Ecolabelling Tourism

Eco-Choice Africa is one of only three international ecolabel bodies to develop and launch a standard that recognises responsible tourist accommodation facilities - and by doing so, has become the first in Africa to introduce this label

In January 2026, the organisation launched ECA-S05-2026 Tourist Accommodation Facilities in an effort to recognise and ecolabel hotels, lodges, guest houses and other tourist accommodation that meet the growing need for more responsible business practice. Focusing on the accommodation sector initially, this standard will be expanded to the meetings, incentives, conference and events sector (MICE) and in time, to food service facilities that strive to minimise and manage their impacts on the environment and local communities.

The ecolabel signifies that the business has met an internationally accepted level of operational sustainability and that adequate measures are in place to ensure the ongoing management of impacts associated with its operations. The Eco-Choice label offers global recognition in association with the Global Ecolabel Network (GEN), the leading network of the world’s most credible and robust ecolabels in 60 countries and territories around the world.

While hotel grading and environmental rating systems have been the norm to date, the ecolabel option provides less administrative burden to operators of accommodationfacilities while ensuring that guests, visitors and local communities benefit directly from the measures included in the standard.

We are confident that the ecolabel for tourist accommodation facilities will be welcomed by the industry and we look forward to welcoming our first applications and certifications this year.