EasyJet holidays has brought out an ‘eco-certified’ collection of holidays to make it easier for consumers to make sustainable holiday choices.
The hotels will be identified by a green leaf motif on the tour operator’s website to indicate they are eco certified and have a Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) certificate or meet GSTC certified standards for hotels.
This signifies the accommodation meets the ‘highest social and environmental standards on the market’ as it is the highest assurance level that currently exists, said easyJet holidays.
The operator has also put together a new webpage on sustainable holidays to help clients choose hotels with a sustainability certificate and pick the right holiday for them.
Customer and operations director Matt Callaghan said: “We know from our own research sustainability is an important factor when booking a holiday, and that consumers are looking to cut their impact on the environment when going abroad.
“As travel starts to thrive again, our customers are actively seeking more information and asking more questions, which is why we’re making it clear to them what makes their holiday a sustainable choice by launching our ‘eco certified’ range, which includes all our GSTC certified hotels and hotels meeting GSTC recognised standards.”
He insisted holidaymakers would not have to pay more to book sustainable hotels.
“We’re passionate about offering holidays that don’t cost the earth, and it’s our mission to always provide brilliant value for money, so I’m thrilled this new range shows that our customers can make smart choices to do both,” he added.
EasyJet holidays became a member of the GSTC in September 2021 and is encouraging all its hotel partners to achieve certification by 2025 and working with them to understand the benefits of doing so.
The GSTC is a global membership organisation, created to manage global standards across travel and tourism, GSTC Criteria, and increase knowledge and understanding of sustainable tourism practices through the adoption of sustainable tourism practices.
Randy Durban, chief executive, GSTC, said: “We applaud easyJet holidays’ move to feature certified hotels both to ‘green’ their own product line but to use their contracting power to push hotels at their destinations to step up to higher levels of sustainability.”
In 2021 easyJet holidays brought out its inaugural sustainability strategy. It was the first major UK tour operator to offset carbon emissions from its package holidays.