With good planning and management, tourism can be a positive force, bringing benefits to destinations around the world. If poorly planned and managed, tourism can be an engine for degradation. It is clearly in the interest of the tourism sector to maintain and sustain the basis for its prosperity, the destinations for tourism. This Guidebook, produced by the World Tourism Organization, is intended to help the managers of tourism companies and destinations, their partners and other stakeholders to make better decisions regarding tourism. It focuses on the use of indicators as a central instrument for improved planning and management, bringing managers the information they need, when it is required, and in a form which will empower better decisions. Since the early 1990’s the WTO has pioneered the development and application of sustainability indicators to tourism and to destinations. Over the past decade, studies and workshops have been held at destinations in various regions of the world, with the objective of creating an effective system to support better decision-making for tourism. This volume is built on the studies and workshops, and on the experience of some 60 experts and practitioners working on indicators in more than 20 countries.