Greece has been ranked No. 2 in the world ranking for the prestigious Blue Flag quality award for beaches, marinas and sustainable tourism boats, according to the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (EEPF).
Adding 33 beaches, 3 marinas and one sustainable tourism boat this season, Greece comes close to the top-ranked Spain on 2018 Blue Flag quality award list, with 590 Blue Flag beaches. Greece ranked second among 47 countries with 519. Fifteen Greek marinas and one sustainable tourism boat were also honored with the quality “Blue Flag” award for 2018. Last year 486 Greek beaches and 12 marinas were honored.
The “Blue Flag” is a voluntary eco-label awarded to beaches across the world and is run by the independent, non-profit organization Foundation for Environmental Education based in Copenhagen. The EEPF is the program’s coordinator for Greece.
Greece’s ranking was announced during a special event on Wednesday, held at Astros beach in Arkadia and attended by many tourism representatives of the state and private sector.
Most of Greece’s Blue Flag awards – 89 – went to beaches in Halkidiki, northern Greece. According to EEPF, 12 percent of the newly honored winning beaches, out of the 47 countries that participated in the program, are in Greece.
On a worldwide scale the foundation awarded the international eco-label (blue flags) to 3,687 beaches, 679 marinas and 55 sustainable tourism boats for 2014.
The Blue Flag is awarded to beaches that follow requirements that include Environmental Education and Information, Water Quality, Environmental Management and Safety and Services.
Source: GTP Headlines