Global market research company Euromonitor International recently released their new report ‘Top Countries for Sustainable Tourism’ at ITB Berlin. According to their research, 66.4% of consumers globally want to have a positive impact on the environment through their daily actions in 2021, meanwhile, Scandinavia emerged as the clear leader in sustainable travel.
“66%+ of consumers want to have a positive impact on the environment through their daily actions” – @CarolineBremner (@Euromonitor )
— ITB Berlin (@ITB_Berlin) March 12, 2021
#ITBBerlinNow #ITB2021 #itbcon21 #travel #sustainable #consumers #impact pic.twitter.com/0c4B3lM11d
1. Sustainable Travel Index
The Sustainable Travel Index for 2020, developed by Euromonitor International, assesses 99 country destinations looking at environmental, social and economic sustainability, country risk, sustainable tourism demand, transport and lodging. The report highlighted Scandinavia as ‘exemplary’ in its engagement and awareness of sustainability, and according to Euromonitor’s Voice of the Industry Sustainability Survey, 65% of travel businesses there have already implemented a sustainability strategy. On a country level, Sweden the home of climate strike activist Greta Thunberg came out top, followed by Finland, Austria, Estonia, and Norway.
Caroline Bremner, head of travel at Euromonitor International, stated, “Sweden is a pioneer in lifecycle assessment research which is critical to understanding the full impact of consumer behaviour and consumption patterns”. The country is very engaged with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and preserves the Arctic ice and permafrost to help stop climate change, aiming to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.
Which countries are the best destinations for #sustainable travel? Find out in our session at @ITB_Berlin: https://t.co/bq1e9pfhtP #ITBBerlin pic.twitter.com/a9RcUmhxjg
— Euromonitor (@Euromonitor) March 8, 2021
2. Top 20 countries
The report also highlighted other countries making good progress in sustainable transport and lodging. Whilst the top 20 in the report mainly featured European countries, Bolivia, New Zealand, and Canada placed 22nd, 23rd and 24th. The top 20 were as follows:
- Sweden
- Finland
- Austria
- Estonia
- Norway
- Slovakia
- Iceland
- Latvia
- France
- Slovenia
- Switzerland
- Lithuania
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Ireland
- Germany
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Portugal
In the report’s summary, Bremner concludes, “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”.
