Booking.com Celebrates One Year of Travel Sustainable with New Product Features for Accommodations, Rental Cars and Flights

  • Three levels are being introduced to the Travel Sustainable program for accommodations, in addition to special badging to highlight properties with third-party certifications
  • 400,000+ accommodations globally now being recognized for their efforts to operate more sustainably
    Search filter for fully electric and hybrid rental cars is now live across the Booking.com app and website, with hybrid options and electric vehicles available in 60 countries
  • Carbon emissions data and offsetting options set to begin rolling out for select accommodation options in Europe
  • The total carbon emissions footprint for a selected flight will start to be shown on the flight details page over the coming weeks, with a sorting option being introduced in 2023

Booking.com has announced an array of new product features in celebration of the one year anniversary of its Travel Sustainable program, introduced in 2021 to provide travelers with transparent and credible information to make more mindful choices for their trips. With the ongoing aim to recognize the efforts of a wide range of property types to operate more sustainably and to provide travelers with consistent and easy-to-understand information, the company is introducing three distinct badge levels to the Travel Sustainable program.

Aligned to the principle that reputable, third-party certification remains the gold standard in the industry, the new levels to the Travel Sustainable program 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 incentivize more accommodations to continue making progress towards that goal.

For travelers, the new badge levels being introduced to Booking.com’s Travel Sustainable program 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 recognized ecolabels and certifications.

Travel Sustainable Badge Levels

The new badge levels for Travel Sustainable are as follows:
Level 1: This new entry-level designation for the Travel Sustainable badge indicates that a property has implemented some impactful sustainability practices. This Level 1 badge will soon show up with one leaf and includes a full display of all practices that have been implemented.

Level 2: Accommodations receiving the Level 2 version of the Travel Sustainable badge have made considerable investments and efforts to implement impactful sustainability practices. The Level 2 badge will soon show up with two leaves and includes a full display of all practices that have been implemented.

Level 3: The Level 3 Travel Sustainable badge is reserved for those accommodations that have made large investments and efforts to implement impactful sustainability practices, but have not yet achieved an official third-party certification yet. The Level 3 badge will soon show up with three leaves and includes a full display of all practices that have been implemented.

Certified properties

Accommodations that have made huge commitments towards sustainability, including the additional effort and investment to achieve one of 40+ credible third-party certifications, receive the highest level of recognition as part of the Travel Sustainable program. These accommodations are recognized with a certified badge, including the name of their certification. In addition to those certified by GSTC-Accredited Certification Bodies and accommodations verified to GSTC-Recognized Standards, Green Tourism and the EU Ecolabel, the list of third-party certifications automatically qualified for this highest level of the Travel Sustainable program now also includes Green Seal, Nordic Swan Ecolabel, Green Hospitality Ecolabel, Ibex Fairstay, Fair Trade Tourism, LEED and Edge.

With the introduction of these new levels, 400,000+ accommodations on Booking.com are now being recognized for their efforts to operate more sustainably. The countries leading the way globally in terms of the highest number of accommodations receiving a Travel Sustainable badge on Booking.com are: Italy (46,365), France (27,677), Germany (24,038), Spain (23,650), United States (19,396), Brazil (19,160), India (15,743), United Kingdom (15,366), Greece (12,442) and Poland (10,745).

To read the full article, visit https://globalnews.booking.com/bookingcom-celebrates-one-year-of-travel-sustainable-with-new-product-features-for-accommodations-rental-cars-and-flights/