Curious to know more?
Sign up for our newsletter below
Thank you! Check your email for confirmation.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Sign up for our newsletter below
Certificates and eco-labels, guide both the tourism industry in creating more sustainable businesses, and us travellers in making more sustainable choices. That is why we we included them on our platform - to help you on your journey towards more sustainable travel choices.
It’s a jungle out there. Identifying which certifications to trust and what they each stand for can be a very exhausting task.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), which was established by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has launched a set of minimum standards, called the GSTC Criteria, for sustainable tourism for businesses, governments and destinations.
Certification companies can apply to be accredited or recommended by GSTC, to indicate these minimum standards are followed. TripDoodler is also a member of the GSTC. We integrate only certifications that have this accreditation or recommendation, Green Key being the first.
Our first certification integration partner is Green Key. With 20 years experience and over 2400 establishments across 8 categories, Green Key is one of the oldest and largest certifications in tourism in Europe.
GreenKey is a certification issued by the non-profit Foundation of Environmental Education (FEE) and is focused on the environmental pillar of GSTC.
They are a leading eco-label that is GSTC recognized, dialog-based, transparent and fulfils regular audits and third-party verifications. Look for the Green Key logo when you are looking for places to go on TripDoodler.
No, we only show places with at least one parameter identified by a user, or that have a certification (for example Green Key)
View and use all the tourism industry certificates as your guideline. Don’t know what they mean? No worries, we've got you covered.
By rating a business, you help them on multiple levels. They get to understand which of their sustainability efforts their customers can see as well as what they are looking for.
They also see what other businesses are doing and how they can compare next to them. Finally, they can find the information they need to easily start or further their sustainable journey
GSTC was established to created to create one sustainable standard within tourism. This is called the GSTC Criteria, which is divided in: a Destination Criteria for policymakers and destination managers, and an Industry Criteria for hotels and tour operators.
The aim is to develop a common language about sustainability in tourism. The Criteria is designed according to the pillars of sustainability identified by GSTC:
1. Sustainable management
2. Socioeconomic impacts
3. Cultural impacts
4. Environmental impacts
Since destinations have their own culture, environment, and laws, the Criteria are designed to be adapted to the local conditions and are supplemented by additional Criteria for the specific locations.
This ensures that they are adaptable to different destinations and do not harm them in any way. The GSTC Criteria form the foundation for the Accreditation for Certification Bodies (eg. Green Key) that then vertify the individual hotels/accommodations, tour operators/transport providers, and destinations as having sustainable policies and practices in place.
When we leave our better footprints we also let the business owners know if and how their sustainability practices are recognized by their customers.
With TripDoodler, business owners get insight into which of their sustainability practices their customers can see. It can also help them understand what sustainably conscious customers are looking for.
Finally, it can provide insight into what other businesses in their field are doing in terms of sustainability and allows them to learn from each other.