Leading certification organizations in travel and tourism worldwide are joining forces to meet the growing demand for sustainability

TourCert is pleased to announce its role in a global collaboration of leading certification organizations dedicated to developing and upholding industry-wide standards for sustainable tourism. This important milestone highlights the significance of TourCert’s international efforts within the Tourism Impact Alliance, funded by SECO, to advance certification processes and harmonize standards for measuring sustainability and impact. By working closely with these respected partners, we are strengthening our collective ability to drive global sustainability initiatives and reaffirm our commitment to a more sustainable future – through solutions that are transparent, practical, and accessible for the industry.

At the beginning of 2024, leading certification organizations in sustainable travel and tourism joined forces to strengthen best practices and enhance global collaboration. These organizations, along with their affiliated education and training bodies, include Biosphere: Instituto de Turismo Responsable; Blue Flag; Ecotourism Australia; Good Travel Seal; Green Globe Certification; Green Key (Foundation for Environmental Education); Green Key Global; TourCert; Travelife for Accommodation; and Travelife for Tour Operators.

For more than 30 years, these leading certification bodies have been responsible for developing internationally recognized sustainability criteria that define industry-wide standards for sustainable tourism. Together, they have certified more than 19,000 of the world’s leading travel and tourism businesses, organizations, and destinations.

A defining feature of these certifications has always been a strong focus on transparency, integrity, and credibility. This inclusive approach is supported by the combined expertise of industry professionals, academics, auditors, destination managers, and regulatory authorities. All stakeholders contribute to and benefit from ongoing development processes, creating a shared platform that neither favors nor discriminates, but instead promotes continuous improvement in sustainability performance across the sector.

As leading sustainability certification bodies, these organizations have ensured that industry-wide standards, including their criteria and indicators, are adapted to different countries, regions, and geographies. This has enabled the travel and tourism sector to meet these standards through actions that contribute to the sustainability of the communities in which they operate, fostering more responsible and resilient business models.

For many years, the travel and tourism industry and destinations have relied on the proven reliability of the professional services provided by these certification organizations. Their certification processes are based on robust quality management systems and are ensured through independent verification audits.

For decades, and continuing today, thousands of travel and tourism businesses, organizations, and destinations have used these certifications to demonstrate ESG practices to shareholders, investors, governments, and destination managers. More recently, the rapid rise in consumer interest in sustainability has led to unprecedented demand for certification from a growing number of companies and destinations.

With a rapidly growing recognition of the immense value of sustainability, these certification organizations have come together to ensure that the core values, criteria, and indicators defining sustainable tourism are not diluted or compromised.

In addition, on behalf of their clients and members, these organizations will work collaboratively to meet the requirements of new consumer protection legislation, such as the EU Green Claims Directive. This partnership looks forward to aligning approaches to future regulations, reporting standards, and other requirements related to sustainable tourism certification.

Building on their historic role as pioneers and developers of the knowledge and practices that have shaped sustainable tourism, these certification bodies are committed to advancing a global industry that thrives on sustainability. This includes developing frameworks and pathways that encourage all businesses to embed sustainability as a core driver of their operations. The overarching goal is to provide transparent, practical, and affordable solutions that help the industry navigate the challenges of sustainable business and achieve continuous improvement.

This new level of collaboration among certification bodies will further empower the travel and tourism sector to advance sustainability through rigorous certification, while supporting destinations that promote environmentally responsible practices, strengthen local communities, and preserve cultural heritage. To this end, the organizations remain committed to ensuring that their professional services are delivered fairly and affordably across all sectors and for all businesses—including micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up the majority of the tourism industry.

About TourCert
TourCert gGmbH is an independent certification organization founded in 2009 with the aim of promoting ecological, social, and economic responsibility in tourism. TourCert advises and supports tourism businesses and destinations in implementing sustainable and successful business practices, and offers training through seminars and online courses provided by the TourCert Academy. In addition, the organization certifies and awards the TourCert sustainability and corporate responsibility label in tourism, as well as the TourCert Qualified distinction.

Driving Change: The Tourism Impact Alliance
The Tourism Impact Alliance is an international initiative addressing the challenge of navigating more than 150 tourism sustainability labels with differing standards. Its goal is to harmonize these standards and improve the measurability of sustainability performance. The project includes an impact model with core indicators to enhance comparability between certified businesses and destinations, thereby increasing sustainability impact. At the same time, it aims to strengthen collaboration among certification bodies, promote digitalization and innovation, and foster more cooperative approaches to certification and auditing practices. The Tourism Impact Alliance is led by TourCert in collaboration with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and co-funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

The Tourism Audit Office
TourCert has established a structurally independent auditing body, the Tourism Audit Office. Going forward, TourCert will collaborate with this internationally operating audit organization for all certifications. At its core is a cooperative model open to all certification bodies in tourism. As accreditation processes are resource-intensive and costly, this independent audit body provides a more accessible pathway to high-quality, accredited certifications through collaboration. Continuous knowledge exchange, the dissemination of best practices and innovative auditing methods, and the strengthening of global cooperation are central to this approach.

The management system of the Tourism Audit Office is based on ISO 17065 and ensures compliance with the highest standards of quality and transparency. The next step is accreditation by the German Accreditation Body, providing internationally recognized accreditation.

Die weltweit führenden Zertifizierer für nachhaltigen Tourismus arbeiten zusammen.