As recognition of the efforts made by the destinations which participated in and completed the ETIS pilot phases, the European Commission is organising the ETIS and Accessible Tourism Awards 2016. GSTC Chair Luigi Cabrini will deliver a keynote address at this important awards event. Categories include Overall Sustainable Destination Management Approach, Sustainable and Responsible Management [...]
March 3, 2016 – The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is pleased to announce that the Foundation for Environmental Education’s Green Key Standard has achieved ‘GSTC-Recognized’ status. The awarded status affirms Foundation for Environmental Education’s commitment to promote sustainable tourism products and services. The Green Key Standard is a leading standard for excellence in the [...]
February 25, 2016 – The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is pleased to announce that Green Key Global’s Green Key Eco-Rating Program has achieved ‘GSTC-Recognized’ status. The awarded status affirms Green Key Global’s commitment to promote sustainable tourism products and services. Green Key Global’s Eco-Rating Program is a graduated rating [...]
The three-day intensive and interactive training program was held in Bangkok, Thailand from Feb 13-15, 2017. Bangkok, Thailand. The training was led by Dr. Mihee Kang and covered tourism as a tool for sustainable development, sustainability best practices and the GSTC Criteria, the world’s leading standard for tourism sustainability, as [...]
February 11, 2016 – The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is pleased to announce that Hostelling International’s Quality & Sustainability Standard has achieved ‘GSTC-Recognized’ status. The awarded status affirms Hostelling International’s commitment to promote sustainable tourism products and services. In line with its internationally adopted Sustainability Charter, Hostelling International has [...]
World Tourism Forum Global Meeting 2016, Istanbul World Tourism Forum Global Meeting is held once in a year, bringing together world tourism leaders and representatives in one place for networking, negotiations and defining future tourism trends. In Global Meeting participants had a chance to exhibit their services and products to the world in World Tourism [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is pleased to announce the release of the GSTC Industry Criteria, which had been under development for most of 2016. The GSTC Industry Criteria serve as the 3rd revision to GSTC Hotel & Tour Operator Criteria, hence the reference to “version 3” in their formal name. To distinguish [...]
Sustainable development is an imperative for all sectors, and the United Nations has declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. How to best develop sustainably? Do travelers wish to buy sustainable products? GSTC – the global organization created by the United Nations system and leading global conservation organizations to develop standards [...]
European Tourism Indicator System – ETIS – Joint Conference on Managing and Promoting Sustainable and Accessible Tourism Destinations A joint event combining a conference on the European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS) and a workshop on accessible tourism take place in Brussels 28 January 2016. GSTC Chair Luigi Cabrini served on [...]
BUILDING SUSTAINABILITY IN EUROPEAN TOURISM Experts and tourism practitioners joined from throughout Europe in Athens to debate best strategies in today’s environment to utilize sustainable tourism management mechanisms for destinations and businesses. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) was organizing a lively and informative two-day workshop to review and discuss relevant issues and solutions in [...]
The Guidelines are intended to apply to all forms of tourism accommodation, from large hotels and resorts to a remote community based guesthouse in Papua New Guinea! The GSTC has been a member of International Standards Organisation Technical Committee on Tourism for a number of years and was a major [...]
The Cayman Islands, the GSTC's latest destination member, recently underwent a GSTC comprehensive assessment of its sustainability as part of the GSTC's Destinations Program. The procurement and organization of the assessment for the Cayman Islands were spearheaded by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (CIDOT) and Cayman Department of Environment. The GSTC's Destinations Program [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council is revising the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria for Hotels and Tour Operators version 2.0 (GSTC-HTO) which is due for a scheduled revision, and expanding the GSTC-HTO and to become the GSTC-Industry. […]
Held in Guanajuato, Mexico, this training provided participants with a dynamic environment to learn the Criteria and indicators through structured working days utilizing theory, practices and real life examples from the local region. The training also included a panel discussion with federal and local authorities across public and private sectors to address empowerment, entrepreneurship, financial [...]
GSTC board member Kelly Bricker, along with Rosemary Black, contributed the chapter “Framework for Understanding Sustainability in the Context of Tourism Operators” to the newly published Reframing Sustainable Tourism. The GSTC Criteria for Hotels and Tour Operators features prominently in the chapter, which serves to help operators maximize their impact on social, economic, environmental and cultural heritage [...]
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council was awarded the presigious “Premio Gorila” Award for 2014 by Loro Parque. The GSTC received the award for its environmental responsibility as the most important contributor to the proper management of the environment sustaining ecotourism and being socially sustainable. Loro Parque noted in particular the addition of GSTC’s Sustainable Training [...]
The autonomous region of Catalonia in Spain received on November 19 the Biosphere certification for sustainable management, economic and social development, conservation of cultural heritage, environmental conservation, quality and safety. The certification was awarded in a ceremony with the presence of the president of the Responsible Tourism Institute, which managed the Biosphere certification, the chair [...]
GSTC has signed a landmark agreement with three Korean public agencies for long-term collaboration in advancing sustainability in travel and tourism throughout Korea, the Asia-Pacific, and globally. Gyeonggi Province, the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization (GTO), and the City of Suwon (capital city of Gyeonggi Province) have agreed to coordinate their efforts in a partnership with GSTC [...]
October 19, 2015 – Indonesia’s Ministry of Tourism has signed an agreement with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) to collaborate for the development of sustainable tourism in Indonesia. Minister of Tourism Arief Yahya gave a keynote address commemorating World Tourism Day to an audience of [...]
(October 12th, 2015) – In the beginning of September, TourCert launched the ideas competition FAIRWÄRTS. The competition focuses on ideas for sustainability and responsibility in tourism. This new competition fosters innovation in business in addition to helping advance sustainable tourism. By submitting ideas or examples of best practices, tourism enterprises [...]
