Sweden shines as Europe's top eco-friendly destination

Source: Schengen Visa Info

Sweden is Europe’s most sustainable travel destination, the new Sustainable Travel Index for 2023 by Euromonitor International has shown.

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. The list of the top 20 first most sustainable countries in the world are as follows:

1. Sweden
2. Finland
3. Austria
4. Estonia
5. Norway
6. Slovakia
7. Slovenia
8. Iceland
9. Latvia
10. Switzerland
11. France
12. Lithuania
13. Denmark
14. Czech Republic
15. Germany
16. Portugal
17. Croatia
18. Uruguay
19. Romania
20. Poland

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.

Belgium, on the other hand, is planning to propose a European aviation tax on fuel or airline tickets in a bid to address their environmental impact.

Euromonitor International’s Index has also revealed that almost 80 per cent of travellers worldwide are willing to pay at least ten per cent more for sustainable travel features, in spite of the increasing cost of living. At the same time, 41 per cent of travellers are also prepared to pay more than 30 per cent extra for adventure and eco-tourism