Our certification programs are structured by the sustainability management guidelines of our Green Destinations Standard, which is recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) to cover globally agreed sustainability requirements. Progress is monitored through indicators, which makes the program concrete and measurable. You can easily implement our guidelines and indicators in your management system.

Destinations signing up for the GD Certification Awards and GSTC Certification program engage in a sustainability management cycle aimed at continuous improvement with periodic assessment and independent verification.

The main steps include:

1. Registration 

Register your interest for Award or Certification by filling in this online registration form. Based on the submitted details such as destination size and location, we will send you an offer for certification.

2. Engagement and reporting

Induction training to destination sustainability and how to apply the GD Standard, and report your compliance to the GD Standard on our online assessment platform. Coaching by GD secretariat or local representative.

3. Evaluation

Technical check and independent audit of reported sustainability compliance.

4. Certification

A Certification Committee evaluates auditor conclusions and (upon sufficient score), issues the Award or GSTC Certification, which remains valid for 2 or 3 years, respectively.

5. Action planning for continuous improvement

The online assessment platform provides an Action Planning tool and good practice examples for easy planning and implementing your sustainability improvements following the independent evaluation recommendations.