ATTA President Shannon Stowell attended and reported back on the third annual Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) meeting, held in Washington D.C. from September 26-29th, 2012. The GSTC has tripled its membership in the past several years, bringing it to 230 members, and the meeting was attended by almost 200 participants, including Royal Caribbean International, TUI, Sabre, Int
Stowell, who is on the Board of Directors, remarked, "It is really great to see the forward momentum of the GSTC helping to further sustainability standards in the tourism industry globally, across a wide range of organizations, and to see such a variety of strong industry interests committing to global standards of sustainability."
Additionally, this year's International TUI Sustainability Award was granted to the GSTC at the event, for fostering a common understanding of sustainability in the tourism sector and striving to establish common standard guidelines in an industry beleaguered by over 130 different sustainability
The Adventure Travel Trade Association has renewed its membership to the GSTC for the upcoming year, and is also a sponsor.