During the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Saudi-based Sustainable Tourism Global Center unveiled groundbreaking new data detailing the total water usage of the global Travel & Tourism sector.
Speaking at the UN Headquarters, Chris Imbsen, Director of Sustainability at WTTC, revealed that Travel & Tourism’s entire water footprint is just 0.6% of the global water use according to the latest figures (2021).
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “This ground-breaking new data reveals our sector’s water consumption for the first time ever, revealing that Travel & Tourism uses less than 1% of the water used around the world, with the overwhelming majority of that usage coming from the sector’s supply chain.
In 2019, when the sector was at its peak, the sector’s total water footprint was only 50% higher, but still less than 1% of the global total at 0.9%.
Between 2010 and 2019, the Travel & Tourism sector in Europe and Africa reduced direct water use. In Europe, direct water use fell by 8% and in Africa direct water use by the sector fell by 6%. The data also shows that whilst the sector has grown economically around the world, its direct-use water intensity has decreased.