Apply for 2024 Green Award for sustainability

By Finnian Cox

Local and environmentally conscious businesses in the tourism industry are being encouraged to apply for this year’s Green Award.

First established in 2020 by Visit Cork, the award recognises businesses across the county for committing to sustainable operation.

Hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions and tour operators can apply, detailing how their business has developed their sustainability strategy and initiatives over the last few years. Visit Cork are interested in how areas such as environmental, social, governance and economic sustainability have been affected by these policies.

Head of the organisation Seamus Heaney described the significance of the awards, and the importance of recognising “businesses in the tourism sector that are going the extra mile to become more sustainable.

“Increasingly, we are finding that businesses starting out on their sustainability journey are looking for inspiration, and best practices from peers can inspire others,” he said.

Mr Heaney also described Cork’s successes in sustainability as a whole, commenting the county’s placement in 21st place out of 100 in the Global Destination Sustainability Index 2024.

“This benchmark is carried out with rigorous third-party evaluation of over 70 criteria across a destination's environmental, social, supplier and destination management performance, so we are proud to see Cork ranking so highly,” he said.

“A sector that is increasingly dominated by discussions on sustainability and positive impact, Cork must continue to strive for excellence in order to compete with other leading locations for business and leisure tourists.”

Previous winners of the award include Fernhill House Hotel & Gardens, Cork International Hotel, The Imperial Hotel, and Ballyhass Adventure Group, which won a ‘highly commended’ award last year.

Last years winners, The Imperial Hotel, said it was a huge honour to win the award, with general manager Eoin Daly describing their hard work to become “one of the most sustainable hotels in the country”.

“Receiving the Visit Cork Green Award demonstrated just how far we have come and gave a great boost to our entire team,” said Daly.

The competition’s judges will be looking at the initiatives undertaken by the applicants to improve their sustainability, focusing on displays of leadership, innovation, communication and community engagement.

Application deadlines fall on 9 January, with the winners announced at Visit Cork’s conference in 2025.