This new tool lets you check the sustainability credentials of hotels before you book This new tool lets you check the sustainability credentials of hotels before you book

Alongside boasting about the size of the pool and sharing a long list of amenities, hotels often put their sustainability efforts front and centre of their advertising. But actually verifying these green credentials is far more difficult, and greenwashing is prevalent across the industry.

This new tool is set to challenge this trend by making sustainability data more accessible, credible and comparable throughout the travel sector.

Launched by Travalyst, a not-for-profit organisation founded by Prince Harry in 2019, the Data Hub publicly shares certifications, standards, and schemes to help accommodation providers assess their environmental impact and show their progress to potential customers.

Travalyst’s CEO Sally Davey said of the news, “This is a unique industry solution. Nothing exists with this level of potential, and we’re just getting started.”

Data Hub’s initial version focuses on providing accommodation data for establishments’ environmental footprint across five categories: energy, waste, water, biodiversity & ecosystems and destination & community.

This data is reviewed by an Independent Advisory Group, then distributed by Travalyst’s partners, including Booking.com, Expedia and Google, and shared with travellers on these platforms.

The new initiative follows on from its scaling up of Google’s Travel Impact Model, helping measure the impact of flights. Yannis Simaiakis, Director Travel and Local Partnerships EMEA, Google, said, “We believe that the accommodation space is the next big area for the industry to drive change.”

Data Hub is currently free to contribute data and to distribute it across Travalyst’s partner channels for display to travellers and businesses.

Later versions are set to incorporate biodiversity and social sustainability data, encompassing accommodation, destinations, rail, and end-to-end journeys.

More information: travalyst.org/work/data-hub

Read next: What is travel greenwashing?