B.C. will spearhead the creation of a new sustainable tourism certification program that will serve a model for the rest of Canada.
B.C. tourism minister Kevin Krueger and climate action minister John Yap announced the initiative in Delta July 9.
Yap also unveiled two other sustainability tools for tourists and tourism operators:
The free online calculator is located on the website of ETHOS (Encouraging Tourism and Hospitality Operators in Sustainability) and is available to its members to place on their own corporate websites.
The tool enabling organizations to chart their carbon footprint is not free. It costs up to $1,089 per year although ETHOS members get discounts.
The Canadian Sustainable Tourism Advisory Council chose ETHOS to pilot a Canada-wide sustainable tourism certification program.
It will develop the pilot using input from 24 B.C.-based tourism operators that complete U.K.-based Green Business Ltd.’s green tourism certification program.
Krueger said: “This will be the first sustainability certification program designed for all sectors of the tourism industry in Canada.”