The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) manages the “GSTC Criteria”, which are global standards for sustainable travel and tourism; as well as providing international accreditation for sustainable tourism Certification Bodies. Here they outline best practice criteria for a tour operator to become certified.
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Driven by a passion for travel and a deep appreciation of the benefits it can bring to people and places around the world, TerraVerde was founded by industry leaders to help travel companies respond to the climate crisis.
Our mission is to ensure that the industry we love thrives, whilst minimising the impact on the natural resources on which we all depend.
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We have reduced the impact of our business by: 
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TerraVerde Sustainability Ltd, a company registered in England no.13053700
We are ready to support you on your sustainability journey.
Email us on [email protected]. If you’d prefer to talk, call Patrick on +44 7468 122 224 or Chris on +44 7740 397 600, alternatively request a call-back by completing the form below:
Patrick’s 35-year career spans leadership and transformational roles across the travel sector. This includes a 20-year stint on the executive committee of GTA, the pioneer in the hotel bedbank and groups segments, sold to Cendant for $1.1 billion in 2005. Post ’05, the company owners included Blackstone’s Travelport and Kuoni. As a core member of the management team, Richards drove change and revived growth. Joining Cox and Kings in 2013, as Chief Commercial Officer, he modernised the commercial face and globalised the group, additionally being appointed President of the business’ arm in the Americas and Ezeego1 Board Director (the on-line sister brand).
Between 2007-2014, Richards chaired the European Tourism Association (ETOA). Remaining as a director (from 2015 to 2021); he took on board-level responsibility for the association’s drive on positive climate action. It quickly became apparent to him that a real gap existed between travel & tourism’s sustainability rhetoric and real adoption across the commercial sector. This led to the creation of TerraVerde. Today, additional board roles are held in trade association the Nordic Tourism Collective, and an innovative tourism e-learning start-up LVG Learning.
Daria is an analyst providing research support across a wide range of projects. With 5+ years of experience in social media marketing & community management, she is now applying her skillset in the sustainability field. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a MSc degree in Global Environmental Politics and has since been able to work with charities and businesses in the sustainability sector.
Alejandra is a political scientist, data analyst and social researcher with over 9 years of experience in the public and private sector. Alejandra is passionate in advocating for issues related with sustainability, social development, local communities, disadvantaged groups, climate change and gender equality.
Since 2015 she has specialised in applying mixed research methods for social puzzles such as gender violence, political leadership, COVID-19 pandemic, open justice, among others. Moreover, Alejandra has experience as a political writer, she has published several articales for various political magazines in Mexico regarding public opinion, game theory, political power distribution and international security.
Alejandra was born in Mexico and studied a MSc in Security, Peacebuilding and Diplomacy in the UK.
Marina is a sustainability consultant with the focus on environmental management, value chain impact creation and responsible resource management. A founder of a certified B-Corp sustainability practice and an advocate of inclusive, regenerative and triple bottom line economies, Marina is passionate about creating and enabling solutions that can help address social and environmental challenges.
Marina was born in Russia, educated in the UK, lived on 3 continents and worked in over 19 countries – which has helped her gain global outlooks across a variety of cultures and sectors.
Jo is skilled in all aspects of online marketing and e-commerce with over 15 years experience working predominately in the travel and retail sectors, she is commercially focused with proven success increasing traffic and revenue online.
Starting her career as an Interactive Graphic Designer for QVC Jo quickly became more involved in front-end design and coding, whilst developing a keen interest in usability and analytics. Joining the team at HotelConnect, as a Web Designer she progressed to Website Manager and finally to Head of Online before moving to Stanfords to work as their E-Commerce Manager.
Since 2013 Jo has been supporting a range of businesses with their branding, marketing strategies and e-commerce activities, whilst looking after her young family.
Chris is an entrepreneur and CEO with a 35-year career in travel, hotels, tailor-made luxury tour operating, hotel room distribution and short breaks. He advises international travel & tourism organisations, now concentrating on Sustainability.
For 18 years, Chris was CEO of HotelConnect Ltd, a company he founded in 1993 as one of the first accommodation only sellers. HotelConnect was the first hotel supplier to sell rooms on any UK low cost airline website and one of the very first to launch online transactional hotel booking. HotelConnect became universally recognised for excellence in customer service and quality checked accommodation, winning many awards for its call centre and internet booking systems.
John is a commercially focused and innovative technologist with over 25 years-experience in the travel, retail & logistics sectors. Starting as a developer in the mid-1990s, John progressed rapidly through key technology positions for travel sector leaders GTA and Miki Travel.
This culminated in six years as the C.T.O. for JAC Travel, a technology driven, high-growth private equity owned business. John successfully integrated several acquisitions, leading the company’s technology through a period of hyper-growth and a high value re-investment process by Vitruvian Partners.
Since 2016 John has focused on consultancy: primarily delivering complex, technical due diligence audits for investors and vendor readiness reports for companies’ seeking investment. Exposure to over 100 high-performing businesses has given unrivalled insight into best practice in granular detail. Parallel interim leadership roles have been held, including an Enterprise Application Architect for FootballCo a private-equity backed carve-out from a digital media company; a Head of Engineering role for All Saints the high-street fashion retailer and other CIO roles.
The reality is that tourism is slower to adopt than other industries, e.g. only 1 in 10 independent hoteliers have embraced green credentials (UNWTO). However, therein lies an opportunity to get ahead! Understanding that tourism businesses lack time, money and practical advice, we’ve founded TerraVerde, tailoring our offer to help you climb the sustainability ladder. We firmly believe that most tourism leaders want to do the right thing, but the devastation of this last year, means survival is at the top of the agenda.
We at TerraVerde believe that sustainability will prove to be a cornerstone of the recovery process; sustainability is the new digital, the third element of competitiveness after price & product. We’ll focus on the opportunities and help you de-risk from the challenges. Costs can be saved, at best self-funding. Progress can be promoted with authenticity and some grants and subsidies are available. Large OTAs and tour operators are already setting standards and changing the market (Hotelbeds launches The Green Hotels Programme or TTC’s How we tread right (HWTR) sustainability strategy). However, smaller companies are agile and can respond effectively with smart business planning. TerraVerde helps large and small businesses. Our subscription-based model uses technology to deliver an affordable cost, avoids needing to employ in-house expertise or expensive consultants.
We know this must be measurable because anecdotes have led to so much “greenwashing”. After all, no-one would enter a board meeting without a profit and loss statement and the same is true for sustainability. We convert your consumptions into the single ‘currency’ of Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) endorsed by the international Greenhouse Gas Protocol. We are passionate about plugging you into the latest exciting technologies for reducing your carbon footprint and have over 100 years of travel industry experience to apply sustainable science sensibly to the realities of tourism.
EDIE reports that approx 90% of a company’s emissions can be found in its supply chain. Our lifetimes spent in supplier relations (hotels, transport, DMCs, DMOs) gives us insights into addressing this. We also closely monitor rising sustainability demand from operators in EMEA, APAC and the Americas.
TerraVerde is partnered with industry leaders in sustainability and tourism including the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and The European Tourism Association.
