The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC),
with support from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), is developing
a new standards for both the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and
Exhibitions) industry as well as for attractions.
GSTC has
formed a MICE Criteria Development Advisory Group which comprises
up to ten organizations from both the public and private sectors
with established track record in hosting MICE events.
The main
objective of the group is to offer their expert opinion and
comments to the GSTC Technical Team while GSTC will retain full
oversight and control of the criteria development process.
The
advisory group will also encourage the MICE industry to take part
in the public consultation and feasibility assessment phases of
the criteria development process.
The whole process of development and revision will
be overseen by the International Standards Committee (ISC) of the
GSTC. The development and content of the ‘Terms of Reference’
endeavor to comply with the requirements of the ISEAL
Standard-Setting Code of Good Practice.
Later this year, GSTC will begin developing
another set of criteria for attractions.
Randy Durband, Chief Executive Office at GSTC, said,
“The development of GSTC MICE Criteria and GSTC Attraction
Criteria will provide a
globally-created and globally-applicable set of sustainability
standards that serves as a platform for universal approaches to
measurement, monitoring, reporting, and various forms of external
verification needed to drive positive impacts from good
practices.”
STB, together with Singapore’s industry
associations, the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition
Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) and the Association of Singapore
Attractions (ASA), will provide feedback, consultation, and
industry expertise for the draft criteria, and will also encourage
industry adoption of the developed criteria once ready.
Singapore was recently certified as a
sustainable destination based on GSTC’s Destination Criteria.
“The Singapore Tourism Board is pleased to
support GSTC in the development of their industry criteria for
MICE and attractions,” said Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism
Board. “Such internationally-recognised standards are important,
as they help destinations and tourism businesses understand if
their sustainability efforts are on the right track. We look
forward to working closely with GSTC and our industry associations
to provide a Singapore perspective and help the tourism sector
contribute to a greener world.”
