We started our journey with Green Tourism back in 2023. We thought we were doing as much as we could to create a holiday experience for our guests that left a minimal impact upon the environment and wanted external verification that was known and trusted by the public, so we could not be accused of greenwashing!

However, we soon realised we had a lot to learn, improvements to make and so our journey began!

On our first submission in September 2023, we received a score of 53% which earned us a Bronze award. Although I felt this was disappointing, we did receive some kind feedback:

"The Old Coach House has done a fantastic job in achieving Green Tourism's Bronze award upon their initial assessment. Sustainability is clearly an important issue for this establishment and their commitment to green practice is evident across the business. The Old Coach House had an exceptional performance in the Experiences goal, the result of making a distinct effort to promote local experiences to guests. Additionally, the site goes to great lengths to ensure that customer and staff health and wellbeing are protected. The Old Coach House is extremely mindful of their energy use and take steps to ensure that their and their customer's usage is minimal. As The Old Coach House continues on its sustainability journey, the key areas of focus should be on the Travel and Carbon goals".

Sustonica, based in Barcelona, have designed a universal sustainability accreditation specifically for holiday let properties across the globe. They believe that aside from the moral imperative, there are many benefits to adopting a People, Planet, Profit strategy, not least of which is reducing the environmental impact of the tourism industry.

They also believe that having one common standard across the world, means that travellers are empowered to choose holiday providers that are truly committed to sustainability.

They assess each property against a set of guidelines and monitor your performance every three months to ensure you maintain the standards you have committed to.