Kelowna company delivers global sustainable tourism certification developed with the United Nations

Travel  
posted Jul 19, 2026 @ 07:00am by  
Steve MacNaull

Kelowna company delivers global sustainable tourism certification developed with the United Nations

The United Nations has clout.

It’s the trusted global intergovernmental organization with a mandate for peace, human rights, social progress and humanitarian aid.

So, when it came time for Kelowna-based GreenStep offer a new sustainability certification for hotels and tourism businesses, it chose to partner with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, the worldwide sustainable tourism standard developed in collaboration with the United Nations.

“It’s important to work with internationally recognized bodies,” said GreenStep CEO Angela Nagy.

“We developed our criteria with GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) to create the GSTC Certification through the GreenStep Sustainable Tourism Standard.”

GreenStep is also an affiliate member of UN Tourism.

GreenStep expects to help a lot of hotels, tour operators and other tourism businesses achieve the new certification — not only across Canada but also in the US and Europe.

“GreenStep is the only North America-based company delivering the GSTC right now,” explained Nagy.

“It means we can do certifications globally, and we will, but we will also focus on Canada.”

Certification is not only good for the environment because it proves businesses are being as green as possible, and it is also increasingly meeting customer demand.

For instance, surveys show 85% of global travellers say sustainable travel matters to them.

Booking.com — the largest hotel and accommodation booking site in the world — saw 100 million room nights booked in 2025 at hotels with third-party sustainability certifications.

“Some consumers are using sustainability as a filter when booking a hotel and will only book a room that has certification,” said Nagy.

“Other consumers may not specifically search for a green hotel, but they expect all hotels meet some sort of sustainability. Corporate buyers are particularly looking for certification.”

With other sectors, sustainability may very well be built into the business so travellers don’t have to go looking.

For instance, major cruise lines Royal Caribbean and MSC now require or prefer that excursion tour operators have GSTC certification.

And, American Express Global Business Travel and corporate travel giant BCD are actively moving toward only working with hotels and partners that have GSTC certification.

The third-party designation for a certification is important because it means the hotel can’t simply declare itself sustainable.

It went through a vetting process and a third party verified it.

For the GreenStep GSTC certification process, Germany-based RoyalCert is called upon to do the final third-party audit.

“Partnering with GreenStep reflects our shared commitment to raising the bar for what sustainability certification means in the tourism industry,” said RoyalCert CEO Christos Markopoulos.

“RoyalCert is proud to support this new program for North American tourism businesses seeking credible, internationally recognized certification.”

The GSTC certification process asks dozens of questions in each of four areas — management, socio-economic impacts, cultural impacts and community impacts — to determine whether the tourism business receives certification.

Since 2020, GreenStep has helped hundreds of tourism businesses across Canada get certification under GreenStep Sustainable Tourism Pathways.

Those businesses maintain that certification.

However, if they want earn the updated Global Sustainable Tourism Council certification through the GreenStep Sustainable Tourism Standard they would have to do a new application.

Send your comments, news tips, typos, letter to the editor, photos and videos to [email protected].

Updating Stories
‘;

if(window.innerWidth > 500){
html += ”;
}
else {
html += ”;
}

if(typeof story.read_time != ‘undefined’ && story.read_time > 0){
html += ”;
html += story.read_time + ‘ min read’;
html += ”;
}

if(story.categories.length){
html += ”;
for (var category in story.categories) {
html += ”;
html += story.categories[category].name;
html += ‘   ‘;
}
html += ‘
‘;
}

if(window.innerWidth > 979){
html += ”;
html += story.title;
html += ”;
}
else if(window.innerWidth > 500){
html += ”;
html += story.title;
html += ”;
}
else {
html += ”;
html += story.title;
html += ”;
}

if(window.innerWidth > 767){
html += ”;
html += story.subtitle;
html += ”;
}
else if(window.innerWidth > 500){
html += ”;
html += story.subtitle;
html += ”;
}

if(story.author > ”){
html += ”;
html += story.author;
html += ‘ • ‘;
html += ‘ ‘;
}

html += ”;
html += story.publish_friendly;
html += ”;
html += ‘
‘;
html += ‘
‘;
return html;
}

function story_to_thumbnail_item(story, options){
var html = ”;

var photo_url = ”;
if(story.photo_cdn > ”){
photo_url = story.photo_cdn + ‘/width=850,height=400,fit=cover’;
}
else {
photo_url = ‘/image/w850-h400-c850:400-p1/files/’ + story.photo;
}

html += ”;
html += ”;
html += ”;
html += ‘

‘;
html += ”;

if(typeof story.read_time != ‘undefined’ && story.read_time > 0){
html += ”;
html += ” + story.read_time + ”;
html += ”;
html += ‘minute’;
if(story.read_time > 1){
html += ‘s’;
}
html += ”;
html += ”;
}
html += ‘
‘;
if(window.innerWidth > 500){
html += ”;
}
else {
html += ”;
}
if(window.innerWidth > 500){
html += ”;
if(story.author > ”){
html += ”;
html += story.author;
html += ‘ • ‘;
html += ‘ ‘;
}

html += ”;
html += story.publish_friendly;
html += ”;
html += ‘
‘;
}
html += ”;
if(story.categories.length){
html += ”;
for (var category in story.categories) {
html += ”;
html += story.categories[category].name;
html += ‘   ‘;
}
html += ‘
‘;
}
html += ‘
‘;

html += ”;
html += story.title;
html += ”;

if(window.innerWidth ”){
html += ”;
html += story.author;
html += ‘ • ‘;
html += ‘ ‘;
}

html += ”;
html += story.publish_friendly;
html += ”;
}

html += ”;
html += story.subtitle;
html += ”;

html += ‘
‘;
html += ‘
‘;
return html;
}

function show_list(news_feed, data){
if(news_feed.length){
var html = ”;
var options = {};

var ad_class = ”;
var max_width = 728;
if(window.innerWidth’;
html += ”;
html += ‘
‘;
data.ad_counter++;
}

for (var i = 0; i 500){
html += ”;
}
else {
html += ”;
}
if(i == 0){
html += story_to_thumbnail_item(news_feed[i], options);
}
else {
html += story_to_list_item(news_feed[i], options);
}
html += ‘
‘;
if(window.innerWidth > 500){
html += ”;
}
}

if(data.options.show_ads == ‘after’){
//leaderboard
if(ad_class == ‘dfp-leaderboard’){
html += ”;
}
else {
html += ”;
}
html += ”;
html += ‘
‘;
data.ad_counter++;
}

if(data.should_append_feed){
document.getElementById(“news_feed”).insertAdjacentHTML(‘beforeend’,html);
//show_ad(data);

}
else {
document.getElementById(“news_feed”).innerHTML = html;
data.should_append_feed = true;
}

data.story_positions = calculate_story_positions();
data.ad_positions = calculate_ad_positions();
}
}

function feed_request_callback(xhr, data) {
return function() {
if(this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
var now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);

var json = JSON.parse(this.responseText);

data.saved_list.push(json.news_feed);
//console.log(data.saved_list);
//console.log(‘show feed’);
show_list(json.news_feed, data);

try {
sessionStorage.setItem(‘feed_’ + data.options_string, JSON.stringify(data.saved_list));
sessionStorage.setItem(‘feed_date_’ + data.options_string, now);;
}
catch (e) {
if (e == QUOTA_EXCEEDED_ERR) {
sessionStorage.clear();
sessionStorage.setItem(‘feed_’ + data.options_string, JSON.stringify(data.saved_list));
sessionStorage.setItem(‘feed_saved_’ + data.options_string, now);;
}
}
data.loading.style.display = ‘none’;
data.loading_stories = false;
}
};
}

function calculate_story_positions(){
var stories = document.querySelectorAll(“.feed_story”);
var scroll_y = window.scrollY || document.documentElement.scrollTop;

var story_positions = [];
if(stories.length){
var top;
for (var i = 0; i b.position.top ? 1 : 0;
});

for (i = 0; i data.story_positions[i].position.top && data.story_positions[i].position.top>furthest_scrolled_story.position.top){
furthest_scrolled_story = data.story_positions[i];
position_in_list = i;
}
}
}

if(furthest_scrolled_story.id > ” && window.location.hash != ‘#fs_’ + furthest_scrolled_story.id){
if(history.replaceState){
history.replaceState(undefined, undefined, ‘#fs_’ + furthest_scrolled_story.id);
}
}

if(data.story_positions.length – position_in_list data.ad_positions[i].position.top){

show_ad(data.ad_positions[i].id);
data.ad_positions[i] = null;
}
}
}
}

//may switch this to a timeout of 50 for better performance
function scroll_callback(data){
return function(){
data.last_known_scroll_position = window.scrollY || document.documentElement.scrollTop;
if(!data.ticking){
window.requestAnimationFrame(function() {
handleScroll(data.last_known_scroll_position,data);
data.ticking = false;
});
data.ticking = true;
}
};
}

function refresh_callback(data){
return function(event){
event.preventDefault();

data.loading_status.innerHTML = ‘Updating Stories’;
data.loading_svg.style.display = ‘block’;

data.options.offset = 0;
data.should_append_feed = false;
load_stories(data);
};
}

function show_ad(ad_id){
var ad = document.getElementById(ad_id);
ad.setAttribute(‘data-shown’,1);

//console.log(‘yay ad! ‘ + ad_id);
if((‘ ‘ + ad.className + ‘ ‘).indexOf(‘ dfp-square ‘) > -1){
feed_ajax_ad(ad, ‘/15020739/nowmedia_sidebar’, [300, 250], dfp_targeting);
}
else {
if(window.innerWidth ”){
options = JSON.parse(e.getAttribute(‘data-options’));
}
options.offset = 0;
if(typeof options.limit == ‘undefined’){
options.limit = 7;
}
if(typeof options.show_ads == ‘undefined’){
options.show_ads = ‘after’;
}
var options_string = JSON.stringify(options);

var data = {
options_string: options_string,
options:options,
ticking: false,
saved_list: [],
loading: document.getElementById(‘news_feed_loading’),
loading_status: document.getElementById(‘news_feed_loading_status’),
loading_svg: document.getElementById(‘news_feed_svg’),
ad_counter: 0,
last_known_scroll_position: 0,
loading_stories: false,
story_positions: [],
ad_positions: [],
should_append_feed: true,
url: window.location.pathname
};

var saved_list = sessionStorage.getItem(‘feed_’ + options_string);
var saved_date = sessionStorage.getItem(‘feed_date_’ + options_string);
//if there are saved stories, and there’s a hash in the url, indicating scrolling down the page
if(window.location.hash && saved_list != null && saved_date != null){
//console.log(‘load new stories’);
saved_list = JSON.parse(saved_list);
data.loading.style.display = ‘block’;

for (i = 0; i (60*5)){
data.should_append_feed = false;
data.options.offset = 0;
data.saved_list = [];
load_stories(data);
}
else {
//console.log(‘show_saved_stories’);
data.loading.style.display = ‘none’;
setTimeout(function(){
data.loading_status.innerHTML = ‘Click to Check for New Stories’;
data.loading_svg.style.display = ‘none’;
data.loading.style.display = ‘block’;
}, 240000);
}
//load_stories(data);

//may want to also do this for stories
window.addEventListener(‘load’, update_ad_positions(data));
setTimeout(function(){
update_ad_positions(data);
}, 3000);

window.addEventListener(‘scroll’, scroll_callback(data));

data.loading.addEventListener(‘click’, refresh_callback(data));

return true;
}

return false;
}

//only show ads if should_append_feed is true

init_feed(‘news_feed’);

//}
“;
$(“#social-share-anchor”).html(str);
$(“.share-horizontal”).csekShare({“direction”:”horizontal”, icons: [“facebook”,”twitter”,”pinterest”, “linkedin”, “reddit”,”email”] });

}else{
var str=””;
$(“#social-share-anchor”).html(str);
}

/* Override Author Link */
$(‘.author’).click(function(e){
window.location.href=’/authors/’;
e.preventDefault();
});

var url =’https://www.kamloopsbcnow.com/optimized/fetch_story/155356/3′;
$.ajax({
url: url,
context: document.body,
dataType:’json’,
}).done(function(data) {

if(data.result==’update_story’){

$(‘.content-legibility’).html(data.description);
content_photo_captions();
$(‘.article-title’).html(data.title);

}
});

if(window.innerWidth >= 1650){
if(typeof hasHomepageTakeover == ‘undefined’ || hasHomepageTakeover == false){
var floatingAdHtml = ”;
floatingAdHtml += ”;
floatingAdHtml += ‘
‘;

$(‘body’).prepend(floatingAdHtml);

var left = ((window.innerWidth – 1190) / 2) – 30 – 160 – 15;
document.getElementById(‘left-floating-skyscraper’).style.left = left + ‘px’;
}

function moveLeftScroller() {

var anchor = $(‘#left-floating-skyscraper’);
var scroller = $(‘#left-floating-skyscraper>div’);
if(anchor.length>0){
var moveLeft = function () {
var st = $(window).scrollTop();
var ot = anchor.offset().top;
console.log(st + ‘>’ + ot);
if (st > ot) {
scroller.css({
position: ‘fixed’,
top: ‘0px’,
});
} else {
scroller.css({
position: ‘relative’,
top: ”,
});
}
};
$(window).scroll(moveLeft);
moveLeft();
}
}

moveLeftScroller();
$(window).on(‘resize’, function(event){
moveLeftScroller();
});

}

$(‘.sub-toggle’).click(function(e){

e.preventDefault();
$(this).siblings(‘.sub’).slideToggle();

});

$(‘a.inline’).fancybox({
padding:0,
margin:0
});
$(‘.fblogin’).click(function(){ login(); });
$(‘#MemberPassword’).focus(function(){
if($(this).val()==’Your Password’)
$(this).val(”);
});
$(‘#MemberEmail’).focus(function(){
if($(this).val()==’Your Email Address’)
$(this).val(”);
});

$(‘#MemberEmail’).blur(function(){
if($(this).val()==”)
$(this).val(‘Your Email Address’);
});

$(‘.MemberEmail’).focus(function(){
if($(this).val()==’Your Email Address’)
$(this).val(”);
});
$(‘.MemberEmail’).blur(function(){
if($(this).val()==”)
$(this).val(‘Your Email Address’);
});

$(‘.desktop-search-toggle’).mouseover(function(){
var e = this;
$(‘.desktop-tab-link’).removeClass(‘active’);
$(e).addClass(‘active’);

$(‘.desktop-nav-tab’).hide();
$(‘#desktop-search’).show();

if(renderedGoogleSearch == false){
renderedGoogleSearch = true;
showGoogleSearch();

}
});

if(window.innerWidth > 979){
$(‘.main_nav_wrapper ul li’).mouseover(function(){
$(this).children(‘ul’).first().css(‘display’,’block’);
});
$(‘.main_nav_wrapper ul li ul li’).mouseover(function(){
$(this).children(‘ul’).first().css(‘display’,’block’);
});
$(‘.main_nav_wrapper li’).mouseleave(function(){
$(this).children(‘ul’).first().css(‘display’,’none’);
});
}

$(window).on(‘resize’, function(event){

if($(this).width() > 979){
$(‘.main_nav_wrapper ul li’).mouseover(function(){
$(this).children(‘ul’).first().css(‘display’,’block’);
});
$(‘.main_nav_wrapper ul li ul li’).mouseover(function(){
$(this).children(‘ul’).first().css(‘display’,’block’);
});
$(‘.main_nav_wrapper li’).mouseleave(function(){
$(this).children(‘ul’).first().css(‘display’,’none’);
});
}
});

$(‘#desktop-search’).mouseleave(function(){
$(‘#desktop-search’).hide();
});

$(‘.desktop-tab-link’).mouseover(function(){
$(‘.desktop-nav-tab’).hide();
$(‘.desktop-tab-link, .desktop-search-toggle’).removeClass(‘active’);
var e = this;
$(e).addClass(‘active’);
var target = $(e).attr(‘href’);
$(target).show();
});

$(‘.desktop-nav-tab’).mouseleave(function(){
$(‘.desktop-tab-link’).removeClass(‘active’);
$(‘.desktop-nav-tab’).hide();
});

$(‘.container_header’).mouseover(function(){
$(‘.desktop-tab-link’).removeClass(‘active’);
$(‘.desktop-nav-tab’).hide();
});
});
//]]>