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NEWS AND FEATURES
Sustainable Tourism Certification Network a Success

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Boulder, Colorado (August 2004) - Sustainable Travel International (STI), the Colorado-based non-profit, recently participated in the second meeting of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas in Costa Rica from July 26-30, 2004. The Rainforest Alliance organized the event, which was an overwhelming success in bringing together the many organizations involved in promoting sustainable tourism and related certification programs throughout North, Central and South America.

Following the launch of the Network in 2003 in Bahía, Brazil, representatives from leading certification programs and other stakeholders met in Costa Rica last month to further the mission of "promoting sustainable tourism in the region through the strengthening of tourism initiatives based on mutual respect and recognition, joint efforts, harmonization (balancing) of systems and the sharing of information and experience."

One of the primary objectives of this meeting was to identify common baseline standards shared by current and future sustainable tourism certification organizations to be used as a guideline in maintaining continuity, consistency and integrity of their programs, while ensuring flexibility and respect for local initiatives. As the US-based representative of sustainable tourism certification programs, STI participated in the process of sharing certification experiences, ideas and knowledge in developing related standards.

The meeting, which invited stakeholders throughout the Americas who are managing tourism certification programs, also explored other important topics related to sustainable tourism and travel, such as how to include and address small businesses and community-based tourism initiatives in the certification process.

The Rainforest Alliance, as the Network Secretariat, is expected to release common baseline standards for sustainable tourism certification programs later this year. STI is currently working on ensuring that all of these baseline standards are addressed in its program, further strengthening its highly anticipated Sustainable Tourism Eco-certification Program™ (STEP).

For more information about STI's eco-certification program, visit www.ecocertification.org. To learn more about the Network's initiatives, visit the Rainforest Alliance's web site.