With water an increasingly precious commodity and three-quarters of the planet’s population “water insecure,” according to the United Nations, the World Travel & Tourism Council has unveiled ground-breaking new data detailing the total water usage of the global Travel & Tourism sector.

In one of the largest research projects of its kind, WTTC, in conjunction with and the Saudi-based Sustainable Tourism Global Centre, can for the first time ever, accurately report and track the impact the sector has on the environment.

Direct water use

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).

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%.

Travel & Tourism’s direct water use is significantly lower – in 2019 it was 0.2% of the global total and has fallen by half to just 0.1% of the global total, says the WTTC, with much of the sector’s water use indirect, through its supply chain, such as agriculture and food production, which account for two-thirds of the entire water footprint.

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%.

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.

“The data also shows that whilst the sector has grown economically around the world, its direct-use water intensity has decreased.

“The data is the most in depth study of the sector’s water use, and like the world-first climate footprint data we released at our Global Summit in Riyadh last year, we can also reveal individual countries’ Travel & Tourism sector’s water footprints. This will enable governments to work with the sector to further reduce water usage.”

Water intensity

The water intensity of Travel & Tourism per unit of GDP has also fallen since 2010, across both direct and indirect use.

In 2010, the sector used 0.57m³ of water for every $1 contributed to the global economy. In 2019 this fell by 19% to reach 0.46m³ of water for every $1 contributed to the global economy.

In a world-first, this comprehensive research covers 185 countries across all regions and will be updated each year with revised figures.