On the occasion of the World Tourism Day, Google unveiled a new set of tools in order to help companies from the travel and tourism industry connect with potential costumers.
Starting this week, whenever a user googles for attractions, such as the Eiffel Tower, a new ticket module will appear that will show booking links for space entry and other options, when available. Travel partners will also be able to promote their free flight booking links – similar to the hotel free booking links launched earlier this year. This new tool is available globally, in English.
Another tool is the promotion of sustainable hotels within google.com/travel. Google has observed, through research data, that people are increasingly looking for sustainable travel options. For example, searches for “green hotels” have grown continuously since 2004 (with the exception of a drop during the early stages of the pandemic). To help make sustainable choices easier, starting this month when you search for hotels on google.com/travel, the “about” tab will show a list of “eco-friendly” hotels.
Finally, Google is also joining, as a founding member, the Travalyst coalition to help develop an open, global model to calculate and display carbon emissions from air travel and contribute to the development of similar standards for hotels.
“We’re excited to continue this endeavour with Google as a member of the Travalyst Coalition, delivering on this unique opportunity to build positive, transformative change in travel. The Google travel team has committed globally to helping consumers make more sustainable travel choices, and their approach aligns strongly with Travalyst’s collaboration principles”, said Sally Davey, Chief Executive Officer of Travalyst.
Led by Prince Henry, The Duke of Sussex, in partnership with Booking, Google, Skyscanner, Trip Group, Tripadvisor, and Visa, Travalyst is a non-profit organisation working to identify – and help bring about – the systemic changes needed in order for sustainable travel to be taken out of the niche, and into the mainstream.
