FAQ

TavaSIS — Tourism Assurance, Verification & Alignment Sustainability Integrated System — is an AI-powered platform for managing sustainable tourism certification projects. It is built for tourism businesses (hotels, destinations, attractions, tour operators, and MICE venues) pursuing GSTC certification, and for the sustainability consultants who guide them through the process. TavaSIS brings structure, AI guidance, and full transparency to every stage of the certification journey.

TavaSIS serves two primary groups. First, tourism businesses — hotels, destinations, tour operators, attractions, and MICE venues — who want to achieve GSTC certification and need a structured system to manage the process with their consultant. Second, sustainability consulting firms who manage certification projects for multiple clients and need portfolio oversight, review workflows, and professional-grade reporting tools. A Certification Body (CB) portal is also available for auditors during the Onsite Audit stage.

All five GSTC standards are fully loaded: GSTC-D (Destination, v2.0), GSTC-H (Hotel, v4.01), GSTC-TO (Tour Operator, v4.01), GSTC-AT (Attraction, v1.0), and GSTC-M (MICE, v1.0 — covering Venue, Event Organiser, and Event Exhibitor). CB-aligned checklists are also available for Destination (GSTC-D-CB) and Attraction (GSTC-AT-CB), structured for direct CB submission. Every sub-criterion is loaded verbatim from official GSTC documents.

No. TavaSIS works alongside the CB, not in place of it. The CB remains the independent third party that conducts the audit and grants or declines certification. During the Onsite Audit stage, CB users are given access to a dedicated portal where they can view the full checklist and evidence. TavaSIS structures and documents the work — the certification decision always rests with the CB.

No. A qualified GSTC consultant is required to use TavaSIS. Consultants drive the certification process — validating sub-criteria, reviewing evidence, requesting revisions, managing stage transitions, and signing off on behalf of the firm. TavaSIS structures and documents their work and provides AI tools to assist, but professional judgement and the client relationship remain entirely with the consulting firm.

Tourism businesses subscribe to TavaSIS directly — contact us at service@tavasis.com to get started. A GSTC consultant is required to work with you on the platform; if you already have a consultant, they will be invited to your project. If you need help finding a qualified GSTC consultant, contact us and we can assist with the referral. Consulting firms can also contact us directly to arrange a demonstration of the platform for their practice.

Yes. All sub-criterion descriptions and criteria text are loaded verbatim from official GSTC standard documents — no paraphrasing or summarisation. Users enter their own assessment information, notes, and evidence. The platform structures and manages this process but does not automate any part of the substantive assessment itself.

A Client Manager has full project visibility — overall progress, assigning sub-criteria to operational staff, tracking team progress by staff member, sign-off status, report downloads, and signing off on stage transitions. Client Operational Staff see only their assigned checklist items. They submit assessments and upload evidence but do not participate in sign-off.

At each sub-criterion, the AI Assistant explains in plain language what compliance requires and what evidence is acceptable. If you have evidence ready, you can upload a document or provide a URL — the AI reads it, confirms relevance, and helps you generate a compliance narrative to submit to your consultant. If you don't have evidence yet, it provides a downloadable template to help you prepare. The AI is a drafting aid — your consultant reviews and validates everything.

Open the checklist, expand the relevant section and criterion, select the sub-criterion, choose your self-assessment status (Complete, Unsure, or Not Complete), add supporting notes, upload evidence files if available, and click "Submit for Review". The sub-criterion is then locked until your consultant reviews it.

Once submitted, a sub-criterion is locked while awaiting consultant review. You cannot edit the self-assessment or notes until the consultant validates it (complete) or requests a revision — in which case you will be notified and can resubmit with corrections.

Up to 5 files per sub-criterion, maximum 10MB each. Supported formats include PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and images. When you upload a new version, the previous version is retained in the history.

When all sub-criteria in the current stage are validated by your consultant, a sign-off banner appears at the top of your dashboard. Click "Sign off" to confirm. The stage only advances once both you and the consulting firm have signed — ensuring mutual agreement before moving forward.

Yes. If your organisation is running multiple certification projects, the same user can be invited to multiple projects. After logging in, a project picker lets you select which project to work on. You can switch between projects at any time using the "Switch Project" link in the sidebar.

A Consultant Manager has full project access — creating projects, managing clients, inviting staff, controlling stage transitions, and signing off on behalf of the consulting firm. Consultant Staff are assigned to specific projects and handle day-to-day validation work: reviewing submissions, saving observations, requesting revisions, and validating sub-criteria.

Validating a sub-criterion means the consultant has reviewed the client's submission, checked the supporting evidence, and formally confirmed the sub-criterion meets the GSTC requirement. All sub-criteria must be validated before the sign-off banner appears. At Pre-assessment stage, the action is called "Observed" rather than "Validated" — formal validation begins from Desk Assessment onwards.

The sub-criterion is returned to the client with your revision notes. The client receives a notification, the sub-criterion is relocked from further consultant action, and it appears in the "Awaiting revision" queue. Once the client resubmits, it returns to your Review Queue.

When Desk Assessment is completed with dual sign-off, all validated sub-criteria carry over to Onsite Audit — there is no reset. If the CB flags specific sub-criteria for review, you re-activate those via checkbox selection. The client is notified and resubmits. This cycle repeats until the CB is satisfied.

Yes — the Checklist Trial Report is available on demand from Desk Assessment onwards. It generates a PDF snapshot of the current checklist state without requiring sign-off. Useful for internal review, client progress updates, or a CB pre-submission check. Stage Sign-off Reports are generated automatically when both parties complete dual sign-off at each stage transition.

Three report types: (1) Stage Sign-off Reports — auto-generated on dual sign-off at every stage transition, capturing the full checklist state at that moment. (2) Application Reports — for CB-aligned standard projects (GSTC-D-CB and GSTC-AT-CB), covering the four CB application sections. (3) Checklist Trial Reports — on-demand snapshots available at any time from Desk Assessment onwards, without requiring sign-off.

Each Stage Sign-off Report includes: project and client details, assessment team, stage name and sign-off date, sub-criterion status summary with counts and percentages, full detail for every sub-criterion (description, client self-assessment, notes, consultant observations, evidence files listed), and the dual sign-off record with full names and timestamps.

Yes. Evidence files are stored with signed URLs — not publicly accessible. All database access is controlled by Row Level Security policies. Consulting firm data is isolated from other firms. All communications are encrypted in transit. Sessions time out automatically after a period of inactivity.

TavaSIS provides CB users with a dedicated teal-branded portal separate from the consultant and client interfaces. During the Onsite Audit stage, CB users can log in to view the full checklist, review evidence, and see the complete assessment history — without requiring document handoffs or email exchanges.

CB access is granted when the project enters the Onsite Audit stage. The consulting firm invites the CB user by email. Access is scoped to the specific project and stage — CB users do not see other projects or other firms.

CB-aligned checklists (GSTC-D-CB and GSTC-AT-CB) use the Certification Body's version of sub-criteria, structured and worded to match the CB's assessment framework. Projects using a CB-aligned checklist can generate an Application Report for CB submission, covering the four application sections: Destination Description, General Descriptions, Stakeholders & Sites, and Relevant Legislation.