Recognition, Claims and Responsibilities « World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards

The World Sustainable Travel & Hospitality Awards celebrate achievements and progress towards more sustainable travel and hospitality. Our purpose is to recognise achievement, share useful examples and encourage further progress.

Entries are assessed against published criteria, with Advisory Board judgement and voting forming part of the selection process. Assessments draw on information supplied by entrants and supporting material reviewed during the process.

What recognition means

A nomination recognises an entry selected for the shortlist. Winning recognises its success within the relevant award category and year. Neither implies that an organisation has completed its sustainability journey or has no environmental or social impacts.

The Awards are an awards programme, not an environmental or social certification scheme, an accreditation body or a regulatory authority. Our assessment is not a comprehensive audit of an entrant’s operations or supply chain and does not independently verify every claim made in a submission.

Nomination or winning does not certify the overall sustainability of a business, property, product or service, establish regulatory compliance or guarantee future performance.

Recognition must always be attributed accurately to the named recipient or entry, the award category, the year and the status of nominee or winner. All references to recognition, including use of the Awards Shields and logos, must preserve that attribution and must not imply any broader endorsement, certification or substantiation of other claims.

Responsibility for claims

Entrants, nominees and winners are responsible for the accuracy of their environmental, social and sustainability claims and must hold appropriate evidence to substantiate them. This applies both to information submitted to the Awards and to claims made in their own marketing and communications.

Submissions must be accurate, current and not misleading, including through omission. Claims must identify the activity and reporting period concerned, explain material limitations and distinguish achieved results from estimates, targets and future commitments.

Comparisons must explain their baseline, scope and method. Certification claims must accurately describe the certified entity, applicable standard, scope and validity. Evidence about a component, pilot or individual property must not be presented as proof of performance across an entire product or business.

Nomination or winning does not transfer responsibility for substantiating an entrant’s claims to the Awards. Entrants must promptly notify the Awards of material errors or changes affecting their submission.

Use of Nominee and Winner Shields

Nominees and winners are welcome to display the relevant Awards Shields and logos to celebrate their recognition, with accurate attribution as described above.

The Shields may be used solely to communicate the Awards recognition received. A nomination must not be described as a win.

The Shields must not be used as evidence to substantiate any separate environmental, social or sustainability claim. They signify Awards recognition only. They do not constitute certification, regulatory approval or verification of an organisation’s claims.

Displaying a Shield does not substantiate claims that a business, property, product or service is sustainable, carbon neutral, impact-free or environmentally superior. Any such claim requires its own supporting evidence and must comply with applicable law, independently of Awards recognition.

Maintaining the integrity of the Awards

The Awards may request clarification or supporting evidence, correct published information, and suspend or withdraw recognition or permission to use Awards materials where material claims are inaccurate, misleading, inadequately supported or where recognition is misrepresented.

Entrants will normally have an opportunity to respond, although publication or use of Awards materials may be paused while a concern is examined.

The Awards remain responsible for their own communications. Nothing in this statement removes any party’s responsibilities under applicable law or excludes rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.