Non-profit organization recognized for Alps sustainable tourism effort

‘Alpine Pearls’, a non-profit organization comprised of 24 member villages in Austria, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia and France has been named 2011 winner of the ‘Destination Stewardship’ category at the Tourism for Tomorrow awards for its efforts to “…successfully manage a sustainable tourism programme at the destination level, incorporating social, cultural, environmental and economic benefits.”

Founded in Austria in 2006 with just 17 member villages, the organization was the culmination of two European Union projects intended to create innovative, sustainable tourism packages that protect the environment. In the five years since its inception, new members have been added from six Alpine nations all of whom support soft tourism, climate protection and sustainable holidays.

All members must meet stringent quality criteria to assure that guests have a carefree holiday while protecting the climate and preserving the Alpine environment. This is achieved by organizing and promoting environmentally-friendly recreational activities and providing sustainable transport between the villages including solar powered electric vehicles, low carbon public transport and free use of bicycles. By ensuring that visitors do not need their own vehicles, Alpine Pearls has helped to reduce carbon-emissions and visitor-impact in an environmentally sensitive area of Europe.

In an effort to leave a small footprint but provide a big experience, many of the members also strive to use locally-grown and/or organic produce in their menus which often feature traditional local cuisine.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 27th, 2011 at 5:10 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site. Add to del.icio.us.