In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, public health concerns, and restrictions of international travel, the GSTC 2020 Global Sustainable Tourism Conference that was scheduled to take place November 19th-22nd in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, has been postponed to October 2021. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council - GSTC and the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association [...]
UCSL to Certify Hotels & Tour Operators after Achieving GSTC-Accredited Status June 2020 - The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is pleased to announce that United Certification Systems has achieved the ‘GSTC-Accredited’ status for certifying hotels and tour operators. Achieving the GSTC-Accredited status means that a certification program is following processes and procedures that have [...]
GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training for the Bahamas The GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) delivered, in partnership with the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, a 2-week online course on the GSTC Criteria. The course was attended by tourism industry stakeholders from both the public and private sectors, representing destinations including: Nassau, [...]
Six non-governmental organizations call for a rebalance in tourism as the sector recovers from COVID-19 16 June 2020 - Six organizations have come together for the first time to form The Future of Tourism Coalition with the global mission to place destinations at the center of recovery strategies - the Center for Responsible Travel [...]
GSTC Training for Tourism Stakeholders in JordanFrom June 1 - 12, 2020, the GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) delivered a 2-week online course on the GSTC Criteria, through a partnership with the USAID Sustainable Cultural Heritage Through Engagement of Local Communities Project (SCHEP). Following its success, a second 2-week online course was [...]
Promoting Sustainability Skills for More Sustainable Destinations In May - June 2020, the GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) hosted a custom 4-week course for destination and industry stakeholders from across Norway, in partnership with Innovation Norway. The course participants, from over 40 destinations across Norway, are part of Innovation Norway's Sustainable [...]
Dubrovnik, 2nd June - The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Destination Assessment of Dubrovnik Report was presented in Dubrovnik via video by Dr. Ioannis Pappas, GSTC Director - Mediterranean Region, with the participation of Mato Franković, Mayor of Dubrovnik, and Kelly Craighead, President and CEO of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). The presentation was [...]
Sustainable First, the recently launched platform to champion sustainable tourism initiatives, has signed a strategic agreement with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). This partnership will give the GSTC the opportunity to continue to foster sustainable tourism practices around the world promoting the increased knowledge, understanding and adoption of its sustainable tourism principles and [...]
By Tim O’Donoghue, Riverwind Foundation 2012: Jackson Hole is a Sustainable Destination Standards Early Adopter In 2012, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council selected Jackson Hole as one of the first Early Adopters of Sustainable Destination Standards. The GSTC’s concluding remarks were that “Teton County more than any other place in the world has the [...]
Cover Page of the ATDI Report 2020 Edition Adventure Tourism Development Index Report published in Companion with the GSTC Report The GSTC is excited to share that this year’s Adventure Tourism Development Index (ATDI) report was published with the ‘GSTC Global Destination Sustainability Report’ as its companion report. The ATDI is an [...]
Under GSTC’s auspices, a national survey based on the GSTC Destination Criteria (GSTC-D) was conducted by Japan Tourism Agency among Japan’s local governments, to assess the degree of understanding on sustainability issues, and the current activities in developing sustainable destinations. The survey also aimed to help the development of "Japan Sustainable Tourism Standard for [...]
Facing the need to grow sustainability as the long-term competitive advantage of rural areas – and in fact, of any type of tourism destinations and businesses - the Regional Rural Development Standing Working Group (SWG RRD) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), within the jointly implemented regional project Support to Economic Diversification [...]
The GSTC Destination Criteria v2.0 has been translated into Russian and is available to download in the Criteria Translations section. «Критерии для дестинаций GSTC v2.0» переведены на русский язык и доступны для скачивания в разделе «Переводы Критериев».
The GSTC Industry Criteria has been translated into Turkish and is available to download in the Criteria Translations section. GSTC Endüstri Kriterleri, Türkçe'ye çevrilmiştir ve Kriterlerin Tercümeleri bölümünden indirilebilir.
The GSTC Destination Criteria v2.0 has been translated into Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) and is available to download in the Criteria Translations section. Kriteria Destinasi GSTC v2.0 telah diterjemahkan ke dalam Bahasa Indonesia dan tersedia untuk diunduh pada bagian Terjemahan Kriteria.
“The coronavirus crisis definitely gives Southeast Asia a chance, but will governments and businesses take it?” GSTC General Manager Roi Ariel questioned. But Ariel is seeing a glimmer of hope among destination marketing organizations, which, unlike the private sector, are less threatened by dwindling cashflow amid the coronavirus crunch and are more likely able to [...]
A big part of resetting the tourism industry, says Randy Durband, CEO of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, is the improvement of public policy and destination management, beginning with the capacity of governments to guide tourism development. “There needs to be a dramatic shift from spending mostly or entirely on promotion to significant spending [...]
96% of Indian travelers identified sustainable travel as important to them: Booking.com Sustainable Travel Report 2020 According to research conducted by Booking.com in 2020 (~ 22 global markets and ~1000 participants per market) 82% of travellers tell they find sustainability an important topic, but only 50% tell there's enough choice when it comes to [...]
"Going green has become a point of industry pride. Hotels not only covet Global Sustainable Tourism Council and LEED certifications; they’re also establishing important sustainable initiatives themselves. Sustainability as an ideal is almost fully mainstream these days; even Prince Harry launched his own sustainable travel initiative, Travalyst, at the end of 2019." Read the full [...]
Bureau Veritas Certification to Certify Hotels & Tour Operators after Achieving GSTC-Accredited Status April 2020 – The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is pleased to announce that Bureau Veritas Certification Hong Kong has achieved the ‘GSTC-Accredited’ status for certifying hotels and tour operators. Achieving the GSTC-Accredited status means that a certification program is following [...]
