Google launches sustainability initiatives, confirms "Things to Do" changes

Google is taking action on sustainability issues related to travel with two new initiatives.

Beginning this week, hotels that have met sustainability standards from certain independent organizations, such as Green Key or EarthCheck, will have an eco-certified badge next to their name in searches on google.com/travel .

In addition, the “about” tab for those hotels will show a list of the property’s eco-friendly practices, such as water conservation efforts or sustainable sourcing policies. Google says it is working with hotels around the world, including large chains such as Hilton and Accor, to gather the properties’ sustainability information. It is also encouraging hotels to add this type of information to their Google My Business profiles.

Google is also joining Travalyst , a sustainable travel coalition launched in 2019 by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, in partnership with Booking.com , Skyscanner , Trip.com Group , Tripadviso r and Visa.

Google will help the organization develop a standardized, open model for calculating and displaying carbon emissions from air travel and will contribute to the development of similar standards for hotels.

“Addressing the challenge of climate change requires us to find solutions at scale, and this is especially true when it comes to travel and tourism,” says Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at Google.

“By working with Travalyst and our industry partners, we aim to build tools and technology that enable travelers and businesses around the world to prioritize sustainability.”

Google says it has also created a new team of engineers, designers and researchers working solely on travel sustainability solutions. The company says all of these moves reflect the commitment shared by Google CEO Sundar Pichai last year that Google will take action on climate change by “investing in technologies to help our partners and people all over the world make sustainable choices.”

Travalyst calls Google’s participation a “significant step forward” in bringing the world’s largest travel and tourism platforms and providers together on “sustainability initiatives that drive system change and lead to a resilient and thriving future for the travel and tourism industry for generations to come.”

Things to Do update

In separate news, Google is confirming updates to its search and bookings functions for tours, activities and attractions.

The new offering includes free booking links for operators powered by connectivity partners such as Bokun, BookingKit, BeMyGuest, KKDay, Klook, Livn and many others. Some of those partners shared news of the new booking links weeks ago, but this is the first acknowledgement from Google.

“In the previous one and a half years, our industry has seen significant digitization, both on the operator and the end-customer side. We welcome Google further investing in this space and building a great search and discovery experience for end customers,” says Matthias Wirz, chief growth officer at BookingKit.

Says Livn founder and CCO Steve Martinez: “The new Google Things to Do program truly levels the playing field for all operators of attractions, tours and activities. From an operator perspective, finding options to participate meaningfully in the Google ecosystem has previously been challenging, particularly for medium to smaller operators which could not compete with the large budgets of others in this space.

"For the first time with Things to Do, they now have the opportunity to publish their own products in the search results and drive users directly to their website pages for bookings.”

Google says these new booking links are similar to the free hotel booking links it introduced earlier this year, which it says are driving increased engagement for small and large hotel partners.

The search engine is also introducing a new ad format for Things to Do, which includes details about pricing, images and reviews.

In a blog post sharing the updates, Google vice president of product management for travel Richard Holden says the new ads will help partners stand out and “drive additional revenue and bookings as recovery continues.”