Sustainability is an increasingly important selection criterion for holidaymakers, and a recent survey of US travellers showed that more than half pay attention to the impact on the environment and climate when choosing their destination. The latest results of the Global Destinations Sustainability Index, a benchmark that ranks global destinations based on their sustainability performance in the tourism and events industry, have now been published. The Index is compiled annually based on 70 indicators, including CO2 emissions, employment rates and air quality. Subsequently, the Index expresses in percentages how many of these factors are well met.

As in previous years, most destinations in the top ten are Scandinavian cities. In 2021, Nordic countries’ domination had waned as destinations from France, Ireland, Belgium, and Australia entered the top 20. This year, however, the Nordics took 12 of the top 30 places.

A positive development was also noted: there has been a 33 per cent increase in average performance in seven years across all destinations, and a 44 per cent increase in the top ten.

These are the top ten most sustainable travel destinations worldwide (Index expresses in percentage how many critical factors are well met):

1. Gothenburg, Sweden         92.98

2. Bergen, Norway                 88.36

3. Copenhagen, Denmark      86.70

4. Aalborg, Denmark              86.41

5. Bordeaux, France               85.10

6. Glasgow, UK                       84.09

7. Stockholm, Sweden           84.08

8. Belfast, UK                          84.01

9. Aarhus, Denmark               83.45

10. Oslo, Norway                   83.18