Compliance support infrastructure and services - UNWTO

In the area of compliance support infrastructure and services, UNWTO’s technical assistance covers many areas of contemporary interest and concern to Member States and, inter alia, includes:

• Adjustment and improvements in existing tourism regulations in accordance with international standards;
• Establishment of hotel classification systems.

For more information: http://cooperation.unwto.org/

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) was established in August 2010 as a global initiative dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism practices around the world. As momentum around this movement grows, the GSTC is currently active in all UNWTO regions, including Africa, The Americas, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, Europe and Middle East.

Representing a diverse and global membership – including UN agencies, leading travel companies, hotels, country tourism boards and tour operators – the GSTC serves as the international body for promoting the increased knowledge, understanding and adoption of sustainable tourism practices. UNWTO, with UNEP and the UN Foundation are both active and permanent members of the Council.

The GSTC fosters sustainable tourism through the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles; com- piling, adapting and creating the tools and training to engage in sustainable tourism practices; and increasing the demand for sustainable tourism products and services.

At the heart of this work are the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, the minimum requirements that any tourism business should aspire to reach in order to protect and sustain the world’s natural and cultural resources while ensuring tourism meets its potential as a tool for conservation and poverty alleviation.