In 2024, a staggering 1.4 billion tourists arrived in destinations around the world. Global tourism is returning to pre-pandemic levels, with the sector’s global economic contribution projected to reach an all-time high of USD$11.1 trillion in 2024.
As you can imagine, tourists make substantial environmental and social impacts on our vulnerable planet. Tourists also depend on the presence of high-quality environmental and cultural locations. That’s why sustainable tourism remains a key social and environmental goal.
At IDEEA Group, we focus on measuring the benefits of nature to support decision making and long-term social and economic planning. This includes measuring the impacts and dependencies of tourism on the environment.
Recently, there have been two important updates to the way we measure the sustainability of tourism:
- More opportunities for measuring tourism at the local scale
- New tourism employment indicators.
Let’s unpack what’s changed.
Measuring tourism at the local scale
In 2024, the United Nations endorsed the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (SF-MST 2024). This endorsement was a huge step for sustainable tourism that offers a consistent approach for comprehensive measurement of tourism around the world.
In the past, tourism statistics have focussed on national and regional scales, despite many tourism impacts occurring at the local and community level. The SF-MST 2024 addresses this with the inclusion of the local tourism destination scale, offering an extended conceptual framework for measuring tourism by including the spatial perspective in official tourism statistics.
This represents a critical shift in the measurement of tourism, marking the first time the spatial dimension has been formally integrated into international tourism statistics standards.
A team of researchers in Spain applied this thinking and developed an innovative conceptual model that incorporates the local destination scale, and aligns the demand, supply, and spatial perspectives. This contribution lays the foundation for significant advancements in tourism statistics, offering a more comprehensive understanding of tourism dynamics at the local level. By increasing the granularity of measurement, it establishes the groundwork for significant advancements in tourism research and management.
The development of the statistical and conceptual framework offers a methodological foundation for a more detailed understanding of tourism patterns, facilitates data integration, enables systematic monitoring, and could even empower local communities.
You can read the full paper, titled The Local Turn in Tourism Statistics Within the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism 2024 here.
New tourism employment indicators
The United Nations has adopted a new tourism employment indicator as part of the official Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Indicator Framework.
This is an important step in recognising tourism’s role in sustainable development.
This landmark decision was endorsed at the 56th session of the UN Statistical Commission in March 2025. The decision means that – for the first time – global data on tourism employment will be systematically monitored within the SDG monitoring process.
It also increases the number of official tourism SDG indicators from two to three, raising recognition of the sector’s global contribution to economic and social progress.
UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said:
‘What gets measured, gets done. As part of Goal 8, we strive for sustainable tourism that creates jobs. The new tourism employment indicator goes beyond GDP to enhance our understanding of tourism’s potential for social progress. Policymakers will be better equipped to identify gaps, address inequalities, and maximize tourism’s social and economic benefits – ensuring no one is left behind.’
Where to from here?
There are extensive links between the measurements for sustainable tourism and other natural capital accounting measurements, including ecosystem and ocean accounting. The comprehensive picture offered by natural capital accounts allows countries and communities to understand their unique environments and, from there, make better decisions and targeted investments.
It’s vital to support the growing tourism industry and the economic benefits it creates. But we must balance this with prudent social and environmental decision-making.
IDEEA Group Director, Carl Obst, has been at the forefront of work to develop the SF-MST 2024 building on his leading work on the SEEA. If you would like more information on how these frameworks can be applied in your context please get in touch.
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Image credit: A screenshot from the Open Sky Network map of global plane activity.
