From 27 September 2026, a sustainability label shown to EU consumers must be based on a certification scheme with independent third-party verification. Vague claims — “eco-friendly”, “green”, “climate neutral” — are restricted unless you can substantiate them.
If you sell through European wholesalers or market to European travellers, this is now a condition of trading rather than a differentiator.
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Market access. Protected areas, conservation destinations and premium DMOs increasingly require certification for operator access. Corporate travel buyers are moving from preference to requirement.
Reaching travellers who look for it. Booking platforms filter by certification. It is becoming a basic qualification for those segments rather than an advantage within them.
It surfaces things you didn’t know about. Building supplier documentation and management systems tends to expose gaps and supply chain risks worth fixing regardless of what the certificate delivers commercially.
GSTC-TO certifies your whole business and every tour product you sell — not a building. There are 35 criteria across four areas: how you manage sustainability, the benefit reaching local communities, cultural heritage, and environmental impact at the places you take people.
For each one you show evidence. GSTC calls these performance indicators — there are 182, and most are satisfied by documents and photographs you either already have or can gather as you work.
Readiness — You work through the full standard yourself and see where you stand. Free.
Audit Preparation — Your evidence is reviewed indicator by indicator and built into the package an auditor works from.
Certification Audit — A GSTC-accredited Certification Body reviews your documents, visits your office, and audits a real tour with your suppliers.
Certified — The Certification Body makes the decision. If something falls short they tell you what to correct, and you work through it with them.
TavaSIS organises your evidence and gets it into the shape a Certification Body needs. It does not certify you — and no certification body sees anything until you choose to engage one.
Realistically this takes months, not weeks. Most of that is gathering evidence, not filling in forms.
Readiness — free
You get the complete GSTC Tour Operator Standard: all 35 criteria and all 182 performance indicators. Work through as many as you like, record where you stand on each, and upload the evidence you already hold. Everything you enter is recorded against the indicator it belongs to and visible to your consultant.
Nothing to pay, and no commitment.
Audit Preparation — subscription
Your evidence is reviewed indicator by indicator and validated, with revisions requested where it falls short. Your documentation is then organised into the package a Certification Body audits, and a Certification Body is engaged when you reach the audit stage.
Readiness shows you where you stand. The subscription is what gets your evidence to a standard an auditor will accept.
Because the bar is different, indicators you completed during Readiness are reopened when you move to Audit Preparation. Your answers, notes and files are all kept — you revisit them against what an auditor will expect, rather than starting from a blank page.
Nothing needs to be ready before you start. These are what you’ll be asked for, so it helps to know where they are:
Business basics — how long you’ve operated, roughly how many staff, the destinations you work in, the types of tours you sell, and whether your guides are employed or contracted.
Supplier information — who you book accommodation, transport and activities through, and any sustainability expectations you’ve already set with them.
Existing documents — policies, staff handbooks, contracts, permits, licences, insurance. They don’t need to be tidy or complete.
Your team — guides can contribute photographs from their phones without an account or a password.
If you don’t have some of these, that’s normal, and it’s what the process is for.
You create an account — business name, website, your email, a password. About five minutes.
We look at your website and draft a profile of your business. You correct it rather than filling in a blank form.
You begin Readiness free, with the full GSTC-TO standard, while your consultant confirms your account. There is nothing to pay and nothing to wait for.
When you decide to go for certification, you subscribe and move to Audit Preparation — and that is when your evidence gets validated and built into an audit package. You can do this at any point, including straight away.
Want the detail first? Read the full GSTC Tour Operator guide → — what it covers, how supply chain and community benefit are assessed, and how it compares with other certifications.