Sustainable Tourism Global Center and WTTC Unveil Pioneering Global Research on Travel & Tourism
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: In a defining moment for the global Travel & Tourism sector, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Sustainable Tourism Global Center (STGC) initiated by the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia today released the latest industry-shaping Environmental Impact Research data.
Last year, during the WTTC Global Summit in Riyadh, the two organizations launched the collaboration and unveiled the inaugural results including the sector’s accurate greenhouse gas emissions for the first time ever.
This represents the most comprehensive environmental data in Travel & Tourism’s history.
H.E. Ahmed Al Khateeb, Minister of Tourism of Saudi Arabia, said:
“We welcome this joint report initiated by the Ministry of Tourism of Saudi Arabia, and WTTC, as an invaluable resource for decision makers around the world. It provides vital insights and unique impactful environmental research into how Travel & Tourism has both an influence on climate change and how it is affected by it.
“Our research highlights the consistent decline of emissions intensity of Travel & Tourism over the last decade. Whilst the sector’s GDP growth averaged 4.3% annually, emissions only grew by 2.5% annually between 2010-2019 Still, the continued commitment to achieve net zero emissions for the Travel and Tourism sector has never been more important.
“We firmly believe Travel & Tourism is part of the solution and that is why Saudi Arabia has taken a leading role to accelerate and track this change to promote sustainability across the sector, protect nature and support communities.”
Today’s launch not only tells the sector’s direct impact, but also its supply chain impacts, both within national borders and those that are embedded in Travel & Tourism’s international supply chains.
The groundbreaking ER data covers 185 countries across all regions and will be updated each year with the latest figures.
Source: WTTC
