Victoria ranked as best small city globally for sustainable tourism

Victoria has been recognized by a notable tourism industry index as the world’s best small city for sustainable tourism.

The Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) Index recently ranked Victoria as the number one city overall with a population less than 200,000 for sustainable tourism.

The runners-up to Victoria were Kerry, Ireland in second place and Luzern, Switzerland in third.

Garden city also ranked 15th overall on the GDS Top 40 Sustainable Cities list, breaking into the organization’s top 20 for the first time.

It was one of only three Canadian cities on the list, with Montreal ranking ninth and Edmonton 29th overall.

The cities to top the list were Helsinki, Finland in first, Gothenburg, Sweden in second and Copenhagen, Denmark in third.

Criteria from GDS outlines several key factors, including environmental, social, supplier and destination management considerations.

Victoria ranked highly in the area of destination management—third overall—closely following Helsinki and Montreal to round out the top three in the category.

GDS describes destination management as a factor that considers the sustainability commitment of a given city, including questions pertaining to the maturity of a destination’s sustainability and regeneration strategy, leadership, communication of sustainability initiatives and the accuracy of a city’s reporting on sustainability operations.

Destination Greater Victoria (DGV) says the outstanding scores are a result of close collaboration between the City of Victoria and DGV, as well as the shared commitment of industry partners, local government and the city’s broader community to advancing long-term social and environmental sustainability.

“Victoria’s outstanding recognition in this year’s GDS Index is a remarkable achievement reflective of DGV’s destination management excellence,” said Paul Nursey, CEO of Destination Greater Victoria.

“The entire tourism and business community in Greater Victoria can take pride in this global recognition of DGV’s exceptional management standards.”

DGV attributes the success to a combination of factors, including cycling infrastructure, walkable neighbourhoods, a clean energy grid, a safe and reliable water supply and comprehensive climate action initiatives.

The organization also points to the high proportion of local hotels that hold recognized environmental certifications, saying it benefits from a tourism industry that embraces sustainability practices.

Nursey also credits the success to industry leaders who first stimulated sustainability discussions years ago in a positive, additive and business-like manner.

“This didn’t happen overnight,” said Nursey.

“Our approach has been industry-led with people coming together, sharing ideas, challenging one another to do better and, most importantly, turning those conversations into action.

He went on to explain that sustainability works in the city because it is entrenched in the way the city does business, rather than something that occurs alongside it.

In 2025, DGV finalized a Sustainability Strategy aimed at ensuring the organization is recognized as an international leader in the sustainable tourism development and that the city remains one of the top destinations in the world.

Part of this strategy includes the annual IMPACT Sustainability Travel & Tourism Summit in the city, which marks its 10th year in January of next year and has a high profile globally as a leading forum on sustainability and regenerative tourism developments, according to DGV.