The third stage is the implementation of indicators with their defined measures. In some cases, more measures are introduced to represent the same indicator dimensions, or several indicators are used to represent a specific issue. Based on the selected issues (e.g., environmental impacts of tourism development, QoL of stakeholders, destination competitiveness), data are collected, and indices are developed. Then, the indicators are developed based on salient issues of the study area. First, the research and organization define the destination and its vision, identifies its important tourism assets and evaluates the situation at hand. Regardless of studies and locations, the development of tourism indicators seems to follow a structured approach. These benchmarks are used to compare performance against external industry data (such as Smith Travel Research - STR reports) or destination competitiveness (such as World Travel and Tourism - WTTC tourism competitiveness index). As such, the industry now has a long tradition in the use of benchmarking through ratio analysis (e.g., operating ratios, profitability ratios, activity ratios, and employee ratios). Such statistics serve to monitor market demand in relation to other countries. As international travel has become increasingly more convenient and affordable, countries as tourist destinations have managed to monitor the number of arrivals, expenditures by visitors, and hotel occupancy.

The concept of performance measures or key performance indicators (KPI) in the tourism and hospitality discipline is certainly not new. Most of the performance indicators–economic, social, or environmental–are also intertwined with QoL issues directly or indirectly. These indicators may be defined as sets of information used to measure changes in specific aspects of tourism destinations and operations. It is commonly accepted that performance indicators are an important tool for destination development and management. Sirgy makes an argument that quality of life (QoL) indicators can also be treated as performance indicators, independently or nested forms with conventional indicators in tourism. One of his recent research articles with Prof.

Muzzo Uysal has been working in the area of quality of life and its connection to tourism and hospitality settings for a long time.

Quality of life