Our car rental partner Europcar Iceland - Höldur recently received the prestigious Environmental Award from the Icelandic Tourist Board. The Icelandic Minister for Tourism, Ms. Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir presented the award during a conference on sustainable tourism in Reykjavík on 27th March 2014. The award was now presented for the 19th year running.

During the award ceremony, from left: Elías Bj. Gíslason, Director General at the Icelandic Tourist Board; Steingrímur Birgisson and Bergþór Karlsson from Europcar Iceland - Höldur; Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Minister of Tourism; Jón Gestur Ólafsson, Europcar Iceland - Höldur and Björn Jóhannsson, Environmental Manager at the Icelandic Tourist Board.

Emphasis on the environment

"Caring for the environment and weaving sustainable values into every aspect of the company is ever more important. This is especially relevant for the tourism industry. We all know that nature is the industry's main resource and so we must handle it with great care and respect. All human action affects the environment in some way. We must endeavor to treat our country's nature with humility and sustainability in mind", the Minister said in her opening speech.

A leading company in Iceland in sustainability

Europcar Iceland - Höldur, a Europcar franchisee, is the largest car rental in Iceland with a fleet of around 3,000 cars. The company has long been in the forefront of environmental thinking amongst its peers and was the first car rental to receive an ISO 14001 certification for its environmental management system. The car rental is also gold certified by VAKINN, the new official Icelandic quality label.

Green driving and reducing the carbon footprint

Europcar Iceland-Höldur provides its customers with handy green driving tips on its website. It also publishes an annual envronmental report which contains information on the steps the company is taking for the environment and how it has performed each year. The company's environmental goals are efficiently followed up on. Average CO2 emmissions from its cars have been reduced more than was initially hoped for. Today it is possible for customers to rent both methane-gas and electric cars.

Reducing negative environmental impacts

The judging committee stated: "Europcar Iceland - Höldur fulfills all the standards that make a company worthy of receiving the Icelandic Tourist Board's Environmental Award. They deserve the award as a leading Icelandic company in an industry where there is every possibility to reduce negative environmental impacts with effective measures".

Congratulations!

The Hey Iceland team congratulates Europcar Iceland - Höldur on the award. We are very proud to feature their cars in our selection of self-drive tours. Our office actually received the same award in 2004 so we are in good company! 

Source: Icelandic Tourist Board