Take the online Eco Rating Exam for Eco Lodges and Hotels
Eco Lodges and Hotels can take the Online Eco Rating Exam if they are practicing sustainability and/or ecotourism. As a result any lodging scoring below a 2 (out of 5) will not be included in the directory. A score below 2 shows that a hotel is not really practicing sustainability. A score of 5 is the highest score you can get.
Adding Credibility to Lodging
Taking the Exam also adds one more layer of credibility to the claim that a lodge practices ecotourism. People can read exactly what a hotel does to promote sustainability. They can be re-assured that a lodging is not “Greenwashing” and that the lodging really does what it says it does! To read more about Greenwashing and what it is go here.
More about the Online Eco Rating Exam
See what the Online Eco Rating rates: Eco Rating Explained. To clarify how the online eco rating came to be, see the Eco Rating History.
Green Globe also offers an eco rating score, but the fee is very high as they come on site. They have a great program but for small eco lodges, that price is too high. The Online Eco Rating offers an inexpensive alternative.
How to take the Online Eco Rating Exam
Start the Online Eco Rating at any time and save the page you’re on. Then you can come back and finish it later. However, it occasionally gets updated as we learn more. Because of this, we encourage you to complete the same day you start the exam.
The eco exam is mostly yes/no answers. Therefore, hotels and lodges will need to submit documentation in order to get the highest score of 5.
Scores for the Eco Rating
Scores will be posted on the page you get to after you click submit. Please be aware that this isn’t always the final score, it is the automated score. Submission of your written policies and procedures are required for the highest score. Adding your measurements of consumption, for energy and water, also need to be submitted if you answered yes to the questions that require it. We will not share any of your information without your permission.
Final Score
Eco Tropical Resorts will evaluate the online eco exam and give the final score. Resulting in a logo with the name of your lodging and the Online Eco Rating Exam’s final score being created by us. Further, we will email it to you. Accordingly, hotels can display the logo on their websites and link to the Eco Rating, which adds more credibility. If you need help with this, please let us know so that we can be of assistance.
We have purposefully kept the fee for taking the lodging test low, $100 (US dollars). If you need to work out payment, please contact us.
We have purposefully kept the fee for taking the lodging test low, $100 (US dollars). If you need to work out payment, please contact us.
Start the online Eco Rating Exam for Eco Lodging and Hotels by clicking the link below:
If the fee would be difficult to pay, please email us (eco @ eco-tropicalresorts.com, remove the spaces around the @) so that we can work something out.
Hi Lise – My brother Jim and I completed the survey together. It was fun to take, mainly because Jim and my sister in law Robin seem to be doing everything possible to earn the name of an eco-resort. Some questions were not very relevant because the resort is situated in an area where spring-based water is plentiful. We have one suggestion – align the boxes for responses better with the questions. Some were ambiguous. Also, we were disappinted to receive only a 4.6 – this score seems low given their many eco-friendly activities. Thanks, Joyce and Jim Kelly
Dealing with the issue of water conservation for lodges/tours that are in wet areas is a difficult one. I recently wrote a blog about it here: Water Conservation in Wet Areas. Would love everyone’s feedback to help figure out how to deal with this problem.
Cheers,
Lise