The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) participated in ITB Berlin 2026, held from March 3 to 5 in Berlin, Germany. As one of the world's leading travel trade shows, ITB Berlin once again provided an important meeting point for tourism stakeholders from across the globe. This year, GSTC welcomed visitors to its dedicated exhibition [...]
The GSTC MICE Standard for venues, event organizers, and events & exhibitions has been translated into Spanish and is now available to download in the GSTC Standard Translations section. Our sincere thanks to Alejandra Zita, Specialist and Trainer in Sustainable Events and Tourism in Latin America, for her support and volunteer work on the [...]
GSTC participated in the CLIA European Summit 2026, organized by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), held from 23 to 26 February 2026 in Madeira, Portugal. The Summit brought together a wide range of stakeholders from across the European cruise ecosystem, including industry leaders, policymakers, port authorities, destination representatives, and other industry stakeholders. The [...]
Held on February 18–19, 2026, at the Tokyo International Forum, Sustainable Brands 2026 Tokyo Marunouchi marked its 10th anniversary under the theme “Adapt and Accelerate.” The event convened business leaders to examine brand transformation, innovation, regenerative practices, and cross-sector collaboration, offering a platform for structured dialogue on environmental and social performance. Emi Kaiwa, GSTC [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has launched the GSTC Knowledge Hub, a new resource platform developed to support tourism professionals with practical, well-structured, and accessible sustainability insights. The platform is designed to enable seamless navigation and keyword-based search, allowing users to quickly locate relevant content according to their specific needs and areas of [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has released a new resource, Pathways to GSTC Destination Certification, to support destinations in navigating the process toward GSTC Destination Certification*. As sustainability continues to gain importance across the tourism sector, many destinations are seeking guidance on how to move from intention to implementation. This document addresses that [...]
Ahead of the GSTC2026 Global Sustainable Tourism Conference, GSTC will deliver two onsite GSTC Auditor Trainings in Phuket, Thailand. Running in parallel with the other pre-conference training courses, these trainings provide participants with the opportunity to develop auditing competence aligned with the GSTC Standards and strengthen their technical understanding of sustainability audits before the [...]
The Region of Istria (Croatia) has joined as a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Istria is a heart-shaped peninsula located in the heart of Europe, in the Adriatic Sea of the Mediterranean. The region is characterized by a combination of coastal scenic areas and seaside towns, inland rural landscapes, vineyards, and [...]
GSTC CEO, Randy Durband, along with Michelle Janke, GSTC Regional Director for Europe, visited Budapest, Hungary, February 9 and 10, 2026, to engage with key tourism stakeholders and further strengthen collaboration around sustainable tourism development in Hungary and the wider Central European region. The visit aimed to exchange insights on sustainability challenges specific to [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has released the first report from the R4AWT – Roundtable for Animal Welfare in Tourism, an initiative established to support dialogue and collaboration on animal welfare practices within the tourism sector, aligned with the GSTC Standards. First R4AWT Roundtable Report on Animal Welfare in Tourism available here [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) congratulates Cooperative JOO-IN, a locally rooted tour operator based in Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, which has become the first Korean local Tour Operator brand to achieve GSTC Tour Operator Certification. The certification was officially approved on December 26, 2025, following a one-year independent assessment conducted by Control Union [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) participated in the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2026, held on January 29, 2026, in Cebu, Philippines, under the theme “Navigating our tourism future, together.” Marking its 45th edition, the forum brought together national tourism organizations, policymakers, development institutions, and tourism stakeholders from across the ASEAN region and beyond to [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has published its first report from the R4MSEC – Roundtable for Micro and Small Enterprises Certification, an initiative launched on 14 March 2025 to support the development of certification approaches that are more accessible and relevant for micro and small tourism enterprises. First R4MSEC Roundtable Report on Micro [...]
GSTC attended a series of European tourism policy and sector events held in Brussels from January 26 to 28, 2026, as part of European Tourism Week. These events brought together European institutions, public authorities, and tourism stakeholders to address current priorities and future directions for the tourism sector in Europe. GSTC was represented at [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) participated in the Tamil Nadu Global Tourism Summit 2026, held in Chennai, India, on 2-3 February 2026. As part of the official program, CB (Ram) Ramkumar, GSTC Vice Chair, moderated the panel session “Rethinking Ecotourism Beyond Sanctuaries.” The session encouraged participants to move beyond a narrow understanding of [...]
GSTC congratulates Khiri Travel on achieving GSTC Certification across all its operational destinations in Asia. Khiri Travel, a destination management company based in Southeast Asia, operating in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, was officially certified on 18 December 2025 by Control Union, a GSTC-accredited certification body. At Khiri [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) participated in the Sapporo MICE Promotion Committee MICE Seminar, held on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at Lilac Square in Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan. Yasufumi Takagi, Membership Manager, Tourism & MICE Promotion Department, of Sapporo City, did the opening remarks. He stated that ‘he hopes to deepen his understanding [...]
The revision process of the GSTC Destination Standard version 2.0 has officially begun, marking a new milestone in its continuous evolution since its formal release in December 2013. This revision phase opens a structured consultation process aimed at ensuring the Standard remains relevant, robust, and aligned with the evolving realities of sustainable tourism and [...]
GSTC will be present at ITB Berlin 2026 (March 3rd-5th), with a dedicated area for the GSTC secretariat and GSTC-accredited Certification Bodies at Hall 4.1 (Responsible Tourism). Come meet us there. In addition to the physical exhibition area, GSTC representatives will share insights through the following talks at The Lighthouse Stage in Hall 4.1b Adventure ∙ [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) 2026 Conference will be taking place this April 21-24, 2026 in Phuket, Thailand. The conference will bring together sustainability leaders, tourism professionals and industry stakeholders from around the world to advance sustainability efforts across the travel and tourism industry. The GSTC2026 Phuket Conference will consist of insightful discussions, [...]
