The success of a tourist destination has historically been measured in terms of arrivals and overnight stays. This metric alone is not enough to guarantee the long-term competitiveness and resilience of the destination’s offer. Tourism depends directly on the quality of natural and cultural heritage and on the hospitality of local communities: protecting them is not just a matter of responsibility, but a strategic choice. For this reason, traditional metrics must be integrated with the assessment of the environmental, social, economic and cultural impacts generated across the entire value chain.

Added to this challenge is the need for solid, multi-level governance capable of bringing public bodies, private operators, local communities and organizations traditionally excluded from tourism discussions into dialogue. In line with the European Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition directive, sustainability communication can no longer rely on self-referential claims: statements must be backed by verifiable data and by independent, internationally recognized certification schemes.

Trentino Marketing, together with the Tourism Boards (APTs) of the Province of Trento, has launched a structured certification process based on the GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) standard, the international benchmark for assessing the sustainability of tourist destinations. The process involves twelve APTs across the entire Trentino region and aims to consolidate and build on a path already underway for several years to transform DMOs (Destination Management Organizations) into true Destination Stewards: bodies no longer focused solely on marketing, but capable of coordinating the destination’s entire governance according to principles of integrated sustainability.

Adopting the KPIs proposed by the GSTC standard makes it possible to assess the value generated by the destination – not just the volume of flows – paving the way for transparent, credible reporting to guests, operators and institutions.

Etifor has supported the local bodies, under the guidance of Trentino Marketing, at every stage of the GSTC certification process. Through facilitation activities, we support stakeholder engagement – public bodies, private operators and civil society – to build a shared vision and embed a participatory culture within the destination. We translate GSTC criteria into concrete guidelines for the policies and action plans of individual APTs, supporting them in developing sustainable management strategies tailored to the local context.

On the operational side, we conduct pre-assessments to identify initial gaps against the standard, provide operational toolkits, structure evidence databases and prepare destinations for external audits. We design monitoring systems to continuously track environmental and socio-economic performance, integrating risk analysis and mitigation plans. At the end of the process, we oversee the drafting of the documentation required for certification, including stakeholder consultation reports and the GSTC certification Dossier.