Green Getaways: The World’s Most Eco-Friendly Cities
In recent years there has been a rise in travelers looking for more sustainable holidays. This comes hand in hand with an increasing number of destinations suffering from overtourism. However, a sustainable vacation isn’t just one that is less crowded, there are several metrics that can determine the sustainability of a destination.
Researchers at InsureMyTrip wanted to find out which destinations were the most sustainable, looking at a range of ecotourism and destination-specific sustainability metrics. This includes walking tours, the prevalence of sustainable hotels, pollution levels, and the walkability of a city.
The Most Sustainable Global Destinations
At the top of our list is Helsinki, Finland, with an overall score of 7.4. The city performs well across all sustainability and ecotourism metrics. Seventeen percent of hotels are “Green Certified” on Booking.com and the average price is $143. There are 118 walking tours, and the population is around 1.4 million. For the destination sustainability metrics, the city has the second lowest carbon emission output per capita at 7.4 tons of CO2, a pollution score of 5.5, just above the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of 0-5, green space quality of 86%, and an average walking time of just 13 minutes to get to basic amenities from all over the city.
In second place is Stockholm, Sweden with an overall score of 7.3, the city has more than 200 walking tours and 21% of the hotels are Green Certified. In third position is Copenhagen, Denmark with an overall score of 7.0. This city has the best walking time of just 7 minutes to reach all basic amenities.
Of the top 10, only two cities reside outside Europe, both of these are in Australia with Sydney in fifth position with an overall score of 6.2, and Melbourne in eighth position with an overall score of 6.1. Out of all cities in the top 10 the Australian destinations are the only ones to have a pollution level within WHO’s guidelines.
Most Sustainable U.S. Cities
Reviewing how cities in the U.S. perform against the global cities we can see that the top sustainable city is San Jose, CA with an overall score of 6.9. This city has the least expensive sustainable hotels at $164 a night and the shortest walking time between amenities – 19 minutes.
The second-best U.S. city is Portland, OR with an overall score of 6.7. This is the smallest city in our top five with a population of just 615k, and the best rated for green spaces at 85%. Following Portland is Boston with an overall score of 6.4. The city has 186 walking tours and 15% of the hotels on Booking.com are Green Certified. Following this is Raleigh, NC in fourth position with a score of 6.3 and Las Vegas in fifth position with a score of 6.3.
Conclusion
With travelers becoming more conscious of how their vacations can affect the environment, our data highlights the locations leading the way in sustainability. With many European cities offering both sustainable travel options and lower pollution levels.
Many U.S. cities are starting to become more sustainable, with a wide variety of walking tours and sustainable hotels. The cities fall slightly behind in walkability and pollution data points, areas that should be expanded to allow travelers a more sustainable trip.
Methodology
For the list of cities used in the study, they were selected according to the GDS-index by the Global Destination Sustainability Movement. Each data point consists of the latest research available from reputable sources. All sources are city-specific level data points, split into ecotourism metrics and destination specific sustainability metrics. The data was standardized using minmax normalization. The minmax normalization value is multiplied by 10 to create a score (between 0-10). A score of 10 is always the best result, while a score of 0 is the worst. Each destination is then ranked on their overall rating across all metrics to find which city is the best for sustainability.
Sources
Ecotourism Metrics:
- Population (World Population Review)
- No. of walking tours (Tripadvisor)
- Percentage of green-certified hotels (Booking.com)
- Avg. cost of hotels with Sustainability Certification (Booking.com)
Destination Sustainability Metrics:
- Carbon emissions per capita (Carbon Footprints)
- Pollution (IQ Air)
- Quality of Green Space (Numbeo)
- Walkability – (15min-City)
