How the Green Claims Directive Will Reshape International Tourism and Certification: Insights from Dr. Martin Balas

In collaboration with the German Travel Association, Dr. Martin Balas offers training sessions for tourism professionals in Germany on this topic. In the following interview, he provides valuable insights.

How significant is the issue of greenwashing so far?
It is more prevalent than we might think. In 2020, the European Commission published a study assessing a range of environmental claims made by companies. Around half of these were vague, misleading, or unsubstantiated, and 40% lacked any real foundation. At the same time, the study showed that consumers are highly aware of the impact of their consumption, yet feel overwhelmed and poorly informed by labels. This ultimately led to the development of the Green Claims Directive.

How do you assess the directive: bureaucratic burden or meaningful regulation to promote more sustainable tourism?
I would say it is both. Companies will certainly need to document and verify all sustainability efforts if they want to communicate them to consumers. In recent years, there has been extensive debate about the so-called “certification jungle.” Smaller businesses in particular need guidance on what exactly is required and how to allocate their limited resources effectively to improve sustainability. EU-wide regulation can help by providing clear standards, increasing clarity and credibility. Ultimately, the directive should lead to greater harmonization and clarity around truly relevant sustainability issues, and thereby generate a broader impact across economies.

How should tourism businesses and destinations prepare for the new requirements? Many are currently asking: what’s coming, how significant will the effort be, and where do the main challenges lie?
First and foremost, it is crucial to deepen understanding and training around clear and verifiable sustainability communication. All claims should be critically reviewed and structured according to the directive’s upcoming criteria. Every claim should meet at least three conditions: it must be truthful and not exaggerated, it should reflect environmental performance that is genuinely above average, and it must be supported by specific data—ideally verified by an independent third party.

As a certification body, we support all efforts to strengthen sustainability in the market and believe we can help companies meet the directive’s requirements. What role do you see for labels?
Most sustainability labels in tourism are relatively small and face challenges such as cost pressure and sector-specific demands. For many years, this was actually a strength of certification, as it closely aligned with the needs of businesses. That is about to change. We will see more standardization, more documentation, and a stronger focus on impartiality. The directive clearly states that only labels licensed in accordance with EU requirements may be associated with sustainability claims. This will bring real clarity to the certification landscape and likely lead to a resurgence of high-quality labels.

The requirements for these licensed labels are quite demanding. Certification systems must be accredited by a national or international accreditation body, auditors must operate independently and in line with ISO standards, and verification must be carried out by third parties on-site. In addition, all processes and certification criteria must be transparent and well documented. There is hope that this will increase trust in certifications. Certified businesses will also benefit from clear unique selling points, as they will be recognized as pioneers in sustainability. Overall, certification will become the backbone of sustainability communication.

The Tourism Impact Alliance focuses on collaboration. Last year, you moderated the Impact Panel, bringing together certification bodies and standard owners to discuss KPIs. This year, TourCert is working with eight of the world’s leading sustainability certification organizations. How can collaboration support the implementation of the Green Claims Directive?
Quite frankly, I strongly believe that meeting the directive’s requirements will be extremely difficult without collaboration and strong partnerships. Certification bodies need to create synergies when it comes to measuring sustainability impacts, implementing audit requirements, achieving accreditation, and supporting companies in their sustainability communication. Some larger institutions may be able to manage this independently, but many will not. The costs of developing individual systems aligned with the Green Claims Directive would simply be too high.

Do you expect the directive to have an impact beyond the EU?
Any company operating within the EU will be affected. For example, tour operators based outside the EU but offering trips to EU countries and making environmental claims will need to comply with the directive. The same applies to certification bodies: if they want to certify companies in Europe that intend to communicate their label, they must meet the directive’s requirements. I expect that a wide range of actors in the global tourism sector will be impacted by the Green Claims Directive.