Sustainable tourism sits at the intersection of a large global economy and measurable environmental pressure. The figures below show tourism’s contribution to jobs and GDP, the projected cost of business as usual, the scale of nature-based travel, and the indicators organisations use to track progress.
Contents
- Global scale and projected pressure
- What sustainable tourism measurement includes
- The green-economy scenario
- Traveller demand and willingness to pay
- Nature-based tourism and outdoor travel
- Jobs, investment, and local value
Global scale and projected pressure
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) describes tourism as a major part of the world economy. Tourism contributes 10% of global GDP, accounts for 7% of global exports, and supports 1 in every 10 jobs worldwide. These are global measures, so they describe tourism’s worldwide economic role rather than the performance of a particular destination. UNEP Tourism
The same UNEP source presents a business-as-usual scenario through 2050. In that scenario, tourism’s energy consumption would increase by 154%, water consumption by 152%, greenhouse gas emissions by 131%, and solid waste disposal by 251%. These are projected increases through 2050 against the source’s business-as-usual baseline, not measurements of current conditions.
| Measure | Business-as-usual increase through 2050 |
|---|---|
| Energy consumption | 154% |
| Water consumption | 152% |
| Greenhouse gas emissions | 131% |
| Solid waste disposal | 251% |
The contrast between economic scale and projected resource use explains why sustainable tourism statistics extend beyond visitor arrivals. A destination can be economically successful while still needing to reduce energy, water, emissions, and waste intensity.
What sustainable tourism measurement includes
Policy and indicator systems show how broad the measurement task has become. OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2024 reports on a review by UNWTO and UNEP of 73 national tourism policies in 2019. All 73 policies included sustainability references in their objectives or vision. More than half included more detailed sustainability references, and most included references to resource efficiency. The review covers 50 OECD member and partner countries. OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2024
The European Tourism Indicator System provides 27 core indicators and 40 optional indicators. Its structure reflects the need to examine environmental, social, cultural, and economic dimensions together. European tourism indicator system
Spain’s regional sustainable tourism system offers another example of layered measurement. The system uses 21 main indicators and 47 basic parameters, then adds 9 complementary indicators and 10 complementary parameters. The different levels allow a destination to combine a concise headline set with more detailed supporting measures. OECD measuring sustainability in Spain
WTTC’s Environmental Impact of Global Tourism 2023 report covers 185 economies, 18 regions including the global average, and 4 income levels. It includes data for 2010, 2019, 2020, and 2021, and estimates five environmental indicator families: greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, water use, air pollutant emissions, and material extraction. WTTC Environmental Impact of Global Tourism 2023
WTTC’s Travel & Tourism Global Footprint dataset also exists for 185 countries and includes 2010, 2019, 2020, and 2021 as initial years. The global footprint website tracks direct and supply-chain impacts across scopes 1, 2, and 3, including emissions from international aviation and cruise transport. WTTC Global Footprint
The green-economy scenario
UNEP’s Tourism in the Green Economy provides a scenario-based comparison with business as usual. In the green-economy scenario, tourism cuts water consumption by 18%, energy use by 44%, and CO2 emissions by 52% versus business as usual. These are scenario differences, not claims that every tourism business or destination has already achieved them. Tourism in the Green Economy
| Green-economy measure | Change versus business as usual |
|---|---|
| Water consumption | 18% lower |
| Energy use | 44% lower |
| CO2 emissions | 52% lower |
The scenario is useful because it puts the projected pressures into a decision-making frame. Energy efficiency, water management, emissions reduction, and materials management are not separate side projects: they are connected parts of the same transition. WTTC’s five environmental indicator families reinforce that point by covering emissions, energy, water, air pollutants, and material extraction together.
Measurement also needs a social lens. WTTC environmental and social factsheets are available for 185 economies and 10 regions. They include Travel & Tourism’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, the share of low-carbon energy in the sector’s energy mix, freshwater-use intensity, and the female, youth, and high-wage employment supported by Travel & Tourism. WTTC Environmental & Social Impact Factsheets
Traveller demand and willingness to pay
The green-economy research reports that more than one-third of travellers favour environmentally friendly tourism and are willing to pay between 2% and 40% more for that experience. The same source cites a World Economic Forum estimate that 6% of international tourists already pay extra for sustainable tourism options, while 34% would be willing to pay extra. Tourism in the Green Economy
A UK survey cited in the report found that 52% of respondents would be more likely to book with a company that had a written code covering working conditions, environmental protection, and support for local charities. The result links sustainability claims to visible operating standards rather than to environmental messaging alone.
The source also estimated that 58.5 million U.S. travellers would pay more to use travel companies that protect and preserve the environment. These demand figures come from the periods and studies described in the source; they should not be read as a current global conversion rate or as a forecast for Costa Rica.
Nature-based tourism and outdoor travel
Nature-based tourism has long represented a substantial share of outdoor travel in several markets. The UNEP report states that nature-based tourism represented 75% of Australia’s international tourism market. In the United States, nature-based tourism accounted for US$122.3 billion in 2006. Nature-based tourism represented 42% of European recreational tourists in 2000.
Older country and regional figures provide additional context. In South Africa in 1997, 14% of international visitors engaged in an adventure activity. In 1993, 23% of tourists to Kenya visited national parks and reserves for wildlife safari tourism. In Asia-Pacific, ecotourism activities accounted for 10% of tourism revenue in 1993. These are historical measurements for the stated places and years, not present-day market shares. Tourism in the Green Economy
The same historical source records that there were 924 million international travellers in 2008. Of those travellers, 75% originated their holiday in the developed world and 40% included a developing country in their itinerary. Those percentages describe the 2008 population in that source and should be kept separate from the later scenario estimates.
For a Costa Rica outdoors audience, the practical lesson is that nature-based tourism is best evaluated through both demand and stewardship. Visitor interest is only one part of the picture; water use, emissions, waste, local employment, and protection of natural assets determine whether outdoor tourism remains durable.
Jobs, investment, and local value
Sustainable tourism can be measured through employment and investment as well as environmental indicators. World Bank reporting on Nepal’s protected-area tourism says it supported nearly 945,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2018. The figure covers protected-area tourism in Nepal and includes both direct and indirect employment. World Bank STENPA
In another World Bank tourism project, one destination created 17,000 jobs, including 14,000 across the tourism value chain, and leveraged US$40 million in private investment. These figures describe that specific project and destination, so they are examples of local economic outcomes rather than a universal return on tourism spending. World Bank tourism project
Saint Lucia offers a national economic example: sustainable tourism was estimated to contribute around 12% of GDP. The estimate is destination-specific and should not be transferred to Costa Rica or another country without separate evidence. UNEP Saint Lucia green economy release
Tourism businesses can also report concrete operational changes. Six Senses had avoided or eliminated about 5.15 million single-use plastic pieces across 18 hotels as of July 2019. That is a reported company result at a stated date, not a sector-wide estimate. Rethinking Single-Use Plastic Products in Travel & Tourism
Dashboards, coastal pressure, and practical signals
The European Commission’s EU Tourism Dashboard includes 35 indicators and descriptors. It tracks data starting in 2019 and reaches 2024 in most cases. The 2025 update added 2 new indicators and organises the dashboard under 3 policy pillars plus basic descriptors. European Commission updated facts and figures on EU tourism
The dashboard for destinations groups indicators into 4 areas: environmental impacts, digitalisation, socio-economic vulnerability, and basic tourism descriptors. This grouping shows why a useful sustainability profile needs more than a carbon number. JRC tourism dashboard launch
Coastal destinations face particular concentration pressures. The EU Blue Economy Observatory reports that 42% of EU bed capacity was concentrated in coastal areas in 2023. It defines tourism intensity as the ratio of nights spent in tourist accommodations to resident population. EU Blue Economy Observatory coastal tourism
Training and communication systems provide further practical benchmarks. The EU Sustainable Tourism Innovative Training Toolkit includes 8 online training courses and 13 good-practice case studies. The European Commission’s communication toolkit highlights 10 tips for making tourism more sustainable and points to 50 best-practice cases. EU Sustainable Tourism Innovative Training Toolkit European Commission communication toolkit
Finally, Visit Finland says its Sustainable Travel Finland label is given only to companies that meet a strict set of criteria. For travellers and operators, that kind of criteria-based label is a useful reminder that sustainable tourism is strongest when broad intentions are translated into documented practices. Visit Finland sustainability page