Global Tourism Report Identifies Leading Destinations For Social Sustainability Excellence

The Sustainable Tourism Global Center (STGC) has released a report highlighting 12 top tourism destinations excelling in social sustainability. These destinations are praised for their positive impact on visitors and local communities. The report evaluates them using the five social sustainability tourism framework (SSTF) criteria: well-being, economic development, infrastructure and services, resilience, and governance and strategic planning.

Established by Saudi Arabia in 2021, the STGC aims to transform the tourism sector towards sustainability. It also tracks progress in this area. The report categorizes leading destinations into several categories: Paris and Bucharest in the general category; Zurich and Taipei for well-being; London and Sofia for economic development; Copenhagen and Rio de Janeiro for infrastructure and services; Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur for resilience; Queenstown and Santiago for governance and strategic planning.

The report is groundbreaking as it exclusively measures social sustainability in tourism destinations. It assessed 121 locations across 101 countries, ranking them based on SSTF criteria. Paris emerged as the top destination with a score of 402.22 out of 500, followed by Dublin, New York City, Berlin, and London. Paris was particularly commended for its comprehensive tourism strategy prioritizing community engagement, cultural preservation, and social inclusion.

Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al Khateeb praised these destinations' achievements in the report's foreword. He noted that their success reflects innovation and collaboration—values he observed during his travels. Al Khateeb emphasized public-private partnerships' crucial role in promoting social sustainability. Both Saudi Arabia and the STGC adopt a comprehensive approach integrating expertise from academia, government, and the private sector to advance global tourism sustainability.

Bucharest was recognized as a "Leading Destination" due to its multifaceted approach to tourism despite not being among the highest scorers. In individual category rankings, Zurich led in well-being, London topped economic development, Copenhagen ranked first in infrastructure and services, Singapore excelled in resilience, while Queenstown led governance and strategic planning.

The report classified 32% of evaluated destinations as "Best Practices Destinations," achieving high performance across all SSTF indicators. An additional 27% were categorized as "Good Practices Destinations," while others were designated as "Developing Destinations." This classification highlights tourism's significant role in global economic development since it contributes about 10% of global GDP.

Benchmarking Tools

The findings aim to address the lack of benchmarking tools measuring social sustainability in tourism. Such tools could facilitate knowledge-sharing and adopting best practices worldwide. The STGC emphasized that this study serves as a global reference for best practices fostering collaboration to accelerate sustainability efforts within the tourism sector.

Among those recognized as "Best Practices Destinations" are Abu Dhabi, Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dubai, Dublin, Hawaii, Helsinki, Istanbul, Lima, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Miami, New York City, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Quebec City, Riyadh Rome San Francisco Stockholm Sydney Tallinn Tokyo Toronto Vancouver Vienna Vilnius Warsaw Zurich.

With inputs from SPA