PICTURE: ISTOCK WILL INSIGHT
TOURISM BE
ON TAP FOREVER?
The Travel Foundation is increasingly concerned at pressure
on water supplies in destinations, prompting its annual general
meeting to ask: ‘Is there a future for tourism?’ Ian Taylor reports
Water is already an issue in
many destinations with dry
climates and tourist demand
out of proportion with local
resources.
Even major cities are suffering.
This summer, Barcelona
had to import six ship-loads of
drinking water a month, ban
the fi lling of pools and turn off
fountains. Global warming will
exacerbate the problem, despite
a likely overall increase in
rainfall, as weather patterns
change and more rain falls in
downpours.
This poses at least two problems
for tourism. First, it will
become increasingly costly to
maintain water supplies.
Second, tourist water use is so
heavy it could threaten the
existence of some communities.
In Morocco, for example, the
average tourist consumes 500
litres of water a day, 10 times
the local average – not just in
showering, drinking and fl ushing
toilets, but through the
irrigation of food for tourist
tables and watering hotel
gardens. That compares with
135-150 litres a day per person
in the UK.
Some of the difference is due
to irrigation and cultivation of
crops out of kilter with local
water resources. Some is due to
22 | Travel Weekly | November 14 2008
“In Morocco the
average tourist
consumes 500
litres of water a
day, 10 times the
local average”
resource-wasting properties and
lifestyles. But the general point
is clear – tourists use much
more water than the people of
the countries they visit and more
than they use at home.
The industry can draw
comfort from the fact that tourism
places less stress on water
suppliers and produces a
better fi nancial return from
water than some cash crops
– such as coffee. But that
does not solve the problem.
In parts of the Mediterranean,
tourism is the dominant user
of water.
In Spain, water use in the
centre of the country – where
tourist numbers are low – is 90-
150 litres per person depending
on the region. On the coast it
averages 350 litres, and among
tourists, more than 500 litres.
Part of the problem may be
due to ignorance of water
scarcity. Director of non-governmental
organisation Waterwise,
Jacob Tomkins, said:
“British ex-patriots in Spain use
phenomenally more water than
their Spanish neighbours.”
But it is also due to expectations
about ‘being on holiday’.
Tomkins said: “Resources seem
limitless in a hotel and people
seem to check in their ethics
with their bag on holiday. The
authorities do not seem to want
to challenge tourists, but the
world is running out of water.
Resources are fi nite and tourism
pulls water out of ground
reservoirs and rivers.”
Golf courses are particularly
draining. An 18hole
golf course might
require 2.3 million
litres a day. In Thailand,
that amounts to
the daily water use of
60,000 villagers.
Shortages can lead to
restrictions on water for local
people, while tourists remain
oblivious. However,
failing rains, diminished
river fl ows and depletion
of underground water
lead to other problems. It
can exacerbate the risk of fi res
and jeopardise nuclear-power
generation – as in 2006 in
France where 37 reactors are
cooled by river water.
Tomkins points out: “We can
save 10% of water by basic
housekeeping. Aerated shower
heads, which put air in each
drop of water, reduce water use
by up to 70%. Toilets can fl ush
with 2.5 litres of water, not 13.
Many hotels can collect rainwater
for gardens and pool covers
can reduce condensation.”
He adds: “Hotels should not
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