Tourexpi
ESG certification makes sense – but must be credible
How can a company prove its ESG commitment is
serious? How important are the numbers and certification, and what role does
storytelling play? Is greenwashing always deliberate, or are companies often
just unaware of it? On Thursday afternoon at the ITB Berlin Convention, Xenia
zu Hohenlohe and Dr. Willy Legard discussed these questions with tourism
professionals and experts from various countries, who in some cases had
differing views.
Hazel McGuire of the tour operator Intrepid Travel
said her company was happy with its B Corp certification. “It was the right
certification for our company. It takes the environment into account as well as
the impact on society, the supply chain and the question as to who profits“,
McGuire said. At the same time she conceded that in many cases certification
and sustainability did not decide holidaymakers’ booking choices. However, the
tour operator also found that whenever tour guides mentioned sustainability on
a trip and gave visitors the chance to experience it, customer satisfaction
increased significantly.
For Victoria Kanauer of the GreenSign Institute in
Berlin it was important for certification to be credible and awarded in
accordance with transparency guidelines and international standards. “Consumers
want to be sure certification has not been bought, but earned by fulfilling
high standards“, Kanauer said.
Rob Holmes of GLP Films said that in his work he
focused on the power of storytelling. Whenever he shot a film about
sustainability he checked the customer’s credentials beforehand. He also
believed it was important not to talk to the managers, but with the workers who
embodied the firm’s philosophy on the ground. Holmes had found that
greenwashing was rarely deliberate. Many companies were unaware of it. In those
cases it was important not to criticise the destination or provider, but to
help them improve.
Image
Credit: © Messe Berlin GmbH
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