GSTC Aims to Cement its Sustainable Tourism Leadership at #GSTC2024Singapore

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), established by the United Nations to manage global standards for sustainable tourism, is returning to Asia to host its highly anticipated Global Sustainable Tourism Conference in Sentosa, Singapore, from 13-16 November 2024.

This event takes place at a critical juncture, as the very standards of sustainability in tourism appear to be at a crossroads.

In August 2024, Travalyst, founded by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, introduced a list of 49 sustainability certifications compliant with its criteria “aimed at industry alignment”.

This move has sparked questions about whether we are witnessing a potential fracturing in the criteria that define sustainable tourism.

For industry insiders, the concern is clear: with so many organizations attempting to shape the narrative, are we headed toward a fragmented approach to sustainability? More importantly, what does this mean for businesses and travelers navigating an already complex certification landscape?

In today’s fast-evolving travel and tourism industry, sustainability certifications have become markers of credibility and operational excellence. From luxury hotels in Singapore to community-led eco-tours in rural Thailand, certifications are viewed as crucial to meeting the growing demand for responsible travel.

According to the GSTC, the number of ‘GSTC-accredited certification hotels’ jumped from 569 in Q3 of 2023 to 1,279 in Q2 of 2024. That is a whopping 120% increase.

At their core, sustainability certification bodies aim to provide a benchmark for best practices in environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

But as these certifications proliferate, confusion sets in. The question remains: which certification can truly be trusted?

Dr. Harold Goodwin, Director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership, remarked, “Certification may be the safest form of greenwashing. It certainly denies consumers information about what sustainability measures a business delivers.” The diversity of certification bodies, each with its own set of standards, further complicates the matter.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council, as the body responsible for accrediting certification bodies, is pivotal in this debate. Its rigorous process ensures that standards are met, and its leadership could provide much-needed clarity in an industry grappling with greenwashing, inconsistency, and regional disparities.

Recent Expedia data reveals that 95% of Asian travelers prioritize sustainability in their travel choices, but many remain skeptical of vague claims and hard-to-verify information.

So, where does the GSTC stand in this evolving landscape?

To answer that, I spoke with Randy Durband, the CEO of GSTC, about the challenges and opportunities facing sustainable tourism today, and what one can expect from GSTC2024Singapore.

**Randy Durband**

As the CEO of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), he brings over 40 years of tourism experience, blending leadership in major U.S. outbound tour operators— such as Travcoa, Clipper Cruise Lines, and Tauck —with his current focus on sustainable tourism. At GSTC, he advises governments and businesses on sustainable tourism policies and serves on various boards and award panels. He was just recently named in The Independent’s Climate 100 List.

Hello Randy, what inspired GSTC to focus on the 4 themes for #GSTC2024Singapore?

Each year, we focus on different themes that we consider to be a combination of ‘hot topics’ globally and enduring themes that are particularly relevant to the host destination or region.

For #GSTC2024Singapore, the four main themes are Driving Sustainable Urban Tourism, Sustainable Hospitality, Integrating Sustainability across the Value Chain, and Preserving Culture, Heritage, and Communities.

These themes reflect the evolving challenges and opportunities in the tourism industry, with a focus on fostering responsible growth while safeguarding the environment and local communities. GSTC’s Global Conferences are an exciting opportunity to engage with thought leaders and practitioners driving sustainable change globally.

What are some of the panels that you are most looking forward to at #GSTC2024Singapore?

All of the panels at our Global Conference feature high-quality speakers, and I have to say, it’s going to be difficult to choose which ones to attend!

Each session offers valuable insights and expertise on crucial sustainability topics.

I’m particularly looking forward to the ‘Pathways to Sustainability’ panel. It will highlight the progress made by Türkiye’s groundbreaking Sustainable Tourism Program — the first mandatory national program for accommodations based on GSTC Criteria.

This panel will also showcase company-led programs such as Hostelworld’s Staircase to Sustainability and association-led programs such as the 3-stage WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics.

What can the audience expect to learn from these panels?

The audience can expect to gain valuable knowledge and insights on sustainable practices across diverse sectors of tourism. The panels will cover a wide range of topics, from urban sustainability and livability to sustainable luxury resorts, sustainable shore excursions for cruises, accessibility in tourism, etc.

We’re confident that attendees will walk away with practical strategies and innovative solutions to drive sustainability forward in their businesses and operations.

Singapore is a prime example of GSTC’s collaboration with a national tourism board, becoming the first country to achieve the GSTC Destination Criteria. How does this success shape GSTC’s approach to future national-level partnerships in Asia and beyond?

Singapore's journey can serve as a blueprint for other nations. It reinforces that national-level commitment is key to achieving transformative results in sustainable tourism. Singapore’s Hotel Sustainability Roadmap aims for 60% of hotel room stock to achieve sustainability certification through a GSTC-Accredited Certification Body by 2025.

By aligning national strategies with global sustainability standards, countries can drive meaningful change across their tourism sectors, ensuring long-term environmental, social, and economic benefits.

Photos provided by: GSTC

While the GSTC’s criteria have helped set crucial industry standards, there are mixed reactions to new frameworks like Travalyst’s criteria and the WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics. In your opinion, are these new criteria advancing the industry or creating more confusion?

We released an official statement regarding Travalyst’s accommodations program – read the full statement here.

We appreciate their goals and good intentions of advancing sustainability in tourism by providing useful information to travelers and businesses to identify those accommodation providers that are taking meaningful steps to operate more sustainably.

At the same time, we are not comfortable with a program that treats all marks the same, because, in our extensive work in viewing global approaches to verification of sustainability claims in hospitality, we see widely divergent levels of rigor in labeling schemes.

By not encouraging or requiring accreditation, which is an external review of the Certification Body, the industry tolerates an unreasonably wide-open door to inferior verification systems masquerading as quality certification.

Regarding WTTC, we are working with them to establish a structured framework for hotel sustainability. Their Hotel Sustainability Basics serve as a stepping stone towards GSTC certification.

“We call upon the entire travel and tourism industry to cease a long-standing habit of accepting and using any entity that calls itself a Certification Body without a critical review of the rigor, competence, and impartiality of its audit processes and certification decisions. Failing that, the door remains open for even more labels to join the already crowded and confused jungle of labels. A lack of coordinated industry action allowed this to develop; only when industry leaders join hands can a solution come to be.”
— from the GSTC statement on Travalyst’s accommodation certification criteria program.

Greenwashing is a widespread and counterproductive issue. Self-reporting and self-assessment in the certification process do not help either. How is GSTC collaborating with certification bodies to combat this issue and ensure transparency?

Certification represents a written assurance by a third party of the conformity of a product, process, or service to specified requirements. Accreditation, on the other hand, is the formal recognition by an authoritative body of an entity’s competence to work to specified standards.

GSTC Accreditation is a mark of quality that GSTC places on certification bodies that choose our independent and neutral process to verify that they certify businesses, such as hotels, tour operators, or destinations, competently and neutrally.

GSTC looks very hard at the CB’s certification process to ensure that they issue certifications based on merit and neutrality.

Looking ahead, how do you envision the role of GSTC in shaping the future of tourism across the APAC region?

Through partnerships with national tourism boards, governments, and private sectors, GSTC will continue to guide the region in embedding sustainable practices, fostering collaboration, and driving innovation. The APAC region, with its rich biodiversity and diverse cultures, has unique challenges and opportunities, and GSTC can help shape a future where tourism thrives while protecting these invaluable assets.

Thank you, Randy. We wish you and your team a very successful conference in Singapore.

Participants from ASEAN countries enjoy reduced registration fees. Register for #GSTC2024Singapore via this link here.

Join the Conversation!

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Our aim with this survey is to gather your point of view on the challenges, benefits, and also your concerns that these certifications present within the unique context of the Asian market. Your feedback could shape the conversation on sustainable tourism certification in Asia.

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