Radisson Hotel Group and GDS-Movement have launched a new guide designed to help Associations and Professional Congress Organisers (PCOs) turn sustainability commitments into measurable action across meetings and events.
The guide, Accelerating Sustainable & Regenerative Events: A Guide for Associations & PCOs, provides practical tools, destination data and frameworks to support sustainability throughout event planning, delivery and reporting.
It was unveiled to industry stakeholders in
Brussels and draws on insights from destinations participating in the GDS-Index,
a benchmarking and performance improvement programme for destination
sustainability.
The initiative comes as sustainability becomes a growing strategic priority across the events sector, but implementation remains limited.
According to findings cited by the
organisations, 66% of Associations consider sustainability highly important,
while fewer than 34% have embedded it into their operations and only 3% report
having an advanced sustainability programme.
"The industry
does not have a sustainability awareness problem; it has an implementation
challenge," said Inge Huijbrechts, Chief Sustainability and Security
Officer at Radisson Hotel Group. "As a global hospitality company, we work
closely with associations, event organisers and destinations around the world
and understand the practical barriers they face. This guide is designed to move
the conversation from ambition to action by providing planners with practical
tools, trusted frameworks and stronger collaboration models."
The roadmap
identifies several barriers to sustainable event delivery, including perceived
costs, limited access to sustainability data, fragmented supplier networks and
a lack of practical implementation frameworks.
It emphasises that sustainable events require collaboration between Associations, destinations, venues and suppliers.
This is particularly important for organisations managing
recurring congresses, annual conferences and regional meetings across multiple
destinations, where consistent standards and reporting can be challenging.
The guide also highlights the role of destinations in supporting event organisers.
Through the GDS-Index, destinations are assessed against 74 qualitative and quantitative indicators aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Global Sustainable Tourism Council Destination Criteria.
"Destinations
play a pivotal role in accelerating the transition toward sustainable and
regenerative events," said Guy Bigwood, CEO and Chief Changemaker of
GDS-Movement. "Through the GDS-Index, we help destinations measure and
improve their sustainability performance while providing event organisers with
the information they need to make informed decisions. Collaboration between
destinations, venues and suppliers is essential to creating events that
generate meaningful social, environmental and economic value."
The guide outlines
five key actions for Associations and PCOs: engaging destination partners
earlier, prioritising certified suppliers, incorporating social impact and
legacy initiatives, promoting low-carbon mobility, and introducing
sustainability-linked measurement, reporting and incentive frameworks.
The partnership builds on Radisson Hotel Group’s wider sustainability initiatives, including Verified Net Zero and Hotel Sustainability Basics, as the companies seek to promote more measurable and consistent sustainability practices across the global meetings and events industry. -TradeArabia News Service