We are launching Green Destinations representation in Slovakia and Romania
Our owner-manager, Kedves Csaba, announced in his presentation at the Aktív Hungary conference that from the end of November this year, the company will represent the Green Destinations organization not only in Hungary, but also in Romania and Slovakia, thereby helping to develop sustainable tourism, primarily in Hungarian destinations across the border.
Green Destinations is the accredited certification body of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), the sustainable tourism organization of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Its work is based on globally accepted, uniform standards developed by GSTC, which aim to ensure that tourism stakeholders around the world work on the development of sustainable tourism based on uniform guidelines, and that this becomes easily measurable and transparent. The standards have been defined in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and continuously monitor changes in global trends, providing immediate responses to address the economic, social and environmental challenges facing tourism.
Green Destinations is currently present in over 90 countries, including countries such as Australia and neighboring Slovenia, where 90% of all guest nights are spent in Green Destinations-certified sustainable destinations. So far, 122 destinations worldwide have received the Green Destinations sustainability certification, and more than 500 destinations have successfully participated in the TOP100 Sustainable Destinations Good Practices global competition, which can also be considered a precursor to the certification.
Over the past year, one of Innotime Hungary's most important goals has been to assess domestic guest attitudes towards sustainable tourism. In addition, it has conducted pilot audits in several domestic destinations to gain a comprehensive picture of the domestic supply side, and has assisted in the preparation of two destinations (Veszprém and Miskolc) whose sustainability programs were included in the world's TOP100 destination good practices in the Green Destinations competition this year.
International trends, including the sustainability reports of the UNWTO and several global online travel agencies, clearly show that destinations that do not have a long-term sustainability program based on international standards, covering all pillars of economic-social-environmental sustainability, and that cannot communicate this to guests properly, will be at a significant competitive disadvantage within a few years. Destinations and tourism service providers in Slovakia and Romania have also recognized this - however, since Green Destinations has not been present in these countries so far, many have turned to Innotime Hungary as the nearest representative. Due to the growing interest, the company has undertaken the tasks of representing Green Destinations in the two neighboring countries as well.
