July 25, 2017 – The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is pleased to announce that the Mountain IDEAL Standard for Destinations has achieved ‘GSTC-Recognized’ status. The Mountain IDEAL destination standard has been developed to address sustainability in mountain environments that include winter and summer activities. These unique challenges and opportunities include issues like water and [...]
On 19-20 July 2017, the Inaugural BIMP-EAGA Higher Education Summit took place at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), where GSTC Chair, Mr. Luigi Carbrini, delivered a special keynote speech on "Sustainable Tourism as a Tool for Development" under the Summit's theme “Education and Socio-Cultural Understanding for Regional Sustainability”. BIMP-EAGA refers to "Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area" (see [...]
"Getting started can be tricky. There can be hundreds of different sustainable tourism standards to choose from. The GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) has a reliable guide and maintains recent sustainability criteria for hotels, destinations and tour operators." Taleb Rifai, UNWTO UNWTO Secretary General; Erik Solheim, UN Environment Executive Director; and Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive [...]
The GSTC Training Partner Globe Ecotourism Training Centre offered from 16-18 June 2017, a 3-day training class of the GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Supported by GSTC members, Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Administration (Taiwan Tourism Bureau, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications) and Sustainable Travel Taiwan, the [...]
Luigi Cabrini, GSTC Chair, spoke and moderated the panel "Participatory Governance in Sustainable Tourism Destinations" at the International Conference on Sustainability and Competitiveness in Tourist Destinations (STDArona17), on 15-16 June 2017, in Arona, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. The International Conference on Sustainability and Competitiveness in Tourist Destinations was organized by the municipality of Arona and [...]
Randy Durband, GSTC CEO, led two workshops on "Responsible Tourism" at the Mekong Tourism Forum 2017, Luang Prabang, Laos, on 6-9 June 2017. The Mekong Tourism Forum provides a cooperative platform for public and private sector stakeholders in the tourism industry to discuss the development, marketing and promotion of travel to, from and within the [...]
Luigi Cabrini, GSTC Chair, spoke at the UN Ocean Conference side event "The Coral Triangle – Partnerships to Achieve SDG 14 in the World’s Epicenter of Marine Biodiversity", New York, June 6, 2017. The event was a follow up to the Coral Triangle Initiative Sustainable Marine Tourism Conference that was held in Bali, Indonesia, on [...]
Luigi Cabrini, GSTC Chair, spoke about "Sustainable Tourism: Option or Necessity?" at Futurismo Canarias 2017, Santa Cruz, Tenerife (Canary Islands), Spain, on 1-2 June 2017, along with key industry leaders representing a wide range of public and private sector organizations such as Room Mate Hotels, Canal Viajar, Green Room Hotels, IE Business School, PwC, People [...]
Dr. Ioannis Pappas, GSTC Board of Directors Members & Greece Country Representative Chair, was a keynote speaker at the Conference Cycle Green Project Awards “SUSTAINABLE TOURISM” that took place in Évora, Portugal, June 1st. Dr. Pappas shared important developments of the travel industry's shift to adhere to sustainability standards in travel and tourism, namely, the [...]
Luigi Cabrini, GSTC Chair, spoke about "Global Criteria for Sustainable Tourism" at Smart Cities Tourism Summit 2017, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, on 11-12 May 2017. SMARTFUNCHAL’17 is the international event that will bring together authorities, companies, academia, citizens and other stakeholders to discuss and reflect on smart cities and smart tourism. There is a technological revolution [...]
The GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) offered from 11-12 May 2017, a 2-day intensive and interactive training class for an international group of tourism industry professionals from the United States, Canada, Germany, the Philippines and Turkey. The training class was led by Kathleen Pessolano, GSTC Trainer and Destination Program Director, and was hosted in [...]
Green Evolution SA, GSTC Member and Training Partner, organized from 21-23 April 2017 a training class of the GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) in Athens, Greece. Led by Dr. Ioannis Pappas (CEO and Co-Founder of Green Evolution, GSTC Board Member), the training class was attended by 14 tourism industry professionals from across Greece, as [...]
The Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation (SSTF) organized a half-day GSTC training (Cerf Island, Seychelles, April 1st, 2017) for its board members and partners to familiarize them with the criteria and discuss their implications for the Seychelles. One of the main aims of the SSTF is to work towards a GSTC destination certification of the Seychelles [...]
29 March 2017 - Swisscontact, the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute (MRTI) and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GTSC) have jointly organized the first-ever "Forum on Sustainability in Tourism and Hospitality in Myanmar" in Yangon, Myanmar (March 29-30, 2017), an event for mutual learning and knowledge-sharing about sustainability in tourism. The event has been co-financed by [...]
March 2017 - Sustainable tourism mainstreaming is taking place in India, with events throughout the country, led by GSTC member Root Cause Media / GreenOtels with the support and guidance of GSTC Board Member and India Country Representative, CB (Ram) Ramkumar. GreenOtels is doing something that has not been done until now in India – [...]
March 2017 - GSTC Member and GSTC Criteria Early Adopter, Riverwind Foundation's Jackson Hole & Yellowstone Sustainable Destination Program, is one of three finalists for the Destination Leadership category of the 2017 National Geographic World Legacy Awards. The awards were presented at ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show, on March 8, 2017. "Teton [...]
GSTC Chair Luigi Cabrini to speak about "Tourism trends and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council" at the 6th InterEcoForum in Marbella, Spain, 23-24 March, 2017. The VI InterEcoForum will put its perspective in the study of Sustainable Tourism Development, as a synergy of the results of the Year of Tourism Spain-Russia, with the proclamation that [...]
February-March 2017, Bangkok, Thailand, and Dalfsen, The Netherlands - The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) had conducted a training to Control Union (CU) auditors. This is to ensure CU's auditors obtain the required knowledge of the tourism sector in general and the GSTC Criteria and indicators in particular. The training sessions took place in Bangkok, [...]
