What is GSTC Criteria?

Today “sustainable tourism” is on a rapid rise: travel industry suppliers develop “green programs” as consumer demand increases. Governments and international organizations set up policies to promote sustainable practices in tourism.

So, what does “sustainable tourism” mean in actuality? How can sustainable tourism be measured to build consumer confidence, to increase business welfare, to promote the benefit of society and to fight against wrong claims?

Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria is an initiative to understand and explain what a sustainable destination refers to using a common language. GSTC Criteria consist of minimum commitments that any tourism organization should aspire after during their practices. Principal areas emphasized in GSTC Criteria are Poverty reduction, gender equality and environmental sustainability.

What is the Purpose of GSTC Criteria?

According to GSTC Criteria, destinations should adopt four main targets to achieve sustainable tourism definition:

1- Establishing a sustainable destination management,
2- Maximizing social and economic benefits and mitigating negative impacts for the host community,
3- Maximizing benefits for communities, visitors and cultural heritage and mitigating impacts,
4- Maximizing environmental benefits and mitigating negative impacts.

GSTC Criteria has been based on United Nations World Tourism Organization’s indicators. Commonly accepted principles and guidelines have been taken as the basis.

They include sustainable tourism certification standards, indicators, criteria, and best practices acknowledged across the world.

What is GSTC Criteria?

GSTC Criteria are governed by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

Some of the criteria expected to be met by tourism organizations are as follows:

1. Providing a basic guideline for destinations which want to be more sustainable,
2. Helping consumers to get to know the sustainable destination,
3. Destinations being known by media and informing public about sustainability efforts,
4. Ensuring that certification and other voluntary destination level programs meet commonly accepted standards,
5. Submitting to the programs of the government, nongovernmental organizations, and private sector as a starting point in order to develop sustainable tourism requirements,
6. Providing basic guidelines for educational institutions such as accommodation services schools or universities.

Application of the Criteria

Naturally, some situations may occasionally arise in which a criterion cannot be applied to a certain tourism destination or destination management organization. This kind of situation may be due to local regulator, social, economic, or cultural conditions. Since destinations are created by many different institutions, organizations and individuals in a collective effort, application of these criteria should take the cumulative impacts of activities in a comprehensive manner. Although monitoring impacts is not a purpose as such, it should be considered as a tool to improve sustainability of the destination.

Who Do Criteria Apply To?

Criteria are not related to a single organization, but a place that can be uniquely identified.

Criteria are not concerned with which organization may be responsible or how or by whom the relevant activity is conducted. They consider the relevancy of the defined condition with that destination.

Some of the criteria are business oriented. These may be individual businesses or may cover other types of businesses such as facilities, establishments, and enterprises. These can include not only commercial businesses such as hotels or paid touristic attractions, for example, but also museums, festivals, public buildings, and monuments.

What is GSTC-Global Sustainable Tourism Certificate?

Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria provide a common approach for sustainable tourism. The aim is to ensure tourism to be scalable and put forth criteria that can be applied across the world.

GSTC Destination Criteria, also known as “GSTC-D,” represents the minimum sustainability scale that a tourism destination should achieve.

Sustainability criteria are arranged around four main subjects:

1. Sustainable management
2. Social and economic
3. Cultural
4. Environmental

All criteria included in these standards are mandatory. These criteria should be met in order to receive a certificate.

GSTC Criteria have been developed in the process of harmonization with the Standard-Setting code of ISEAL Alliance which is an organ acknowledged for its guiding role in terms of international standards with regards to development of sustainability standards in all sectors.

What is GSTC Certificate Criteria?

Criteria are made of four main sections. Let us take a close look at these sections.

SECTION 1: Sustainable Management

(a) Management structure and frame
(b) Stakeholder engagement
(c) Pressure and change management

SECTION 2: Socioeconomic Sustainability

(a) Providing local economic benefits
(b) Social welfare and impacts

SECTION 3: Cultural Sustainability

(a) Protecting cultural heritage
(b) Visits to cultural areas

SECTION 4: Environmental Sustainability

(a) Protecting natural heritage
(b) Resource management
(c) Waste and emission management

What are the Benefits of GSTC Certificate?

• Compliance to the highest social and environmental standards.
• Reaching individuals who are in search of sustainable tourism.
• Being preferred by websites and agencies which offer sustainable tourism.
• Positive impact on the environment.
• Using GSTC logo.

Critical Issues in Sustainable Tourism and GSTC Approach

Sustainable tourism is increasingly gaining importance in line with the developing tourism industry. Various challenges and critical issues arise in this context. Firstly, the growing volume of global tourism increases environmental impacts. This may lead to excessive utilization of natural resources, pollution, and ecosystem deterioration. With the purpose of dealing with these issues, GSTC Criteria ensures that destinations take steps towards protecting natural resources and mitigating impacts by emphasizing environmental sustainability.

Secondly, sustainable tourism should consider social impacts as well. The purpose of GSTC Criteria are gender equality, local economic development and communities’ benefiting from tourism in an equitable manner. This enables tourism to be considered not only in environmental, but also in social sustainability terms.

Thirdly, economic sustainability should deal with how tourism contributes to local economies and the equitable distribution of tourism revenues. The purpose of GSTC Criteria is to ensure that destinations share their tourism revenues with the local communities and to enable local communities to obtain maximum economic benefits from tourism activities.

Finally, cultural sustainability involves protection of the cultural heritage of destinations and offering cultural experiences to their visitors. GSTC Criteria includes various measures to ensure that cultural heritage is managed in a sustainable manner and that tourism does not create a negative impact on this heritage.

Stepping into the Future in Sustainable Tourism

GSTC Criteria included in this article plays a key role in identifying responsibilities of tourism sector in terms of sustainability. They aim to minimize not only economic impacts, but also social and environmental impacts of tourism by focusing on the key issues such as poverty reduction, gender equality and environmental sustainability.

GSTC Criteria provides guidance for tourism destinations to reach their sustainability goals as well as guiding tourism businesses and consumers. Thanks to these criteria, the tourism sector can be managed in a more sustainable manner both for the present and future generations.

In conclusion, sustainable tourism represents the collaborative steps taken by all stakeholders in the sector towards protecting natural resources, promoting gender equality, and managing cultural heritage in a sustainable way. In the future, sustainable tourism will become even more prevalent with the influence of GSTC Criteria, and this will lead to positive changes in the sector.