Other than positive environment impacts, what potential advantages will the programme offer the destination from a destination marketing perspective?

Green Globe Benchmarked Community Note: This case is based on a report prepared by Mrs Kimberly Christopher, Green Globe Asia Pacific, from material provided by Ms Kirsty Sherlock, Douglas Shire Council, 2001.
With 78% of its land World Heritage listed, the Douglas Shire in Queensland Australia is an attractive gateway to the Wet Tropics areas of Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest.
The Shire is also the only place in Australia where two World Heritage Areas converge, as the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area lies off the coast. Townships include the Port Douglas resort area, the sugar cane town of Mossman, and the Daintree Village.
During 2000, the Douglas Shire Council signed an agreement with the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism (CRC), the Centre for Integrated Environmental Protection, Griffith University, and the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to facilitate an ecologically sustainable environment. In doing so the alliance sought to stimulate environmental best practice among local tourism businesses. The council’s commitment to helping the community develop in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner is reflected in the achievements against the Green Globe Benchmarking Indicator for Communities.
Green Globe offers communities and businesses opportunities to benchmark their environmental performance, and then to gain certification. Green Globe’s standard benchmarking indicators are: (1) Total energy consumption, (2) Total water consumption, (3) Total waste production, (4) Community commitment. Checklists are provided to monitor: (5) Water saving, (6) Waste recycling, (7) Paper products, (8) Pesticide products, (9) Community commitment, (10) Chemical products. Douglas Shire became the first Green Globe Benchmarked Community in the Asia Pacific region. Key initiatives and results for the shire included:
Energy Consumption of electricity per capita is well below the national average, and exceeds the Green Globe best practice level through a range of initiatives, including: incentives for residents to introduce solar hot-water systems, incentives for energy-efficient buildings, and development of renewable energy, such as a by-product of the cane crushing process.