Tourism Sustainability Certifications Alliance (TSCA) – Founded by the world’s leading certification bodies in travel and tourism

Tourism businesses and travelers benefit from harmonized sustainability standards and certifications.

The world’s leading certification bodies in travel and tourism have announced today the launch of the Tourism Sustainability Certifications Alliance (TSCA), a registered association dedicated to advancing a more sustainable global tourism industry.

As sustainability continues to gain importance across all major industries, tourism businesses are calling for simpler solutions for sustainable management, independent certification, and continuous improvement. At the same time, the growing popularity of sustainability has led to an increase in greenwashing and the misleading of travelers through unsubstantiated environmental claims.

TSCA Chair Elissa Keenan stated: “Our industry and travelers are calling for a transparent certification system they can trust—one that promotes outstanding sustainable tourism practices while preventing greenwashing. The TSCA was established by its founding members as a collaborative certification platform for the tourism sector, ensuring that travelers can make informed decisions based on reliable sustainability standards.”

As part of this new alliance, the TSCA has established a minimum standard for sustainable tourism that serves as a shared baseline for all members. Combined with independent auditing processes, this standard ensures consistency and credibility in sustainability management. It will continue to apply to all currently certified businesses and destinations, while also providing a unified system to meet the growing demand for independent certification in sustainable tourism management and performance assessment.

The next steps for the TSCA include supporting tourism businesses in complying with new consumer protection regulations, such as the upcoming EU Green Claims Directive, which aims to combat greenwashing.

To make certification more accessible to a broader range of tourism businesses, the TSCA will continue to streamline processes and simplify and harmonize reporting standards, criteria, benchmarks, and other certification requirements. As the number of certified businesses grows, travelers will benefit from being able to choose sustainable travel options backed by independently verified environmental certifications supported by documented evidence.

TSCA Chair Elissa Keenan added: “Together, TSCA members are responsible for certifying more than 19,000 travel and tourism businesses, organizations, and destinations worldwide. For over 30 years, the most recognized travel companies and destinations have trusted us to independently and credibly certify their sustainable practices. The trust and recognition we have built over decades form the foundation on which the TSCA is built—ensuring that travel and tourism continue to be a positive force for communities, businesses, and the environment.”

About TSCA
The Tourism Sustainability Certifications Alliance is a coalition of leading global certification bodies for sustainable travel and tourism. Founding members include Biosphere: Instituto de Turismo Responsable, Ecotourism Australia, the Foundation for Environmental Education (Blue Flag and Green Key), Good Travel Seal, Green Globe Certification, Green Key Global, TourCert, Travelife for Accommodation, and Travelife for Tour Operators.

For more than 30 years, these internationally recognized certification organizations have been responsible for developing the industry’s leading standards in sustainable tourism. Together, they certify more than 19,000 of the world’s leading travel and tourism businesses, organizations, and destinations. The TSCA was established to promote best practices and strengthen collaboration among organizations at a global level. The inaugural chair of the TSCA is Ecotourism Australia.

TSCA Board Members (from left): Billy Bishop – Travelife for Accommodation; Daniel Schaffer – FEE; Patricio Azcárate Díaz de Losada – Biosphere: Instituto de Turismo Responsable; Elissa Keenan – Ecotourism Australia; Naut Kusters – Travelife for Tour Operators; Birte Pelayo – Green Globe Certification; Gary Graham – Green Key Global; Albert Salman – Good Travel Seal; Marco Giraldo – TourCert.