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24 June 2024
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Within Love Travel Planning’s Platinum Travel Planning Roadmap, eco-tourism sits firmly in the Define the What stage, well before you’ve booked, and well before you’ve chosen a destination, you decide the kind of traveler you want to be.
This guide will help you:
Within Love Travel Planning’s Platinum Travel Planning Roadmap, eco-tourism sits firmly in the Define the What stage, well before you’ve booked, and well before you’ve chosen a destination, you decide the kind of traveler you want to be.
This guide will help you:
From its inception in the 1980’s with pioneering ecolodges like Rara Avis in Costa Rica, the eco-tourism industry has exploded and eco-tourism holidays have become the way that many people choose to travel.
At its core, eco-tourism is about protecting the places we visit, while still experiencing them to the fullest. Most eco-tourism spots will let you get closer to the natural landscape than you would at an all-inclusive resort.
One of the biggest misconceptions in travel is that anything labelled eco actually is. Slap the word on a hotel, tour, or destination and suddenly it sounds responsible, right? The reality is far more complicated. And, that’s exactly why understanding what makes a place genuinely eco-friendly matters before you book.
The truth is, there is no single global eco-tourism licence that magically makes every claim legitimate. Anyone can use the words eco, green, or sustainable without backing it up. That’s why ‘greenwashing’ is so common, and why having a clear system to judge operators by is essential.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is the closest thing we have to a trusted international green standard. Founded with support from the United Nations Environment Programme and the UN World Tourism Organisation, GSTC doesn’t certify businesses itself. Instead, it sets the baseline criteria that credible certification programmes must meet:
Effective governance, responsible operations, and long term planning.
Creating real benefits for local communities, fair employment and supporting the local economy.
Respecting and protecting heritage, traditions, and authentic experiences.
Conserving biodiversity, reducing pollution, managing resources wisely, and minimising waste and carbon footprint.
GSTC recognises or accredits standards and certification bodies (like EarthCheck, Green Globe, Green Key, or Costa Rica’s CST programme) that align with its criteria. When a lodge, tour operator, or destination holds a GSTC aligned, or GSTC accredited certificate, it means they’ve been independently audited against the benchmarks.
This system is powerful because it creates consistency across the world. Whether you’re looking at a desert camp in Oman, a marine wildlife operator in Western Australia, or a turtle reserve in Costa Rica, GSTC-aligned credentials gives you a reliable way to compare.
Over the years, we’ve visited quite a few eco-tourism destinations, sometimes deliberately seeking them out, other times only realising their credentials after we arrived!
For every destination and blog post you’ll find below, these are our honest, first-hand opinions. We have not been sponsored, paid or been given free stays by any of these operators. What you read is exactly what we experienced:
Costa Rica has set the global benchmark for decades, largely thanks to its Certificate for Sustainable Tourism (CST) – a rigorous, GSTC recognised national programme that rates businesses across environmental, social and operational performance. With hundreds of certified operators, it’s one of the most trusted frameworks anywhere.
This was a great example of eco-tourism working exactly as intended; controlled access delivering real, measurable conservation impact:
We stayed at Monteverde Lodge & Gardens and found it to be a genuine example of cloud forest eco-tourism. The lodge holds strong sustainability credentials, including membership in the National Chamber of Sustainable Tourism, and Bandera Azul Ecologica recognition for its creek conservation and water management. They also have:
Experiences like Don Juan’s Farm let you step into working sustainable systems with coffee production, chocolate making, and local farming that show how people can live productively alongside nature.
Active conservation on tourism tours is a first for us!
Marine biologists and scientists are onboard the boats conducting active research and citizen science opportunities. There is a strict wildlife interaction code to minimise disturbances. And, multiple high-level eco certifications, including Eco Tourism Accreditation (Green Travel Leader) and EcoStar for advanced sustainability.
Quite a unique experience, being in places where tourism is built around conservation and cultural integration, rather than the tourist. Both destinations are spoken about within the blog below.
Built with natural, locally sourced materials (wood, stone, wool) that blend into the landscape and degrade naturally. There is also a strong focus on water conservation, native plant restoration for biodiversity, wildlife protection zones and deep Bedouin cultural integration and employment.
Protected by Royal Decree since 1996 as Oman’s flagship turtle conservation project. Strictly controlled, guided nighttime viewing only, supporting research, monitoring, and habitat protection for one of the largest green turtle nesting populations in the Indian Ocean.
For some exciting spots, there is no need to fly across the world to stay somewhere sustainable!
100% renewable energy (mainly solar) powering the entire site. Compost toilets, solar-heated eco showers, reclaimed materials, and serious rewilding. Over 1,500 trees planted across 15 acres of former farmland turned into wildlife rich meadows and woodland.
Unfortunately, the tourism industry has a long history of greenwashing. The term itself was coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986, after staying at a hotel in Fiji. The hotel prompted towel reuse in order to Save the Planet, while the hotel management was building a new wing of the hotel impacting the local ecosystem.
Common red flags found across the industry are vague claims like eco-friendly with no quantitative proof, focusing on small gestures (towel reuse) while ignoring bigger issues like dubious animal experiences, and zero transparency on community benefits or measurable impact.
According to a European Commission study on green claims, 53 per cent of green claims were vague, misleading or unfounded, with 40 per cent completely unsubstantiated. In travel, a University of Surrey study published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management found that 59 per cent of UK and German travellers believe hotels overstate or exaggerate their sustainability claims.
Genuine eco-tourism spots, however, are transparent, hold independent certifications (usually GSTC accredited), and can prove measurable results. From using solar energy and waste reduction to real community and conservation outcomes.
| Certification | Best for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| EarthCheck | Destination & large operators | Scientific benchmarking & measurable impact |
| Green Key | Hotels & attractions | Widely recognised across 90+ countries |
| Green Globe | Hotels & tour operators | Tiered certification (Bronze to Platinum) |
| Travelife | Accommodation & tours | GSTC recognised sustainability standard |
| Biosphere | Destinations & businesses | Aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals |
Being perfectly honest, most eco-tourism trips will still heavily rely on flying to get there. So while the lodge, reserve, or operator at your destination might be doing impressive work on the ground, the journey to reach it can easily become the biggest part of your carbon footprint. It’s the uncomfortable contradiction at the heart of modern eco-travel.
According to Sustainable Travel International, global tourism accounts for roughly 8% of the world’s carbon emissions, with aviation responsible for a massive slice of that, often 40 to 60% or more of an individual trip’s total impact. Long haul flights in particular are emissions heavy. A return trip from London to New York, for example, can generate as much CO2 as the average person in a lower-income country emits in an entire year.
Remote eco-destinations, like Costa Rica’s rainforests, are often only accessible by air. That means the very places offering the most authentic nature experiences frequently require the highest-emission travel to reach them. I think it’s important to understand the full picture if we want to travel responsibly.
It is rarely realistic to aim for having no impact what-so-ever. However, you can make better choices that add up over time:
Spreading your travel over fewer, longer trips dramatically cuts your per-day emissions. One two-week trip has a much smaller footprint than two one-week trips because you reduce the number of flights. Longer stays also mean more money stays in the local economy.
Fewer flights overall, more time to explore deeply by foot, bike, boat or local transport. This leads to far richer experiences and has a much lower impact.
Support places with credible certifications (GSTC aligned, EcoStar, etc). Your spending then actively funds conservation, community projects, and better practices.
If you choose to offset, only use high-quality, independently verified schemes (Gold Standard, or Verified Carbon Standard Projects). Be aware that offsets are a remedial measure, not a free pass. The best approach is always to reduce first.
Throughout our travels, we have found over-tourism in the most surprising places. We wish we could just promote beautiful destinations, but we also don’t want to be dishonest about where things have gone wrong.
What should have been a conservation success story, like that of Oman or Costa Rica, has turned into one of our most uneasy turtle travel experiences.
Visitor numbers in Akumal Bay have exploded from around 57,000 in 2011 to nearly 275,000 by 2015, and the pressure has remained in the years since. Studies from that period showed turtles being grabbed by tourists an average of 4 times per hour, every hour, 7 days a week.
The constant disturbance, combined with sunscreen, human waste and physical contact, has led to increased stress for the turtles, water contamination and damage to the seagrass beds that turtles rely on for food. Many turtles have developed tumours linked in chronic stress.
After reading reviews on this experience online, we decided not to swim with turtles in Akumal. This for us, is the perfect example of how good intentions, without proper limits and enforcement, can damage the very thing people travel to see.
Split’s old town, centred on the UNESCO-listed Diocletian’s Palace, is the opposite of an eco-friendly or sustainably managed heritage city. Once a vibrant residential quarter, the Palace now houses only around 3,000 permanent residents.
In peak season, hundreds of thousands of cruise passengers flood the narrow Roman alleys. In the first eight months of 2024 alone, Split received 198 foreign cruise ship calls. This led to streets becoming impossible to navigate, turning a living historic site into an endless roller coaster que.
When cruise ships depart, the old town empties dramatically. Businesses built solely for day-trippers close, and the quarter sleeps; quiet, lifeless, and stripped of everyday local life. Academic studies and resident surveys confirm that mass tourism is actively degrading the cultural heritage rather than protecting it, through physical wear, commercialisation, and the loss of community stewardship. This is not sustainable tourism.
Venice has been battling the impacts of mass tourism for years, from severe environmental strain on its fragile lagoon ecosystem to overcrowded streets that make daily life difficult for residents.
In response, the city became one of the first in the world to take some action. It introduced a day-tripper access fee, the fee aims to reduce hit-and-run tourism, generate funds for preservation and give locals some breathing room. While it hasn’t dramatically cut visitor numbers yet, it has raised millions of euros.
This is where everything comes together, turning a vague desire to travel better, into a trip that actually delivers meaningful impact without the usual eco-guilt or last-minute compromises.
At Love Travel Planning, we’ve learned (sometimes the hard way) that genuine eco-tourism isn’t about slapping a green label on any old holiday. It’s about making deliberate choices at every stage of the Platinum Travel Planning Roadmap so your adventure supports the places and people you visit, rather than just ticking them off.
Before you even look at a map, get honest about what eco actually means to your group.
We once planned a Costa Rica trip with our teenagers where the kids were desperate to see sloths and sea turtles, so wildlife became our key focus. That single decision shaped every other choice and stopped us wasting time on beach resorts. Write your top priority down, it becomes your filter for the rest of the planning.
Many eco-tourism trips will involve some form of remoteness to them, which is why we often find road-trips to work well as an accompanying travel style.
Look for GSTC-aligned certifications as these are the closest thing we have to a reliable standard. Check for genuine accreditations like Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade Tourism, or local equivalents, rather than vague eco-friendly or green labels that often mean very little.
We always cross-reference reviews on independent platforms and read recent traveller feedback about actual practices (water use, waste management, staff wages, animal welfare). It takes an extra hour or two, but can save on a lot of disappointment, and far worse, supporting something that harms the very ecosystem you came to see.
One of the kindest things you can do for a fragile destination is to avoid peak season. Shoulder or low seasons reduce pressure on accommodation, guides or wildlife, while often delivering better prices and a more authentic feel. In Costa Rica, for example, we travelled in the green season. It rained for an hour most afternoons, but the forests were lush, crowds were thin, and the animals were far more active.
Check local climate patterns and school or festive calendars, to make sure they match up with your availability.
Now match your impact priorities, group, timing and budget to destinations and operators that genuinely align:
In practice this might mean choosing a small wildlife lodge in the Amazon that employs local indigenous guides over a big international chain, or cycling through rural Portugal staying at farm stays instead of flying to a distant hotspot.
When booking, look beyond the star ratings:
This is the most important stage when booking an eco-tourism holiday. Fewer destinations, deeper immersion, slower pace. A two week stay in one or two carefully chosen places usually has far less impact (and more enjoyment) than hopping between five locations in ten days.
You’ll eat better, sleep better, form connections with local people, and leave the destination in better shape than if you’d rushed through it. Our family has found that the most memorable trips are the ones where we stayed long enough that it began to feel familiar.
Carbon offsetting is a practical way to address the emissions you can’t fully eliminate, particularly for flights. We recommend Greener Travel as a transparent, UK friendly option that lets you calculate and offset your journey’s footprint by supporting verified projects.
It’s simple, focuses on high quality initiatives and gives you peace of mind that your contribution is making a real difference.
Eco tourism is a specific form of sustainable travel focused on natural environments like visiting fragile ecosystems, supporting conservation projects, and learning about local wildlife and habitats, usually on a small scale to keep the overall impact low.
Sustainable travel is a broader term that applies responsible principles to any type of holiday, including city breaks, beach holidays, and cultural trips. All eco-tourism holidays should be sustainable, but not all sustainable travel qualifies as eco tourism.
Costa Rica is widely considered as the gold standard, largely due to its national Certificate for Sustainable Tourism (CST) programme, which is one of the most rigorous in the world. Oman offers a compelling combination of cultural and environmental sustainability, particularly around its protected turtle reserves.
Australia has standout marine conservation experiences (orcas, Great Barrier Reef), and for lower impact travel closer to home, the UK has properly impressive rewilding and off-grid options.
The best destination for you really depends on whether your priority is wildlife conservation, cultural immersion, or minimising your carbon footprint from the outset.
The honest answer is that flying, especially long haul, will be the biggest part of your carbon footprint, regardless of how responsible your destination is. The most effective things you can do include:
Absolutely, and in many ways, they’re ideal. Hands-on conservation experiences like turtle monitoring, wildlife research, guided forest walks, tend to be far more engaging for children than a standard resort.
Destinations like Costa Rica and Oman have well established family friendly eco lodges with guided activities built around safety and education. Just be sure to check age suitability for specific activities in advance and to choose lodges that cater to families rather than purely remote wilderness camps.
They can, but not always, and it’s worth understanding why the cost difference exists when it does. Genuine eco lodges invest in solar energy, water management, staff wages, conservation fees, and community projects, all of which have real costs.
That said, travelling in shoulder season, staying longer in fewer places, and booking locally-run operators rather than large international chains can make eco-tourism holidays highly competitive on price. In our experience, the depth of experience you get tends to make the value feel considerably higher than a standard all-inclusive.
You’ve chosen your holiday style, an eco-tourism trip. Now the Platinum Roadmap continues with the decisions that turn that intention into an actual trip:
For the broader context of where eco-tourism fits within Stage 2 of the Roadmap, see our holiday types guide.
This page is part of the Love Travel Planning Platinum Travel Planning Roadmap, a complete step-by-step framework for planning holidays that work for real families and real travel groups. Built from genuine travel experience, not press trips or sponsored itineraries.
Every month I’m sending out either a full itinerary for a destination or some genuinely helpful packing guides – including downloadable PDF’s, accommodation recommendations and much more! Sign up for free below:
