What is CST (Certification For Sustainable Tourism)?
It is a program that seeks to categorize and certify each tourism company according to the degree to which its operations comply to a model of sustainability.
To this effect, four fundamental aspects are evaluated:
- Physical-biological parameters
Evaluates the interaction between the company and its surrounding natural habitat. - Infrastructure and services
Evaluates the management policies and the operational systems within the company and its infrastructure. - External clients
Evaluates the interaction of the company with its clients in terms of how much it allows and invites the client to be an active contributor to the company's policies of sustainability. - Socio-economic environment
Evaluates the interaction of the company with the local communities and the population in general.
For each and every one of these items a list of specific questions was designed to help evaluate how thoroughly the firm complies with a series of standards previously established for the social, environmental and economics fields. Each and every one of the questions refers to an element of sustainability with which the firm should comply in order to qualify in any one of the different stages or levels of fulfillment, which for our purposes we have labeled "levels". The final rating will be assigned to the company in question according to the lowest level achieved in any of the four fields evaluated.
The CST system is designed to include a series of incentives that will increase in benefits for each company, in direct proportion to its increased rating. This means that as the rating increases, more and better benefits will be received; international and national publicity and promotion, specifically designed for the CST; training for its personnel; priority participation in various world tourism fairs and events, etc.
What are the implications of the CST?
For the national tourism industry
At the national level, CST represents a new form of competition; a new way to differentiate our tourist industry with respect to our competitors, and one which enhances those tourism products which show a connotation of sustainability, opening new possibilities for marketing and international promotion.
On the other hand, this program directly attacks the problem generated by the unethical behavior of some companies operating as "greenwashers" (abusing the concepts of "eco" and/or "sustainability"), by providing reliable information on the firms that are really making progress in producing a tourist product that is sustainable.
Undoubtedly, this will enhance the country's image as an authentic naturalist tourist destination, thus increasing considerably the competitiveness of our national tourism product.
For the tourism business person
This program provides the business person with an opportunity for utilizing a new element of competition, based on a new way of differentiating his product, a concept that will be fully reinforced and enhanced in the national and international tourism promotional programs.
The CST motivates tourism executives to improve their use of company resources, promoting savings and their efficient utilization. This will have a positive impact not only on the quality of the product, but also on the cost-benefit ratio of the firm, as well. For example, the use of energy-saving technologies and devices promotes and improves the quality of the product in terms of sustainability and, at the same time, produces a significant reduction in the cost of these services.
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