Even before TourCert was founded in 2009 as a partnership under the German Civil Code (GbR), the first CSR dialogues with tourism entrepreneurs had already been initiated. A CSR reporting system was developed in cooperation with the forum anders reisen e.V., an association of small and medium-sized tourism companies in Germany. The first pilot enterprises embarked on the CSR process, with projects of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), the European Union (EU), and the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) supporting outreach. They helped to successfully establish the certification system. Eventually, in 2015, TourCert was transformed into a non-profit private limited company (gGmbH).