Last week, Booking.com announced that from 25 March, it is changing its approach to sustainability on its site. With more than 28 million accommodation listings around the globe, this is one of the leading travel marketplaces.
In December last year, I wrote on Travel Tomorrow about greenwashing. I pointed out that there are only two ways in which greenwashing by businesses can be constrained: by government regulation and fines and by compensation claims by consumers for misselling. I applauded Booking.com for its transparent approach: “Booking.com’s encouragement of businesses on their platform to declare their sustainability actions is welcome because consumers are enabled to seek compensation for misselling caused by greenwashing.”
In July, I asked on Travel Tomorrow whether certification is the answer and concluded that it is not. Again, I lauded Booking.com: “Booking.com has encouraged businesses on its platform to include the sustainability measures they are taking in their listing. Increasingly knowledgeable travellers will enforce this listing as customers seek compensation for misselling when they fail to deliver on their promise.”
Booking.com have decided to focus on third-party certification. They say that they “remain committed to supporting [their partners], your guests and the broader industry as we strive to make more sustainable travel choices easier for everyone.” Booking.com thinks that incoming regulations will bring “more clarity regarding sustainability communication … making it easier for travellers to make more informed choices.”
I beg to differ. Consumers are looking for sustainable accommodation, transport and attractions but report that they are unable to find it. Among the concerns I raised in July are:
- Certification does not make it possible to identify a hotel in a water-scarce area that uses the least water per guest night or the one with the best employment conditions. The labels are opaque and fail to provide the consumer with the information they need to make a meaningful decision. They may book a certified business only to find that it has poor labour conditions or uses water profligately.
- If you book a certified hotel and find that as you enter the room, the lights are on, the TV is telling you who you are, and the temperature is set at 15°, there is little you can effectively do. If you go to the front desk, they will blame the room attendant. Their job is difficult enough. I, for one, have no intention of making their employment situation worse. I have no claim against the hotel, their defence will be that they do not award themselves their green certification.
Certification may be the safest form of greenwashing. It certainly denies consumers information about what sustainability measures the business delivers and any means of holding the business to account for misselling.
We shall see what happens as governments attempt to reduce greenwashing, most notably through the new EU Green Claims Directive. It remains to be seen whether or not we shall see the end of greenwashing next year.
