Estimating the direct and indirect water use of tourism in the eastern Mediterranean

JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

卷:114

Article

Hadjikakou, Michalis¹  Chenoweth, Jonathan¹  Miller, Graham² 

[1] Univ Surrey, Fac Engn & Phys Sci, Ctr Environm Strategy, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, England

[2] Univ Surrey, Sch Hospitality & Tourism Management, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, England

关键词: Water footprint;    Sustainable tourism;    Sustainability trade-offs;    Water scarcity;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jenvman.2012.11.002

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The impact of tourism activities on local water resources remains a largely understudied issue in environmental and sustainable tourism management. The aim of the paper is to present a simple methodology that allows an estimate of direct and indirect local water use associated with different holiday packages and to then discuss relevant management implications. This is explored through the creation of five illustrative examples of holidays to semi-arid eastern Mediterranean destinations: Cyprus (2), Turkey, Greece and Syria. Using available data on water use associated with different forms of travel, accommodation and tourist activities, indicative water footprints are calculated for each of the illustrative examples. Food consumption by tourists appears to have by far the most significant impact on the overall water footprint and this aspect of water use is explored in detail in the paper. The paper also suggests a way of employing the water footprint methodology along with import/export balance sheets of main food commodities to distinguish between the global and local pressure of tourism demand on water resources. Water resource use is likely to become an increasingly important issue in tourism management and must be considered alongside more established environmental concerns such as energy use, using methodologies that can capture direct as well as supply chain impacts. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

【 授权许可】

Free