Why is sustainable tourism essential?
Why is sustainable tourism essential?
Blog Article
In 2023, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), some 1.5 billion international tourists travelled around the world, resuming growth once and for all. The tourism sector now supports almost 10% of the world's working population and accounts for 3% of global GDP.
France is the world's 1st tourist destination, with 100 million visitors (2023), welcoming over 270,000 people every day! This sector accounts for nearly 8% of the country's GDP and generates 1.3 million jobs.
The Covid-19 crisis has revealed just how important this sector is in certain countries, such as Southern Europe. In Croatia, for example, revenues from international tourism account for over 20% of wealth created in a year.
In some Caribbean island countries, this percentage rises to 60%, as in Saint Lucia... In India, for every 100 tourists, 172 people have a job.
Because tourism is partly responsible for global warming
On a global scale, a study published in 2021 showed that tourism accounts for here 8% of greenhouse gas emissions. For France, tourism is responsible for 11% of its CO2 emissions.
The carbon footprint of tourism is generated by everything tourists buy on their vacation (food, accommodation, shopping), and especially by transport.
According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), we need to halve CO2 emissions by 2030 to stay below the critical global warming threshold (+1.5°C), before achieving carbon neutrality in 2050.