The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) took part in a high-level sustainability dialogue in Davos, held ahead of the Global Tourism Forum – Power 40 (GTF Power 40), organized by EuroNews Hub Davos. This engagement formed part of the lead-up activities surrounding Davos week, bringing tourism into broader global conversations on sustainability, leadership, and delivery.
Positioned as a preparatory dialogue prior to GTF Power 40, the Sustainability Alliances Leadership Roundtable convened senior decision-makers from government, global advisory firms, conservation foundations, and the tourism sector. The goal was to examine how sustainability commitments in tourism and hospitality can be translated into concrete, scalable, and measurable action.
The roundtable took place at the Euronews Davos Hub at the Hotel Davoserhof and was livestreamed globally on Euronews.com. Under the title “From Commitments to Delivery: Scaling Sustainable Tourism & Hospitality,” the discussion addressed the challenge of moving beyond declarations, strategies, and pledges toward implementation that delivers real impact for destinations, communities, and ecosystems.
Mr. Randy Durband, GSTC CEO, was invited to participate in the roundtable along with H.E. Gregory Rusland, Vice President of the Republic of Suriname, Nicole Monge, Senior Director, APCO, and Christopher Kiessling, President, Loro Parque Foundation.
The panel addressed key topics shaping the sector’s transition toward sustainability, including:
- Decarbonization pathways and net-zero delivery in tourism and hospitality
- Destination stewardship, nature-positive tourism, and biodiversity protection
- Standards, reporting, and credible ESG measurement
- Mobilizing capital and scaling public–private partnerships
- Supply chain transformation and responsible growth
Collaboration, alignment, and accountability were repeatedly highlighted as essential enablers of progress.
“Sustainable tourism can no longer remain at the level of intention or aspiration. The priority today is delivery, embedding sustainability into governance frameworks, regulatory processes, and investment decision-making in ways that are consistent, measurable, and scalable. Achieving this requires strong alliances and a shared reference framework that enables alignment across public authorities, destinations, and the private sector. The GSTC Standards function as a compass for what we call the sustainability journey, providing clear direction and coherence to support the effective implementation of sustainable tourism practices for destinations, hotels, tour operators, the MICE and Attraction sector, and soon for the F&B Industry as well.” Said Mr. Durband, GSTC CEO.
View the roundtable here.
