The Good Travel Program is especially created to serve medium and small-family run enterprises (SME’s), being more accessible and affordable, but large businesses are also welcome to be certified. The program is available to all types of businesses within the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry.

Our process is very straightforward. 

1. You will gain access to our reporting platform, where you will be invited to report your actions and upload supporting documents to evidence your compliance to sustainable tourism.
2.  The information uploaded on the platform will then be assessed by a team of experts, who will evaluate how many of the criteria were achieved by your business. 
3. An independent auditor will verify these criteria by visiting your business (either online or on-site).
4. The findings of the audit will be used to make a final certification decision. The result will be a percentage score and if it is sufficient, you will be awarded the Good Travel Seal and a Certificate.

The Good Travel Seal has 86 generic criteria + some sector specific criteria. They are divided into 12 themes, which are: Purchasing and Sales, Social well-being, Good Employment, Health and Safety, Accessibility, Energy and Climate, Waste, Water, Pollution and Nuisance, Nature and Scenery, Cultural Heritage and Information.

To get more information send us an email at certification@goodtravel.guide and we will do our best to answer your queries.

There are three levels of the Good travel Seal based on a percentage score. To achieve 1 star, you must comply with at least 50% of the criteria, to achieve 2 stars, you must comply with 75% of the criteria and to achieve 3 stars, you must comply with 95% of the criteria.

Yes, there is an audit as part of the certification process when you achieve at least 70% of the criteria, therefore, only for the 2- and 3- star grading of the certification. The audit can be undertaken on-site by visiting the property or it can also be undertaken online via video call.

The Good Travel Seal has an annual subscription fee, with no extra registration costs. The fees of the Seal depend on the business size (FTE) or number of rooms (for accommodations), and can be found on the table above. Businesses may be subject to an additional audit fee depending on the destination.

Businesses that are located in destinations who are members of Green Destinations get a 33% discount off the annual subscription fee.

The certification is valid for 2 years as long as the annual subscription fee is paid. After 2 years you must be reassessed and audited to continue to be certified by the Good Travel Seal.

Once you are certified with the Good Travel Seal, you will be promoted on the Good Travel Guide website and social media.

Once you are certified you will receive a logo, certificate, and performance scorecard which shows an overview of the criteria achieved. Businesses can display this certificate and scorecard on their property and on their website so that their customers are aware of their commitment to sustainability. Businesses are also encouraged to use the GTS logo in any promotional materials produced.

Greenwashing is a form of Marketing that produces unsubstantiated claims to deceive customers into believing that a company’s products are environmentally friendly. 

The Good Travel Seal is a strong advocate for avoiding greenwashing, by offering transparency through its certification. This is done by creating a publicly available scorecard. You will be able to show your customers what aspects you do well by displaying in green the compliant criteria, the non-compliant in red and the partially compliant in orange. As a result, customers see clearly your sustainability performance instead of just a label.