During the last Planeta, Personas y Paz – P3 meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, I had the pleasure to present Planet 4 People’s outcomes of the project “Development of an Innovative Standard for the Certification of Sustainable Tourism”, commissioned by the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo. P3 is a unique international sustainable tourism event, that focuses on the nexus of nature, peace and people, an incorporating on Costa Rica’s long trajectory in peace building and protection of nature.
The presentation focused on the results of the work of the consulting team in the design of the new standards, design and implementation of the new online platform for certification, the new auditing process aligned with international standards, as well as the extensive consultative process that lead to the outcomes.
While the Costa Rican standards were already considered one of the better standards in the world, the focus was to create a more systemic approach and one that would enable and recognize continues improvement. Moving the platform online was another key component, increasing efficiencies both at the business level as well as for the auditors. Finally, separating the functions of education and marketing from the audits, aligns the process with international requirements.
During my visit I also conducted the final trainings to members of the ICT team and the business sector in the use of the platform and the content of the standards.
