Purpose of the Report
The purpose of this report is to emphasise water scarcity and resilience as two significant global challenges and to highlight the role the Travel & Tourism sector can play in responding to the water crisis.
Specifically, the report aims to:
1. Provide insights into the Travel & Tourism sector’s global water use and highlight regional and country- specific differences.
2. Summarise water-related risks and underline the necessity of strengthening the resilience and adaptative capacity of the Travel & Tourism sector.
3. Offer guidance to Travel & Tourism businesses on reducing their water footprint and building resilience to water-related risks.
4. Issue a call to action to Travel & Tourism businesses to set water targets, allocate resources for water-related initiatives, foster collaboration, and report progress.
5. Underline the role of key partners, including governments, regulators, water management agencies and basin authorities, in encouraging and facilitating water-related collective action on a global and local scale.
Key Insights
The Travel & Tourism sector — which accounted for 1 in 10 jobs globally, 10.4% of global GDP and 8.1% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 — uses between 3.5 and 5.8% of global available freshwater, which is lower than many other industries. In contrast, the agriculture and food industry accounts for nearly 70% of global freshwater usage. Despite the Travel & Tourism sector’s relatively low freshwater use, it remains heavily dependent on water and related ecosystems, and water scarcity or poor quality can significantly harm the customer experience and pose a threat to the viability of tourism destinations.
It is therefore imperative for Travel & Tourism businesses to prioritise water, particularly in areas of high water stress, for several reasons:
Addressing the global water crisis requires balancing trade-offs related to various water uses. This involves implementing local, participatory, and resource-based approaches that align with broader UN Sustainable Development Goals, such as promoting health and food security, eradicating poverty, and protecting and restoring ecosystems. The focus should extend beyond conserving freshwater resources to also encompass sustainable wastewater management, unlocking the potential for the generation of new jobs and revenue streams.
While the water demand from the Travel & Tourism sector tends to be concentrated in specific locations and seasons, it can exert significant pressure on local water resources, e.g., in highly water-stressed regions during the dry season or in ski resort areas reliant on snowmaking. At the same time, Travel & Tourism businesses hold the capacity to inspire a circular and regenerative shift, which is essential to reduce their vulnerability and make a positive contribution to the overall health and integrity of the complex system within which they operate.
Even though boardrooms do not yet fully recognise the urgency of the water crisis, the increase in extreme weather events and climate change uncertainty underline the importance for Travel & Tourism businesses to proactively navigate multi-faceted risk dynamics. Considering that highly stressed water basins often exist in proximity to higher population densities,5 it is also imperative to underscore Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) initiatives. Finally, recognising that food and agriculture account for nearly three-quarters of the entire Travel & Tourism sector’s water use, further investigation is needed to identify the most effective approaches to reduce the sector’s overall water intensity.
Purpose of the Report
The purpose of this report is to emphasise water scarcity and resilience as two significant global challenges and to highlight the role the Travel & Tourism sector can play in responding to the water crisis.
Specifically, the report aims to:
1. Provide insights into the Travel & Tourism sector’s global water use and highlight regional and country- specific differences.
2. Summarise water-related risks and underline the necessity of strengthening the resilience and adaptative capacity of the Travel & Tourism sector.
3. Offer guidance to Travel & Tourism businesses on reducing their water footprint and building resilience to water-related risks.
4. Issue a call to action to Travel & Tourism businesses to set water targets, allocate resources for water-related initiatives, foster collaboration, and report progress.
5. Underline the role of key partners, including governments, regulators, water management agencies and basin authorities, in encouraging and facilitating water-related collective action on a global and local scale.
Key Insights
The Travel & Tourism sector — which accounted for 1 in 10 jobs globally, 10.4% of global GDP and 8.1% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2019 — uses between 3.5 and 5.8% of global available freshwater, which is lower than many other industries. In contrast, the agriculture and food industry accounts for nearly 70% of global freshwater usage. Despite the Travel & Tourism sector’s relatively low freshwater use, it remains heavily dependent on water and related ecosystems, and water scarcity or poor quality can significantly harm the customer experience and pose a threat to the viability of tourism destinations.
It is therefore imperative for Travel & Tourism businesses to prioritise water, particularly in areas of high water stress, for several reasons:
Addressing the global water crisis requires balancing trade-offs related to various water uses. This involves implementing local, participatory, and resource-based approaches that align with broader UN Sustainable Development Goals, such as promoting health and food security, eradicating poverty, and protecting and restoring ecosystems. The focus should extend beyond conserving freshwater resources to also encompass sustainable wastewater management, unlocking the potential for the generation of new jobs and revenue streams.
While the water demand from the Travel & Tourism sector tends to be concentrated in specific locations and seasons, it can exert significant pressure on local water resources, e.g., in highly water-stressed regions during the dry season or in ski resort areas reliant on snowmaking. At the same time, Travel & Tourism businesses hold the capacity to inspire a circular and regenerative shift, which is essential to reduce their vulnerability and make a positive contribution to the overall health and integrity of the complex system within which they operate.
Even though boardrooms do not yet fully recognise the urgency of the water crisis, the increase in extreme weather events and climate change uncertainty underline the importance for Travel & Tourism businesses to proactively navigate multi-faceted risk dynamics. Considering that highly stressed water basins often exist in proximity to higher population densities,5 it is also imperative to underscore Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) initiatives. Finally, recognising that food and agriculture account for nearly three-quarters of the entire Travel & Tourism sector’s water use, further investigation is needed to identify the most effective approaches to reduce the sector’s overall water intensity.
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