Water and air pollution, heaps of trash in national parks, frowns on faces of the locals, greenwashing, and a shortage of empathy. All of this currently characterizes mass tourism... and we really don't like it.
We don't want the future of tourism to look like this. But we also don't intend to swing to extremes and abandon traveling altogether. Life's too short and those who travel live twice, right? So, here's the deal: we are a bit crazy and we have decided, together with the hosts of small tourist accommodations, to do something and make tourism as least harmful as possible.
We invite you, Hosts, to carry the Olympic torch. Be the trailblazers and join us in the Slowhop Responsible Travel Program! It's a self-certification tool in the form of a survey with nearly 250 questions, that will allow us to showcase your real actions for the environment and communities. It's like a passport to future tourism, where you'll be cruising ahead while the rest of the world is still scratching their heads, wondering “What's going on?”.
You express interest in participating in self-certification by leaving us your details.
We'll guide you through the process of completing the six sections of the form, where we'll ask you nearly 250 questions.
You set goals for the next year – working to reduce negative environmental impact is an ongoing process.
You receive a report, which you share on your channels. If your place is on Slowhop, it will be visible on your profile.
The Program assesses hosts' commitment to actions aligned with the principles of sustainable and regenerative tourism. We delve into their approach to environmental protection, care for cultural heritage, concern for local communities, and efforts in ecological education. The form is designed to be a comprehensive tool, and we've spent over a year refining it. It consists of nearly 250 questions divided into 6 parts. Access to the Program is opened only once a year.
Basic information about your place
Care for cultural heritage
Care for local communities
Environmental education
Transportation
Waste management
Water management
Electricity and heating management
Chemical subtances
Eco-friendly construction
Eco-friendly amenities
Organization and promotion
Green areas
Food and drink
Animal welfare
Active environmental protection
Eco-friendly partners and suppliers
Resource consumption and waste production
Setting goals for the next year
The report isn't just a snooze-fest of data; it's your eco-scorecard, packed with your responses. We're crunching the numbers to see how many eco-wins you've racked up this year and comparing your resource use and waste output to next year's goals.
We'll highlight those actions where you're excelling or on the right track to becoming an eco-star!
If you're a Slowhop host, the results of your report will be visible to guests on your profile. Every guest interested in responsible travel will be able to find you in the catalog using the "Something for eco-travelers?" filter. All places that complete the certification will receive a special badge: "Host engaged in environmental efforts".
"A much-needed certificate! Not only for guests seeking better and sustainable vacations, but above all for us, hosts. It's a tool where we can not only check how we're doing in building responsible tourism but also set goals for the future.
We dream of a reality where we are all aware of how even our smallest actions are important in building a better world. Will we start with growing our own vegetables, reducing waste, or choosing a cozy, responsible place for vacation?"
Ela and David
"We certified a new house, which was planned from the beginning to be an eco-star. In this respect, I think we did quite well. As it turned out, we have a lot to do in many other areas, but we see it as a list of topics to address in the next few months. Surely, anyone who goes through eco-certification will see where and how many areas need improvement. Even if you can't do everything, everyone can do a lot.
This certification is also a great way to learn new words, such as rewilding ;) Moreover, it turns out that we're quite good at it."
Marika, Tomek and The Cat
"I must say that what impressed me the most was realizing how many good things I could do, but don't do every day... It's like a catalog of things where I click: no, no, no... and I start feeling warmer and warmer 🙂
Great for building my own awareness!"
Ola and Marcin
The Slowhop expert on responsible travel. She has been immersing into ecotourism since 2017. From tagging along on study trips to soaking up pro-environmental vibes in Armenia (shoutout to ARK Armenia!) and Zanzibar (thanks, CHICOP Ltd. and World Unite!), she's seen it all. In recent years, she worked as the Head of the Tourism Development and Promotion Department at the Marshal's Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
In Slowhop, she has already implemented a number of pro-environmental projects, like the e-book "The Kind Traveler's Handbook: How to travel in a more environmentally friendly way, support local communities and spread some good along the way", which is added to every reservation on Slowhop (even for our Czech and Slovak pals in their own languages). She's whipped up loads of articles and tools for hosts and guests alike, all aimed at greening up their habits (like tackling the food waste dilemma).
In her daily life, she doesn't do anything big, just casually redirects misplaced trash into its rightful bin, changing the world here and there. She's all about furry friends (especially her rabbits), mountain meanders, and painting the world with colorful comparisons. Greenwashing? That's a hard pass for her, triggering a serious allergic reaction. And she drifts off to dreamland knowing she's combed through every bit of info out there.
Who isn't the target audience for our Program?The Responsible Travel Program by Slowhop is not designed for networked, large-scale accommodation facilities (e.g., touristic resorts) geared towards serving conventional mass tourism and commercial activities, or promoting environmentally harmful practices (such as off-road, various forms of hunting, quad biking, motocross, or other mechanical vehicle activities in natural areas).
Do you run such a facility and want to reduce its negative impact on the environment? Write to us here. We'll gladly point out other tools for measuring eco-efforts that will be suitable for your place.
We conduct certification once a year, during periods when hosts are potentially less busy with direct guest service and can find a moment to enhance their business, that is:
– in October/November.
If you run accommodation and care about the environment, we encourage you to check how close the concept of responsible travel is to your heart.
The Responsible Travel Program by Slowhop is self-certification. This means that you assess your own commitment and describe it by responding to our questions. We believe in the honesty of our hosts, and we also know that no sensible person would risk exaggerating their efforts at the expense of losing their credibility and trust – ours and especially that of our guests. That's why we provide you with a trust credit and ask for the most accurate answers to the questions. If we spot any inconsistencies during the verification process, we'll let you know.
The Program was primarily based on scientific literature and an analysis of the actions of 27 entities in the tourism industry that declared environmentally friendly practices, implemented their own eco-certification systems, or created content related to the concept of sustainable development. The criteria proposed in the Responsible Travel Program by Slowhop closely align with current environmental needs and market trends.
We've broken it down into six parts, so you can conveniently spread out the application process over time and complete it at your own pace. It’s you who chooses how quickly the process goes — you can answer all the questions in a week, or spread it out over six consecutive weekends, for example.
The certification is valid for one year from the date of obtaining the results. After this period, it will disappear from your profile (if you are a Slowhop host), so we encourage you to renew it systematically. :) This way, we'll also be able to measure your progress and showcase it to guests more effectively.
