GSTC has joined the World Economic Forum’s Beyond Tourism Insights Council

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has joined the World Economic Forum’s Beyond Tourism Insights Council (BTIC), marking a significant step in shaping the future of global travel and tourism.

Beyond Tourism initiative:
Launched by the World Economic Forum with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism, it aims to transform tourism through sustainability, inclusion, and resilience.

GSTC’s role:
- Provides expertise in sustainable tourism standards.
- Strengthens collaboration between public and private sectors.
- Ensures credible sustainability practices are embedded in tourism planning and measurement.

Council priorities:
- Launching the next Travel & Tourism Development Index.
- Introducing the Beyond Tourism Impact Stars platform to spotlight private-sector innovations.

Strategic vision:
Tourism is treated as an interconnected ecosystem, requiring alignment across people, skills, finance, infrastructure, technology, and governance.

Leadership voices:
- Randy Durband (CEO, GSTC) emphasized that sustainability must be a core part of tourism management, not a separate topic.
- Wendy Li, GSTC’s National Programs Director, represents GSTC on the council.

This partnership underscores how sustainability is becoming central to tourism’s global agenda, with GSTC helping to anchor the initiative in credible standards and practical frameworks.