Turkey to host the Global Sustainable Tourism Conference GSTC 2023

16-02-23

The meeting, which will take place in the country's tourism capital Antalya from 9-12 May, aims to discuss the development and promotion of sustainable travel and tourism.

The World Conference will host more than 350 local and foreign participants, including representatives from the public sector, hotels, tour operators, businesses, academia, development agencies, online travel agencies and non-governmental organisations.

The four-day conference programme includes training, interactive panels and workshops, meetings and social events.

Participants will have the opportunity to benefit from the practical experience of experts in sustainable tourism development and promotion, while enjoying the opportunity to discover Antalya, Turkey's tourism paradise.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), the world's leading environmental and sustainability organisation, regulates, updates and manages the global standards created to ensure sustainability in travel and tourism, known as the GSTC Criteria.

With these criteria, the independent non-profit organisation aims to create a shared understanding of sustainable tourism across the globe. It also organises conferences with world leaders to discuss critical current issues in sustainable tourism.

Due to the pandemic, the lecture series was held online for two consecutive years. Last year it was held in the city of Seville.

At the 2022 GSTC Sustainable Tourism Conference, it was announced that the 2023 edition would be held in Antalya following the bidding process carried out by the Türkiye Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA). Antalya's bid was presented with a specially targeted video and a panel on the Turkish National Sustainable Tourism Programme was organised at the conference.

COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

With the cooperation agreement signed with the GSTC in early 2022, Turkey determined the country's sustainable tourism roadmap and accelerated its overall sustainability practices.

With this three-year protocol, the National Sustainable Tourism Programme was established to restructure the tourism industry in Turkey, which is the first country to agree with the government on such a project.

The programme, which includes destinations, tour operators and especially accommodation facilities, aims at the sustainable transformation of Turkey's tourism industry.

Realised in stages, the first phase of the programme will be completed this year, the second phase in 2025 and the third phase in 2030, with all international standards being met.