Tallinn rising among sustainable tourist destinations

TALLINN - In the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDSI), the world's leading tourism destination sustainability index, published last month, Tallinn moved up 11 places to 52nd.

Deputy Mayor of Tallinn Joosep Vimm said that sustainability is becoming an increasingly important factor in the tourism sector.

"More and more tourists value sustainability when choosing a destination. This is also understood by our tourism operators, who are paying more and more attention to sustainability." Vimm said. "The remarkable rise in the ranking has come as a result of the combined efforts of the city and the industry. We must certainly continue with the targeted actions to make the same strong progress in the coming years and thus ensure Tallinn's attractiveness as a destination."

The GDSI Index program assessed the sustainability of cities against 69 international criteria. Most of the focus was on the environmental, economic and social aspects of destinations. Among other things, the environment and green spaces, green energy use, air and water quality, access to public transport, the well-being of citizens, the sustainability of tourism, urban governance and the development of social norms were monitored.

"This year's competition was particularly intense, as a record number of 15 new destinations joined the program," said Hele Lohmus, Visit Tallinn Tourism Development project manager. "The contribution of destination development organizations to the management and development of the tourism sector has become much more important. Therefore, we invite tourism operators to actively participate in green certification, circular economy and local food campaigns and to introduce sustainable conference management principles in their own facilities."

In 2022, Gothenburg in Sweden, Bergen  in Norway, Copenhagen and Aalborg in Denmark and Bordeaux in France were in the top five of the GDS index.

More information can be found at https://www.gds.earth/index/ .