Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) announced it will award the first batch of hotels with the National Sustainable Tourism Certification (NSTC) for adhering to impressive sustainable practices on 5 August 2019 at Ape Game, Battaramulla from 6.00 p.m. onwards. The awarding ceremony will see the participation of Minister of Tourism Development, Wildlife, and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga, Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) CEO Randy Durband, and Director – Asia and the Pacific Dr. Mihee Kang. The SLTDA initiated the NSTC as the first step towards making the tourism industry sustainable with the technical and financial assistance of Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) of UNDP in mid-2018. This project was designed considering the current importance given to sustainable tourism globally, and to successfully compete as a highly sought after destination. The global context was considered in designing the project with the facilitation of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) so that the certification will be relevant not only in Sri Lanka but also internationally. “It is also the first time in the world a government tourism organisation has taken an initiative of this kind, and the certification scheme was designed after a series of consultations with the stakeholders where issues, suggestions, and recommendations were obtained,” the SLTDA said in a press release. As the pilot project, it was decided to implement the certification in the accommodation sector in the first phase, and later open it to all tourism service providers. A questionnaire was sent out to all classified hotels registered with SLTDA to select a sample, and 43 hotels responded with their interest in being part of the pilot project. Then, the NSTC application was sent out to these 43 hotels in January 2019, and 37 hotels applied for the certification. SLTDA staff trained by Dr.Kang started the hotel auditing process in April 2019, and end-April 2019, SLTDA successfully conducted all 37 audits with the assistance of internal and external auditors. Finally, the evaluation process was conducted by an evaluation committee comprising professionals in sustainability and tourism fields. Parallel to the awards ceremony, a tree-planting ceremony is scheduled to take place at 8.30 a.m. in Marine Drive, Colombo on 5 August, and a three-day sustainable destination management training programme is scheduled from 6-8 August for government and provincial council officers and industry stakeholders.