an operator scores across all 16 sub-indicators.