Building on more than a decade of supporting destinations worldwide, Green Destinations is introducing its new Awards & Certification Programme. This next step in our journey has been shaped by the experience of the destinations we work with and by the evolving landscape of sustainable tourism.
What has always been at the heart of Green Destinations remains unchanged: helping destinations measure, improve and communicate their sustainability performance, and recognising their progress. The new Programme builds on this foundation with a clear pathway of progressive recognition levels, each with its own set of criteria and indicators.
Green Destinations continues to guide and support destinations along this pathway, while an authorised Certification Body independently assesses their performance. This means destinations can share their achievements with confidence, knowing they are backed by independent verification.
The Programme will be presented in full at the Green Destinations Global Conference 2026 in Kranj, Slovenia, in October, where we look forward to sharing the new Awards and Certification levels and what they mean for destinations.
Two forms of recognition
The Programme provides destinations with structured pathways to monitor performance against the Green Destinations Standard, strengthen their sustainability management, and achieve independent recognition.
It offers two forms of recognition: the Green Destinations Awards and Green Destinations Certified.
- Green Destinations Awards
The Green Destinations Awards recognise destinations at progressive levels. Each level is assessed against a defined subset of criteria selected from the Green Destinations Standard, not against the Standard as a whole. A destination receives an Award when the Certification Body verifies that it fully meets every criterion for its chosen level. This makes the Awards accessible to destinations at different stages of their sustainability journey, while keeping a clear and demanding standard at each level.
- Green Destinations Certified
Green Destinations Certified is assessed against the full Green Destinations Standard, following independent assessment by an authorised Certification Body.
Both forms of recognition are valid for three years, subject to ongoing surveillance and Programme requirements.
Independent assessment
The key feature of the new Programme is the separation between support and assessment. Green Destinations owns and maintains the Green Destinations Standards and Certification Scheme, and supports destinations as they work towards recognition. An authorised, independent Certification Body carries out the assessments and makes the certification decisions.
This means that working with Green Destinations, through membership, training or other support, never determines the outcome of an Award or Certified status. That decision rests solely with the Certification Body.
Support along the way: GD Awards and Certification Tracks – Membership
Destinations that want to work systematically towards recognition can join Green Destinations Awards and Certification Track – Membership. It provides the tools and support destinations need throughout the recognition cycle:
- guidance, capacity building and training
- progress monitoring and preparation for assessment
- an international community of destinations for knowledge exchange
- opportunities to communicate and promote their achievements
Recognition as a continuous journey
The Programme is built around a multi-year cycle of improvement. Destinations work with the Green Destinations Standard and Indicators, collect evidence, measure their performance and prepare for independent assessment. After achieving recognition, they keep working with the Programme throughout the three-year validity period, including surveillance activities based on a set of benchmarking indicators.
The result is a model in which recognition reflects continuous measurement and improvement, rather than a one-time assessment.
Our purpose remains the same
The structure is new, but the mission is unchanged: helping destinations turn sustainability ambitions into measurable action and credible progress. As the new model makes clear, Green Destinations supports destinations throughout their improvement journey, while independent assessment forms the basis for every Green Destinations Award and Green Destinations Certified status.
Ready to start your journey?
Whether your destination is taking its first steps towards a Green Destinations Award or aiming for GD Certified, our Membership gives you the support to get there. Through the GD Awards Track or the GD Certified Track, members receive guidance, training, reporting tools and the backing of an international community as they prepare for independent assessment.
Register your interest, and our team will contact you with more information about Membership, the recognition levels, participation, fees and next steps.
