- Nature and the natural world can be important drivers of tourism and travel.
- Tourism is vital to many economies, but sustainability efforts are essential to minimise its impact on the planet.
- While countries are improving their management of nature-based tourism, the World Economic Forum's newly released Travel & Tourism Development Index 2023 highlights that more needs to be done.
If you've ever spent time outdoors, you're probably familiar with biophilia – the innate human tendency to connect with nature.
Research shows that spending time in nature has many health benefits, including lower blood pressure, improved immune function, and reduced levels of stress hormones.
So it's no wonder that this is one of the most popular ways to relax and rejuvenate for Japan's 1.3 billion visitors. According to the World Economic Forum's 2024 Travel & Tourism Development Index (TDDI), TripAdvisor page views will be concentrated in the country's most popular natural and cultural attractions in 2021 and beyond.
finance condition
Nature tourism, a cornerstone of biophilia, generates more than $600 billion in revenue worldwide. Reports show that wildlife, a major driver of nature tourism, supports 22 million jobs worldwide, and wildlife tourism generates $142 million in admission fees to African protected areas alone.
Needless to say, $44 trillion in economic value generation – more than half of the world’s total GDP – is moderately or highly dependent on nature.
This is especially true in developing countries that rely heavily on the revenue and jobs generated by tourism: in Africa, for example, a continent renowned for its nature experiences, tourism accounts for around 8.5% of its gross domestic product (GDP).
The connections between nature, tourism and the economy are expected to grow even stronger as more people want to travel, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic impact of Travel and Tourism is expected to account for 9.1% of global GDP in 2023, just over $9.9 trillion, before hitting a record $11.1 trillion in 2024.
Mastering balance
Tourism growth must not come at the expense of nature or limit access to biophilic spaces, especially as its impacts grow rapidly. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, by 2033, the global travel and tourism GDP could grow almost twice as fast as the global economy as a whole. This would create more than 100 million new jobs.
“Swift and effective action must be taken to avoid or offset the impacts of travel on local resources so that connections to nature can be protected. The travel and tourism sector uses 5.8% of the world's water and up to 8% of resource extraction,” the report said.
Progress is being made. Since 2019, TTDI's average score in the environmental sustainability pillar has increased by 2.7%, and energy sustainability has increased by 4.6% as the Travel & Tourism industry adopts low-carbon energy options such as solar. All these changes bode well for our ability to easily interact with nature.
However, the Pollution and Environmental Conditions sub-pillar has only increased by +0.5% since the last edition of the TTDI. Lack of progress in reducing air pollution, mitigating deforestation and protecting endangered species is negatively impacting our connection with nature. Every year, indoor and outdoor pollution combined kills around 7 million people and puts over 44,000 species at risk of extinction.
As outlined in the Forum's Nature Action Agenda, collaboration is essential to improve this far-reaching rebalancing. This multisectoral movement is catalyzing economic action to halt biodiversity loss by 2030, which is the basis for realizing biophilia. In line with the Global Biodiversity Framework, the movement aims to ensure that humanity lives in harmony with nature by 2050.
Have you read?
View source
