Today, leading digital travel platform Booking.com announced an array of new product features in celebration of the one year anniversary of its Travel Sustainable programme, introduced in 2021 to provide travellers with transparent and credible information to make more mindful choices for their trips. With the ongoing aim to recognise the efforts of a wide range of property types to operate more sustainably and to provide travellers with consistent and easy-to-understand information, the company is introducing three distinct badge levels to the Travel Sustainable programme.
Aligned to the principle that reputable, third-party certification remains the gold standard in the industry, the new levels to the Travel Sustainable programme provide even better visibility and recognition for currently uncertified properties that are taking steps to operate more responsibly with regards to their impact on the environment and their local community. The levels help illustrate a clearer pathway for accommodations to work towards eventual certification, especially those that might be at an earlier stage in their sustainability journey. The aim is to also help encourage and incentivise more accommodations to continue making progress towards that goal.
For travellers, the new badge levels being introduced to Booking.com’s Travel Sustainable programme have been designed to more clearly demonstrate a broader spectrum of where different accommodations are at on their individual sustainability journeys, as well as the specific measures they are implementing. The aim of the enhanced structure is to also more clearly highlight those accommodations that have made outstanding commitments and investments on this front to achieve one of more than 40 recognised ecolabels and certifications.