There were four billion flight passengers in 2019, double the number there were in 2004. In the century since air travel was introduced, the tourism industry has boomed. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) 2018 Tourism Highlights Report, 1.32 billion global tourists arrived at airports last year.
Yet, despite the money tourists are pouring into local economies, many are doing more harm than good. A recent report found that mass tourism accounts for around eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Airlines are doing their bit to help reduce their carbon footprint, with easyJet lowering carbon emissions per passenger kilometre to half of some of its competitors – according to a recent report – and a flight from Australia’s national airline, Qantas, recently became the first-ever commercial flight to produce no landfill waste, as part of the airline’s plan to eliminate 75 per cent of its waste by 2021. There's a long way to go to reduce the carbon emissions made as a result of mass tourism.
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