ON BEHALF OF THE GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE TOURISM COUNCIL AND TUI

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO

THE GSTC WORKSHOP FOR EUROPEAN CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is global initiative dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism efforts around the world. The GSTC Criteria are designed to be the minimum that a tourism business, destination, or certification standard should consider in order to approach sustainability. They have become a worldwide standard for sustainability in tourism.

The workshop will take place at the TUI AG Headquarters. The address is:

TUI AG

Karl-Wiechert-Allee 4
30625 Hannover, Germany

Scheduled time for the Workshop:

  • Monday, 11 March: 12:00-18:00
  • Tuesday, 12 March: 08:30-14:00

The address of the hotel is:

Mercure Hotel Hannover Medical Park

Feodor-Lynen- Str. 1
30625 – Hannover, Germany

The hotel is close by to the TUI AG HQ.

Agenda:

  1. 1.    Introduction by TUI

a.      Official welcome of the participants

b.      Introduction of TUI (Group)

c.      Certifications and labels within the Group

d.      Importance and benefits of GSTC for TUI

  1. 2.    Introduction by Luigi Cabrini (UNWTO)
  2. 3.    Technical workshop with breakout sessions led by standards that have already achieved GSTC recognition
  3. 4.    Brief presentation by Travelife for Hotels on experiences with GSTC recognition.
  4. Brief closing presentation by Herbert Hamele on the experience of European Ecotourism Labelling Standard with GSTC.
    1. What is the difference between environmental versus sustainable certification? What is the market seeking? How important are socioeconomic and cultural aspects in Europe?
    2. What are the GSTC Criteria, and how were they developed?
    3. What is equivalency, and how is equivalency between a certification standard and the GSTC Criteria determined?
    4. The importance of following internationally recognized certification processes for tourism services, especially ISO draft standard 17065. Why are management certification labels not permitted to be used for promoting tourism services?
    5. GSTC Approval of certification processes and the use of the GSTC Approved seal by certified businesses.
    6. Accreditation and international market recognition of certification.