Global market research company Euromonitor International released its ‘Top Countries for Sustainable Tourism’, report at ITB Berlin NOW.
According to the report, Scandinavia is leading by example in its engagement and progress towards sustainable travel, with Sweden ranked first, followed by Finland, Austria, Estonia, and Norway.
These findings extracted from the new Sustainable Travel Index, developed by Euromonitor International, assesses 99 country destinations through the lens of environmental, social and economic sustainability, country risk as well as sustainable tourism demand, transport and lodging.
Overall, 57 data indicators — each weighted according to the level of direct or indirect relevance — are used to derive the final index ranking to determine the comparative performance of countries. Through case studies, it is aimed to bring the rankings to life, highlighting best practice examples.
“Sweden is a pioneer in lifecycle assessment research which is critical to understand the full impact of consumer behaviour and consumption patterns,” analyses Caroline Bremner, head of travel at Euromonitor International.
The country is highly engaged with the Sustainable Development Goals and preserves the Arctic ice and permafrost to help stop climate change, aiming to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.
Other countries also show good progress in sustainable transport and lodging. Just outside the top 20 – featuring other European countries for the most part, such as Germany and France – we find New Zealand, Bolivia and Canada.
“There is globally a clear change in mindset and resistance in returning to a volume-driven travel and tourism model. Instead, stakeholders are rallying together to ‘build back better’ through value creation from sustainable tourism. As momentum grows in the run up to COP26, consumers, travel brands, destination marketing organisations and governments continue to align to avert the climate emergency,” concludes Bremner.
Sustainable Travel Index Rankings 2020
Country Rank
Sweden 1
Finland 2
Austria 3
Estonia 4
Norway 5
Slovakia 6
Iceland 7
Latvia 8
France 9
Slovenia 10
Switzerland 11
Lithuania 12
Croatia 13
Czech Republic 14
Ireland 15
Germany 16
Belgium 17
Denmark 18
Netherlands 19
Portugal 20
Poland 21
Bolivia 22
New Zealand 23
Canada 24
Spain 25
Belarus 26
Hungary 27
Romania 28
Australia 29
Ukraine 30
Peru 31
Greece 32
North Macedonia 33
Italy 34
USA 35
Malta 36
Panama 37
Serbia 38
Bulgaria 39
United Kingdom 40
Georgia 41
Chile 42
Jordan 43
Cyprus 44
Israel 45
South Africa 46
Uruguay 47
Argentina 48
Ecuador 49
Bosnia and Herzegovina 50
Laos 51
Cameroon 52
Japan 53
Brazil 54
Taiwan 55
China 56
Oman 57
United Arab Emirates 58
Myanmar 59
Algeria 60
Costa Rica 61
Kazakhstan 62
Tunisia 63
Colombia 64
Russia 65
Turkey 66
Jamaica 67
Mozambique 68
Azerbaijan 69
Bahrain 70
Tanzania 71
Saudi Arabia 72
Uzbekistan 73
Cambodia 74
Mexico 75
Thailand 76
Hong Kong, China 77
South Korea 78
Lebanon 79
Maldives 80
Sri Lanka 81
Kuwait 82
Fiji 83
Macau, China 84
Malaysia 85
Qatar 86
Kenya 87
Dominican Republic 88
Guatemala 89
Nigeria 90
Egypt 91
Indonesia 92
Singapore 93
Philippines 94
Morocco 95
Vietnam 96
Mauritius 97
India 98
Pakistan 99
Download the report ‘Top Countries for Sustainable Tourism’ to access the full ranking
Tags: Sustainable Tourism
