Ecological Certification and Labelling of Tourist Services

This work presents an analysis of ecological certification and labelling in the field of tourism. In a tourist company, the certification schemes evaluate the general approach of environmental problems, and impose to the tourist services the observance of pre-established principles and guiding lines concerning the environment. They become for the tourist companies a behavioural standard in the development of their activity. The requirements within such schemes are often flexible and open to interpretation, and generally less controversial than the eco-labelling schemes. As compared to the certification schemes, the eco-labels attributed to the tourist services emphasise the impact over the environment of the services of tourist companies, on the basis of certain European criteria. These criteria refer to the whole life cycle of these tourist services.