As part of its continuing recovery from the Australian ‘Black Summer’ bushfire devastation in 2019, Binna Burra Lodge has renewed its commitment to sustainable approaches to nature-based tourism by joining world’s leading sustainable tourism organisation – the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
The GSTC is the world’s only sustainable tourism accreditation body – spearheading the global effort to promote sustainability as a common goal for travel and tourism, one of the largest and most diverse industries. It is an independent organization, playing the critical role of establishing and managing global baseline standard for sustainable tourism — known as the GSTC Criteria — and fulfilling key responsibilities as the global authority on quality sustainable tourism standards.
‘Binna Burra’s Board and staff remain fully committed to implementing and demonstrating effective sustainable management’ explained Steve Noakes, Chairperson of the Board of Directors. ‘This social enterprise has had what we now call a sustainable approach to tourism since its inception in 1933 when the concept of national parks was still relatively new around the world. Nowadays we also have the framework of world heritage values to operate the business in and this results in Binna Burra sharing responsibility for conservation of our cultural and natural heritage through sustainable tourism management.”
Over the past 20 years, Binna Burra has pioneered many practices which are now part of international sustainable tourism guidelines. These international standards are operationalised in the Advanced Ecotourism Certification Binna Burra has held with Ecotourism Australia for more than two decades.
They are designed to assist tourism operators:
- Maximise social and economic benefits to the local community and minimize any negative impacts
- Maximise benefits to our cultural heritage and minimise any negative impacts
- Maximise benefits to our world heritage listed natural environment and minimise negative impacts
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) manages the GSTC Criteria, global standards for sustainable travel and tourism; as well as providing international accreditation for sustainable tourism Certification Bodies. Binna Burra Lodge is regularly used as a case study in numerous GSTC Training programs.
For further details, contact: [email protected]
About the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) establishes and manages global standards for sustainable travel and tourism, known as the GSTC Criteria. There are two sets: Destination Criteria for public policy-makers and destination managers, and Industry Criteria for hotels and tour operators.
They are arranged in four pillars:
(A) Sustainable management;
(B) Socioeconomic impacts;
(C) Cultural impacts; and
(D) Environmental impacts.
Since tourism destinations each have their own culture, environment, customs, and laws, the Criteria are designed to be adapted to local conditions and supplemented by additional criteria for the specific location and activity. The GSTC Criteria form the foundation Accreditation for Certification Bodies that certify hotels/accommodations, tour operators/transport providers, and destinations as having sustainable policies and practices in place.
The GSTC is an independent and neutral organization, legally registered in the USA as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that represents a diverse and global membership, including national and provincial governments, leading travel companies, hotels, tour operators, NGO’s, individuals and communities – all striving to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism. It is a virtual organization without a main office, with staff and volunteers working from all six populated continents. Financial support from donations, sponsorship, and membership fees allows us to provide services at low costs and to create, revise, and make available the GSTC Criteria. www.gstcouncil.org
