The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and several members recently participated in FITUR, the International Tourism Trade Fair, held January 28 to February 1, 2015 in Spain. During this event, GSTC Chair Luigi Cabrini and board member Jane Ashton (TUI Travel), participated at the meeting of the Advisory Group for the United Nations recently launched Sustainable Tourism Program. Cabrini and Ashton also participated in a roundtable discussion held by FITUR GREEN where the goals of the Sustainable Tourism Program were announced and discussed. The GSTC committed to an active involvement in the implementation of the projects deriving from this global initiative, approved at the Rio +20 conference as a means to accelerate the shift toward more sustainable consumption and production patterns.
The GSTC, represented by Mr. Cabrini, and the President of the Instituto de Turismo Responsable (ITR) (Member of the GSTC) signed Letters of Commitment with two major Spanish destinations, Fuerteventura (one of the Canary Islands), and the autonomous community of Catalonia. Both destinations committed «to advance toward a new model of tourism development based on the principles of sustainability, cultural diversity and social responsibility, sharing a common future and to undertake a series of strategic actions».
By signing this commitment and determined to follow a process which will eventually lead to the Biosphere certification, a GSTC Approved certification programme for destinations, both Fuerteventura and Catalonia will join the recently launched «GSTC Destinations Community».
Susana Conde, a board member of the GSTC, was also active in various events related to Sustainable Tourism during FITUR: she moderated the Round Table on «Sustainable Tourism Travels» at FiturGreen and participated in the Conference on Gastronomic Sustainable Tourism organized by the Spanish Centre for Responsible Tourism, as well as at the conference «Let us together talk about Sustainability. A path forward for Tourism with no turning back».
