Travalyst, the not-for-profit organisation, founded by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, is launching an initiative to acknowledge sustainability certification bodies within the accommodation sector.
Travalyst is a global coalition of some of the biggest brands in travel and technology, with partners including Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa. Together, they aim to bring sustainability information to the mainstream to help people make better travel choices.
People booking travel need accurate information to base their decisions on and one way to verify sustainability information is through certification bodies. Research published by Booking.com reveals that 65% of travellers would feel better about staying in accommodation if they knew it had a sustainability certification-1.
There are over 100 tourism certification bodies-2 globally that focus on sustainability so Travalyst will review whether they meet a set of criteria in order to be displayed on its partner platforms. The overarching aim of this initiative is to drive consistency in display of sustainability certifications across Travalyst's partner platforms.
Three criteria have been validated by Travalyst's Independent Advisory Group-3 to ensure rigor and independence, and are as follows:
The certification process includes a third-party audit that includes on-site and/or online assessment of sustainable practices reported by the property.
The standard upon which the certification is based is publicly available.
The standard focuses on evaluating the impact of social and/or economic, and/or environmental factors, among others, as encompassed within, but not restricted, to the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Polly Lomas, Travalyst's Head of Strategy and Impact, said: 'Travalyst aims to bring sustainability information to the mainstream to help people make better travel choices. People want to travel more sustainably and that all starts with having access to clear, consistent and credible information at scale. Creating a master list of certification bodies meeting the Travalyst criteria will help to improve the credibility of sustainability information in the accommodation sector, and credibility is key to driving trust.'
This is a fee-free initiative and more information can be found here.
-1Booking.com Sustainable Travel Report 2023
-2Over 100 tourism certification bodies globally that are known to Travalyst
-3The Travalyst Independent Advisory Group comprises world leading experts on sustainability who oversee all work developed and delivered by the Travalyst Coalition. More information can be found here https://travalyst.org/about
About Travalyst
Founded in 2019 by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, Travalyst is a not-for-profit global coalition of some of the biggest brands in travel and technology: Amadeus, Booking.com, Expedia Group, Google, Skyscanner, Travelport, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa. Travalyst aims to bring sustainability information to the mainstream to help people make better travel choices. Find out more at https://travalyst.org
EXPEDIA GROUP, INC. 
