Vancouver Island Adventure Companies Receive First Green Tourism Canada Certification
Maple Leaf Adventures, Strathcona Park Lodge and Destiny River Adventures have received the first sustainable tourism certifications from the country’s rigorous new certification body, Green Tourism Canada. Based on a well-respected international program, the certifications illustrate Island business’ dedication not just to creating spectacular holidays, but also to looking after our natural world. All three local companies are active members of the Wilderness Tourism Association of BC and continue to incrementally improve their operations in regards to the environmental issues, including education of their guests.
Strathcona Park Lodge and Maple Leaf Adventures both achieved a Gold Certification while Destiny River Adventures received a Silver Certification. The companies make up 3 of only 26 in Canada to be certified under the program to date. In order to achieve such high ratings, the companies underwent extensive interviews and site inspections from the assessors, and had to score highly in all areas. Areas of evaluation included the companies’ commitment to sustainability, their staff’s awareness of conservation initiatives, and their operations, education and purchasing behaviour.
Destiny River Adventures owner Jim DeHart believes that a proven, third party site inspection and review increases the credibility of the certification, and allows for continued improvement through recommendations from the assessors. “Green Tourism Canada has experienced assessors that have inspected hundreds of operations against set standards,” says DeHart. “That is important in order to ensure that we are meeting or exceeding international standards.”
“Each of us makes our living from the natural world’s richness so it is smart business to make sure nature is protected, not hurt, through our operations,” says Maureen Gordon of Maple Leaf Adventures. Jamie Boulding of Strathcona Park Lodge agrees, and adds “In order to help travelers distinguish the truly green companies from the greenwashers, certification is critical.”
Green Tourism Canada has introduced a national certification program which will help the tourism industry better understand how to reduce their impact and to operate more sustainably.
The Green Tourism Canada program is owned by UK-based Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS), the largest and most established third-party certification program of its type in the world. With over 13 years of experience delivering sustainable tourism certification programs and having conducted over 6000 assessments, today GTBS has over 2300 GTBS certified operators in the UK. Designed for all types of tourism and hospitality businesses, including accommodation providers, visitor attractions, activity providers, and restaurants, Green Tourism Canada conducts on-site business assessments, providing the industry with third-party certification aligned with international standards (ISO14001) and the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria.
The Green Tourism brand is a well known and a respected standard and provides consumers with a clear and credible signpost to sustainable tourism products and services. Check out http://www.green-business.co.uk/Canada/index.asp
For more information, please contact:
Jim DeHart
Ph: 250-287-4800
Jamie Boulding
Ph: 250-286-3122
Maureen Gordon
Ph: 250-881-6143
October 24th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
What a great accomplishment for those organizations. We all recognize that we are in business, but that does not have to be at the expense of the environment. Congratulations on leading the way to a greener tourism industry.