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What impact did TourCert have in companies belonging to the TourCert community? What are the long-term advantages of certification? That’s what our partners say about us…

Kristine Simonis
CEO Radissimo, Karlsruhe

“Apart from the usual improvements such as introducing multipoint connectors, saving paper and buying ecological office products, we have used TourCert’s certification process to adapt our product portfolio. We finally managed to take the time to look at each service provider, each hotel and each partner we cooperate with individually and in a structured manner. We replaced some of them, and some of them were thrown out entirely. This has significantly improved the quality of our programme as a whole“.

Portrait Rainer Stoll,  travel-to-nature © travel-to-nature

Rainer Stoll
CEO travel-to-nature, Ballrechten-Dottingen

“As one of the first certified tour operators, we have been certified since 2009 and always got ourselves re-certified. At that time, our distribution and marketing strategies were the focus of the analysis. We mainly concentrated on the question whether a printed catalogue is still necessary. The CSR process with its measurable indicators has given us a general overview, which has helped us considerably in finding an answer to this question. We have discontinued printing our catalogue and do not regret this at all. In this way, we have saved ten thousands of euros in costs. However, this is only one out of many examples of the CSR process showing positive developments“.

Gottfried Traxler
Programme Manager Business Partnerships, ADA, Vienna

“With the support of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) TourCert’s management system was successfully expanded to Latin America – starting with the Andean countries Ecuador and Peru. I am glad that in this project we work on a better future for local people through sustainable tourism. These efforts take us another step forward in making companies in the destinations more sustainable and in advancing sustainable development“.

Portrait Florian Weiss, Geisel Privathotels © Geisel Privathotels

Florian Weiss
Geisel Privathotels, Munich

“We are proud that the Geisel Privathotels were the first hotel business to be awarded with the TourCert label. As a private family business, it is self-evident to us that in our daily activities and decisions people come first. Apart from the ecological responsibility for our home town Munich, we mainly seek to be a responsible employer for our staff and potential job applicants“.

Portrait Kai Pardon, Reisen mit Sinnen © Reisen mit Sinnen

Kai Pardon
Reisen mit Sinnen, Dortmund

“The TourCert certification is a good opportunity for any company, no matter where it stands, to embark on the journey. In this area, I feel if you’re not going forward, you’re going backwards. No matter whether a company has already built sustainable structures and starts from a higher level, or whether it is still at the beginning; the CSR certification focuses on progress and not on whether we have already reached 100 % at the beginning. This would not be possible anyway. Those who embark on the journey will reach their objectives step by step“.

Stephan Daniels
avenTOURa, Freiburg

“As a founding member of “forum anders reisen”, the topic of sustainability has always been a central component of our corporate philosophy. However, during the certification process we realised that in day to day competition we are often tempted to seek establishing ourselves in the mainstream. The CSR process has shown us the strengths of our product. This had a positive impact on our marketing and product design and thus ultimately on the success of our bookings.

The regular independent review also helps to build trust with our customers. The customer sees that we care about the well-being of people and the environment in the destination. This ensures a feeling of security also with regard to their own trip.

You gain much more from the CSR process than you invest”.

Prof. Dr. Harald Zeiss
Chairman of the DRV Sustainability Committee, Berlin

“This has convinced the EcoTrophea jury: The winning project TourCert Andina which was awarded the sustainability trophy EcoTrophea by the German Travel Association (DRV) in 2016, considers both environmental and nature protection in Andean countries, focuses on the economic development of these regions and provides evidence of social responsibility for local people. Since as early as 1987, the DRV has annually awarded initiatives and projects that significantly contribute to protecting the environment and nature and that are committed to social issues in tourist destinations. Congratulations to TourCert on the EcoTrophea 2016 for their project TourCert Andina“!

Manfred Häupl
Hauser Excursions, Munich

“In our offices in Munich alone, the TourCert certification process has initiated a lot. My team is very committed and I am very proud of them.
With our partners it is the same. Usually, it is not about anything spectacular, but a self-image emerges. I think we will have won when we no longer need to talk much, but when we naturally speak about certain standards just being observed. When we have achieved this, then we have learned and internalised the requirements of sustainable tourism. And then we will all have won“.

Petra Beck
Chamäleon Reisen, Berlin

“Since it was founded almost 20 years ago, Chamäleon has been a tour operator that places major importance on sustainability. In order to also make this commitment transparent for your customers, we decided to get certified by TourCert. Within our company, the label has helped us advance in the systematisation of processes. To the outside, for our customers it also makes the much-discussed catch word sustainability easier to grasp. We can therefore also recommend certification to other companies. At TourCert, we are well looked after and the respective size and structure of a company is taken into account“.

Horst Görtz
cG Touristic GmbH, Kösslarn www.wandern.de

“Implementing the TourCert certification system, we have introduced changes to our business processes, changed products and parts of our business policy. This was absolutely beneficial to our company. We slowly introduced the CSR process, in all phases we consciously involved and/or informed all our employees. This had the positive effect that in our company the idea of sustainability is lived and kept alive by the whole team.

Conclusion: We are glad to have gone through the CSR process”.

Markus Hegemann
Neue Wege Reisen, Rheinbach

“For the development of our business, we have taken a lot from the TourCert certification process. Whether it is the quality of the advice we give, which has increased considerably, or improved internal communication, or the fact that we now operate a solar power system and thus underline our claim to act sustainably. For us it was a valuable process which has taken us a major step forward in terms of awareness raising, transparency and motivation. I can highly recommend the CSR process to any company“.

Porträt von Susana Cerón Baumann

Susana Cerón Baumann
Ventura TRAVEL GmbH, Berlin

„Through TourCert and the certification process we have learned that sustainability affects far more areas of the company than we thought. TourCert showed us how we could position ourselves even more efficiently in the area of sustainability. The regular recertification gives us the unique opportunity to regularly review all areas with regard to sustainability and to become even better each time. The anchoring of sustainability in the company is an ongoing process, the set screws of which can be continuously adjusted.”

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