Blair Castle wins gold award for green tourism

Blair Castle has been awarded the Gold standard under the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS). Currently at the Gold level, Blair Castle’s team have worked hard to implement new measures from the new Green Tourism Business Scheme criteria and are very enthusiastic about greening the operation at Blair Castle. The business is working with Perth Council to reduce waste and to ensure that as much waste as possible is recycled.

The GTBS has been running since 1977 and is the largest and most established scheme of its type in the world. It is the leading sustainable tourism certification scheme in the UK with over 2000 members. Businesses opting to join are assessed by a qualified grading advisor against a rigorous set of criteria, covering a range of areas, like energy and water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity and more. Businesses that meet the required standard, receive a Bronze, Silver, or Gold award based on their level of achievement. The current network of members is comprised of a wide range of business types, including accommodation providers, visitor attractions, corporate offices and others.

Blair Castle was highly rated on the excellence of their staff’s knowledge and building a green team, being part of the Perthshire green tourism network, monitoring energy use and the education on sustainability with ranger service. They were also commended for their use of low energy bulbs, a wood chip boiler, buying local food and their recycling rates are high. Care of their environment is important particularly the manner in which they care for their grounds whilst encouraging walking, cycling, coaches to switch off their engines and their support of local cultural events.

Lyndsey Dolliver, Deputy Manager of Blair Castle, the champion of the Atholl Estates team for leading this initiative commented, “It has been our policy for some while to take care of our resources at the Castle so it has been a natural process to follow the rules of reduce, re-use and recycle. The GTBS provides extensive guidelines which we thoroughly recommend and although the target seems to be set rather high at first, by starting with small changes and keenness to learn, the team at Blair has achieved its Gold Star Award of which we are extremely proud.”

Sustainability and green issues are now very much mainstream, with governments, businesses and individuals all involved. Tourism, as one of the main economic drivers in the UK, has its part to play and Blair Castle is delighted to have been awarded recognition in the Gold category. The award warrants those that meet the correct standards with the Green Tourism Business Scheme logo of approval.

Sarah Troughton, Head Trustee of Atholl Estates, commented, “I am enormously proud of this award. It shows real commitment by everyone who works here, to meet the principles of green tourism, and exemplifies the estate's ethos.”

For more information and reservations, log on to Blair-Castle.co.uk.