Tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks: The role of tourist water literacy in hotel management

The large water demands of tourism threaten the sector's economic viability during climate shocks. Cape Town, South Africa provides an example where the threat of a water “Day Zero” in 2018 caused substantial losses in tourist arrivals, revenues, and subsequent job securities. However, Cape Tow...

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Main Authors: Meghan J. McCarroll, G. Thomas LaVanchy, Michael W. Kerwin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-11-01
Series:Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666957924000296
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author Meghan J. McCarroll
G. Thomas LaVanchy
Michael W. Kerwin
author_facet Meghan J. McCarroll
G. Thomas LaVanchy
Michael W. Kerwin
author_sort Meghan J. McCarroll
collection DOAJ
description The large water demands of tourism threaten the sector's economic viability during climate shocks. Cape Town, South Africa provides an example where the threat of a water “Day Zero” in 2018 caused substantial losses in tourist arrivals, revenues, and subsequent job securities. However, Cape Town's tourism industry also contributed to unprecedented water conservation across the city. Through qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with hotel employees in Cape Town (n = 18), this paper reveals how internal conservation campaigns not only reduced water use, but also helped mitigate economic impacts, eased political tensions, and upheld their excellent standing among visitors. Our results suggest that during severe water crises, hotel managers can model and enforce water conservation efforts while maintaining customer satisfaction.
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publisher Elsevier
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series Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights
spelling doaj-art-7ac5b0cbd2704ab0bab4725ecb60dc472025-08-20T02:38:22ZengElsevierAnnals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights2666-95792024-11-015210014710.1016/j.annale.2024.100147Tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks: The role of tourist water literacy in hotel managementMeghan J. McCarroll0G. Thomas LaVanchy1Michael W. Kerwin2Masters of the Environment, University of Colorado Boulder, 4001 Discovery Drive, Boulder, CO 80303, USA; Corresponding author.Department of Geography, Oklahoma State University, 337 Social Sciences and Humanities, Stillwater, OK 74078, USADepartment of Geography & the Environment, University of Denver, 2050 E Iliff Ave, Denver, CO 80210, USAThe large water demands of tourism threaten the sector's economic viability during climate shocks. Cape Town, South Africa provides an example where the threat of a water “Day Zero” in 2018 caused substantial losses in tourist arrivals, revenues, and subsequent job securities. However, Cape Town's tourism industry also contributed to unprecedented water conservation across the city. Through qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with hotel employees in Cape Town (n = 18), this paper reveals how internal conservation campaigns not only reduced water use, but also helped mitigate economic impacts, eased political tensions, and upheld their excellent standing among visitors. Our results suggest that during severe water crises, hotel managers can model and enforce water conservation efforts while maintaining customer satisfaction.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666957924000296Water literacyTourismDroughtDay zeroCape TownSouth Africa
spellingShingle Meghan J. McCarroll
G. Thomas LaVanchy
Michael W. Kerwin
Tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks: The role of tourist water literacy in hotel management
Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights
Water literacy
Tourism
Drought
Day zero
Cape Town
South Africa
title Tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks: The role of tourist water literacy in hotel management
title_full Tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks: The role of tourist water literacy in hotel management
title_fullStr Tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks: The role of tourist water literacy in hotel management
title_full_unstemmed Tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks: The role of tourist water literacy in hotel management
title_short Tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks: The role of tourist water literacy in hotel management
title_sort tourism resilience to drought and climate shocks the role of tourist water literacy in hotel management
topic Water literacy
Tourism
Drought
Day zero
Cape Town
South Africa
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666957924000296
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AT gthomaslavanchy tourismresiliencetodroughtandclimateshockstheroleoftouristwaterliteracyinhotelmanagement
AT michaelwkerwin tourismresiliencetodroughtandclimateshockstheroleoftouristwaterliteracyinhotelmanagement