Travel website GoKinda launches

The booking platform is designed to showcase stylish, conscious hotels and resorts for travellers interested in sustainable and design-led accommodation.

GoKinda is a new online platform developed to offer savvy travellers a convenient way to find and book design-forward and eco-conscious accommodation.

Launched by Australian travel professional Alison Greer, the website features 455 hotels and resorts from around the world — spanning boutique offerings to larger hotel chains — at a variety of price points.

“We launched GoKinda to help bridge the gap between what the post-pandemic traveller wants and what they actually book. I’ve worked in the travel industry for over two decades and even I struggle to find the kind of hotels I want to stay at — those that are equally conscious as they are stylish, and that agree with my budget, whether I want to save or splurge. So, it’s no surprise that many others are facing these same difficulties and it’s preventing them from making better travel decisions,” said Greer.

Properties have been chosen by the GoKinda team, with a ‘certified’ categorisation for those hotels that have been certified for their sustainability efforts by a third-party organisation, with standards that are recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

“Sustainable travel is one of those terms that has become so over-used it’s almost meaningless, and the world of eco-certifications for hotels is a very complicated one. While many hotels use buzzwords and big claims to suggest they’re eco-friendly, very few stays are actively working to improve their social and environmental impact,” said Alison. “And then there are the hotels that are doing positive work but not publicising their efforts.”

Hotels that feature on the site include Potato Head Studios in Bali, Indonesia, which offers its guests sustainability workshops and features a community-centred regenerative farming scheme; Hotel Britomart in Auckland, New Zealand, the country’s first 5 Green Star hotel (certified by the New Zealand Green Building Council); and Cretan Malia Park, on the Greek island of Crete, which is Green Key certified with solar heating and waste recycling, among other initiatives.

GoKinda has also committed to One Tribe Global’s rainforest protection project with five trees planted for every hotel booking.

gokinda.com.au