Rio de Janeiro will host ISO international event for tourism in 2025
Called ISO/TC 228, the event brings together experts from several countries to develop international standards that guarantee that tourist services are safe and sustainable
Rio de Janeiro will receive, in 2025, ISO/TC 228 from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) focused on tourism activities. The event was created in 2005, with the active participation of Brazil, since the first meeting, through the Brazilian Tourism Committee (CB 54), the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT). Event dates have not yet been set.
ISO/TC 228 is the ISO technical committee whose objective is to develop international standards that guarantee the quality, safety and sustainability of tourist services. Currently, the group is led by Spain and comprises 105 countries and dozens of tourism organizations. Since then, it has produced 46 international technical standards and is working on 17 new documents.
At the event, technicians and specialists from different countries come together every year in thematic working groups (GT) to discuss and define best practices for tourism, such as terminology, services, destinations, equipment, infrastructure, sustainability, safety and quality. These norms, when approved by consensus, can be used as an international standard for tourism promotion by governments, the tourist trade and even tourists themselves.
The president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, celebrated the choice of Brazil as host of the event. “The year 2025 is important for Brazil, because it is also the year of COP-30. This shows the importance of sustainability for the country, since several topics being addressed at the ISO involve sustainable and responsible tourism”, explains Freixo.
“It is very interesting that Brazil participates in these meetings because we enter into a joint discussion with other countries, bringing Brazil's intelligence and technical opinion to the working groups. When you participate, you have a much more constructive interference with the Brazilian vision”, highlights the coordinator of Nature and Special Segments of Embratur, Leonardo de Moura Persi is one of the representatives of Brazil in ISO/TC 228, ahead of the tourism WG of adventure.
Brazil has also coordinated, since 2016, the Sustainable Tourism WG, with Alexandre Garrido. “International standardization is a strategic activity and directly impacts the competitiveness of companies and tourist destinations, which is why it is essential to maintain Brazilian participation and leadership in this process”, commented Garrido.
In the case of adventure tourism, for example, six technical standards have already been published by ISO – of these, five were based on Brazilian standards and on the subject of sustainable tourism, 2 international standards have already been published based on national standards.
The initiative to bring the event to Brazil came from the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT), through a request from the National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC), with the support of Embratur, the Ministry of Tourism, Sebrae National and the Brazilian Association of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism Companies (ABETA).