Environmental Awards

It makes us proud to receive awards because it is recognition of the hard work we have been doing within the tourism industry to protect nature. It is important to us to keep improving our standards and increase traveler’s awareness that they can spend an enjoyable and responsible holiday in Iceland or Greenland.

In 2009, the company received the Icelandic Tourist Board’s environmental awards. This was in recognition of our continued active participation and the promotion of environmental issues within the Icelandic Travel Industry Association (SAF), the Vatnajökull Region and on other platforms.

In 2011, Icelandic Mountain Guides was nominated for the Nordic Council Nature and Environment prize. We participated in an international innovation project for the tourism industry, led by “Nordisk Innovation”.

That same year, our expert views and suggestions were sought in the creation of Vakinn, the Icelandic Quality and Environmental Accreditation System, based on New Zealand’s Qualmark. We have followed the World Wildlife Fund Principles for Arctic Tourism for the past 15 years and have partaken in various small efforts with local communities concerning innovative sustainable solutions (e.g. FINECO in South Iceland). That was done alongside our current work on implementing the Vakinn system in all our departments.

In 2012, the company received the Conch Environmental Award (Kuðungurinn) from the Environmental Ministry of Iceland. We received this award for being a leading company in nature friendly tourism in Iceland who is driven by their interest in nature and caring for the environment.

The reasoning of the committee states that „Icelandic Mountain Guides has always had environmental protection as their leitmotif and the demand for sustainable tourism has been considered an obvious premise for the company. The enterprise has been leading in this field and contributed to raise awareness of the importance that all utilization of tourist resorts have to consider the tolerance of these places, both in regard to nature and society. This pioneer work is to others an example and has increased the understanding of other tourist companies of the importance of environmental friendly practices and at the same time this has led to more ambitious environmental criterias in the tourist sector.“