This publication aims to introduce the strategic role that sustainable procurement can play to transform tourism by scaling up the market of sustainable products and services in the sector, enabling the reduction of GHG emissions and the shift towards a more resilient, resource-efficient development. It has been developed as part of the United Nations Environment Programme work on sustainable consumption and production in the tourism value chain.
« Under its Better Holidays Better World 2015-2020 strategy, TUI Group aims to deliver 10 million ‘greener and fairer’ holidays annually by 2020. ‘Greener and fairer’ holidays are defined as holidays taken in hotels that have achieved a sustainability certification recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). Certification is central to the TUI commitment to offer more sustainable holidays, as it offers a credible way of demonstrating efforts of hotels to address social and environmental challenges via their sustainable procurement practices. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council Criteria and Suggested Indicators for Hotels were created to come to a common understanding of sustainable tourism, and are the minimum that a hotel should aspire to reach. »
Lessons Learned: « Sustainability certifications for hotels help to drive sustainability performance and continuous environmental and socio-economic improvements. Analysing the data of the certification schemes can also support hotels to monitor their business performance, and identify where improvements are required in specific destinations. »
Read the full publication: Transforming tourism through sustainable procurement by UNEP on the One Planet Network website.
