The Green Certificate is a sign of environmental quality which is awarded to tourist accommodations in Latvia’s countryside and small towns - rural homes, vacation homes, guest houses and camping facilities. The Green Certificate was first presented in 1999 by the Latvian Country Tourism Association “Lauku ceļotājs”and implemented within an EC LIFE co-financed project.
In order to receive a Green Certificate, the owners of accommodations must satisfy strict environmental quality criteria. The extent to which accommodations satisfy the Green Certificate criteria is assessed by an inspector from “Lauku ceļotājs”. In order to ensure that the process is objective, the final decision on awarding the certificate is made by the National Euro-labelling Commission, which includes representatives from the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Economics, as well as independent experts from the fields of environmental protection and tourism. An issued certificate is valid for 18 months. Facilities must be re-certified after the expiration of their certificate.
The Green Certificate advantages for owners:
• The Green Certificate attracts attention, as it is displayed:
o In a visible location at the facility
o In the catalogue “Country Holidays” and in similar materials
• The Green Certificate allows reducing costs by using natural resources in a frugal way.
• The Green Certificate offers additional knowledge through:
o Seminars and courses
o Training materials
o A training film
• The Green Certificate can help in winning bids for tender and in obtaining subsidies from the Latvian government and the EU.
• The Green Certificate increases the company’s competitiveness and ensures sustainable development.
A special rural tourism brand Green Holidays, has been developed so as to help tourists find the facilities that have been awarded the Green Certificate.
The Green Holidays and the idea of behaving in a ‘green’ way are promoted not only in all "Lauku ceļotājs" publications, events and on the Internet, but also at each certified accommodation on:
• Information stands
• Drawings which depict environmentally friendly behaviour in a variety of situations
More detailed information about the Green Certificate on the Internet at
http://eco.traveller.lv.
