Which sustainability accreditation program should I choose?
How can a tourism business owner in Australia easily figure out which sustainability accreditation program is best for their needs?
For example,
Which program is best if you’d like your accommodation business listed on Booking.com as sustainable accommodation?
Which program is best if you’d like to identify where to improve your business’ sustainability?
Here’s a quick overview of the Australian options for all types of tourism businesses to get you started!
Options that are not internationally recognised
(pathway to accreditation programs)
There are three options that are quicker and cheaper to complete. These programs can help a business owner identify what they are currently doing well as well as gaps to work on in the environmental, socio-cultural, and business management aspects of their business’ sustainability.
Sustainable Tourism Accreditation by Australian Tourism Industry Council (ATIC)
Cost: $319 for a micro business, $594 for a small business.
EcoStar Accreditation by ATIC
For tourism businesses that demonstrate a higher level of environmental management than required by ATIC’s Sustainable Tourism Accreditation.
Cost: $100/year for businesses with Quality Tourism Accreditation (which has a fee), and state Tourism Industry Council membership (which has an annual fee).
Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard by Ecotourism Australia
The Scorecard is not a certification or accreditation, but a benchmark you can use to improve your business’ sustainability. Its report will provide you with tailored feedback identifying where you can improve. The Scorecard uses 1/3 of the same criteria from Ecotourism Australia’s globally recognised Sustainable Tourism Certification.
Cost: $275
Time: Approximately one day to complete
Internationally recognised options
There are two Australian certifiers who meet the internationally recognised standards of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) which establishes and manages global standards for sustainable travel and tourism.
These are
Ecotourism Australia, a not-for-profit that only certifies Australian tourism businesses.
Earthcheck, a for-profit business which certifies tourism businesses around the world.
There are other non-Australian certifiers, such as Green Globe and Green Key.
Sustainable Tourism Certification by Ecotourism Australia
Cost: From $1,045/year for a microbusiness, $1,375/year for a small business.
Time: Typically 3-6 months
ECO Certification by Ecotourism Australia
This accreditation is nature-based experiences.
There are three levels:
Nature Tourism – Tourism in natural areas that leaves minimal impact on the environment.
Ecotourism – Tourism in a natural area that focuses on optimal resources use, leaves minimal impact on the environment, and offers ways to learn about the environment with operators that use resources wisely, contribute to conserving the environment and help local communities.
Advanced Ecotourism – Australia’s leading and most innovative ecotourism businesses that operate with minimal impact on the environment and provide opportunities to learn about the environment with operators who are committed to achieving best practice, using resources wisely, contributing to conserving the environment and helping local communities.
Cost: From $1,045/year for a microbusiness, $1,375/year for a small business.
Our own journey
We have been wanting to go through the B Corp certification for a few years now. It is quite rigorous, and as a small team, we have struggled to find the time to engage with its 200 questions with the detail required.
We undertook Ecotourism Australia’s Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard in early 2023. It was quick (about six hours) and not difficult, and it was great to get a report back from a sustainability expert with personalised advice, and be able to share our scorecard with clients.
To support our BCorp application, we measured 2023-24 emissions using the free ecoBiz carbon calculator with support (available to Queensland businesses). Tilma Group has no Scope 1 or 2 emissions (e.g. no business-owned vehicles or offices), so we offset our Scope 3 emissions of staff travel and goods and services we purchase such as business travel, and our rented co-working space (which does not use renewable energy!)