The Virginia Green Travel Alliance is honoring Virginia’s greenest tourism operators and partners for their outstanding commitments to sustainability and contributions to green tourism in Virginia.
This year, 15 Virginia tourism operations were chosen to receive the Virginia Green program’s highest award, the Virginia Green Travel Star Award. Eleven additional tourism businesses are being recognized with the Virginia Green Travel Leader Award for their continued commitments to environmental stewardship, and sixindividuals are receiving the Green Team All-Star Award for their efforts to lead their organizations’ green program efforts.
Additionally, voting for the inaugural Virginia Green Travel People’s Choice Awards are still underway through April 28, and those winners will be announced at the conference on April 29.
“2020 was an incredibly challenging year for us all in the tourism industry”, said Jack Berry, the CEO of Richmond Region Tourism and the board chairman of the Virginia Green Travel Alliance. “It is exciting to have the chance to recognize these Virginia Green Travel Partners for their continued commitments to excellence and to sustainable tourism practices. Moving forward, sustainable tourism will be an integral part of our industry’s recovery.”
The Virginia Green program is supported through a partnership between the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Tourism Corporation, the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging & Travel Association, and the Virginia Green Travel Alliance.
The program encourages green practices in all sectors of Virginia’s tourism industry. More than 1,200 businesses and partner organizations have voluntarily certified their green business practices through the Virginia Green program.
The 2021 Virginia Green Travel Star Award winners are:
- Green Hotel of the Year: Hilton Downtown Richmond
- Green Attraction of the Year: Birdsong Pleasure Garden, Luray
- Green Conference Center of the Year: Chesapeake Conference Center
- Green Event of the Year: The Virginia Living Museum Oyster Roast
- Green Dining Service of the Year: JMU’s East Campus Dining Hall
- Green Tours of the Year: Shored Up LLC, Hampton
- Green Supplier of the Year: Babylon Micro-Farms, Inc., Richmond
- Green Transportation Facility of the Year: RVATukTuk, Richmond
- Green Inn of the Year: The Red Lantern Inn, Clifton Forge
- Most Innovative Green Projects: Croc’s 19th Street Bistro Native Plants Garden, Virginia Beach
- Most Innovative Green Projects: DuCard Vineyards, Sipping for Saplings, Etlan
- Most Innovative Green Projects: Powhatan State Park, Paper Waste Reduction
- Most Innovative Green Projects: Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center E-ticketing, education & waste reduction, Virginia Beach
- Most Innovative Green Projects: Awesome Oysters LLC, Plastic waste reduction & solar battery charging, Village
- Most Innovative Green Projects: Virginia Living Museum, Green Teens
The 2021 Virginia Green Travel Leader Award winners are:
- RVA Environmental Film Festival
- Hampton Virginia Beach Oceanfront North
- Back INN Time B&B, Kilmarnock
- Shady Acres Bed and Breakfast LLC, Hanover
- Pathosans, Sanitizing installation with the Virginia Railway Express, Alexandria
- Westmoreland State Park, Pollinator Garden
- Nauticus, Plastic or Planet? Exhibit, Norfolk
- Oak Grove Plantation B&B, Sustainable Renovation of the Little House, South Boston
- The Mariners’ Museum and Park, Bumble Bee Garden, Newport News
- Hampton Inn Manassas, Pollinator Garden
- Natural Bridge State Park, Environmental Education Area
The 2021 Green Team All-Star Award winners are:
- Travis Land, Virginia Living Museum
- Suzanne Moss, The Nature Bus, Virginia Beach
- Karen Riddle, Shadow Mountain Escape, Luray
- Jenny Elmes, full circle catering, Lexington
- Deck Hankins, Go Green Distributors
- Phil Irwin, Caledonia Farm 1812, Flint Hill
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