Approaches to measuring greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland’s tourism sector

Reducing emissions from Scotland’s tourism sector is a crucial part of reaching the Scottish Government’s target of net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2045.

Emissions from tourism cut across passenger transport, accommodation, food and drink, culture, retail and outdoor recreation, so reliable data is required. Current data, however, only reports over broad categories such as ‘transport’ or ‘buildings’ and does not isolate the contribution from visitor activity.

In this report, researchers explore how they can measure GHG emissions from Scotland’s tourism sector in a way that is credible, repeatable, and trackable over time. The primary aims of this research were:

• To identify a practical methodology for a reliable, national-level estimate of tourism-related GHG emissions.
• To examine the potential for separating results by factors such as geography, visitor or accommodation type to support place-based policy
• To ensure the chosen approach aligns with established GHG measurement practices and can be maintained through routine updates while balancing coverage, granularity, cost, and capacity.

Findings

• Scotland’s tourism sector has distinctive characteristics, including geography, rural tourism, transport emissions, seasonal workforce, and post-COVID behavioural changes.
• There is broad consensus on definitions of “tourism” across the literature, with studies organising indicators according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) framework.
• Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSAs) – data sets providing economic analysis of a country’s tourism industry – are critical for defining the economic boundary of tourism, separating visitor-driven activity from resident activity, and enabling reporting.
• Four major methodology types for assessing GHG emissions in tourism are identified:
  • Environmentally‑Extended Input-Output (EEIO) analysis is suitable for establishing a robust, repeatable national baseline.
  • Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) provide detailed insights for operational decision-making.
  • Hybrid models can combine the strengths of both approaches.
  • Survey-based methods are useful for capturing regional behaviour and supplementing other models.

Recommendations

The report’s headline recommendation is to take a proportionate, staged pathway that matches effort to ambition. It suggests: 

• Conducting a comprehensive audit of Scotland’s available data, including Input-Output tables, environmental accounts, and surveys such as the International Passenger Survey (IPS) and the Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS).
• Establishing an EEIO baseline as the analytical backbone, updated regularly using repeated survey data.
• Developing a Scotland-specific Tourism Satellite Account to enable greater precision, sector splits, and geographical disaggregation.
• Running LCA pilots for selected assets or services to provide operational insight and validate baseline assumptions.

Over time, these elements could be integrated into a hybrid framework under formal governance and quality assurance, reporting both production- and consumption-based perspectives. A staged, proportionate approach provides a clear, low-risk path to a credible baseline and repeatable evidence base, supporting policy and industry efforts to track and reduce tourism-related emissions.

Further recommendations

The report also outlines steps that should be taken in development of the methodlogy, regardless of the final methodology chosen:

• Adopt the IRTS definition of tourism and structure the GHG account within the UNWTO MST framework.
• Main active links with those that are further advanced, such as Denmark, to learn best practice.
• Build the methodology around a mix of data sources and keep data management central to project governance.
• The approach should be designed for regular repetition, and to secure the resources needed for scheduled updates.

For further information, please read the report.

If you require the report in an alternative format, such as a Word document, please contact info@climatexchange.org.uk or 0131 651 4783.