Denver is the newest, and fourth city in the US to join the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index). The city is now part of a global destination sustainability movement, that seeks to engage, inspire and enable urban centres to become more regenerative places to visit, meet and thrive in. The GDS-Index is delighted to announce that Denver has become the 51st city to join its performance improvement programme. As such, the city has dedicated itself to: Benchmark the sustainability of…

Understanding your social, economic and environmental impacts is no longer an option. Destinations need to measure the positive and negative footprint of their events and tourism sector, and set science-based targets to improve them.   The profound impact the tourism and events industry can have on a city, a region, and the entire world, is becoming more and more visible: be it the mountains of waste left behind after a festival; the carbon emissions of business tourism and flights; or overcrowded…

The GDS-Index is delighted to announce that Brisbane has become the 50th city to join the GDS-Index. As such, the city will actively participate in the collaborative platform to: • Benchmark the sustainability of their destination and their meeting and events industry • Improve the sustainability strategy of their Convention Bureau and Destination Management Organizations • Increase awareness and mainstream the integration of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals into their destinations'…

As we begin receiving applications for this year’s Innovation Award, we wanted to pay tribute to past winners of the award. Let’s get inspired as we take a trip down memory lane. Last year, Copenhagen took home the Innovation Award for their bold and game changing strategy “Tourism for Good”. It received the most votes from the judging panel of industry experts, thanks to the ambition of this strategy to:  “make tourism part of the solutions for a sustainable future, not a part of the problem. Tourism…

“There is no ‘Plan B’ because we do not have a ‘Planet B.’ We have to work and galvanize our action.” - UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon   The creation of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is arguably the most comprehensive and well-known attempt to steer the global community towards holistic resilience. In unison these 17 goals, ranging from ‘No Poverty’ to ‘Partnership for the Goals’, describe a roadmap for global action.   The tourism and events industry is not excluded…