While tourism is a significant driver of economic growth, the impact of the industry on the environment is becoming harder to ignore, especially when it comes to water scarcity. This is true now more than ever before as the combined challenges of population growth and climate change further exacerbate water stress across many parts of the globe.
Water scarcity affects over 40 per cent of the world's population, and a quarter of people globally face extremely high levels of water stress, making them vulnerable to the impacts of drought or increased water use. Hotels use around 1,500 litres of water every day - approximately eight times that of local residents. This excessive usage not only carries an environmental cost, placing extra pressure on local communities, but also inflates hotels’ water and energy bills, directly impacting the bottom line. In fact, research shows that there are potential water savings of up to 50% in many hotels – meaning that there is a significant incentive for hotels to cut back on their water consumption.
Introducing more sustainable practices is arguably one of the most important issues faced by the tourism industry today. So when it comes to water conservation, what steps can hotels take?
Technological advancements for water preservation
Across the world, hotels have made big strides in implementing innovative technological approaches to minimise water consumption. From greywater recycling systems through to water-saving technologies, the hospitality industry is embracing a variety of initiatives to help minimise tourism’s impact on local water resources.
Additionally, some hotels are also using technology as a way of engaging their customers and incentivising them to take part in water conservation initiatives. For example, some hotels are introducing water consumption targets alongside in-room displays or mobile apps that track water usage, helping to make usage visible to guests and encouraging more sustainable habits.
The behaviour gap
This guest engagement is particularly important when you consider that research shows that consumers behave with greater environmental responsibility at home than when they are on holiday. Day-to-day eco-behaviours are often discarded once guests have left home, creating a worrying disparity between hotel guest attitudes and habits. This leads to unsustainable behaviours that are detrimental to local environments and communities, and also has negative financial impacts on hotels who end up footing high water and energy bills.
In part, these behaviours can be explained by the fact that hotel guests don’t have a financial incentive to save water or energy, unlike when they are at home and have bills to pay. As such, hotels need to carefully consider how they engage their guests in order to persuade them to conserve these resources, despite there being no financial incentive.
Nudging for positive change
Nudging is the practice of influencing people's decisions by designing choices to encourage positive decision making, while crucially still giving individuals complete freedom of choice. These behaviour change strategies have been proven to be an effective way to encourage positive behaviour change in hotels.
Hotel managers are beginning to recognise that these kinds of interventions can help to prompt more sustainable guest behaviours, which in turn lowers cost and increases profit for the hotel.
Engaging guests through communications
Hotel communication with guests – for example in guestrooms – is one way in which to effect change by gaining the guest’s voluntary participation in sustainable programmes. Educating guests and developing a persuasive message that motivates them is critical to the effectiveness of the hotel’s water conservation efforts.
Research has shown that hotel guests are less motivated to participate in initiatives if they are framed as creating efficiencies for the hotel, while they are more likely to take part if they are made aware of the environmental benefits. For example, one study showed that hotel communications that included an environmental appeal, almost doubled the amount of guests to reuse their towels when compared to an appeal that pointed to the benefit to the hotel.
By providing clear information about the initiative in guestrooms, and by pointing to the environmental benefit, hotels are able to showcase their commitment to sustainability, while gently nudging guests towards more eco-friendly choices.
Creative and positive guest experiences
As these pro-environment messages become increasingly commonplace, however, they are also more likely to be ignored. Therefore, another challenge emerges – the need for hotels to find creative ways of capturing guest attention. These creative methods also open up greater opportunities to create deeper connections with guests.
Take for example Copenhagen. The city recently launched a green initiative to reward eco behaviours such as travelling by bike or picking up litter, with perks ranging from free meals through to kayak tours and complimentary museum visits. This programme will not only encourage more community-minded behaviours, but is also likely to create memorable traveller experiences and stronger connections.