Rethinking Sustainable Tourism Certification: A Bottom-Up Evaluation of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council Framework as Measured by Certification Systems

Abstract

For over 25 years, sustainable tourism certification, a market-driven mechanism designed to regulate production and consumption, has struggled to effectively serve small-scale ecolodges in the ecotourism sector. This challenge stems from certification programs failing to account for the operational realities and motivations of small business owners, leading to low adoption rates, impractical compliance expectations, and weakened trust in certification systems. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), the dominant authority in sustainable tourism certification, reinforces a top-down, universalist approach that limits flexibility and innovation. This study critically examines the GSTC system through a bottom-up framework that identifies sustainability practices more applicable to ecolodges, addressing the structural barriers embedded within certification. This research follows a three-step methodology to investigate the power dynamics, governance structures, and operational constraints of tourism certification. Step 1 (Chapter 4) employs a descriptive analysis of industry reports, certification audits, and governance frameworks to assess how sustainability certification operates as an instrument of Private Environmental Governance (PEG) (RQ-1). By using Costa Rica’s tourism certification system as a case study, this step examines how organizations such as ISO, IEC, and ISEAL have influenced certification governance and credibility mechanisms. This global context highlights the GSTC’s regulatory dominance and the structural constraints it imposes on ecolodge certification. Step 2 (Chapter 5) applies qualitative thematic analysis to expert interviews, synthesizing academic and industry perspectives on GSTC’s influence over certification management (RQ-2). The findings reveal that GSTC’s market control has led to monopolistic tendencies, positioning it as a de facto regulator in sustainable tourism governance. This study contributes to Monopoly Theory by demonstrating how GSTC exercises control over certification systems, reinforcing economic barriers and limiting competition in ecolodge sustainability models. The findings illustrate how PEG-driven certification, though intended to create market accountability, has instead produced unintended exclusionary consequences by prioritizing market influence over operational feasibility. Step 3 (Chapter 6) builds on these findings to examine tourism experts’ assessments of GSTC’s criteria and the feasibility of ecolodge certification. This step integrates Club Theory vii perspectives to explore alternative ecolodge governance models (RQ-3), proposing a two-tier bottom-up framework to reduce certification hierarchy and increase accessibility for small-scale ecolodges. Tier 1 introduces 13 multi-dimensional indicators designed to ensure practical, transparent impact measurement for ecolodges with limited management scopes. Tier 2 integrates five adaptable sustainability components, addressing critical operational challenges for ecolodges with advanced management capacities. This tiered approach prioritizes transparency, accessibility, and regional flexibility, improving trust among ecolodges, customers, and regulators. While cost remains a major barrier to certification, this study demonstrates that ecolodges provide an opportunity for governance innovation, particularly for affordability-driven models. By examining certification through the lens of PEG and Monopoly Theory, this research reveals that current governance models disproportionately serve large businesses while overlooking small, sustainability-driven enterprises. The findings suggest that adapting GSTC certification criteria to account for operational diversity is essential for developing a more effective, equitable certification model for tourism markets that prioritize sustainability and inclusivity.