As the global tourism industry continues to grow faster than most other sectors, it has triggered demand for a more structured approach to certification programs in China.
Since the establishment of the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China (CNCA) in 2001, high quality development and performance has been a key priority. More recently CNCA formally approved EarthCheck as a certification program in China’s blossoming tourism industry. EarthCheck is the world’s leading scientific benchmarking, certification and advisory group for travel and tourism.
Mr Changzhou Liu, CNCA’s Deputy Director said certification and standards form the basis of China’s national quality performance.
“Measurement, inspections and accreditation in China play an important role in transmitting trust and service development,” Mr Liu said.
“EarthCheck has a good technical foundation and rich practical experience in the implementation of sustainable development of tourism standards and certification systems.”
“Building capabilities will enable China to implement international standardisation and promote the successful sustainable development of China’s tourism industry.”
EarthCheck’s Founder and CEO and Executive Director of the APEC International Centre for Sustainable Tourism, Stewart Moore, said it was an honour to be recognised by China as a global leader in certification.
“We are privileged to be working with CNCA delivering high quality services and supporting sustainable tourism. Destinations and enterprises that demonstrate environmental integrity are more likely to commercially succeed at the same time as delivering positive outcomes for the planet,” Mr Moore said.
“China has some of the world’s most significant world heritage sites, which creates new opportunities as well as challenges for managing tourism. Sustainable tourism has the ability to generate shared value and through the EarthCheck benchmarking and certification programs, destinations and organisations are able to measure, monitor and manage their environmental footprint as well as learning how to deliver strong economic and social returns to the local community. Mr Moore said.
“We have always believed that you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”
