On the 29th, it was learned from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) officially released the international standard "Sustainable Tourism - Requirements and Guidelines for the Use of Tourism Value Chain Organization Indicators" (ISO 18060:2026) (hereinafter referred to as ISO 18060) on January 16. It is reported that this is the first international standard in the field of tourism jointly promoted and formed by the BRICS countries under the framework of the BRICS cooperation mechanism.

The standard, jointly proposed by China and Brazil, was officially established in 2022 and took over three years to develop and release. It constructs a systematic indicator system for sustainable performance of the tourism value chain from three dimensions: environmental, social, and economic.

Industry insiders believe that ISO 18060 is highly aligned with the global sustainable development agenda and policy orientation. It not only aids enterprises in strengthening their own sustainable management capabilities, but also provides a comparable and analyzable unified benchmark for the industry. This promotes collaboration and benchmarking management across the upstream and downstream of the tourism value chain, enhancing the governance capabilities of destinations and enterprises in terms of green transformation, social responsibility, and tourism development resilience. As global attention to responsible tourism and green consumption continues to rise, this standard is expected to drive the sustainable development of the industry from concept advocacy to performance management. It provides a universal yardstick for collaborative industry transformation and becomes an important tool for various organizations in the tourism sector to conduct sustainable management, assessment, and communication.

Next, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China will promote the adoption of this international standard as a national standard, encourage more tourism enterprises to participate in its implementation, and contribute to the sustainable development of the global tourism industry.