STAR, Self-assessment Tool to Assist Rural Destinations - (for its acronym in English), it is an online self-assessment tool aimed at authorities and decision-makers at the local level in rural areas.
The objective of this tool is to support rural destinations to evaluate and compare their resources, policies, practices and development with UN Tourism guidelines and global and local references.
The tool allows determining the strengths and weaknesses of destinations, focussing on tourism policies, strategies and interventions to promote rural development.
Based on the unique responses of each destination, STAR generates a set of personalized recommendations that focus mainly on priority attention areas.
Where possible, STAR recommendations point to UN Tourism and other UN Agencies resources, as well as examples of best practices in rural destinations in all regions.
STAR has been created by the Tourism for Rural Development Programme of UN Tourism. The Programme aims to strengthen awareness, skills, knowledge and opportunities in rural areas through tourism, with the vision of making it a promoter of rural development and well-being. The Programme also promotes the role of tourism in the valuation and preservation of rural areas along with their landscapes, knowledge systems, biological and cultural diversity, values and associated local activities. The Programme prioritizes innovative and transformative approaches for the development of tourism in rural destinations that contribute to the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Learn more about the rural tourism programme at: https://www.unwto.org/rural-tourism
Important Note: The self-assessment tool is a standalone platform designed to enable representatives of rural destinations to self-assess their status. It aims to provide guidance, generate recommendations, and link to relevant knowledge. The questions, results, and recommendations produced by this tool are purely informational, they do not imply and should not be interpreted as recognition or endorsement by UN Tourism.
STAR is exclusively available to public authorities or their delegates in rural destinations within the UNWTO Member States.
The tool is aimed at representatives of local governments, DMOs, or other authorities and/or destination managers in rural areas. When creating your account, STAR will verify that the user is an official representative of the rural destination. The information provided may be shared with the National Tourism Authorities of each country during the validation process.
STAR takes the responses from each destination to generate personalized recommendations. For this reason, the precision and veracity of the answers is key so that the destination obtains recommendations that are as adjusted as possible to its current situation.
STAR has 5 axes and an indicator section. Each axis can be responded to independently.
Axis 1. Tourism Governance
The objective of the axis is to measure the management and coordination of local actors in the development and promotion of a tourism model that is respectful and beneficial for all. Key elements to evaluate:
Axis 2. Economic, Social and Cultural Sustainability
Measure the management of the destination in relation to economic opportunities and development, social well-being, and the preservation and promotion of cultural resources. Key elements to evaluate:
Axis 3. Environmental Sustainability
To measure the destination’s management of natural resources, as well as their preservation and promotion. Key elements to evaluate:
Axis 4. Tourism Development
To measure the management of the destination towards the development of sustainable, inclusive, and resilient tourism. Key elements to evaluate:
Axis 5. Infrastructure Management
To measure the management of the destination's infrastructure. Key evaluation elements:
Indicators section
In addition to the five axes, STAR has a specific section for destination indicators. This section aims to collect numerical information related to all axes of the tool. Indicators are presented as numerical entries. If an indicator is not currently measured, you can mark it as information unavailable. The tool also offers recommendations on possible measurement methods.
Through the self-assessment questionnaires, STAR allows rural destinations to evaluate their current position regarding tourism policies, strategies, and interventions.
Based on the baselines across the five axes, the tool generates customized Recommendations Guides (one per axis), that gather relevant knowledge from UN Tourism and other UN agencies. The guides give practical recommendations for decision-makers in rural destinations and connect to relevant online resources (i.e. UN Tourism publications, UN Tourism Academy, and other UN agencies sites).
Once a critical mass of users is achieved, the tool will benchmark destinations’ results with aggregated data from similar destinations taking the assessments (i.e. size, region). All comparisons are done for combined data, no individual results are compared or shared.
The tool also gathers the results of destinations at the country level, aggregating data and generating information about strengths and weaknesses that could help local and national governments to improve their overall tourism policies, strategies, and interventions to drive rural development.
To know more about STAR, you can contact: rural@unwto.org.
© 2025, World Tourism Organization
STAR - Self-assessment Tool to Assist Rural Destination
All rights reserved.
World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism)
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www.unwto.org
The Self-assessment Tool to Assist Rural Destinations (STAR) is a product created by the World Tourism Organization and is protected by copyright.
All reports generated automatically by STAR are based on UN Tourism know-how and extensive databases. Their use is limited exclusively to the rural destination assessed by STAR.
The World Tourism Organization does not guarantee the accuracy of the data and information included in the generated reports and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The reports or results are not intended to be relied on in making (or refraining from making) any specific investment or other decisions.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in the generated reports do not imply the expression of any opinions whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
All World Tourism Organization publications and materials are protected by copyright. Therefore, and unless otherwise specified, no part of a World Tourism Organization publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilm, scanning, without prior permission in writing.
This Privacy Policy applies to your use of our Services. As a Visitor or Member of our Services, you give us your consent for the collection, use and sharing of your personal data, which is subject to this Privacy Policy and any potential update.
UN Tourism (“we” or “us”) will process all data in accordance with its rules, policies and practice, to the exclusion of any single national or supranational system of law.
1. Data We Collect
1.1 Data you provide to us.
We collect information you provide to us directly when you use the Services. This includes:
Account information. To create an account with a specific username, you must provide the following information:
Destination name
Country name
Email
Telephone
Name
Surname
Position (position of the user in the institution (eg. "Mayor/Tourism responsible")
Institution (name of the institution eg. "Municipality")
Official web page of the destination
Official Facebook account of the destination
Official Instagram account of the destination
Official X (formerly Twitter) account of the destination
In the case that any personal information is made public, the provider will be notified.
A user is always associated with a destination nestled in a UN Tourism Member State. If an entity requests not to be part of STAR´s database, the corresponding user's data will be removed from the Platform.
Data you submit. We collect the data you submit to the Services. This includes all the information you share on the platform.
Actions you take. We collect information about the actions you take when using the Services. This includes your interactions with content.
Other information. You may choose to provide other information directly to us.
1.2 Data collected automatically
When you access or use our Services, we may also automatically collect information about you. This includes:
Log and usage data. We may log information when you access and use the Services. This may include your IP address, user-agent string, browser type, operating system, referral URLs, device information (e.g., device IDs), pages visited, links clicked, the requested URL, hardware settings, and search terms.
Information collected from cookies and similar technologies. We may receive information from cookies, which are pieces of data your browser stores and sends back to us when making requests, and similar technologies. We use this information to improve your experience, understand user activity, personalize content and advertisements, and improve the quality of our Services.
Location information. We may receive and process information about your location. For example, with your consent, we may collect information about the specific location of your mobile device (for example, by using GPS or Bluetooth). We may also receive location information from you when you choose to share such information on our Services, including by associating your content with a location, or we may derive your approximate location from other information about you, including your IP address.
2. How We Use Your Data
We use your data to provide, support, personalize, and develop our Services. We use your data to give you access to our Services:
Self-Assessment Tool
Our Services allow you to evaluate the current tourism development of your village and generate a benchmark with other villages of your region, country, or with other villages around the world.
We will use your data for the creation of the mentioned benchmarks and analysis. The data gathered for this purpose will be used exclusively in aggregated form. Aggregated data could be shared to provide insights to Member States, aiding in the formulation of tourism-related policies and strategies. Individual user data will not be shared or disclosed in any manner that could identify specific users.
Recommendation Guide
Our Services allow you to receive a Recommendation Guide to advance in the tourism development of your village.
3. How We Share Information
Any data that you include in your self-assessment will be used to elaborate your Recommendation Guide and your National Tourism Authority may have access.
All public benchmark reports will use aggregate data, so your specific data will not be shared with any third party, except with your National Tourism Authority.
4. Your Choices & Obligations
4.1 Data Retention
We keep your data for as long as your account is open. After your account is closed, we may retain relevant data if reasonably necessary to comply with our legal obligations including legal requests, meet regulatory requirements, resolve disputes, maintain security, prevent fraud and abuse, enforce our User Agreement, or fulfill your request to “unsubscribe” from further messages from us.
4.2 Rights to Access and Control Your Village´s Data
You can access your village´s data. For the data that we have about you, you may:
Object to, or limit or restrict use of data: You can ask us to stop using all or some of your data or to limit our use of it.
5. Other Important Information
5.1. Security
We monitor for and try to prevent and mitigate security breaches. Please use the security features available through our Services. We implement security safeguards designed to protect your data. We regularly monitor our systems for possible vulnerabilities and attacks. However, we cannot warrant the security of any information that you send us. There is no guarantee that data may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards.
5.2. Cross-Border Data Transfers
We store and use your data outside your country. Where we rely on your consent to process personal data, you have the right to withdraw or decline your consent at any time and where we rely on legitimate interests, you have the right to object.
5.3 Changes to this Policy
UN Tourism can modify this Privacy Policy, and if we make material changes to it, we will provide notice through our Services, or by other means, to provide you to the opportunity to review the changes before they become effective. If you object to any changes, your account will be terminated. Changes to the Privacy Policy apply to your use of our Services from the moment they are duly published.
6. Privileges and Immunities
Nothing in or relating to this Policy shall be deemed to be considered a waiver, express or implied, of any of the privileges and immunities of the UN Tourism, nor shall it be deemed that UN Tourism accepts the jurisdiction of the courts of any country over disputes arising out of or relating to this Policy.
7. Contact
In case of questions or enquiries please contact: rural@unwto.org