Giovanni Finocchiaro, Silvia Iaccarino
The indicator aims to provide a quantitative estimate of the contribution of tourists to daily potable water consumption.
In 2022, at the national level, the recorded tourist movement consumed 4 liters of potable water per capita equivalent per day.
Between 2015 and 2018-2020, a growth in consumption was recorded, increasing from 3.7 to 4 liters per capita equivalent, followed by a sharp drop in 2020, an anomaly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted global travel.
It is important to note that water demand increases during warm seasons, not only for the natural and agricultural environment but also for human consumption, often leading to periods of water scarcity.
This indicator provides a quantitative estimate of the additional water demand caused by increased demographic pressure due to tourism.
The indicator is calculated as the difference between:
- The daily per capita potable water consumption, calculated using the resident population.
- The daily per capita potable water consumption, calculated using the "equivalent population"—which includes both the resident population and the total number of recorded tourist stays in the year, distributed over 365 days.
To quantify the contribution of tourists to daily potable water consumption.
There are no legal references or regulations related to this indicator.
EUROSTAT (2006) - Working Papers and Studies "Methodological work on measuring the sustainable development of tourism -Part 2 Goosling S. (2015) New performance indicator for water management in tourism. in Journal Tourism Management
The indicator provides only a partial measure of the tourism sector’s contribution to potable water consumption, as official statistics do not quantify day visitors without overnight stays — the so-called “excursionists” — nor those staying in second homes. Moreover, it represents only a contribution to the methodological debate on the topic, aimed at the “water footprint” for tourism, which, however, still lacks shared methodologies and faces significant challenges due to the limited availability of the basic data required for its calculation.
Moving towards the calculation of the “water footprint” for tourism, meaning the total volume of water required to produce a unit of goods and services consumed by a tourist.
ISTAT
National, Regional
2008; 2012; 2015; 2018; 2020; 2022
Tourism-related per capita potable water consumption is calculated as follows:
(Water supplied by distribution networks/Resident population)−(Water supplied by distribution networks/(Resident population+Total tourist stays in the year, distributed over 365 days))(\text{Water supplied by distribution networks} / \text{Resident population}) - (\text{Water supplied by distribution networks} / (\text{Resident population} + \text{Total tourist stays in the year, distributed over 365 days}))(Water supplied by distribution networks/Resident population)−(Water supplied by distribution networks/(Resident population+Total tourist stays in the year, distributed over 365 days))
Between 2020 and 2022, tourism-related per capita potable water consumption increased significantly, rising from 2.1 to 4 liters per capita equivalent.
This growth is notable, especially considering the sharp consumption drop in 2020 due to global travel restrictions and lockdowns imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, it is important to note that this increase may not indicate a stable trend, but rather a post-pandemic normalization of consumption levels.
Analyzing the period from 2008 to 2022, a fluctuating trend in potable water consumption attributable to tourism is observed:
- Initial decrease until 2015.
- Increase until 2018.
- Sharp drop in 2020, due to COVID-19-related restrictions.
- Recovery to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 (Table 1).
While the 2020 decline was clearly an anomaly, the 2022 rebound suggests a stabilization at levels similar to those recorded in 2008, indicating a generally stable long-term trend.
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Table 1: Regional distribution of the per capita share of potable water consumption attributable to tourism Data source
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data – “Census of Water for Civil Use” |
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Figure 1: Regional distribution of the per capita share of potable water consumption attributable to tourism (2022) Data source
ISPRA processing based on ISTAT data – “Census of Water for Civil Use” |
In 2022, the national daily per capita potable water consumption attributed to tourism was 4 liters, calculated as the difference between:
This demonstrates an increasing pressure on water resources in tourist areas, particularly in high-density tourism regions such as:
Notably, despite temporary declines in tourist flows due to the pandemic, the impact of tourism on potable water consumption remained significant, highlighting the resilience of the tourism sector.
At the same time, the uneven distribution of water pressure across the territory emphasizes the need for water resource management strategies that consider both local needs and tourism dynamics.
Additionally, high water consumption in certain regions may also be influenced by public water usage, such as:
While these public services are necessary, they further increase the burden on water supply networks.