The 2025 Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) has released its Top 40 rankings, marking a decade of benchmarking destination sustainability.
This year’s theme, Shifting Tides, highlights a period of global transition, with destinations showing resilience and accelerated action.
The 2025 rankings show a 31 per cent rise in average performance across all participating destinations since the programme began, with the Top 10 improving by 46 per cent. Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, destinations have maintained momentum in their sustainability initiatives.
Helsinki (Finland) leads the GDS-Index for the second consecutive year, scoring 93.52 per cent and maintaining its position as a sustainable tourism and events leader. The city has ended its coal era, earned Green Destinations certification, and ensured near-universal sustainability certification across hotels, convention centres, and top attractions. The Nordic trio of Helsinki, Gothenburg and Copenhagen continues to dominate, though the gap between the Top 10 and the overall GDS-Index average has narrowed from 23.2 per cent to 20.3 per cent, reflecting rising performance globally.
Adelaide is recognised as the most improved destination, climbing 23 places in its second year of participation. The city’s rise was driven by its Integrated Climate Strategy 2030 and sustainability roadmap, including Adelaide Airport achieving carbon neutrality for its direct emissions. Krakow and The Malverns also feature among the most improved destinations.
The 2025 GDS-Index highlights a more dynamic Top 40, with nine new destinations entering the rankings, accelerated climate action with 77 per cent of destinations reporting sector-level measures, and widespread adoption of third-party sustainability certification. In the Top 10 destinations, 81 per cent of hotels are now certified, up from 66 per cent in 2016, and 50 per cent of destination marketing organisations hold sustainability certification for their own operations. Regional leadership is also evident, with Lyon leading Central and Southern Europe, Melbourne topping Asia-Pacific, and Montreal retaining the North American lead.
Guy Bigwood, CEO and chief changemaker at GDS-Movement, said: “Every destination featured in the GDS-Index has demonstrated leadership and commitment – each one deserving recognition for its efforts to build a more regenerative future.
“As we mark the 10th year of the GDS-Index – with 626 benchmarking assessments completed across 35 countries since 2016 – one thing has remained constant: the courage of this community to lead with vision and to innovate with purpose.”
He added: “From shifting seasonality to changing governance and a pushback against sustainability, members of the movement meet each wave with intention, creativity, and a fierce resolve to do better, faster, together. It’s not just about riding the wave, it’s about learning how to read it, shape it, and surf it to make it count.”
The full 2025 GDS-Index report is available here.
