Global awareness: tourism puts the spotlight on the state of the environment

24-09-22

A study in France revealed that 44% of people plan to change the way they spend their holidays by 2022 due to environmental concerns.

The tourism sector is becoming aware of environmental problems and is seeking to adapt to the situation, with initiatives ranging from avoiding short plane journeys and mass tourism to respecting protected areas, as reflected in the IFTM Top Résa trade fair organised in Paris.

In 2019, before the covid-19 pandemic, some 1.5 billion tourists travelled the globe, generating $1.5 trillion in revenue, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

But the pandemic, which paralysed travel, coupled with climatic problems, have had a brutal impact on professionals in the tourism sector. A field that is "both highly vulnerable to climate change and a source of greenhouse gas emissions, one of the causes of global warming", the UNWTO acknowledged.

According to a UNWTO study published in December 2019 for COP25, the sector's CO2 emissions "should increase by at least 25% by 2030".