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Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST)
[last updated January 4, 2004 12:11 AM]
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General Information
Partnership website(s) |
Expected Timeframe Pre 2002 - 2003 |
Partners
Governments:
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Major Groups:
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| UN System:
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Other intergovernmental organizations:
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Other:
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Thematic Focus
Primary Themes:
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Secondary Themes:
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Geographic Coverage
Geographic Scope: Regional
Country(ies) where the partnership is being implemented: Costa Rica |
National Focal Points
At present, no information is available as to whether the partnership has made contact with the national focal points for sustainable development in the relevant countries.
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Goals and Objectives
Summary of the partnership's goals and objectives
The Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST), is one of the first systems, if not the first, to achieve the integration of the principle elements of sustainable tourism, analyzing good management practices, the environmental and social impacts of services, as well as the client's perception of image and the congruence between the service offered and the product's promotion. In its four years of operation in Costa Rica, CST has been able to objectively measure sustainability of operating businesses, improve business environmental and social practices, and motivate businesses to improve practices and clients to choose sustainable tourist businesses.
The main objective of this proposal is to transfer CST and make it fully applicable in other countries, in such a way that these countries can share a common foundation for promoting sustainability in tourism. This will achieve a number of goals: economies of scale, greater market recognition of the standard, increasing consumer awareness, and substantial improvement in the environmental and social impacts of tourism.
The widespread implementation of CST will produce direct individual benefits to businesses (reduced costs, increased occupancy, and better image) while offering substantial environmental and social guarantees to the local population. At a regional level, it serves as a unifier and a common basis for the promotion of sustainable tourism.
The main objective of this proposal is to transfer CST and make it fully applicable in other countries, in such a way that these countries can share a common foundation for promoting sustainability in tourism. This will achieve a number of goals: economies of scale, greater market recognition of the standard, increasing consumer awareness, and substantial improvement in the environmental and social impacts of tourism.
The widespread implementation of CST will produce direct individual benefits to businesses (reduced costs, increased occupancy, and better image) while offering substantial environmental and social guarantees to the local population. At a regional level, it serves as a unifier and a common basis for the promotion of sustainable tourism.
Targets and Progress
Partnership targetsOverall targets:
* Transfer CST to the other countries in the region that have already requested this (8 countries to date) and adjust its parameters to be truly international in scope. * Obtain official support of the national tourist boards, chambers of tourism, and tourist businesses, as well as other stakeholders. * Mobilize the CST Technical Committee to systematize and transfer information accumulated during four years of operation in Costa Rica. Specific targets: 2 to 4 years in: Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Panama. 2 to 6 years in: Other countries that adopt it. Contributions of CST to the sustainable development of the countries where implemented: * CST is an instrument for directing tourist development towards sustainability, having positive repercussions in environmental, cultural, and social conditions, to the benefit of present and future populations. * CST promotes cooperation among different stakeholders and among the countries that implement it, in a joint effort towards sustainability. * Local populations should see a marked increase in the use of locally produced agricultural and handicraft products, as well as high quality employment in tourist businesses. * Harmony between tourist businesses and adjacent communities should be enhanced, along with concrete social and economic benefits. For tourist businesses: * CST should influence the development model of each country, so that tourist businesses operate without damaging the natural and cultural resources on which they depend. * The three fundamental pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental, and socio-cultural) should be integrated into the business model, as a key factor for increasing market share in the international tourism market. * CST should produce substantial reductions in operating costs after a modest initial capital investment. For other sectors: * CST should generate a significant new market for goods and services associated with clean technologies (solar, microhydroelectric and wind energy, water conservation devices, efficient air conditioners and other devices, organic agriculture, biodegradable products, etc.). * CST should, in the same vein, generate pressure to develop local industries based on the consulting and manufacture of clean and appropriate technologies. |
Progress against targets58 lodging establishments certified by CST in Costa Rica
see website: www.turismo-sostenible.co.cr The establishments reflect the application of the CST standard, and therefore demonstrate that their operations are sustainable. A similar number of businesses did not pass the certification process. |
Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
- Human resources development/training
- Education/building awareness
- Technology transfer/exchange
Capacity-building and Technology Transfer Activities include:
* Establishing a platform for local and regional Certification Commissions, which are indispensable for the transparency and credibility of the CST System.
* Sensitize the industrial and export sectors on the need to supply the tourist sector with clean and environment-friendly technologies.
* Conduct regional workshops to validate the system and the changes made to it.
* Support certified businesses by providing access to clean technologies and know-how, in accordance with the CST standard.
* Establish a continuous training program for the private sector on CST-related issues and best practice.
* Train and accredit auditors in each country.
* Train private consultants to work with potentially certified businesses to implant best practices in accordance with CST.
* Sensitize the industrial and export sectors on the need to supply the tourist sector with clean and environment-friendly technologies.
* Generate a data-base of socially and environmentally friendly products, suppliers, and best-practices.
* Employ and train local people.
* Educate guests about these issues.
For the export of the model, Costa Rica is facilitating not only the core CST system for its implementation and execution in other countries, but also documentation of accumulated experience, the conformity system, and field training in Costa Rica, which will allow important savings in the learning curve.
The proposed scenario for Phase I will be supported basically with resources coming from the international cooperation with the purpose of establishing the conditions for the effective transfer of the CST System on the part of the Costa Rican Government.
In Phase II, once CST is firmly established in the business sector in the associated countries, the CST Accreditation Commission in Costa Rica will transfer functions to the newly established international entities in these countries or regions. In this way, the accumulated knowledge, experience, and institutional memory can be replicated in different countries.
Relationship to International Agreements on Sustainable Development
How the partnership contributes to the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
Certification processes in tourism are key instruments for achieving the goals of Agenda 21, in environmental, social, and cultural responsibility of businesses and clients, especially when economies of scale permit the popularization and positioning of the trademark - informed consumer demand then motivates environmental and social compliance by businesses. The process of internationalizing CST, with the participation of several countries, guarantees synergy and a shared vision of the future, facilitating the implementation of sustainability in tourism in all the countries involved.
Widely used and properly implemented certification systems should benefit local service providers, local communities, conservation efforts, and the surrounding environment, as they are a way to motivate tourist developments to contribute effectively and constructively to the well-being of the whole society.
CST identifies and rewards the tourist businesses that come closest to this model of sustainability, in reduced operating costs from lower energy and water consumption, better relations with staff and the neighboring communities, higher occupancy levels by selective consumers, and greatly enhance image. These aspects are measured using four sets of parameters:
1. Physical-biological environment: This examines the interaction of the business with its surrounding environment, taking into account emissions, contamination in general, conservation measures, and natural risk management.
2. Physical plant: This analyzes the internal processes of the business and its environmental management systems, including waste management, use of efficient technologies to conserve water and energy, and the type of consumables that are used.
3. External clients: These criteria evaluate actions taken to motivate, educate, and increase awareness of guests, in order to mitigate negative impacts and make adequate use of the natural resources used by the business, as well as to prepare clients for low-impact tourism to protected natural areas and local communities.
4. Social environment: These parameters consider the interaction of the business with the surrounding population. They take into account the use of locally produced food, decoration, and crafts, as well as efforts to avoid deleterious social effects and benefit the local community.
Widely used and properly implemented certification systems should benefit local service providers, local communities, conservation efforts, and the surrounding environment, as they are a way to motivate tourist developments to contribute effectively and constructively to the well-being of the whole society.
CST identifies and rewards the tourist businesses that come closest to this model of sustainability, in reduced operating costs from lower energy and water consumption, better relations with staff and the neighboring communities, higher occupancy levels by selective consumers, and greatly enhance image. These aspects are measured using four sets of parameters:
1. Physical-biological environment: This examines the interaction of the business with its surrounding environment, taking into account emissions, contamination in general, conservation measures, and natural risk management.
2. Physical plant: This analyzes the internal processes of the business and its environmental management systems, including waste management, use of efficient technologies to conserve water and energy, and the type of consumables that are used.
3. External clients: These criteria evaluate actions taken to motivate, educate, and increase awareness of guests, in order to mitigate negative impacts and make adequate use of the natural resources used by the business, as well as to prepare clients for low-impact tourism to protected natural areas and local communities.
4. Social environment: These parameters consider the interaction of the business with the surrounding population. They take into account the use of locally produced food, decoration, and crafts, as well as efforts to avoid deleterious social effects and benefit the local community.
Coordination and Implementation
Coordination Mechanism of the Partnership* Working visits to Costa Rica of key actors for promoting and implementing CST.
* Preparatory meetings with stakeholder groups. Phase I: Coordination with stakeholders in each country and accreditation of auditors. Because the accreditation and certification mechanisms of CST are incipient outside Costa Rica, and the existing structures have been shown to be transparent and credible, during the start-up period the existing CST Accreditation Commission based in Costa Rica will accompany the process and award CST certification. The Commission will also accredit auditors who have been trained by the experienced Technical Commission based in Costa Rica. Stakeholder workshops and field trials in conjunction with government, NGOs, local communities (including indigenous communities), businesses, and trade groups will establish the parameters for local implementation and the selection of auditors, representatives for the accreditation body, and members of the certification bodies. Evaluation mechanisms applied during the process can not only monitor the development of the associative relationship of the participant countries, but also the progress of the proposal at an individual level. This information is viable to obtain, given the commitment and appropriation of the instrument by the associated countries. Therefore, conditions exist for monitoring agreements according to the needs and requirements of the donors. |
Implementation Mechanism of the PartnershipCosta Rica will establish the minimum conditions for CST implementation in the associated countries, in order to maintain standards and credibility. The philosophical principles implicit in CST are associated with certain unchangeable core parameters. Peripheral standards and additional parameters will address local conditions in each region. The CST logo will be licensed for use with complying systems, as it reflects the relationship between humanity and nature, and establishes a marketable corporate image for sustainable tourism, as opposed to destination-specific images.
International framework for the Certification of Sustainable Tourism (CST) Once the system has been appropriated by stakeholders in each country and has been normalized regionally, the Accreditation Commission will expand its membership and divide into a representative international accreditation body and a national certification body, in parallel with the establishment of other national and regional certification bodies. Based on proximity, cultural similarity, market preferences, and travel costs, regional bodies may use existing free-trade regions to define geographic boundaries. The final accreditation and certification mechanisms will be established according to generally accepted international norms, and are likely to be similar to the following scheme: The final development of this scheme is likely to take a number of years and is highly dependent on a sufficient number of certified businesses to achieve economies of scale. The interim mechanism will be a partial execution of this master design, according to current needs for expansion. |
Resources
Funding Currently AvailableAmount in US$: 0
Source(s): Government
In Costa Rica, where the CST system was developed, financial support has been assumed primarily by the Costa Rican Tourist Board (ICT) and thus by the Costa Rican government.This support includes the costs associated with the generation of the knowledge and experience to design and develop the system, as well as implementation costs over a six-year period. Nevertheless, in addition to these contributions by Costa Rica, the economic support of donors is necessary to achieve the proposed goals in the associated countries within a reasonable time frame. External funding has been for specific tasks, such as a donation from the government of Spain for a pilot study, and from US-AID for the development of a sophisticated website for CST. Additional funding has been received for the comparative evaluation of CST relative to other certification schemes (revealing that it is one of the strongest and most transparent of all systems worldwide for certifying sustainable tourism), the feasibility of international implementation, and the design accreditation and certification bodies. |
Non-financial resources availableType(s):
Source(s):
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Funding SoughtRequired Amount in US$: not specified
Source(s) already approached: For the future activities described in this proposal, Costa Rican government support will continue for in-country activities, and support is expected from the governments of the associated countries to a lesser degree. CDG (Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft e.V.) funds through the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE) will provide for some activities in Central America. Substantial additional funding is necessary to implement all the activities described in this proposal, especially in those countries outside of Central America. The funds would be directed towards establishing, promoting, and positioning CST among stakeholders, through workshops and local field training. This is even more fundamental for the execution of the second phase, where the CST system becomes economically sustainable and self-sufficient, through economies of scale and the payment of fees.
In Phase II of this program, the CST System should move towards economic self-sufficiency, as economies of scale and license and user fees by businesses, auditors, and certifiers come into play. Economic self-sufficiency can only be achieved when the scale of the program involves several countries. This goal should be achievable near the end of the period of this proposal. |
Non-financial resources soughtRequirement(s):
Source(s) approached and details:
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Additional Information
Additional Relevant Information
Other Activities include:
* Adjust the system to the varying social and environmental conditions of the participating countries.
* Adjust the system to include regional conditions, such as coral reefs, archeological sites, living cultures, sacred sites, etc.
* Field validation trials of CST in each country.
* Development of uniform evaluation methodologies in all participating countries.
Establish a regional system of certification and accreditation for CST.
* Consolidate a CST Regional Certification Commission.
* Establish a regional discussion forum to evaluate and enhance the implementation of the system.
* Establish a system of accreditation for the governmental, non-governmental, and private sector certifiers and auditors, in accordance with internationally accepted norms.
* Improve the social and environmental performance of participating tourist businesses.
* Establish a program of marketing and promotion aimed towards both consumers and businesses, to increase the market share of certified businesses and increase the number of certified businesses.
* Avoid emissions, damage, and contamination.
* Promote conservation and environmental management.
* Properly manage solid and liquid wastes.
* Reduce the use of water, electricity, and consumables.
* Use natural, recyclable, and biodegradable products.
* Promote local foods, traditions, handicrafts, and customs.
* Support natural areas and respect local culture.
Links:
Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainable Tourism
World Tourism Organization (WTO)
May 2002
CST was subject to consideration in this study by the WTO, which was published at the World Summit on Ecotourism in Montreal.
Ministers of Tourism of Iberoamerica
Ecuador, May 2002
Proposed joint agenda to present at the World Summit of Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
Mesoamerican Coral Reef System
May 2002
The member countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras) accept CST as their standard.
Protecting Paradise: Certification Programs for Sustainable Tourism and Ecotourism
Institute for Policy Studies, October 2001
CST was analyzed in this study by IPS.
Plan Puebla Panam
Declaration of the heads of state involved in the PPP proposal, June 2001
CST is approved as a form of going beyond the certification of environmental protection or ecotourism.
System of Central American Integration (SICA)
May 2001
Ministers of Tourism, within the framework of SICA, sign declaration to use CST as a Central American brand.
Association of Caribbean States
December 2001
Accept CST as a requisite for developing the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the ACS.
Tourism Certification
WWF, August 2000
CST was subject to consideration in study by WWF of 24 certification systems for sustainability. Only two systems comply with the fundamental principles, one of them being CST.
* Adjust the system to the varying social and environmental conditions of the participating countries.
* Adjust the system to include regional conditions, such as coral reefs, archeological sites, living cultures, sacred sites, etc.
* Field validation trials of CST in each country.
* Development of uniform evaluation methodologies in all participating countries.
Establish a regional system of certification and accreditation for CST.
* Consolidate a CST Regional Certification Commission.
* Establish a regional discussion forum to evaluate and enhance the implementation of the system.
* Establish a system of accreditation for the governmental, non-governmental, and private sector certifiers and auditors, in accordance with internationally accepted norms.
* Improve the social and environmental performance of participating tourist businesses.
* Establish a program of marketing and promotion aimed towards both consumers and businesses, to increase the market share of certified businesses and increase the number of certified businesses.
* Avoid emissions, damage, and contamination.
* Promote conservation and environmental management.
* Properly manage solid and liquid wastes.
* Reduce the use of water, electricity, and consumables.
* Use natural, recyclable, and biodegradable products.
* Promote local foods, traditions, handicrafts, and customs.
* Support natural areas and respect local culture.
Links:
Voluntary Initiatives for Sustainable Tourism
World Tourism Organization (WTO)
May 2002
CST was subject to consideration in this study by the WTO, which was published at the World Summit on Ecotourism in Montreal.
Ministers of Tourism of Iberoamerica
Ecuador, May 2002
Proposed joint agenda to present at the World Summit of Sustainable Development in Johannesburg
Mesoamerican Coral Reef System
May 2002
The member countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras) accept CST as their standard.
Protecting Paradise: Certification Programs for Sustainable Tourism and Ecotourism
Institute for Policy Studies, October 2001
CST was analyzed in this study by IPS.
Plan Puebla Panam
Declaration of the heads of state involved in the PPP proposal, June 2001
CST is approved as a form of going beyond the certification of environmental protection or ecotourism.
System of Central American Integration (SICA)
May 2001
Ministers of Tourism, within the framework of SICA, sign declaration to use CST as a Central American brand.
Association of Caribbean States
December 2001
Accept CST as a requisite for developing the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the ACS.
Tourism Certification
WWF, August 2000
CST was subject to consideration in study by WWF of 24 certification systems for sustainability. Only two systems comply with the fundamental principles, one of them being CST.