GSTC for Hotels and Accommodations

Adhere to the GSTC Industry Criteria

The GSTC Industry Criteria and Suggested Indicators for Hotels are available in the public domain free of charge for non-commercial use, and translated in many languages; distribute them to staff and encourage their application.

They were created in an effort to come to a common understanding of sustainable tourism, and are the minimum that hotels (or other types of accommodations) should aspire to reach. The Tour Operator Criteria are organized around four main themes: (A) effective sustainability planning; (B) maximizing social and economic benefits for the local community; (C) enhancing cultural heritage; and (D) reducing negative impacts to the environment.

Join a Training on the GSTC Criteria

Staff training on the GSTC Criteria is available from the GSTC with frequent online classes and by special arrangement for on-site training sessions.

The GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) teaches the breadth of sustainable travel and tourism components and offers practical insights and effective steps to help you improve your sustainability practices. All sessions are led by expert GSTC Trainer(s).

Become a Certified Hotel

Becoming certified as a sustainable accommodation means that your travel or tourism product or service complies with the highest social and environmental standards on the market.

Increasingly, luxury travelers as well as regular travelers, and your fellow travel provider clients are seeking confirmation that sustainability practices are in place. Also increasingly, travel companies are looking for a product that is not only certified sustainable, but certified sustainable by a certification program that is GSTC Accredited. For example, Transat promotes sustainable hotels with “certifications that meet the GSTC requirements” and TUI Group encourages their hotels to become certified to GSTC-Recognized Standards, with a mandatory clause in contracts with their accommodation suppliers requiring them to work towards certification to GSTC-Recognized Standards. Other travel providers also give preferential buying treatment to suppliers that are certified sustainable.

Certification by an Accredited Certification Body (CB) provides you a credible solution to complex environmental and social issues, while informing your stakeholders — from customers to ownership and to your supply chain — that your business is operated with sound management that looks to the future and not merely at today.

Join GSTC as a Member

Join GSTC as a member organization to stay informed of key developments, and to learn from others in our network. Being a GSTC member means actively participating in our global community who represent a wide range of tourism stakeholders – from UN agencies to leading international tour operators, to government organizations and national tourism boards, and to local and international hospitality brands.