Ethical search engine launches travel arm
Ecosia, a not-for-profit ethical search engine which uses its income to plant trees worldwide, has launched a hotel booking arm.
The Berlin-based company has launched Ecosia Travel, allowing users to search and book hotels and plant trees, to help offset their carbon footprint.
It will use 100% of the commission profits to plant an average of 26 trees for each hotel booking.
Since it was founded in 2009, Ecosia has planted more than 61 million trees across 23 reforestation sites worldwide.
Users can compare hotel deals by price, star rating or guest rating on a hotel search engine powered by HotelsCombine.
Ecosia is looking to partner with additional travel search platforms in the future to expand its offering.
Following a successful Beta rollout in Germany, Ecosia has now launched globally, including in the US, New Zealand, Australia and across Europe.
Ecosia intends to leverage Ecosia Travel to promote more sustainable forms of travel, including eco-friendly hotels, as well as allowing users to compare their carbon footprint across different transport options.
This will make it easier for users to travel sustainably and encourage accommodation providers to become more eco-friendly.
"Travel is an essential part of our lives, but it comes with a carbon footprint," said Christian Kroll, founder and CEO.
"We want to give Ecosia users the opportunity to make an environmentally friendly choice when planning their next trip. It’s time for the industry to step up and do better and we’re proud to be part of a movement towards a fairer and more sustainable form of travelling."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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