The Global Partnership for Sustainable Tourism Criteria made its debut before thousands of people who gathered in Barcelona for the International Union for Conservation of Nature's World Conservation Congress in early October. In his keynote speech before some 8,000 people attending the Congress, philanthropist Ted Turner, the president of the United Nations Foundation, noted that the initiative would help tourism businesses that are moving toward sustainability by identifying certification programs that comply with international criteria. The partnership will also help travel agencies, consumers and the media to identify complying certification programs and the sustainable tourism enterprises they certify. The initiative will also allow certifying programs and other voluntary initiatives to guarantee that their own standards comply with those that are internationally recognized, whereas governments, public and private organizations will be able to use it as a point of departure for establishing their tourism requirements.

The Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas organized a summit of certifiers called the "Meeting of Certification Programs of the Americas and their International Positioning" last August in San José, Costa Rica. Network members came together to discuss how they could work together to respond to opportunities as sustainable tourism accreditation advances, design international sustainability criteria and establish links with market initiatives.

Each participating program shared information about its achievements, while the Rainforest Alliance presented the latest progress toward the inauguration of the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council (STSC). During the two-day meeting, attendees analyzed strategies for inserting themselves into the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria Partnership and the STSC.

Yes! There was much to celebrate in Ecuador -- 50 businesses have been certified by Smart Voyager, a seal that was born in the waters of the Pacific but rose up to the sky. Added to those are 70 businesses that are working to implement best practices together with the Rainforest Alliance's sustainable tourism program and 15 Ecuadorian tour operators that have committed to giving priority to those businesses when designing package tours.

Rumiloma, a hacienda on the slopes of Pichincha Volcano, hosted a lively and colorful event with which we celebrated -- together with our friends and partners from Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, the United States, Canada and Australia -- the country's progress in becoming a sustainable paradise, with tourism certification as its principal tool. And the party continued into Travel Mart Quito 2008, since in its role as the Secretariat of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas, the Rainforest Alliance dedicated its stand to promoting businesses that are certified, or adopting best practices, several of which were included in a familiarization trip to the Galapagos Islands and the Amazon, which we offered together with the operators Via Natura and Tropic Journeys in Nature, within the framework of the tourism fair's offerings.

Even the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, joined the celebration; during his inaugural speech at Travel Mart, he mentioned the roles played by Smart Voyager and the Network in helping Ecuador become a more sustainable travel destination.

17 experts in sustainable tourism and certification representing an equal number of international organizations have been named as the Sustainable Tourism Stewardship Council's (STSC) interim board of directors.

The directors will be responsible for defining the permanent structure that the organization will have once it is launched early next year. In preparation for that launch, the directors will spearhead fundraising, recruitment of members and support of a communications strategy.

They will also promote alliances to support certification programs on the road to accreditation, as well as organize a meeting for those initiatives prior to the STSC inauguration, by which time it should be registered as a legal nonprofit organization.

Since the creation of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas, we've redoubled our efforts to provide the market with information, tools and other resources to help people differentiate reliable certification programs from those that make questionable use of sustainable seals and messages. Fortunately, the effort has been successful, and the prestigious magazine Conde Nast Traveler has taken note, recently including the Rainforest Alliance, together with nine other recognized standard bearers of the cause, on its list of "Sustainable Tourism Watchdogs." The magazine recognized our determination to ensure that what is offered as "green" is trustworthy and not a mere marketing ploy and to insist that even when businesses take steps to protect the environment, they also pay attention to their social, economic and cultural impacts.

"This is an honor, because it's a recognition of the efforts we've been making together with a large number of allies to promote tourism sustainability, and for the work that we've been doing in representation of the Network," said Ronald Sanabria, director of Sustainable Tourism at the Rainforest Alliance.

We share this recognition with all the certification programs that belong to the Network!

14 community enterprises in Quintana Roo, on Mexico's Caribbean coast, have set a goal to obtain the Certification of Requisites and Specifications for Sustainable Ecotourism included in the environmental protection standard established by Mexico's Sub-Secretary for Environmental Promotion and Regulation.

The business owners have organized themselves into two ecotourism circuits, the first of which includes seven businesses in the Puerta Verde-Yumbalam region and the remaining seven of which are in the Sian Ka´an-Xcalak area.  They are all working hard in areas such as defining the extent of their circuits, and they've completed preliminary evaluations of their businesses, which included verification plans and prior visits. Each one has signed a letter of intent, and they've also participated in training workshops and in the elaboration of their respective work plans.

Fortunately those tourism entrepreneurs aren't alone in their attempt to strengthen tourism certification in Mexico. They've been joined by others in Chiapas state who have earned the certification in previous years but, driven by their desire for constant improvement, have recently participated in a workshop on integrated solid waste management offered by Mexico's Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources).

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This bulletin has been produced with financial support from the Ford Foundation, The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), The Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank (BID/FOMIN) and the Rainforest Alliance.

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