Travelocity Launches Green Travel Directory

Travelocity has launched an eco-friendly directory to help travelers determine green from “green-washed.” In a recent Travelocity survey, 59 percent of respondents stated a “green” rating would have at least some influence in their hotel selection in 2009.

The green travel directory highlights properties and destinations already offering meaningful sustainability initiatives and is a trusted resource for consumers looking for eco-friendly options in 2009.

Additionally, to help create longer-term criteria for sustainable tourism, Travelocity is also an active member in the Partnership for the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC Partnership).

Travelocity fully supports the development of the first-ever, widely-accepted sustainable tourism criteria, which offer a common framework to guide the emerging practice of sustainable tourism and to help businesses, consumers, governments and universities ensure that tourism helps, rather than harms, local communities and the environment.

The GSTC Partnership will teach hotels and tour operators how to implement the criteria as well as qualify organizations as sustainable travel companies. As the GSTC Partnership criteria are fully implemented, Travelocity plans to employ the ratings program on the site.

Travelocity has developed a four-tier system based around the GSTC Partnership rating system, which helps determine if a business is truly making an effort at being ecologically and culturally responsible.

The site also features Rainforest Alliance and ENERGY STAR qualified properties. Rainforest Alliance is a leader in the GSTC Partnership effort, in concert with Travelocity, the United Nations Environment Program, the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Rainforest Alliance-recommended hotels are those certified by the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas, which implements the established GSTC baseline criteria.