The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) welcomes your feedback on the draft revisions of the GSTC Hotel Standard and GSTC Tour Operator Standard in this third round of public consultation, which is now open until July 3rd, 2025. The GSTC Standards (known previously as GSTC Criteria) serve as the global standards for sustainability in [...]
The Sustainable Tourism Academy is now available to support hospitality professionals in their journey toward more sustainable operations. Born through a strategic partnership between the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and Agoda, the platform offers a practical and accessible pathway for hotels and accommodations professionals to learn and turn sustainability goals into action. Available free [...]
Control Union, a GSTC-accredited certification body, will transfer the management authority of GSTC Certification from its current accredited office in Zwolle, the Netherlands, to its newly accredited office in Singapore. This move reflects an operational shift designed to enhance service delivery globally, with expanded coverage now including China. Control Union has been providing testing, inspection, [...]
The GSTC Sustainable Tour Operator Course (TOC), in collaboration with Virgin Voyages (VV) for its partners, fulfilled a comprehensive and impactful run from January 2024 to December 2025. This online, complimentary course was provided to Virgin Voyages’ diverse portfolio of tour operators in an effort to create positive social and environmental benefits in the [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is announcing the launch of a new training course specifically designed to support destinations in their journey toward sustainable tourism: the GSTC Destination Stewardship Course (DSC). The GSTC has developed the Destination Stewardship Course as a comprehensive, self-paced training course that provides tourism professionals working at the destination [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has formed a Roundtable for Animal Welfare in Tourism (R4AWT), an initiative aimed at promoting responsible, ethical, and science-based approaches to animal welfare within the global tourism industry. R4AWT aims to provide a platform for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the development of practical guidelines tailored to the tourism [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has published the GSTC-Certified Hotels Directory, a comprehensive resource designed to help destinations, businesses, and consumers identify accommodations that have been certified as sustainable by GSTC-accredited Certification Bodies. In an industry where greenwashing remains a critical concern, the Directory reinforces the importance of traceability and transparency from an [...]
From June 3 to 6, 2025, the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), an intergovernmental organization dedicated to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region, held a regional workshop on Promoting Sustainable, Inclusive Tourism in Kathmandu, Nepal. The event was implemented in partnership with the National Productivity and Economic Development Centre (NPO) of Nepal and [...]
The European Commission has initiated the development of a comprehensive EU Sustainable Tourism Strategy, aiming to ensure that tourism in Europe remains competitive, sustainable, and inclusive. As part of this process, a consultation has been launched to gather input from stakeholders across the tourism ecosystem. This initiative invites authorities, businesses, civil society, and other interested [...]
Epicentro Lanzarote, held on February 13th and 14th, 2025, at ‘Jameos del Agua’, brought together stakeholders from the tourism sector to promote sustainable practices. Organized by the GSTC Member, Lanzarote Society for External Promotion (SPEL – Turismo Lanzarote), with the collaboration of the GSTC and UN Global Compact Spain, the event led to the development [...]
On June 3rd, 2025, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) successfully held a High-Level Workshop in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. The event was conducted with the support of the Sabah Tourism Board, underscoring the state's effort to advance sustainable tourism. The workshop opened with welcoming remarks [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), in collaboration with the digital travel platform Agoda, has launched the Sustainable Tourism Academy, a free digital training platform designed to equip current and aspiring hoteliers with practical sustainability tools and knowledge. The initiative aims to address the growing demand for more sustainable accommodation options from increasingly sustainability-conscious [...]
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Association of Singapore Attractions (ASA) jointly organised a sustainability industry event for the Singapore attractions sector on 3 April 2025. The event aimed to raise awareness of sustainability best practices and standards, with GSTC invited to share about the GSTC Attraction Standard. During the event, So Young, [...]
In her newly released first book, ‘Il Turismo che Non Paga’, journalist Cristina Nadotti takes readers deep into the contradictions of modern tourism. One of the key chapters, Il marchio è green, la realtà grigia ("The Label is Green, the Reality is Grey"), spotlights the role of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and [...]
We are looking for an enthusiastic intern to join our Communications Team. They will be providing support to our Communications Manager with Social Media content and creation, design, and translations. Fluency in both Spanish and English is a must. The internship is available from September 2025, with a minimum duration of three months with no [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) participated in the 9th edition of the Sustainable & Social Tourism Summit, held from May 20th to 23rd, 2025, in San José, Costa Rica. This year’s Summit, held under the central theme "Tourism from the Perspective of Communities," emphasized the importance of tourism practices that place [...]
Dr. Ioannis Pappas, Director for the Mediterranean Region at the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), was one of the contributing authors of the newly published White Paper on Sustainable Tourism Governance in the Euro-MED Area: Tourism and Climate Adaptation. Developed within the framework of the Dialogue4Tourism Project under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme 2021–2027, the white [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has released its 2024 Impact Evaluation of GSTC Certification: Insights from the Türkiye Sustainable Tourism Program, offering important insights from the Türkiye Sustainable Tourism Program, a national program driven by the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) in [...]
Barceló Hotel Group has joined as a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Barceló Hotel Group is the hotel division of the Barceló Group. It currently has more than 300 hotels and 66,000 rooms in 30 countries; it is one of the 50 largest hotel chains in the world in terms of [...]
Luigi Cabrini, Chair of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), was once again recognized for his outstanding leadership in promoting sustainable tourism at the IV Ibero-American Forum on Sustainable Tourism, TuriSOS2025. The forum took place on May 9th at the Ateneo de Málaga, gathering more than 43 international speakers from over 15 countries, including [...]
