The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) released the updated Destination Criteria v2.0 on December 6, 2019. Designed as a global baseline standard, this revision includes performance indicators and aligns each criterion with relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It helps destinations assess, manage, and certify their sustainability performance effectively.
What Are the GMT Destination Criteria?
Structured around four core pillars, the GSTC-D v2.0 offers a shared framework for destinations to adopt sustainable practices:
- Sustainable Management
Includes governance, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive planning (e.g., Criterion A1 requires a destination‑wide leadership body with clear roles and budget). - Socioeconomic Impact
Encourages equitable local economic benefits and social well-being, including fair employment and inclusive planning. - Cultural Impact
Promotes protection of cultural heritage and responsible visitor experiences at cultural sites. - Environmental Impact
Focuses on conservation of natural assets, sustainable resource use, and pollution prevention.
Each criterion includes suggested performance indicators—though destinations may adapt these to local contexts. Most criteria are explicitly linked to one or more SDGs to facilitate alignment with the 2030 Agenda.
Why the Revision Matters
This update builds upon the original 2013 criteria by:
- Introducing measurable performance indicators to track progress.
- Strengthening links to global priorities via SDG mapping.
- Enhancing stakeholder engagement through extensive public consultations and expert input, including from ICOMOS, WWF, ECPAT, and IUCN.
These enhancements ensure the standard remains robust, globally relevant, and practical across diverse destination types.
How Destinations Can Use GSTC-D
The GSTC Destination Criteria serve several purposes:
- A baseline for sustainable destination certification and benchmarking.
- A practical framework for policy-making, training, and awareness-raising.
- A planning tool for destinations to build governance mechanisms, stakeholder coordination, and sustainability.
GSTC supports this process with resources like the Self‑Assessment Tool, Destination Stewardship Starter Kit, and trasinable training modules.
The Criteria are subject to periodic review and updates, guided by the ISEAL Alliance’s code of good practice. Future revisions—conducted via public consultation—will continue refining criteria, indicators, and SDG linkages.
More standards to GSTC
The GSTC Standards (known previously as GSTC Criteria) serve as the global standards for sustainability in travel and tourism. The Standards are used for education and awareness-raising, policy-making for businesses and government agencies and other organization types, measurement and evaluation, and as a basis for certification.
The Standards are the minimum, not the maximum, which businesses, governments, and destinations should achieve to approach social, environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability. Since tourism destinations each have their own culture, environment, customs, and laws, the Standards are designed to be adapted to local conditions and supplemented by additional criteria for the specific location and activity.
There are also Industry Standard (relates to the sustainable management of private-sector travel industry), GSTC MICE Standard (relates to the sustainable management of Venues, Event Organizers, and Events & Exhibitions), and GSTC Attraction Standard (relates to tourist attractions such as theme parks, museums, and national parks).