This is an invitation to all those who are working on sustainable tourism to join the Tourism Sustainability Council (TSC), a global initiative dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism practices around the world. Representing a diverse and global membership – including UN agencies, academia, governments, leading travel companies, hotels, country tourism boards and tour operators -, the TSC serves as the international body for promoting the increased knowledge, understanding and adoption of sustainable tourism practices.

The TSC fosters sustainable tourism through the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles; compiling, 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.

To develop these criteria, the TSC Partnership consulted with sustainability experts and the tourism industry and reviewed more than 60 existing certification and voluntary sets of criteria already being implemented around the globe. In all, more than 4,500 criteria were analyzed and the resulting draft criteria received comments from over 2000 stakeholders.

Momentum around this movement is growing. The TSC is currently active in all UNWTO regions - Africa, the Americas, Middle East, and East Asia and the Pacific, with countries like Egypt, Costa Rica, India, taking the lead. More than 170 US Cities have already adopted the Criteria including San Francisco, CA; Miami, FL; Maui, HI; and Los Angeles, CA.

We hope that you will join us in this important initiative. The TSC will be holding its first Annual Meeting on August 11-12, 2010 in Washington DC. In the coming days we will elect a new Board, register as a legal entity, establish a new governance structure and unveil our strategic plan. We invite you to join in these processes by submitting your application before July 27th, you are also welcomed to submit thereafter.

The TSC seeks to provide its members empowerment through participation; unique networking opportunities with a diverse and global constituency virtually and in person; access to tools and educational resources to implement the TSC principles, while also continuing towards the path of sustainability; foster market access opportunities; showcase best practices; and promote its members through media and partners to travelers.

To ensure the quality and commitment of our members and that your name will be associated with those that are taking strides towards implementing and promoting sustainable tourism practices, we have established a rigorous process for selection of members. You will find attached the application format, please return it to GSTCmember@unfoundation.org.

As we all know, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries and a strong contributor to sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Over 900 million international tourists travelled last year and UNWTO forecasts 1.6 billion tourists by the year 2020. In order to minimize the negative impacts of this growth – and harness its power to help make positive change in the world - sustainability must translate from words to facts, and be an imperative for all tourism stakeholders.

We look forward to working with you to enhance the understanding and acceptance of sustainable travel. We hope that you will join us on August 11, 2010 in Washington DC.. We are sure this gathering of sustainable tourism experts from around the world will also serve as way for people to make new connections and share important information and innovative practices.
In addition to your application form, you will also find additional information on TSC and the Criteria. For any questions please contact Catalina Etcheverry at cetcheverry@unfoundation.org or at + 1(202) 887 9040.