The 2024 GDS-Awards' Winners 

The GDS-Movement proudly announced the winners of the 2024 GDS-Awards at the Bruges Royal Municipal Theatre during the recent GDS-Forum & CityDNA Autumn Conference. This year’s awards celebrate destination pioneers in sustainability, innovation, and community impact across the tourism and events sectors. Winners included Helsinki for the Leadership Award, Kumamoto for the Most Improved Destination Award, and Copenhagen, which received both the Innovation and Impact (in collaboration with #MEET4IMPACT) awards for its initiatives, ‘CopenPay’ and ‘Copenhagen Legacy Lab' respectively. These destinations set a new standard, demonstrating how visitor economies can more positively impact people and place. Find out more about this year’s GDS-Awards Finalists here. 

The Top 40 Sustainable Destinations
in 2024 GDS-Index 

 

The 2024 GDS-Index Top 40 ranking is public, spotlighting destinations committed to transparency and sustainability, with Helsinki taking the lead. This year’s enhanced criteria underscore the shift towards more sustainable tourism and events, and more investment in climate action and community well-being. The results reflect how destinations meet the evolving demands of responsible travel and visitor management. Read some of the key highlights here.

A New Partnership to Provide Sustainability Insights for Destinations 

 

The GDS-Movement has partnered with BeCause, a Danish start-up, to offer destination management organisations (DMOs) instant access to real-time eco-certification data for hotels, attractions, and more. Through the BeCause platform, GDS-Movement members will be able to easily verify sustainability certifications in their destination, creating a strong foundation for targeted strategies and meeting the growing demand for more sustainable travel options. This partnership empowers DMOs to drive informed sustainability initiatives and avoid greenwashing, positioning destinations as credible leaders in responsible tourism. 

 The 2024 GDS-Forum: 

 Collaboration and Creativity Transform Destination Sustainability  

 

The 2024 GDS-Forum in Bruges gathered global leaders to set new benchmarks in sustainable tourism under the theme, “Let Pigs Fly.” Through workshops and creative discussions, participants tackled challenges in climate action, social impact, and regenerative tourism, developing 14 innovative solutions. The event culminated in the GDS-Awards, celebrating sustainability leaders and reinforcing a commitment to transformative, collaborative action in destination sustainability.

2024 Impact Day in Bruges

On 14 October, the VISITFLANDERS Convention Bureau, #MEET4IMPACT, and the GDS-Movement hosted the 2024 Impact Day. Set in the historic Saint Magdalena’s Church in Bruges, Belgium, the event attracted over 120 participants, sparking a transformative discussion on the role of social impact in the conference and events industry.

GDS-Movement at the
ICCA Congress 2024

 

At the ICCA Congress 2024, members of GDS-Movement delivered inspiring keynotes and facilitated engaging discussions, supported by our collaboration with #MEET4IMPACT to implement an Impact and Legacy Strategy for the congress. It included three insightful campfire sessions on impact, legacy, and sustainability. GDS-Movement's Bella Shahsuvaryan and Guy Bigwood highlighted the pop rock band Coldplay's sustainability initiatives during their Music of the Spheres World Tour, which include planting trees for every concert-goer and using renewable energy. Caroline Cardona from IUCN and GDS-Movement Events Director, Milda Salciute, shared insights on how large-scale events can reduce their carbon footprints by serving locally-sourced vegetarian meals and embracing hybrid formats.

GDS-Movement at ITB Asia

Changemaker Jessica Vandy hosted a panel during ITB Asia. The panel session on sustainable tourism was marked by engaging insights from experts in the field. Participants included Thorleifur Thor Jonsson from Visit Iceland, Jacinta Lim from Seek Sophie, a local regenerative tour company in Singapore, and Kevin Phun from the Centre for Responsible Tourism, who serves as a lecturer and researcher in responsible and regenerative tourism. The combination of Icelandic and local perspectives contributed to a rich discussion. 

Learning Opportunity:
How to Manage Destinations with Regenerative Approaches 

 

The 2025 Spring GDS-ICCA-CityDNA Certificate in Regenerative Destination Management offers tourism and DMO professionals the opportunity to explore regenerative systems thinking and innovative approaches to destination management. In this 4-month, online course, participants will investigate regenerative business models, destination stewardship, and stakeholder engagement methods. Through collaboration with destination leaders and experts, attendees will gain fresh perspectives on creating, marketing, and managing sustainable and future-ready destinations.

Career Opportunity: Events Sustainability Specialist 

Our Events Sustainability Specialist team works with corporate, government, and association event organisers all around the world. Our purpose is to promote and develop regenerative and circular strategies, skill sets, and mindsets to enable these organisations and their events to thrive. We are an award-winning team, recognised for high-quality, innovative, and scalable results. We excel in tackling complicated and audacious large events and transformation programmes that many other consultancies don’t have the experience to deliver. 

16:00 - 17:30 CET - We warmly invite you to the Feeling the Pulse webinar, "The 2024 Impact Award Finalists & Winner in collaboration with #MEET4IMPACT", to explore and be inspired by impactful projects that are making legacy and harmony the status quo for leading business events.