Recent Release | 24 Oct 2023

Environmental and social footprint of travel and tourism

Economic Consulting Team

Oxford Economics

Working with WTTC and the Sustainable Tourism Global Centre, our study provides the first ever assessment of the environmental and social footprint of the travel and tourism sector. In doing so, we establish a means of tracking the sector’s progress in reducing its environmental footprint, while helping countries achieve social development goals.

By exploring the sector’s operations in 185 countries and territories, we assess how travel and tourism supports activity throughout these economies and triggers supply chains that span the world. Through this, we are able to quantify the levels of greenhouse gas emissions, water and energy usage (as well as many other metrics) that are attributable to the sector.

Similarly, we are able to explore how the activity of travel and tourism supports employment at different ends of the age and wage profile, and often with a different gender composition to the labour market as a whole. By doing so, the sector helps countries achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The experts behind the research

Our Economic Consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. Lead consultants on this project were:

Jake Kuyer
Jake Kuyer

Associate Director

Sarah Nelson

Senior Economist

Osman Ismail

Associate Director

Recent related posts

Promising trends signal optimism for the hotel sector

The global travel recovery took great strides in 2023, with some destinations already reporting a full recovery back to pre-pandemic levels. Trends continue to suggest further growth in tourism activity going into this year, signalling optimism for the hospitality sector going forward. But risks stemming from inflation, geopolitical tensions and climate change will persist.

Find Out More
High satisfaction generates loyalty in the cruise industry, but experiences vary across segments and destinations

Tourism Economics’ latest cruise industry research briefing based on research among active cruisers identified strong underlying satisfaction with cruise experiences globally as nearly 90% rated their last cruise as good or very good.

Find Out More
The important role of location and port appeal on cruise selection

Based on research conducted in Q4 2023 among active cruisers from five key markets, consumers demonstrated a strong preference to undertake cruises within their own global region.

Find Out More
Leisure travel expected to continue outperforming amid signs of more even tourism growth

According to findings from Tourism Economics’ latest Travel Industry Monitor (TIM), which tracks the views of tourism professionals every quarter, leisure tourism is expected to continue to spearhead travel global travel growth in 2024, especially for domestic and short-haul destinations.

Find Out More