Green Globe
TRAVEL
CONFIDENCE HIGH · ANALYSIS ONLY, NOT AN AUDIT OR CERTIFICATION
Our read
On GSTC status, be precise: Green Globe is neither GSTC-Accredited nor GSTC-Recognized as of July 2026. It appears on neither the GSTC-Accredited Certification Bodies list nor the GSTC-Recognized Standards lists for hotels or tour operators, and its own website makes no GSTC claim. It now aligns instead with the Tourism Sustainability Certifications Alliance, which is an association of certification bodies rather than an independent accreditation body. Older articles and hotel marketing describing Green Globe as GSTC-approved are out of date. On the standard itself, the breadth is real: 44 criteria across management, social and economic, cultural heritage and environment, backed by over 400 indicators, with an onsite audit in year one and every second year after. The number a reader should hold is the pass mark. Green Globe states that certification is confirmed annually when more than 50% of the criteria's related indicators are achieved. A certified property has therefore demonstrated a majority of applicable indicators, not all of them. Gold and Platinum mark five and ten consecutive certified years, not a higher standard. Auditors are trained and registered by Green Globe and also sell consulting on implementing the same standard.
What it covers
- 44 criteria in four groups: Sustainable Management, Social and Economic, Cultural Heritage, Environment
- over 400 compliance indicators, applied selectively by business type, geography and local factors
- sustainability management system covering environment, sociocultural, economic, human rights, health and safety
- compliance with international, national and local law including ILO labour conventions
- independent onsite audit in the first year and every second year thereafter
- desktop audit in the alternating years
- annual recertification, with the certificate valid for one year
- sector-specific standards for hotels, attractions, cruise ships, restaurants, spas, transport and tour operators
- Gold status at five consecutive certified years, Platinum at ten
What it leaves out
Not a criticism of the scheme. A standard is a scope, and this is where this one ends.
- certification is confirmed when more than 50% of related indicators are achieved, not all
- no absolute emissions, energy or water performance threshold
- no verified greenhouse gas inventory requirement and no Scope 3 requirement
- Gold and Platinum reflect years certified, not a higher performance bar
- no external accreditation body oversees the scheme; auditors are trained and registered by Green Globe itself
- the same auditor network also sells consulting on implementing the standard
- no site audit in alternating years, only desktop review
- no published register of suspensions or withdrawn certificates
The scheme
| Issued by | Green Globe Certification; the standard and related IP are owned by Green Certifications Inc, with the Green Globe brand licensed from Green Globe Ltd |
|---|---|
| Where it applies | Global |
| Audit and renewal | Annual. Certificate valid for one year, with an independent onsite audit in the first year and every second year thereafter, and a desktop audit in the alternating years. |
| Cost | Annual membership by size: hotels US$825 (0-19 rooms) to US$5,500 (250+ rooms); businesses US$825 (1-9 employees) to US$5,500 (120+ employees). Audit fees are additional and not included in membership. |
What we read
Green Globe International Standard for Sustainable Tourism as published July 2026; Green Globe states the standard is reviewed and updated twice per calendar year and does not publish a version number
- what_it_omits - more than 50% indicator threshold — Certification is confirmed annually when more than 50% of the criteria's related indicators are achieved.
- renewal_period - alternating onsite and desktop audits — Certified Members must also complete independent and mandatory onsite and desktop audits in alternating years.
- renewal_period - onsite audit frequency — Green Globe members must have their certification verified by an on site, independent audit inspection in their first year and every 2 years following.
- what_it_covers - criteria and indicator counts — The Green Globe Certification Standard includes 44 criteria in four groups and supported by over 400 compliance indicators.
- what_it_omits - tenure-based Gold and Platinum — Gold Member status is awarded to members that are certified for 5 consecutive years ... Platinum Member status is awarded to members that are certified for 10 consecutive years.
- independence_score - auditors both audit and consult — We partner with over 120 auditors globally, whose role is to provide Green Globe clients with third-party independent audits (on-site) on behalf of Green Globe, in addition to providing all tools needed to perform consulting services to imp
- GSTC status - not on the accredited certification bodies list — The Certification Bodies listed below have been Accredited for compliance with the requirements of the Manual for GSTC Accreditation.
- GSTC status - not on the recognized standards list, and the January 2025 termination rule — Note that from January 2025 owners of existing Recognized Standards used for 'certification' had to formally pursue accreditation or enter into the arrangement with GSTC whereby they act as a 'Certification Scheme'. Those that haven't done
- TSCA alignment in place of GSTC — Green Globe aligns its criteria, indicators and certification and auditing processes with the Tourism Sustainability Certifications Alliance's (TSCA) internationally recognised standard for sustainable tourism.
- cost_range — Micro 0-19 rooms (US $825.00) ... Large 250 rooms and up (US $5,500.00) ... Annual membership fees do not include independent audit fees.
What we could not establish
Green Globe's absence from both the GSTC-Accredited Certification Bodies list and the GSTC-Recognized Standards lists was confirmed by reading those GSTC pages directly on 26 July 2026, and by finding zero GSTC references across seven Green Globe pages including the homepage, history and criteria pages. Whether Green Globe holds an arrangement with GSTC as a 'Certification Scheme' under the framework introduced in January 2025 could not be established, because the relevant GSTC framework page returned a 404 and further GSTC requests were rate limited; treat that as the one open question. Green Globe's own pages give the indicator count as both 'over 400' and 'over 380', and publish no version number for the standard. No published register of suspensions or withdrawn certificates was found, so the enforcement score reflects an undocumented sanction process. The number of certified businesses could not be separated from the 19,000 figure that Green Globe attributes to all TSCA members combined.
If you hold this certification, it is already on your record. What a buyer cannot see there yet is the evidence behind the parts this standard does not reach.