We’re proud to share some news that means a great deal to us: Tripseed has been awarded the Fair Tax Mark. We’re the first business operating in a single country outside the UK to earn it, and the first company anywhere in the world to be accredited under the Fair Tax Foundation’s brand-new National Business Standard, launched this week during Fair Tax Week 2026.
For a destination management company based in Chiang Mai, that might sound like an unusual thing to celebrate. Here’s why it matters to us, and why we think it should matter to the rest of the travel industry too.
What the Fair Tax Mark actually is
The Fair Tax Mark is an independent accreditation that recognises businesses paying the right amount of corporation tax, in the right place, at the right time, and being transparent about how they do it. It isn’t a logo you can buy or a pledge you can sign. It’s an assessment of how a business is structured, governed and taxed, checked against a published standard.
Until now, the Mark has been available through three standards: a UK small business standard, a UK-based business standard, and a Global Multinational Business Standard. The National Business Standard, launched this week, is the Foundation’s fourth. For the first time, it opens the Mark to businesses anywhere in the world that operate within a single country, and we’re proud that our accreditation marks its launch.
Why tax belongs in the sustainability conversation
We didn’t pursue the Mark to collect another badge. We pursued it because we believe tax conduct is the most overlooked, and most verifiable, dimension of economic sustainability in tourism, and one that the sector’s leading sustainability frameworks have so far left largely unaddressed.
Tourism has become very comfortable talking about sustainability, but far less comfortable talking about tax. Yet tax avoidance and opaque corporate structures are among the sector’s most significant forms of economic extraction: value generated in a destination that quietly leaves it. If responsible tourism is serious about local benefit, then tax transparency can’t sit outside the conversation.
As our Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer Ewan Cluckie puts it:
“For us, responsible tourism has to be built on honesty, evidence and accountability, not just compelling stories or glossy marketing claims. We hope this accreditation helps open a wider industry discussion about how travel can move from good intentions to better evidence, stronger governance, and more accountable business practices.”
How we got here
Our route to the Mark began before a relevant standard even existed. We first published an independent tax disclosure aligned to GRI 207, the global reporting standard for tax transparency, at a point when no applicable accreditation was available to a single-country operator like us. When the Fair Tax Foundation made us aware of its upcoming National Business Standard, we worked with the Foundation to assess that existing disclosure against the new criteria, and to meet them in full.
A word from the Fair Tax Foundation
Jamie Boswell, Head of Accreditation at the Fair Tax Foundation, said:
“There’s no business I’d rather be launching this new Fair Tax Mark standard with than Tripseed, which have been exceptional at pursuing fair tax. They really get why fair tax is so important for the tourism industry, and for business in general. I’m delighted to have Ewan and his team in the fair tax community and hope many other businesses operating in single countries around the world will follow their lead.”
Where we go from here
We’re using this announcement to invite the wider travel industry, and the bodies that certify it, to treat tax conduct as a measurable part of economic sustainability, rather than an optional disclosure. During Fair Tax Week we’ve published a three-part analysis examining how value can exit destination economies, and auditing what the major tourism and business sustainability frameworks currently ask of the companies they accredit on the question of tax.
If you work in travel, certify it, or simply care about where your holiday money ends up, we’d love you to read it, and to join the conversation.
Read more in our Fair Tax Week Blog Series:
Part one: The most overlooked measure of sustainable tourism is the one on the tax return
Part two: How a Thailand holiday gets taxed almost everywhere except Thailand
Part three: We read what the sustainability standards ask about tax. Here is what we found, and what we think should change.