Sustainable Tourism Law

UMBRELLA LABEL FOR BOOKING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM SERVICES 165 IV. SUSTAINABLE CERTIFICATION IV. 1. Need Being certified is a main criterion for a tourism product or service with high social and environmental standards. As public concern grows about sustainable tourism, certification will provide holiday makers with a credible solution. Travel providers for the carriage of travellers or accommodation should display their label of certification in the market to promote the booking of their sustainable business. Tour organiser and traders are seeking a valid confirmation that sustainability practices are in place. With increasing frequency, travel companies are looking for tourism services that are not only certified as sustainable, but certified as sustainable by an accredited certification body like the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). IV. 2. Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) serves as the international neutral body for fostering increased knowledge and understanding of sustainable tourism practices, promoting the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles and building demand for sustainable travel 14 . It has a number of programmes, including the stipulation of international standards for accreditation organisations that would be responsible for inspecting a tourism product, and certifying them as a sustainable company. In 2008, the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria were launched as a means to promote sustainable tourism through actionable principles that encompassed the three main aspects of sustainability: • maximizing social and economic benefits for the local community; • enhancing cultural heritage; • reducing negative impacts to the environment. So the German TUI Group, one of the world’s largest travel providers, shows preference in their global selection of hotels for those that are certified as sustainable. To learn about this, see TUI Group’s annual sustainability report. 15 There you can find the Sustainability Strategy 2015-2020 “Better Holidays, 14 https://www.gstcouncil.org/about/about-us/. 15 https://www.tuigroup.com/en-en/sustainability/reporting-downloads.