CANADA June 2, 2021 – It’s Canadian Environment Week and together GreenStep Solutions and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) are excited to announce the launch of the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge. The Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge is a new initiative that encourages tourism businesses and destinations across Canada, and globally, to commit to measuring and improving their sustainability performance each year between now and 2030. 

 

Developed in Canada by GreenStep, the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge offers a free online assessment and sustainability score, helping tourism businesses and destinations self-assess on a broad range of sustainability criteria. This creates a common framework and benchmark from which tourism businesses and destinations can create action plans to make ongoing improvements in the areas of economic, social, cultural, natural and environmental sustainability. By taking the pledge, tourism businesses and destinations will commit to doing two things: measuring their sustainability score annually using the online assessment, and then making a public commitment and goal to improve their score by 2030. 

 

TIAC will be hosting an introductory webinar with members about how to take the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EDT. TIAC Members can register by clicking here.

 

Tourism businesses and destinations that take the Pledge will be listed on the Sustainable Tourism 2030 website, and provided with tools and resources to support their sustainability journey. The criteria have been developed based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Council criteria, and are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Destinations can partner with GreenStep to launch the Pledge within their communities, and then access the results to help understand how the industry in their destinations are performing on a broad set of indicators. 

 

“We are delighted to support GreenStep with the launch of the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge,” says Beth Potter, President and CEO, Tourism Industry Association of Canada. "Embracing and employing responsible and sustainable practices is vital for the tourism sector's growth and recovery. We encourage all tourism businesses and destinations to take the pledge and utilize this new set of free online tools to help their business now and into the future."

 

CEO of GreenStep, Angela Nagy, added, “A sustainable tourism industry is stronger and more resilient. We are excited to be launching the Sustainable Tourism 2030 Pledge in partnership with TIAC as one more tool that tourism businesses and destinations can use as they begin the journey of post-pandemic rebuilding.”

 

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TIAC

Madison Simmons

Director of Government Affairs

613-864-3079

GreenStep

Angela Nagy

CEO

250-215-7714

Founded in 1930 to encourage the development of tourism in Canada, TIAC serves today as the national private-sector advocate for this $105 billion sector. Based in Ottawa, TIAC takes action on behalf of Canadian tourism businesses and promotes positive measures that help the industry grow and prosper.

 

GreenStep was founded in 2008 to help small to medium-sized enterprises measure and reduce their environmental impacts, and create a sustainability strategy for the future. To date, the organization has worked with more than 3000 businesses and organizations of all sizes, in a variety of industries such as tourism and hospitality, retail, professional services, and manufacturing. For more information, visit www.greenstep.ca.