Within the scope of the sustainable tourism destination certificate studies carried out by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality in cooperation with Selçuk and Urla Municipalities and in coordination with the tourism sector, Selçuk and Urla won the"Green Destinations Silver Level Award" certificate.
Publish Time：
2025-03-13 16:13:18
Source：
Tourism Department of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality
Within the scope of the sustainable tourism destination certificate studies carried out by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality in cooperation with Selçuk and Urla Municipalities and in coordination with the tourism sector, Selçuk and Urla won the "Green Destinations Silver Level Award" certificate.
With the award given by Green Destinations, an accredited organization of the International Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), Izmir achieved significant success in the field of sustainable tourism. Selçuk Mayor Filiz Ceritoğlu Sengel, Urla Mayor Selçuk Balkan and Izmir Metropolitan Municipality bureaucrats received the certificates at the Green Destinations award ceremony held within the scope of ITB Berlin, the world's largest destination fair.
"It makes us proud"
Selçuk Mayor Filiz Ceritoğlu Sengel began her speech by thanking İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay and bureaucrats of the Tourism Directorate at İzmir Metropolitan Municipality for their support on behalf of the people of Efes Selçuk. Filiz Ceritoğlu Sengel said, "We are proud to receive this certificate from the Green Destination management at the Berlin International Tourism Fair, one of the most valuable tourism fairs in the world, regarding the characteristics of a sustainable destination such as nature and heritage protection, waste management, energy and climate. Being one of the two districts in Türkiye that was awarded the Silver Certificate this year and the fact that these two districts were determined from our beautiful İzmir also made us happy. Being part of a beautiful destination network that we will leave to the future; the growth of local development and the visible difference in the number and quality of visitors to our city over time will contribute not only to Efes Selçuk but also to all of İzmir and our country." I would like to state that we are looking forward to receiving this award one more time in the coming periods and to conveying our story to the whole world by following the development of tourism closely with our works on collecting and recycling environmental packaging waste from the Ephesus Field Village, promoting and protecting our ancient lands."
"I thank you wholeheartedly on behalf of the people of Urla"
Urla Mayor Selçuk Balkan stated that they were proud to bring Urla the "Green Destinations Silver Award" and "People's Choice" awards at the ITB Berlin Tourism Fair and said, "On behalf of the people of Urla, I would like to thank our Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Cemil Tugay and the valuable bureaucrats of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tourism Office for their unwavering support during this process. Our Urla, which we aim to protect and develop its nature, sea, agriculture, and culture, has become the most preferred region in 2025. With the routes we have created under the umbrella of 'GastroFarmUrla' based on gastronomy culture and agricultural production in Urla, we aim to both increase the visibility of gastronomy and agricultural culture and pass on this cultural heritage to future generations. These awards are; "The Urla Vineyard Road Route, Gastronomy Route, Olive Route, Touristable Culture Route and Boutique Accommodation Routes will be preferred more in the coming years and will be a great argument for making a sustainable development move locally," he said.
How did the process work?
Following a comprehensive preparation and reporting process covering more than a hundred sustainability criteria and indicators, as well as an independent field audit, Urla and Selçuk districts were awarded the Green Destinations / QualityCoast Award-Silver Level Award. This award represents excellence in all sustainable destination management areas such as nature and heritage protection, waste management, energy and climate. It is also a recognition of the destination's efforts to maintain its tourism attractiveness in the future. The elements measured are not only tangible and visible criteria such as natural heritage, but also policies and management plans that take into account sustainable development principles.
Since 2023, Izmir has been included in the Top 100 Sustainable Destination Stories competition. The Green Destinations Silver Award is considered an important step towards a fully evidence-based and independently verified sustainability performance certificate in accordance with international standards set by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
What was done?
While the studies to become a member of the International Sustainable Tourism Council continue, research has also been started to obtain the "Sustainable Tourism Destination Certificate". While changing tourism trends are being followed, the opinions and suggestions of the sector stakeholders were also received. The first districts to receive the certificates in the studies started by the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tourism Branch Directorate with Green Destinations, an accredited institution of GSTC in 2024, were Selçuk and Urla. In the coming days, sustainable tourism certificate studies will also be started in the districts of Menderes and Çeşme.
