Does Ireland's green tourism transformation make it worth a visit?

Ireland may be a synonym for lush green landscapes, but is the country also a green goal?

Tourism Ireland, the organization that is responsible for the marketing in Ireland in overseas, is of the opinion that the answer is yes, and your CEO will be happy to tell you why.

“We are a small country that is known to be green and become more and more green from an ecological point of view,” says Alice Mansergh. The natural beauty and commitment of the Emerald Isle to preserve its inheritance make it clearly positioned to use sustainable tourism – and she says that it is worth a visit in 2025.

You can see Ireland's green login information in several places, including ships that have been spent on the Shannon river with sustainable fuels, rail lines that were converted into green tracks and sustainable peat equipment. But the way to achieve this vision is not without challenges.

How Ireland became green

On paper, the trip from Tourism Ireland in sustainability looks pretty routinely, albeit a little late on European standards. In 2018, the organization took over sustainable principles for marketing marketing and emphasized the regional and seasonal tourism sales. A year later, Tourismus Ireland checked the environmental practices of its offices to identify improvement areas.

In 2021, the board of Tourism Ireland described sustainability as a strategic priority, developed a sustainability action plan and created an internal task force to implement it. Tourism Ireland 2023-2025's corporate strategy took up this focus in order to promote growth based on economic, social and ecological sustainability.

But what does that mean in practice? Like many goals, Ireland deals with the inherent tension between the visitors and the minimization of the environmental impact of travel.

“Of course it is a CO2 footprint that takes people to the island,” says Mansergh.

In order to tackle this, Tourismus Ireland focused on putting on visitors who stay longer, exploring more and being deeply committed to local communities. Ireland measures the success of its programs based on a metric, which is referred to as income per CO2 footprint. This rewards the type of tourism that spends less carbon and stays longer – and discourages visitors who simply fly for the weekend.

How is Ireland sustainable now?

It is one thing to have a sustainability plan, but another to implement it. Mansergh quotes three examples of sustainable tourism in Ireland.

Switch to HVO on the Shannon River

Mansergh praises the Shannon boat rental for the decision to switch from fossil fuels to hydraulic vegetable oil (HVO). The boat rental shops on the Shannon river had consumed around 500,000 liters of diesel per season and produced around 1.3 million kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions. By switching to HvO, these companies brought their total emissions to 107,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide, a reduction of 92 percent.

Greenways offer sustainable tourism opportunities

Ireland's extensive Greenways network is another example of his commitment to sustainability. These off-road routes, which have arisen from repeated railway lines, offer visitors the opportunity to deal with slow tourism by driving or walking through faulty landscapes. For example, visitors can take Dublin to Waterford and then drive along the Waterford Greenway and see gardens, the river and beaches. Mansergh emphasizes that Greenways enable visitors to enjoy the biodiversity of the hiking trails, including wildflowers and wild animals that return due to the regenerative tourism initiatives of Ireland. The Greenways offer a way to experience Ireland's natural beauty and at the same time minimize the environmental influences and to agree with the goals of Ireland, to promote sustainable and responsible trips.

Ireland's famous Moore revitalize

In the past, peat was harvested from Moorern to generate electricity in Ireland. However, the process was harmful to the environment, and the European Union offered financial resources to help Ireland change from the use of peat for fuel. Ireland used the money to revitalize the Boglands and develop hiking trails to enable the creation of tourism goals with a low impact. According to Mansergh, this transformation of the moor helps carbon through tourism through tourism and offers economic opportunities for rural communities.

These are steps in the right direction towards sustainability, but can visitors trust this green initiatives?

Fighting on the Emerald Island

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for sustainable tourism Greenwashing is – the practice of making misleading or unfounded environmental claims.

Mansergh is very aware of this problem and the need to build trust with travelers. Many existing certification programs are based on a pay-to-play model in which companies essentially buy a badge without checking strictness.

To achieve this, Tourismus Ireland works with Fáilte Eire and Tourism Northern Ireland to develop a new, island -wide certification program.

“We will not necessarily rely on private operators where they pay someone for a badge,” she says. “It will be a state -supported and state -managed island -wide certification program, so that it means something in the event of certification.”

This new program, which is still in development, aims to offer visitors a more transparent and more reliable way to identify really sustainable companies.

What's next for a greener Ireland?

Ireland can receive a thrust from the European Union that has proposed a new guideline to combat misleading environmental claims.

The Green Curpors guideline will determine a clear rules that companies have to follow if environmental claims are available about their products. The guideline requires companies to secure their environmental claims with robust scientific evidence, whereby the entire life cycle of a product is taken into account. In addition, environmental identification schemes are standardized to ensure transparency and credibility for consumers who are looking for environmentally friendly products.

“We have a lot of people who want to say that they are green, but there must be a standardization of what that means,” explains Mansergh. “Otherwise it is an empty promise that is more motivated than checkable.”

But Ireland's tourism industry is not waiting for the EU to act. The idea of ​​visiting an Ireland in which visitors immerse themselves in nature, connect with local communities and support companies that prioritize sustainability has already taken over.

“There is this hunger to deal in nature, touch and feel things and to support the traditional ways of life,” says Mansergh. “And so I think that is part of the opportunity. If you talk about sustainability.”

No question, Ireland's green revolution is worth seeing yourself. But Ireland is only at the beginning of a long and winding road towards sustainable tourism.

It is a journey that requires innovation, collaboration and commitment to transparency. With its breathtaking landscapes, its rich culture and its growing network of sustainable experiences, Ireland offers travelers who are looking for a more meaningful and responsible opportunity to explore the world.