Tour operator Intrepid Travel is teaming up with the World Travel & Tourism Council to provide a sustainability verification program for Intrepid's hotel partners.
The Hotel Sustainability Basics Program, developed by WTTC, is designed for hotels beginning their journey toward more sustainable operations.
Intrepid will launch a trial with hotels in Nepal and Bhutan in January 2024, and it plans to subsequently expand the program.
"Our suppliers have told us that they want to improve their practices, but as small and medium-sized businesses, they often don't know where to start or don't have the resources," said Sara King, general manager of purpose for Intrepid Travel.
Hotel Moonlight, an Intrepid partner in Kathmandu, Nepal, said the WTTC program is an important initiative as the hotel industry is "renowned for consuming high levels of natural and man-made resources."
The hotel said it plans to switch to energy-efficient LED lighting, adopt solutions to limit water waste and install solar panels.
Under the WTTC program, hotels undergo a three-year evaluation process, measuring and benchmarking their improvements on 12 criteria in the areas of people, planet and efficiency.
Hotels must achieve at least eight of the criteria after the first year, meeting at least one benchmark from each of the three focus areas.
After three years of improvement, hotels can move on to Global Sustainability Tourism Council certification, the global standard for sustainability in tourism, or follow other improvement journeys, such as the Sustainability Hospitality Alliance's Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality.