Social Impact Assessment Tool
Destinations International (DI) is unwavering in our commitment to social impact. We believe in its role as a driver of prosperity and community vitality; and as a force for positive change that benefits people and places beyond the visitor experience.
Effective support for social impact requires helping destination organizations shape internal strategy, validate priorities and establish realistic timelines. Ongoing dialog with our members reveals what destination organizations find most useful: objective, data-informed insights; visibility into what peers are doing well; access to learning tools that build maturity over time; flexibility to progress at a pace aligned with their own realities; and broader strategic frameworks to inform social impact outcomes.
To provide the best support possible, DI has made an intentional decision to evolve our Social Impact Assessment beyond its current form to ensure it best supports evidence-based action and measurable impact.
To ensure continuity, transparency and ongoing value for our members, we are taking the following steps:
- Closing the current Social Impact Assessment. There will not be an annual assessment offered in 2026.
- Publishing an Insights Brief from previous assessments that captures key trends, leading indicators and variations in practice by organizational size and region. This analysis draws on data collected over the past three years and is intended to surface patterns across the industry.
- Publishing an annual benchmark reference from previous assessments in an Excel-based format, featuring percentile-based scores by dimension. This resource allows destinations to contextualize their results and reference peer benchmarks as they continue internal planning and decision-making. Click here to access the reference.
- Developing dimension-specific learning guides, including best practice examples and educational materials that destinations can use to inform strategy development and advance maturity.
- Offering capacity-building workshops for small destination organizations in spring 2026, supported by a DI Foundation grant, with a focus on practical application in resource-constrained realities.
- Developing a proof-of-concept impact measurement system designed to strengthen outcome measurement and raise the bar for how destinations assess and demonstrate the value of social impact.
- Aligning social impact methodology with DMAP standards, with the long-term goal of integrating impact more clearly into the broader accreditation and advocacy ecosystem. Initial alignment is anticipated in 2027.
What this means for existing Social Impact Assessment users:
- Access to results and data retention: Members can continue to access their scorecards and download their assessment data from the platform through May 22, 2026.
We regret any inconvenience caused by these changes but are confident they will enhance our support for social impact initiatives. Members with questions or needing assistance are encouraged to contact the DI Social Impact team at [email protected].