Sustainable Tourism Online Course for Industry Professionals
The GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP) provides the knowledge and tools needed to help improve sustainability practices in travel and tourism. The training covers the GSTC Criteria, the global baseline standards for sustainability in travel and tourism, and provides best practices for businesses and destinations.
Delivered as a 4-week-long facilitated and interactive training class, the sustainable tourism online course offers a convenient way to improve your sustainability skills in a flexible online learning environment, while at the same time learning alongside GSTC experts and fellow sustainable tourism practitioners.
The course will help you achieve tangible actions that fulfill the globally recognized standard of sustainability best practices.
GSTC Professional Certificate in Sustainable Tourism
By completing this 4-week online course, you will meet the training requirement towards earning the GSTC Professional Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
Once you complete the course, you will have have the option to take the GSTC STTP Exam. The exam takes place online. If you pass the exam, you will receive a Professional Certificate in Sustainable Tourism by the GSTC.
The certificate demonstrates your knowledge of sustainable tourism standards and practices.
>> Learn more about STTP & GSTC Professional Certificate in Sustainable Tourism
This course if offered at the dates listed below. For questions and registration support, please feel free to email us at support@trainingaid.org.
The Sustainable Tourism Training by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) offers practical insights to help improve sustainability practices, and an opportunity to earn Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
The Sustainable Tourism Training by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) offers practical insights to help improve sustainability practices, and an opportunity to earn Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
The Sustainable Tourism Training by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) offers practical insights to help improve sustainability practices, and an opportunity to earn Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
The Sustainable Tourism Training by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) offers practical insights to help improve sustainability practices, and an opportunity to earn Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
The Sustainable Tourism Training by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) offers practical insights to help improve sustainability practices, and an opportunity to earn Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
The Sustainable Tourism Training by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) offers practical insights to help improve sustainability practices, and an opportunity to earn Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
The Sustainable Tourism Training by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) offers practical insights to help improve sustainability practices, and an opportunity to earn Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
The Sustainable Tourism Training by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) offers practical insights to help improve sustainability practices, and an opportunity to earn Certificate in Sustainable Tourism.
Course Topics and Objectives
The GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training covers both global and regional perspectives, and offers practical guidance through best practice cases and real-life lessons to help you achieve tangible sustainability performance goals. The training curriculum includes global trends and issues in sustainable tourism, sustainability best practices by businesses and destinations, and lessons on utilizing the GSTC Criteria as a tourism development and management tool.
You will:
- Gain an in-depth understanding of sustainable tourism standards and the roles of accreditation and certification bodies in the global tourism industry.
- Be able to make informed decisions on how to implement sustainability practices for your company or destination, utilizing quality sustainable tourism standards as guiding principles.
- Learn how to build and implement viable and actionable sustainable tourism plans for your organization, including effective strategies for sustainability management, partnerships, engagement and marketing.
Course Methodology
The GSTC Sustainable Tourism Training online classes are offered quarterly, and delivered in the 4-Week Course format, which combines the convenience of online, on-demand lessons and the benefits of interactive people-focused learning. The class follows a weekly schedule (one module per week), and includes:
- Video lessons and readings that can be accessed at your convenience;
- Hands-on activities to apply your knowledge to your specific real-life, on-the-job practices; and
- Live and interactive components to enhance learning results through sharing ideas and collaborating with each other.
The first module provides an introduction to the GSTC Criteria, the definition and principles of sustainable tourism, and the GSTC's roles in the global tourism industry, and discusses best practices in sustainable tourism management approaches (GSTC Criteria Section A).
Learning Goals:
- Understand the roles of the GSTC and the GSTC Criteria.
- Learn about and discuss relevant sustainability issues and tourism trends.
- Become familiar with sustainability management principles and discuss best practices.
The goal of the second week is both to dive deeper into the GSTC Criteria and to discuss practical steps to applying the Criteria in the real-world context, focused on understanding the socioeconomic impacts of tourism activities, and on effective strategies for reducing negative impacts (GSTC Criteria Section B).
Learning Goals:
- Understand issues and challenges related to the socioeconomic impacts of tourism.
- Learn about sustainability practices that effectively address the socioeconomic impacts of tourism.
- Discuss practical application of the GSTC Industry Criteria through a business case study.
Continuing on with lessons and expert presentations on the GSTC Criteria, this week focuses on how tourism businesses and destinations can minimize negative impacts, maximize benefits to local communities and protect cultural heritage through sustainable tourism (GSTC Criteria Section C).
Learning Goals:
- Understand issues and challenges related to the impact of tourism on local cultural heritage.
- Learn about best practices on reducing negative impacts of tourism activities on local cultural heritage.
- Discuss how to maximize tourism's benefits for communities, visitors and local cultures through sustainability practices.
In the fourth and last module of the course, key strategies for reducing tourism's environmental footprint are presented, and practical action steps in implementing sustainable resource management and conservation practices are discussed (GSTC Criteria Section D).
Learning Goals:
- Understand issues and challenges related to the environmental impacts of tourism.
- Learn about best practices on reducing footprint and positively contributing to conservation.
- Discuss how to achieve optimal results for the local environment, while supporting business growth.
About the GSTC: Global Authority on Sustainable Tourism
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 NGO’s, national and provincial governments, leading travel companies, hotels, tour operators, individuals and communities – all striving to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism.
As the global expert in standards for sustainable tourism, the GSTC pursues the goals of:
- Promoting sustainable tourism knowledge and practices;
- Facilitating the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles; and
- Building demand for sustainable travel.
At the core of this work is the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria, the guiding principles and minimum requirements that any tourism business or destination 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. The GSTC was founded in 2007 by the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Foundation, and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), among others.
I’ve participated in the course to get a comprehensive overview of destination sustainability criteria. Much more than this, the course gave me the up-to-date analysis of current trends, and a huge number of relevant cases from the destinations, the industry networks and the service providers. I strongly recommend to attend the course.
The topics covered were relevant and up-to-date. Sustainable tourism was not new to me, but I learned so much. I really loved how you managed to build and maintain a community, especially in the breakout sessions.
My course facilitator and teacher (Ayako and Antje) went above and beyond to answer our questions and provide us with additional resources. The course content (the GSTC Criteria) was delivered in an understandable and organized way. Learning the GSTC Criteria and how it applies to our own projects, businesses, and destinations is integral to anyone wanting to do any kind of work in the future centered around travel. I appreciated that the course was delivered in an interactive way over Zoom, and not just something we watched on YouTube. For me, being able to interact with fellow students from around the world, was a big plus. Was well worth it, and I highly recommend the course!
This course has been very relevant and provides in-depth knowledge of GSTC criteria for sustainable practices for destinations as well as the travel industry [with] plenty of real life examples and share links to plenty of reading material throughout the course. … As we move forward during these difficult COVID times, learning our lessons on the damage to nature, it becomes all the more important for industry professionals to get trained and step up efforts to embrace sustainability in all aspects of tourism. Hence, I recommend this course to all industry professionals.
The overview of standards, coupled with best practice and real world examples has been very beneficial for my work in destination management and responsible tourism development. The ability to meet likeminded industry colleagues, who are working in this arena was also highly valuable.