Corendon must stop using vague sustainability claims on its website. The Consumers’ Association had filed complaints in June due to alleged greenwashing and is largely upheld by the Advertising Code Committee.
According to the Consumers’ Association, Corendon’s site contained terms such as ‘responsible’, ‘more sustainable’ and ‘conscious’, but these were not well substantiated. The travel organization also allegedly used a self-made sustainability logo and stated that Corendon flew with alternative aviation fuel, without explaining how this made air travel sustainable.
The Advertising Code Committee (RCC) agrees with the Consumers’ Association on most points of criticism, with two exceptions. The exceptions concern the name of the web page (More Sustainable Travel – Consciously on Vacation) and the introduction, which states, among other things: “Of course you can make more sustainable choices for your vacation, for example by staying in more sustainable accommodation”.
A spokesperson for Corendon says that the company has since made some adjustments. According to Corendon, these were outdated texts and the adjustments were made before the hearing at the RCC took place.
“As a travel organization, communicating about sustainability is complicated; greenwashing is lurking. That is precisely why we have invited the Consumers’ Association several times for an in-depth discussion about their findings,” says the spokesperson.
“Not to avoid the discussion, but precisely to jointly look at where we can do better. Unfortunately, they did not want to respond to that.”