Leading Travel Companies Commit To Sustainable Tourism
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) announces that Amadeus, Melia, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, Sabre Holdings and TUI Travel are among the first group of global Travel and Tourism corporations to publicly commit to promoting sustainable tourism products and services recognized by the GSTC. Each of these companies has committed to using the GSTC Criteria – the first and only global framework for defining a sustainable travel benchmark – as the reference for sustainable travel.
The objective of the program is to recognize and reward genuine practitioners of sustainable tourism, which in turn builds confidence and credibility with consumers. The commitment from these organizations demonstrates their belief that sustainable tourism is an important component of their business practice and that the widespread adoption of sustainable tourism standards is relevant.
Today the GSTC also announces the first GSTC-Recognized standards:
Bundesministerium für Land - und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft (BMLFUW)‘s Austrian Ecolabel for Tourism (Österreichisches Umweltzeichen)
Costa Rica Tourist Board (ICT)'s Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST)
Ecotourism Australia's Ecotourism Standard
Ecotourism Australia's Advanced Ecotourism Standard
Ecotourism Ireland’s Ecotourism Ireland Label
European Ecotourism Knowledge Network’s European Ecotourism Labelling Standard (EETLS)
Fair Trade in Tourism for South Africa (FTTSA)
Instituto de Turismo Responsable's Biosphere Hotels
Japan Ecolodge Association’s Environmentally sustainable accommodations standard
Rainforest Alliance’s Standard for Tourism Operations
Sustainable Travel International’s Sustainable Tourism Eco-Certification Program (STEP)
Each standard went through a rigorous review and authorization procedure and are considered equivalent to the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria are the worldwide minimum requirements for tourism businesses of all size to approach sustainability.
This marks a significant milestone in the development of credible sustainable travel and tourism products. The GSTC-Recognized standards are the cornerstone and first step of a 3-stage GSTC Process. Stage 1 recognizes that a standard, which is a written statement that can be verified, is compatible with the GSTC Criteria. Stage 2 is the evaluation of the processes for certification to ensure they are transparent, impartial and conducted by people with technical competence. The 2nd stage is called GSTC Approval of a certification program that uses a GSTC-recognized standard. The third and final stage is full accreditation (GSTC-Accredited) and will begin implementation in December of 2014. To learn more about the GSTC Process please visit the GSTC website http://www.gstcouncil.org/.