Innovation

"Our very long-term goal is to become an online booking platform through which people are able to book their whole sustainable vacation trip."

Bookitgreen, as its business strategy, evaluates the sustainability of accommodations based on a four-pillar system: adapting the existing eco-certificates, giving the seal verified by the company to the accommodation fulfills certain criteria, 15 sustainability criteria developed by the company, and the guest evaluation.

The second part is the seal “verified by Bookitgreen”. This seal can be get if the accommodation fulfills at least 10 of the 15th criteria. In this package, there is also the possibility to get an English and German ad on the website, the online marketing (on the web and on social media), and also be represented on a platform that values your eco-responsible approach.

The third point is the Bookitgreen’s 15 sustainability criteria. Most of the criteria focus on the sustainable impact on the environment, while work on other criteria is in progress. As examples, the production of renewable energy can be quoted, a recycling rate greater than 80%, or local food products. Each accommodation must at least meet four of the fifteen criteria to become a host on Bookitgreen. If an accommodation has already received some official sustainability certification, such as the ECEAT, they will be added in the description of the accommodation as its sustainable strengths. According to how many of the fifteen criteria the accommodation fulfill, it will receive a grade between one and five, represented by leaves on the website. It allows the customers to find easily the accommodation and criteria they are looking for.

Last but not least, the fourth pillar is the guest evaluation. Indeed, Bookitgreen cannot guarantee to what extend an accommodation adheres to the different criteria. This is why every visitor is asked to evaluate the accommodation in which they stayed. This evaluation is based on the experience and the perceived sustainability of the accommodation. Those evaluations are the main assets to ensure that the stated sustainability criteria match the actual state of the accommodation.

Inspiration

Moritz used to go on a vacation on a sustainable and organic farm close to the lake of Constance with his siblings. After his studies, he met Philip, who dedicated his work only to projects that contribute to society, at his new work in Munich. Then, they became a partner to found Bookitgreen to make it easy for travelers to find and book sustainable accommodations by bringing them all together on its booking platform.

Overall impact

Overall, Bookitgreen raises awareness about green traveling.

"Bookitgreen itself is a very sustainable company, not only is the service we provide based on sustainability but Bookitgreen’s company mindset in general is based on a very ecofriendly mindset. One aspect characterizing our business are the 15 sustainability criteria. Accommodations then get rated based on 1-5 leaves".

A lot of people are not aware of how much pollution they put into the world by jetting around the globe. Also, a lot of people do not even know about the existence of such sustainable vacation accommodations. Bookitgreen is able to change the mindset of people that like to travel while also doing good for the environment.

Business benefit

Bookitgreen have been able to access many business benefits due to following the SDGs. Through making their own criteria based on these goals, Bookitgreen have been able to penetrate a new market that has a lot of future potential. By following these goals, it means that this company supports, endorses and uses sustainability. This is very attractive to potential customers who lead very sustainable lifestyles, which is becoming more and more popular every day. This means that the new market is continually growing, and which their sustainable business model, Bookitgreen can make the most of this. Bookitgreen may also gain some benefit through the form of government support, governments all over the world are trying to introduce more sustainable ways of living to their people and companies to help society in their countries. The German government is well known to support more environmentally friendly operation and making the country be more sustainable (Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie für Deutschland, 2016). Thus, the government supporting Bookitgreen, a sustainable company helping society and the planet, could be a plausible candidate for government subsidies and grants, to aid in this venture.

Furthermore, one of Bookitgreen’s sustainability criteria is 100% green energy.

Social and environmental benefit

For accommodations to be even considered to be available to book via Bookitgreen, they must meet at least four of the fifteen sustainability criteria. This means that stakeholders in all shapes and forms can be reassured that the accommodation is indeed sustainable. This is good for the customers and stakeholders as they know they are getting a quality experience that has got the adequate credentials. Bookitgreen even have guest evaluations so customers can leave reviews on different accommodations to help suggest to new potential stakeholders to find the best service for them. Other stakeholders that benefit from the SDGs include investors into the business. This is because as a company, supporting the SDGs means that they naturally have an ethical behavior as following these goals shape a very ethical company. This is very attractive to both current and potentially new investors as an ethical company that is financially stable is unlikely to have any scandals or any other big events that may hurt the company’s shares or value. This makes the company a safe bet for investors and being a growing star in a relatively new market, gives investors a lot of opportunity in Bookitgreen.

As expected, the greatest benefit is not to the company or to its shareholders but is indeed to society and to the planet. The 15 criteria which are based on the SDGs really do make sure that sustainability is put front and center. The 15 criteria cover a wide range of sustainable ways of living. One such criterion is that the accommodation has a sustainable and ecological construction. This means that the accommodation itself has been made in a sustainable way without using any harmful materials that could damage the environment. Instead of using concrete and cement, wood and recycled materials would be a lot better for the environment. Bookitgreen also highlights that about 60% of waste materials can be traced back to the construction, use and disposal of buildings and thus are keen to use buildings that have been built more sustainably. They also state that 40% of the primary energy needed globally is consumed in the same processes. So-called passive houses can reduce energy consumption from heating by up to 77% and have a lower carbon footprint than most conventional housing, this not only has financial benefits for the owners, but also means that is in considerably helping the environment too (Liang et al., 2017).

Another criterion that is supported by the SDGs is that the accommodation has 100% green electricity used. This is a very important criterion as electricity generation is a very prominent contributor to global warming. Thus, Bookitgreen is directly helping the planet and supporting the SDG of using affordable and clean energy with every supplier they have with this capability. Accommodation which has 100% green electricity contributes a lot to reducing the carbon footprint of a holiday. Bookitgreen states that between the years 2000 to 2016 the amount of CO2 being produced has been cut by more than triple. Bookitgreen not only recommends that their hosts switch to green energy but also that guests do so too. They even give access to a comparison calculator to allow guests and hosts to change to green energy as easily as possible. Green energy relates to another of the 15 criteria they have, that is to have energy saving lighting in the hosted accommodation. They say that any accommodation that uses modern LED lamps will meet this criterion, this is of course because LED lamps are some of the most energy efficient sources of light available, as power consumption is low for high luminous efficiency (BANDO et al., 1998).

Interview

Moritz Hintze, CEO