The Travel & Tourism sector is highly dependent on nature. Natural assets from mountains and beaches to coral reefs and savannahs are fundamental drivers of travel. While Travel & Tourism accounts for a significant share of all global economic activity, 10.4% of global GDP in 2019, it is also a contributor to the world’s output of greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollution. The sector uses significant amounts of energy and natural resources, including water, crops, and construction materials. These dependencies show just how critical it is for Travel & Tourism to protect and conserve natural environments and to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint.
But to make progress, we need data that can be tracked. This report estimates the global environmental footprint of Travel & Tourism. The analysis traces all tourism-linked expenditures across 185 geographies, quantifying how this demand affects the natural world. The data is broken into five categories: greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, freshwater demands, production of air pollutants, and extraction of raw materials. Estimates are produced for the years 2010 and 2019-21, to identify and explore trends over time. This project is an initial and broad-based assessment of the sector’s environmental impact, with the intention that continued monitoring can help us better understand this footprint, and ultimately support efforts to reduce it.
The Travel & Tourism sector is highly dependent on nature. Natural assets from mountains and beaches to coral reefs and savannahs are fundamental drivers of travel. While Travel & Tourism accounts for a significant share of all global economic activity, 10.4% of global GDP in 2019, it is also a contributor to the world’s output of greenhouse gases (GHG) and other pollution. The sector uses significant amounts of energy and natural resources, including water, crops, and construction materials. These dependencies show just how critical it is for Travel & Tourism to protect and conserve natural environments and to reduce humanity’s carbon footprint.
But to make progress, we need data that can be tracked. This report estimates the global environmental footprint of Travel & Tourism. The analysis traces all tourism-linked expenditures across 185 geographies, quantifying how this demand affects the natural world. The data is broken into five categories: greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, freshwater demands, production of air pollutants, and extraction of raw materials. Estimates are produced for the years 2010 and 2019-21, to identify and explore trends over time. This project is an initial and broad-based assessment of the sector’s environmental impact, with the intention that continued monitoring can help us better understand this footprint, and ultimately support efforts to reduce it.
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