Which country has the most sustainable stays?

Which country has the most sustainable stays?

Last year, Booking.com launched a first-of-its-kind credible, globally relevant sustainability measure that will provide highly coveted information to travelers all over the world looking to make more sustainable travel choices.

The badge is available to any kind of property that has implemented a combination of sustainable practices that meet the requisite impact threshold for their destination. It is designed to be applicable to a wide range of property types, from apartments, B&Bs and holiday homes to hotels, resorts and even treehouses, and adaptable to local realities and considerations.

As travel restrictions continue to lift and 70% of global travelers saying they would be more likely to choose a sustainable accommodation in 2022, Booking decided to analyze their own sustainable certification data to find out which countries currently have the most sustainable stays available to book on their site.

Top 10 countries with the most sustainable stays

According to the data, Italy has the most sustainable stays, with 11,689 properties available to book. Despite Italy’s relatively small size, the country has topped the list of green accommodation, with Brazil coming in second place with 7,256 sustainable properties and Germany in third place with 6,431 sustainably certified accommodation overall.

Sustainable stays in European countries

Having topped the list for sustainable properties worldwide, Italy and Germany take the first and second positions respectively for most sustainable properties available to book in Europe.

Spain comes in at third place with 5,856 properties with the sustainable certification/ badge. This will be welcome news for green-thinking travelers as Spain is tipped as one of the most popular destinations for 2022, with an ABTA survey revealing that 29.3% of respondents plan to visit Spain this year.

Sustainable stays in Asian countries

Countries in Asia are some of the most visited by tourists worldwide, forging a reputation with must-see attractions and idyllic, natural landscapes.

Whilst Thailand maintains its position as the tourism leader of the Southeast Asia region, with just under 39.8 million tourist arrivals in 2019 – the last full year pre-pandemic – it appears fourth on the list of sustainable stays in Asia, with India taking the top spot with 5,093 sustainably certified properties. This is followed by Indonesia with 1,649 properties and Vietnam with 1,391 properties.

Sustainable stays in Mid & South American countries

Countries near the equator are known for their stunning patchwork of beautiful landscapes with snow-capped mountains, spectacular jungles, and awe-inspiring deserts.

And in the years before the pandemic, the South American region had recorded over 30 million tourist arrivals per year.

We already know that Brazil has the second highest sustainable properties in the world on Booking.com, but in second place in the South American region, with almost half the amount of sustainable properties than Brazil, is Colombia at 3,111. Argentina has just over 1,800 sustainable stays (1843) and Mexico, the country closest to North America, is certified with just over 1,500 sustainable accommodation types.

Sustainable stays in North America & Canada

Considering that the United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world and is within the top five countries with the highest accommodation to book on the site, (178,298), one might think the USA would appear within the top 10 countries with the most sustainable stays. The diversity of America’s states from the exciting theme parks in Orlando, Florida to the snowy, winter wonderland that transforms the states of New York and Massachusetts, the US is a popular year-round destination. However, only 1.3% (2,330) of all US properties on Booking.com have a certified sustainable badge.

Canada is also a firm favourite for international tourists in 2022, with its mix of cosmopolitan cities and natural beauty. However, Canada has just over 1,200 properties that have implemented sustainable practices.

Sustainable stays in African countries

The southernmost country of the African continent, South Africa, has the most sustainable stays available to book (3,615). South Africa is known for its nature reserves teeming with wildlife, golden beaches and mountainous landscapes. The country is popular with all types of tourists – from adventurists and backpackers to families and honeymooners. So it’s easy to see why the country is following a greener tourism approach and offering the most properties with sustainable stays.

In second and third place is Morocco (1,483) and Kenya (948) offering sustainable accommodation in the African continent. Morocco, in the northern part of Africa is one of the most visited countries in Africa, with a whopping 12.3 million visitors in 2019, making it the most visited country on the entire continent.

Sustainable stays in Middle Eastern countries

New research from The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), has revealed that Middle Eastern travel and tourism is set to grow by 27.1% in 2022. Before the pandemic struck, the Middle East’s Travel & Tourism sector’s contribution to GDP represented US$ 270 billion (8.9% of the total economy).

Some of the most visited countries in the Middle East include Saudi Arabia, with an estimated international tourism level of 15.5million in 2018 (pre-pandemic), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 15.9 million and Egypt, with 11.3 million tourist arrivals in 2018 (pre-pandemic levels).

However, despite these being the most visited tourist destinations in the Middle East, the country with the most sustainable properties doesn’t feature in the top 10 most visited countries; Turkey. Second and third place Middle Eastern countries with the highest number of sustainable accomodation is the UAE (519) and Saudi Arabia (397).

Sustainable stays in Oceanian countries

Spanning the eastern and western hemispheres of the world, the Oceanic countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, contribute to some of the highest tourism arrivals in this region.

Australia, for example, is tipped to be amongst the top 10 tourism destinations in the world in 2022 and would-be tourists currently would have 1,615 sustainable properties to choose from, putting the country in 1st position for sustainable stays in the Oceanic region of the world.

Methodology

Booking.com exported a full list of sustainably certified properties from their website and totalled the number of properties with a sustainable badge/certification as a percentage of total properties in each country and world region. Booking.com also included sustainable properties that have been certified with the bronze level award.

Alongside the Travalyst Coalition in which Booking.com is a Founding Partner, is to create a universal and transparent measure for sustainable property information, across the industry. As such, this first version of the Booking.com Travel Sustainable badge leverages the first set of attributes validated by the Travalyst Independent Advisory Group. The badge focuses on highlighting practices that are most relevant to a broad range of property types, as well as their high-impact potential, whether it is an apartment in Amsterdam, a homestay in India or a resort along the Gold Coast in Australia.

Building off the credible standards for sustainable accommodation already in place, Booking.com has collaborated with industry experts, including through Booking.com’s leading role within the Travalyst Coalition and other industry experts, to identify a set of the most impactful practices for a property to consider in five key areas: waste, energy and greenhouse gases, water, supporting local communities and protecting nature. This foundational framework is currently further broken down into 32 specific sustainability measures or practices that properties can implement, including everything from eliminating single-use plastic toiletries or switching to LED light fixtures to running on 100% renewable energy sources or investing a certain percentage of profits into local community and conservation projects.

More detailed information on how individual properties around the world have achieved the badge is available in this updated section of the Travel Sustainable Handbook on the Booking.com Partner Hub.

The full data set is available upon request.