Our Story
From project to certification – it all began in 2004 with an initiative by an environmental and development organization kate.
Our Criteria
EMAS, ISO & Co
Approaches to certification that include elements of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have existed for some time. Alongside EMAS, also known as the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, ISO 14001 was already an internationally certifiable standard, but one that does not require a public environmental report. ISO 9001 established standards for quality management in organizations, while social criteria were addressed in SA 8000.
„We will need to create a new system – one that does not strive for money and wealth, but for values that come from the heart.“
Paulo Coelho
The Key Question
We Are Your Partner for Sustainable Certifications
In 2004, kate Umwelt & Entwicklung, together with Tourism Watch, the Spanish development organization ACSUD Las Segovias, and with support from the European Commission, launched a project focused on implementing CSR in tourism. The central question running like a thread through the entire initiative was:
How do tourism companies handle social responsibility?
The project work included a company survey, a series of conferences and roundtable discussions, trade fair visits, dialogue events, and accompanying public relations activities.
It was clear that a CSR certification for tourism companies should integrate both ecological and social aspects equally and contribute to the standardization of criteria.
Our History
Together Towards the Goal
01 - System Development
In collaboration with forum anders reisen, kate developed a system that translates CSR for tour operators into meaningful criteria.
02 - Pilot Launch
Together with five pilot companies, the experts developed and tested a simple reporting system. As a result, each company had implemented a sustainability system and produced its public sustainability report.
03 - Step by Step
In 2008, this led to a comprehensive guide on CSR reporting in tourism, outlining the steps toward a sustainability report and providing guidelines for CSR in the tourism sector. This enabled each company to demonstrate its sustainable practices to customers, partners, and the public, making the key indicators transparent.
04 - Founding of TourCert
To ensure an independent and credible certification system, in 2009 the shareholders kate, Tourism Watch, Naturfreunde Internationale, and the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde founded the non-profit organization for tourism certification, TourCert.
05 - TourCert Takes Off
In 2015, TourCert was converted into a non-profit limited company (gGmbH), with Marco Giraldo as Managing Partner. In addition to its headquarters in Stuttgart, TourCert now has additional offices in Europe and Latin America.
The TourCert Community Grows
The first companies began joining the process in early 2009 – today, TourCert is an internationally recognized partner in sustainability and innovation in tourism, committed to promoting economic, ecological, and social responsibility within the sector.
For our anniversary, we have documented TourCert’s development in texts, images, and even poetry. Here you can find the activity report and a summary of events by the literary artist Jessy James LaFleur.
Our Shareholders
