Sustainable Tourism Certification, Accreditation, Standards in Travel

Sustainable Tourism Certification: What is it?

Sustainable tourism certification is a process through which tourism businesses, tour operators and destinations can be evaluated and recognised for their adherence to sustainability standards. These standards encompass a wide range of criteria, including environmental conservation, social responsibility, and economic sustainability, covering aspects such as energy and carbon management, waste reduction, protection of nature and culture, and the well-being of local communities.

Sustainable Tourism Certification: How Does it Work?

The certification process typically involves several steps:

Application and Self-Assessment: Businesses or destinations apply for certification and conduct a self-assessment against the set criteria.
Audit and Verification: An independent third-party auditor reviews the application, often through a combination of desk and onsite audits, to ensure compliance with the standards.
Certification: Upon successful verification, the business or destination is awarded a certification, which may be at different levels such as Gold, Silver, or Bronze, depending on the extent of their sustainability practices.

Sustainable Certification in Travel & Tourism: Benefits

Certification processes often help educate organisations to clarify their aims, focus on their next steps and be able to measure, monitor and evidence their progress.

Environmental Conservation: Certification encourages businesses to adopt eco-friendly practices, such as energy and water efficiency, waste reduction, and wildlife protection, contributing to preserving natural resources and biodiversity.
Community Engagement: Certified businesses often prioritise local communities by creating job opportunities, supporting local economies, and involving residents in tourism-related activities.
Ethical Practices: Certifications promote ethical conduct by creating standards for businesses to respect human rights, support fair labour practices, and engage in responsible supply chain management.
Ecosystem Development: Sustainable tourism doesn’t exist in a vacuum, rather the more we work together, the more we can achieve. Sustainable tourism certifications often encourage industry cooperation, collaboration and partnerships, such as with public sector, education establishments, associations or NGOs as well as private sector organisations, so holistically the sustainability can grow to be greater than the sum of its parts.
Consumer Trust: Certifications provide travellers with confidence that they are supporting responsible tourism, leading to increased trust in businesses and destinations displaying these credentials.
Market Competitiveness: Certified businesses gain a competitive edge, as sustainability becomes an increasingly important factor in business demand, supply chains and consumer expectations.

Sustainable Travel & Tourism Certification: Addressing Negatives

While sustainable tourism certification is a significant step forward, there are always challenges and potential drawbacks to consider:

Variability in Standards: There are hundreds of sustainable tourism certification organisations offering different standards, causing confusion among consumers and businesses about which certifications are most credible.
Cost and Complexity: The certification process can be costly and time-consuming, which may deter smaller or less resourceful businesses from participating. The most sustainable organisations may not get involved where as those that do may be those with more money and desire to be recognised.
Greenwashing: Some businesses might misrepresent their sustainability practices to gain certification, which can undermine the credibility of the entire system. However, rigorous auditing and verification processes help mitigate this risk.

Sustainable Tourism Accreditation

Accreditation and certification are often used interchangeably as terms in sustainable tourism, but they serve quite different purposes and meanings.

Accreditation is the process by which a certification body is recognised and approved to award certifications. In other words, accreditation is about ensuring that the certification body itself meets certain standards and criteria.

For example, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) accredits certification bodies to ensure they have the capability and credibility to certify hotels, tour operators, and destinations according to the GSTC Criteria. This accreditation process involves a thorough evaluation of the certification body’s procedures, expertise, and independence.

How Does Sustainable Tourism Certification Differ from Accreditation?

Certification is awarded to businesses or destinations that meet specific sustainability standards. It is a recognition of their commitment to, and achievements in, sustainable practices.

Accreditation is awarded to certification bodies that meet the standards required to certify businesses or destinations. It is a recognition of their competence and credibility in conducting the certification process.

In essence, accreditation is a higher-level validation that ensures the integrity and reliability of the certification process. It provides assurance that the certifications awarded are based on rigorous and consistent standards.

Conclusion

Sustainable tourism certification is a powerful tool for promoting responsible and sustainable practices in the tourism industry. While it presents some challenges, benefits can outweigh the negatives, certainly for organisations who need some business-to-business guidance on their sustainability journey.

By understanding the difference between certification and accreditation, and focusing on our targets, priorities, next steps and impacts, we can ensure that our efforts towards sustainability are both credible and effective.

As we move forward, embracing sustainable tourism certification is not just an option but a necessity, often legally (for example in the EU, in anti-greenwashing).

It is our collective responsibility to protect the planet and its resources for future generations, and sustainable tourism certification is a significant step for the sector in that direction.

Sustainable Tourism Certification Consultancy

Are you a business that needs some help on sustainable tourism certification advice, choice, guidance, process or audit? Our consultancy can support you – get in touch!