Going Green Map

The Going Green Map is a global mapping tool that gathers over 20,000 certified tourism businesses committed to sustainable practices, environmental responsibility, and support for local communities. Through the Tourism2030.eu platform, the map highlights accommodations, restaurants, attractions, activities, operators, and destinations, offering international visibility and allowing users to filter their search across 10 categories of certified tourism.
For the Valdichiana4green project, ECOTRANS has implemented the map already present on the Tourism2030.eu platform by adding the entities — both public and private — involved in the pilot experience. These are visually represented through three different symbols, each reflecting a different stage of their journey towards sustainability:

  • Yellow dots indicate enterprises that are beginning a “Going Green” pathway. Each dot represents an SME that has responded to a “green claim” linked to a specific GSTC criterion, signaling an early stage in adopting sustainable practices.
  • Green dots represent businesses that are already certified, including those not directly participating in the project. The data are drawn from ECOTRANS’ database of European certification programs.
  • Blue dots identify institutional and local stakeholders supporting the green transition on the ground: municipalities, local associations, tourism boards, LAGs, Federalberghi, and other organizations involved in promoting sustainable change.

What are the benefits for SMEs listed on the map?

Being featured on the map allows businesses to appear in the European Sustainability Marketplace, a platform developed within the Tourism 2030 ecosystem that connects and promotes certified sustainable tourism products and services. The Marketplace brings together data from multiple certification bodies, offering a quality-controlled, transparent, and internationally visible listing of sustainable tourism businesses – including hotels, restaurants, attractions, and destinations – through an integrated mapping system.By being included, businesses can increase their market exposure, reach travelers interested in responsible tourism, and create new networking opportunities with associations, other companies, academic institutions, public authorities, and NGOs.
In summary, SMEs gain:

  • Online visibility through the Tourism2030 platform and European database, accessible to both tourists and industry professionals;
  • Promotion and marketing opportunities via tour operators and travel agencies, including international networks specializing in green tourism;
  • Access to a broader target audience and the ability to build loyalty among travelers increasingly attentive to sustainability values.

What are the benefits for destinations?

For destinations, the system provides a practical tool to manage, monitor, and promote sustainable tourism development in line with the European Tourism Indicators System (ETIS), while also showcasing and promoting certified businesses at national and international levels.
A key added value lies in the possibility to cluster destinations based on exclusive data derived from ECOTRANS’ Free Service Agreements with certification programmes. This dataset enables destinations to access information that is typically unavailable at territorial
level. Through this approach, clustering allows destinations to better plan and structure their sustainability strategies, leveraging reliable and comparable data on certified businesses and sustainability performance. This represents a distinctive advantage, as it provides insights and strategic guidance that are not otherwise accessible to most destinations.