Sweden Ranked Most Sustainable Tourist Destination In The World — Here’s Why

Sweden most sustainable destination

After an extensive report and research, Euromonitor International, a global market research company, named Sweden the most sustainable tourist destination in the world for 2021. The result was announced at ITB, the world’s largest travel fair, in Germany last week, on March 12.

In ‘Top Countries for Sustainable Tourism – Embracing a Green Transformation for Travel Recovery,’ Euromonitor International compared the sustainability of 99 countries in terms of environmental, social, and economic sustainability, transport, housing, risks, and the demand for sustainable tourism. The survey also revealed that 66 percent of the world’s consumers want to act more sustainably when it comes to travel.

western_harbour,_malmÃ
Photo, Aline Lessner, Western Harbour, Malma

“We are pleased that Sweden is at the top of the global sustainability rankings, especially as we know that more and more consumers and tourists in the world want to live, trade and travel more sustainably,” Susanne Andersson, CEO of Visit Sweden, said in a statement.

The 7 pillars used to determined the most sustainable tourism country in the world include:

  • Environmental Sustainability
  • Social Sustainability
  • Economic Sustainability
  • Risk
  • Sustainable Demand
  • Sustainable Transport, and
  • Sustainable Lodging
Sweden wind power
Photo: Niclas Albinsson-wind power in winter, Sweden.

The international research agency Euromonitor International compared the results of 99 countries. Sweden came first, followed by Finland, Austria, Estonia, and Norway, the majority of countries being located in Scandinavia. This puts Scandinavia at the top of a new global survey on which countries are the most sustainable tourist destinations in the world.

Other countries also show good progress in sustainable transport and lodging, according to the report. Just outside the top 20 – featuring other European countries for the most part, such as Germany and France – is New Zealand, Bolivia and Canada.

Europe dominated the top 20 places in the Sustainable Travel Index Rankings for 2020, with other countries including Slovakia, Latvia, France, Slovenia, Switzerland, Lithunaia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Portugal.

The USA ranked 35th in the report. India and Pakistan came in last.

Want to go to Sweden? Click here to start planning a trip!

More stories:

7 best honeymoon destinations on the planet

6 most unusual underwater attractions on this planet (that you can visit)

6 best airlines to fly economy class


Travelbinger is proud to be a publisher with Google News and Apple News

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Please do! I’m a one-man team for this website, so any help is sincerely appreciated.

Travelbinger is now on YouTube! Subscribe here for exclusive travel tips and advice from founder Jimmy Im.  Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

+ posts

Jimmy Im has traveled to 113 countries, stayed in over 600 hotels and has flown a million airmiles. He lives in New York City.

Leave a Reply