European Countries occupy 19 of world sustainable travel index 2023’s top 20 spots

Brussels: In fact, 19 out of the 20 first positions in this index are occupied by the European Union and Schengen Area Member States, according to Euromonitor, an independent provider of strategic market research, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“Europe dominates the Sustainable Travel Index 2023 taking the top 17 places. Sweden continues to top the chart, with Finland second and Austria in third. South American destination, Uruguay, has made the top 20 for the first time, moving up 15 places from the previous year,” a press release of the provider reads.

Traditionally, the European nations list high in this index, leaving behind destinations in both Americas, Asia and Africa.

Whereas regarding the most sustainable city destinations, Melbourne, Madrid and Seville lead the list.

The ranking of the countries is made based on several different factors including here environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

“Our Sustainable Travel Index uses 56 indicators across seven pillars – Environmental, Social, Economic, Risk, Demand, Transport and Lodgings – determining the comparative performance of sustainable travel and tourism for 99 countries through scores and weightings to produce an overall ranking,” the Head of Travel at Euromonitor International, Caroline Bremner, says.

For a long time now, European countries have been attempting to promote and introduce different forms of sustainable tourism, in order to reduce the tourism footprint on the environment. For example, Iceland has recently started a campaign through which it is trying to encourage fewer people to take longer trips and cool mass tourism trends in the country.