Sustainable Tourism for SDGs, Phase II

Sustainability in tourism has gained importance in recent years, a trend accelerated by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainable tourism has lost its notion as a niche market and has established itself as part of the tourism mainstream with more and more customers requesting sustainable travel experiences. In line with the growing sustainability trend, tourism certification schemes for tour operators, hotels and destinations have appeared all over the globe, resulting in more than 150 different certification schemes. This jungle of certification schemes has so far, however, not contributed much to render the sector more sustainable.

The project aims at advancing the transformation of the tourism sector towards SDG achievement, so that tourism businesses and destinations at a global level create better places to visit and better places to live in. Through the promotion of digital tools, capacity building measures and the collaboration of multiple tourism stakeholders, the project will contribute for sustainable tourism certification schemes to become more prominently available in the travel market. It is expected that this increased market presence will translate for travelers to increasingly spending their money on sustainable tourism products.

Intervention Area 1: Businesses and destination management organisations (DMOs) become better at managing for sustainability in their operations, supply chains and destinations.

Intervention Area 2: Certification Bodies (CBs) have increased capacities and increasingly use high quality audit procedures and tools.

Intervention Area 3: Certification Bodies together with GSTC have increased their capacities for SDG transformation and increased their market presence.

Erwartete Resultate:  

The Business & Destination cockpit has been successfully piloted

The Supply Chain Monitor has been successfully piloted

GSTC-Criteria for additional sectors have been developed

The Audit office has been successfully piloted

A Criteria Compliance Evidence System has been successfully piloted

The Online Auditmanager has been successfully piloted

Capacities of Certification Bodies and others tourism stakeholders are strengthened

Innovative destination concepts have been successfully piloted

Resultate von früheren Phasen:  

Phase 1 consisted of three different pillars: SDG Dialog, Skills, and Certification.

With regards to the work under the certification pillar, the project successfully managed to ignite collaboration between different CBs. The CBs concretized the idea of a joint audit office, which allows CBs to align behind shared audit procedures and render their certification scheme more efficient, impartial and credible. Furthermore, a concept and financing model of the online audit office has been developed and a basic version of the online audit office is ready for use.

The "SDG Dialog" successfully managed to assume the role of a networker, moderator and facilitator, and has therewith enabled conversations and interaction among Swiss and international tourism stakeholders. Moreover, institutional sustainability has been attained through the transfer of the "SDG Dialog" to the Schweizer Tourismus Verband (STV).