TIS is the largest innovation, technology and sustainability event for the tourism sector. It's a global summit where the future strategies of the tourism industry are defined, and success stories are presented by leaders and experts. 

From 16h30 - 17h15 CET, Senior Changemaker, Monica Molina, will be speaking about "the power Blockchain and NFT in creating value in the tourism sector".

We are having 2 sessions (same content) to explore the 2023 GDS-Index results and celebrate the 2023 GDS-Award winners. This one is on 12 October, 17h00 - 18h30 CET.

Did you know there are more than 100 destinations on a journey to more responsible growth and management of tourism and events to increase positive environmental impact, foster community engagement, safeguard cultural authenticity, and support economic prosperity? That's worth celebrating!

So, we warmly invite you to celebrate sustainability success on our shared journey towards greater regeneration for destinations at our upcoming webinar celebrating the 2023 GDS-Index Results and GDS-Awards' Winners.

The GDS-Index
This is the world’s leading sustainability benchmarking and improvement programme for destinations. It gathers, checks, and publishes data on its participating destinations' sustainability contributions each year. We analyse, interpret and publish the findings in the 2023 GDS-Index Report which will be available on our Reports and Guides page.

The GDS-Awards
Each year, we also celebrate destination sustainability efforts with the leadership, most improved, and innovation awards. In 2023, the awards ceremony is hosted with our long-time partner, ICCA and we are introducing the GDS-Movement and #MEET4IMPACT Impact Award in collaboration with #MEET4IMPACT. The ceremony takes place during GDS-Forum, 4 October, in Valencia, Spain. GDS-Forum is brought to you by VISIT VALÈNCIA, City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA), and GDS-Movement.

Come and discover insights and trends from the data we've collected and learn about the projects that are putting our winners into leadership positions in a webinar packed with inspiration and practical examples.

Host: Guy Bigwood, CEO and Chief Changemaker, GDS-Movement

Guest Speakers: a selection of representatives from the Leadership, Most Improved, Innovation and Impact awards.

We look forward to seeing you and co-creating solutions that serve all interested parties (including nature) with you.

We are having 2 sessions sessions (same content) to explore the 2023 GDS-Index results and celebrate the 2023 GDS-Award winners. This one is on 11 October, 09h00 - 10h30 CET.

Did you know there are more than 100 destinations on a journey to more responsible growth and management of tourism and events to increase positive environmental impact, foster community engagement, safeguard cultural authenticity, and support economic prosperity? That's worth celebrating!

So, we warmly invite you to celebrate sustainability success on our shared journey towards greater regeneration for destinations at our upcoming webinar celebrating the 2023 GDS-Index Results and GDS-Awards' Winners.

The GDS-Index
This is the world’s leading sustainability benchmarking and improvement programme for destinations. It gathers, checks, and publishes data on its participating destinations' sustainability contributions each year. We analyse, interpret and publish the findings in the 2023 GDS-Index Report which will be available on our Reports and Guides page.

The GDS-Awards
Each year, we also celebrate destination sustainability efforts with the leadership, most improved, and innovation awards. In 2023, the awards ceremony is hosted with our long-time partner, ICCA and we are introducing the GDS-Movement and #MEET4IMPACT Impact Award in collaboration with #MEET4IMPACT. The ceremony takes place during GDS-Forum, 4 October, in Valencia, Spain. GDS-Forum is brought to you by VISIT VALÈNCIA, City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA), and GDS-Movement.

Come and discover insights and trends from the data we've collected and learn about the projects that are putting our winners into leadership positions in a webinar packed with inspiration and practical examples.

Host: Guy Bigwood, CEO and Chief Changemaker, GDS-Movement

Guest Speakers: a selection of representatives from the Leadership, Most Improved, Innovation and Impact awards.

We look forward to seeing you and co-creating solutions that serve all interested parties (including nature) with you.

From 2 to 7 October, destination professionals can enjoy an extraordinary event week, as City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA), the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS-Movement), and Visit València partner to bring you two incredible, back-to-back events, and to jointly announce and celebrate the new home of the prestigious, annual GDS-Awards.

GDS-Forum, 3 - 4 October
The GDS-Forum will convene destination leaders and sustainability champions from around the world. This is a dynamic and unconventional gathering to discuss sustainability and impact strategies and best practices, learn from GDS-Index journeys, and co-create new approaches and initiatives for greater regenerative destination management. It will follow a novel, non-conference format with a focus on peer-to-peer learning, collaboration, and creativity.

The 2023 GDS-Awards, 4 October (evening)
We recognise and ​celebrate the efforts of ​GDS-Index destinations
– ​Leadership Award​
– Most Improved Award​
– Innovation Award​
– Impact Award (new)​

Catch Janie Neumann, Senior Changemaker and Certifications expert, GDS-Movement, at Liverpool 2030 - From Sustainable To Regenerative Tourism. She'll be a panelist along with Kerrin Macphie, CEO of Meetings Industry Association, Scott Maclean, MD of Green Tourism, and Ellie Ashton-Melia, Community Manager for isla in "The Direction Of Sustainable Tourism - Where Are We Going?".

Inspired Inspired by Global Goals Week, this gathering brings together the tourism and events community, showcases what Liverpool and its businesses are already doing and is a call for further action. It is hosted by Marketing Liverpool with partner 2030 Hub.

13h00 - 15h30, 12 September 2023: Senior Changemaker, Nordic Region, Inge, and Beatriz Ibañez, Senior Changemaker, Impact and Events, are speaking and running a sustainability workshop during the ICCA Global Association Forum 2023.

"How to turn the negative footprint of events into a positive handprint" explores ways to better harness events to regenerate destinations and communities socially, environmentally and economically. The session will enhance overall understanding of the role of sustainability, legacy, and impact for events, and explore the systematic challenges faced by the community and how they can be overcome by working together towards successful outcomes.

"ICCA is proud to announce that the 2nd ICCA Global Association Forum will be hosted by the Faroe Islands on 11–13 September 2023."

"The interactive event aims to bring global association executives and meeting industry professionals together in a collaborative setting to explore out of the box meeting design with a particular focus on regeneration, sustainability and legacy impact."

We invite 2023 GDS-Index participants to join us in Feeling the Pulse, "Telling your Best GDS-Index Story". In this invitation-only webinar on 6 September, we explore how to communicate the results of GDS-Index data to a destination's ecosystem of interested parties and we showcase inspiring examples from destinations doing so.

Communicating sustainability is under scrutiny and the changing legislative landscape and new greenwashing rules will impact destination marketing so we will update GDS-Movement members on these and take them through what to do and what to avoid.

Plus there is also very exciting news about the upcoming GDS-Forum.

Host: Guy Bigwood, CEO and Chief Changemaker, GDS-Movement
Speaker: Melissa Baird, Chief Storyteller, GDS-Movement

We invite 2023 GDS-Index participants to join us in Feeling the Pulse, "Telling your Best GDS-Index Story". In this invitation-only webinar, we explore how to communicate the results of GDS-Index data to a destination's ecosystem of interested parties and we showcase inspiring examples from destinations doing so.

Communicating sustainability is under scrutiny and the changing legislative landscape and new greenwashing rules will impact destination marketing so we will update GDS-Movement members on these and take them through what to do and what to avoid.

Plus there is also very exciting news about the upcoming GDS-Forum.

Host: Guy Bigwood, CEO and Chief Changemaker, GDS-Movement
Speaker: Melissa Baird, Chief Storyteller, GDS-Movement