From problem-solving to policymaking through an Indigenous community-operated tourism indicator system

An Indigenous community in Boga Lake, Bangladesh, in collaboration with academic researchers, has developed and implemented a community-owned and -operated sustainability indicator system to monitor their community-based tourism (CBT) projects. This rare case study of community ownership of an indicator system demonstrates the community’s capacity for independent operation of sustainability monitoring. The current study investigates whether and how the resulting indicator data can inform both local sustainable tourism practices and broader policy processes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the Bawn community at Boga Lake and with policymakers at local and national levels. The findings indicate that locally generated indicator data can support micro-level sustainable practices while also informing tourism policy development at wider geographic scales, extending beyond a single destination, offering insights relevant to sustainable tourism governance. This study contributes to limited knowledge on the role of locally produced indicator data in bridging community-level action and evidence-informed policymaking in tourism.