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Sustainability in Geneva
Geneva Tourism & Conventions Foundation
Tourism contributes to Geneva’s economic, cultural and social vitality. Like any activity, it also has an impact on the environment and the destination. Aware of these challenges, Geneva Tourism & Conventions has developed, together with its partners, a responsible tourism strategy for the 2026–2030 period.
Geneva is taking action for responsible tourism
The Geneva Tourism & Conventions Foundation continues to structure its work to support the development of more responsible tourism in Geneva. Aware of the environmental, social and economic challenges associated with tourism, it aims, within its sphere of influence and together with its partners, to help drive changes in practices through the implementation of concrete, targeted actions set out in the strategic document.
Building on the 2021–2025 strategy, this new 2026–2030 roadmap was developed in consultation with the destination’s stakeholders. It sets out the priorities, objectives and action levers that the Foundation intends to implement in order to support the transition towards a form of tourism that creates value for the destination, its residents, its visitors and its economy.
A Strategy Built Around Three Priority Impact Drivers
This strategy is based on the priorities identified through an extensive co-creation process and aims to strengthen the positive impacts of tourism while supporting the sector’s transition.
It is structured around three priority impact drivers:
• Know-how – Economy & Heritage
• Living Systems – Nature & Culture
• Connections – Accessibility & Communities
It is translated into concrete actions designed to develop experiences that encourage longer stays, support tourism stakeholders in their CSR transition, raise awareness and engage both partners and visitors, bring stakeholders together around shared challenges, and facilitate the adoption of more responsible choices.
Review of the 2021–2025 Strategy and Key Learnings
The 2021–2025 Sustainable Tourism Strategy marked an important first step in gradually advancing the destination’s practices. Its implementation helped identify the most relevant actions and those that delivered the most significant results, providing valuable input for the development of the 2026–2030 Responsible Tourism Strategy.
The assessments are presented below, organised by strategic pillar and action. They highlight the main achievements and the key lessons learned from their implementation.
GDS-Index
Geneva Tourism has been a member of the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS-M) since 2016. The GDS Movement is a collaborative project between the CEM, ICCA, IMEX and MCI that aims to help destinations, event organisers and suppliers promote the adoption of sustainable practices in their city and in the global tourism industry.
The GDS-Index was developed in 2016 and assesses destinations through their environmental, social, supplier and destination management performance. This assessment ranks destinations according to their sustainability performance. The index enables best practices to be collected and provides a platform for exchanges between destinations.
In 2024, Geneva achieved a GDS-Index benchmark score of 66.9%.
In 2025, Geneva recorded an overall score of 68.1%, marking a slight improvement compared with 2024. The average destination ranking score was 66.7%.
The environmental, social and supplier category scores showed a slight decrease in 2025, while the DMO category recorded a notable increase of +11.5%.
Performance results:
• Environmental: 70.1% vs. 72.4% in 2024
• Social: 68.4% vs. 75% in 2024
• Supplier: 61.5% vs. 66.2% in 2024
• DMO: 69.6% vs. 58.1% in 2024
Swisstainable
We are Swisstainable.
We are part of the sustainability program Swisstainable and classified at level III – leading. The sustainability program Swisstainable unites businesses and organizations along the entire Swiss tourism sector. Through our participation, we commit to continuous sustainable business development and implement the following specific measures:
- Reducing and monitoring corporate waste through team awareness and the introduction of a monitoring system.
- Creating inclusive communication materials, including videos in French and International Sign Language.
- Reducing our digital footprint through awareness, training, responsible equipment use, and appropriate reuse or recycling.
Geneva partner of MyClimate “Cause We Care”
MyClimate “Cause We Care” is an initiative for climate protection and sustainable tourism in Switzerland. It enables visitors to our destination to contribute to climate protection by offsetting the CO2 emissions generated during their visit. Thus, by purchasing a Geneva City Pass, a Choco Pass or one of our public tours, 1 CHF is automatically donated to “Cause We Care”.
In order to maximise its effect, the Geneva Tourism & Conventions Foundation doubles the contributions and donates an additional CHF 1.
Thanks to this fund, the FGT&C supports a project for the ecological management of waste in Kenya, a local environmental protection association and is involved in its own climate protection actions.
The fund created between 15 March and 15 November 2022 by these offsets corresponds to CHF 8038. This was reinvested in support of the Cause We Care project "Ecological waste management, creating jobs in Kenya," through a donation to the Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman and in the implementation of the GT&C Foundation’s sustainability actions.
Accessibility with OK:GO
OK:GO promotes the provision of information on the accessibility of tourist facilities throughout Switzerland. The information should be up-to-date, uniform and easy to find for everyone.
To see the profile of our Tourist Information Centre in Geneva Gare Cornavin Click here
Accessible Guides to Geneva
Explore Geneva through 12 Sign Language videos and 11 audio guides, from iconic landmarks like the Jet d'Eau to hidden gems in Carouge and CERN.
The State Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and adopted the new revision of the Cantonal Climate Plan in June 2021.
Canton and city
The Canton, the City and the Geneva Tourism & Conventions Foundation are working together to respond to current social, environmental and economic challenges. As a keen traveller, you too can take...
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