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Ten years of dedicated efforts have yielded fruitful results in sustainability! The Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration has won three major international awards: the "GD Gold Award" for the third consecutive time, was selected as one of the "Top 100 Sustainability Stories," and won the "GTE Experience Tour Award."
The Northeast Coast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Administration (hereinafter referred to as the Northeast Coast Administration) of the Tourism Administration, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, has achieved another success in promoting sustainable tourism! The Northeast Coast Administration, deeply committed to sustainable tourism and celebrating its tenth anniversary of implementing Green Destinations certification, has reached new heights on the international sustainable tourism stage thanks to its local practices and public-private partnerships. The Northeast Coast Administration not only passed the international Green Destinations Gold Award for the third time, becoming the only tourist destination in Taiwan to receive this honor; this year, it also won the "2026 Top 100 Green Destinations Stories in the World" award for "Reshaping the Gongliao Water Terraces with Regenerative Tourism Activities"; and its "Old Caoling Tunnel Bike Experience" won the inaugural "Good Travel Experience Award (GTE)" from the Good Travel Alliance. The three international awards were presented at the 2026 Green Destination Conference in Slovenia on October 28, 2026. This honor demonstrates Taiwan’s top competitiveness and strong local vitality in the international sustainable tourism market.
For ten years, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration has been deeply committed to implementing 84 international green destination criteria, leading regional industries towards mutual benefit. The Green Destinations Awards & Certification Program (GD-ACP) is one of the world's most prestigious tourism destination certification systems. It requires passing 84 rigorous sustainability criteria, assessing six key indicators: sustainable management, nature and landscape, environment and climate, culture and tradition, residents and social welfare, and business and tourism services. The Administration first participated in 2016, progressing from being shortlisted for the top 100, winning a silver award in 2018, to receiving the gold award three times consecutively since 2021. This demonstrates the long-term achievements of the public service system in internalizing sustainability criteria as core organizational actions.
Furthermore, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration has actively promoted the integration of the regional tourism industry with international standards. It has already assisted 16 businesses, including Toucheng Leisure Farm, Yamagata-kaku Hot Spring Hotel (which sources 80% of its ingredients locally and collects rainwater), Yi-Xian-Ju B&B (which monitors energy consumption and bans bottled water), and the National Center for Traditional Arts, in obtaining the international GTS Good Travel Seal. In recognition of its outstanding performance, the Green Destination Foundation has invited the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration to join the Good Travel Alliance (GTA), becoming one of the 20 founding member destinations worldwide, working together to build the most influential international sustainable marketing platform.
Selected for "2026 Top 100 Green Destinations Stories": Revitalizing Gongliao Water Terraces through Regenerative Tourism. In the "2026 Top 100 Green Destinations Stories" competition, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration's story, "Revitalizing Gongliao Water Terraces through Regenerative Tourism Activities," stood out and won an award in the Nature and Environment category. Gongliao Water Terraces are a unique mountain landscape in the Northeast Coast, serving functions as agriculture, water storage, and an ecological harbor. However, they once faced a crisis of abandonment due to the heavy burden of farming.
The Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration collaborated with the Forestry and Nature Conservation Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Human Harvest Environmental Ethics Development Foundation, and local residents (such as Mr. Hsiao Hsueh-Yuan, a farmer who returned to his hometown). Through organizing the "Gongliao Water T Art Festival," improving the "Encounter Jimuling" experience facilities, and facilitating the adoption of water terraces by businesses such as the Fullon Hotel Fulong Branch, the area of restored water terraces was connected with the Tamsui-Lanzhou Ancient Trail to launch in-depth mini-tours. Through everyone's efforts, by 2025, the restored area of water terraces has grown from 2.4 hectares to 9 hectares, providing approximately 256,000 tons of water replenishment annually and recording more than 1,100 species, successfully transforming tourists into co-active actors in protecting the rural environment.
Winner of the "GTE Award": The Old Caoling Tunnel Cycle Route, a Century-Old Transformation into a Low-Carbon and Equal Accessible Tour. The "GTE Award," presented for the first time by the GTA Good Travel Alliance, selects sustainable and monitorable experiences from 20 founding member destinations worldwide. This year, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration's "The Old Caoling Tunnel Cycle Route" won the award. The Old Caoling Railway Tunnel, with a history of 100 years, was abandoned for nearly 40 years before being rescued and designated a historical site through coordination between the administration and railway authorities. It was opened in 2008 and extended into a 20-kilometer circular bike path. This tour brings significant transformation results in three main areas: preservation and reuse of cultural heritage, driving local economic and industrial transformation, and implementing low-carbon green tourism and barrier-free accessibility.
Moving into the next decade: In response to the dual-axis transformation of "Sustainability X Digital" and to further deepen international sustainability connections, Albert Salman, founder of the Dutch Green Destination Foundation (GD), will visit Taiwan for the first time in September 2026, traveling to the internationally renowned Northeast Coast and Yilan coastal scenic areas for in-depth visits and on-site investigations of green destinations. Albert Salman highly praised the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration's achievements in sustainable development by closely integrating natural ecology, cultural heritage, and local industries.
Director Yu Li-yu of the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration stated that sustainable practices are a continuous process of communication and perseverance, and obtaining various international validations and awards is not the end goal. In the future, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration will continue to focus on global sustainable tourism standards, combining local culture and ecological conservation, and responding to the Tourism Administration's "Sustainability X Digital" dual-axis transformation goal. This will promote a tourism model that is environmentally resilient and integrates with the community, leading the Northeast Coast towards becoming an international model of sustainable development that achieves balanced economic, social, and environmental progress.
[Additional Information]
1. Green Destinations (GD): Headquartered in the Netherlands, it has over 600 destination partners worldwide and its evaluation criteria follow the Global Sustainable Tourism Guidelines (GSTC).
2. Good Travel Alliance (GTA): A global green destination sustainability action platform initiated by the Good Travel Institute (GTI), dedicated to making friendly experiences in destinations practically connect with tourists and link them to the sustainable tourism industry.
