Travel, as enjoyable and transformative as it can be, often comes with a heavy environmental footprint. From carbon emissions associated with flights to the overdevelopment of natural habitats, the consequences of mass tourism are often disheartening. But, a growing number of countries are paving a path to more sustainable tourism, recognizing that travel can be as much as part of the solution as it is part of the problem.
Euromonitor International, a global market research company, recently released its 2023 Sustainable Travel Index, which identifies the top 20 most sustainable countries for travel in the world. According to Caroline Bremner, head of travel at Euromonitor International, the index utilizes 56 ranking indicators to determine the performance of sustainable travel in the various countries. Of those, she said, there are three main types of indicators:
- General indicators that relate to the health of a destination in terms of happiness, equality, and social justice
- Indicators that quantify the specific impacts of tourism on the local environment such as hotel energy use
- The general state of tourism such as quality of infrastructure or dependency on international demand
Notably, all but one are in Europe (the outlier being in South America).
The World’s Most Sustainable Travel Destination
Sweden is the world’s most sustainable travel destination, according to Euromonitor International’s 2023 Sustainable Travel Index. This may not come as a huge surprise to many, considering Visit Sweden has a goal of making itself “the world’s most sustainable and attractive destination based on innovation” by 2030 and has made huge investments in time and money into that mission. Some of Sweden’s sustainable travel programs include having all the public transit in Stockholm run on 100 percent renewable energy (a feat accomplished in 2017), pushing for more than 250 hotels and accommodations to meet the strict requirements of the Nordic Ecolabel, a rigorous environmental certification program, and introducing an ecotourism charter called Nature’s Best (which certifies tour operators that focus on sustainable travel).
Finland came in right behind Sweden in the global ranking of sustainable destinations.
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The World’s Most Sustainable Travel Destinations in 2023
- Sweden
- Finland
- Austria
- Estonia
- Norway
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Iceland
- Latvia
- Switzerland
- France
- Lithuania
- Denmark
- Czech Republic
- Germany
- Portugal
- Croatia
- Uruguay
- Romania
- Poland
Sweden, Bremner said, has been in the top spot for over the past few years. One of the reasons she credited is Sweden’s flight-shaming movement.
“It continues to have a positive impact with a major drop in the number of domestic flights taken, dropping from 6.6 percent of trips to 2.7 percent,“ Bremner said.
She also pointed to the fact that Sweden and Finland share some similarities that put them at the top of the list regarding cultural heritage, including that they have no UNESCO World Heritage Sites in danger, which significantly helped to boost their rankings.
For Austria, Bremner noted that the country ranked first on the social sustainability standpoint, which includes a focus on equality, decent jobs, fair distribution of income, access to basic needs, health, and inclusion. Overall, that helped Austria earn the third spot on the list.
Melbourne in Australia topped the list of most sustainable cities for initiatives like retrofitting buildings to lower their carbon footprint and transitioning to renewable energy.
Dmitry Osipenko/Unsplash
The Sustainable Travel Index 2023 also spotlighted the ten most sustainable city destinations, which were more spread out, with one in Australia, seven in Europe, and two in North America.
The World’s Most Sustainable Cities in 2023
- Melbourne
- Madrid
- Seville
- Stockholm
- Tallinn
- Toronto
- Palma de Mallorca
- Las Vegas
- Lisbon
- Munich
According to a Euromonitor International press release, Melbourne because of wide-ranging sustainability successes.
Bremner said what stood out about the Australian city “includes its retrofitting of buildings to reduce carbon footprint and transition to renewables, greening streets, along with hosting carbon neutral events for several years.“
She added that to achieve net zero by 2040, Melbourne has declared a climate and biodiversity emergency, and set out eight key priority areas and 76 action points, as part of its Emissions Reduction Plan to 2026. In its previous plan, it succeeded in reducing emissions by an impressive 76 percent, compared to the baseline. The key to decarbonization is the shift to electrification and adoption of renewables such as solar panels, which is expected to reduce not just carbon but also costs.
