Responsible Travel
DEI Statement
As the “The Voice of Student and Youth Travel®”, SYTA is dedicated to promoting life-enhancing travel experiences to students and young people. In order to do this responsibly, SYTA expects all members to value and respect each other, as well as the industry we serve. SYTA aims to create an inclusive, equitable, and diverse culture that empowers our members to celebrate differences, promote diversity of thought, and instill the importance of nurturing a sense of belonging. Recognizing that we serve a diverse industry with people who have unique personal and professional experiences, SYTA is committed to providing a space for members to learn and grow from one another. In addition, we aim to ensure everyone can be their authentic selves while actively participating in a community that amplifies voices and perspectives.
Sustainability Statement
SYTA’s mission is dedicated to providing life-enhancing travel experiences to students and young people. To stay true to that mission, we are always looking ahead to ensure we are thinking about future generations of travelers. We recognize that one way we can lead in this industry is to stand alongside our fellow tourism organizations worldwide to promote the future of travel in a sustainable way.
While our sustainability journey is evolving just like yours, we are committed to helping educate our membership and to making noticeable changes in our meetings and events. We will continue to provide education and resources to help everyone on their own work with sustainability.
What is SYTA doing right now?
While sustainability has many definitions, we acknowledge that there is a climate emergency and that our sector has a unique responsibility to make some changes to help support global efforts. We have made the decision to sign the Glasgow Declaration for a Decade of Tourism Climate Action.
This declaration was officially launched at COP26 “with the objective to raise the climate ambition of tourism stakeholders and secure strong actions to support the global commitment to halve emissions by 2030 and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050. Transforming tourism through climate action is crucial for the sector’s competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience.”
By signing onto this declaration, we agree to the following:
Declaration:
- We declare our shared commitment to unite all stakeholders in transforming tourism to deliver effective climate action.
- We support the global commitment to encourage and work with our members to halve emissions by 2030 and reach Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050.
- We will consistently align our actions with the latest scientific recommendations, to ensure our approach remains consistent with a rise of no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100.
As a signatory, we commit to:
- Deliver a climate action plan within 12 months of signing.
- Report publicly both progress against interim and long-term targets, as well as the actions being taken, at least annually.
- Align our plan with five shared pathways (measure, decarbonize, regenerate, collaborate, finance) to ensure climate action is consistent across all of tourism.
- Share information on activities connected to Tourism Declares and/or the Glasgow Declaration among our members, contacts, and networks.
- Work in a collaborative and constructive spirit with other members of Tourism Declares and/or signatories of the Glasgow Declaration.
We promise to keep our membership and community up to date as we work through these commitments. We will encourage our members to join us in this commitment and help us continue to provide sustainable travel experiences for decades to come.
Our Responsible Travel Community and Board of Directors are actively working on a twelve month plan which will be published here once completed.
Industry Partners
SYTA leans on our industry partners to provide our members with education and evolved policies in the Responsible Travel space. We appreciate the work these organizations have done and plan to continue to amplify their work to members and educators across the world.
