Ecolabelling for tourism enterprises: What, why and how

Abstract

This report has been produced as part of the Interreg VB project PROWAD LINK, Protect and Prosper: Benefits through linking sustainable growth with nature protection. PROWAD LINK aims to unlock the potential of natural heritage areas as a driver for sustainable development and job growth. The project partners are striving to engage with Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in nature conservation, to develop nature as a brand and create mutual benefits for both SMEs and the environment. Partners in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands (The Wadden sea World Heritage site), Norway (Geiranger area, northern part of World Heritage site West Norwegian Fjords) and the United Kingdom (The Wash and North Norfolk Coast) are working together to develop sustainable products and services. This report on ecolabels for tourism enterprises is a desk study directed towards SMEs within, or connected to, the aforementioned Natural Heritage Sites. Our hope is that this report will also be of value to others interested in ecolabelling and working within the field of sustainability. A draft of the report has been published and circulated among the project partners before a finalised report was developed. While finalizing this report the corona virus situation has evolved and the consequences have profoundly altered the situation for tourism businesses. The content should still be of use and we hope the reader is able to ignore potential inconsistencies in the text due to this sudden change of context.