The water footprint of tourists in the Islands: 11,000 liters every day

"If we assume 200 liters of water per day per tourist, a reasonable consumption for a three-star hotel, the water footprint can reach 11,000 liters per day," estimated the president of the executive committee of Act4water—an initiative involving professionals specializing in corporate sustainability, water management, and tourism—which took place this Thursday. This figure is equivalent to filling a small swimming pool. She added that "the figures increase" if the hotel "upgrades in category." She also pointed out that the average water footprint of a Spanish resident is 6,700 liters of water per day. Marín referenced a 2020 study by the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) that estimates tourism consumes 25% of the islands' water. Along the same lines, she warned: "The cost of inaction could be five times higher than the cost of investing now to adapt to climate change." Thus, he called on the sector to join "a unique opportunity to integrate sustainable water management."

For his part, the executive director of the Balearic Islands Chemical Industry Cluster (CliQIB), Joan Miquel Matas, referred to surveys conducted among tourists, in which "90% responded that they didn't save water while on vacation because they were on vacation." He also pointed out that "in addition to all this, water in hotels is a service and cannot be eliminated, which makes reducing consumption difficult." Dolores Tirado, a tenured professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of the Balearic Islands, explained that hotel rooms are the area where the most water is consumed. "Existing estimates place the consumption in hotel rooms at between 34% and 37%, and, in general, showering is the third largest water consumer in hotels. This can vary depending on the location and type of hotel." However, he assured that, in recent years, hoteliers have increased their efforts to implement water-saving measures in guest rooms. In this regard, he referred to a study conducted in collaboration with the Majorca Hotel Business Federation (FEHM), which found that measures had been implemented to achieve this goal. "Ninety percent of the hotels studied have dual-flush toilets, 85 percent have aerators on their faucets, and 85 percent have signage in the rooms to promote water conservation," he stated. In contrast, he added that "only 5.6% of hotels have installed pool covers to prevent evaporation, 11% have adopted greywater reuse measures, and 30% have implemented mechanisms to control water leaks."

Tirado explained the main motivations for hoteliers to implement water-saving measures: cost reduction and environmental awareness. However, he added that the main obstacle to adopting them is the high initial financial investment they require. All of this, he said, "depends on the behavior of tourists, who often show a discrepancy between their pro-environmental attitude and their actual behavior regarding environmental practices." He added that visitors "seek pleasure and are less likely to participate in initiatives that require effort." "A tourist might have the idea of saving water at home, but when they're here, water is free and they shouldn't have to pay for it," he lamented. Positive messages about saving water and reusing towels in hotels are two of the practices that hoteliers have adopted to save water. Garden Hotels, the UIB (University of the Balearic Islands), and the Gómez Group have conducted four experiments in three hotels in Mallorca that, according to Tirado, have "a strong hedonistic component." More than 70 rooms were monitored with water meters, and showers were also monitored to analyze the impact of the interventions carried out. While only 8% of the rooms achieved water savings, the first eight achieved savings, and the fourth reached savings of up to 30%.