Plitvička jezera National Park became the first national park in Croatia with a Green Destinations certificate for sustainability

At this year's international conference of the World Days of Green Destinations, which took place from October 8 to 10 in Tallinn (Estonia), the European Green Capital for 2023, the Plitvice Lakes National Park was ceremonially awarded the prestigious Green Destinations silver award for sustainability.

This important award is given by Green Destinations, a global non-profit organization based in the Netherlands, which for many years has been promoting the sustainable development of destinations and stakeholders in tourism and encouraging good practices aimed at solving the challenges of sustainable tourism. The organization operates in more than 90 countries, cooperates with over 500 destinations worldwide and promotes the recognition of green destinations on the global tourism market.

Nowadays there is a lot of talk about sustainability, but it is important to show what the destination does and what sustainable practices it implements, because this is exactly what tourists see and value more and more when choosing a destination.

The Green Destinations certification process that destinations go through includes 84 criteria covering the four dimensions of sustainable development: social, environmental, economic and cultural, and in Croatia, apart from Plitvice Lakes National Park, Međimurje County and the city of Mali Lošinj have passed this process. The existing responsible practices were evaluated, with the fact that the destinations received a tool for monitoring and improvement over the period of the next two years, when the reevaluation process awaits them.

"The process of certification according to the Green Destinations model was long-lasting and required continuous monitoring and dedicated work of all stakeholders. I am extremely glad that we successfully completed it and showed that by respecting and applying the principles of sustainability and quality cooperation of all stakeholders, it is possible to achieve that our destination is more responsible and sustainable for us, but also future generations", he said Tomislav Kovačević, director of the Public Institution "Plitvice Lakes National Park".

The two-day conference of the World Days of Green Destinations brought together numerous leading sustainability experts at the world level, and more than 260 delegates who had the opportunity to hear lectures and participate in workshops and panel discussions on climate change, public and private sector cooperation on sustainability, national and regional perspectives, destination management, practical sustainability solutions for companies in tourism, ways of communicating sustainable practices, planning sustainable events, digital transformation in tourism as well as the importance of authentic destination experiences through strengthening local culture and tradition.

Every day we have the opportunity to do things better and think outside the box, include the vision of the local population and create local partnerships, encourage regenerative tourism, offer authenticity to our guests, transfer knowledge on how to relate to the natural and cultural values ​​of the destination and increase understanding of sustainability through daily activities. There are many sustainability certificates for which the guest does not manage to understand what is behind them, and their existence can only be justified by work and transparency.

At the gala dinner as part of the World Days of Green Destinations conference, the award was received by Dr. sc. Maja Vurnek and Zrinka Nenadić, part of the Plitvice Lakes National Park team as part of the Green Destinations certification process.

The Silver Award Green Destinations certificate is a confirmation for the Plitvice Lakes National Park that a lot has been done in terms of sustainability, but also an incentive for improvements and the creation of new sustainable practices that will be promoted in cooperation with the Green Destinations organization to all those who conscientiously think about travel.