As countries are slowly and cautiously reopening borders to overseas travellers, many are mindful about restarting the pre-COVID dialogue on sustainable tourism. For eco-conscious travellers, however, choosing and validating hotels that walk their talk of sustianability with the right credentials can be challenge. And here is where Google's new feature, "Eco-Certified", can come in handy.

Hotel owners can now add their sustainability practices through their Google My Business account, and choose from a list of options across the four categories of energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, and sustainable sourcing. Hotel owners will then have to support their claims with eco-certifications that are granted by third-party agencies, who must conduct an on-site audit to verify the hotel's sustainability practices.

Essentially, this is like extracting certain parts of a hotel company's ESG reporting and presenting them to potential customers, which is a much-needed effort as we continue to learn to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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