easyJet holidays is making it easier for its customers to make sustainable choices for their holiday, by identifying a new ‘eco certified’ collection on its website.

The hotels included in the collection will be identified by a green leaf motif, and all have a Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) certification or have meet GSTC recognised standards for hotels. This means the accommodation complies with the highest social and environmental standards on the market, through the highest assurance level that exists.

A new webpage called ‘sustainable holidays’ will help customers identify which hotels have sustainability certification, to help them make a decision on a holiday that’s right for them. The collection can be viewed here.

In September 2021 the tour operator became one of the most prominent UK holiday providers to become a member of the GSTC and is encouraging all of its hotel partners to achieve certification by 2025, working with them to understand the benefits of becoming certified and the attributes of which they are certified against. The GSTC is a global membership organisation, formed to manage global standards for sustainable travel and tourism, the GSTC Criteria, and to foster increased knowledge and understanding of sustainable tourism practices through the adoption of universal sustainable tourism principles.

Matt Callaghan, easyJet holidays’ Customer & Operations Director, said:

“We know from our own research that sustainability is an important factor when booking a holiday, and that consumers are looking to cut their impact on the environment when going abroad.

“As travel starts to thrive again, our customers are actively seeking more information and asking more questions, which is why we’re making it clear to them what makes their holiday a sustainable choice by launching our ‘eco certified’ range, which includes all our GSTC certified hotels and hotels meeting GSTC recognised standards.

“We’re passionate about offering holidays that don’t cost the earth, and it’s our mission to always provide brilliant value for money, so I’m thrilled that this new range shows that our customers can make smart choices to do both.”

Randy Durban, GSTC CEO, said:

“We applaud easyJet holidays’ move to feature certified hotels both to ‘green’ their own product line but to use their contracting power to push hotels at their destinations to step up to higher levels of sustainability”

In 2021 easyJet holidays launched its inaugural sustainability strategy and became the first major UK tour operator to offset the carbon emissions from its package holidays, comprising the fuel used for flights and in-destination transfers, as well as the energy used from hotel stays. Read more about GSTC criteria.

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Notes to editors:

For more information, interview requests or imagery, please contact the team on Holidays.pressoffice@easyjet.com / 01582 525374

About easyJet holidays:

easyJet holidays offers great-value beach, city and lakes holidays to more than 100 destinations across Europe, directly through its website and through over 3000 travel agent partners. The ATOL-protected holidays company combines easyJet’s flexible flight programme, with handpicked hotels and best-in-class technology to provide hassle-free personalised holiday experiences which can be secured with a deposit of just £60 per person. The holidays operator is an ABTA member too, providing additional reassurance to customers under the UK’s most trusted travel scheme. With a range of holiday types, from adult and family to luxury and undiscovered, transfers included on beach holidays, 23kg hold luggage included on all bookings, and over 5,000 hotels, across over 500 resorts, customers can holiday the way they want.

All easyJet holidays are covered by its Protection Promise, an industry leading policy giving customers ultimate flexibility, protection and reassurance and letting them book with total confidence. The Promise offers a refund guarantee, freedom to change a booking, a reduced balance due date, a Best Price Guarantee, and deposit refunds.

About the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC)

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) establishes and manages global standards for sustainable travel and tourism, known as the GSTC Criteria. They are the result of a worldwide effort to develop a common language about sustainability in tourism.

The GSTC Criteria form the foundation for GSTC’s role in providing assurance for impartiality and competence of Certification Programs that certify hotels/accommodations, tour operators, and destinations as having sustainable policies and practices in place. GSTC does not directly certify any products or services; but it provides assurance for those that do.

The GSTC is an independent and neutral organization, legally registered in the USA as a 501(c)3 non-profit organisation that represents a diverse and global membership, including national and provincial governments, leading travel companies, hotels, tour operators, NGOs, individuals and communities – all striving to achieve best practices in sustainable tourism.