Tourism ecolabels
Tourism ecolabels are common yet disorganized. They can be set up by industries, individuals, businesses, organizations, or government bodies. Scales range from single actions to worldwide designations. It is unclear how much influence they have on clients' purchase decisions.
Ecolabels
Ecolabels are derived from labels. Labels are straightforward descriptions of something that is related to a product or activity. Customers can obtain information from ecolabels in addition to the actual product or service. Words, visuals, fixed, trustworthy, and local qualities can all be used to create ecolabels. The social, political, and economic dimensions of an ecolabel will determine how tourists respond to it. Nowadays, ecolabeling is still not very common in tourism and few reached success. In a scenario where different stakeholders are interested in pushing for ecolabels, the tourism sector is significantly improved, and the benefits enjoyed.
Reflective commentary
Ecolabels can achieve significant success in tourism only if they are set at the right time following proper procedures. Equality, efficiency and appropriate evolution methods for ecolabels will aid in promoting tourism. The history of ecolabels can be traced back to the year 1987 when the Blue Flag for coastal zones in Europe was introduced (Gallastegui, 2017). In the following year, it was both economically and socially acknowledged by the citizens in most European countries. Good ecolabels in tourism should follow some set principles, questions that need to be asked will always revolve around the ecolabels sustainable strategy, some visitors, protection of cultural heritage of the local area of destination, environmental quality protection, and transparency. The public should always be informed of all changes that are being made on the pre-existing ecolabels so as to ensure they are aware of everything that goes on around them as a way of minimizing conflicts.
Eco organizations
Eco organizations may assess ecolabels differently; external experts may be sent in the field to evaluate the projects, or they can be offered directly through the office. The aim of making ecolabels efficient is ensuring that tourism activities are sustainable and no environmental degradation can be experienced through tourism (Buckley, 2017). Regional, national, and international certificate labels that recognize sustainable businesses and services in the tourism and hospitality industry exist. These ecolabels may be fundamental to some extent to focus on some areas of the tourism sector and not others. An example is the one that focuses mainly on environmental criteria like the Green Key label. The environment is one key pillar to sustainability; others will include social and economic components. Tourism Sustainability Council (TSC) is the one mandated to establish the sustainability criteria for tourism and hospitality firms all over the world. Eco-labels will always help tourists make decisions on choosing their destinations. This implies in the mere fact that one will tend to prefer visiting policies that are less polluted compared to the ones that experience more pollution. Jurisdictions in the tourist attraction areas have to ensure they set and put into place achievable and realistic ecolabels (Nils Kraus, 2017).
References
Buckley, R. (2017). Retrieved from http://cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20023005474
Galarraga Gallastegui, I. (2017). The use of eco-labels: a review of the literature.
Nils Kraus, N. (2017). The Rise of Eco Labels in Tourism. TOURISM REVIEW. Retrieved from http://tourism-review.com/eco-labels-in-tourism-can-be-trusted-news5084
