On February 7th, 2011, the first meeting of the GSTC Assurance Panel (back then called Accreditation Panel) took place virtually. “During the past 10 years, the Panel has reviewed around 100 applications seeking GSTC’s recognition of a standard or accreditation of a certification system,” says Cathy Parsons, GSTC Assurance Panel Chair. “I want to [...]
Destination Stewardship Report Winter 2021 January-March (Volume 1, Issue 3) The Destination Stewardship Report is an e-quarterly collaboration between the Destination Stewardship Center and Global Sustainable Tourism Council, and in time maybe others. Our goal is to provide practical information and insights useful to anyone whose work or interests involve improving destination stewardship in a [...]
Athens Development and Destination Management Agency has joined the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) as a destination member. Athens Development and Destination Management Agency (ADDMA) supports Athens’ ongoing evolution as a contemporary European capital, by designing, planning and implementing a wide range of projects throughout its metropolitan area. ADDMA plays a pivotal role in [...]
The Gujarat government its Gujarat Tourism Policy 2021-2025 Towards Sustainability "While the global travel and tourism industry contributes to 10% of the global GDP, valuing close to USD 9 trillion, it contributes to around 8% of the world's carbon emissions. Various aspects such as transport, lodging, construction, food and beverages and such tourism-related activities [...]
The Utah Office of Tourism has joined the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) as a destination member. The mission of the Utah Office of Tourism is “to elevate life in Utah through responsible tourism stewardship.” The Utah Office of Tourism’s key areas of focus include marketing and advertising, research, publications, information services, media relations, [...]
On January 20th, 2021, a GSTC webinar on "Collaboration Among Competitors to Advance Sustainability" took place, with examples on how inbound tour operators (DMCs) collaborate to advance sustainability adherence within destinations they work in. Presenters were Alexandra Michat Roux (EXO Foundation Manager & EXO Travel Director of Sustainability) and Nia Klatte (Khiri Reach Executive [...]
The GSTC Destination Criteria v2 has been translated to Korean and is available to download in the Criteria Translations section. GSTC 관광지 기준 v2.0 의 한국어 번역본이 나왔습니다. Criteria Translations section 에서 다운로드 받으십시오.
The GSTC Destination Criteria v2 has been translated into Vietnamese and is available to download in the Criteria Translations section.Tiêu Các Tiêu chí về Điểm đến của GSTC, Phiên bản 2.0, đã được dịch sang tiếng Việt và có thể tải về từ mục Criteria Translations.
As the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) strives to ensure that its services are accessible to people with disabilities, we began using the UserWay’s Web Accessibility Widget on our website. This will make the GSTC website easier to use and more accessible for people with disabilities, with the strong belief that website accessibility efforts assist all [...]
GSTC 2020 Members Online Meeting The GSTC 2020 Online Members Meeting that took place on December 8th and 10th, brought together a total of 280 participants from 56 countries in the two meetings. Every year, GSTC holds a professional conference focusing on sustainable tourism, standards, certifications, and the GSTC Criteria. The themes are different [...]
Introduction Sustainable Tourism is a set of complex activities. The complexity comes from many different individuals working towards the corresponding goal. Despite the complexity, the benefits of sustainable tourism in destination communities outway the challenges. As communities grapple with the positive and negative effects of tourism, guidance on how to implement sustainable tourism has [...]
Introduction Sustainable Tourism is a set of complex activities. The complexity comes from many different individuals working towards the corresponding goal. Despite the complexity, the benefits of sustainable tourism in destination communities outway the challenges. As communities grapple with the positive and negative effects of tourism, guidance on how to implement sustainable tourism has [...]
Introduction Sustainable Tourism is a set of complex activities. The complexity comes from many different individuals working towards the corresponding goal. Despite the complexity, the benefits of sustainable tourism in destination communities out way the challenges. As communities grapple with the positive and negative effects of tourism, guidance on how to implement sustainable tourism [...]
Introduction Sustainable Tourism is a set of complex activities. The complexity comes from the fact that there are many different individuals working towards the same goal. It is also complicated as there are several activities that must be undertaken at the same time for things to run smoothly. Despite the complexity, the benefits of [...]
About the GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program With the aim of strengthening awareness of sustainable tourism in destinations around the world, the GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) covers global trends in sustainable tourism. It looks at sustainability best practices for both businesses and destinations. It also offers a unique opportunity to gain an [...]
GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training for Swisscontact Indonesia The GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) delivered a custom short online course on December 1st and 2nd, 2020, for Swisscontact Indonesia. The short training course was attended by 20 Swisscontact officers representing the following projects by the Swiss-Indonesian Development Cooperation: Sustainable Tourism Destination Development (SusTour), which [...]
APT Valsugana Tourism Board has joined the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) as a destination member. Valsugana is located in northeastern Italy, with 62,000 inhabitants in 24 municipalities. After 15 years of planning, designing, implementing and monitoring the tourism activity in their area, Valsugana Tourism Board realized it was the right time to start [...]
Booking.com's 2020 survey found that demand for sustainable accommodation is growing year on year: 82% of global travellers identified sustainable travel as important to them; 70% say they’re more likely to book accommodation if they know it’s eco-friendly. Therefore, Booking.com launched a new sustainability handbook for its partners. The handbook includes information on setting [...]
Using Standards to Scale Sustainability in Tourism There are countless standards and certification schemes for sustainable tourism in the world. This provides opportunities, but can also create confusion. For this reason, UNEP and UNWTO joined forces with industry leaders and the conservation community. Together, they created the GSTC as a Council and the GSTC [...]
In their 2019 Sustainability Report 2019, MSC Cruises aims for all shore excursion tour operators at their frequent destinations to be certified to the GSTC Criteria as part of the PROTECTOURS Program: “In 2019, approximately 10% of our excursions were with tour operators certified to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council - GSTC standards. The GSTC [...]
