FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct 10, 2023- Charlottetown, P.E.I. — Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) has joined 100 destinations worldwide in an international sustainability benchmarking and improvement program, the Global Destination Sustainability Index (GDS-Index).
The announced results rank P.E.I. at #79 globally and #10 among the 20 Canadian destinations participating,
This extensive, year-long program evaluated Prince Edward Island on nearly 70 criteria aligned with the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), segmented into four main areas: environmental, social, supplier engagement and destination management.
Meetings & Conventions Prince Edward Island has led the province’s participation in the program, collaborating with the City of Charlottetown, Discover Charlottetown, and several other local island tourism partners to map out sustainability benchmarks for the province in these key criteria.
“We would like to thank our partners that participated in this very important benchmarking initiative with the team at Meetings and Conventions PEI,” says Susan Freeman, Executive Director of Meetings & Conventions PEI.
This is Meetings and Conventions PEI’s first year in the program, participating in conjunction with Destination Canada Business Events and their Business Event Sustainability Plan, a first-of-its-kind national program aiming to position Canadian destinations as global changemakers, accelerating progress to the industry’s 2050 net zero targets.
“We’ve always known that the City of Charlottetown and provincial tourism partners on P.E.I. have been implementing innovative sustainability practices into their operations” explains Freeman. “Participating in the GDS-Index has given us the opportunity to come together in the destination and marks a new beginning in our journey to making Prince Edward Island a truly sustainable destination to host business events and conferences. We look forward to continuing to work together with industry partners to ensure we keep growing our practices towards net zero targets.”
As a starting point, the indexing process in 2023 focused primarily on the city of Charlottetown, but plans are in place to extend this indexing further across the island in the future.
Key highlights from the results include:
- Prince Edward Island scored highest in the category of social sustainability at 70%, demonstrating a strong commitment to creating a a socially sustainable and inclusive destination where residents can thrive and enjoy a high quality of life.
- In the category of environmental sustainability, P.E.I. scored 56% with key factors including efforts to include renewable energy generation, robust waste management practices, water conservation measures, promotion of active transportation, implementation of environmental policies and regulations, preservation of green spaces and biodiversity, and climate change adaptation strategies.
View the full 2023 GDS-Index results at www.gds.earth/2023-results/
About Meetings & Conventions PEI
Meetings & Conventions Prince Edward Island is a non-profit organization with a mission to generate demand for business events across the province of Prince Edward Island. They act as a complimentary resource for planning conventions, conferences, and business events and help connect meeting and business event planners with a wide variety of Island businesses within their membership.
For more information about hosting sustainable events on P.E.I., please visit: www.meetingsandconventionspei.com/sustainability-guide/
For more information contact:
Sean White
Marketing & Communications Manager
Meetings and Conventions PEI
swhite@peimc.com (902)-393-0444