GSTC Standards Overview

The GSTC Standards (known previously as GSTC Criteria) serve as the global standards for sustainability in travel and tourism. The Standards 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 certification.

They are the result of a worldwide effort to develop a common language about sustainability in tourism. They are arranged in four pillars:

1. Sustainable management
2. Socioeconomic impacts
3. Cultural impacts
4. Environmental impacts (including consumption of resources, reducing pollution, and conserving biodiversity and landscapes)

The GSTC Standards have been built on decades of prior work and experience around the world, and they take into account the numerous guidelines and standards for sustainable tourism from every continent. During the process of development, they were widely consulted throughout the globe, in both developed and developing countries, in several languages. They reflect our goal in attaining a global consensus on sustainable tourism. The GSTC Standards are developed based on GSTC Standard Setting Manual v3.0, where the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Sustainability Systems is used as a reference. The ISEAL Alliance is the international body providing guidance for the development and management of sustainability standards for all sectors. That code is informed by relevant ISO standards.

The Standards are the minimum, not the maximum, which businesses, governments, and destinations should achieve to approach social, environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability. Since tourism destinations each have their own culture, environment, customs, and laws, the Standards are designed to be adapted to local conditions and supplemented by additional criteria for the specific location and activity.

GSTC Standards Translations

The GSTC Standards are used for a variety of applications (education and awareness-raising, policy-making for businesses and government agencies and other organization types, measurement and evaluation, and as a basis for certification). Therefore, the GSTC Standards have been translated into many languages, available to the public to download on the GSTC website:

Translations of the GSTC Standards in other languages

Future Revisions of the GSTC Standards

The GSTC Standards are being revised every few years, in a manner to comply with the ISEAL Alliance standard-setting code. The revision process includes two public consultations, allowing anyone interested to comment.

More details on the GSTC Standards Development & Revisions

Commercial use of the GSTC Standards

The GSTC Standards are available from the GSTC website free of charge for their non-commercial use. As the owner of the GSTC Standards, the GSTC reserves the right to assess and charge fees for the commercial use of the GSTC Standards.