The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Criteria were created to provide a common understanding of sustainable tourism. The GSTC Destinations Criteria – known informally also as “GSTC-D” — are the minimum that any tourism destination should aspire to reach. They are organised around four main themes: sustainable management; socio-economic impacts; cultural impacts; and environmental impacts. They have applicability to the entire tourism sector.
Application of the criteria will help a destination to contribute towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Against each of the Criteria, one or more of the 17 SDGs is identified, to which it most closely relates.