Media Release - November 13

Green Globe offers tourism advantage

Kaikoura, one of New Zealand’s smallest seaside towns, has got an edge over other tourist spots in becoming the first resort to earn a Green Globe benchmark, an environmentalist expert said today.

The South Island town of under 4000 has become the first community in New Zealand this year and only the second in the world to earn Green Globe status.

Green Globe is the world’s only global tourism certification programme. It aims to set a system responding to major environmental problems facing the planet as well as seeking to achieve environmental, social and cultural improvements at global, national and local level.

``For Kaikoura it has provided a marketing advantage as it tells tourists that people of Kaikoura are not only concerned about their environment but they are also taking steps to improve it,’’ Kaikoura District Council environmental development officer Ian Challenger said today.

``We have the potential to not only become the eco-tourism capital of New Zealand but also a truly sustainable future and such a future is one that will benefit everyone.’’

Mr Challenger has given papers at international eco-tourism conferences and is one of the speakers at the major sustainability conference in Kaikoura starting tomorrow.

He said Green Globe was a standard which would result in tourists wanting to see a unique environment.

``We all use energy. We all use water, we all create greenhouse gases and we are all producers of waste and in our daily lives we all play our part in reducing our use and production of each of these.

``As a Green Globe benchmarked community we are measuring the impacts of every resident, every business and every tourist visiting Kaikoura.

``This means every resident, every business and every tourist has a role to play in ensuring that we remain Green Globe benchmarked by ensuring that we improve our environmental impact over the next year.’’

Mr Challenger said the Green Globe benefits were economic, in reducing costs and it also improved efficiencies as we less energy was used in their homes and less black plastic rubbish bags were used.

The environmental benefits to the town which hosted 1.4 million visitors a year were obvious.

Their efforts address major environmental issues that face the planet by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.

``But I believe that building this jigsaw has only created one piece of another jigsaw, a jigsaw, known as sustainable development, which is much larger and much more difficult.

``But we are all making a contribution towards achieving this and working towards a sustainable future for Kaikoura.

Other major speakers at the conference include Environment minister Marian Hobbs, BP Oil NZ managing director Peter Griffiths and Tourism New Zealand chairman Wally Stone.

Ends

For further information contact: Kip Brook, managing director, Word of Mouth Media NZ, Box 36 547, Christchurch Ph: 03 374 5426. email: kip@wordofmouthnz.com

© Scoop Media