Just wanted to share news of TripAdvisors New Green Leaders program and Northern Edge Algonquin,the Algonquin Park nature retreat recently completed the application process and achieved a Platinum Level standard which recognizes the outstanding commitment to sustainable tourism operations and eco-friendly practices.
All GreenLeader hotels and B&Bs must apply to the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders Programme. If accepted, GreenLeaders achieve one of four statuses: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The higher the status, the greater the impact of a property’s green practices.
The Green Leaders icon has been added to Northern Edge Algonquin TripAdvisor listing. By adding the Green Leader Badge to the Algonquin Park accommodation listing, travellers have another way to be assured accommodations follow best practices in sustainable tourism.
“If there is anything we can do to grow sustainable tourism it’s promoting organizations that follow best practices. We’re proud to be the first Algonquin Park accommodator with a level of distinction provided by the Green Leaders Platinum Level membership,” said Todd Lucier, co-founder of Northern Edge Algonquin nature retreat at Algonquin Park.
There are two ways tourism businesses can be recognized for green practices – certification and award recognition. TripAdvisor is already the worlds most popular website for travel is well positioned to both certify and recognize green leaders.
Lucier said, “Although the Edge has been recognized previously for our eco-friendly Algonquin Park practices by Ontario Tourism and the Canadian Tourism Awards, this new stamp recognizes our ongoing approach to sustainability in a the most visited tourism website in the world (TripAdvisor.com). I have long been an advocate for sustainable tourism awards as opposed to certification because of the cost of assuring certification compliance is usually put on operators making most certification systems really expensive. “
Many certifying agencies exist such as Green Key, Green Globe and others. The International Ecotourism Society has a helpful sustainable tourism certification and standards resource addressing a number of issues related to certication.
TripAdvisor’s program is innovative in that the tourism operator can complete a complete a comprehensive survey-based tool that results in recognition for accommodators with green practices. TripAdvisor assigns accommodators a certification level based on their sustainable practices reported.
In TripAdvisor’s ecosystem, the guest review system is the quality assurance system. TripAdvisor members assure operators deliver the quality services they promise. Certification of an operators green practices is ensured because in essence any guest could report an operator’s practices if they didn’t comply with the standards of green leadership.
TripAdvisor’s Green Leaders program seems to do both provide recognition (award in the form of a badge linking to green practices) and certification (crowd-sourcing compliance with guest reviews). The Green Leaders program recognizes leaders while crowd-sourcing the sometimes expensive certification process, replacing it with member reviews.
Kudos TripAdvisor for this innovative program and congrats to the team at Northern Edge Algonquin, Algonquin Park’s #1 Experience provider on TripAdvisor and now the premier Algonquin Park accommodation venue with a Green Leader designation!
Learn more about TripAdvisor Green Leader Program:
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/GreenLeaders
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