WORLDWIDE: The GSTC MICE Criteria is still in development with time for the public to have their say until mid August.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is inviting people across the world to contribute to the latest ideas for the Criteria for sustainable meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE).
The GSTC Criteria operates as the universal foundation for sustainability standards in travel and tourism and wants to develop the latest relevant Criteria for the MICE sector. There are already Industry Criteria, which the hotel sector already takes part in. You can read more about the GSTC-recognised status and hotel accreditation processes here.
This is the first round of the consultation and is open to everyone including stakeholders, industry experts, or anyone who might be involved in MICE activities. Questions will cover venues, event organisers and events and exhibitions to ascertain the relevance of the Criteria.
The GSTC believes the MICE industry should prioritise sustainability because of the growing demand for sustainable travel. According to the website the organisation explains that with more business travellers seeking sustainable options, it makes business sense for tourism companies to prioritise sustainability. ‘The GSTC MICE Criteria can also guide the industry to make supply chains more sustainable and increase residents’ involvement in local events and exhibitions’.
Randy Durband, chief executive officer, GSTC said about the process: “The development of GSTC MICE Criteria will provide a globally-created and globally-applicable set of sustainability standards that serves as a platform for universal approaches to measurement, monitoring, reporting, and various forms of external verification needed to drive positive impacts from good practices.”
Once the public has had their say an advisory group will offer useful, relevant and coherent information related to the MICE industry.
Members of the advisory group are:
- Green Key Global
- Osaka Convention Bureau
- Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS)
- Singapore Tourism Board
- Sustainable Hospitality Alliance
- Suwon Convention & Visitor Bureau
- Visit Berlin
- Visit Oslo
Key stakeholders will also contribute to the MICE Criteria development by providing feedback and engaging in a feasibility assessment. The key stakeholders are:
- American Express Global Business Travel
- Costa Rica Tourism Board
- Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)
- Japan Convention Service
- Meetingselect
- Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA)
The feasibility assessment will look at the readability (how easy-to-understand the criteria are); measurability/auditability (how objective they are); and feasibility of the requirement (how likely they are to be met) of each criterion.
The public consultation is open until August 15th, 2023 and anyone can take part by clicking here.
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