**2.4. Environmental models and marks**

tourism service providers, local population, and community. According to Vajčnerová, IQM of tourist destination is a demarche which takes into account improving visitors' satisfaction, and it does so while seeking to improve the performances of tourism service providers, the quality

IQM implementation is a complex issue that requires developing mechanisms, structures, processes, and instruments for quality systematic management at the tourist destination level. In this regard, the determinant role lies within the management structures of the tourist destinations, known as Destination Management Organizations (DMOs). The whole demarche within IQM system is based on the logic of continuous improvement principle and supposes

The effective functioning of IQM is not possible without a set of planning and controlling tools of the quality, including relevant indicators. For this purpose, some evaluation tools were created by the European Commission, namely QUALITEST and ETIS, aiming to help European tourist destinations become more competitive [63]. The main goals of these models are setting targets at destination level; measuring their progress over time, and by comparison with best practices (benchmarking); and assisting the public investment decisions on tourism

QUALITEST was launched in 2003 and includes an indicators system which is associated to four key objectives that IQM aims to satisfy: high level of tourism satisfaction; high level of the local tourism industry performance; higher quality of local people's lives; higher environmental quality. Applying QUALITEST is based on surveys, all criteria being represented within a specific questionnaire addressed to each group of interest, tourism companies, and tourists [64]. Applications based on QUALITEST are not numerous [62, 65, 66] and highlight the difficulties in implementing this model. For this reason, probably, another model has been developed.

ETIS (acronym from "European Tourism Indicator System for Sustainable tourist destinations") is the second European toolkit especially designed to help DMOs in the process of managing and monitoring the sustainable development of tourist destinations. It is a complete management system of a destination based on a set of sustainability indicators [67]. ETIS was launched by the European Commission in 2013 and revised in 2015–2016. In each of these phases, ETIS implementation was based on a great number of pilot studies (over 100 destinations) in order to demonstrate that ETIS implementation is feasible, both logistically and financially. Some information on these applications is published on the EC website

In the context of the ETIS implementation, a core issue is designing a decision support system (DSS) for tourist destinations management, based on Business Intelligence tools. This is a task of the DMOs, together with the selection of an appropriate set of indicators, "able to provide the most solid foundation for the decision making" [63]. According to Iunius et al., a small number of studies treat this subject, some of them being theoretical articles and fewer practical approaches [68]. The article's authors state that most of the DSS-based projects implemented in European tourist destinations are not functional. They also suggest that an innovative DSS can be developed based on "Qualité Tourisme" certification/labeling system adopted

planning, realizing, monitoring, and improving quality as a cyclical ongoing process.

of the local population life, as well the environment quality [62].

170 Mobilities, Tourism and Travel Behavior - Contexts and Boundaries

development and management.

(http://ec.europa.eu).

As the previous section shows, sustainability is integral part of modern quality approach at the tourist destinations level, taking into account the connection of quality with sustainable development and of tourism with the environment in general, this section presents the general and specific models for environmental management at the tourism organizations level.

Organizations around the world, including those of the tourism industry, are becoming increasingly aware of the need for environmental management and sustainability. The term "sustainability" is in relation with the collocation "sustainable development" (SD) that was introduced in 1987 and defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" [70].

In the traditional approach of sustainability, three dimensions are taken into account: the ecological, social, and economical. From the environment point of view, sustainability means minimizing any damage to the environment (flora, fauna, water, soils, energy use, contamination, etc.), while trying to value the environment in a positive way, through protection and conservation. Social aspects include concern for activities that do not harm and revitalize the social structure or culture of the community where it is located. And from economic perspective, sustainability means assuring business continuity to the benefit of the owners, employees, and local community [45].

Sustainable tourism organizations support the environmental conservation, social development, and local economies. But applying the sustainability principles in organizations and the environmental protection, in particular, are not easy. In fact, it is a complex problem in any industry and organization, which requires systematic actions of planning, controlling, and continuous improvement. A starting point in this approach could be the implementation of environmental management systems based on ISO 14001 model, or specific environmental models in tourism, presented below.
