World’s greenest holiday destinations featured at itb

Winners already on road to the VISTAS 2016

The first longlist of 8 destinations for the VISTAS (Vision on Innovation in Sustainable Tourism) presented on the adventure stage at ITB.

This first section of the longlist was chosen from the Sustainable Destinations Global Top 100 which was created to celebrate the management efforts of the world’s most sustainable tourist destinations. The list is the result of open calls in the social media, followed by a selection process involving 30 international experts.

Presentations included:

• Ljubliana – Slovenia (building sustainable tourism)
• Flores – Indonesia (poverty alleviation)
• The High Pamirs – Tajikistan (hospitality training)
• Alonnisos – Greece (waste rediuction & recycling)
• Noja – Spain (nature & coast community)
• Okavango Delta – Botswana (Elephant & Rhino population preservation)
• Serra di Socorro Archiera – Portugal (development plan)
• Cape Whale and Wild Coast – South Africa (Sustainable Tourism)
• Werfenweng – Austria (soft mobility)

At the VISTAS 2016 there will also be a window on bad examples – focus on unsustainable tourism.

The Sustainable Destinations Global Top 100 was created to recognise the management efforts of hundred most sustainable destinations on Earth. The Top 100 is the result of open calls in the social media followed by a selection process involving 30 international sustainable tourism experts. .

The Sustainable Destinations Global Top 100 is an initiative of TravelMole.com, VISION on Sustainable Tourism, Totem Tourism, and Green Destinations. Green Destinations has taken full responsibility for the selection process.

The aim is to recognise tourist destinations that have worked hard to make a difference and take sustainability seriously.

Clearly, no destination is sustainable for the full 100%. This is why the authors present ratings of overall destination sustainability according to the only available global assessment tool for this purpose: the Global Sustainable Tourism Review (GSTR). However, since not all destinations have been assessed by the GSTR (yet) and in order to employ additional expert knowledge, the GSTR also presents the scores that the Green Destinations Selection Panel members have given to destinations’ performance on six key criteria: Nature, Environment, Culture & Tradition, Social well-being, Green Economy and certified Green Tourism Policy. The latter criterion, corresponding to certification using the GSTC destination criteria, is given the highest weight of all criteria.

Selection of a destination in the Top 100 does not mean it is 100% sustainable. It means that it has made good effort towards sustainability, which is a process rather than a situation. It should also be stressed that visiting these destinations does not make a holiday sustainable.

Further information on the top 100 HERE http://greendestinations.info/top100/

Further information on VISTAS HERE http://www.vistawards.com

Valere Tjolle

Find out more about a practical way of creating a world beyond tourism in a wonderful Italian destination HERE