Making Certifications Count

Sustainable tourism certifications have been around for over two decades, but their potential as a tool for destinations is often overlooked. A recent systematic review (Elhoushy et al., 2025) found that while certifications face blind spots in research and practice, they also provide opportunities for DMOs to strengthen their destination’s responsible travel strategy.

Visibility does matter. Certifications are not always well-known to travelers, but DMOs can bridge this gap by highlighting certified businesses in visitor guides, maps, and campaigns.

Travelers increasingly seek out authentic sustainability commitments. Certifications, when communicated clearly, can help DMOs demonstrate that their destination’s tourism businesses are walking the talk and build trust and credibility.

DMOs can use certifications as a framework to engage local businesses, set shared goals, and build capacity around sustainability.

Elhoushy et al. (2025) also points out that the actual impacts of certifications are still under-researched. This means DMOs have an opportunity to collect stories, data, and evidence to help measure the actual impacts of sustainability certifications.

Certifications can be a practical tool for DMOs to encourage responsible travel behaviors, if they are made visible, meaningful, and connected to a larger destination strategy.

The study can be found here.

Elhoushy, S., Elzek, Y., & Font, X. (2025). Sustainable tourism certification: a systematic literature review and suggested ways forward. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2025.2487674