On 14 November 2024, the Singapore Tourism Board (“STB“) introduced two initiatives to elevate Singapore’s position as a leading sustainable urban destination and support the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a whole-of-nation movement to advance Singapore’s national agenda on sustainable development. These initiatives are: (i) the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (“GSTC“) Attraction Criteria, and (ii) the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) Venue Sustainability Playbook (“Playbook“).
GSTC Attraction Criteria
Developed by GSTC with the support of STB, the GSTC Attraction Criteria provide a common understanding of sustainable practices for tourist attractions (e.g. theme parks, museums, and national parks), and set out the minimum that any attraction business should aspire to reach. Some of the uses of the GSTC Attraction Criteria, which apply to the entire attraction industry, include the following:
- help define sustainability in a holistic manner and raise awareness of the breadth and nature of sustainability;
- provide basic guidelines to attraction businesses to operationalise and set trainings for sustainability;
- serve as a basis for sustainability certification;
- provide greater market access for sustainable businesses;
- differentiate sound sustainable attraction business; and
- offer both the public and private sectors a starting point from which to develop requirements for a sustainable attraction business.
The GSTC Attraction Criteria are organised around four main themes: (i) effective sustainability planning; (ii) maximising social and economic benefits for the local community; (iii) enhancing cultural heritage; and (iv) reducing negative impacts on the environment. They include performance indicators, designed to provide guidance in measuring compliance with the criteria.
GSTC, which STB has been a member of since 2021, is an independent non-profit organisation registered in the US with diverse membership from national and provincial governments, leading travel companies, hotels, tour operators, non-government organisations (NGOs), which all aim to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism. The GSTC Attraction Criteria is the latest set of Criteria developed by GSTC, the other three being the GSTC Destination Criteria for policy-makers and destination managers, the GSTC Industry Criteria for hotels and tour operators, and the GSTC MICE Criteria for venues, event organisers, and events & exhibtions.
To lay the context, the GSTC Criteria are a product of worldwide effort to develop a common language about sustainability in travel and tourism, which can be used for education and awareness-raising; policy-making for organisations; measurement and evaluation; and as a basis for certification. Each set of criteria is organised into four pillars: (i) sustainable management; (ii) socioeconomic impacts; (iii) cultural impacts; and (iv) environmental impacts. The GSTC Criteria are intended to be customised to local conditions even though they are managed by GSTC. For example, the Singapore MICE Sustainability Certification Framework, developed by the Singapore Association of Convention & Exhibition Organisers & Suppliers (SACEOS) with the support of STB, is the first MICE standard recognised by GSTC for aligning with the GSTC MICE Criteria.
MICE Venue Sustainability Playbook
In 2023, Singapore launched a national MICE Industry Carbon and Waste Baseline exercise. As venues are an important part of the MICE ecosystem, the exercise provided an aggregated baseline of sustainability data points on energy, water and waste from Singapore’s six MICE venues (i.e. Changi Exhibition Centre, Raffles City Convention Centre, Resorts World Convention Centre, Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore EXPO, and Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre).
Drawing from data gathered and insights gained from the exercise, STB developed the Playbook (accessible here) to help MICE venues manage their carbon emissions. The Playbook offers recommendations for MICE venues to improve their energy efficiency, waste management, and conservation efforts, consistent with their sustainability targets. It features the following:
- a decarbonisation framework covering baseline establishment for carbon and waste emissions in the MICE industry and ensuring consistent monitoring;
- best practices from purpose-built MICE venues and international counterparts; and
- a consolidation of whole-of-government support schemes to drive decarbonisation across Singapore’s MICE venues.
Singapore is a business hub with strong transport, logistics and telecommunication connectivities in the region. This, along with the close interactions that the MICE industry have with local businesses and suppliers as well as the consumer market, exhorts the large impact that the MICE industry can offer. The introduction of these new initiatives are much welcome guidance on a sustainability-driven direction that solution and service providers in and for the MICE industry can orientate their efforts to and differentiate themselves in a low-carbon future.
Click on the following link for more information:
- STB Media Release titled “Singapore Tourism Board accelerates its sustainability journey with bold industry-wide initiatives” (available on the gov.sg portal at sgpc.gov.sg)
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