Julia Simpson, CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), recently returned from the WTTC's annual Global Summit in Rwanda, its first summit in Africa. The next will be held in Perth, Australia, its first summit Down Under. News editor Johanna Jainchill spoke with Simpson about the WTTC's recent report on travel industry water use, Africa's tourism potential and King Charles III's thoughts on aviation fuel.
Julia Simpson
Q: What were the key findings from the WTTC's report, "Water Roadmap for Travel & Tourism"?
A: The world is projected to face a 40% shortfall between forecasted demand and available freshwater supply by 2030. It's incumbent on all of us to look at how we protect our water. If you look at travel and tourism, it represents 10% of global GDP and 10% of all jobs on the planet but 5.8% of all freshwater use. So we're much less than other sectors; agriculture is 70%. And 80% of water use in travel and tourism doesn't come from the swimming pools that we fill up but from agriculture. It's the food that everybody eats and how it's grown. So it's not our direct usage, it's indirect -- all the suppliers. The important message is for companies to really look at where they're sourcing their food, what food they're providing, looking at food waste. More and more hotels and cruise lines are very careful now and focus on food waste. It's a great efficiency because it saves money, but it also saves the planet and particularly has a water impact.
Q: You mentioned the report has examples of what companies are doing to save water.
A: Air France has a new technology for washing planes that saves 99% of water usage: from 12,000 liters to 150. There are hotels in very dry areas of the world that got rid of lawns. Marriott has been a leader in cutting water use and replacing grass with turf.
We want to make sure that when tourists are somewhere, they're not seen to be consuming more water than the locals. The good news is we've been decoupling our growth in travel and tourism from our water usage. So in terms of water intensity, we're using less water now than in 2010. In absolute terms, we're using more because the sector has grown. And there are two parts of the world where there's been absolute reduction since 2010 in water usage in travel and tourism: Africa and Europe.
Q: You released the report last month at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai where you met with England's King Charles. What was that about?
A: I was there to represent travel and tourism. We spoke about the challenges around sustainability and the development of more sustainable aviation fuels. The WTTC is arguing for sustainable aviation fuels, and the U.S. is way ahead because it's been incentivizing the creation of sustainable aviation fuels, which is fantastic. And the EU has just passed laws to do that, as well. So we are getting there. But at the moment, we're just not producing enough and not fast enough, which is why when I spoke to the King of England, he mentioned it specifically.
Q: The WTTC published a report from Rwanda showing that African tourism has the potential to surge.
A: Travel and tourism represent about 7% of GDP currently for the whole continent. It varies a lot; if you're in Egypt or South Africa, it's a lot more. Typically, it's growing about 5% every year. We reckon that tourism is now worth $186 billion in Africa. If you look at the past 20 years, it's tripled in average growth. In 2033, we expect it to be worth $300 billion. If Africa can tackle some of the issues that prevent growth, like regional connectivity -- it's not very easy to cross the continent -- and their visa regimes, it could even exceed that. Rwanda is really setting an example of that with visas and technology.