The Tourism Sustainability Commitment is a programme to enable individual tourism businesses to contribute to our Vision. The programme is managed by New Zealand's tourism industry association, Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA). It was developed by industry for industry.
The requirements of the TSC
- Have a sustainability plan with goals for all twelve Commitments
- Make measurable progress towards these goals
- Embed sustainability into business systems, processes and plans
- Provide an annual return with an update on progress (by responding to a TIA survey)
- Communicate with communities and visitors about sustainability efforts
Signing the TSC
The Tourism Sustainability Commitment was developed in November 2017 by industry for industry. Based on the United Nations' Sustainability Development Goals and aligned to the four capitals of the NZ Treasury’s Living Standards Framework, the TSC aims to ensure economic, environmental and social sustainability becomes a genuine ethical underpinning of our industry. The aim is for every tourism business in New Zealand to commit to operating sustainably by 2025. The greater the buy-in, the more powerful it will be. Acting responsibly now will equip the tourism industry to be successful in the long term. Sign up to the TSC here.
Values of the Tourism Sustainability Commitment
By becoming a supporter of the TSC, tourism businesses agree to operate with the values of Kaitiakitanga (guardianship and protection of our natural, built and cultural resources), Manaakitanga (respect, hospitality, generosity and care for others) and Whanaungatanga (working together and providing a sense of belonging).
The 12 Commitments
By becoming a supporter of the TSC, tourism businesses agree to work towards the 12 business commitments. It is not necessary to be already achieving these commitments - the idea is to make progress as an industry towards them. The commitments are:
Economic
1. Resilience: Focus on long-term business performance and resilience.
2. Investment: Invest to create value, opportunities and to drive sustainability practices.
3. Innovation: Innovate to solve problems, create new ways to do things and increase productivity.
Visitor
5. Culture and Heritage: Embrace Aotearoa New Zealand's culture and heritage as part of delivering a unique and authentic visitor experience.
6. Visitor Engagement: Engage with visitors about how to be great travellers within Aotearoa New Zealand.
Host Community
7. Employer of Choice: Attract, support and develop the workforce we need to flourish and succeed.
8. Community Engagement: Actively and positively engage with the communities in which we operate, taking a leadership role to champion causes that are important to the community.
9. Sustainable Supply Chains: Have socially and environmentally sustainable supply chains.
Environmental
10. Restoring Nature: Contribute to protecting and enhancing Aotearoa New Zealand's environment, including water, biodiversity, landscapes and clean air.
11. Carbon Reduction: Act urgently to contribute to Aotearoa New Zealand's transition to a net zero carbon economy.
12. Eliminating Waste: Take responsibility for the entire life cycle of products and services we use and ultimately eliminate the waste associated with these.
Terms & Conditions
Supporters of the TSC also agree to abide by the TSC Terms & Conditions.
Businesses are not expected to do this alone. Our dedicated Sustainability Advocates are available to support you. The TSC is set up to provide support and guidance to make at least some sustainability actions easy and achievable. We also encourage collaboration within regions and sector groups, to tackle some of the Commitments together.
The important thing is for every business to be taking action towards sustainability. It all makes a difference. And many, if not all, of the actions make good business sense, resulting in cost savings and more efficiently run businesses which will appeal to the needs and preferences of visitors in future.
In this section you'll find everything you need to know about the New Zealand Tourism Sustainability Commitment, including how it came about, the project team, and what it is aiming to achieve.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Tourism Sustainability Committment
