Giovanni Finocchiaro, Silvia Iaccarino
During the pandemic, particularly in 2020, the Italian tourism sector experienced a sharp contraction in economic activity, measured in terms of value added, as a result of travel restrictions and reduced demand. In this context, greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the tourism ecosystem did not decrease in the same proportion as economic output. Some emission sources, such as the maintenance of tourism infrastructure and indirect emissions associated with the sector, remained relatively stable, resulting in an increase in emission intensity, expressed as tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per million euros. The indicator rose from 60.51 in 2019 to 84.02 in 2020.
From 2021 onwards, and particularly during 2022–2023, the recovery in tourism activity and an improvement in overall efficiency led to a marked and progressive decline in emission intensity, which fell to 45.48 in 2022 and 38.35 in 2023.
This improvement brought Italy not only below its pre-pandemic level but also below the EU27 average of 50.36 in 2023, indicating significant progress in the relative climate sustainability of the sector, although further improvement remains possible compared with the best-performing countries.
The indicator is part of the “green” pillar concerning environmental impacts within the European Union Tourism Dashboard. It measures the amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated by the tourism ecosystem per million euros of gross value added in the tourism sector.
The indicator covers the following greenhouse gases: CO₂, N₂O, CH₄, HFCs, PFCs, SF₆ and NF₃, all expressed in CO₂-equivalent terms.
Lower values indicate a smaller contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution per million euros of value added generated by the destination’s tourism ecosystem.
Among tourism activities, the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions are transport—air transport, road transport and cruise ships—and hotels, resorts and other forms of tourist accommodation, which consume energy for heating, cooling, lighting and other functions. Other contributing activities include recreational activities involving motorised vehicles, ski lifts and skiing equipment, among others.
To provide an estimate of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the tourism ecosystem.
The indicator has no reference legislation or related objectives.
Tourism GHG intensity - Green pillar - National | Indicator Map view (europa. eu)
EUROSTAT (Statistical Office of the European Communities)
Air emission accounts by NACE Rev. 2 activities ( env_ac_ainah_r2)
https://ec. europa. eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/env_ac_ainah_r2
National accounts aggregated by industry by activity NACE Rev. 2 ( nama_10_A64)
https://ec. europa. eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/nama_10_a64
NACE sectors 2 digits considered: I55-I56, N79, R90-R92, R93 [ESTAT]
https://ec. europa. eu/eurostat/web/metadata/classifications
National
2019-2023
The indicator is calculated by dividing the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions generated by activities within the tourism ecosystem by the gross value added generated by the tourism sector.
In 2023, Italy recorded a tourism greenhouse gas emission intensity of 38.35 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per million euros. This represents a substantial decline compared with both 2019, when the value was 60.51, and the pandemic period, when it reached 84.02 in 2020 and 69.73 in 2021.
The 2023 value was also below the European Union average for the EU27, which stood at 50.36. In the European comparison, Italy ranked within a relatively favourable performance range. Its value was close to that of Luxembourg, at 38.64, and better than those of Spain, at 47.24, and Germany, at 58.83, in 2023.
Nevertheless, Italy remained some distance from the best-performing countries, including Greece, at 15.17, and Sweden, at 15.77, in 2023 (Table 1 and Figure 1).
During the 2019–2023 period, the indicator initially increased in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, because the decline in value added was faster than the reduction in emissions. This was followed by a progressive decrease in 2021, a marked decline in 2022 and a further improvement in 2023.
Overall, the trend is assessed as positive. Emission intensity decreased structurally to levels below both the pre-pandemic value and the EU average, suggesting a medium-term recovery in the climate efficiency of the Italian tourism ecosystem (Table 1).
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Table 1: National distribution of greenhouse gas emissions in the tourism sector Fonte
JRC, su dati Eurostat |
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Figure 1: Average contribution of the tourism ecosystem at the destination to greenhouse gas emissions per million euros of value (2023) Fonte
ISPRA elaboration based on JRC and Eurostat data |
In 2023, Italy recorded a tourism greenhouse gas emission intensity of 38.35 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per million euros. This value was below the EU27 average of 50.36 and compared favourably with several similar European countries, including Spain, at 47.24, and Germany, at 58.83.
Italy’s emission intensity was also substantially lower than that of countries recording particularly high values, such as Romania, at 126.70, and Poland, at 73.06 (Figure 1).
The substantial improvement compared with the pandemic period reflects the recovery in gross value added and greater overall efficiency within the tourism ecosystem. However, comparison with the best-performing countries, such as Greece, at 15.17, and Sweden, at 15.77, shows that further decarbonisation potential remains, particularly in relation to energy use in tourist accommodation and tourism mobility.