Travalyst, the not-for-profit organization founded by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, has revealed the first tranche of accommodation sustainability certifications that are compliant with its criteria.
The coalition described the 49 compliant accommodation certifications “as the first milestone in its certifications initiative that aims to strengthen credibility and create consistency in which certifications are displayed on travel booking platforms.”
Travalyst, which was founded in 2019, aims to inform consumer travel decisions by making sustainability information more mainstream. The coalition’s partners include Booking.com, Google, Sabre and Mastercard.
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The organization has defined three initial criteria, including publicly available standards and third-party audit, by which to measure the compliancy of accommodation certifications.
Booking.com recently dropped its "Travel Sustainable" badge following pressure from the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets. The online accommodation platform said it would prioritize third-party certification schemes instead.
In its annual global sustainability study published in April, Booking.com's head of sustainability, Danielle D'Silva, stressed the importance of making sure "more sustainable options are not only readily available, but also easy to trust and understand."
Sally Davey, CEO of Travalyst, said, “There are a huge number of certification bodies globally that focus on sustainability within the accommodation sector. We hear time and time again that this can be overwhelming and confusing, not only for people wanting to book a more sustainable stay, but also for accommodation providers and booking platforms. We're working to make things simpler and easier to navigate."
The certification initiative is free and open to any accommodation certification provider. Sustonica, WTTC Hotel Sustainability Basics and Green Globe Certification are among the first tranche to be listed as compliant.
Back in 2022, Travalyst unveiled its Travel Impact Mode to help address flight emissions with a standardized way to collect and display carbon emissions.