Over the past 20 years, the hospitality industry has experienced a continuous increase in various 'stamps of approval', especially at the sustainable front. A few large certification bodies with extensive criteria catalogues dominate the market but hoteliers and consumers alike are still struggling to differentiate the reputable and credible ones from the home-made seals of approval. A growing number of hotel chains and independent operators have opted for external, third-party certification in regards to their hygiene and sanitation standards in light of the current pandemic. Is there an increased interest in micro-certification? Why not look for a plastic-free certification? What about a carbon natural certification or a water-efficient certification? A plant-based restaurant certification? So micro certifications with low-barriers of entry for hoteliers who could build their sustainability endeavours along micro-certification, like pieces of a puzzle. Would micro-certification facilitate consumers' understanding of the meaning and intention of certification?

Julia Massey
Julia Massey
Founder & Consultant, ESG Manager

I see various certifications being complementary and serving different purposes. There are already multiple “micro-certifications”, related to the origin and qualities of products: FSC, FairTrade, MSC, Rainforest Alliance, Nordic Ecolabel, Energy Star, Gold Standard, or VCS for carbon offsetting, etc, etc. They are indeed better recognizable to sustainability-conscious customers when choosing a product.

On the other hand, we have the ISO-series of certifications related to the processes and procedures of various aspects of activity management, which might be already more confusing for a customer, as the customer buys a product, rather than management of a business. In the universe of sustainable hospitality certification, different certifications provide various systematic approaches to building a sustainable system, where the use of certified products forms part of recommendations or requirements. It could be rather a matter of choosing a methodological approach in the selection of a hotel sustainability certification, i.e. how a hotel would like to develop its sustainable management.

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