Sarawak will be the first Malaysian State to join the GDS Index, the leading sustainability benchmarking and improvement programme for destinations around the world.
The assessment will be based on 71 indicators across 4 key areas which are environmental performance, social progress performance, destination supplier performance, and destination management performance. The Index is fully aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Destination Criteria which is part and parcel of Sarawak’s Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) for Tourism to make Sarawak a leading destination for ecotourism and sustainable business events by 2030.
For the assessment to be successful, the GDSI Partnership Programme – Sarawak Region (GDSI-Sarawak Partner) has been launched. It comprises 30 committee members consisting of local government ministries and agencies, academia, associations, and industry partners.
To kickstart the Index, Kuching city has been selected as the pilot project which positions Kuching as 1 of the 75 progressive destinations in the world to undertake the GDS-Index. Upon successful completion and understanding, the assessment will expand to other cities in Sarawak such as Sibu, Miri, and other major towns in the future.