Isla among 25 European destinations awarded excellence award in acquatic tourism

The winning location for Malta that received the Eden ward is Isla (Senglea).

Scenic waterside locations in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Slovenia and Turkey received the European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) award, for innovative approaches and a sustainable manner in which they managed and promoted their tourism offer.

The initiative to award less-known destinations in the EU will help spread the message of sustainable practice in tourism, and decongest over-visited locations by promoting under-visited ones.

European Commission Vice-President in charge of Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani said "These twenty five splendid locations follow eco-friendly measures that constantly respect nature, with an eye to preserving the eco-systems for generations to follow.”

“These mostly coastal, lake and riverside tourism destinations promote innovative approaches for their aquatic tourism offer in such a way as not only to promote a more qualitative environment but also to cope with the seasonality problem and to rebalance the tourist flows towards non-traditional destinations," he said.

Since 2007, the Eden project based itself on national annual competitions, with the selection of tourist destination of excellence for each participating country. Each year, the project is developed around a theme, chosen by the Commission together with the relevant national tourism authorities. To date the themes have focused on rural tourism (2007), local intangible heritage (2008), protected areas (2009) and this year’s theme of aquatic tourism.