GSTC portal for Royal Caribbean shore excursion providers

RCL Global Tour Operations Targets:

RCL endorses the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) standards for sustainable tourism (known as the GSTC Criteria), and endorses “GSTC Certified” as the global certification framework for sustainability in tour operations and destinations.

• RCL will publicly recognize current tours that are verified against a GSTC-recognized sustainability standard. In addition, RCL will indicate which tours are verified to this standard and will categorize all of these tours under “sustainable tours” so that consumers can view our range of “sustainable” offerings.

Starting in 2016,

• RCL will educate key staff and tour operators on the GSTC Criteria and process of certification by providing information in RCL’s Operations Manual for Tour Operators and organizing supportive trainings.

By the end of 2017,

• For prospective bidders, RCL will include educational information in the RFP bid invitations regarding RCL’s commitment to the GSTC standard and to GSTC Certified operators.

By the end of 2018,

• Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd is committed to leveraging our influence in the marketplace to conserve and protect natural and cultural resources. As a cornerstone of our responsible tour sourcing policy, RCL will give preference to tours that are GSTC certified and to those that have made progress towards certification, when quality, price, and availability are equal.
• Investigate the option to offset carbon emissions, through WWF Gold Standard projects, for RCL shore excursions.

By the end of 2019,

• All “sustainable tours” offered by RCL will be provided by GSTC Certified operators, and RCL will categorize all tours by GSTC Certified operators under a sustainability designation so that consumers can search for and readily identify these options.

By the end of 2020,

• RCL will increase the number of sustainable tours offered to guests by certifying 1,000 RCL tours by GSTC Certified operators.