Visiting water bodies worth £700bn to economies, study finds

Europeans spend more than £700 billion (€800 bn) a year on recreational visits to water bodies – but perceived poor water quality costs almost £90bn (€100 bn) in lost visits, a new study has found.  

The new research – led by a European collaboration involving the University of Stirling and the University of Exeter – used data from 11,000 visits across 14 different countries to analyse the economic value of water bodies, such as rivers, lakes, waterfalls, beaches and seaside promenades. 

The research team estimated that people spend an average of £35 (€40) travelling to and from these sites, with a typical family making 45 such trips each year - with total European expenditure relating to trips to water-based settings in excess of £700 billion annually. However, they also found that people were much less likely to visit sites if the perceived water quality fell, at a cost of well over €100 bn per year. The finding highlights the importance of maintaining and improving high bathing water quality standards. 

Professor Tobias Börger, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Stirling, led the research.

University of Stirling Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Professor Tobias Börger led the research, which also involved Professor Danny Campbell, of Stirling Management School. 

Professor Börger, of the Berlin School of Economics and Law, used data collected as part of the European Union-funded BlueHealth project, which surveyed more than 18,000 people on their use of water bodies and their health and wellbeing. He said: “The COVID-19 crisis has taught us all how important access to natural green and blue spaces is for people’s mental health and wellbeing. Our research highlights that it’s also critical for the economy to maintain high standards of water quality, as the pandemic crisis begins to ease.” 

Following a Directive adopted by the European Commission, across the European Union member states, more than 15,000 coastal and almost 7,000 inland designated bathing water sites must now prominently display signs stating water quality over the past four years. Around 95 per cent of sites meet minimum quality standards and are considered safe for bathing, while 85 per cent are rated as having excellent water quality.