MEDSTAT new publication : Water and Tourism

The MEDSTAT II programme has published an innovative study on water consumption in the tourism sector. This Pilot Study "Water and Tourism" explores the issue of water use by tourism activities and assesses the availability of statistical information in four countries: Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia.

The Mediterranean region is one of the top destinations in the world of mass tourism and the number of tourists is constantly increasing from 4% of world total in 1990 to 6% in 2005. 396 million international tourists are expected in 2025.

This growth of tourist traffic led to the building of various accommodations (houses, hotels, campsites, etc...), consuming water in coastal areas with high population density. The pressure on water resources in the recipient countries is also accentuated by the requirements  for comfort and the development of facilities: swimming pools, golf courses, aquatic centers, spas, etc.

The tourism sector's water consumption being poorly known, the Pilot study "Water and tourism" makes recommendations to improve the production, collection, dissemination and use of statistics on water and tourism.

The Pilot Study "Water and Tourism" is available in the Eurostat collection Methodologies and working papers in English and French at:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/product_details/publication?p_product_code=KS-78-09-699