Green Destinations 2022 Special: Sustainable Tourism Insights

"With a record-breaking number of 250 delegates from 43 countries to our annual flagship conference, hosting over 20 panels, workshops, and roundtable discussions with more than 60 speakers, the Green Destinations 2022 Conference is a great success." - Green Destinations in a special communication to the conference delegates.

The prime aim of this year's flagship conference was to support destination managers and business leaders in delivering better and more sustainable tourism by presenting success stories and peer-to-peer exchange of good practice experiences. As anticipated, most of these inspiring stories, anecdotes, and experiences were formally communicated via conference presentations, roundtable discussions, and workshop dialogues. Nonetheless, in partnership with Travindy , Green Destinations would like to present a #GD2022 special Sustainable Tourism Insights Series featuring 10 speakers and participants from the conference with their insightful thoughts, outlooks, and expertise. We have listed the full interviews with the industry players hosted by Anula Galewska (Co-Founder and Managing Director, Travindy).

1. The future of Green Destinations – interview with Albert Salman

The main aim of Green Destinations these years was to establish a better certification program for destinations by making the scheme more transparent and engaging not only the destinations but also the business community. “You need the majority of the business sector to be aware at least of the big issue” – Albert says. Green Destinations also wants to help people understand what tourism enterprises do, to help travellers make a better choice. As a result, Green Destinations has launched the Good Travel Program , a certification scheme for all kinds of tourism and travel related businesses and facilities. Read more here .

2. Is tourism ready for sustainability – interview with Dr Ioannis Pappas

According to Dr. Ioannis Pappas, after a period when travel was limited, people now are more ready to travel than pre-pandemic. Countries like Spain, Greece, Italy and Turkey experience a significant increase of visitors compared to July and August of 2019. Unfortunately, it also leads to overtourism and a huge pressure on the whole tourism infrastructure. Read more here .

3. The human side of sustainable tourism – interview with Rika Jean-Francois

According to Rika, COVID-19 provided the industry with an opportunity to rethink and reconsider how it develops tourism. Unfortunately, now everyone has come to the right conclusions. Some companies have only been waiting for tourism to recover to have big numbers again, not understanding that our planet’s resources are not unlimited. Climate change hasn’t gone anywhere either, its negative effects are experienced by people around the globe. Therefore, we should be really active in protecting our environment. Read more here .

4. How to reduce seasonality in tourism – interview with Xavier Font

According to Prof. Font the first thing any destination can do is to stop marketing their high season and the well known spots, because they simply market themselves. Instead, DMOs should focus on marketing the low season, engage local residents in the process, do some storytelling for the destination, and in general be more creative with their campaigns. Read more here .

5. Outdooractive & Green Destinations partner to promote sustainable tourism

Hartmut Wimmer is the Founder and CEO of Outdooractive. He believes that sustainability lies in the nature of outdoor enthusiasts, who not only want to enjoy nature but they also want to protect it. That’s why the main goal of Outdooractive is to provide visitors of nature areas with all necessary information, including local regulations and codes of conduct. Read more here .

6. Sustainable tourism in the Balkans – interview with Aleksandar Donev

According to Aleksandar, among all Balkan countries, Slovenia is the most advanced in terms of sustainable development which makes it a good advisor for the whole region. The western Balkans (Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania) are a bit behind. That is why the aim of the Balkan Green project is to raise awareness, educate and explain that sustainability is a commitment that the whole region can benefit from. Read more here .

7. Sustainable hospitality in practice – interview with Apollonia Karampatsou

According to Apollonia Karampatsou, sustainability in general was not a top priority for the Greek tourism industry for a long time, however, nowadays both businesses and individuals evaluate the importance of sustainable tourism development. “Working together should be worth focusing on rather than competing because at the end of the day we all benefit from this collaboration” – Apollonia says. Read more here .

8. Sustainable tourism in Kenya – interview with Mercy Onyango

Mercy also shares examples of the most outstanding members of the organisation, especially eco-rated facilities – accommodations which are rated using eco-rating certification schemes recognised by the GSTC. Within this scheme facilities may achieve 3 levels of the certification – Gold, Silver and Bronze. There are also a number of destinations Ecotourism Kenya currently engaged through the partnership with Green Destinations, one of which was recognised at the TOP 100 Sustainable Stories competition. Read more here .

9. Sustainable tourism in Oman – interview with Amina Al Balushi PhD

According to Amina Al Balushi, sustainable tourism in Oman is successfully developing. The new products are created with care for the environment, the local community, cultural values, and traditions. For example, several management plans for natural-based tourism attractions were developed to limit and manage tourist flows and their activities. The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism also focused on raising awareness among the community on how local people can engage with tourism and benefit from it. Read more here .

10. Sustainable tourism in Kyrgyzstan – interview with Imanaly Turkbaev

Alay region in the south of Kyrgyzstan is the first destination from Central Asia awarded and ranked as TOP-100 Stories by Green Destinations. According to Imanaly, Alay is a rural mountainous area offering adventure travel activities like trekking and horse riding, as well as interesting cultural offer for travellers interested in experiencing authentic local traditions, cuisine and handicrafts. Read more here .

About Travindy

Travindy is a non-for-profit sustainable tourism consulting agency on a mission to make sustainable tourism a common practice among tour operators, accommodation providers and tourism destinations around the world, regardless of their size and location. The organization wants to achieve it by providing tourism professionals with necessary knowledge, tools and solutions to implement sustainable practices in the easiest and most time-efficient way. Visit Travindy's website today to deep dive into interesting interviews, news and resources from the world of sustainable tourism.

Did you miss out on the live-action from Athens? Wanting to re-live the exciting moments from the conference? We are glad to present the complete set of recordings of the Green Destinations 2022 Conference. Watch the conference recordings here .