Booking.com launches its travel sustainable badge

The badge is available to any kind of property that has implemented a combination of sustainable practices that meet the requisite impact threshold for their destination

Booking.com has launched its travel sustainable badge, a credible, globally relevant sustainability measure that will provide highly coveted information to all over the world, looking to make more sustainable travel choices. The badge is available to any kind of property that has implemented a combination of sustainable practices that meet the requisite impact threshold for their destination. Designed to be applicable to a wide range of property types, from apartments, B&Bs, and holiday homes to hotels, resorts, and even treehouses, and adaptable to local realities and considerations, the initiative is a first of its kind in the industry.

The goal of the badge is to make credible recognition of impactful sustainability efforts attainable for more properties worldwide and to provide travellers with a transparent, consistent, and easy-to-understand way to identify a wider range of more sustainable stays, no matter where they want to travel.

The company’s ambition, alongside the Travalyst coalition in which Booking.com is a founding partner, is to create a universal and transparent measure for sustainable property information, across the industry. As such, this first version of the Booking.com travel sustainable badge leverages the first set of attributes validated by the Travalyst Independent Advisory Group.

The badge focuses on highlighting practices that are most relevant to a broad range of property types, as well as their high-impact potential, whether it is an apartment in India, a homestay in Amsterdam or a resort along the coast in Australia. Building off the credible standards for sustainable accommodation already in place, Booking.com has collaborated with industry experts, including through Booking.com’s leading role within the Travalyst coalition and other industry experts, to identify a set of the most impactful practices for a property to consider in five key areas: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. This foundational framework is currently further broken down into 32 specific sustainability measures or practices those properties can implement, including everything from eliminating single-use plastic toiletries or switching to LED light fixtures to running on 100 per cent renewable energy sources or investing a certain percentage of profits into local community and conservation projects.

For each one of these practices, Booking.com has also worked with reputable sustainability consultancy Sustainalize to develop a robust methodology that assesses these practices’ relative weight in the model. Properties that meet the required threshold for impact are receiving the first version of the Travel Sustainable badge, including those with a broad range of existing certifications and labels, for example, those officially approved by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel. This framework approach and measurement methodology have been officially developed within the Travalyst coalition and approved by the Travalyst Independent Advisory Group, and continue to be developed with further consultation and advice from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).

“Building a truly sustainable travel industry will take time, coordination, and concerted effort, but progress is possible through continued innovation, partner support, and industry collaboration. With our travel sustainable badge and program, we are recognising the sustainability efforts of a broader range of properties around the world in a credible and transparent way for consumers. In addition to encouraging properties to strive towards achieving the travel sustainable badge, we believe it’s important to demonstrate that there is a spectrum for sustainability and that there is value in showcasing the growing number of properties that are at various stages on their individual sustainability journeys. Displaying the practices, they have in place makes it easier for everyone to make a more informed and hopefully more sustainable choice for their next trip, no matter where they want to go. Thus, also inspiring even more of our partners to take the next step to operate more sustainably,” said Marianne Gybels, Director- Sustainability, Booking.com.


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