ITP publishes tourism and water report

Highlights dangers in Dubai, China, India and Brazil

The International Tourism Partnership (ITP) has published a report on water risk issues in key development areas for the hotel industry – Rio de Janeiro, Beijing and Shanghai, India’s Golden Triangle and Dubai.

The study was conducted for ITP by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). It provides an overview of how freshwater may become a constraint to the hotel industry in the specified regions in terms of maintaining current operations, as well as future growth.

It highlights a range of potential impacts the industry could suffer due to shifts in the availability and quality of water resources and points out potential areas where additional costs can be expected. The assessment also suggests possible mitigation measures that can be taken to reduce negative impacts.

Key findings are;

• Dubai – excessive consumption of groundwater and increasing pressure on desalination facilities could lead to severe water shortages in the near future.
• China – water shortages, increasing flood risk and pollution are to be anticipated, as well as possible price hikes due to increased costs of water treatment.
• India’s Golden Triangle – over-extraction and climate change impacts risk limiting available fresh water resources. Emerging legislation is also expected to put increased demands on private sector water users.
• Brazil – changed runoff patterns could cause bottlenecks in both energy and food supply affecting the hotel industry.

Freshwater is becoming a scarce resource in many parts of the world due to overconsumption, pollution, climate change impacts as well as poor management of the resource. Reports warn that by 2030, demand for freshwater may outstrip supply by 40 per cent. With rising stress on water resources and the competing needs of businesses and communities, effective water resource management is crucial to a hotel’s ability and licence to operate.

Fran Hughes, Head of Programmes at ITP, says; "Whilst there is a lot of information available to hoteliers about water efficiency, what has been lacking are clear facts on water issues in specific areas. As such, it is sometimes hard to build the case for investment and action. We hope the findings of this report will help hoteliers to understand the local context where they operate and develop appropriate water management strategies. ITP’s water working group continues to collaborate to build a strong business case to hoteliers, owners and developers to implement future-proofed water strategies and move the industry from a position of simple water efficiency to true water stewardship."

The report will be published today Wednesday 4 September to mark World Water Week  is available on the International Tourism Partnership http://www.tourismpartnership.org/   and Green Hotelier http://www.greenhotelier.org/our-themes/energy/hotel-carbon-measurement-initiative-webinar-available/ websites

 Valere Tjolle
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