Direct water use by the travel and tourism sector has been falling in the past decade, according to new research.
The industry’s entire water footprint was just 0.6% of the global water use, latest figures covering 2021 show.
When the sector was at its peak in pre-pandemic 2019, the total water footprint was only 50% higher, but still less than 1% of the global total at 0.9%, the study published by the World Travel and Tourism Council found.
Travel and 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%.
Much of the sector’s water use is indirect, through its supply chain, with agriculture and food production accounting for two-thirds of travel and tourism’s entire water footprint.
The sector in Europe and Africa reduced direct water use between 2010 and 2019 by 8% and 6% respectively.
The findings were issued in New York at the United Nations 2023 Water Conference.
The research covers 185 countries across all regions and will be updated each year with revised figures.
WTTC president and chief executive Julia Simpson said: “This ground-breaking new data reveals our sector’s water consumption for the first time ever, revealing that travel and 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 and tourism sector’s water footprints. This will enable governments to work with the sector to further reduce water usage.”