Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism

Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST)


The Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) is an internationally agreed reference framework for measuring the economic, social and environmental aspects of tourism.

As a living example of going beyond GDP, MST supports the production in countries of reliable, internationally comparable data on the performance of countries and subnational tourism destinations when it comes to the sustainability of tourism.  

All in all, MST leads to more robust data to ensure that tourism action on the ground really contributes to the betterment of people’s lives now and into the future.  

The MST Statistical Framework has been developed by UN Tourism in partnership with leading countries, and with the support of the United Nations Statistics Division, the International Labour Organization and others. 

Governance

Under the auspices of the UN Tourism Committee on Statistics, the development of the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism was led by the Expert Group on MST with the technical guidance of the Editorial Board on MST.

Governance
Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism

The Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) is an organizing structure for integrating statistics on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable tourism.

Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism
Pilot studies and country experiences

Country pilot studies have contributed to the design and development of the statistical framework by testing its relevance and feasibility.

Pilot studies and country experiences
Sustainable Development Goals Indicators

UN Tourism Committee on Statistics liaises with the official UN process (IAEG-SDGs) on the development of statistical indicators for the measurement of tourism's role in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Sustainable Development Goals Indicators
ESG Framework for tourism businesses

While a number of ESG reporting and disclosure initiatives already exist, they have been developed relatively independently, meaning the comparability and scalability of ESG reporting is limited. In this context, UN Tourism is joining efforts to provide a single ESG framework that can be used as a single reference by all kinds of tourism businesses.

ESG Framework for tourism businesses

Documents/Publications

SF-MST Brochure
Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST) - Draft, version February 2024
Experiences from Pilot Studies in Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism: A Synopsis for Policymakers
Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism - Learning from Pilots

Events related to MST

MST: Closing the gap between policy and statistics (27 February 2024, New York, UN Headquarters)
UN Tourism Regional Workshop on Measuring Tourism Asia-Pacific (15 - 17 March 2023, Kathmandu, Nepal)
UN Tourism Asia-Pacific Workshop on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (29 March and 14 December 2021, Philippines)
Virtual 63rd ISI World Statistics Congress 2021 (11 - 16 July 2021)
High Level Discussion on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (12 March 2021)
Accounting and Statistics for Sustainable Tourism (8 March 2017, New York, UN Headquarters)

MST in the media

Palma Declaration: “The path towards social sustainability of tourism in the EU”
Planificación e indicadores: la hoja de ruta para el turismo sostenible
La sostenibilidad turística en datos, según el análisis de Deloitte
Kraus-Winkler: Österreich federführend bei internationalen Nachhaltigkeitsstandards im Tourismus