The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has announced that the ‘Weeva Sustainability Management Standard’ version 1, dated January 2024, has gained GSTC-Recognised Standard status, meaning it has been fully recognised as equivalent to the GSTC Industry Criteria. 

Weeva is an SaaS platform that enables tourism businesses to adopt measurable and holistic sustainability practices to improve operational efficiency and build resilience, driving positive impact for people and the planet. Focused on 18 parameters across Conservation, Culture, Community, and Commerce, Weeva enables accommodation providers to monitor, manage, improve, and report on their sustainability using a comprehensive suite of digital tools, educational guides, analytics, and reports.

The GSTC-Recognised status refers to the standard itself, indicating that a sustainable tourism standard has been reviewed by GSTC technical experts and the GSTC Assurance Panel and deemed the content of the standard equivalent to the GSTC Criteria for sustainable tourism. It shows that the set of standards is based on the four pillars of the GSTC Criteria: Sustainable Management, Socioeconomic, Cultural, and Environmental principles. 

GSTC Recognition of Standards does not relate to the process of certification (which is a third-party assessment, through an audit, of a tourism enterprise for conformity to a standard). GSTC Recognition of Standards does not relate to accreditation (formal verification that a certification body operates in a competent and neutral manner according to international standards of how to properly certify, which is the highest level of assurance).

The stated scope of the standard is ‘Hotels and other accommodation providers’ with global geographical coverage. The GSTC Recognition is valid until either the standard or the GSTC Industry Criteria are changed.

“We’re so excited to have achieved this recognition from the GSTC. Our team of experts has worked tirelessly over many months to ensure that our sustainability management system, including all our supporting best-practice educational guides, tools and reporting for continuous improvement, meet the incredibly high standards and benchmarks set by the GSTC,” says Julie Cheetham, Managing Director and Co-founder of Weeva. 

“We congratulate Weeva for embracing the Four Pillars of the GSTC Criteria, which entails adopting a holistic perspective on sustainability; going beyond just environmental factors, and including the deep impact on communities, a broad spectrum of social and cultural dimensions, and the development of effective management to ensure continual progress,” says Randy Durband, CEO of GSTC.

Currently, 15 destination standards, 20 tour operator standards, 44 hotel standards, and 5 systems have achieved GSTC-recognised status. The status offers the market proof that these standards adhere to international norms