International Task Force on
Sustainable Tourism Development
A Three-Year Journey for Sustainable Tourism
 
Projects & Initiatives
 
Around 40 projects have been implemented by the Task Force members and partners
The members of the ITF-STD and other partners have developed around 40 projects, policy tools, methodologies and publications to promote sustainable tourism development. Some of them have been initiated by the Task Force or implemented under its auspices. Other projects initiated and implemented independently of the Task Force have simply benefited from it increased synergies and networking that the Task Force has provided (they are listed in the table in this order). In cooperation with the ITF-STD, these projects on sustainable tourism have promoted significant positive social and environmental impacts at all levels, and leveraged a number of other local and national sustainable consumption and production (SCP) and tourism related projects. These are as following:
 
Project / Methodology / Policy tool / Publication Targeted to Languages


Chinese I English I French
Green Passport
An internet-based campaign, 'Green Passport' aims to raise tourists' awareness of their potential to contribute to sustainable development by making responsible holiday choices
Project overview

Green Passport Website

National Green Passport (pdf)
Brazil I Ecuador I South Africa

Green Passport (pdf):
English I Spanish
consumers
government
youth

English
French
Portuguese
Greek
German
Spanish
Chinese


English I French

 Sustainable Investment and Finance in Tourism (SIFT) network
A knowledge and investment network meant to mainstream sustainability into tourism development investments and financing. The main outcome of this network will be the establishment of a common and voluntary standard to encourage greater sustainability in tourism investments.

Public, private and multilateral investors
financing and development organizations

 English


English I French

 Improving environmental management of SMEs in the accommodation sector (E-tool)
Development of an e-tool for the accommodation sector to improve its environmental performance, followed by capacity building seminars that enhance the uptake of the e-tool and the creation of local experts groups to develop training for environmental managers in SMEs.		 SMEs of the accommodation sector English
French
Vietnamese


English I French

Disaster risk management for coastal tourism destinations responding to climate change
A practical guide for decision makers and local communities to support coastal tourism destinations to prepare and respond to natural disasters and the impacts of climate change		 Local, municipal and community planners
local governments
industry
other tourism stakeholders		 English


English I French

Sowing the Seeds of Change
A CD-ROM teaching pack (capacity building tool) for the integration of sustainable tourism and environmental principles in the hospitality schools educational curricula.

View the CD-ROM online:
Arabic I English I French

 Tourism students, hospitality schools
tourism businesses		 French
English
Arabic

English I French

Promoting heritage-based tourism: Preserving today's treasures for tomorrow's generations (Central America)
Identification of capacity building needs of key tourism stakeholders at all levels and development of training materials for promoting cultural and natural heritage as an asset for sustainable tourism in Central American countries.

Online training tool
English I French I Spanish
National park managers
Ministries of Culture, Environment, and Tourism
ecotourism and culture-based tourism businesses		 Spanish
English
French

English I French

Sustainable coastal tourism: The Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) approach
An operational manual for integrating sustainability in tourism planning and management in coastal zone development to promote sustainable use of resources and increase long-term sustainability of this sector.
Report: English I French

 Governments English
French

English I French
Building capacity on climate change and tourism
Work programme to assist developing countries and countries with economies in transition to adapt planning and management practices to the impacts of climate change in the tourism sector		 Ministries of Tourism and Environment English

English I French 		Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council (STSC)
A coalition of tourism associations, NGOs and government agencies aiming to set universal minimum standards for certification of sustainable programs and accredit those that meets them. The minimum standards will be based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.		 Governments, certification programmes
tourism industry		 English

English I French 		Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC)
A coalition of more than 30 organisations to mainstream sustainability into tourism by providing clear guidelines and criteria which have been designed to serve as the minimum requirements 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 to alleviate poverty.		 Tourism industry English
French
Spanish
Tourism and sustainable development: The French experience
Under the auspices of the French committee for sustainable tourism, a compilation of French good practice examples in sustainable tourism was conducted. These good practices illustrate the variety of solutions that can contribute to make tourism a key component for a sustainable devel-opment. Intended for all tourism stakeholders, it was in particular distributed on the occasion of the 3rd meeting of the ITF in December 2007		 Managers
policy markers
tourism promoters
NGOs		 French
English

English I French 		Practical guides to good practice in specific destinations
A series of publications targeting tour operators and other tourism stakeholders aiming to improve sustainable tourism development practices in destinations such forests, deserts, etc.		 Tour operators Arabic
English
French
Portuguese
Spanish
World heritage sustainable tourism community of best practice
Development of a web-based platform for the sharing of information, communication and networking to promote sustainable tourism best practices at and around World Heritage Sites.		 World Heritage site managers
States Parties
tourism industry
private sector and investors
visitors and tourists
local communities		 English
Certification for Sustainable Tourism - CST Label (Costa Rica)
Costa Rica's governmental certification process, one of the world's first, free of charge, implemented since 1997, with over 110 certified hotels and tour operators.
 Travel and tourism industry Spanish
English
Environment management for the accommodation sector (Morocco)
This project aims to provide capacity building for improving the Moroccan industry of tourism, environmental performances, and its competitiveness at the national, regional, and international levels.		 Accommodation sector French
Addressing climate change and tourism: A small island state perspective
The project builds capacity and skills in small island states to address the challenges of climate change.
 Chambers of Commerce
hotel employers associations
hotel employees associations
national tourism organisations
tourism development companies
departments of meteorology
Ministries of Agriculture
environment agencies
water suppliers
energy suppliers
national trusts
community groups
national and local NGOs		 English
Costa Rica tourism and climate change strategy
A government / private sector project that aims for Costa Rica to become a climate neutral destination by the year 2021 through the gradual incorporation of vulnerability analysis, establishment of metrics, education and awareness campaigns, compensation and mitigation practices in the tourism sector.
 Civil society
tourists
travel and ourism industry		 Spanish
English

English I French 		Sustainable tourism development strategies
An activity to improve the integration of sustainability in national tourism policies and to raise awareness on the need for greater coherence between tourism and other policies that influence tourism sustainable development.		 Policy makers
tourism operators
tourism enterprises		 English
French

English I French 		Excellence in Energy for the Tourism Industry (EETI)
Developed within the framework of the Intelligent Energy - Europe Programme, the project focuses on actions to foster energy efficiency and the rational use of energy resources in the accommodation sector, especially SMEs hotels. Its main goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and costs in the hotel sector in Europe.

SMEs hotels
hotel associations, national tourism bodiesdestinations
tour operators
suppliers and manufacturers in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy use

 English

English I French 		Conserving biodiversity through good practices in the hotel industry (Brazil)
The experience of the 'Roteiros de Charme Hotel Association', Brazil, in implementing its ethics and environmental code of conduct aiming to mainstream sustainability into the accommodation sector.		 Accommodation sector
tourism managers
local community		 Portuguese

English I French 		Pilot projects in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
A series of pilot adaptation projects aiming to integrate sustainable tourism development into national climate change adaptation strategies. It addresses policy issues, environmental impact assessment processes, and improvement of climate information for long-term strategic tourism planning to be implemented at selected demonstration areas.		 Policy makers
Ministries of Tourism, Environment, Urban Planning and Infrastructure, Fisheries and Economy
tourism private sector associations (tour operators, hotels, tourism board etc.)
NGOs
academic institutions		 English

English I French 		Ways towards sustainable tourism
A WWF multimedia toolkit presenting in-depth information on five best practice examples in marine and coastal areas, approaching residues man-agement, funding for nature conservation and livelihood improvement, protected areas manage-ment, certification of tourism products and cross-national cooperation on tourism-related topics.		 Tourism industry
tour operators
protected areas management
local and national communities
NGOs
local stakeholders		 English

English I French
DestiNet
English I French
A knowledge networking portal/tool designed as a common space for sustainable tourism stakeholders to map and develop more sustainable destinations and tourism supply chain products/services. Users can upload their own information, or search and display any content related to sustainable tourism from local to global level.		 Tourism administrators
businesses
NGOs
consultants
academic bodies
tourism supply chain
products/services		 English

English I French 		Tourism for Nature and Development: A toolkit of good practices
A resource for tourism planners and practitioners providing practical guidance to support biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation in the tourism sector.		 Governments
development agencies
businesses, NGOs		 French
English

English I French 		Green Travel Bridge
A joint public private partnership to identify SMEs providers of sustainable tourism products and services in selected Latin American countries that comply with the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC). At the same time, German SMEs tour operators and travel agencies will be encouraged and qualified to commercialize these products on the European and German travel markets.		 SMEs providers of sustainable tourism products and services in selected Latin American countries
German SMEs tour operators and travel agencies		 Spanish
German

English I French 		World Heritage Alliance (WHA) for sustainable tourism
An industry-led initiative to mainstream sustainability into tourism for the protection of the World Heritage and foster economic development for local commu-nities in and around these sites.		 Governments
travel and tourism industry
civil society		 English

English I French 		World Heritage Sustainable Tourism Initiative
A framework for activities and projects, building capacity, business development and marketing techniques to create processes for using tourism to promote site conservation.		 World Heritage site managers
local communities
visitors
tour operators		 English

English I French 		Sustainable tourism and conservation at the Riviera and Costa Maya (Mexico)
A partnership between WWF, Tour Operators' Initiative (TOI) and the Mesoamerican Reef Tourism Initiative (MARTI) to promote sustainable tourism planning and development aiming to the coastal habitats' protection, and the adoption of Good Environmental Practices by TOI hotel suppliers in that region.		 Hotels
tourism industry suppliers
governments		 English
Spanish

English I French		 Destinations
Promotion of strategies for a continuous planning and management process for sustainable tourism development in the southern Mediterranean Nations.		 Managers
policy-makers
tourism promoters
NGOs		 French
English
Arabic

English I French 		Sustainable coastal tourism in Africa
Demonstrating and capturing best practices and technologies for the reduction of land-sourced impacts resulting from coastal tourism and the formulation and implementation of national and regional policies and strategies for sustainable tourism development.		 Tourism operators
public and private sectors,
Sub-Saharan African Ministries of Tourism and Environment		 English

English I French 		The Davos process
A programme within the tourism sector and in the context of the wider UN to respond to climate change challenges in relation to tourism sector through four key actions: mitigation, adaptation, application of new technology and securing financial resources.		 UN entities
private sector
tourism authorities
researchers
policy makers
NGOs		 English
French
Spanish
Russian

English I French 		Sustainable Tourism - Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) programme
Accessing the influence of sustainable tourism development to alleviate poverty by promoting appropriate strategies and policies, and imple-menting projects aimed to foster sustainable development.		 Local communities,
tourism enterprisers
government officials and decision makers
NGOs
private sector organisations		 English
French
Spanish

English I French 		E-tourism: A tool for sustainable tourism development and autonomy of destinations
An e-tool to promote information and commu-nication technology (ICT) through an electronic training package, aimed to enhance SMEs com-petitiveness in the tourism sector of developing countries and equipping stakeholders with tech-nological tools for the implementation of suitable e-business models.		 Tourism enterprises of developing countries
local suppliers
private sector, including SMEs		 English
Spanish

English I French 		TrainForTrade Programme
A process that aims to strengthen capacities in the field of sustainable tourism for development through technical cooperation projects on capacity-development at the national and sub-regional levels.		 Local communities
public, private sectors
civil society of African countries		 English

English I French 		Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in tourism: The development dimension
A multi-country empirical study to assess information of the FDI impacts and facets of capital investment, transfer of technology and access to global markets in developing countries as a route to carry out sustainable tourism.		 Policy-makers,
hotel groups
transnational corporations
financial institutions		 English

English I French 		Global Observatory on Sustainable Tourism (GOST)
An initiative to facilitate the establishment of a network of observatories at all levels aiming to a systematic application of monitoring, evaluation and information management techniques, as key tools for the formulation and implementation of sustainable tourism policies, strategies, plans and management processes.		 Policy makers, planners
tourism managers		 English

English I French 		Green Star Hotel Initiative
Project to promote a continuous planning and management process for sustainable tourism devel-opment in the Southern Mediterranean countries. It provides a practical toolkit and training package to support the hotels in the implementation process. It aims to set up an environmentally friendly label for the accommodation sector applicable to destina-tions throughout Egypt and the Middle East.		 Egypt's tourism and hotel industries
accommodation sector managers and staff		 Arabic

English I French 		Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance (GSTA)
A coalition of conservation and tourism develop-ment organisations, academic institutions, NGOs, IGOs and government agencies working together to create a set of global baseline criteria and practices for sustainable tourism development.		 Local/indigenous Small, Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs)
governments		 Spanish
English