You are here: Home > What we do > Projects > Fair trade > A Fair Trade label?

A Fair Trade certified label for tourism?

There is an increasing interest amongst consumers in a fair and sustainable tourism, and many campaigns, labels, codes etc. already exist that seek to promote a tourism that has positive effects on the living conditions of those employed in the tourism sector, on the communities and on the environment in the global South.

Currently there is no international label for fair trade in tourism, nor are there any internationally recognised standards on any form of sustainable tourism. However, there are approximately 400 “eco” labels or Codes of Conduct for sustainable tourism (in comparison to around 20 in the coffee sector), many of which include socio-economic criteria, and a local fair trade label in South Africa. Moreover, the labels are frequently only regionally or locally recognised and very few are externally monitored or fully transparent.

With neither market recognition nor demand there were few advantages or business opportunities for potential supplies of tourism services and products significant enough to pay for a certification.

However, this situation is changing with the enormous growth of Fairtrade markets, recognition of the Fairtrade logo and general awareness of trade justice issues among consumers - particularly in the UK market. It has now become possible to envisage a viable certification process with a recognised and trusted logo that applies worldwide, that benefits tourism communities and that, for the first time, gives consumers a meaningful opportunity to promote sustainable empowerment and development, when they go on holiday.

Tourism Concern, FLO International, the international umbrella organisation of Fairtrade products, and key actors in the sustainable tourism sector have established a steering group to look into the potential for a viable Fairtrade labelling of tourism and we are currently working on concept development. A feasibility study to assess the potential for a Fairtrade label tourism was commissioned and produced in 2007. This report confirmed that there was a potential market for a Fairtrade label in tourism and discussed the issues that would need to be addressed if the Fairtrade certification system, which was devised for products, were to accommodate tourism, a service industry with a complex supply chain.