Titanic Belfast has become the first organisation on the island of Ireland to receive Silver Awards for the Green Tourism and Green Meetings accreditations.
Green Tourism promotes greener ways for businesses and organisations to operate and the awards certification programme recognises the commitment of tourism businesses which are actively working to become more sustainable. The Green Meetings accreditation has recently been introduced as a new standard specific to meetings and events venues.
According to the Green Tourism report, the world leading visitor attraction has ‘displayed an excellent understanding of sustainability and awareness of opportunities and challenges associated with running a responsible business’ and has demonstrated ‘excellent examples of good practice such as rainwater harvesting, the combined heat and power system and a more sustainable events delegates pack’.
The Silver Awards are in recognition of the extensive sustainability initiatives and policies the world leading visitor attraction has put in place which includes a number of ambitious goals including committing to reducing energy consumption by five per cent by 2030, removing all single-use plastic items by 2025 and aiming to become a zero-waste organisation by 2030.
Denise Kennedy, Titanic Belfast’s Head of Operations and Chair of the internal Sustainability Action Team said: “We are very proud to be the first organisation on the island of Ireland to receive Silver Awards for both Green Tourism and Green Meetings. At Titanic Belfast, we have been committed to sustainability from our initial conception as a BREEAM Excellent rated building and throughout the last ten years with the implementation of lots of strong initiatives and policies. This most recently includes the introduction of our Sustainability Charter, which has been developed by a working group of employees with representatives from across all levels of the business, and outlines our Vision, Mission and Goals.
These awards demonstrate our commitment to driving forward our sustainability practices to achieve our key sustainable goals and to support this within the wider destination. We are on a journey to become as sustainable as possible and whilst we are making big strides in doing so, we look forward to continuing to work hard to create a positive impact, support our local communities and drive economic regrowth whilst protecting our environment and the Titanic legacy.”
Titanic Belfast undertook the process as part of a city-wide sustainable Green Tourism partnership funded by Belfast City Council and delivered by Visit Belfast.
Visit Belfast’s Chief Executive Gerry Lennon said: “It’s brilliant to see Titanic Belfast leading the way and becoming the first business on the island of Ireland to receive silver accreditation for both Green Tourism and Green Meetings. This recognition rewards their commitment to sustainable tourism in Belfast and their efforts to reduce their environmental impact on the wider planet. Sustainability continues to shape the future of business events and tourism, both of which play a crucial role in supporting the city-vision of transitioning to an inclusive, zero-emissions, and climate resilient economy within a generation. Congratulations and well done to all at Titanic Belfast for securing the dual award.”
