50% of accommodation providers have misleading environmental policies

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The eco-certification organisation, Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS), says that at least 50 per cent of accommodation providers have environmental policies which are both misleading and too “woolly” to be convincing.

The organisation inspects more than 1,000 environmental policy documents annually as part of its International Centre for Responsible Tourism-endorsed accreditation programme.

“Being seen to be green is a marketing advantage, but the majority of environmental policies from accommodation providers contain avoidable inaccuracies,” says MD of GTBS, Andrea Nicholas. “This is based on a misunderstanding but it is not unheard of for one of our assessors to come across a property claiming adherence to a policy that is patently not in place.”

Among the top green “fibs” the GTBS has noticed are ‘locally sourced’ food bought at a nearby supermarket, claiming low-energy for using low-voltage lightbulbs and providing ‘recyclable’ instead of ‘recycled’ goods. 

“If environmental policies are to be credible, a more rigorous approach is essential as poorly-considered platitudes are far too common,” she adds.

8 July 10

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