Booking.com partners with Chooose to boost traveler awareness of climate impacts

Booking.com is partnering with climate tech company Chooose to increase travelers’ awareness of how their travel choices affect the environment.

Norway-based Chooose builds digital tools that can be integrated into travel booking sites to automatically calculate carbon emissions for air travel, accommodations and ground transportation and to offer solutions to minimize carbon impact.

In July Amadeus Ventures invested in Chooose for an undisclosed amount.

For the partnership with Booking.com, Chooose will help the online travel agency determine how to provide transparent and credible information about the carbon emissions associated with a booking on the platform, beginning with accommodations and then adding other products such as flights.

Next, the two companies will work together to add carbon offsetting options within the booking flow.

“With half of travelers citing that recent news about climate change has influenced them to make more sustainable travel choices , supporting travelers to make more informed decisions related to the carbon footprint of their trips is a top priority for us,” says Danielle D’Silva, head of sustainability at Booking.com.

“Together with Chooose, we can provide information in a more transparent manner, and through trusted climate projects, can offer another way for travelers to make more mindful travel decisions."

Says Chooose CEO Andreas Slettvoll: “Recent research by Booking.com shows that sustainable travel is important to more than four out of five global travelers, with 50% citing the recent news about climate change as having an influence on them wanting to make more sustainable travel decisions. The challenging bit is that many still don’t know exactly where or how to start.

"That's why we are proud to team up with Booking.com making information about carbon emissions more accessible and ultimately actionable for people worldwide. Through the partnership, we can turn sustainable intentions into more concrete sustainable actions.”

Booking.com launched its “Travel Sustainable” program in November 2021, starting with a badge for properties that meet specified sustainability criteria. The OTA is also part of the Travalyst coalition, a not-for-profit organization of travel brands founded by the Duke of Sussex in 2019.

In April the coalition announced a framework to guide travel brands in collecting and displaying flight emissions data in a way that is consistent and easy for consumers to understand.

“As a founding partner of Travalyst, we absolutely share the vision of providing travelers with consistent, standardized information, including on carbon impact, so that they can make informed and hopefully more mindful decisions for their trips. As we progress with our plans for displaying flight emissions together with Chooose, we will absolutely be using the same aviation framework developed and approved through the Travalyst coalition,” D’Silva says.