French cities have no reason to be ashamed of their environmental commitment when it comes to business tourism. That's what emerges from the latest Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index), in which Bordeaux climbs from 9e at 5e and Paris jumps from 55e at 25e place. Of course, this ranking, which looks at the CSR performance of event host cities, is not the only one to be of interest. a focus on Northern European destinationswith Gothenburg, Bergen, Copenhagen and Aalborg taking the top four places in that order, just ahead of Bordeaux.
The city of Gironde, along with Glasgow and Belfastis an exception to the rule, with all three cities being the only non-Nordic cities in the top 10 followed by Stockholm, Aarhus and Oslo. Just behind them, Lyon dropped back down the 7e place à la 11e place, but with an improving score of 83% in 2022, compared with 79.5% in 2021. At the same time, with scores between 50% and 60%, Nantes, Toulouse and Nice, which is taking part in the GDS-Index for the first time, also feature in the ranking.
This barometer, launched six years ago, establishes scores by MICE destination according to four general themes broken down into 70 criteria These include environmental performance (taking into account, for example, air quality, public transport, green spaces and energy consumption), societal performance (social progress, inclusiveness, access to education, health), destination management through its tourism strategy, certifications, accessibility and impact measurement, and finally the responsible involvement of local tourism stakeholders, whether hotels, event venues or incoming agencies.
In this context, Bordeaux likes to display an overall score of 85.1%, compared with 78.35% last yearThis increase is due above all to the support given to tourism businesses in their transition, with the city gaining 22 points. While the Bordeaux Convention and Visitors Bureau has been ISO 20121 certified since 2021, followed this year by Bordeaux Convention and Exhibition CentreThe city is committed to the sustainable development of professional events that have a positive impact on the region, notably through the launch of the Bordeaux Tourism Agora.
While Bordeaux and Lyon are leading the way in sustainable MICE tourism in France, Paris has made it into the top 30, recording the second biggest increase in its overall score, behind Bangkok. The GDS-Index examines the performance of 73 MICE destinations around the world through the involvement of their tourist offices and convention bureaus, the French capital is perfectly positioned in relation to its main competitors in the ICCA rankings, another benchmark for the sector, which looks at the number of major international conferences hosted each year. With a score of 74.34%, Paris ranks behind Brussels (75.91%) and Montreal (74.46%), but ahead of Berlin (74.13%), Sydney (73.76%), Barcelona (73.06%) and Vienna (68.91%).
Founded in 2016 by ICCA Scandinavia, MCI, IMEX and City Destinations Alliance, the GDS-Index barometer seems to have taken off with 73 destinations worldwide participants this year, compared with 23 seven years ago. Stimulating sustainable efforts, this ranking undoubtedly has the virtue of creating a climate of trust and confidence. positive emulation between destinations, in line with current and future demand from organisers. The GDS-Index study also notes " an astonishing 33% increase in average performance over seven years for all destinations and a 44% increase for the Top 10" .
