blue flag

TÜRÇEV's and Blue Flag’s 30th Anniversary in Türkiye

Between 7th and 10th November 2023, one of our leading member organisation TÜRÇEV held a national event in honor of the 30th anniversary of the organisation and Blue Flag in Türkiye in Kocaeli, Turkiye with the support of the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality which is having nine Blue Flag beaches within the area of a metropolitan city.

During the Blue Flag 30th-year event, an International Panel discussion featured speakers from FEE Global (Johann Durand), FEE Spain-ADEAC (Virginia Yuste Abad), FEE Greece-HSPN (Dareia-Nefeli Vourdoumpa), and FEE Turkiye-TURCEV (Almila Kindan Cebbari). Following this, significant addresses were delivered by key representatives from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change.

The schedule included presentations showcasing best practices from coastal municipalities and local associations relating to Blue Flag criteria and the responsibilities of local supervisors. The attendees were representatives from 50 diverse coastal municipalities, including beach managers.

Among these presentations, two notable best practices were highlighted from Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality. These included the monumental Izmit Bay Mud Removal Project area and the Ormanya Biodiversity Reserve and Educational Natural Life Park, representing significant environmental renovation and conservation efforts within the Turkish Republic.


The event included a field trip to a Mud Removal Project taking place in Kocaeli Municipality, read more here:

Blue Flag’s 30th Anniversary in Kocaeli Municipality, Türkiye - Mud Removal Project - Best Practice Field Trip

International announcement of Blue Flag Awarded sites - Southern Hemisphere 2023/2024 season

The second Blue Flag International Jury meeting of 2023 took place this past September, and we’re proud to announce that 193 sites from 11 countries have received the Blue Flag award for the upcoming season in the Southern Hemisphere.

These sites join the previously awarded beaches, marinas, and tourism boats awarded by the International Jury in the Northern Hemisphere round that took place in April, for a total of 5038 sites awarded in 2023 (4205 beaches, 711 marinas, and 122 tourism boats).

We would like to also congratulate the winners of the Best Practice competition for the Southern Hemisphere 2023/2024 International Evaluation. The final ranking is published below.


For the category “Accessibility / Access for all”, the ranking is as follows:

The Paradisus brand, managing awarded Blue Flag beaches “El Cortecito” and “Bávaro”, implemented am inclusion program, which gives work opportunities to people with hearing, visual or motor disabilities as well as elderly disabled people. The program seeks to incorporate people with disabilities in all areas of the brands operations. Paradisus also conducts sensitisation dynamics with the staff to create an environment conducive to their integration, such as sign language formations.

© Bávaro Paradisus Palma Real (Dominican Republic)

As part of a campaign of the presidency of the Dominican Republic on accessible tourism in the country, a series of informative videos were recorded. These highlight the importance of Blue Flag Beaches for the establishment of accessible tourism destinations. A recording team accompanied the Blue Flag National Jury, in order to illustrate that tourism destinations in the Dominican Republic are increasingly friendly for the transfer, movement, and enjoyment of people with disabilities.

© IDARD

In Praia Grande de Caravelas (Brazil), the site managers wish to give the possibility for people with impairments or disabilities to enjoy their experience at the beach with the adequate equipment, from the parking to the water. Amphibious wheelchairs and a bamboo ramp are available and allow a safe and accessible sea bath. The lifeguards offer their help to the beach users wishing to access the water. The municipality also provides special parking spots close to the beach facilities, as well as accessible toilets and showers.

© Praia Grande de Caravelas (Brazil)

These efforts collectively demonstrate a commitment to fostering accessibility and ensuring that everyone can enjoy beach destinations.


Once again, Blue Flag International thanks its valuable institutional partners EEA, ENAT, EUCC, ICLEI, ICOMIA, ILS, UNEP, UNESCO, and WCA for sharing their expertise and for participating in the International Jury of the programme.

Blue Flag in Italy - Technical kick off meeting for the 2024 season

The preparations for the Blue Flag application, evaluation, and implementation procedures for year 2024 have officially commenced in Italy.

A technical meeting organised by FEE Italia, implementing “Bandiera Blu” is held every year at the end of October to mark the beginning of the new Blue Flag year.

The event sees the participation of both municipalities that have already obtained the Blue Flag award, and of those that are in the process of adopting sustainability measures according to the continuous improvement framework of the Blue Flag programme.

Representatives of FEE Italia presenting key information about the programme´s implementation in Italy for the 2024 Blue Flag season.

The technical meeting was hosted in the premises of the Lazio regional authority, with the attendance of over 300 representatives from various municipal administrations.

The agenda of the meeting covered a variety of aspects related to the implementaiton of the Blue Flag programme in Italy, and introduced updates for the year 2024.

This year's primary focus was centered on the theme of accessibility in tourism, with valuable input from ENAT (European Network for Accessible Tourism), one of the Institutional Partners of the Blue Flag programme, whose representatives sit in the International Jury.

An overview of the participants in the meeting, consisting mainly of representatives from awarded municipalities and site managers in charge of the local implementation of the Blue Flag programme in Italy.

Furthermore, the Blue Flag Application Form developed by FEE Italia for the upcoming season now includes a new guideline criterion aimed at promoting local efforts for the establishment and improvement of renewable energy communities. This is an important environmental development addressing carbon emissions via the implementation of climate mitigation measures.

Pick a Pier sees surge in Blue Flag marina sign ups

Pick a Pier, founded in 2017 by a team of passionate boating enthusiasts using technology solutions to connect boaters and marinas, has gained over 15 Blue Flag marina-sign ups to their AI-driven platform in 2022, offering hundreds of marinas on their platforms.

Marinas from across Europe have signed up to the Pick a Pier platform, including Blue Flag Italian-based Marina degli Aregai, Port de Saint-Cyprien from France, the Spanish Club Náutico de Águilas, and many others across the continent.

Pick a Pier’s digital transformation of the recreational boating industry is generating actionable data that helps get a clearer picture of boating’s impact on the environment. They use machine learning to monitor sailing traffic in real-time, and leverage user-generated input to understand and predict when, where and how people are sailing. They also optimise the utilisation of the existing berth supply so that marinas can do more with the resources they have, while protecting the ocean. Furthermore, in partnership with Blue Flag, Pick a Pier is asking new boaters to take the Sustainable Boating Pledge and adhere to eco-friendly practices at sea and on-shore.

Pick a Pier also launched an exclusive boater loyalty program - Popeye® Sail Club, the most advanced, rewarding and sustainable boating club. With a club membership, boaters earn points for online berth reservation and for reporting that their own berth will be vacant. They can redeem these points for discounts on future reservations through Pick a Pier. The earlier boaters take action, the more they earn points and discounts. Popeye® Sail Club promotes sustainable sailing, and allows marinas to reward their annual berth holders with best-in-class incentives at no additional cost. An additional benefit of the Pick a Pier platform for marinas is the inclusive payment service that makes the lives of both boaters and marina staff easier and enables the marinas to provide fast and smooth service.

Pick a Pier’s CEO Idan Cohen comments:

“Our mission is to make boating more accessible, convenient, and sustainable. Marinas using Pick a Pier are able to offer an increased level of customer communications and service, resulting in maximised profitability. It also allows Marinas to provide boaters with quick responses, excellent customer service and easy access to berthing.

We are excited to have new marinas onboard with Pick a Pier and know they will instantly benefit from optimised operations and unlocking berths to accommodate boaters. By joining Pick a Pier, these marinas have access to boaters and berth holders in real-time using our intuitive platform that provides a new level of transparency, communication, and profitability.”

The Pick a Pier platform is the innovative tool marinas need to make the most of their resources and embrace environmentally-minded business practices while providing a simple and effective option for boaters to plan their voyages.

About Pick a Pier

Pick a Pier was founded in 2017 to make sailing more accessible, enable boaters to get everywhere, and connect boaters worldwide. Optimising the use of marina berths through sharing economy principles to reduce the need for construction of additional berths, promote maritime tourism, and increase the profitability and sustainability of the marina industry. For more, visit https://pickapier.com a highly connected network of marinas and boaters. For additional information about Popeye, visit Popeye Sail Club.

Biodiversity webinars open to all Blue Flag members

As part of the Foundational for Environmental Education (FEE) GAIA 20:30 strategy for the next decade, a series of webinars focused on Biodiversity will be organised by the Blue Flag and Green Key teams in April and May.

Launched by FEE in 2021, the GAIA 20:30 strategy represents the organisation’s commitment to contribute to a more sustainable world. As part of this strategy, FEE will be focusing its resources for the next decade on three critical environmental increasing threats to our planet – climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution.

In 2022, the GAIA 20:30 will protect global biodiversity through different actions: promoting sustainable management of the coastal zone, combating pollinator and insect loss, preserving existing and creating new natural areas, and finally raising awareness of efforts to remove invasive alien species.

Several initiatives will be held within the year dedicated to Biodiversity, including a Biodiversity Competition, a course, and four webinars, conducted in April and May. The webinars, developed in partnership between Green Key International and Blue Flag International teams, will focus on different aspects of biodiversity. The first webinar will be held on April 5th and the last one, conducted in May (date to be confirmed), can be particularly relevant for the Blue Flag national operators and members since they will explore the importance of biodiversity for coastal areas.

Focused on the Importance of Biodiversity to the Tourism Industry, the first webinar hosted on April 5th will raise questions as such:

  • What is biodiversity?

  • Why is it important for tourism?

  • What are the negative impacts of tourism on biodiversity?

More information will be shared in the upcoming weeks on the Blue Flag page and social media on how to sign up for the Biodiversity webinars.

Blue Flag and Pick a Pier partner to launch exclusive Popeye® Sail Club

With the increasing demand for berth space, industry leaders are finding new ways to sustain our marinas while continuing to adamantly protect the ocean. Blue Flag’s digital partner, Pick a Pier, is at the forefront of this mission and has just introduced an exciting new initiative — the Popeye® Sail Club.  

Pick a Pier is a leading online platform that connects boaters and marinas, streamlining the berth reservation process and simplifying communication. Now it’s becoming even stronger with the launch of Popeye® Sail Club.

Popeye® the Sailor Man, the tough, loveable seafarer from the comics is now more helpful, more intelligent, and even stronger with technology — the perfect mascot to champion an international sustainability initiative.

 “We’re excited by the incredible opportunity to engage directly with boaters to promote sustainable boating practices,” said International Blue Flag Director Johann Durand. “With Popeye at the helm, we can make the message of responsible sailing far more memorable.”

 Here’s how it works

 For every sail, boaters earn points, which can be redeemed at participating marinas as credit towards reservation fees. By reserving berth space in advance on Pick a Pier’s platform, boaters can now sail with ease while maintaining the flexibility to change their reservation up until the day of arrival.

 Knowing with certainty exactly where to dock in two weeks is reward enough. But with a Popeye® Sail Club membership, boaters will be further rewarded for those advance reservations. Boaters can book a berth with priority access at some of the most sustainable marina destinations and get points for every USD/Euro spent. They’ll also get points for reporting that their own berthing space will be vacant when they sail away from their home marina. The programme encourages boaters to plan ahead by giving up to 3 times the points on early reservations.

 Points can then be redeemed for discounted reservations and other marina services. On top of that, Pick a Pier will have special offers and promotions just for members that make points even more worthwhile.

Popeye® Sail Club is launching by invitation only and boaters at participating marinas will be the first to get their exclusive membership. Other boaters can be added to the waitlist at www.popeyesailclub.com

“We are extremely proud of this one-of-a-kind programme. Popeye® Sail Club is taking the Pick a Pier experience one step further. The club is designed for the most passionate boaters, empowering them to easily sail in a more sustainable way — and rewarding them along the way,” explains Idan Cohen, CEO of Pick a Pier.

Promoting better sustainability practices 

Popeye® Sail Club is built around sharing economy principles that promote better use of existing resources and sustainability.  

Pick a Pier is already helping Blue Flag marinas optimise their resources without compromising the environment or creating more work for their staff. Allowing marinas to do more with what they have reduces the need for marina construction or expansion. 

But working with marinas and incentivizing boaters to plan ahead to increase sustainability is just one piece of the puzzle. In partnership with Blue Flag, Pick a Pier will ask that new boaters take the Sustainable Boating Pledge and adhere to eco-friendly practices at sea and on-shore. 

 The five basic principles are simple and incredibly effective in raising awareness among boaters and promoting a healthy ecosystem. 

  1. Protect the Waters
    Refuel with care and never dump waste into the ocean

  2. Safeguard Marine Life
    Anchor and fish only in permitted areas 

  3.  Minimise Waste
    Avoid single-use plastics and use eco-friendly cleaning products when possible. 

  4. Be More Considerate
    Be mindful of other boaters in your vicinity. Dump sewage only where permitted. 

  5. Stay Watchful 
    Report violations and inform authorities about hazards. 

Blue Flag is committed to ensuring a resilient ocean, and Popeye® Sail Club will help us reach more boaters, showing everyone that ease of use, profitability and sustainability go hand in hand.  

Blue Flag has begun using a new material for their flags created by recycled PET bottles

Blue Flag has made alterations to their fabric being used for the Flag, in partnership with Semaphore, the flag is now created utilising 100% recycled PET bottles.

Blue Flag works alongside Semaphore who produce the Flags which are used on certified beaches. Figures from 2020 production included orders that were dispatched toward forty-eight countries covering four continents. In 2021 the partnership with Semaphore was renewed with new material being used for the flags, offering the same products and sizes as before however with a new material: PET Flag. 

This recycled material is made from used PET bottles that are collected in supermarkets and other collection points in western Europe. After collection, the bottles are chopped up in little flakes and then melted into polyester yarn. This yarn is then used to create the new flag fabric on which the Blue Flag is screen printed in The Netherlands.

The new PET Flag material was rolled out during the 2021 season on Blue Flag beaches all over the world with very positive results.

Team Semaphore is very happy with the new contract and we look forward to continuing working with the Blue Flag organisation! -Team Semaphore