During 2024 and 2025, we supported a group of around 20 accommodation facilities in Garda Trentino through a pathway towards GSTC certification, providing tools, opportunities for discussion and operational support.

Here is what we achieved together:

➔ Kick-off meeting (7th March 2024) with the participation of Vireo — one of the few GSTC certification bodies active in Italy — and a testimonial from a certified accommodation facility in South Tyrol. More than 30 local operators actively participated in the meeting;

➔ Informational webinar (15th March 2024) organised with Trentino Marketing to provide deeper insights into the process and answer questions, followed by a second update meeting on 14 April of the same year;

➔ Operational meeting (14th January 2025) dedicated to facilities that chose to complete the certification process by the end of the year. The meeting took place with the support of Trentino Marketing, Vireo and Virtou, the partner company that guided facilities step by step throughout the process.

This journey strengthened awareness about the importance of sustainability in the hospitality sector and helped create a network of accommodation operators united by a shared vision.

Alongside the work carried out with accommodation facilities, we also launched the process to obtain GSTC certification for the Garda Trentino destination itself.

This process was not only useful in evaluating our level of sustainability — environmental, economic, social and cultural — but also allowed us to rethink existing projects and strategies, and to identify more clearly the priority areas on which to focus in the coming years.

Once again, the process was developed consistently with our Stay Young positioning, which looks at the well-being of both the community and the environment through a long-term perspective.

As always, we adopted a participatory planning approach, involving local stakeholders with the support of Trentino Marketing – ATA Area and Etifor, a consulting company and spin-off of the University of Padua specialised in sustainability pathways for territories.

On 8, 9 and 10 April 2025, the official GSTC audits for the Garda Trentino destination certification took place.

The process included two complementary phases: one and a half days of document analysis at our offices and one full day dedicated to field inspections involving a representative sample of local stakeholders.

Naturally, the process did not end with the audit. On 19th June, we celebrated an important first milestone with the diploma award ceremony for the destination and the first 10 accommodation facilities that successfully completed the audit. Since then, the number has grown to more than 20 certified accommodation facilities by the end of 2025.

A result confirming the shared commitment to making Garda Trentino an increasingly sustainable, credible and coherent destination aligned with the values of the Stay Young positioning.

GSTC certification is not an end point, but the beginning of a continuous improvement journey: the territory will undergo annual audits, during which it will need to demonstrate concrete progress in the actions undertaken.

All projects will continue to be developed through participatory approaches, strengthening the involvement of local stakeholders and consolidating a shared and inclusive governance model focused on long-term sustainability.

A more sustainable Garda Trentino — for us and for future generations — is an ambitious goal, but one we believe can be achieved step by step.

We chose to tell the story of this shared commitment — with both the territory and the people who visit us — through a dedicated section of our B2C website, where visitors can find useful information on experiencing Garda Trentino responsibly, discover sustainable experiences and services already available, and learn more about the concrete actions we are implementing as a destination.

From 12 to 20 July 2024, we hosted the Youth Sailing World Championships, the world’s most important youth sailing event.

The event was entirely plastic-free, using durable dishes and cutlery, providing reusable water bottles to all participants and installing drinking water stations. It also achieved Platinum level certification from Clean Regattas, the leading sustainability certification for sailing events.

In addition, the regatta field was managed entirely using electric boats, while throughout the week several social events, talks and initiatives focused on sustainability and inclusivity took place.

Sustainability is a shared journey that requires listening and collaboration. Your perspective is an important contribution for us.

If you wish, you can dedicate a few minutes to filling out our sustainability questionnaire: the collected responses will help us evaluate ongoing actions, identify areas for improvement and guide future decisions towards an increasingly responsible, inclusive and people- and environment-oriented development of Garda Trentino.