A new plan, developed by Glasgow Life, VisitScotland and The Travel Foundation, has been launched to help Glasgow achieve its aim of becoming the UK’s first Carbon Neutral City by 2030 and create a more circular economy.
Aligned to the Glasgow Declaration announced at COP26, the Sustainable Tourism and Conventions Action Plan is designed to support Glasgow in meeting Scotland’s net zero emissions target and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
These objectives underpin the People Make Glasgow Greener Strategy , with the new plan setting out the actions being undertaken to accelerate the incorporation of sustainability into every aspect of Glasgow’s tourism and conventions sectors.
At a time when recovery from the impacts of the pandemic continues to be a priority, the plan also aims to support economic renewal to boost industry performance.
Helping industry partners reduce the environmental impact of their practices, products and services should enable them to benefit from the many advantages of supporting responsible tourism – such as capitalising on major forthcoming events in the city by ensuring alignment to their sustainable mission.
Glasgow Life's head of tourism and conventions Aileen Crawford said: “Glasgow is renowned as a leading destination for sustainable business tourism - our Convention Bureau was the first to gain Green Tourism accreditation and sign up to the Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency initiative.
“As climate emergency awareness grows, meeting planners are scrutinising the sustainability credentials of potential host cities in far greater depth; conference organisers want to see evidence of responsible practices embedded in every aspect of the destination offer.
“Working together we can achieve positive transformation that will greatly benefit the people of Glasgow, our visitors, our economy and of course, our environment. “
Glasgow Life, which has responsibility for destination management, working with stakeholders, industry partners and services – will implement the plan through activities focused on three strategic areas:
- Building a sustainable tourism sector – supporting industry to be more sustainable through training, accreditation and signposting to resources.
- Developing Glasgow’s sustainable city offer – working with internal teams and external stakeholders to strengthen the sectors’ sustainable credentials and adapting processes to champion green change.
- Showcasing Glasgow as a sustainable city destination – translating the green conversation actions which are meaningful, free or low cost; celebrating and promoting successes in the industry.
Under these overarching themes, key actions designed to accelerate positive change are set out to provide a clear, practical guide which also highlights how these actions are aligned to the priorities of the national tourism strategy Scotland Outlook 2030, and what the targets are for measuring success.
Examples of the activities are:
- Sustainability-focused food and drink schemes to minimise waste, to use locally-sourced seasonal produce and ensure suppliers demonstrate responsible practices.
- Encourage business sign-up to the Green Tourism Award and accreditation schemes.
- Promote sustainable methods of transport for staff and guests, and capitalise on schemes to encourage public transport uptake and electric vehicle use.
- Training opportunities supporting responsible tourism and hospitality by raising employee awareness of policies and procedures and engagement as good practice.
VisitScotland's director of industry and destination development Rob Dickson said: “Environmental change and social inclusions are the biggest challenges facing our tourism and events sector and our latest tourism insights reveal that sustainability is an increasingly important consideration for business and leisure travellers.
“This Action Plan offers a great practical guide to show how the sectors, and businesses connected with them, can position sustainability at the heart of their offering, making it easier for travellers to make environmentally-conscious decisions.
“Encouraging and enabling industry partners to support responsible tourism and conventions will further strengthen Glasgow’s credentials as a great sustainable destination - that’s crucial in enabling the city to attract leisure and business visitors and events and delivering economic growth, whilst addressing the climate crisis.”
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