Increase in tourism can bring more water than it can consume

AT THEIR peak numbers, foreign tourists account for less than 0.5% of Cape Town’s water demand, while bringing in around 9% of the GDP of the entire Western Cape. Ultimately, tourists can make much more water than they take.

Day Zero has effectively been defeated. This hypothetical day was moved from April to May, then from June to July and last week to the end of August, which in effect means that there is no realistic possibility of such a day in 2018, if some rain comes and users continue saving water.

The City of Cape Town has pushed Day Zero out to 2019, which should mean that it will never happen, since there is now more than enough time for a multipronged strategy for ensuring sufficient water supply independent of rainfall.

What the Cape needs now, more than ever, is investment and revenue. Potential tourists might be inclined to think that their visit will make the situation worse. On the contrary, continued – and, ideally, increasing – #WaterWiseTourism is an essential part of the solution. In short, tourists bring in much more than they take out.

The water that tourists consume on average is minimal compared to the contribution that they make to the Cape’s economy. The province will also become a more water-scarce area in the future and thus further water supply solutions are crucial.

According to Wesgro, foreign tourists represent only about 1% of the consumer population in the Western Cape over the peak season, while the total contribution of foreign tourism to the economy amounted to R38 billion in 2017.

On a basic cost-benefit analysis, the “water cost” of a tourist is overwhelmingly outweighed by the benefit of his or her economic contribution. Indeed, through their potential contribution to water-augmentation projects, tourists can ultimately make much more water than they take.

Apart from the matter of being impeded in terms of “turning money into water”, the economic impact of a loss of tourism would be profound. According to Wesgro, more than 300 000 jobs in the Western Cape rely on the tourism industry.

Tourists are an invaluable asset to South Africa’s economy, enriching the country in a variety of ways, including bringing in taxes and foreign investment. In terms of the whole of South Africa, tourists contribute 9% to the country’s economy – incidentally the same percentage as for the Western Cape.

We must therefore all, as residents and ambassadors of South Africa, urgently work together to encourage tourists not to be dissuaded from visiting the Cape:

This paradoxical reality may seem somewhat counter-intuitive, but that is precisely why the basic facts need to be communicated loudly and clearly to all those involved in Cape (and SA) tourism.

* Hilary Anderson is associate lecturer in statistics and management, Cranefield College, and business and environmental econometrician at Multiplin International.