With its emerald rivers, scenic landscapes and well-preserved heritage sites, Slovenia is considered one of Europe’s green gems for a good reason. But while sustainability is an essential part of national legislation and recently lifted the country to fifth place on the Environmental Performance Index, practitioners of the country’s important tourism industry found themselves lacking specific tools and knowledge to implement green policies in tourism development. In cooperation with the sustainable tourism factory GoodPlace, the Slovenian Tourism Board is implemented the ambitious Slovenia Green programme to improve the competitiveness of local destinations.
Under the green scheme, the tourism board has been implementing the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS) since 2015 and uses the Green Destinations Stadnard developed by intenationl network Green Destinations to set up a holistic certification scheme that takes into account Slovenia’s national characteristics on the level of destinations and tourism providers.
Each destination that wants to receive the Slovenia Green label is required to sign a green development policy as a sign of official commitment, and carry out a 7-step process including raising awareness, creating a destination profile, and collecting statistical data. Once certified, destination coordinators have to submit annual progress reports and enter a re-evaluation phase every two to three years. According to the level of sustainability that can be proven, destinations can rise up from bronze to platinum in their certification. Hotels are encouraged to obtain an internationally recognised green certification such as Green Globe, Travelife, or the EU Ecolabel, before they qualify for the Slovenia Green certificate.