11-12 AUGUST 2010. WASHINGTON DC, USA.

August 11th and 12th the Board of the Tourism Sustainable Council convened in Washington DC for its first meeting.

A prominent outcome of this meeting is the change of the name of the formerly known Tourism Sustainability Council (TSC) to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

Other relevant outcomes of the two-day deliberation included:

• The Legal Registration of the Organization
• The Election of the officers and executive committee
• The Governance structure of the organization: The Global Sustainable Tourism Council is formed by a Board of 12 elected members and 3 permanent Board seats, assigned to the United Nations Environment Programm (UNEP), the United Nations World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO) and the United Nations Foundation (UNF). In addition, the By-laws have a provision for 5 seats, to be appointed by the Board as needed, to support the organization.
• The Branding
• The launch of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council
• Launching the website
• The accreditation

The Business Plan, focused on the following priorities:

 1. Management of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.
 2. Setting standards for destinations and other tourism sectors not contemplated by the current criteria.
 3. Identifying, aggregating or creating tools and materials for education and training
 4. Developing market access strategies for sustainable products
 5. Building the accreditation program
 6. Supporting more sustainable destinations

 Further information at: http://www.sustainabletourismcriteria.org/