WORLDWIDE: The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and Biosphere have partnered to promote and advance sustainability criteria under the Hotel Sustainability Basics initiative.
WTTC’s Hotel Sustainability Basics was created to offer the global hotel sector the fundamental sustainability criteria that all accommodation providers should meet as a minimum.
In its first year, Basics worked in more than 30 countries and has been adopted by a number of major hotel brands including Jin Jiang, with more than 10,000 hotels, European hotel giant Louvre Hotel Group, and Radisson Hotel Group.
Other major brands, which have signed up include adventure travel specialist Intrepid, British Airways Holidays, HotelBeds, WebBeds, and Abercrombie & Kent.
The independent global sustainability verification programme, overseen by Green Key and SGS ended its first year in 2023 with more than 1,300 hotels verified.
The proliferation of new standards and eco-labels across the industry is a significant challenge for those in the sector looking to identify consistent sustainability criteria and equally for consumers to navigate which hotels meet the highest standards.
The collaboration with the WTTC and Biosphere will create a comprehensive international framework for the sector, integrating the Hotel Sustainability Basics verification and the Biosphere methodology.
The initiative will help the industry’s transition from basic criteria to more advanced global standards, aligning with the UN’s 17 SDGs and 169 goals.
Julia Simpson, WTTC president & CEO, said: “The collaboration between Biosphere and WTTC is a fundamental step towards international standardisation in sustainability, creating a clear and homogeneous pathway for the industry.”
According to the organisations more than 2,500 hotels will benefit from the collaboration.
Image: Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash