Green Holiday claims confuse travellers

Holidaymakers believe they have been "greenwashed" by hotel and travel groups claiming to be environmentally friendly.
A survey conducted by the world's largest online travel guide Greenty.com early this year found that 62 percent of travelers believed that hotels overestimate their green credentials and only 30% say that hoteliers provide travellers with a fair green assessment of their property.
Tourism and travel environmental sustainability expert Stewart Moore from EC3 Global and EarthCheck says the time has come to demystify the sustainability credentials of hotel and travel groups.
"There have been a rising number of green claims from hoteliers and tourism products in the past three years. Many of these claims verge on the edge of greenwash. Consumers need a certified method of knowing which hotels or tourism services are actively pursuing green policies throughout their operations," said Mr Moore.
EarthCheck has partnered with Greenty.com to demystify the sustainability credentials of hotel and travel groups. EC3 Global manages the EarthCheck certification and benchmarking program, used by more than 1,300 organizations in over 70 countries, for sustainable travel using the latest science and technology.
Through the new partnership, Greenty.com is now able to highlight hotels that have been audited by EarthCheck. Founder of greenty.com Serge Fabre said it is important for consumers to know that a qualified third-party professional has validated the effectiveness of sustainable practices at the hotel or tourism business.
"Our research showed that 60 percent of travelers considered eco-actions from tourism operators as a key element of their booking decision and 31 percent are willing to pay more to say in a green hotel," said Mr Fabre.
"Today, everything and anything is green. 'Green' is a hip word and there are so many green travel labels, some reliable and some not, making the search for a green accommodation very difficult, if not misleading. "It's so important for environmental sustainability claims to be demystified. That's why we have partnered with EarthCheck, so consumers are assured that the tourism operator has been scientifically eco-assessed and their claims are true."

Further media information:
Susan Sullivan, susan@infrontcommunications.com.au - + 61 412 365 122
Stewart Moore, CEO of EarthCheck and EC3Global – stewart.moore@ec3global.com - + 61 7 3238 1900
Sarah Mayer, Manager, Greenty.com – contact@greenty.com

About Greenty.com
Greenty.com is the most comprehensive online green travel guide. Greenty.com is not a travel agency: its goal is to simplify the search for green travel. Greenty.com has rated more than 3.000 hotels worldwide through its independent team of green travel experts using an assessment grid of 21 green criteria. Besides, the Greenty community of eco-consumers contributes reviews to help enhance the search experience. www.greenty.com
An exclusive 15% discounted membership is offered to all of the EarthCheck members who decides to register their eco hotel with Greenty.com . For more information please send an email to   contact@greenty.com

About EC3 Global
EC3 Global is the world's largest certifier of sustainable travel and tourism operators. With more than 1200 clients in over 70 countries, the company's EarthCheck Program responds directly to the major
environmental problems facing the planet, including climate change, waste reduction and non-renewable resource management. It provides benchmarking, certification and performance improvement systems that result in average first year savings of 30 per cent for energy and waste stream, and 20 per cent savings for water consumption. www.earthcheck.org

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