When you think of Cancun and the Riviera Maya, the first thing that comes to mind may be dozens of megahotels and the sprawling, enormous infrastructure that's required to accommodate millions of tourists - in 2011 alone, 3.6 million people vacationed in this region of Mexico.

However, this region is more than enormous cruise ships, spring breakers, and huge hotels. Off its magnificent beaches lies the Mesoamerican Reef, the second largest in the world. Also nearby are majestic, ancient Maya archaeological sites such as Chichen Itza, Cobá, and Ek'Balam, as well as the charming colonial city of Valladolid and other Mexican towns rich in culture and history.

Unfortunately, the ecosystems in the surrounding area have suffered from negative impacts due to an overdeveloped tourism industry, such as depletion of natural resources, pollution and destruction of coral reefs, and habitat fragmentation.

Many tourism businesses have recognized the need to transform their business practices to alleviate some of these negative impacts, and have made a commitment to take steps toward creating a more sustainable industry.

One such effort is the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative (MARTI), formed in 2006 by stakeholders from the tourism industry (hotels, cruise ship companies, and more), several conservation NGOs, and the government of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located. The goal is to transform tourism in the Riviera Maya, Cancun, and Cozumel. MARTI encourages the region's hotels to meet strict international standards for sustainability by adopting best practices such as protecting coastal habitats, conserving electricity and water, protecting wildlife, and supporting the economic and social development of local communities.

The initiative also works with stakeholders working in marine tourism, such as cruise ships, navigational services, marine protected areas, and tour operators by developing tools such as treating wastewater, educating passengers, and setting up guidelines for activities like snorkeling, in order to protect fragile marine habitats.

After receiving training, technical assistance, and incorporating best practices, 21 hotels and large hotel chains in the Mexican Caribbean have adopted the MARTI Environmental Management System and some also have acquired sustainable tourism certifications from Green Globe, Earth Check and the Mexican Standards for Ecotourism, as well as the Rainforest Alliance Verification for tourism businesses, all of which are aligned with the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.

Thanks to this work, it is estimated that some 30,000 hotel rooms are already managed sustainably, more than 60 marine recreation companies are participating in MARTI's Environmental Walk-Through program, more than 900 dive and snorkel guides are trained in MARTI's best practices, as are more than 300 construction professionals, among others.

If you have thought twice about visiting the Mexican Caribbean, it's time to consider it again! There are many beautiful, luxurious, and most importantly, sustainable hotels and tour operators to choose from. Visit SustainableTrip.org's hotel database to find many of the hotels in Cancun and the Riviera Maya that are participating in MARTI, and/or are certified, or Rainforest Alliance verified.

This entry was posted on October 2, 2012 at 12:03 PM and has received 1052 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.

Being a sustainable traveler doesn't mean that you need to worry about making reservations, finding transportation, and planning activities. As more and more travelers are concerned with reducing their impact on the environment and supporting the welfare of the local communities they visit, the number of tour operators that offer sustainable travel packages have also grown.

A responsible tour operator is one that seeks to establish a sustainable supply chain. What does that mean? It means that they work with accommodations, car rental and transportation companies, food services, and even destinations and activities that have been certified or verified by recognized sustainable tourism programs.

To prove that their supply chains are sustainable, tour operators themselves can also become certified or verified. For example, to earn a two-year Rainforest Alliance verification, in the first year, at least 30% of a tour operator's supply chain must be sustainable; in year two, at least 50% must be sustainable. Other certification programs have similar criteria.

When you are researching and getting quotes from responsible tour operators, be sure to ask if they only include sustainable companies in their itineraries, assuming that they are available in your chosen destination.

Another key feature of responsible tour operators is that they demonstrate their commitment with their own corporate sustainability practices. Like any company, they can improve their environmental and social footprints by reducing their consumption of water, energy and other resources, recycling, using clean technologies, hiring local staff, conserving biodiversity, respecting cultures while traveling, and promoting these practices and values among their employees and customers.

Ask tour operators about their sustainable practices and visit their websites to inquire about their sustainability policies. And, you can go even further to ensure that their commitments are real. We make it easy for you! Choose one of the fantastic tour operators that are listed in SustainableTrip.org. Every tour operator in our directory is certified or Rainforest Alliance verified, which means that they have undergone strict assessments confirming their compliance with the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, which are the minimum requirements that a company should meet to be sustainable.

The sustainable tourism boom has also prompted tour operators to demonstrate their collective responsibility by creating professional associations with the common goal of mitigating their impact and helping to conserve the ecosystems upon which the tourism industry depends, and to help provide sustainable livelihoods for local communities.

Tour Operators Promoting Sustainability (TOPS) is a specialized global platform for tour operators that are working with the Rainforest Alliance to promote sustainable tourism in their respective markets. These entrepreneurs are helping to transform tourism business practices to make the industry environmentally and socially responsible, as well as profitable.

The Tour Operators' Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development (TOI) is another example. This community was developed with support from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and it is committed to implementing joint activities and disseminating methods and practices that will make sustainable development a foundation of the tourism industry.

So, if on your next vacation, you'd like a tour operator to do the planning for you, be sure to visit the list of tour operators on SustainableTrip.org and rest assured that they are all doing the right thing to conserve the environment and support local communities!

This entry was posted on August 21, 2012 at 11:27 AM and has received 1184 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.

We believe that you, the informed and responsible consumer, are the most important component in building a sustainable future. So we don't want you to just take our word for it that the hotels and tour operators in our SustainableTrip.org directory are sustainable – we want you to understand why and how they were chosen, and what sustainability means to us.

In our efforts to combat "green washing ," we have established very strict sustainability requirements for the hotels and tour operators that we include in our directory. But what are those requirements based on? How can we be fair to businesses who want be listed on our site, while at the same time providing the best and most credible resource for responsible travelers?

From the start, we have accepted hotels and tour operators that have made a demonstrated commitment to a stringent set of requirements called the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, set forth by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). The GSTC Criteria are a set of minimum universal requirements that all tourism businesses around the world can adhere to in order to protect their region's natural and cultural resources while remaining a means of promoting conservation and providing income to the local community.

The Criteria were developed in 2008 by the GSTC Partnership, a coalition of more than 50 organizations brought together by the Rainforest Alliance , the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Foundation , and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The partners built upon decades of prior work and experience to create a comprehensive set of criteria divided into four topics: sustainable management, socioeconomic impacts, cultural impacts, and environmental impacts.

It's important to note that the Criteria are the minimum requirements in order for tourism businesses to be considered sustainable – they are designed to be supplemented and easily adapted to local culture, environment, and laws. To view the GSTC Criteria in full, visit the GSTC website.

One of the most important parts of our mission is to educate people on what it means to be a responsible traveler. We hope this sheds some light on the more technical aspects of sustainable tourism. Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts and questions!

This entry was posted on August 7, 2012 at 2:38 PM and has received 1310 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on July 3, 2012 at 8:49 AM and has received 959 views. There are currently 2 comments. Print this entry.

In order to enjoy a truly sustainable vacation, the accommodation you choose is crucial. Confronted with a myriad of different resorts, hotels, bed and breakfasts claiming to be committed to environmental and socio-cultural conservation, it can be very confusing to know which ones really are taking steps to conserve natural resources and support their local communities. There is an easy solution – choose hotels that participate in a sustainable tourism certification program, like those we feature in SustainableTrip.org.

Certification programs audit hotels – some also audit tour operators, restaurants, transportation companies, and tourist attractions - using an extensive set of environmental, social and economic criteria – those that meet a minimum level of compliance with these criteria become verified or certified and earn the right to use the certification company's logo, making them easy to identify.  On SustainableTrip.org's business profiles, we feature information about which sustainable tourism program each business participates in on the right-hand side of the page.

Below is a list of the major sustainable tourism certification programs currently working in the Americas:

Global Sustainable Tourism Council

 
In recent years, a multitude of certification programs have appeared, again raising the question, "How do I know which one is legitimate?" The recently founded Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) provides some guidance through the jungle of certification programs. This international initiative, comprised of renowned sustainability experts, has created a set of minimum sustainability criteria which certification programs must comply with in order to eventually obtain GSTC accreditation. It is however important to remember that GSTC is not a program which certifies sustainable tourism businesses, but rather a "certifier of certifers" – it accredits certification programs to ensure that their criteria meet identified baseline standards.

Rainforest Alliance Verification^TM

The Rainforest Alliance Verification program closely follows the GSTC's criteria and was among its founding members. It is often asked why the Rainforest Alliance does not certify, but rather verifies tourism businesses. Since there are already a number of high-quality certification programs, verification is an effective way to evaluate and improve businesses' commitment to sustainability, measuring their progress and helping to prepare them to become certified.

Once a business is Rainforest Alliance Verified, it needs to become certified within two years by a certification program that belongs to the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas (STCNA), a network  of certification programs, public and private entities that promote certification and other environmental, tourism-related and academic organizations, all aiming to share information, reach out to other relevant programs, identify training needs and define a progressive market strategy. Below is an overview of the STCNA members:

Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) – Costa Rica

CST was launched in 1997 and it currently provides certification services to hotels and tour operators.  It seeks to categorize and certify each tourism company according to the degree to which its operations comply to a model of sustainability. To this effect, four fundamental aspects are evaluated:

• Physical-biological parameters
• Infrastructure and services
• External clients
• Socio-economic environment

Green Globe - Global 

Green Globe is the worldwide benchmarking and certification program which facilitates sustainable travel and tourism for consumers, companies, and communities. It is based on Agenda 21 and principles for Sustainable Development endorsed by 182 governments at the United Nations Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992. There are four Green Globe Standards - The Company Standard; the Standard for Communities; the International Ecotourism Standard;  and  the Design and Construct Standard.

Green Seal – United States 

Green Seal  is  a non-profit organization  founded  in 1989, with  a mission dedicated  to safeguarding  the environment and  transforming  the market place by promoting the manufacture, purchase and use of environmentally responsible products and services.

Green Deal – Guatemala 

Green Deal provides certifications for: hotels, resorts & spas, eco-lodges & rural-lodges, restaurants, tour operators, transportation business and community based tourism projects. Our evaluation tools are based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, and our prices are suited for small and medium sized enterprises.

Mexican Regulation NMX-AA-133-SCFI-2006 - Mexico 

The purpose of the Ecotourism certification through the Mexican Regulation NMX-AA-133-SCFI-2006 is to consolidate tourism products that incorporate optimal sustainable performance to achieve environmental, social and economical benefits, and at the same time become more competitive in the tourism industry.

Smart Voyager - Ecuador 

The Smart  Voyager program was  created by the conservation organization Conservación  y Desarrollo (C&D) in 1998 and was launched to the public in 2000. The program aims to minimize the environmental impacts from tourism, especially in fragile ecosystems such as the Galapagos Islands.

Sustainable Tourism Eco-Certification Program (STEP) – United States 

STEP is the world's first comprehensive, global sustainable tourism eco-certification program offered by a non-profit organization, which is aligned with the minimum baseline Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria and impending global accreditation. STEP is designed to be user-friendly, educational in nature, practical as a measurement and management tool, and applicable to tourism businesses of all sizes, including newcomers to sustainability, those wanting to improve their existing approach, and businesses that have long-standing sustainability programs. Companies in all sectors of the travel and tourism industry and communities can be eco-certified through STEP.

This entry was posted on July 26, 2011 at 6:46 PM and has received 1037 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.

Over 150 organizations gatherer in support of sustainable tourism and to celebrate Barcelona as the first city to receive the sustainable destination BIOSPHERE certification.

Barcelona, Spain (June 29, 2011) –

Today, over 150 participants gathered in the City of Barcelona, Spain to learn more about and discuss actions to be taken toward mainstreaming Sustainable Tourism. With only one year in existence The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), a global organization dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism around the world, held its 2nd Annual Membership Council Meeting. A highlight of the gathering came when the city of Barcelona was awarded the ITR BIOSPHERE certification as a World Class Destination in recognition of the city's efforts to become a sustainable destination.

"We wish to congratulate the Global Sustainable Tourism Council on its success. In one year it has positioned itself as a leading organization in transforming the tourism industry to a more sustainable business model. The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria today is the platform for countries, cities, businesses and other organizations engaging in sustainable tourism practices. We also extend our congratulations to Barcelona and encourage other cities to follow the path," says Bruce Poon Tip, Founder of Gap Adventures Hosted by the city of Barcelona, the event brought together tourism industry leaders from around the world, including representatives from UNWTO, UNEP, Melia, TUI, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Google Travel, Sabre Holdings, Amadeus, Adventure Travel Trade Association, Rainforest Alliance and others. The topics of the meeting included the promotion of sustainable destinations, the value of doing business sustainably, and the use of technology in hastening the pace of economic, environmental and cultural sustainability in tourism. Members also discussed how to more effectively promote and market credible sustainable tourism offerings.

At the meeting The Global Sustainable Tourism Council launched it's campaign Travel Forever, geared towards demonstrating the power of positive change that comes from sustainable tourism. Other outcomes included the revisions of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, which will be up for public consultation, and the reveal of the new website. The city of Barcelona received the Biosphere Certification from Tomas Azcarate, President of ITR, and Luis Ramallo Massanet, President of UNESCO. "The GSTC is honored to hold our 2nd annual meeting in Barcelona, the city where we launched the GSTC Criteria at the IUCN Congress in 2008. We are very grateful to our hosts, the city of Barcelona and congratulate them on earning the BIOSPHERE certification. They are a model for other cities around the globe," said Erika Harms, GSTC Executive Director.

About the GSTC

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is a global initiative dedicated to promoting sustainable tourism efforts around the world. The GSTC works to expand understanding of and access to sustainable tourism practices; helps identify and generate markets for sustainable tourism; educates about and advocates for a set of universal principles, as defined by the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The Criteria, a set of voluntary principles that provide a framework for the sustainability of tourism businesses across the globe, is the cornerstone of our initiative. For more information visit www.gstcouncil.org.

This entry was posted on June 30, 2011 at 8:59 PM and has received 470 views. There are currently 1 comments. Print this entry.