For Immediate Release
International Sustainability Award Granted to GSTC
Hanover/Washington, September 26, 2012 - This year’s International TUI Sustainability Award has been granted to the
Global Sustainable Tourism Council(GSTC), fostering a common understanding of sustainability in the tourism sector. With the award TUI AG promotes in particular the efforts undertaken by the GSTC to establish a common basis for the many different sustainability labels in tourism. The prize, worth 10,000 euros, was awarded at GSTC’s
annual meeting in Washington, DC today.
The tourism sector currently embraces around 130 different sustainability labels, so that it is difficult for customers interested in sustainability issues to obtain some guidance. The GSTC therefore promotes the harmonization of tourism accreditation programs. To that end, the initiative is working towards a common universal quality level to apply to tourism sustainability labels in the future, even if the priorities determining their assessment differ.
Erika Harms, Executive Director of GSTC, was delighted to have received the TUI AG award: “The GSTC is honored to receive this award, a reflection of the wide reaching stakeholder engagement to promote sustainable tourism practices at a company and at a destination level.”
Mila Dahle, head of Group Environmental Management / Sustainable Development at TUI AG, commented on the decision to choose this year’s award-winner: “The GSTC is committed to establishing a uniform language for us to talk about sustainability in the tourism sector. Thanks to these efforts, they will facilitate the selection of high-quality sustainability labels by our partners and hotel companies in the destinations and enhance transparency for our customers.” TUI has been a member of the GSTC since 2011.
Background:
The International TUI Sustainability Award (previously: International Environmental Award), granted for the first time in 1991, is awarded to initiatives that provide crucial and exemplary contributions to promoting sustainable tourism. The criteria applied in selecting the award-winners include: preservation of nature and biodiversity in the holiday destinations, sustainable use of resources, awareness raising and sensitivity as well as consideration of the interests of the local population. Previous award-winners have included local environmental initiatives in Turkey, Greece, Kenya and Menorca and the Blue Flag initiative of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), the Federation of Nature and National Parks of Europe or the Eco Centre for the Protection of Coral Reefs on the Maldives Island of Kuramathi.
About the GSTC
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC –
http://new.gstcouncil.org) is a global initiative dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism efforts around the world; it was founded by the World Tourism Organization, United Nations Environment Programme, UN Foundation, Rainforest Alliance, Sabre/Travelocity and others. The GSTC works to expand understanding of and access to sustainable tourism practices; helps identify and generate markets for sustainable tourism; and educates about and advocates for a set of universal principles, as defined by the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The Criteria, a set of voluntary principles that provide a framework for the sustainability of tourism businesses across the globe, is the cornerstone of our initiative. For more information, visit
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