Game drive emissions
kgCO₂e / guest bed night
Your property7.4
Comparable off-grid safari lodges10.1
Illustrative ETC Africa benchmark comparison
Carbon & environmental intelligence
Environmental data means more when you have something to compare it to.
ETC Africa measures and benchmarks environmental performance across African tourism, turning credible carbon and operational data into practical intelligence about where you stand, how you compare and where the opportunities lie.
27% below benchmark
93tourism assessments
7African countries
400,000+guest bed nights analysed
25+ yearstourism & sustainability experience
A measurable foundation
A carbon footprint is one of the most comprehensive measurable indicators of environmental performance. It connects energy, fuel, travel, waste and operations into one evidence-based picture of how a business actually performs.
Everyone has a green story. Carbon gives you the evidence behind it.
Why context matters
Which lodge is performing better?
Two very different tourism operations. Two very different carbon footprints. The bigger number is not automatically the worse performer. That is exactly why context matters.
Lodge A
Grid-connected · easily accessible · 24 beds
6.4 kgCO₂e / guest bed night
Energy sourceMains electricity
Supply logisticsShort, tarred
OccupancyHigh
Lodge B
Off-grid · remote · 12 beds
11.2 kgCO₂e / guest bed night
Energy sourceSolar + diesel back-up
Supply logistics400 km of gravel
OccupancySeasonal
The reveal
Answer: You cannot tell.
Lodge A has the lower carbon footprint. But that alone doesn't tell us which operation is performing better. Against comparable off-grid camps, Lodge B is a top-quartile performer. Against comparable grid-connected lodges, Lodge A is unremarkable.
The number tells you the footprint. The right comparison tells you what it means.That's where ETC Africa adds value. We give environmental data the context needed to become useful intelligence.Benchmarking
So, how do you compare?
A number tells you something. A comparison tells you what to do about it. See where your property sits against operations that genuinely resemble your own.
Carbon intensity — off-grid safari lodges
kgCO₂e / guest bed night
Peer rangeTypical peer range
Illustrative property9.4 kgCO₂e
Where would your property sit?
Lower intensity / top quartilePeer medianHigher intensity
Whether you already hold carbon data or are starting from scratch, comparison is the fastest route to knowing what your numbers actually mean.
Talk to UsIllustrative distribution and values only. Not actual ETC Africa benchmark results.
Benchmarking
A carbon footprint without context is just a number.
Benchmarking turns environmental reporting into practical intelligence. Compare relevant operations to see where you lead, where you lag and where the biggest opportunities lie.
Total carbon
Your property
14.6 kgCO₂e
22% below
Comparable properties18.7 kgCO₂e
Diesel
Your property
7.2 L
29% below
Comparable properties10.1 L
Renewable energy
Your property
68% renewable
Top quartile
Comparable properties44% renewable
Waste
Your property
0.48 kg
39% below
Comparable properties0.79 kg
Illustrative prototype values only. These figures do not represent actual ETC Africa benchmark results.
Operational intelligence
The numbers often reveal more than carbon.
Environmental data can expose unusual consumption, record-keeping gaps, infrastructure performance and cost-saving opportunities—turning a report into a practical management tool.
Operational inefficiencies
Data quality problems
Year-on-year anomalies
Investment priorities
LPG consumption
kg / guest bed night
Your property
4.8 kg
Comparable properties
1.9 kg
Worth investigating
Kitchen equipment, hot-water systems and purchasing records.
Potential opportunity
≈ R120,000 annual savingif consumption moved towards peer best practiceIllustrative comparison
ETC Tourism Intelligence
Building a clearer picture of environmental performance across African tourism.
A growing benchmarking dataset helps tourism businesses compare performance with relevant operational peers. The principle is simple: compare like with like.
93 tourism assessments · 400,000+ guest bed nights analysed · 1,000+ environmental datapoints
Property-level environmental assessments across multiple reporting periods.
RelevantOff-grid safari lodgeComparable off-grid safari lodges
Not relevantOff-grid safari lodgeUrban hotel
Emissions sources we can benchmark
01Carbon / guest bed night
02Diesel / guest bed night
03Electricity / guest bed night
04Renewable energy %
05Waste / guest bed night
06Water / guest bed night
The ETC Africa approach
From evidence to action.
One connected process turns environmental information into decisions you can act on—and claims you can substantiate.
01 / 04
MEASURE
Know your impact.
Build credible carbon and environmental baselines using recognised methodologies, transparent evidence and robust data.
Data confidence
Verified evidence: 96%Estimated: 4%
ConfidenceHigh
02 / 04
BENCHMARK
Know what good looks like.
Compare performance against relevant tourism operations so that carbon and environmental data has meaningful context.
Carbon intensity
Your property12.4 kgCO₂e
Comparable properties18.7 kgCO₂e
34% below benchmark
03 / 04
IMPROVE
Turn data into better decisions.
Use benchmarking, year-on-year trends and operational data to identify inefficiencies, anomalies and opportunities.
Generator diesel
2025
28.4 L
2026
21.7 L
24% year-on-year
04 / 04
PROVE
Make performance credible.
Support sustainability claims with evidence, comparative performance and transparent progress.
ConfidencePerformanceCommitment
Evidence pathway
Towards Verified Impact
All values shown in approach cards are illustrative.
Verified Impact
Sustainability claims are easy to make. Verified Impact makes them easier to trust.
Verified Impact assesses the evidence behind environmental performance, providing tourism businesses with credible recognition of what they can demonstrate, how they compare and the progress they're making.
Discover Verified Impact01
CONFIDENCE
Can we trust the data?
02
PERFORMANCE
How does the organisation compare?
03
COMMITMENT
Is performance improving?
Evidence-led recognitionVERIFIED IMPACT
Start with evidence
You know what you're doing. Do you know how well it's working?
Turn your operational data into a credible environmental baseline, benchmark your performance and find out where you really stand.
Talk to Us