EarthCheck-accredited tourism businesses are expected to gain visibility with travel agencies, as the benchmarking and certification advisory group partners Green Travel Index (GTI), a B2B database for sustainable certified travel service providers.
In a statement, EarthCheck said that GTI’s hotel mapping and profiling will “open a virtual door to more than 4,300 travel agents”, who will be able to access EarthCheck Certified, EarthCheck Evaluate, EarthCheck Sustainable Destinations and EarthCheck Design Members.
EarthCheck’s founder and CEO, Stewart Moore, said: “The GTI partnership means all our members’ achievements, from destinations such as Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Iceland, luxury resort The Alpina Gstaad in Switzerland to theme parks like Xcaret in Mexico, will be recognised by many of the world’s leading agencies.”
In turn, GTI president, Stephan Busch, said the platform will reach the milestone of integrating an online portfolio of clients in over 70 countries.
GTI also has a strategic partnership with GIATA, the market leader in non-bookable tourism content, including the world’s largest unique hotel database.
With tourism spend from responsible travel on the rise, the EarthCheck-GTI partnership is seen as timely.
“In this era of online transparency and accountability, tourism brands are increasingly aware of their social and sustainable responsibilities,” Moore said. “From corporate clients, to governments and environmentally aware guests, tourism brands are growing in sensitivity to best practice and the commercial impact of their sustainability commitments.”
