A case in point is New Zealand, where tourism has long been recognised as an important economic force; this is aptly illustrated by the sector’s contribution of 9.6% to the country’s GDP in 2003 (TRCNZ, 2005). The resource at the heart of much of this economic success is the tourist perception of New Zealand’s natural environment as ‘clean, green and pristine’. This innate characteristic of New Zealand tourism, coupled with the ramifications of the Kyoto protocol and the introduction of carbon taxes, render mechanisms designed for improved environmental performance, such as the concept of ecolabels, highly topical and relevant to the tourism industry in New Zealand. Accordingly, this paper will explore ecolabels as one of the mechanisms available for managing these challenges, by investigating attitudes towards, as well as consumer awareness of ecolabels. After positioning this research within the broader literature on ecolabels and tourism-based environmental certification schemes, the paper will present the findings and relate them, where appropriate, to other research to provide an insight into the level of consumer support that this relatively novel approach, in a New Zealand context, has gained. The paper will close by evaluating the prospect of ecolabels making a meaningful difference to the tourism industry in New Zealand.