Green Destinations selected Breckenridge as one of three North American destinations in their Top 100 list
Photo by Taylor Simpson on Unsplash
Green Destinations recently named Breckenridge one of its Sustainable Destination Top 100 list, joining Vail and Transylvania County as the only other United States destinations.
“The Sustainable Destinations Top 100 list is organized to highlight sustainable tourism stories and good practices of destinations as inspiring examples to others, to tour operators and to travelers. By publishing this annual list and by sharing their destination management good practices and success stories, the initiators acknowledge the steps taken towards making tourism destinations more sustainable, responsible and more attractive from a visitor experience point of view,” comments Green Destinations.
After a significant public process, the Town Council ratified the first ever Destination Management Plan to balance quality of life for residents and quality of place for visitors. This set Breckenridge on a path to pursue global certification as a sustainable destination, so that the Town’s sustainability initiatives are verified and community-wide efforts are measured against global criteria through the Mountain IDEAL standard.
“Being recognized by Green Destinations as a Top 100 Sustainable Destination, and only one of three in the US, is an honor this community should feel proud of. However, the journey does not end here. This Top 100 list, and sustainability in general, is fluid and ever changing. It has to become our way of life. We can always be more resilient, strive to more inclusive, and think creatively about our future,” commented Sustainability Coordinator Jessie Burley.
Burley credits Breckenridge’s ability to pursue the Mountain IDEAL certification partially to the ResourceWise Program.
“Part of why we’re able to pursue the certification is because we have program for businesses to look internally at their operations and improve their sustainability and cost savings, which helps us track our progress as a community,” Burley commented.
Additional initiatives recognized in the Top 100 selection include Breckenridge’s business recovery and residential rental assistance programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s Top 100 List focused on the theme “building back better” and the efforts of tourism destinations to reduce vulnerability for locals and visitors as well as improve community resilience in the face of external challenges.