By adopting sustainable practices and becoming Rainforest Alliance Verified, a tourism business can:

• Ensure the future of its water and energy sources and protect the natural and cultural treasures that draw visitors to the destination.
• Cut costs by saving energy, using less water and reducing staff turnover.
• Give its guests a more authentic and memorable experience and earn customer support and loyalty by demonstrating a commitment to sustainability.
• Receive marketing and promotional benefits from the Rainforest Alliance.
• Improve its competitiveness and reach international markets, which are increasingly demanding sustainable services.
• Prepare for certification by a member of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas or (in the future) a program accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).

In order to become Rainforest Alliance Verified, a tourism business must:

• Be legally established for a minimum of one year and follow all of the laws of the country in which it operates.
• Have a valid, signed verification agreement with the Rainforest Alliance.
• Receive a verification visit and meet at least 50 percent of the Rainforest Alliance’s best management practices.
• Undergo a verification visit every 18 months and continue to meet at least half of the criteria.

Depending on where the business operates, there may be funds available to subsidize the cost of the verification, either partially or fully. For information about fees, please contact sustainabletourismfees@ra.org.

Like certification, verification is an important way to evaluate a business' commitment to sustainability and measure its progress. It is also used to determine which businesses deserve greater recognition and exposure in the marketplace. However, verification differs from certification in several ways:

• Verification is a tool to help businesses by offering concrete recommendations designed to improve their performance.
• Verification is an important step on the way to becoming certified. As part of the rules of our program, a business that operates in a country with an active certification program must apply for certification within a period of two years after signing our verification agreement.
• Businesses that are already certified can enter our verification program in order to improve their sustainability performance (as long as they maintain their certification).
• In countries where no certification program exists, verification offers businesses a benchmark -- which helps them determine where they stand in terms of their sustainability performance -- and demonstrates their achievements to others.

Once the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) begins accrediting certification programs, Rainforest Alliance Verified tourism businesses will have to work toward certification by one of these programs -- if available in the country where the business operates.

Until then, we recognize and promote certifications by programs that are members of the Sustainable Tourism Certification Network of the Americas.

There are over a hundred certification programs already in operation. Instead of creating yet another one, we decided to focus our efforts on expanding the supply of sustainable businesses through training and increasing the demand for these services by educating consumers about the importance of their travel choices.

We also believe it is important to have an international standard for certification programs, as a way of helping certified businesses increase their credibility and making it easier for consumers and governments to identify which businesses are living up to their sustainability claims. Toward this end, the Rainforest Alliance -- along with the United Nations Foundation, the United Nations Environment Programme, the UN World Tourism Organization and hundreds of other organizations -- supports the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), which will "certify the certifiers" and makes sure that they measure up to internationally defined standards.