The Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) is a collaborative platform that promotes the sustainable growth of international meeting destinations through knowledge sharing, capacity building, and benchmarking across four key areas: city environmental strategy and infrastructure; city social sustainability performance; industry supplier support (restaurants, hotels and convention centres); and Convention Bureau strategy and initiatives.
The 2017 results were announced at the International Congress and Convention Association Congress, with the Overall Leadership Award going to Gothenburg, who also won the Innovation Award for their pioneering app which facilitates greater accessibility for events. With a schore of 92 out of a possible 100 points, Gothenburg came top of the list of meeting and event cities in the GDS-Index.
Glasgow was recognised with the Most Improved Award for their sterling achievement in engaging stakeholders through their »People Make Glasgow Greener« campaign and for driving sustainability performance in the last year.
»I am proud to say that this year’s awards and ranking prove that the GDS-Index delivers results fort the CVB, for clients and for participants,« commented Guy Bigwood, GDS-Index Project Director.
Destinations with a sustainability strategy for the MICE sector increased by 25%, average CVB sustainability performance rose by 11%, with destinations such as Oslo, Aarhus and Malmö increasing their overall performance by more than 20%.
Five new cities joing the GDS-Index in 2017 including Brussels, Goyang, Dublin, Lausanne-Montreux and ICCA Congress host city Prague.
Guy Bigwood added »I would like to congratualte the award winning Destinations for their achievements and for being beacons of leadership. I also want to recognize all the destinations in the programme for their commitment to driving performance in their destinations. They are all leaders.«
