The World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Hotel Sustainability Basics ended its first year on a high, with more than 1 300 hotels verified across more than 30 countries worldwide in 2023.

The Hotel Sustainability Basics is an independent global sustainability verification programme, overseen by internationally recognised verifiers, Green Key and SGS.

The aim is for hotels worldwide, regardless of size, to follow a 12-step programme to reduce carbon emissions, protect and promote nature, and ensure local communities benefit from the hotel. 

It is achievable for all hotels to implement as a bare minimum and serves as a stepping-stone to more complex sustainability schemes. 

In its first year, Hotel Sustainability Basics has been endorsed by numerous global destinations such as the Caribbean, Mauritius, Colombia, Abu Dhabi, Azerbaijan, Mexico, and Ecuador. 

It has also been adopted by a number of major hotel brands around the world such as Jin Jiang, the world’s second biggest hotel group with more than 10 000 hotels, European hotel giant Louvre Hotel Group, and Radisson Hotel Group. 

Other major brands that have signed up include adventure travel specialist Intrepid, British Airways Holidays, HotelBeds, WebBeds, and Abercrombie & Kent. 

Together, this underscores a global commitment to sustainable travel and tourism from across the hospitality industry, and the global tourism body expects that thousands more hotels from all corners of the globe will adopt Hotel Sustainability Basics this year. 

Additionally, the recently announced partnership between WTTC and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council has cemented a clear pathway in the hospitality sustainability journey. This collaboration will establish a structured framework from the Basics towards advanced global standards for hotel sustainability. 

Julia Simpson, WTTC President and CEO, said: “Basics is a global programme to support hotels to cut emissions, support local communities and protect nature. It is the only independent scheme that gives hotels a helping hand to look at their environmental impact. The take up of Basics is going from strength to strength with whole countries committed to make real, lasting change. 

“As we look to the future, our focus remains on strengthening these efforts, ensuring that every step we take brings us closer to a unified vision of sustainability in hospitality. Hotel Sustainability Basics has gone from strength to strength in its first year and we’re expecting thousands more properties to adopt the initiative throughout 2024.”