The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) formally released the GSTC Destination Criteria v2.0. During the 2019 revision process, ECPAT International helped the Destinations Criteria to include criteria applicable to minimizing negative impacts on children and preventing the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism.
The current Criteria B5 Preventing exploitation and discrimination call upon destinations to have laws, practices and established codes of conduct to prevent and report on human trafficking and sexual exploitation, in particular:
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) represents a diverse global membership within the sustainable tourism industry and recently announced the release of the GSTC Destination Criteria v2.0 – the first official revision of the original criteria. The Destination Criteria serves as the minimum that any tourist destination should aspire to reach and has applicability to the entire travel and tourism industry. The revised version of the Destination Criteria now includes performance indicators that would help a tourist destination contribute towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development goals.
Reviewed and developed throughout 2019, the GSTC Destination Criteria serves as the global baseline standard for sustainability in travel and tourism and is the result of a global effort to provide a common understanding of sustainable tourism. The initial creation of the GSTC Destination Criteria was the culmination of numerous guidelines and standards for sustainable tourism from every continent. The revision process of the Criteria involved public consultations with government officials, the private sectors, and various community based organizations. The consultation and review process also included expert institutional support from organizations such as WWF, ICOMOS, and ECPAT International, among others in accordance with their expertise.
Last year, the GSTC signed a landmark ‘memorandum of understanding’ with The Code and ECPAT International to work together on expanding child protection measures to end the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, read more here.
Learn how your company can become a member of the Code and help end the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism, read more here.