EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE (EICC) has become the first purpose-built congress venue to achieve a gold award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme.
In its auditors' report, GTBS said: "The centre provides a quality of experience second to none in Scotland for conferencing with a strong green ethos. It is a pioneer in green meetings and if its example is followed by others, Edinburgh has great potential to become the greenest business tourism destination in the world".
GTBS managing director Andrea Nicholas added: "Social accountability is a growing feature of business decision-making and particularly, in the business tourism sector, we are seeing more enquiries from companies looking for credible and recognised endorsement of their products and services."
EICC's Plan-it Green client sustainability programme includes a carbon calculator and a certified carbon sequestration option to offset environmental impacts.