Oct. 7, 2008 - A United Nations-led coalition has culled best practices from around the world to develop voluntary standards aimed at helping the travel industry meet increasing consumer demand for products and services.

The Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) has spent over a year consulting with sustainability experts and the tourism industry to develop a common framework of criteria to ensure that tourism supports local communities and the environment.

The criteria focus on four areas recommended as the most critical aspects of sustainable tourism:

Maximizing tourism's social and economic benefits to local communities Reducing negative impacts on cultural heritage Reducing harm to local environments Planning for sustainability

The new standards will provide more transparency for the travel industry, according to GSTC member Travelocity/Sabre. "[The standards] will give travelers confidence that they can make choices to help the sustainability cause," says chief marketing officer Jeff Gluek. "They also will help the forward-thinking suppliers who deserve credit for doing things right."

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that 900 million tourists traveled last year, and forecasts that 1.6 billion tourists will travel annually by the year 2020.

"The GSTC initiative will undoubtedly constitute a major reference point for the entire tourism sector and an important step in making sustainability an inherent part of tourism development," says Francesco Frangialli, secretary-general of the UNWTO.