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GSTC appoints first global sustainable tourism certifier – who?
Dutch Agriculture based Control Union to Certify Hotels & Tour Operators after Achieving GSTC-Accredited Status
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has announced that Control Union has achieved ‘GSTC-Accredited’ status.
Businesses certified by Control Union can use the GSTC Certified logo in accordance with GSTC licensing requirements.
Said GSTC CEO Randy Durband "The GSTC framework was created to provide opportunity for best-in-class certifying bodies to be identified as such." "That creates opportunity for their certificate holders and their end-user clients to appreciate the sincere efforts to operate in a highly sustainable manner" "Control Union has stepped forward to develop a sustainable certification scheme and provided extensive evidence of the high quality of their process of certification."
So, who is Control Union? It is a Dutch certifier that started off in the agricultural sector – they now specialize in independent international cargo surveying and superintending – not a trace of tourism yet, then.
The GSTC says: "Control Union Certifications becomes the first Certifying Body (CB) to achieve GSTC Accredited status, which provides the highest level in terms of credibility within the GSTC Integrity Program framework."
"We are very excited to start this new certification programme." says Control Union Managing Director Jan-Frans Bastiaanse. "Our core business as a certification body is sustainability and the challenges that hotels and tour operators face regarding sustainability are similar to those of our other clients.
So, did GSTC take Control Union on board? Not quite. Apparently GSTC has handed the management of its accreditation process to Accreditation Services International (ASI). which is the for-profit part of the Forest Certification Council based in Bonn
"We are very pleased to confirm CU’s accreditation for GSTC H&TOs." says Phil Crocombe, GSTC program manager at ASI. "Over the last ten years CU has demonstrated its competence and integrity as an independent certifier for other schemes; we are pleased to see that CU has added a new standard to its portfolio of services."
All very interesting, if not a lot to do with tourism, yet.
Valere Tjolle
@ValereTjolle
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