County Clare among global top 40 sustainable destinations

CLARE is officially one of the most sustainable destinations in the world after it was confirmed that the county has broken into the Top 40 of the Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index.

The Banner county is now in illustrious company alongside Paris, Singapore, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Berlin and Helsinki, standing at number 38 in the world’s leading sustainability benchmarking and performance improvement programme for destinations. 

The Shannon Region Conference & Sports Bureau, with input and support from Clare County Council, the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark, the Burren Ecotourism Network, Fáilte Ireland and the local tourism trade, facilitated an intensive audit of Clare in which the County was assessed under 69 separate indicators across four key areas. 

"Fantastic work is being undertaken by local agencies and the tourism trade on an individual and collective level to further improve the sustainability strategy and performance of County Clare as a tourism and events destination,"Cllr. Joe Cooney, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council commented.

"I hope Clare’s inclusion in the Top 40 list will inspire and engage the tourism sector to explore new ways of becoming a more regenerative, flourishing, and resilient place to visit, meet, and live in. This is already a key focus of Clare County Council working with key stakeholders to implement the key objectives of Clare Tourism Strategy 2030."

Karen Ronan, General Manager of the Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau said, “This is a huge achievement for County Clare and is testament to the huge amount of work ongoing in the county as evidenced by the recent establishment, through the implementation of the Clare Tourism Strategy 2030, of a Green Team to reinforce the validity of Clare's commitment in transitioning to becoming more sustainable.”

“Led by our GDS lead Danielle Devaney, the Bureau is committed to building on Clare’s existing credentials to further support The Shannon Region in achieving its sustainable objectives,” added Ms. Ronan. “Our goal is to further improve awareness and drive the adoption of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in the business tourism and events sector of the wider region."  

Visit www.gds.earth for more.