ISTO’s Membership Committee recently accepted membership applications from 9 organisations in France, Mexico, and Portugal. Turismo de Portugal is now a member of ISTO, among other 159 member organisations, all committed with a fair and sustainable tourism for all.
The International Social Tourism Organisation (ISTO) was established in 1963 under the name of International Bureau of Social Tourism (BITS) as an international non-profit organisation. Bringing together stakeholders from the social, sustainable and solidarity tourism sectors from all over the world, ISTO promotes accessible and responsible tourism.
ISTO has two ambitions:
1. Tourism for all - promote the development of tourism for all and make holidays accessible to the greatest number of people;
2. Responsible tourism - promote and support forms of tourism that benefit people, communities and local areas. These include responsible, solidarity, fair and community tourism.
Beyond the Montreal Declaration, adopted by the BITS in 1996, ISTO focuses on 5 main themes:
1. Accessibility
2. Fair business
3. The environment
4. Solidarity
5. Quality of life
