KERRY has maintained it’s #13 ranking within the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index) Top 30, positioning the county as Ireland’s leading Sustainable Tourism destination, and number six in Europe out of 65 destinations, across the world.

The GDS-Index is the world’s leading sustainability performance benchmarking and improvement programme, designed to make business and leisure tourism industry more sustainable.

Kerry Convention Bureau (KCB) collaborated closely with both the Kerry Tourism Industry Federation (KTIF) and Kerry County Council (KCC) on its 2022 submission, which included an update to the Kerry County Sustainable Tourism Strategy 2022-2025, designed to provide an ambitious framework from which the county can accelerate performance and place sustainability at the heart of its tourism recovery and growth plans.

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Scoring 82.4% out of a possible 100%, up 8.5% on last year, Kerry’s sustainability performance was evaluated based on the county’s environmental strategy and infrastructure, social sustainability performance, industry supplier support and KCB’s strategies and initiatives.

Kerry Convention Bureau Manager, Becky Hargrove said “Kerry is extremely proud to have both increased our score and maintained our ranking in the GDS Index, reinforcing our position as Ireland’s leading Sustainable Tourism destination, #6 in Europe and #13 globally.

As a future focused destination, we are thrilled that along with our fellow Convention Bureaux of Ireland colleagues, our mission to regenerative destination management is putting Ireland on the map as a green business events destination of choice, ranked alongside key MICE destinations across the world.”

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“Working in collaboration with our partners at Fáilte Ireland, Kerry Tourism Industry Federation and Kerry County Council, our annual participation in this global benchmarking tool enables us to drive progress in the sustainable development of Kerry by engaging industry stakeholders, local community, and government”.

Spearheaded by KCB and supported by Failte Ireland, Kerry first participated in the GDS Index in 2018, and has consistently improved upon its performance each year.

Becky said; “We would like to thank both Fáilte Ireland and Kerry County Council for their ongoing support of Kerry Convention Bureau and our annual participation in the GDS Index. Working closely with Failte Ireland and our fellow Convention Bureaux colleagues, we are committed to being champions of Sustainability, supporting event planners to host green events and taking proactive steps to ensure that business events held in Ireland result in positive social and environmental impacts that are both sustainable and leave a legacy”.

In an timely example of the innovative sustainability endeavours being undertaken within Kerry, it was also announced today that Kerry Convention Bureau member The Killarney Park have been awarded Gold in the Decarbonising Travel & Tourism category at this week’s WTM Responsible Tourism Awards.

Working closely in partnership with Fáilte Ireland’s Business Tourism unit Meet In Ireland, KCB fosters the promotion and growth of Kerry as an iconic and diverse destination for business tourism events including national and international conventions, meetings and incentives.