A new whitepaper has revealed how Northern Ireland’s capital secured eighth place in the Global Destinations Sustainability Index 2022.
The whitepaper, ‘Sustainable tourism for cities and stakeholders, and the Belfast model for success’, was released at UKinbound’s Annual Convention in Belfast (20-21 September).
It details the successful partnership between Green Tourism and Visit Belfast and Belfast City Council. The partnership was first launched in 2021 to help the city’s tourism sector recover following the pandemic and to help achieve the Belfast Resilience Goal of being an inclusive, zero-emissions, climate-resilient economy within a generation.
About the whitepaper
The whitepaper explores how the partners have collaborated to achieve the following results:
- Belfast’s rise from 47th place into the Top 10 in the annual 2022 Global Destinations Sustainability Index
- Belfast positioned as the only destination in Ireland and one of two cities in the UK to make the top 10 position
- More than 90 Belfast hotels, attractions and restaurants have committed to sustainable tourism through the Green Tourism certification and awards programme, (up from five in 2021). Approximately 47 Green Tourism or Green Meetings members are now Green Tourism Award-holders, (up from eight before the Belfast initiative)
- Around 75% of Belfast hotel bedrooms now hold a sustainability certification, (up from 25% in 2021)
Guy Bigwood, CEO, the GDS-Movement, said: “Visit Belfast and Belfast City Council have used the Global Destinations Sustainability Index to identify where the city, the tourism supply chain and the destination marketing organisation are doing well and where action needs to be prioritised.
“They then have skilfully worked with their partners to set a vision, develop and implement a multi-year action plan that is producing measurable impact. It’s a true example of leadership and collaboration.”
Joss Croft OBE, CEO of UKinbound, added: “The publication of this whitepaper could not have come at a better time. Over the last few months, we have seen the devastating impact of climate change on communities around the world and so now more than ever, destinations need to accelerate their plans to reduce carbon emissions.
“Belfast’s sustainability ranking has really helped us to focus our thinking about how we can minimise the impact of our Annual Convention on the environment.”
