GLASGOW is the only UK city to be included in a new sustainability ranking of leading international conference destinations – an achievement that is expected to give it a competitive advantage in securing major events.
The Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index), initiated by the Scandinavian Chapter of the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) in collaboration with professional conference organiser MCI Group, is geared towards driving the growth of sustainable meetings destinations worldwide.
It brings conference destinations together to benchmark and improve the social and environmental performance of the cities themselves and their business events industry.
Evaluation criteria cover city environmental strategy and infrastructure, social sustainability performance, industry supplier support in relation to restaurants, hotels and convention centres, and convention bureau strategy and initiatives.
Glasgow’s inclusion in the index was announced yesterday by Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, which noted it was the only UK city to be included.
The GCMB said that, over the next two years, Glasgow would host 20 energy, sustainability and low carbon industry-related conferences, which are expected to deliver nearly 60,000 visiting delegate days and boost the city’s economy by more than £23 million.
Kathleen Warden, director of conference sales at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, said: “We welcome this very important initiative. This recognition and ranking as the only city in the UK on the GDS-Index amongst leading international conference destinations will undoubtedly put Glasgow at a competitive advantage and underlines the city’s appeal as a world-class sustainable events location.”
Councillor Frank McAveety, leader of Glasgow City Council and GCMB chairman, said: “From the installation of ‘smart’ LED streetlights and significant investment in low-carbon travel options to the creation of renewable energy schemes and green jobs, we are committed to improving quality of life for our communities, protecting our environment and developing a green economy with sustainability at the top of the agenda.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here