Agoda has officially joined as a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
The GSTC engages with a worldwide network of members, who represent a wide range of tourism stakeholders. Being a GSTC member means actively participating in GSTC’s global network, contributing to the important work of the GSTC in promoting the widespread adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles. GSTC Members are active drivers for sustainability in travel and tourism.
Agoda is one of the world’s fastest growing online travel booking platforms, headquartered in Singapore, and offering a global network of more than two million properties. The company, which employs more than 5,000 staff across 30 countries, provides travelers with easy access to a wide choice of luxury and budget hotels, apartments, homes and villas, via Agoda.com and the Agoda app.
“Agoda’s moonshot goal is to mainstream sustainable travel. We have doubled our investments in sustainability and are testing tools to help travelers make more sustainable choices.” Greg Wong, Managing Director, Agoda.
“GSTC warmly welcomes Agoda as a GSTC member,” says Randy Durband, GSTC CEO. “We are very pleased to learn of their plans to collaborate with us to provide travelers with useful and high-quality information on how to choose hotels that make strong efforts to operate more sustainably.”
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council was created jointly by UN agencies and prominent international conservation NGOs to develop global baseline standards for sustainability in travel and tourism – the GSTC Criteria. The Criteria are used for education and awareness-raising, policy-making for businesses and government agencies and other organization types, measurement and evaluation, and as a basis for certifications. They are the result of a worldwide effort to develop a common language about sustainability in tourism. They are arranged in four pillars: (A) Sustainable management; (B) Socioeconomic impacts; (C) Cultural impacts; and (D) Environmental impacts (including consumption of resources, reducing pollution, and conserving biodiversity and landscapes). Since tourism destinations each have their own culture, environment, customs, and laws, the Criteria are designed to be adapted to local conditions and supplemented by additional criteria for the specific location and activity.
About the GSTC
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) establishes and manages global sustainable standards, known as the GSTC Criteria. There are two sets: Destination Criteria for public policy-makers and destination managers, and Industry Criteria for hotels and tour operators. These are the guiding principles and minimum requirements that any tourism business or destination should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world’s natural and cultural resources, while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for conservation and poverty alleviation.
The GSTC Criteria form the foundation for GSTC’s role as the global Accreditation Body for Certification Programs that certify hotels/accommodations, tour operators, and destinations as having sustainable policies and practices in place. GSTC does not directly certify any products or services; but it accredits those that do. The GSTC is an independent and neutral USA-registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization that represents a diverse and global membership, including UN agencies, NGO’s, national and provincial governments, leading travel companies, hotels, tour operators, individuals and communities – all striving to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism.
Information for media and the press: https://www.gstcouncil.org/about/for-the-press/
About Agoda
Agoda is one of the world’s fastest growing online travel booking platforms. From its beginnings as an e-commerce start-up based in Singapore in 2005, Agoda has grown to offer a global network of two million properties in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, offering travelers easy access to a wide choice of luxury and budget hotels, apartments, homes and villas to suit all budgets and travel occasions.
Headquartered in Singapore, Agoda is part of Booking Holdings (Nasdaq: BKNG) and employs more than 5,000 staff across in more than 30 countries. Agoda.com and the Agoda mobile app are available in 38 languages.
For more information, please contact: press@agoda.com.
