Tourists are increasingly willing to seek more sustainable travel options, howerver finding those options in current distribution channels is not an easy task. The Green Travel Transformation project, lead by Leuphana University and sponsored by the Ministry of Research and Education, seeks to build the bridges between certified tourism providers and the market place. Creating the largest databese of sustainable products www.greentravelindex.com, the links between certified businesses and tour operators and travel agents was created. Simplified language that reflects the core demands of the traveler where identified and translated into core principles that can be used by travel agents to sell sustainable products. Training was provided to travel agents to be able to navigate the database as well as to engage travelers to sell sustainable products.
The core of the project remains the greentravelindex database that works with certifications to collect the information and clasify to incorporate in mainstream media through a Giata interphase. The information is already published in the catalogues of varios tour operators including Thomas Cook, through the signet of Nachhaltig or Sustainable Travel. This is an innovation for travel agents and tour operators to simplify and navigate the complex market of certification. Certified businesses can also register in the platform to link to suppliers. This meets a priorly unmet need to create market access for sustainable product.
