Travel Classifieds & Advocacy Community

• Over 800 million people travel internationally every year (10% of GDP) (WTTC, 2005 statistics)
• Travel and tourism is expected to represent 3.6% of total global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006, 10.3 per cent if include tourism related business (eg catering, cleaning). The global travel and tourism industry is expected to create 2.5 million new jobs in 2006, comprising a total of 76.7 million jobs, or 2.8% of world employment (WTTC, 2006 statistics)
• The average tourist receipt is $685 US
• Tourism is a principal export for developing countries; it is growing rapidly and is the most significant source of foreign exchange after petroleum.
• 42% of all global, international tourism arrivals were to developing countries in 2000 (up from 20.8% in 1973).
• Between 1990-2000, the growth rate of international tourist arrivals to developing countries was 94.4% compared to approximately 34% to developed countries.
• Tourism is a principal export for 83% of developing countries and it is the principal export in one third of them 80% of the world.s poor, those living on less than $US 1 per day, live in 12 countries. In 11 of these countries, tourism is significant (> 2% of GDP or 5% of exports) and growing.
• Up to 85% of total tourism profits in African least developed countries and up to 80% of total tourism profits in the Caribbean go to developed countries. UNCTAD, 2005

Unless referenced, specifically, all statisitics are from the World Tourism Organization’s Tourism and Poverty Alleviation Conference, 2002

Tourists are often attracted to remote areas because of their high cultural, wildlife, and landscape values. One of the assets of the poor is their cultural and wildlife heritage; and tourism presents opportunities to capitalize on those assets.

Tourism not only provides material benefits for the poor, but can also bring cultural pride, a sense of ownership and control, reduced vulnerability through diversification and the development of skills and entrepreneurial capacity.

Tourism contributes to poverty reduction by providing employment and diversified livelihood opportunities. Tourism products can be built on natural resources and culture, which are assets, that some of the poor have.

As an additional source of income [tourism] can play an important part in improving living standards and raising people above the poverty threshold. Tourists are interested in the ’everyday lives’ of local communities and there are a host of small-enterprise opportunities for local people.

Mainstreaming a focus on poverty across the tourism industry would be a formidable challenge. But given the importance of tourism in many very poor areas, it is surely worth rising to this challenge.

Central to any strategy of using tourism for pro-poor economic development is the opening of access for the poor to tourists in the local economy. The World Tourism Organization is convinced that the power of tourism-one of the most dynamic economic activities of our time- can be more effectively harnessed to address the problems of poverty more directly.

• Biodiversity has declined by 40% from 1970 to 2000. During the same period, the ecologic footprint of man grew to exceed the biological capacity of the Earth by 20 per cent.
• The Western world (with 17% of the worlds' population) currently consumes 52% of total global energy.
• 1 acre of trees absorbes 2. 6 tonnes of CO2 per year (Westonbirt Educational Team, 2003)
• 58% of the worlds coral reefs are at risk.
• Seawater is expected to rise 70 cm in the next 10 years
• 70% of marine mammals are threatened.
• By 2050 climate change will have directly led to the extinction of 30% of species, the death of 90% of coral reefs and the loss of half the Amazon rainforest.
• A species of animal or plant life disappears at a rate of one every three minutes
• Since 1970 a third of the natural world has been destroyed by human activity.
• Half the world's population lives in urban areas and this figure is expected to increase. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 76% of the population live in urban areas.
• By 2036, there will be 1200 million cars on earth - double the amount today.
• A European uses 14x more energy than someone living in India.
• For every 1 degree rise in temperature above 34 degrees celcius, yields of rice, maize and wheat in tropical areas could drop by 10%.
• The average person in the UK uses approximately 150 litres of water per day.

Environmental statistics reproduced with permission from Rachel Dodds, Sustainable Tourism

Sources: FOC, 2002, WTO, 2000 & 2002, www.risingtide.co.uk, 2004, UN, 2003, Government of Canada, 2005, Science Musuem, 2006)