Criteria catalog for sustainable shore excursions presented

Criteria catalog for sustainable shore excursions

At the Futouris strategy meeting in Rostock on October 20/21, 2015, the host AIDA Cruises presented the developed criteria catalog for sustainable shore excursions and handed it over to the other Futouris members as part of the membership transfer.

The four main criteria for the evaluation of the individual excursion offers include the transportation services, the content or focus of the excursion (e.g. culture, nature, etc.), the gastronomic offer and the sustainability commitment of the local partner agency. In addition, there are numerous sub-items that are also included in the assessment. In the area of transportation, the focus is on avoiding CO2 emissions. Excursions into nature, where a trained ranger informs visitors about species protection and special features, are also rated as particularly sustainable. Another key topic is gastronomy. The use of regional products for local specialties is at the forefront of sustainable excursions. Compliance with minimum standards for employees of local agencies in accordance with the core labour standards of the ILO (International Labour Organization), a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN), also plays a major role in the criteria catalog.

The practicality of this was tested as part of a pilot project in the Baltic Sea region. AIDA Cruises is one of the pioneers in the cruise industry when it comes to "sustainable shore excursions" and is continuously expanding its offering.