The Municipality of Baião, a member of the GSTC – Global Sustainable Tourism Council – and the first Portuguese municipality to be certified as a Sustainable Tourism Destination, was represented by Dora Pinto and Aida Ribeiro at the Global Sustainable Tourism Conference – GSTC2024 – which took place in Stockholm, Sweden, between 23 and 26 April.
Attended by more than 500 delegates from around 60 countries, the programme featured various panel discussions and interactive workshops with international experts in sustainable tourism, focusing on issues related to the environment and climate, social inclusion, innovation, new European legal requirements and good governance practices, based on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Highlights of the programme included meetings on:
- EU Green Claims Directive and related Sustainability Regulations,
- Food Waste Reduction,
- Data-based Innovation in Tourism,
- Green Mobility,
- Community Engagement & Residents – Quality of Life.
This was also an excellent opportunity for the municipality to establish contacts with various representatives and innovative projects in the field of sustainability at European and global level. These included the CEO and founder of Earthcheck, Stewart Moore, the Chairman of the Board of the GSTC, Luigi Cabrini, the DMO of Destino Açores, Carolina Mendonça, and Anna-Lenna Wallin from Järvsö – Sweden, among others.
The GSTC – Global Sustainable Tourism Council – was created in 2007 by the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation), the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and 32 partners from the tourism industry, with the aim of promoting the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles.
This organisation manages global criteria and standards for sustainable travel and tourism, as well as providing international accreditation for certification bodies, in a worldwide effort to develop a common language on sustainability in tourism.
On 25 February 2023, the Municipal Assembly of Baião unanimously approved the proposal presented by the mayor, Paulo Pereira, ratifying the decision taken at the town hall meeting on 11 February for the municipality to join the GSTC.
The mayor explained Baião’s membership proposal as “confirmation of the municipality’s commitment to the principles of sustainable tourism, as well as active participation in this global network that promotes a development strategy based on the quality of life of the population, a balance between the environmental, social, cultural and economic pillars and also on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
