2024 saw us have what we classed as a bumper year. We were thrilled and humbled to win Gold in the NSW Tourism Awards in the Ecotourism category. We went on to the Australian Tourism Awards, representing NSW, where we were Highly Commended and also finalists in several other awards, including Sustainability and Sustainable Tourism.
While we were delighted by these wins, we also felt a heavy sense of responsibility. One of the obligations of winning awards, at least in our view, is to use this profile to promote the cause of Ecotourism and to raise some of the issues in the field. As tourism is an international industry, I wanted to ensure I understood the international context. Here is what I learned.
The international context
- In 2021, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation declared a climate emergency, urging the tourism industry to halve emissions by 2030 and reach net zero as soon as possible, before 2050. Some 900 tourism organisations, including national, regional, and city-based tourism bodies (e.g., Argentina, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Finland, The Netherlands, Scotland, Orkney, Fife, Inverness, Vancouver, Quebec, Dublin, Belfast, Barcelona, Helsinki, Valencia to mention a few) have signed the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism (Glasgow Declaration) committing their tourism industries to these targets.
- In 2023 the EU Parliament proposed their Green Claims Directive aiming to:
- Make green claims reliable, comparable, and verifiable across the EU
- Protect consumers from greenwashing, banning the use of generic terms like ‘eco-friendly’, etc
- Contribute to creating a green economy by enabling consumers to make informed purchasing decisions
- Help establish a level playing field when it comes to the environmental performance of products/ services.
- The EU Green Claims Directive will also apply to tourism only permitting green claims to be made if they are backed by verifiable and internationally recognised certifications. This Directive is due to come into effect in September 2026.
- Booking.com Travel and Sustainability Report (2025) noted that 84% of travellers world-wide wanted to travel more sustainably. In a previous survey (2023) they noted that 74 % wanted to travel sustainably but didn’t know how to assess the veracity of eco claims.
How does Australia measure up?
Well, in comparison, very little.
- To date, neither Tourism Australia nor any of the Australian state, regional or city tourism bodies have signed the Glasgow Declaration. None of them.
- Guest accommodation in Australia can greenwash their operations using flimsy terms like ‘eco-friendly’ and can self-declare their stay as ‘eco’ without any nationally or internationally recognised certifications. In many cases, particularly where farm-stays are concerned, self-declared ‘eco’ claims are based on little more than a water tank, a solar panel and a rural view. As far as I am aware, there are no plans to develop an Australian version of the EU Green Claims Directive.
And from the perspective of the travelling public?
The 84% that want to travel more sustainably? Permitting stays to self-brand as ‘eco’ or ‘sustainable’, is confusing for guests wanting to be conscious consumers.
At best, self-declared claims give the false impression that the guest has made a responsible choice when in fact there is almost no verifiable evidence to the accommodation providers’ claim. At worst, this is deceptive and misleading behaviour by the accommodation provider.What are we doing?
How Highfield Measures Up
Where is Highfield Farm and Woodland and our farm stay Kestrel Nest EcoHut positioned regarding these international developments? It is a very fair question.
Emissions Reduction
In terms of halving emissions and reaching net zero, we are 26 years ahead of the game here at Highfield Farm and Woodland. In 2024, we were estimated to be capturing more emissions than we produce in our farming, livestock, distribution, sales, Kestrel Nest and related tours. Local Land Services calculation using the National Stewardship Trading Platforms Calculator. Not ACCU-certified or tradeable. We report this on our website Greenhouse Emissions Page and via social media.
This has come not by buying offsets but by instituting numerous environmental projects on farm and by our low input, low food mile approach to our farm produce.
Nationally and Internationally recognised certifications
We have achieved the internationally recognised Advanced Ecotourism and Climate Action certifications under Ecotourism Australia and the nationally recognised Sustainable Tourism and EcoStar certifications by the Australian Tourism Industry Council.
Social Licence
Achieving and going beyond net zero and gaining internationally recognised ecotourism certifications means that we are well within and exceed both international and EU expectations. This gives us a great social licence to trade.
Destination NSW
To give credit, our state tourism organisation Destination NSW has made recent efforts to nudge tourism businesses towards ‘eco’ and ‘sustainability’ status by:
- Distinguishing stays with internationally recognised certifications with a green leaf on its industry listings.
- Promoting the Strive 4 Sustainability Scorecard.
- Promoting the Sustainability Tool Kit – a collaboration with Austrade and EarthCheck. We as industry stakeholders were consulted on its development.
- Holding workshops on creating EV friendly experiences and providing incentives for the installation of EV chargers.
While these are valuable initiatives to raise the profile of and encourage tourism providers to adopt more sustainable practices, they do not deter short stay providers from making insubstantial and unsubstantiated claims. Destination NSW has not signed the Glasgow Declaration.
Lobbying
Upon winning the NSW Tourism Awards, we received letters of congratulations from state and federal ministers of tourism, as well as from Destination NSW. We thanked them and responded by raising the very points we had made here, and asked them to comment.
The response? Silence.
None of the leaders in our industry responded at all to the issues raised. I have decided to bring these issues to our followers and former guests via this blog.
Action
In a country with the highest rate of extinction that has already experienced the catastrophic results of climate change in volatile weather, violent storms, and horrific bushfires, our tourism industry really does need to be doing better.
This starts at the top. Our national and state tourism authorities really do need to provide leadership by signing Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism. Signing the declaration and communicating why will send a strong message to the industry and help to drive change. And the industry needs to provide ways that guests can trust the eco and sustainable claims made.
NSW is the number-one visitor destination in Australia and a must-see state for international guests. Our tourism offer competes internationally and therefore, international initiatives such as the declaration of a Climate Emergency, the signing of the Glasgow Declaration and adopting anti-greenwashing initiatives such as the Green Claims Directive of the EU set important benchmarks for our industry to reach.
Further Information
- Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency
- Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism and signatories
- The EU Green Claims Directive
Two organisations that oversee internationally recognised certifications in Australia comment on the EU Green Claims Directive:
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