TRAVEL

An Interview with Guy Bigwood

April 24, 2019

IMAGE: Global Destination Sustainability Index

Sustain Europe is proud to announce a new partnership with the Global Destination Sustainability Index to promote action and share key learnings from destinations around the world working on sustainable tourism. In a series of articles, we will look in depth at the approaches and initiatives being used by cities to catalyse a transformation in their tourism sector and become leaders in a more sustainable, circular, economy. We will be sharing best practices, asking tough questions and looking for answers to key social and environmental issues facing the tourism and events industry. In the first article, we talk with Guy Bigwood, the Managing Director of the GDS-Index, a long-term champion and pioneer of sustainability in the business tourism and events world.

 

 

What is the GDS-Index?

 

The Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) is a multi-stakeholder partnership created to unleash the power of the meetings, events and business tourism industry to accelerate sustainable development in cities and their local community. It was created in 2016

by visionary Scandinavian Cities and leading event industry organisations IMEX, MCI, ICCA and European Cities Marketing.

 

Today over 50 cities, including Barcelona, Copenhagen, Washington, Bangkok, Brussels, Geneva, Frankfurt, Oslo, Houston, Stuttgart and Sydney, are participating in the GDS-Index. These Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) are strategically and progressively changing the way they work to make a more sustainable destination.

 

What are the objectives of the programme?

 

The GDS-Index was designed to use competition, collaboration and consulting to drive performance and innovation.

 

It has four main objectives:

 

  1. Rapidly accelerate the number of destinations with robust and holistic sustainability strategies and practices (when we started there were less than a handful)

  2. Raise industry awareness and inspire action in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (when we started, most destinations didn’t know what ‘SDG’ stood for)

  3. Build, educate and empower a dynamic community of destination sustainability professionals

  4. Recognise and reward innovation, performance and improvement

 

Why is this programme unique and innovative?

 

Together with the 15 founding Scandinavian DMOs, we created a global benchmarking system for destinations, which evaluates sustainability performance in four main areas: the City’s Environmental Performance, the Social Performance, the Supplier Performance and the DMO Performance (we use the word DMO to include Convention Bureaus also).

 

Each year, the cities submit data that’s evaluated by a team of expert sustainability consultants to produce an annual ranking. The results are released at an awards ceremony that recognises:

 

  • The destination that has achieved the highest performance

  • The destination with the best example of innovation

  • The destination that has improved the most in the last year

 

This benchmarking and assessment process provides a to-do list of sustainable actions that a destination can implement, and our team coaches and guides destinations on how to improve their sustainability strategies and practices. Lastly, we are building a community where DMOs can share successes and challenges, and grow together.

 

 

 

 

The GDS-Index was inspired and cocreated by pioneering members of ICCA Scandinavia working with Guy Bigwood and MCI

IMAGE: Global Destination Sustainability Index

What sustainability challenge does the GDS-Index address?

 

When we launched the programme in 2016, there were very few DMOs that had a robust sustainability strategy and effective practices for their events industry (although many thought they did). There were also no global sustainability initiatives specifically and exclusively focused on DMOs, and the specific requirements and challenges of the events industry. Finally, there was almost no awareness of the Sustainable Development goals and their value or application within the events industry.

 

What value does the programme offer the tourism and events industry?

 

For cities: we are building a body of knowledge from the experiences of the GDS-Index team and its community of destinations. We are using these best practices to engage, inspire and empower other DMOs to start up, speed up and scale up their sustainability programmes.

 

By participating in the GDS-Index, cities can significantly increase the impact of their sustainability initiatives while dramatically reducing the implementation time and cost. We have seen DMOs saving between €20,000 to €50,000 by participating in the GDS-Index, when compared to the cost of hiring a consultant.

 

For clients: the GDS-Index is a tool they can use to assess and qualify a destination’s commitment to sustainability. Clients are asking for—and in some cases, requiring—DMOs to be part of the GDS-index in their RFP process.

 

For agencies: the GDS-Index is an effective, low-cost way to promote their destination’s sustainability commitment and credentials, engage their team and suppliers, and inspire and engage clients, drawing them to prize destinations with strong event sustainability initiatives.

 

What great examples of change have you seen?

 

In forthcoming articles, we’ll look into individual stories of change from some of the destinations. For now, let me share some of the results of the top 10 performing destinations from the 2018 Benchmarking. This provides a clear indication of the change that’s happened in the last few years and where DMOs are heading into the future.

 

  1. 100% of leading destinations now have a dedicated sustainability team, and 85% have a sustainability committee with industry stakeholders

  2. 100% now measure and report on sustainable destination progress

  3. 92% include sustainability features on their website, featuring guides and manuals, supplier lists and best practice examples

  4. 92% now have programmes with restaurants and catering companies to reduce non-recyclable/biodegradable material waste and food waste

  5. 92% provide free or subsidised public transport for major conventions

  6. 70% are actively engaging their stakeholders to support local community development initiatives and provide information to the clients on donation programmes for food and leftover event materials

 

With these changes in sight, we believe the rules of the games are changing. 85% of top 10 destinations now have or are in the process of obtaining third party eco-certification. Offering a sustainable tourism and events programme will not only be an advantage for cities—it will be a requirement by clients, visitors and perhaps most importantly, their citizens. As part of their licence to operate, DMOs will have to integrate and weave environmental and social criteria holistically into their strategies, business models, and operations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We identified the GDS-Index as the first valuable platform of its kind in the MICE industry.

The GDS-Index provides a real incentive and support in setting a strategy and boosting commitments from the meeting industry actors and relevant authorities.”

 

Olivier Mathieu, Lausanne Congress & Meetings Manager

 

 

 

“By joining the GDS-index we have had help to assess our strategy, benchmark our initiatives, and received input to drive performance. The credibility of the GDS-Index provides us with a respected way to communicate our commitment and achievement to our stakeholders and clients. This allows us to use sustainability as a competitive advantage in our sales efforts.”

 

Melissa A. Riley, Vice President of Conventions, Destination DC

 

 

 

“The GDS-Index is a unique example of how collaboration, including the sharing of best practices and expertise, can improve performance of destinations for the benefit of both our clients and local communities. It has provided us with opportunities and inspiration that has helped Copenhagen become a leader in Sustainable meetings.”

 

Kit Lykketoft, Wonderful Copenhagen Convention Director

 

 

IMAGE: Global Destination Sustainability Index

What have you learned in your journey developing the GDS-Index?

 

Lots! Here are my top 5 insights.

 

  1. Collaboration as an enabler: Cities want and need to share best practices and experiences. A growing number of DMOs now have dedicated professionals who oversee their sustainability programs. Their role is emerging and adapting on almost a daily basis. These people need a community with a shared purpose, and ways to share knowledge, grow their professional skills and certify achievement. This is an opportunity that we will address.

  2. Competition is an accelerator: Collaboration is good, but the competitive nature of our industry responds well to a challenge such as the GDS-Index. Cities are ‘fighting’ to improve their ranking. This competitive angle allows DMOs to better engage their local stakeholders.

  3. Competition is a barrier: While ranking works really well for the top performers, it can be frustrating for developing cities. Consequently, we have had to pay particular attention to work with the ‘starters, laggards and improvers’ to ensure that they’re developing their performance consistently, even if their overall position isn’t improving.

  4. Technology as a multiplier: With the vision for a massive growth in the number of destinations involved, we need to develop a more powerful IT platform to support the benchmarking process, share information, enable collaboration and permit self-service data analysis.

  5. Cities as multipliers: DMOs and the events industry have a unique opportunity to support their city's sustainable goals and accelerate achievement. We are catalysts, and the impact model for the GDS-Index can be adapted and used in other industry sectors of a city.

 

 

 

“The GDS-Index challenges us to reflect on our values as a member of society. Besides the environment, it encourages us to improve our performance in all matters related to social responsibility including transparency and open democracy.”

 

Ines Antti-Poika, Helsinki Convention Director

 

 

 

 

What are some of the areas you will focus on in the forthcoming articles?

 

We will be working with our members to share key insights and best practices in strategy development, the use of the Sustainable Development Goals, Certification, Stakeholder Engagements, Communication and Storytelling.

 

 

 

 

“Participation in the GDS-Index helps us benchmark our strategy, develop new initiatives, engage with industry partners, in order to continually improve the environmental and social performance of our city.”

 

Karen Bolinger, CEO, Melbourne Convention Bureau

 

 

 

 

What’s your vision for the GDS-Index?

 

Destination sustainability in the business tourism and events industry is in its early stages in most countries. Its importance will grow significantly, and so the theme will mature and develop. Consequently, we see the GDS-Index becoming an increasingly dynamic community and partnership of purpose between cities. We will help cities implement science-based approaches, develop their professionals and accelerate their sustainability programmes. Our goal is to grow the partnership to include over 300 destinations by 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information please visit:

 

www.gds-index.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Guy Bigwood

 

Guy is a recognised expert on creating sustainable communities through multi-stakeholder collaboration. As Sustainability Director (2006-2018) of MCI, the world’s largest association management, communications and events agency, he positioned it to be an award-winning sustainability champion. He also advised charities, non-profits and business associations on sustainability strategies as President of the Green Meeting Industry Council.

 

For the last 15 years, Guy, an outstanding communicator, has been delivering award-winning consulting services, helping cities, governments, corporations and associations step up their sustainability programmes. His passion is inspiring leaders to develop new skills and collaborative networks to drive sustainable growth, accelerate transition to a circular economy and leave long-term societal impact. He has delivered workshops and over 300 keynote presentations in more than 40 countries. His pioneering work has been recognised with 21 sustainability awards, including the Events Industry Council Pacesetter Award.

 

Today, he leads sustainability at the Smart City Council and is MD of the Global Destinations Sustainability Index, a multi-stakeholder partnership to accelerate and evaluate sustainable business tourism development, with 48 participating cities.

 

Connect with Guy on www.linkedin.com/in/guybigwood/

 

Twitter @guybigwood or Email guy.bigwood@gds-index.com

 

or on his blog www.lessconversationmoreaction.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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