“Empowering local communities to make tourism sustainable”

May 2021

Green Destinations Standard V2 launched

We have updated the backbone of our operations:

the Green Destinations Standard.

This is our set of criteria used for reporting, evaluation and recognition of destination sustainability. The new standard was updated based on consultation among the Green Destinations Partnership and obtained ‘Recognised’ status by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council for being aligned with the latest global criteria for destinations sustainability. While the structure and most criteria remain relatively unchanged; some elements were added (e.g. animal welfare; internal sustainability management of DMOs); while other criteria were removed or merged.

In total the standard now contains 75 (mandatory) criteria; of which 30 core criteria are used for Top 100 pre-selection. The updated guidance will become available shortly, providing elaborate background and examples of conformity for each criterion. This will then be the basis for new training for Destination Managers; as a continuation of the Top 100 training.

Destinations in the Green Destinations Award & Certification program will have their data, uploads, comments and tasks from the previous version transferred to the most appropriate criterion in the new standard - avoiding the hassle of manually moving texts and files. But in general, the standard is becoming a bit more demanding - challenging every destination to keep improving and optimise their impact.

Green Destinations Standard V2

Green Destinations Ambassadors Program

We proudly present our new collaboration program

with sustainable tourism advocates

The Green Destinations and Good Travel Guide's Ambassadors Program aims to promote sustainable destinations and Good Practice Stories through avid travellers and compelling storytellers who are passionate about sustainable tourism.

We look forward to raising awareness regarding Green Destinations and Good Travel Guide's benefits, G.R.E.E.N. values and sustainable tourism-related content to the public, speaking and networking with local ambassadors in the destinations' countries and regions, to enrich our diverse and dynamic global community.

Learn more about our Green Destinations Ambassadors Program:

Ambassadors Program

Congratulations to QualityCoast

Awarded Destinations

QualityCoast Awards are specially designed for destinations focusing on waterfront sustainability, seaside and beach quality.

More than 95 destinations have joined the Green Destinations Awards and Certification Program. We would like to congratulate the following recently QualityCoast awarded destinations:

Gozo, Malta
QualityCoast Award Gold

Gozo, Malta provides an authentic island experience. Three of Gozo’s beaches have a Blue Flag status, a standard achieved through a diligent Beach Management plan and the island’s heritage sites have also been noticed by UNESCO.

Visit Gozo on the Good Travel Guide:

Gozo - Good Travel Guide

Norderney, Germany
QualityCoast Award Gold

Everything on the island is subject to the goal of developing tourism in harmony with nature. Norderney was QualityCoast awarded for the first time in 2013; this year's certification renewal led to the Gold award level.

Visit Norderney on the Good Travel Guide:

Norderney - Good Travel Guide

Bonaire, the Dutch Caribbean
QualityCoast Award Silver

Bonaire received the QualityCoast Award for the first time in 2016 as it recognised as one of the top destinations worldwide for diving. Bonaire positioned itself as the first Blue Destination in the world and has a long history of nature preservation.

Visit Bonaire on the Good Travel Guide:

Bonaire - Good Travel Guide

Green Destinations Co-organised Events

Green Destinations - Healthy Destinations

On April 29th, 2021, Nature For Health and Green Destinations hosted the online seminar Green & Healthy Destinations: The healing force of landscapes as part of the Landscape Triennial 2021.

The seminar represents a successful basis of the cooperation between Green Destinations, Nature For Health, the Province of Noord-Brabant and the Van Gogh National Park with support from the Council of Europe, Wageningen University & Research and VisitBrabant.

Professionals across Europe shared their unique initiatives and knowledge about implementation practices, opportunities and development of the progress towards an integration of landscapes, tourism and healthcare.

We encourage you to visit our YouTube page to watch the recording of this seminar.

Watch Here

Future of Tourism Coalition: Measuring Tourism's Impacts

The second webinar of the #resettourism series took place on April 22th, 2021, with more than 1000 registrations. The event was hosted by Albert Salman, Founder of Green Destinations and Jeremy Sampson, CEO of The Travel Foundation. Panelists gave real-life stories of new alternative ways for measuring tourism impacts, and understand how these can help in achieving a destination's health and community wellbeing:

Julián Guerrero Orozco – Vice-minister of Tourism, Colombia

Masaru Takayama – Founding Chair, Asian Ecotourism Network

Mikey Sadowski – General Manager, Global PR & Communications Intrepid Travel

Stephanie M. Jones – Founder, National Blacks in Travel & Tourism Collaborative

Bart Neuts – Research Expert, KU Leuven & Toerisme Vlaanderen - VISITFLANDERS

Idrissia Thestrup – Senior Manager, Destination Development & Marketing Visit Greenland

We can proudly claim that this webinar was a great success! Watch the second webinar of the #resettourism series:

Watch Here

Green Destinations Upcoming Events

2nd Green Destinations Representatives Meeting 2021

The invitations were sent for the second Green Destinations Representatives Meeting 2021. This private event will take place on Tuesday, June 22nd.

The Green Destinations team together with their Partners and Representatives will discuss ongoing projects, relying on the professional experience and local insight of our worldwide network of sustainable tourism experts.

Top 100 Competition Training Sessions

Would you like to share your destination’s sustainability story and good practices?

Green Destinations Training Program has created the Top 100 Online Courses for destination managers to better understand our Sustainability Core Criteria and to create an outstanding Good Practice Story.

The 'How to write the best Good Practice Story' workshop included 3 live sessions which were delivered by well-known sustainable tourism experts who share their knowledge about:

How to write a captivating Good Practice Story - Rob Holmes, GLP Films
Five reasons to disrupt storytelling in the Tourism Industry - Joanna Haugen, Rooted
Communicating Sustainability - Anula Galewska, Sustainable Tourism Made Easy

All destinations around the world are welcome to participate and join the online course by submitting the applications now!

Visit the Top 100 website for more information about the competition and registration:

2021 Top 100 Competition

7 days Biking Guide in the Netherlands!

We are excited to share with you the latest Good Travel Blog featuring 7 days biking guide through 7 sustainable Dutch destinations recognised by Green Destinations and QualityCoast Awards. Total 12 hours on the road!

Each day of the guide is dedicated to visiting one or two destinations including 1.30-2.30 hours to get from one to the other by bike. Travel locally and explore the Netherlands as you have never seen them before: beaches, dunes, islands, authentic villages, cultural heritage, and undiscovered green destinations!

The complete guide is now available on Good Travel Guide and can also be downloaded as a brochure below.

Good Travel Blog

Meet Our New Partner 'Greening the Islands'

The Top 100 team is delighted to welcome a new partner for 2021, Greening the Islands, an innovative organization that supports the self-sufficiency and sustainability of islands worldwide.

Our common goal is to work together on supporting islands on their way to becoming #sustainabletourism destinations and promoting the nexus between energy, water and mobility in the green economy. Find out more about our strategic partners:

Our Partners

2020 Top 100 Highlights

We would like to highlight three of our 2020 Top 100 Good Practice Stories to celebrate and promote their Culture & Communities efforts. You can read the full stories here.

Chiang Khan, Thailand

Chiang Khan worked on a “Do’s and Dont’s” proposal to combat the negative impacts the local community, particularly monks, was facing due to tourism. Leaflets were distributed to the public and a public service announcement was aired for tourists to get a better understanding of the cultural value and traditional rituals behind the traditional sticky rice almsgiving ceremony. It is hoped that this awareness activity creates a cultural heritage that tourists value, accept and pay for.

Townsville, Australia

Townsville’s project focused on its community and how it can implement sustainability to meet its needs. The city provided chances for collaboration and sharing. One project, the Solar City project, resulted in a reduction of energy consumption by 46%. The city’s success garnered national and international support.

Dark Sky Alqueva, Portugal

Dark Sky® Alqueva developed a series of projects and actions to become the first Portuguese destination dedicated to astrotourism, the first Starlight Tourism Destination and the first cross-border Starlight Destination in the world. Different sectors like public and private stakeholders, universities and tourism entrepreneurs, as well as the general public, were made aware of and involved in the project.

If you have interesting news about your destination's sustainability

efforts share them with us!

Write us an email to: communication@greendestinations.org

Our mailing address is: contact@greendestinations.org

No longer want to receive update emails from us?

You can unsubscribe from this list.

You received this email because you subscribed to our list. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Rapenburg 8
Leiden
2311 EV
Netherlands