(Posted 05th October 2026)
The EU’s new anti-greenwashing directive came into force on the 27th of September 2026 – and it’s not just European tourism business that should be paying attention but also businesses based here in Africa.
If you market your services, be it as a tour operator or a hospitality business, to European travellers, or work with European buyers such as travel agents or tour operators, the new rules could affect how environmental claims are communicated across your website, social media and marketing materials – regardless of where your business is based.
For African tourism businesses, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Many businesses are already delivering meaningful impact; the focus now is on communicating that impact with greater clarity, transparency and evidence.
However, where greenwashing is in use, on websites or on sales collateral materials, an urgent review and corrections are now urgently required to avoid falling foul of the new EU regulations and facing potential claims by clients who feel misled.
ATTA members can now access the organisation’s exclusive guidance paper, The Green Transition and the EU: A Guide for African Tourism Businesses, to better understand what these changes mean in practice and the steps businesses can take to prepare. Non ATTA members should consider joining the organisation or else need to carry out research on their own.
ATTA member adn find out more via: https://atta.travel/…/african-tourism-businesses-urged…
