The assessors from the Green Tourism Award business scheme and from VisitScotland have been out and about of late and CairnGorm Mountain was firmly in the spotlight last month. And the good news for local tourism is that the visitor attraction that has already achieved “icon status” within the area has not only managed to retain its Gold Standard Award for Green Tourism and its Visit Scotland Four Star Visitor Attraction Award but has also increased its ratings in both by several percentage points.
Said Tania Adams, the company’s Marketing Manager: “What was encouraging in the Visit Scotland assessment was that we were rated highly in those areas where we have direct control of our product, such as the quality and content of our brochures, and the general attitude, appearance and efficiency of our staff. We have long recognised that we are in a people business and this speaks volumes about the dedication of our staff in ensuring that all of our visitors are made welcome and have a good time.”
The Green Tourism Business Scheme is an internationally recognised effective sustainable development tool providing an appropriate framework for tourism businesses based on practical activities. To gain a GTBS award, businesses are assessed every two years by registered environmental auditors with considerable experience in tourism, and are graded against over 120 measures of best practice reflecting a balance of environmental, economic and social issues. These measures include efficient lighting and heating, nature conservation, local crafts & produce, new renewable technologies, education and interpretation, and local community support. Management and feedback systems are also important and included in the minimum pass rates for grading while outputs such as actual achieved projects and physical evidence are necessary to gain an award.
In his report on CairnGorm Mountain, the GRBS assessor commented: “The site (at CairnGorm Mountain) passes at Gold through excellence in environmental practice across the scheme criteria” but there is no complacency at CairnGorm Mountain with new environmental-friendly schemes, such as improving the energy efficiency of some of the/… /the buildings and looking towards moving the site closer to becoming waste neutral, already being implemented.
Continued Tania Adams: “The Green Tourism Gold Standard Award is a particularly difficult one to retain and we were delighted again that we managed to increase our ratings to an astonishing 91% this time round. Many of our environmental management schemes were highly commended by the assessor and we are already taking on board some of his observations on ways in which we could effect further improvements.”
“For a business to be awarded a Gold Standard means that it has to demonstrate excellence in environmental practice and, across the Scottish Highlands, only five visitor attractions have merited Gold Awards. CairnGorm Mountain is simply delighted to be one of them and that again underlines our continuing commitment to balancing sustainable tourism with environmental awareness.”
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