Google is taking action on sustainability issues related to travel
with two new initiatives.
Beginning this week, hotels that have met sustainability standards
from certain independent organizations, such as Green Key or EarthCheck, will
have an eco-certified badge next to their name in searches on
google.com/travel.
In addition, the “about” tab for those hotels will show a list of
the property’s eco-friendly practices, such as water conservation efforts or
sustainable sourcing policies. Google says it is working with hotels around the
world, including large chains such as Hilton and Accor, to gather the properties’
sustainability information. It is also encouraging hotels to add this type of
information to their Google My Business profiles.
Google is also joining Travalyst, a sustainable travel coalition
launched in 2019 by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, in partnership with Booking.com, Skyscanner, Trip.com Group, Tripadvisor and Visa.
Google will help the organization develop a
standardized, open model for calculating and displaying carbon emissions from
air travel and will contribute to the development of similar standards for
hotels.
“Addressing the challenge of climate change requires us to find
solutions at scale, and this is especially true when it comes to travel and
tourism,” says Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at Google.
“By
working with Travalyst and our industry partners, we aim to build tools and
technology that enable travelers and businesses around the world to prioritize
sustainability.”
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Google says it has also created a new team of engineers, designers
and researchers working solely on travel sustainability solutions. The company
says all of these moves reflect the commitment shared by Google
CEO Sundar Pichai last year that Google will take action on climate change
by “investing in technologies to help our partners and people all over the
world make sustainable choices.”
Travalyst calls Google’s participation a “significant step forward”
in bringing the world’s largest travel and tourism platforms and providers
together on “sustainability initiatives that drive system change and lead to
a resilient and thriving future for the travel and tourism industry for
generations to come.”
Things to Do update
In separate
news, Google is confirming updates to its search and bookings functions for tours,
activities and attractions.
The
new offering includes free booking links for operators powered by connectivity
partners such as Bokun, BookingKit, BeMyGuest, KKDay, Klook, Livn
and many others. Some of those partners shared news of the new booking links weeks ago, but this is the first acknowledgement from Google.
“In the previous one and a half years,
our industry has seen significant digitization, both on the operator and the end-customer side. We welcome Google further investing in this space and building a
great search and discovery experience for end customers,” says Matthias Wirz,
chief growth officer at BookingKit.
Says Livn founder and CCO Steve
Martinez: “The new Google Things to Do program truly levels the playing field
for all operators of attractions, tours and activities. From an operator
perspective, finding options to participate meaningfully in the Google
ecosystem has previously been challenging, particularly for medium to smaller
operators which could not compete with the large budgets of others in this
space.
"For the first time with Things to Do, they now have the opportunity to
publish their own products in the search results and drive users directly to
their website pages for bookings.”
Google says these new booking links
are similar to the free hotel booking links it introduced earlier this year,
which it says are driving increased engagement for small and large hotel partners.
The search engine is also
introducing a new ad format for Things to Do, which includes details about
pricing, images and reviews.
In a blog post sharing the updates,
Google vice president of product management for travel Richard Holden says
the new ads will help partners stand out and “drive additional revenue and
bookings as recovery continues.”