THE Global Destination Sustainability Movement Index assesses the sustainability efforts of cities around the world and at the top, the top 5 places are held by 5 northern cities respectively! It’s probably not a coincidence…
If you’re doing your best to become a more responsible tourist, choosing a location based on its sustainability efforts is a great place to start.
This is where the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS) comes in. The platform assesses the sustainability of destinations around the world based on four criteria: destination management, supplier performance, social progress and environmental performance.
The top 40 cities are generally considered “sustainability leaders” – and now we know where they are!
First of all, it is Helsinki which the report describes as “a pioneer in tourism and events sustainability and a solution to future challenges”. The Finnish capital gets 51% of its electricity from renewable sources and a whopping 88% of its hotel rooms are certified for sustainability. It also scores well in social inclusion, personal safety and perception of corruption.
The Gothenburg of Sweden is in second place with an overall score of 90.83% and Copenhagen is in third place with 88.19%. A very good performance for the Scandinavians, but Europe performed very well overall, taking the top 6, eight of the top 10 and 17 of the top 20!
In collaboration with Getty Images
These are the 20 most sustainable destinations in the world
- Helsinki, Finland
- Gothenburg, Sweden
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Bergen, Norway
- Artus, Denmark
- Bordeaux, France
- Singapore
- Oslo, Norway
- Belfast, UK
- Sydney, Australia
- Aalborg, Denmark
- Glasgow, UK
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Bilbao, Spain
- Lyon, France
- Goyang, South Korea
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Middelfart, Denmark
- Kerry, Ireland
- Paris, France