The Caribbean island of Dominica announces that it has received Benchmark designation as a Green Globe Destination for the second year in a row from the eco-tourism organization, Green Globe 21. Dominica became the first country ever to receive this designation in October 2004.

“We are extremely pleased to have earned this prestigious designation from Green Globe 21,” stated Yvor Nassief, Dominica’s Minister of Tourism. “Dominica remains committed to the promotion and development of sustainable tourism and this recognition helps us promote our island as one of the world’s leading eco-tourism destinations while also helping us to protect its pristine natural beauty.”

Green Globe 21 requires all of its 442 total participating operations and communities to be independently assessed and certified annually by independent auditors to ensure their compliance with Green Globe 21’s standards. The participating companies and communities must meet those standards in 9 key performance areas, such as energy consumption, solid waste production, social commitment, resource conservation, sustainability policy and more. Dominica has achieved Best Practice results in 8 of the 9 performance areas.

“I am delighted that Dominica has achieved Benchmarked status,” said Cathy Parsons, Chief Executive Officer of Green Globe Asia Pacific International. “Dominica is an inspiration to all those people committed to environmentally sustainable tourism. They have demonstrated through a variety of initiatives that they can make a difference to reducing their environmental impact. The commitment they have shown by participating in the Green Globe program and by their achievements sets an example for others to follow.”

In addition to the national designation, five hotels on Dominica have also achieved successful benchmarking status from Green Globe 21. They include 3 Rivers Eco-Lodge, Tamarind Tree Hotel, Garraway Hotel, Fort Young Hotel and the Hummingbird Inn.

Green Globe 21 is the global Benchmarking, Certification and improvement system assisting the international travel and tourism industry to attain sustainability. Green Globe 21 provides a certification system that responds directly to the major environmental problems facing the planet, including the greenhouse effect, over-use of freshwater resources, destruction of biodiversity, production of solid and biological waste and social issues.

Developed by the World Travel & Tourism Council and established in 1994, Green Globe 21 is based on Agenda 21 and principles for sustainable development endorsed by 182 heads of state at the United Nations Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit and provides companies, communities and consumers with a path to sustainable tourism. As of 2006, there are participants on all continents and in over 50 countries worldwide.