Industry calls for ‘green accreditation’ scheme
The industry needs to have a ‘green accreditation’ to define what makes a travel company green, according to senior figures.
Mintel senior travel analyst Richard Cope said it was difficult to say what made a travel company environmentally sound and called for the UNWTO or a similar organisation to come up with an accreditation scheme.
Other panellists at TravelMole’s Travel Industry Question Time debate into the future of high street agents agreed and said travel companies would be forced to demonstrate more action on green issues as consumers become increasingly conscious of the environmental impact.
According to Mintel’s research, awareness among consumers is already high of the damage tourism is doing.
Cope said: “Awareness is very strong. Although the sentiments are worthy they don’t anything about it so there is room for agents to pitch themselves as green agents.”
Advantage managing director John McEwan agreed the issue would come more and more to the fore.
“We need retailers and operators to get behind The Travel Foundation because it needs financial support for its projects. There will be more awareness as a result of that,” he said.
Report by Linda Fox
Linda Fox
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments
Suspension of all regional trains in Catalonia following two new rail accidents in Spain