Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

For 2020, there is no participation fee for the Sustainable Destinations Top 100 Awards at ITB Berlin (4 March 2020).

With regards to the Top 100 competition, all applicants are expected to pay a Top 100 Assessment fee to cover the costs of this independent assessment, which vary depending on the year of participation:

1st-year applicants:

• All private destinations are subject to a fee of 350 €
• Other destinations from Europe, Russia, Canada, US, AUS, New Zealand, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan are subject to a fee of 600 € (ask us about discount options for small destinations)
• All other destinations are subject to a fee of 350 €. However, the fee is not required to small destinations (below 5000 inhabitants) that are independently assessed by a Top 100 Partner organisation.

2nd-year applicants:

• All private destinations and any other destinations from Europe, Russia, Canada, US, AUS, New Zealand, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan are required to join the GD Award & Certification Program and pay the GD-ACP membership fee
• All other destinations are subject to a fee of 350 €

From the 3rd year and onwards, all destinations are required to join the GD Award & Certification Program.

Please note: the Top 100 Assessment fee will be charged only when you are ready for the Top 100 assessment. Moreover, if you consider to join the GD-ACP-program it will be considered a first payment of the ACP-registration fee.

This is in principle not possible for the Top 100 competition – answers about criteria and indicators, pictures, and documents need to be provided on the Green Destinations platform. A nomination through an offline Nomination Form is only possible in case you have insufficient bandwidth to operate the online platform.

Instead, the submissions of the Good Practice Story for the Top 100 Awards can be done in Word and compatible programs, PPT, google docs or presentation or saved in PDF:

• By uploading in the Green Destinations platform and notifying
• By sending to using wetransfer.com

No, sending the Registration Form is the first step of the procedure. When the Registration Form is received and the eligibility of the destination approved, the nominator receives from the Team further instructions on how to complete the nomination via the Green Destinations platform.

No, we request nominators to notify the Team via email () that the nomination is complete.

No, to submit a Good Practice Story we request nominators to notify the Team via email that the Good Practice Story has been submitted ().

Alternatively, GPSs can be sent to using wetransfer.com.

All the information about deadlines and requirements to submit the GPS can be found in the ITB Call for Nominations.

Yes, the Top 100 competition certificate is issued at the Global Green Destinations Days, while the Top 100 Awards certificate is issued at the Sustainable Destinations Top 100 Awards event at ITB Berlin.

• The yearly Top 100 competition is jury-evaluated sustainability performance based on 15-30 core criteria of the Green Destinations Standard, and a full Indicator report. Being selected among the 2019 or 2020 Top 100 competition winners is a pre-requisite to candidate for the Sustainable Destinations Top 100 Awards
• Sustainable Destinations Top 100 Awards are based on jury-evaluated good practice stories of Top 100 destinations. Sustainable Destinations Top 100 Awards winners are presented at ITB Berlin (4 March 2020)
• Green Destinations Awards are pre-certification recognition of destination sustainability based on the full set of GSTC-recognised Green Destinations Standard criteria and Indicators
• Destinations are eligible for GSTC-Accredited GD Certification if all mandatory GD Standard criteria are met

Not at all, on the contrary they reinforce each other:

• Previous Top 100 selection is a positive indication whether a destination will qualify for Green Destinations Awards or Certification
• Green Destinations and QualityCoast Awards (Silver+) and Certification are a guarantee for yearly selection to the Top 100
• GD/QC Award level (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) is a good indication whether a destination will qualify for Certification
• GD/QC Awards are still valid when achieving Certification

GD and QC Awards are just different ‘brands’ of the same award (procedure). Destinations can choose under which brand they wish to be recognised. Large destinations (regions, countries) may even choose to use both – QC for coastal areas and GD for inland territories.