Standard and criteria

Click below to see the full Green Destinations Standard Criteria, used to operate the Certification Programmes QualityCoast, QualityDestination and Slovenia Green.

The standard has obtained 'Recognised' status by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council; indicating compliance with globallly agreed destination sustainability criteria.

0. Destination characteristics

100%

General information
1-10
Sustainability coordinator

Organisation managing the destination

Annual number of overnight visitors

Number of inhabitants

Destination attributes

Destination pictures & video

Destination description

Sustainability pitch

Awards

Destination marketing & communication
Scope of the assessment
11-13
Scope

Scope changes

Destination surface
Sustainability Good Practice Story
14
2020 Top 100 Sustainability Good Practice Story

1. Destination management

100%

Commitment & organisation
1-5
Sustainability coordinator

Management structure

Vision

Trained coordinator/ team

Tourism sector involvement
Planning & development
6-13
Inventory of destination assets

Baseline Assessment (Tourism Impact Assessment)

Tourism policy

Transparency of planning processes

Tourism action plan

Stakeholders involved in action plan

Visitor Management

Financial strategy
Monitoring & reporting
14-20
Indicators

Review and evaluation

Corrective measures

Communication

Records

Management reporting

Public Reporting
Legal & ethical compliance
21-26
Legal requirements overview

Legal compliance

Ethical code

Corruption

Non-compliance

Fair competition & responsible public procurement

2. Nature, scenery & animals

100%

Nature & conservation
1-5
Nature protection

Natural resource protection

Invasive alien (exotic) species

Wildlife protection

Monitoring tourism impacts on nature
Nature & animal experience
6-7
Responsible nature and wildlife experience

Captive animals in tourism
Landscape & scenery
8
Landscape & Scenery

3. Environment & climate

100%

Land use & pollution
1-5
Environmental risks

Air pollution

Noise

Light pollution

Land use & planning
Water management
6-9
Water sourcing

Water quality monitoring

Water quality response

Waste water treatment
Sustainable mobility
10-13
Soft mobility

Public Transport

Travel & Climate

Carbon compensation
Waste and recycling
14-16
Solid waste reduction

Waste separation

Waste disposal
Energy & climate change
17-18
Reduction energy consumption

Reduction fossil fuel dependency
Climate change adaptation
19-20
Responding to climate risks

Climate change information

4. Culture & tradition

100%

Cultural heritage
1-3
Cultural heritage conservation

Protecting cultural artefacts

Managing tourism impacts on culture
People & tradition
4-5
Intangible heritage

Respecting authenticity

5. Social well-being

100%

Human respect
1-7
Property rights

Resettlement

Indigenous and local rights

Indigenous intellectual property

Protection of people

Public communication of laws

Monitoring human rights
Community participation
8-12
Residents involved in planning

Residents informed about sustainable tourism

Stakeholder contributions

Inhabitant satisfaction

Community Empowerment
Local economy
13-16
Optimising private sector contribution

Promoting local products and services

Monitoring economic impacts

Socio-economic development
Social impact
17-19
Optimising social impacts

Real estate exploitation

Seasonality
Health & safety
20-22
Health & safety prevention & response

Health & safety monitoring

Crisis & emergency response

6. Business & hospitality

100%

Business involvement
1-9
Sustainability standards

Publication of certified enterprises

Water consumption

Waste water treatment

Solid waste

Energy and greenhouse gas

Equal and fair employment

Tour guide codes of practice

Product development
Information & marketing
10-15
Respectful promotion

Accurate promotion

Visitor behaviour at sensitive sites

Sustainability information to visitors

Interpretive information

Green destination marketing
Hospitality
16-19
Visitor monitoring

Visitor satisfaction

Sustainability in visitor survey

Accessibility