Spain’s ICTES is promoting its “Tú Eliges” campaign in response to Directive (EU) 2024/825, Gaceta del Turismo reported on 28 October 2026. Gaceta del Turismo says the campaign offers tourism managers guidance on distinguishing substantiated sustainability statements from unsupported marketing claims.
On its campaign site, ICTES says it awards its “S” tourism sustainability label after an audit by an independent, approved company. The organisation says the label’s requirements are set out in a publicly accessible technical standard.
ICTES’s certification guidance identifies the UNE-ISO 21401:2019 sustainability management standard as one route for accommodation providers. Applicants must demonstrate compliance with technical requirements during an external audit arranged with an approved firm, it says.
The directive text prohibits generic environmental claims without recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim. It lists “green” and “ecological” as examples, but a claim specified clearly and visibly in the same medium is not considered generic. A tourism business using those terms therefore needs to check the evidence and the precise wording of its claim, rather than assume the words are barred in every case.
The directive also prohibits sustainability labels that are neither based on a certification scheme nor established by public authorities. Before displaying a label, a trader must ensure that its scheme meets minimum transparency and credibility conditions, including objective oversight of compliance. ICTES says holders of its label must pass an external audit each year to verify that the conditions under which they obtained it are maintained.
