Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria and Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council Merge to Form Tourism Sustainability Council
Monday, 29 Sep, 2009
0
Erika Harms talks to Valere Tjolle about the merger: www.travelmole.tv/watch_vdo.php
The Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) and the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council (STSC) announced their official merger on 21st September 2009. The result will be a new initiative that will launch in 2010 called the Tourism Sustainability Council (TSC), a global membership council that will offer a common understanding of sustainable tourism and the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles and criteria. The TSC will bring together tourism businesses presently operating to various degrees of sustainability performance, governments, UN bodies, research and academic institutions, social and environmental NGOs, certification programmes, and others from distinct regions of the world.
The Tourism Sustainability Council will address the following objectives:
• Foster public and private tourism sector awareness about the importance of sustainable tourism;
• Develop knowledge-sharing, communications and educational tools and disseminating existing ones that can help the tourism industry work towards improved sustainability performance;
• Help businesses identify self-assessment, verification, certification and other services that can help them get started or advance in their sustainability efforts;
• Foster business-to-business solutions that will facilitate wider market access for sustainable tourism products, especially those that have been certified under a TSC- accredited program;
• Develop baseline criteria and recommended performance indicators for all relevant sectors of the tourism industry and leading public consultation on those criteria and indicators in compliance with ISEAL http://www.isealalliance.org/.
• Develop the procedural criteria that sustainable tourism certification programmes must meet in order to be accredited, including initial assessment and continuous auditing to assure compliance, transparency, dispute settlement procedures, and other characteristics;
• Accredit certification programmes that fulfill accreditation requirements and whose standards meet or exceed baseline criteria and indicators and;
• Communicate and promote to the industry and consumers sustainable businesses.
The STSC is led by a temporary executive board that includes representatives from Colibri Consulting, Conservation International, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), EcoSustainAbility, Ecotrans, the European Centre for Ecological and Agricultural Tourism (ECEAT), the UK Federation of Tour Operators (FTO), the Pacific Asia Tourism Pty, Plan 21, Rara Avis, SNV, The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Tourism Concern, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Foundation, WWF-Germany, and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), with support from the Rainforest Alliance.
The Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC Partnership) is a coalition of more than 50 organisations initiated by the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Foundation, and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). These criteria will be the minimum standard that any tourism business should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world’s natural and cultural resources while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for poverty alleviation.
Additional members of the GSTC Partnership Steering Committee are American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), Condé Nast Traveler, Conservation International, Ecotourism Kenya, ECOTRANS, Expedia, Inc., Federation of Tour Operators (FTO), German Sustainable Development Cooperation Agency (GTZ), HM Design, International Hotel & Restaurant Association (IH&RA), National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations, Rainforest Alliance (RA), Travelocity/Sabre, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), Sustainable Travel International (STI), The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), Tourism Concern, Travel Weekly- US, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Foundation , United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Valere Tjolle
This month’s big opportunity to ride the downturn: www.travelmole.com/stories/1138679.php
Valere
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Clearing CSS/JS assets' cache... Please wait until this notice disappears...
Updating... Please wait...
France prepares for a massive strike across all transports on September 18
Turkish tourism stalls due to soaring prices for accommodation and food
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt