BeCause, the Danish start-up revolutionizing how the global hospitality, travel, and tourism industries manage their sustainability data, is partnering with the Global Destination Sustainability – Movement (GDS-Movement) to help tourism and event organizations, including Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVBs), Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), gain unprecedented insight into their region's sustainable accommodations and offerings.

Members of GDS-Movement, an international change agency that acts to catalyze socio-economic and environmental transformation in regions and cities through tourism, can now access a specially designed data overview on the BeCause platform that shows them a real-time, comprehensive view of the sustainability status of their destination's hospitality landscape. Specifically, they will be able to quickly see which hotels, restaurants, attractions, beaches and experiences have valid sustainability certifications, which will provide them with a trustworthy foundation for building a targeted sustainability strategy.

A Game-Changing Approach to Sustainability Data

Prior to BeCause, destinations could only obtain this information by manually matching each certification to the accommodations and hospitality services in their coverage zone – an error-prone, laborious process that kept DMOs and NTOs from promoting their full range of sustainable offerings.

As the only sustainability data management hub tailored for the visitor economy, BeCause works with over 70 eco-certification bodies including globally-recognized organizations like Green Key, Travalyst, Global Sustainable Tourism Council, Green Sign and EarthCheck. Its platform enables the seamless exchange of sustainability information between these organizations, hotels and other key stakeholders such as booking platforms, travel retailers and tourism organizations, significantly streamlining the data flow.

One of the greatest challenges destinations face today is accessing accurate data about the sustainability practices of their supply chains. Our partnership with BeCause directly addresses this challenge, helping DMOs, CVBs, and NTOs create more regenerative, resilient destinations that benefit both visitors and residents. By utilizing the BeCause platform, destinations participating in the GDS-Index will be able to assess their environmental performance more efficiently, complete the index faster, and communicate their sustainability initiatives more effectively to stakeholders, including governments, clients, and visitors.Guy Bigwood, CEO of GDS-Movement

Meeting demand for sustainable travel

According to a 2024 Booking.com survey, 75% of global travelers say they want to travel more sustainably in the short term, while 89% of business travelers say they are taking extra steps to reduce the environmental impact of their travel. Access to sustainable travel options is also a key consideration for meetings and event planners, with 13% of those surveyed for the American Express 2024 Global Meetings and Events Forecast ranking sustainability as among the top two factors influencing where they choose to hold their events and 39% admitting that they struggle to identify sustainability certified suppliers.

In today's always on and information hungry world, VisitEngland recognizes the need to ensure our destinations have access to data that is both trustworthy and accurate. VisitEngland is working with BeCause to ensure access to their platform can help England's tourism industry meet the growing demands of visitors seeking environmentally responsible experiences, from which attraction to check out and which destination to discover to where best to stay to suit their needs," says Andrew Stokes, Director of VisitEngland, the first destination to pilot the BeCause-powered data hub.

By having the data overview from BeCause, organizations like VisitEngland can zoom in on specific regions and get a thorough overview of offerings in real-time, as well as information on those certifications. This will enable NTOs and DMOs to gain unforeseen insights into the status and trends within their own destination, greatly empowering their strategic work with sustainability and building a data-led decision setup. Furthermore, it will enable them to address greenwashing claims head-on backed up by validated data and enhance their credibility as trusted sources for sustainability information on the destinations.

Building Trust Through Data

"Trust is the foundation of sustainability," said Frederik Steensgaard, CEO of BeCause. "By automating the verification of sustainability claims with direct communication from certification bodies, we ensure that trust is prioritized across the entire value chain - from consumers to tourism organizations."

About BeCause

BeCause is an enterprise software company that enables sustainability data to flow simpler, faster and cheaper so travel and tourism companies can positively impact people, the planet and their profits. BeCause works with over 17,000+ companies, including sustainability-certified hotels, eco-labels, certification entities like GreenKey, industry partners including UN GSTC and marketplaces including Booking.com. The BeCause Sustainability Management Hub allows organizations to collect and display all their communication about their sustainability efforts in one place, empowering them to make sustainability manageable for their operations and a competitive advantage for their business. For more information, visit because.eco.