by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:34 AM ET, Wed April 20, 2022
The World Travel & Tourism Council released its newest report, "Destination 2030: Global Cities' Readiness for Sustainable Tourism Growth" during WTTC's 21st Global Summit in Manila, Philippines Wednesday, April 20, assessing over 60 cities' readiness for sustainable growth in the travel and tourism industry.
The report, created in collaboration with JLL, identifies key parts of what makes a city ready for sustainable travel and tourism. Sixty-three cities across the world were measured and put into one of five categories of readiness.
The five categories of readiness were created to understand varying levels of infrastructure and each city's unique challenges, measured by 79 indicators within eight pillars that range from safety and security to environmental readiness and more.
The five include Dawning Developers, like New Delhi and Riyadh, which are considered "clean-slate" destinations with emerging tourism infrastructure; Emerging Performers, like Dubrovnik and Buenos Aires, which are experiencing growing tourism and emerging infrastructure, but face challenges such as overcrowding.
The third category is Balanced Dynamics. In this category are Auckland and Vancouver, a.ong with other cities that have already established tourism infrastructures and potential for greater growth while able to balance in both scale and concentration.
The fourth category belongs to cities such as Miami, Berlin and Hong Kong. Mature Performers, these cities are well-established tourism hubs, but they may find challenges in diversification to avoid overtourism.
The last category, Managing Momentum, belongs to cities with a high, established growth rate and a well-established tourism infrastructure. Cities in this category include Amsterdam, London and Las Vegas. These are likely already feeling pressures of balancing tourism's scale and concentration in their cities.
Destination 2030 also recommends solutions to promote sustainable growth in each of the destinations listed.
"Travel & tourism plays an incredibly important role in a city's economy, not only boosting GDP, but also creating jobs and improving the livelihoods of those who rely on our sector…" said Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO. "For a city to truly thrive and for travel & tourism to develop in a sustainable manner, stakeholders need to understand how prepared the city is for the expected growth in tourism and the resulting challenges and opportunities that lay ahead."
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