The first Blue Flag International Jury meeting of 2026 took place this past April and we’re proud to announce that new sites and countries have received the Blue Flag award for the upcoming season in the Northern Hemisphere.

A global total of 5274 sites awarded in 2026 (4371 beaches, 745 marinas, and 158 tourism boats) across 53 countries.

We would like to also congratulate the upcoming winners of the Good Practice competition for the Northern Hemisphere 2026 International Evaluation. The final ranking will be published next week.

Once again, Blue Flag International thanks its valuable institutional partners EBI, EEA, ENAT, EUCC, ICLEI, ICOMIA, ILS, UNEP, UNESCO, UN Tourism, World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, CitiesWithNature, Climate Service Center Germany - GERICS, Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association, University of Aberdeen, IUCN and WCA for sharing their expertise.