The destination became the main competitive unit in the tourism sector, and is defined as “as a
tourist product and then as a specific supply involving a set of resources, activities and actors of
a territory” (MANENTE & MINGHETTI 2005, p. 230). Further, sustainable destination management is
defined as the joint management of a destination in consideration of the concept of sustainable
development, and can be seen as the key tool for accomplishing a sustainable tourism
development.
This study tackles the status quo of sustainable destination management in Timor-Leste. The fact
that the tourism sector in Timor-Leste is still at a grassroots level must be understood as a huge
chance to choose a ‘right’ pathway of tourism development, always bearing in mind that mis-
guided?developments?cannot?easily?get?adjusted?in?future.
The analysis focuses on five categories of sustainable destination management according to
DWYER & KIM (2003): [1] Organization of destination management, [2] destination planning and
development, [3] destination marketing management, [4] human resource development, and
[5]?environmental?management.
Regarding the organizational structures, the analysis leads to the tough but inevitable conclu-
sion that Timor-Leste from a supply side point of view cannot be referred to as a destination,
mainly due to the poor cooperation of its stakeholders and the absence of a strong steering
entity. Against this background, the term management is inappropriate, as obviously is the no-
tion?sustainable.
A major problem in terms of planning and developing the destination lies in the huge discrepan-
cy between the outlined vision and the strategies and actions undertaken to achieve this high-
flying target: Tourism is officially prospected to be the countries second most important eco-
nomic sector by 2030. In contrast, the strategies to achieve this ambitious goals are totally inap-
propriate, as they only imply actions that focus on small-scale and thus labor-extensive projects
in the area of community-based tourism or ecotourism. A major obstacle in this context is that
many of the destination’s stakeholders still understand sustainable tourism as a niche-concept
instead of considering it a concept that should underly all all kinds of tourism from niche to
mass?markets?and?all?levels?of?tourism?planning?and?management.Due to the lack of an integrated product, the current marketing activities focus on marketing the
country,?not?the?destination.?
Regarding the development of human resources, it has to be stated that the number of ap-
prenticeships is limited, while the courses offered only focus on low-skilled jobs in the area of
cleaning?and?serving.?
As there exists a huge awareness of the importance of vital natural resources for the future de-
velopment among the destination’s stakeholders, the Government put serious emphasis on en-
vironmental issues since independence. Nonetheless, almost all facets of environmental man-
agement,?such?as?the?designation?and?management?of?protected?areas,?are?still?in?its?infancy.?
Against the background of the findings of the status quo analysis, it seems likely that the Gov-
ernment sooner or later will make concessions towards investors that are on the country’s
doorstep already, as more and more young Timorese put an increasing pressure on the labor
market. This bears the risk of a future tourism development dictated by a couple of foreigners
that?downgrade?the?Timorese?to?an?oft-quoted?generation?of?waiters?and?cleaners.
In order to keep the control in Timorese hands, in the final recommendations the author calls on
the destination’s stakeholders to finally be proactive. As a guiding concept he suggests his prag-
matic Shrinking Triangle of Sustainable Destination Management in Timor-Leste. This model is
based on a mainstreaming sustainability approach that combines the advantages of (mostly for-
eign) large-scale developments with the basic principles of the concept of sustainable tourism,
in order to finally bridge the gap between visions and reality, and without neglecting essential
sustainability?issues?at?the?same?time.