Environmental impact of the tourist industry

Researchers from the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) have for the first time calculated the environmental impact of tourist activity on a specific city, in this case Barcelona. For the study, the main direct and indirect sources of emissions were analysed in four areas: transport in and out of the city, accommodation, leisure activities, fairs and conventions attended during the stay, and internal transport used in the same period.

According to the study, each visitor to Barcelona every day produces greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 96.9 kg of CO2, a similar amount to that of a car driving for 410 kilometres without stopping or leaving a 6.4 watt LED on for four years.

With 33 visits a year, tourism is one of the city’s most important economic sectors. The number of tourists (defined as visitors who spend the night in the city) and daytrippers (who spend some hours in the city but stay elsewhere) are about equal, say the researchers.

The ICTA-UAB study was commissioned by the Barcelona city council to find out the carbon footprint left by tourist activity in the city, which in total amounts to 9,578,359 tonnes of CO2 a year. The main source of emissions (95%) is transport in and out of the city.