This study explores the status of sustainable tourism in the Thompson Okanagan Region of
British Columbia, Canada, by integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Multi-
Criteria Assessment (MCA), and stakeholder perceptions. Guided by the UNWTO Statistical
Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST), the research identifies,
collects, and harmonizes a set of environmental, socio-cultural, and economic indicators at the
Dissemination Area (DA) level to build a localized sustainability assessment framework. A
top-down spatial analysis was conducted using secondary geographic and statistical data, while
a bottom-up approach incorporated perceptions from georeferenced stakeholder survey
responses across the region. The indicators were normalized, weighted based on stakeholder
inputs, and integrated through MCA to generate sustainability scores for each DA. The findings
reveal spatial disparities in sustainability performance across the region, with high
environmental scores contrasting with limited socio-cultural data availability. A comparison
between stakeholder perceptions and computed MCA scores further highlights perception
gaps, underscoring the importance of participatory and context-sensitive approaches in
sustainability assessment. Despite challenges such as small survey size, uneven data
availability, and the need for downscaling, this research demonstrates the feasibility and value
of integrating spatial data and stakeholder insights into fine-resolution tourism sustainability
evaluations, offering practical implications for policy-making, regional planning, and refining
global measurement frameworks for local implementation, such as the development of place-
based sustainability monitoring systems, the integration of GIS tools into tourism and land-use
planning for evidence-based decision-making, and the stakeholder engagement to ensure
inclusivity and relevance in the monitoring process.
