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Sustainability in the Tourism Industry: Real Standard or Just a Marketing Trend?
- Ray Gudrups
- Dec 28, 2025
- 4 min read
Sustainability in the Tourism Industry: Are We Asking the Right Questions?
Let’s start with an uncomfortable truth: sustainability in the tourism industry has become one of the most overused — and least challenged — concepts in travel.
Every destination is now eco. Every hotel claims to be green. Every operator promises responsible tourism.
Yet I live in Spain — and my neighbour town, Benidorm, is officially promoted as a sustainable destination.
Anyone who has actually stood there, surrounded by concrete towers, dense traffic, extreme water usage, and year-round mass tourism, understands why that label feels deeply contradictory.
This isn’t about attacking a single destination. It’s about questioning an industry-wide habit of accepting labels without asking what they truly represent.
Who Defines Sustainability in the Tourism Industry — and Who Enforces It?
On paper, sustainability sounds clear.
Organizations like the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) define it as:
Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
In theory, that’s solid.
In practice, sustainability in the tourism industry is often reduced to token gestures:
Recycling programs
Energy-efficient lighting
Linen reuse policies
Meanwhile, deeper issues are ignored:
Overtourism and resource depletion
Cultural commodification
Unequal revenue distribution
Ecosystem degradation
For tour operators and agencies building products, this isn’t philosophical — it’s a strategic risk.
Certifications: Structured on Paper, Fragile in Reality
There is an international framework — but it’s voluntary.
Bodies like:
GSTC (criteria and accreditation)
Green Globe and EarthCheck (certification schemes)
Tourism Sustainability Certifications Alliance (TSCA) (alignment and standards)
These function similarly to ISO systems — offering guidance, not enforcement.
Here’s the uncomfortable part:
There is no binding global authority policing sustainability in the tourism industry.
Most certifications rely on:
Self-assessments
Fee-based audits
Limited on-site verification
Rare revocation of status
The system is designed to include participants — not to exclude violators.
That’s where greenwashing quietly enters the room.
Mexico: Sustainability Messaging vs. Ground Reality
In Mexico — where Sacbe helps agencies build resilient, long-term itineraries — the gap between branding and reality is impossible to ignore.
The Riviera Maya is full of GSTC-aligned eco-resorts promising:
Conservation
Community uplift
Low-impact luxury
Yet the region generates hundreds of tons of waste daily, much of it plastic that strains landfills and pollutes reefs.
Places like Holbox show what happens when sustainability branding runs ahead of planning:
Sewage infrastructure under pressure
Rapid overdevelopment
Ecosystems sacrificed for demand
Indigenous and local communities often see minimal long-term benefit — highlighting how sustainability can become a veneer over extraction.
For operators selling Mexico, this matters: Today’s travelers are informed. Tomorrow’s backlash is real.
Peru, Heritage Sites, and the Illusion of Control
Peru offers another warning sign.
Machu Picchu and reserves like Manu Biosphere are praised globally for conservation efforts. Visitor caps exist. Routes are regulated.
And yet:
Foot traffic continues to erode sacred spaces
Climate threats amplify “last-chance tourism.”
Pressure increases to monetize icons rather than disperse demand
We’ve seen similar dynamics in Bacalar, Mexico — where growth raced ahead of governance.
Sustainability in the tourism industry cannot coexist with unchecked volume. Something always breaks first: culture, nature, or community trust.
Has Anyone Ever Lost a Sustainability Badge?
Rarely — and that’s telling.
Most certification bodies:
Avoid public revocations
Depend financially on member fees
Lack of enforcement teeth
If sustainability were truly policed like aviation safety or food standards, many destinations would fail overnight.
Instead, badges remain — and confidence stays inflated.
Greenwashing: The Industry’s Open Secret
Greenwashing thrives on vague language:
“Eco-friendly”
“Conscious travel”
“Responsible experiences”
Without metrics, transparency, or accountability, these words mean whatever marketing needs them to mean.
EU regulators are now scrutinizing sustainability claims more aggressively — and that pressure will only increase.
For agencies, blindly trusting a badge is no longer safe.
The Hard Truth: The Most Sustainable Experiences Don’t Advertise Themselves
Ironically, the most sustainable travel experiences often:
Exist in rural or remote areas
Are run by families or communities
Have no certifications
Don’t scale fast
Avoid mass exposure
They don’t look good on pitch decks. They don’t win awards. They don’t trend online.
But they:
Keep money local
Preserve culture
Reduce environmental strain
Create real long-term value
Maybe the Problem Is the Word Itself
Perhaps sustainability in the tourism industry isn’t failing —perhaps the word is exhausted.
Maybe we should talk less about sustainability and more about:
Carrying capacity
Fair distribution
Cultural respect
Long-term stewardship
Those don’t fit neatly on a badge.
But they matter far more.
Final Thought for Tour Operators
If you’re building tours today, don’t ask:
“Is this certified sustainable?”
Ask:
Who benefits economically?
What breaks if demand doubles?
Would this experience survive without tourism hype?
Because sustainability isn’t a logo.
It’s a responsibility — and one the industry can no longer afford to fake.
— Ray Gudrups, Founder, Sacbe Consultancy
If you want to pressure-test your itineraries honestly — without greenwashing or guesswork — that’s exactly what we do.
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